salvation

Jesus is Forever Mine

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

Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified. -Romans 8:30

We must just hint at one thought before we pass away and that is-God is unchanging in the objects of His love-not only in His love, but in the objects of it.

“If ever it should come to pass,
That sheep of Christ might fall away.
My fickle, feeble soul, alas,
Would fall a thousand times a day.”

If one dear saint of God had perished, so might all; if one of the covenant ones be lost, so may all be, and then there is no gospel promise true; but the Bible is a lie, and there is nothing in it worth my acceptance. I will be an infidel at once, when I can believe that a saint of God can ever fall finally. If God hath loved me once, then He will love me for ever.

“Did Jesus once upon me shine,
Then Jesus is for ever mine.”

The objects of everlasting love never change. Those whom God hath called, He will justify; whom He has justified, He will sanctify; and whom He sanctifies, He will glorify. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0001.cfm

Sinner! The Threat of God is Unchangeable!

Sherry Attributes of God, promises, prophecy, salvation 2 Comments

He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. -Mark 16:16

Every threatening of God, as well as every promise shall be fulfilled. Talk of decrees! I will tell you of a decree: “He that believeth not shall be damned.” That is a decree, and a statute that can never change. Be as good as you please, be as moral as you can, be as honest as you will, walk as uprightly as you may,-there stands the unchangeable threatening: “He that believeth not shall be damned.” What sayest thou to that, moralist? Oh, thou wishest thou couldst alter it, and say, “He that does not live a holy life shall be damned.” That will be true; but it does not say so. It says, “He that believeth not.” Here is the stone of stumbling, and the rock of offence; but you cannot alter it. You must believe or be damned, saith the Bible; and mark, that threat of God is as unchangeable as God Himself. And when a thousand years of hell’s torments shall have passed away, you shall look on high, and see written in burning letters of fire, “He that believeth not shall be damned.” “But, Lord, I am damned.” Nevertheless it says “shall be” still. And when a million ages have rolled away, and you are exhausted by your pains and agonies, you shall turn up your eye and still read “SHALL BE DAMNED,” unchanged, unaltered. And when you shall have thought that eternity must have spun out its last thread-that every particle of that which we call eternity, must have run out, you shall still see it written up there, “SHALL BE DAMNED.” O terrific thought! How dare I utter it? But I must. Ye must be warned, sirs, “lest ye also come into this place of torment.” Ye must be told rough things; for if God’s gospel is not a rough thing then the law is a rough thing; Mount Sinai is a rough thing. Woe unto the watchman that warns not the ungodly! God is unchanging in His threatenings. Beware, O sinner, for “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0001.cfm

His Plan is to Save Me and I Am Safe

Sherry Attributes of God, promises, prophecy, salvation 2 Comments

I am the Lord, I change not… – Malachi 3:6

God changes not in His plans. That man began to build, but was not able to finish, and therefore he changed his plan, as every wise man would do in such a case; he built upon a smaller foundation and commenced again. But has it ever been said that God began to build but was not able to finish? Nay. When He hath boundless stores at His command, and when His own right hand would create worlds as numerous as drops of morning dew, shall He ever stay because He has not power? and reverse, or alter, or disarrange His plan, because He cannot carry it out? “But,” say some, “perhaps God never had a plan.” Do you think God is more foolish than yourself then, sir? Do you go to work without a plan? “No,” say you, “I have always a scheme.” So has God. Every man has his plan, and God has a plan too. God is a master-mind; He arranged everything in His gigantic intellect long before He did it; and once having settled it, mark you, He never alters it. “This shall be done,” saith He, and the iron hand of destiny marks it down, and it is brought to pass. “This is My purpose,” and it stands, nor can earth or hell alter it. “This is My decree,” saith He, promulgate it angels; rend it down from the gate of heaven ye devils; but ye cannot alter the decree; it shall be done. God altereth not His plans; why should He? He is Almighty, and therefore can perform His pleasure. Why should He? He is the All-wise, and therefore cannot have planned wrongly. Why should He? He is the everlasting God, and therefore cannot die before His plan is accomplished. Why should He change? Ye worthless atoms of existence, ephemera of the day! Ye creeping insects upon this bayleaf of existence! ye may change your plans, but He shall never, never change His. Then has He told me that His plan is to save me? If so, I am safe.

“My name from the palms of His hands
Eternity will not erase;
Impress’d on His heart it remains,
In marks of indelible grace.”

~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0001.cfm

Semper Idem (always the same)

