salvation

Driven to Our Saviour

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, salvation, The Holy Spirit 3 Comments

And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men. -Exodus 12:33

When the children of Israel went out of Egypt it is a remarkable thing that they were forced out by the Egyptians. Those Egyptians who had enriched themselves with their slavery, said, “Get ye hence, for we be all dead men;” they begged and entreated them to go; yea, they hurried them forth, gave them jewels that they might depart, and made them quit the land. And it is a striking thing, that the very sins which oppress the child of God in Egypt, are the very things that drive him to Jesus. Our sins makes slaves of us while we are in Egypt, and when God the Holy Spirit stirs them up against us, how do they beat us with cruel lashes, till our soul is worn with extreme bondage; but those very sins, by God’s grace, are made the means of driving us to the Saviour. The dove fleeth not to its cote unless the eagle doth pursue it; so sins like eagles pursue the timid soul, making it fly into the clefts of the Rock Christ Jesus to hide itself. Once, beloved, our sins kept us from Christ; but now every sin drives us to him for pardon. I had not known Christ if I had not known sin; I had not known a deliverer, if I had not smarted under the Egyptians. The Holy Spirit drives us to Christ, just as the Egyptians drove the people out of Egypt.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0055.cfm

Bondage Before Liberty

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation 3 Comments

And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt.- Exodus 12:41

All those whom God means to give an inheritance in Canaan, He will first take down into Egypt. Even Jesus Christ Himself went into Egypt before He appeared publicly as a teacher before the world, that in His instance, as well as in that of every Christian, the prophecy might be fulfilled-“Out of Egypt have I called my Son.” Every one who enjoys the liberty wherewith Christ doth make us free, must first feel the galling bondage of sin. Our wrists must be made to smart by the fetters of our iniquity, and our backs must be made to bleed by the lash of the law-the taskmaster which drives us to Jesus Christ. There is no true liberty which is not preceded by true bondage; there is no true deliverance from sin, unless we have first of all groaned and cried unto God, as did the people of Israel when in bondage in Egypt. We must all serve in the brick-kiln; we must all be wearied with toiling among the pots; or otherwise we could never realize that glorious verse-“Though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold.” We must have bondage before liberty; before resurrection there must come death; before life there must come corruption; before we are brought out of the horrible pit and the miry clay we must be made to exclaim, “I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing;” and ere, like Jonah, we can be fetched out of the whale’s belly, and delivered from our sin, we must have been taken down to the bottoms of the mountains, with the weeds wrapped about our heads, shuddering under a deep sense of our own nothingness and fearing that the earth with her bars was about us for ever. Taking this as key, you will see that the deliverance out of Egypt is a beautiful picture of the deliverance of all God’s people from the bondage of the law and the slavery of their sins.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0055.cfm

God Loveth Crying-Out Prayers

Sherry Attributes of God, Christian Life, prayer, promises, salvation, The Holy Spirit 4 Comments

Arise, cry out in the night…-Lamentations 2:19

Trust in Him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before Him: God is a refuge for us. Selah. -Psalm 62:8

God loves earnest prayers. He loves impetuous prayers-vehement prayers. Let a man preach if he dare coldly and slowly, but never let him pray so. God loveth crying-out prayers. There is a poor fellow who says-“I don’t know how to pray. Why, sir,” he says, “I could not put six or seven words together in English grammar.” Tush upon English grammar! God does not care for that, so long as you pour out your heart. That is enough. Cry out before Him…When you go to mercy’s gate, let me give you a little advice. Do not go and give a gentle tap, like a lady; do not give a single knock, like a beggar; but take the knocker and wrap hard, till the very door seems to shake. Rap with all your might! and recollect that God loveth those who knock hard at mercy’s gate. “Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”

Just hear how the Psalmist has it: “pour out your hearts before Him.” Not “pour out your fine words,” not “pour out your beautiful periods,” but “pour out your hearts.”… Pour out your heart like water; pour it out by confessing all your sins; pour it out by begging the Lord to have mercy upon you for Christ’s sake; pour it out like water. And when it is all poured out, He will come and fill it again with “wines on the lees, well refined.”

Thus do I speak to all who will acknowledge themselves to be sinners in the sight of God, but even these must have the assistance of the Holy Spirit to enable them to cry out. O my Lord, grant it. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0059.cfm

Young Man, It Is Never Too Soon to Pray!

