salvation

To Be Used by God

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

As Thou hast sent Me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. -John 17:18

Methinks we should all be willing to remain on earth for the good of others. Why may not saints die as soon as they are converted? For this reason: because God meant that they should be the means of the salvation of their brethren. You would not, surely, wish to go out of the world if there were a soul to be saved by you. Methinks if I could go to glory before I had converted all the souls allotted to me, I should not be happy; but that would be impossible, for God will not shut His saints in till they have been spiritual fathers to those appointed. We do not wish to enter heaven till our work is done, for it would make us uneasy on our beds if there were one single soul left to be saved by our means. Tarry, then, Christian; there is a brand to be plucked out of the fire, a sinner to be saved from his sins, a rebel to be turned from the error of his ways, and may hap that sinner is one of thy relatives. May hap, poor widow, that art spared in this world, because there is a wayward son of thine not yet saved, and God hath designed to make thee the favored instrument of bringing him to glory. And thou hoary-headed Christian, it may be that though “the grasshopper is a burden to thee,” and thou longest to go, thou art kept here because one of thy offspring, by thy instrumentality, is yet to be saved. Tarry, then, for thy son’s sake, who came from thy loins. I know how deeply thou dost love him, and for his sake surly thou art content to be left here a little, counting it for the best that thou mayest bring in thy son to glory with thee.

Do not be afraid to go out into the world to do good. Christ is keeping you in the world for the advantage of your fellow-men.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0047.cfm

Fellowship with Christ

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

I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world…They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. -John 17:14, 16

Fellowship with Christ is so honorable a thing that it is worth while to suffer, that we may thereby enjoy it. You have sometimes heard me express a desire that I might be in the number of those who shall be alive and remain, and so shall escape death, but a dear friend of mine says, he had rather die, in order that he might thus have fellowship with Christ in his sufferings, and methinks the thought finds an echo in my own breast. To die with Jesus makes death a perfect treasure, to be a follower in the grave with Him makes death a pleasure. Moreover, you and I might be taken for cowards, although we may have fellowship with Him in His glory, if we had no scars to prove the sufferings we had passed through, and the wounds we had received for His name. Thus, again you see it is for our good to be here; we should not have known fellowship with the Saviour, if we had not tarried here a little while. I should never have known the Saviour’s love half so much if I had not been in the storms of affliction. How sweet it is to learn the Saviour’s love when nobody else loves us! When friends flee away, what a blessed thing it is to see that the Saviour does not forsake us but still keeps us, and holds fast by us, and clings to us, and will not let us go! O beloved brother and sister, believe that your remaining here on earth is for your eternal benefit, and therefore Jesus said. “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world.”~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0047.cfm

Jesus’ Prayer for Us

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

“I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil.”- John 17:15

This prayer of Christ is an ever precious portion to all true believers, from the fact that each of (us) has an inalienable interest in it. Every one of us, beloved, when we listen to the words of Christ should recollect that He is praying for us; that while it is for the great body of His elect He intercedes in this chapter and the one preceding it, yet it is also for each believer in particular that He offers intercession. However weak we are, however poor; however little our faith, or however small our grace may be, our names are still written on His heart; nor shall we lose our share in Jesus’ love.

Now, beloved, when we see persons converted to God, when men are turned from iniquity unto righteousness, from sinners into saints, the thought sometimes strikes us-would it not be good to take them at once to heaven, would it not be an excellent thing to translate them speedily from the realms of sin to the breast of the Lord who loved them with an everlasting love?..Not so, however, does Jesus pray. When the man had the devils cast out of him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, I would follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest.” But Jesus said to him, “Go to thy friends and relations, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee.” Some men when they are converted are all for going speedily to heaven; but they have not done with earth yet. They would like to wear the crown without bearing the cross, they desire to win without running, and conquer without a battle, but their whim has no countenance from Jesus, for He exclaims, “I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world.”~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0047.cfm

 

 

Have I the Spirit of God?

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation, The Holy Spirit 6 Comments

Hereby know we that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He hath given us of His Spirit. -1 John 4:13

Have we ever had the Spirit of God in us? That is one of the most solemn questions I can ask. Many of you know what it is to be excited by religious feeling who never had the Spirit of God. Many of us have great need to tremble lest we should not have received that Spirit. I have tried myself scores of times, in different ways, to see whether I really am a posssessor of the Spirit of God or not. I know that the people of the world scoff at the idea, and say, “It is impossible for any body to have the Spirit of God.” Then it is impossible for any body to go to heaven; for we must have the Spirit of God, we must be born again of the Spirit, before we can enter there. What a serious question is this: “Have I had the Spirit of God in me? True, my soul is at times lifted on high, and I feel I could sing like a seraph. True, sometimes I am melted down by deep devotion, and I could pray in terrible solemnity. But so could hypocrites, perhaps. Have I the Spirit of God? Have you any evidence within you that you have the Spirit? Are you sure that you are not laboring under a delusion and a dream? Have you actually the Spirit of God within you? If so, you dwell in God…

“Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.” The confession of our faith in the Saviour is another sign that we live in God. Oh! poor heart, canst thou not come under this sign? Thou mayest have but little boldness, but canst thou say, “I believe in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ?” If so, thou dwellest in God. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0046.cfm

 

Rest in A Land of Journeying

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation 4 Comments

There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. -Hebrews 4:9

How weary must Israel have been in the wilderness! How tired must have been the soles of their feet with their constant journeyings! They were not in a place of repose, luxury, and rest, but in a land of journeying, and weariness, and trouble. I think I see them traveling, wiping frequently the burning sweat from their brows, and saying, “O that we had a habitation where we might rest! O that we could enter a land of vines and pomegranates, a city where we might enjoy immunity from alarm! God has promised it to us, but we have not found it. There remaineth a rest for the people of God; O that we might find it.” Christian! God is your habitation in this sense. He is your rest; and you will never find rest except in Him. I defy a man who has no God to have a soul at rest. He who has not Jesus for his Saviour, will always be a restless spirit…

There is a holy calm and sweet repose which the Christian only knows, something like the slumbering stars up there in beds of azure; or like the seraphic rest which we may suppose beatified spirits have when they before the throne continually bow; there is a rest so deep and calm, so still and quiet, so profound, that we find no words to describe it. You have tried it, and can rejoice in it.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0046.cfm

Sinner, Come Now to Christ

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, prayer, promises, salvation 4 Comments

Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. – Matthew 11:28

Some of you are speeding your way to hell blindfolded…I do not deceive you, you are going to perdition as fast as time can carry you. Some of you are deceiving yourselves with the thought that you are righteous, and you are not so. Many of you have had solemn warnings, and have never been moved by them…Hundreds of you are without God, and without Christ, …and may I not plead with you?…Why, poor hearts, do you know your sad condition? Do you know that “God is angry with the wicked every day;” that “the way of transgressors is hard;” that “he that believeth not is condemned already?” Has it never been told you that “he that believeth not shall be damned? “and can you stand damnation? My hearers could you make your bed in hell? Could you lie down in the pit? Do you think it would be an easy portion for your souls to be rocked on waves of flames for ever, and to be tossed about with demons in the place where hope cannot come? You may smile now, but you will not smile soon. God sends me as an ambassador now; but if ye listen not to me, He will not send an ambassador next time, but an executioner. There will be no wooing words of mercy soon: the only exhortation thou wilt hear will be the dull cold voice of death, that shall say, “Come with me.” Then thou wilt not be in the place where we sing God’s praises, and where righteous prayers are daily offered. The only music thou wilt hear will be the sighs of the damned, the shrieks of fiends, and the yellings of the tormented. O may God in His mercy snatch you as brands from the fire, to be trophies of His grace throughout eternity. The way to be saved is to “renounce thy works and ways with grief,” and fly to Jesus…If thou will confess that thou art a sinner, that is all God requires of thee, and even that He gives thee. Jesus Christ says “Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Do you hear His wooing words? Will ye turn from His sweet looks of mercy? Has His cross no influence? have His wounds no power to bring you to His feet?

…If thou wilt with thine heart believe, and with thy mouth confess the Lord Jesus, thou shalt be saved, for “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; and he that believeth not shall be damned.”~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0045.cfm

The Forgotten Backslider

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

My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back…James 5:19

(H)e who is the means of the conversion of a sinner does, under God, “save a soul from death, and bide a multitude of sins,” but particular attention ought to be paid to backsliders; for in bringing backsliders into the church there is as much honor to God as in bringing in sinners. “Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him.” Alas! the poor backslider is often the most forgotten. A member of the church has disgraced his profession, the church excommunicated him, and he was accounted “a heathen man and a publican.” …Now-a-days it is the fashion, if a man falls, to have nothing to do with him. Men say, “he is a bad fellow, we will not go after him.” Beloved, suppose he is the worst, is not that the reason why you should go most after him? Suppose he never was a child of God-suppose he never knew the truth, is not that the greater reason why you should go after him? I do not understand your mawkish modesty, your excessive pride, that won’t let you go after the chief of sinners. The worse the case, the more is the reason why we should go. But suppose the man is a child of God, and you have cast him off-remember, he is your brother; he is one with Christ as much as you are; he is justified, he has the same righteousness that you have; and if, when he has sinned, you despise him, in that you despise him you despise his Master. Take heed! thou thyself mayest be tempted, and mayest one day fall. Like David, thou mayest walk on the top of thine house rather too high, and thou mayest see something which shall bring thee to sin. Then what wilt thou say, if then the brethren pass thee by with a sneer, and take no notice of thee? Oh! if we have one backslider connected with our church, let us take special care of him. Don’t deal hardly with him. Recollect you would have been a backslider too if it were not for the grace of God. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0045.cfm