Sherry Attributes of God, salvation 2 Comments

For I, Jehovah, change not… 0 Malachi 3:6

He changes not in His attributes. Whatever the attributes of God were of old, that they are now; and of each of them we may sing “As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end, Amen.” Was He powerful? Was He the mighty God when He spake the world out of the womb of nonexistence? Was He the Omnipotent when He piled the mountains and scooped out the hollow places for the rolling deep? Yes, He was powerful then, and His arm is unpalsied now, H is the same giant in His might; the sap of His nourishment is undried, and the strength of His soul stands the same for ever. Was He wise when He constituted this mighty globe, when He laid the foundations of the universe? Had He wisdom when He planned the way of our salvation, and when from all eternity He marked out His awful plans? Yes, and He is wise now; He is not less skillful, He has not less knowledge; His eye which seeth all things is undimmed; His ear which heareth all the cries, sighs, sobs, and groans of His people, is not rendered heavy by the years which He hath heard their prayers. He is unchanged in His wisdom, He knows as much now as ever, neither more nor less; He has the same consummate skill, and the same infinite forecastings. He is unchanged, blessed be His name, in His justice. just and holy was He in the past; just and holy is He now. He is unchanged in His truth; He has promised, and He brings it to pass; He hath saith it, and it shall be done. He varies not in the goodness, and generosity, and benevolence of His nature. He is not become an Almighty tyrant, whereas He was once an Almighty Father; but His strong love stands like a granite rock, unmoved by the hurricanes of our iniquity. And blessed be His dear name, He is unchanged in His love. When He first wrote the covenant, how full His heart was with affection to His people. He knew that His Son must die to ratify the articles of that agreement. He knew right well that He must rend His best beloved from His bowels, and send Him down to earth to bleed and die. He did not hesitate to sign that mighty covenant; nor did He shun its fulfillment. He loves as much now as He did then, and when suns shall cease to shine, and moons to show their feeble light, He still shall love on for ever and for ever. Take any one attribute of God, and I will write semper idem on it (always the same). Take any one thing you can say of God now, and it may be said not only in the dark past, but in the bright future it shall always remain the same: “I am Jehovah, I change not.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0001.cfm

Let Us Glorify and Praise God

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

“And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.”-Luke 2:20

What was the subject of their praise? They praised God for what they had heard-for the good tidings of great joy that a Saviour was born unto them. Let us copy them; let us also raise a song of thanksgiving that we have heard of Jesus and His salvation. They also praised God for what they had seen. There is the sweetest music-what we have experienced, what we have felt within, what we have made our own-“the things which we have made touching the King.” It is not enough to hear about Jesus: mere hearing may tune the harp, but the fingers of living faith must create the music. If you have seen Jesus with the God-giving sight of faith, suffer no cobwebs to linger among the harpstrings, but loud to the praise of sovereign grace, awake your psaltery and harp. One point for which they praised God was the agreement between what they had heard and what they had seen. Observe the last sentence-“As it was told unto them.” Have you not found the gospel to be in yourselves just what the Bible said it would be? Jesus said He would give you rest-have you not enjoyed the sweetest peace in Him? He said you should have joy, and comfort, and life through believing in Him-have you not received all these? Are not His ways ways of pleasantness, and His paths paths of peace? Surely you can say with the queen of Sheba, “The half has not been told me.” I have found Christ more sweet than His servants ever said He was. I looked upon His likeness as they painted it, but it was a mere daub compared with Himself; for the King in His beauty outshines all imaginable loveliness. Surely what we have “seen” keeps pace with, nay, far exceeds, what we have “heard.” Let us, then, glorify and praise God for a Saviour so precious, and so satisfying. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://bible.christiansunite.com/Morning_and_Evening/chme0128.shtml

I shall see God

Sherry Christian Life, promises, salvation 4 Comments

“In my flesh shall I see God.”-Job 19:26

Mark the subject of Job’s devout anticipation “I shall see God.” He does not say, “I shall see the saints”-though doubtless that will be untold felicity-but, “I shall see God.” It is not-“I shall see the pearly gates, I shall behold the walls of jasper, I shall gaze upon the crowns of gold,” but “I shall see God.” This is the sum and substance of heaven, this is the joyful hope of all believers. It is their delight to see Him now in the ordinances by faith. They love to behold Him in communion and in prayer; but there in heaven they shall have an open and unclouded vision, and thus seeing “Him as He is,” shall be made completely like Him. Likeness to God-what can we wish for more? And a sight of God-what can we desire better? Some read the passage, “Yet, I shall see God in my flesh,” and find here an allusion to Christ, as the “Word made flesh,” and that glorious beholding of Him which shall be the splendour of the latter days. Whether so or not it is certain that Christ shall be the object of our eternal vision; nor shall we ever want any joy beyond that of seeing Him. Think not that this will be a narrow sphere for the mind to dwell in. It is but one source of delight, but that source is infinite. All His attributes shall be subjects for contemplation, and as He is infinite under each aspect, there is no fear of exhaustion. His works, His gifts, His love to us, and His glory in all His purposes, and in all His actions, these shall make a theme which will be ever new. The patriarch looked forward to this sight of God as a personal enjoyment. “Whom mine eye shall behold, and not another.” Take realizing views of heaven’s bliss; think what it will be to you. “Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty.” All earthly brightness fades and darkens as we gaze upon it, but here is a brightness which can never dim, a glory which can never fade-“I shall see God.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://bible.christiansunite.com/Morning_and_Evening/chme0110.shtml

 

Divine Expulsion

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

Thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong. -Joshua 17:18

It is a great encouragement to valor to be assured of victory, for then a man goes forth to war in confidence and ventures where else he had been afraid to go. Our warfare is with evil within us and around us, and we ought to be persuaded that we are able to get the victory and that we shall do so in the name of the Lord Jesus. We are not riding for a fall, but to win; and win we shall. The grace of God in its omnipotence is put forth for the overflow of evil in every form: hence the certainty of triumph.

Certain of our sins find chariots of iron in our constitution, our former habits, our associations, and our occupations. Nevertheless we must overcome them. They are very strong, and in reference to them we are very weak; yet in the name of God we must master them, and we will. If one sin has dominion of us we are not the Lord’s free men. A man who is held by only one chain is still a captive. There is no going to heaven with one sin ruling within us, for of the saints it is said, “Sin shall not have dominion over you.” Up, then, and slay every Canaanite, and break to shivers every chariot of iron! The Lord of hosts is with us, and who shall resist His sin-destroying power? ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://bible.christiansunite.com/Faiths_Checkbook/faith1216.shtml