salvation

Soon to Be Set Free

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation, Sovereignty of God Leave a comment

Lord, now lettest thou Thy servant depart in peace… – Luke 2:29

Review attentively the words of the aged saint: they have much instruction in them. Every believer shall in death depart in the same sense as Simeon did. The word (depart) here used is suggestive and encouraging: it may be applied either to escape from confinement, or to deliverance from toil. The Christian man in the present state is like a bird in a cage: his body imprisons his soul. His spirit, it is true, ranges heaven and earth, and laughs at the limits of matter, space, and time; but for all that, the flesh is a poor scabbard unworthy of the glittering soul, a mean cottage unfit for a princely spirit, a clog, a burden, and a fetter. When we would watch and pray, we find full often that the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. “We that are in this body do groan.” The fact is, we are caged birds; but the day cometh when the great Master shall open the cage door and release the prisoners. We need not dread the act of unfastening the door, for it will give to our soul the liberty for which it only pines, and then, with the wings of a dove, covered with silver, and its feathers with yellow gold, though aforetime it had lien among the pots, it will soar into its native air, singing all the way with a rapture beyond imagination. Simeon looked upon dying as a mode of being let loose-a deliverance out of durance vile, an escape from captivity, a release from bondage. The like redemption shall be dealt unto us. How often does my soul feel like an unhatched chick, shut up within a narrow shell, in darkness and discomfort! The life within labors hard to chip and break the shell, to know a little more of the great universe of truth and see in clearer light the infinite of divine love. Oh, happy day, when the shell shall be broken, and the soul, complete in the image of Christ, shall enter into the freedom for which she is preparing! We look for that, and we shall have it. God, who gave us to aspire to holiness and spirituality and to likeness to Himself, never implanted those aspirations in us out of mockery. He meant to gratify these holy longings, or, else, He would not have excited them. Ere long we, like Simeon, shall depart-that is, we shall be set free to go in peace. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1014.cfm

We Have Peace with God

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation, Sovereignty of God, The Father Leave a comment

Lord, now lettest thou Thy servant depart in peace… – Luke 2:29

No man can depart in peace who has not lived in peace; but he who has attained peace in life shall possess peace in death, and an eternity of peace after death. “Being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jesus has bequeathed us peace, saying, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you.” “For He is our peace,” and “the fruit of the Spirit is peace.” We are reconciled unto God by the death of His Son. Whatever peace flowed in the heart of Simeon, I am sure it was not of a diviner nature than that which dwells in the bosom of every true believer. If sin be pardoned, the quarrel is ended; if the atonement is made, then is peace established, a peace covenanted to endure for ever. We are now led in the paths of peace; we walk the King’s highway, of which it is written, “no lion shall be there;” we are led beside the still waters and made to lie down in green pastures. We feel no slavish fear of God, though He be “a consuming fire” even to us; we tremble no longer to approach into His presence, who deigns to be our Father. The precious blood upon the mercy-seat has made it a safe place for us to resort at all times; boldness has taken the place of trembling. The throne of God is our rejoicing, though once it was our terror.

Therefore, brethren, having peace with God, we may be sure that we shall “depart in peace.” We need not fear that the God of all consolation, who has already enriched us in communion with Himself, and peace in Christ Jesus, will desert us at the last. He will help us to sing a sweet swan-song, and our tabernacle shall be gently taken down, to be rebuilt more enduringly in the fair country beyond Jordan. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1014.cfm

The Eye of Faith Sees Him

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation, Sovereignty of God, The Holy Spirit Leave a comment

Lord, now lettest thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word: For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation… Luke 2:29,30

All the saints have seen God’s salvation, therefore, should they all depart in peace. It is true, we cannot take up the infant Christ into our arms, but He is “formed in us, the hope of glory.” It is true, we cannot look upon Him with these mortal eyes, but we have seen Him with those eyes immortal which death cannot dim-the eyes of our own spirit which have been opened by God’s Holy Spirit. A sight of Christ with the natural eye is not saving, for thousands saw Him and then cried, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” After all, it was in Simeon’s case the spiritual eye that saw, the eye of faith that truly beheld the Christ of God; for there were others in the temple who saw the babe; there was the priest who performed the act of circumcision, and the other officials who gathered round the group; but I do not know that any of them saw God’s salvation. They saw the little innocent child that was brought there by His parents, but they saw nothing remarkable in Him; perhaps Simeon and Anna, alone of all those who were in the temple, saw with the inward eye the real Anointed of God revealed as a feeble infant. So, though you and I miss the outward sight of Christ, we need not regret it, it is but secondary as a privilege; if with the inner sight we have seen the Incarnate God, and accepted Him as our salvation, we are blessed with holy Simeon. Abraham saw Christ’s day before it dawned, and even thus, after it has passed, we see it, and with faithful Abraham we are glad. We have looked unto Him, and we are lightened. We have beheld the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world. In the “despised and rejected of men” we have seen the anointed Savior; in the crucified and buried One, who afterwards rose again, and ascended into glory, we have seen salvation, full, free, finished. Why, therefore, should we think ourselves less favored than Simeon? From like causes like results shall spring: we shall depart in peace, for we have seen God’s salvation. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1014.cfm

Made Meet to Depart

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, prophecy, salvation, Sovereignty of God, The Father Leave a comment

“Lord, now lettest thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word: for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation.”- Luke 2:29-30.

