salvation

God’s Abundant Mercy and Pardon

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

Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. – Isaiah 55:7

I remember an old lady who would not travel by railway because she thought that some of the bridges were in bad repair, especially the Saltash bridge, near her own house. Over that bridge she could not be persuaded to pass, for fear her weight should break it down, although hundreds of tons weight were carried over it every day. At such folly everybody can smile. But when I hear any man say, “I have committed so much sin, that God cannot pardon it,” I think his folly is far greater. Look at this huge train that went over that bridge… Then look at the bridge, and see whether it starts by reason of the loaded teem of wheels which is rolling over it. Ah! no, it bears up, and so would it bear the weight if all the sins that men have done should roll across its arches. Christ is “able to save to the uttermost them that come unto God by Him.”

I pray you accept the message. I deliver it to you. The greatest sin, the utmost guilt, the most incredible iniquity, the most abominable transgressions, can be forgiven, and shall be blotted out. The Redeemer lives; the sacrifice has been offered; the covenant is sealed. Turn now to the Lord with purpose of heart. Confess the sins. Abjure thyself. Trust in the infinite mercy of God, through Jesus Christ, His Son. “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him turn unto the Lord, for He will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.”~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3505.cfm

Manasseh: A Monument of Grace

Sherry Attributes of God, Christian Life, prayer, promises, salvation, The Father 3 Comments

So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen, whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel…And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, And prayed unto Him: (and He heard his supplication), and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God. 2 Chronicles 33:9, 12-13

Oh! I do not wonder at Manasseh’s sin one half so much as I wonder at God’s mercy. There was the man in the prison. He had never thought of his God except to despise His prerogative, and offend against His laws, till he was immured in that dungeon. Then his pride began to break; his haughty spirit had to yield at last. “Who is Jehovah, that I should serve Him?” he had often said. But now he is in Jehovah’s hand. Lying there half-starved in the prison, a crushed man, he begins to cry, “Jehovah, what a fool I have been! I have stood out against Thee until at length Thy sovereign power has arrested me, and Thy infinite justice has begun to avenge my crimes. What shall I do? Where shall I hide from Thy wrath? How can I escape? Is it possible to obtain Thy pardon?”…but in this awful despair he felt he must pray; and surely the first prayer he breathed must have been, “God be merciful to me a sinner.” And in his deep abasement, he continued still to pray and plead with God. And that dear Father of ours who is in heaven heard him.

If ever you can bring Him a praying heart, He will bring you a forgiving message. As soon as He saw His poor child broken down, and confessing his wrong, He took pity on him, heard, and answered him, and blotted out his sins like a cloud, and his transgressions like a thick cloud. And so it came to pass that he was delivered…Here is one that murdered men, defied God, and worshipped devils, yet he finds the way to repentance. If thou be vile as he, know that it is not thy sin, but thy impenitence, that bars heaven against thee. Who can now despair of Thy mercy, O God, that sees the tears of a Manasseh accepted?” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3505.cfm

 

“It is I; be not afraid”

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

For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you. -Hebrews 13:5

If my testimony be worth aught, I have always found that when I am most distressed about circumstances that I cannot control, when my hope seems to flicker where it ought to flare, when the worthlessness and wretchedness of my nature obscure the evident of any goodness and virtue imparted to me or wrought in me, just then it is that a sweet spring of cool consolation bubbles up to quench my thirst, and a sweet voice greets my ear, “It is I; be not afraid”…Oh! believer, stay yourself upon God when you have nothing else to stay upon. Do not rely upon appearances; above all, do not listen to the suggestions of a murmuring, hardened spirit; do not credit the insinuations of the infernal fiend who, when he finds you downhearted, be it from sickness of body or anxiety of mind, is sure then to whisper some disparaging thoughts of God. What though the suggestion strikes your heart that the Lord has forsaken you, that your sins cannot be forgiven, that you will fall by the hand of the enemy, hurl it back. You know whence it came. Depend upon it, though heaven and earth go to wreck, God’s promise will stand. Should hell break loose, and demons innumerable invade this earth, they shall not go one inch beyond their tether. The chain that God has cast about them shall restrain them. Not an heir of heaven shall be left to the clutch of the destroyer. Nay, his head shall not lose a hair without divine permission. You shall come out of the furnace with not a smell of fire upon you. And being so eminently preserved, in such imminent peril, your salvation shall constrain you to bless God on earth, and bless Him to all eternity, with the deepest self-humiliation and the highest strains of gratitude and adoration. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3508.cfm

Salvation is God’s Greatest Work

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation 2 Comments

“Look unto Me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.”- Isaiah 45:22

Salvation is God’s greatest work; and, therefore, in His greatest work, He specially teaches us this lesson, that He is God, and that beside Him there is none else…O, does it not lower the pride of man, when we hear the Lord say, “Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth?” It is not. “Look to your priest, and be ye saved:” if you did, there would be another god, and beside Him there would be some one else. It is not “Look to yourself;” if so, then there would be a being who might arrogate some of the praise of salvation. But it is “Look unto Me.” How frequently you who are coming to Christ look to yourselves. “O!” you say, “I do not repent enough.” That is looking to yourself. “I do not believe enough.” That is looking to yourself. “I am too unworthy.” That is looking to yourself. “I cannot discover,” says another, “that I have any righteousness.” It is quite right to say that you have not any righteousness; but it is quite wrong to look for any. It is, “Look unto Me.” God will have you turn your eye off yourself and look unto Him.