Sherry Attributes of God, Christian Life, prayer, promises, salvation 1 Comment

Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord.- Lamentations 2:19

You are lying on your bed; the gracious Spirit whispers-“Arise, and pray to God.” Well, there is no reason why you should delay till the morning light; “in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord.” We are told there that it is never too soon to pray. How many young persons imagine that religion is a thing for age, or at least for maturity; but they conceive that whilst they are in the bloom of their youth, they need not attend to its admonitions. How many have we found who count religion to be a crutch for old age, who reckon it an ornament to their grey hairs, forgetting that to the young man religion is like a chain of gold around his neck, and like an ornament set with precious jewels, that shall array him with honour. How many there be who think it is yet too soon for them to bear for a single moment the cross of Jesus. They do not want to have their young shoulders galled with an early burden; they do not think it is true that “it is good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth;” and they forget that that “yoke is easy,” and that “burden is light.” Therefore, hour after hour, and day after day, the malicious fiend whispers in their ear-“It is too soon, it is too soon! postpone, postpone, postpone! procrastinate!” Need we tell you once more that oft-repeated axiom, “Procrastination is the thief of time?” Need we remind you that “delays are dangerous?” Need we tell you that those are the workings of Satan? For the Holy Ghost, when He strives with man, says, “To-day, if ye will hear His voice, harden not your heart.”…Oh! remember it is not too soon to seek the Saviour, ere you arrive at manhood….Young man, it is not too soon. “Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0059.cfm

All Things Are Met in This Promise

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, salvation 3 Comments

However bottomless our desires, however deep our wishes, however high our aspirations, all things meet in this promise,

They that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. -Psalm 34:10

We take it concerning things spiritual. Are we wanting a sense of pardon? We shall not want it long. Are we desiring stronger faith? We shall not want it long. Do you wish to have more love to your Saviour, to understand more concerning inward communion with Jesus? You shall have it. “They that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.” Do you desire to renounce your sins, to be able to overcome this corruption or that? to attain this virtue, or that excellency? “They that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.” Is it adoption, justification, sanctification, that thou wantest? “Thou shalt not lack any good thing.”

But are thy wants temporal? Dost thou want bread and water? No, I know thou dost not, for it is said, “Bread shall be given thee, and thy water shall be sure.” Or, if thou dost want it somewhat, it shall come before long; it shall not be to starvation. David said, “I have been young and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” Do you want clothes? You shall have them. “He that clothes the lilies of the valley, will he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?” Do you need temporary supplies. You, shall receive them, for “your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.” Whatever your desire, there is the promise, only go and plead it at the throne, and God will fulfil it.  ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0065.cfm

Longing for More of Our LORD

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation 1 Comment

O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him…they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing. -Psalm 34:8, 10

“Now, freed from sin I walk at large,
My Jesus’ blood’s my full discharge.”

I ask any one here who has an assurance that he is a pardoned man, thoroughly justified and complete in Christ-are you not seeking the Lord? “Oh yes,” you say, “I thirst, I long to know more of Him; I feel that all I have ever known of Him is like the whispering of the sea in the shell, while the awful roar of the sea itself has not yet reached mine ears. I have heard the whisperings of Christ in some little mercy, and I have heard His bounties sing of bottomless, eternal, unchangeable love; but oh! I long to plunge into the sea itself, to bathe myself in the broad ocean of His infinite generosity and love to me.” No Christian ever fancies that he knows enough of his Master; there is no Christian who has found the Lord who does not desire to be better acquainted with Him. “Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever Thou goest,” is the cry of the man who has had his sins forgiven. He sitteth down at the feet of Jesus, and looketh up to Him, and saith, “Master, teach me more; I am a little child; thou art a great instructor; oh! I long to love and learn more of Thee.” He is ever seeking the Lord; the promise to him is, “They that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0065.cfm

He is Righteous

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation 3 Comments

Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous.  He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. -1John 3:7,8

Works are the fruits of grace. “He is righteous,”-not in himself; for mark how graces come in here-“…he is righteous, even as He is righteous.” It will not allow our righteousness to be our own, but it brings us to Christ again. “He that doeth righteousness is righteous,” not according to his own works, but “even as He is righteous.” Good works prove that I have perfect righteousness in Christ; they do not help the righteousness of Christ, nor yet in any way make me righteous. Good works are of no use whatever in the matter of justification: the only use they are is that they are for our comfort, for the benefit of others, and for the glory of God. “He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil.”

It were well if we always remembered that practical godliness is the soul of godliness; that it is not talking religion, but walking religion which proves a man to be sincere; it is not having a religious tongue, but a religious heart; it is not a religious mouth, but a religious foot. The best evidence is the salvation of the soul. Avaunt! talkative; go thy way, thou mere professing formalist! Your ways lead down to hell, and your end shall be destruction; for “he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0062.cfm