Blessed wert thou, O Simeon, for flesh and blood had not revealed this unto thee; neither had it enabled thee so cheerfully to bid the world farewell. The flesh clings to the earth-it is dust and owns affluity to the ground out of which it was taken; it loathes to part from mother earth. Even old age, with its infirmities, does not make men really willing to depart out of this world. By nature we hold to life with a terrible tenacity; and even when we sigh over the evils of life, and repine concerning its ills, and fancy that we wish ourselves away, it is probable that our readiness to depart lies only upon the surface, but down deep in our hearts we have no will to go. Flesh and blood had not revealed unto Simeon that he saw God’s salvation in that babe which he took out of the arms of Mary and embraced with eager joy. God’s grace had taught him that this was the Savior, and God’s grace at the same time loosened the cords which bound him to earth and made him feel the attractions of the better land. Blessed is that man who has received by grace a meekness for heaven, and a willingness to depart to that better land: let him magnify the Lord who has wrought so great a work in him. As Paul says, “Thanks be unto the Father who hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.” Certainly, none of us were meet by nature-not even Simeon; the fitness of the venerable man was all the handiwork of God, and so, also, was his anxiety to obtain the inheritance for which God had prepared him. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1014.cfm

Only at the Feet of Jesus

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, repentance, salvation, Sovereignty of God, The Holy Spirit, the unbelieving life Leave a comment

And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard His word. – Luke 10:39

Only at the feet of Jesus can the divine power be gained which works in us holiness and sanctifies us practically; therefore, as you must be purified or you cannot enter heaven, you must come to Jesus’ feet. Moreover, it is at the feet of Jesus that the soul’s ignorance is removed; and since ignorance concerning ourselves and our God must be taken from us, we must be taught of Him. God is “our light and our salvation;” our light first, and our salvation in consequence. We must have the light. The spiritually blind man cannot enter heaven, he must have his eyes opened, but Jesus alone can work that miracle of grace. Neither can we receive true light except from Him, for He is “the true light, that lighteth every man that cometh into the world;” none are ever enlightened, except by Him. “In Him is light-all light; and the light is the light of men.”

In order to enter heaven, it is necessary that our nature should become like the nature of Christ. This earth is for those who bear the image of the first Adam; but the new heaven and the new earth are for those who bear the image of the second Adam.. We must, by some means, acquire the nature of the second and heavenly Adam, and this must be wrought in us by regeneration, and developed by acquaintance with Him. By sitting at His feet, and beholding Him, we become changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord. If we reject the Lord Jesus as our trust, teacher, and exemplar, we have no new life, we are not new creatures in Christ, and we can never be admitted within the holy gates where those alone dwell who are fashioned after His likeness. We must, then, sit at His feet…

Woe, woe, woe eternally to the soul that will not sit at the feet of Jesus! He shall be trodden beneath His feet in His anger and crushed in His hot displeasure. God grant that may never be our portion. To sit at Jesus’ feet is the one thing needful then. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1015.cfm

First, Attend to Your Own Salvation

Sherry Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, repentance, salvation Leave a comment

And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard His word. – Luke 10:39

It is astonishing the many letters I receive and interviews I am asked to give, in order to adjust in people’s minds the doctrine of predestination and the fact of free agency; and equally remarkable is the way in which young people, and old people too, will pick out extremely difficult texts, perhaps relating to the Second Advent, or to the battle of Armageddon, and they must needs have these opened up to them before they will believe the gospel. I think it utterly useless to begin upon such things with those who are unsaved. One thing is needful, sir, and that is by no means a puzzling matter; it is plainly this, that thou submit thyself to Jesus Christ and sit at His feet. That is needful: as for the doctrines of election and the second advent, they are important, but they are neither the most essential nor the most pressing. The one thing needful for a seeking soul is that it receives Jesus and become submissive to Him, sitting as a disciple at His feet and as a servant doing His will. It is true there is the ninth chapter of Romans in the Bible, and a precious chapter it is: but the seeking sinner should take care to read first the third chapter of John, and till he has mastered that, he had better let the Romans alone. Go first to the business which concerns your salvation; attend to that, and when all is right with you, then, at Jesus’ feet, you will be in the best possible position to learn all that can be learned of the higher mysteries and the deeper truths. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1015.cfm

Choosing That Good Part

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation, Sovereignty of God, The Father Leave a comment

But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. – Luke 10:42

We have no difficulty whatever in deciding what the one thing is. We are not allowed to say that it is the Saviour, for He is not a thing; and we are not permitted to say that it is attention to our own salvation, for although that would be true, it is not mentioned in the context. The one thing needful evidently is that which Mary chose-that good part which should not be taken away from her. Very clearly this was to sit at Jesus’ feet and hear His word. This and nothing less, this and nothing more.

The mere posture of sitting down and listening to the Saviour’s word was nothing in itself: it was that which it indicated. It indicated, in Mary’s case, a readiness to believe what the Saviour taught, to accept and to obey-nay to delight in, the precepts which fell from His lips. And this is the one thing needful-absolutely needful; for no rebel can enter the kingdom of heaven with the weapons of rebellion in his hands. We cannot know Christ while we resist Christ: we must be reconciled to His gentle sway, and confess that He is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

To sit at Jesus’ feet implies faith as well as submission. Mary believed in what Jesus said, and, therefore, sat there to be taught by Him. It is absolutely necessary that we have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, in His power as God and man, in His death as being expiatory, in His crucifixion as being a sacrifice for our sins. We must trust Him for time and eternity, in all His relationships as Prophet, Priest, and King. We must rely on Him; He must be our hope, our salvation, our all in all. This one thing is absolutely necessary: without it we are undone. A believing submission, and a submissive faith in Jesus we must have, or perish. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1015.cfm