From the cross of Calvary, where the bleeding hands of Jesus drop mercy; from the Garden of Gethsemane, where the bleeding pores of the Saviour sweat pardons, the cry comes, “Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.” From Calvary’s summit, where Jesus cries, “It is finished,” I hear a shout, “Look, and be saved.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0060.cfm

“I Give Unto My Sheep Eternal Life”

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

Let all those that seek Thee rejoice and be glad in Thee: and let such as love Thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified. -Psalm 70:4

When the Lord pardoned our sins, He did not pardon half of them, and leave some of them on the book, but with one stroke of the pen He gave a full receipt for all our debts. When we went down into the fountain filled with blood, and washed, we did not come up half-clean, but there was no spot nor wrinkle upon us-we were white as driven snow. Glory be to God for such a rich salvation as this. And He did not in that day save us with a perhaps and a chance salvation that set us on a rock, and say, “Keep yourself there-you must depend upon yourselves”, but this was the covenant He made with us, “A new heart also will I give thee, and a right spirit will I put within thee.” It was a complete salvation, which would not permit a failure. The salvation, which is given to the soul that believes is on this wise, “I give unto My sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of My hand.” “The water that I shall give him shall be a well of water springing up unto everlasting life.” I believe the perseverance of the saints to be the very gem of the gospel. I could not hold the truth of Scripture if this could be disproved to me, for every page seems to have this upon it, if nothing else, that “the righteous shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall wax stronger and stronger.” In this my soul rejoices, that I have a salvation to preach to you which, if you receive it, will effectually save you if your hearts are given to Christ, and will keep you, and preserve you, and bring you into the eternal kingdom of His glory. I will rejoice in the certain and abiding character of that salvation. Oh! there is enough in the salvation of Christ to make heaven full of bliss; there is enough to make us full of praise. Let us take up the theme; let us talk by the way to one another about it; let us talk to sinners about it; let us recommend religion by our cheerfulness. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3503.cfm

All Joy and All Rejoicing

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

And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD: it shall rejoice in His salvation. -Psalm 35:9

It is an unfortunate thing that Christianity gets associated with melancholy…It is a good thing for the melancholy to become a Christian; it is an unfortunate thing for the Christian to become melancholy. If there is any man in the world that has a right to have a bright, clear face and a flashing eye, it is the man whose sins are forgiven him, and who is saved with God’s salvation. In order for any man, however, to rejoice in God’s salvation, he must, first of all, know it. There must be an intelligent apprehension of what it is. Next, he must grasp it by an act of faith as his own. Then, having grasped it, he must study it to know the price at which it was bought, and all the qualities-the divine qualities- that follow from it. Then he must hold it fast, and seek to get out the sweetness from it. What is there in God’s salvation that should make us rejoice? I do not know what to select, for it is all joy and all rejoicing. It is enough to make our heart to ring with joy to think that there should be a salvation at all for such poor souls as we are. We may well hang out all the streamers of our spirits, and strew the streets of our soul with flowers, for King Jesus has come to dwell there. Ring every bell; give Him a glorious welcome. Let all the souls be glad when Jesus enters and brings salvation with Him, for the salvation of Christ is so suitable that we may well rejoice in it. Dear brother, if you are saved, I know the salvation of Christ suited you. It did me-exactly-it was made on purpose for me. I am as sure of it as if there were no other sinner to be saved. It was the gospel that brought power to the weak, nay, it brought life to the dead; it brought everything to those that had nothing; it is just the sort of gospel for a penniless, bankrupt sinner like myself. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3503.cfm

Beware of a Sunny-Weather Religion

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

But I have trusted in Thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in Thy salvation. -Psalm 13:5

“If on my face for Thy dear name,
Shame and reproach may be;
I’ll hail reproach and welcome shame,
For Thou (shalt) remember me.”

It takes some pluck, but we ought to have it in the cause of Christ. Your mean, miserable wretches that will only go out to follow Christ in sunny weather, and get them gone again when a cloud darkens the sky, deserve well the wrath that comes upon them. They are like the Nautilus, very well on the placid sea, but the first billow that arises they furl their sails and drop into the deep, and are seen no more. Oh! beware, beware, beware of a sunny-weather religion; beware of a religion that will not stand the fire; but be you such that, if all the world forsook Christ, you would say, “I will rejoice in His salvation”; and if you were turned out of doors, if you were turned out of the world itself, and thought not fit to live, you would yet be content to have it so, if you might be numbered with the people of God, and be permitted to rejoice in His salvation.

I cannot forget, when I sat as a young lad under the gallery of a little place of worship, hearing the gospel simply preached-the blessed moment when I was led to resolve to follow Christ. I have never been ashamed of having done so. I have never had to regret it. He is a blessed Master. He has handled me roughly lately, but He is a blessed Master. I would follow at His heels if only like a dog, for it is better to be His dog than to be the devil’s darling. He is a blessed Master…O eternal Spirit, come and touch some heart, and make this, their spiritual birthright, that they may say, “I will rejoice in Thy salvation.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3503.cfm