salvation

Our Expectation is from God

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

Let Israel hope in the Lord: for with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption. -Psalm 130:7

You have not a hope apart from the ever-blessed Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. To the Father, you look with the expectation of a child who is an heir. To the Son of God you look, waiting for that wedding feast which shall be kept with Him to whom you are affianced by a betrothal that never can be contravened. To the Holy Ghost you look, for He is with you even now as the earnest of your inheritance, and you expect your inheritance to be of the same nature as the earnest which you already enjoy, and that you will be filled with His light, and love, and purity, and blessedness. For this you are looking, “My soul, wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from Him.” Can you say that? We are men of great expectations; but our expectations are not in men that die, or men that live, our expectations are in Him who never dies, and never fails, and never disappoints those who put their trust in Him. Say, dear hearer,—I cannot come round, and put the question to all of you individually,—but say, Dost thou belong to this approved company of men that hope in the Lord? ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/2455.htm

Our Future Hope

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

For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come. – Hebrews 13:14

No man hopes for evil things whose hope is in the Lord. We are not led, by hoping in the Lord, to hope even for temporal things beyond a certain limit. We hope not for riches; we hope not for a long continuance here, for we have heard a voice saying unto us, “This is not your rest, for it is polluted.” Our hope could not, even if it would, content itself with the things which are seen and temporal; we are hoping for a city whose Builder and Maker is God! We are hoping for joys which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have they entered into the heart of man. We are hoping for things so good that they can only come from God Himself; our hope about them, therefore, is entirely in Him. Are you a man with this good hope? Are you a man with a hope that you would not exchange for ten thousand worlds? Perhaps, out of your box, like Pandora’s, everything that seemed solid has gone; but at the bottom there lies a hope, which does not fly away. This is the bird which sitteth and singeth both day and night within your soul, even though you are shut up from going into the common haunts of men. You have a hope, a good hope, a hope of good things to come, in the hereafter, in the islands of the blessed, where you shall be forever at home with your God. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/2455.htm

We Are a Hoping People

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

Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.—Psalm 31:24.

We must not regard all parts of the Bible as alike addressed to every individual. It has many messages to all the sons of Adam, but there are certain portions of it which are enclosed, and belong only to that seed according to promise which is distinguished by faith, whereby it is known to be in covenant with God. Holy Scripture discriminates; it makes some general promises, but its choicer words are given to persons of a special character. Judge for yourselves how far you come under the description of the text, “all ye that hope in the Lord.”

You perceive…that they are men of hope. They have not yet all they expect to have; they have not yet entered into possession of their full inheritance; they have a hope which is looking out for something better on before; they have a living hope which peers into the future beyond even the dark river of death, a hope with eyes so bright that it seeth things invisible to others, and gazes upon glories which the unaided human eye has never beheld. Have you this good hope? Do all your measures lie about you, or behind you? If so, the text speaks not to thee; this arrow flies beyond thee. If thou art indeed a child of God, thy hope lieth where, as yet, thine eye does not see, nor thy hand grasp. God’s people are a hoping people, and therefore hoping for the fulfillment of the promises God has made to them. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/2455.htm

 

Are You Amongst the Beloved?

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

I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine… – Song of Solomon 6:3

I must enquire whether you read your Bibles… I want to know whether you search the Scriptures to find what is truth. And, if you are not a reader of the Bible, if you take doctrines second-hand, if you go to chapel, and say, “I do not like that,” what matters you not liking it, provided it is in the Bible? Is it Biblical truth, or is it not? If it is God’s truth, let us have it exalted. It may not suit you; but let me remind you, that the truth that is in Jesus never was palatable to carnal men, and I believe never will be.

(W)here there is true doctrine, there ought always to be a vital experience. Have you ever had an experience of your wretchedness, of your depravity, your inability, your death in sin? Have you ever felt life in Christ, an experience of the light of God’s countenance, of wrestling with corruption? Have you had a grace-given Holy Ghost-implanted experience of a communion with Christ?

“Faith without works is dead, being alone.” He that walketh in sin is a child of the devil; and he that walketh in righteousness is a child of light. Do not think, because you believe the right doctrines, therefore you are right. There are many that believe right, act wrong, and they perish. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked; whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap.”

Now let me beseech thee by the frailty of your own lives-by the shortness of time-by the dreadful realities of eternity-by the sins you have committed-by the pardon that you need-by the blood and wounds of Jesus-by His second coming to judge the world in righteousness-by the glories of heaven-by the awful horrors of hell-by time-by eternity-by all that is good-by all that is sacred-let me beg of you, as you love your own souls, to search and see whether ye are amongst the beloved…~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0012.cfm

The Sleep of a Happy Dismission

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

And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them. -Revelation 14:13

I have stood by the graves of many servants of the Lord. I have buried some of the excellent of the earth; and when I bid farewell to my brother down below there slumbering in his coffin, I usually commence my speech with those words, “So He giveth His beloved sleep.” Dear servants of Jesus! There I see them! What can I say of them, but that “so He giveth His beloved sleep?” Oh! happy sleep! This world is a state of tossing to and fro; but in that grave they rest. No sorrows there; no sighs, no groans, to mingle with the songs that warble from immortal tongues. Well may I address the dead thus:-“My brother, oftentimes hast thou fought the battles of this world; thou hast had thy cares, thy trials, and thy troubles; but now thou art gone-not to worlds unknown, but to yonder land of light and glory. Sleep on, brother! Thy soul sleepeth not, for thou art in heaven; but thy body sleepeth. Death hath laid thee in thy last couch; it may be cold, but it is sanctified; it may be damp, but it is safe; and on the resurrection morning, when the archangel shall set his trumpet to his mouth, thou shalt rise. ‘Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord: yea, saith the Spirit, for they rest from their labours, and their works do follow them.’ Sleep on in thy grave, my brother, for thou shalt rise to glory.”

Beloved Christian brother, wherefore dost thou fear to die? Come let me take thy hand:

To you and me by grace ’tis given,
To know the Saviour’s precious name;
And shortly we shall meet in heaven,
Our end, our hope, our way the same.

~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0012.cfm

This is Security

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, promises, salvation 5 Comments

It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so He giveth His beloved sleep. -Psalm 127:2

Arguing a little while ago with an Arminian, he said, “Sir, you ought to be a happy man; for if what you say be true, why you are as secure of being in heaven as if you were there.” I said, “Yes, I know it.” “Then you ought to live above cares and tribulations, and sing happily from morning to night.” I said, “So I ought, and so I will, God helping me.” This is security. “He giveth His beloved sleep.” To know that if I died I should enter heaven-to be as sure as I am of my own existence that God, having loved me with an everlasting love, and He being immutable, will never hate me if He has once loved me-to know that I must enter the kingdom of glory-is not this enough to make all burdens light, and give me the hind’s feet wherewith I may stand upon my high places. Happy state of security! “So He giveth His beloved sleep.”

And there is a sleep, my dear friends, of security, which is enjoyed on earth even in the midst of the greatest troubles. Do you remember that passage in the book of Ezekiel, where it is said, “They shall dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods?” A queer place to sleep in! “In the woods.” There is a wolf over yonder; there is a tiger in the jungle; and eagle is soaring in the air; a horde of robbers dwell in the dark forest. “Never mind,” says the child of God:

He that hath made his refuge God,
Shall find a most secure abode;
Shall walk all day beneath His shade,
And there at night shall rest his head.

~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0012.cfm

God Gives Us the Sleep of Security

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

I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustained me. -Psalm 3:5

Solomon slept with his armed men round his bed, and thus slumbered securely; but Solomon’s father slept one night on the bare ground-not in a palace-with no moat round his castle wall, but he slept quite as safely as his son, for he said, “I laid me down and slept, and I awaked, for the Lord sustained me.” Now, some persons never feel secure in this world at all; I query whether one half of my hearers feel themselves so. Suppose I burst out in a moment, and sing this-

I to the end shall endure,
As sure as the earnest is given;
More happy, but not more secure,
Are the glorified spirits in heaven.

You would say, that is too high doctrine; and I would reply, very likely it is for you, but it is the truth of God, and it is sweet doctrine for me. I love to know, that if I am predestinated according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, I must be saved; if I was purchased by the Son’s blood, I cannot be lost, for it would be impossible for Jesus Christ to lose one whom He has redeemed, otherwise He would be dissatisfied with His labours. I know that where He has begun the good work He will carry it on. I never fear that I shall fall away, or be lost; my only fear is, lest I should not have been right at first; but, provided I am right, if I be really a child of God, I might believe that the sun would be smitten with madness, and go reeling through the universe like a drunken man-I might believe that the stars would turn form their courses, and instead of marching with their measured tramp, as now they do, whirl on in wild courses like the dance of Bacchanals-I could even conceive that this great universe might all subside in God, “even as a moment’s foam subsides again upon the wave that bears it;” but neither reason, heresy, logic, eloquence, nor a conclave of divines, shall make me pay a moment’s attention to the vile suggestion that a child of God may ever perish. Hence I tread this earth with confidence. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0012.cfm