salvation

Christ Will Come

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

Therefore, the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”…Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him…Now Martha said to Jesus…“But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” – John 11:3,,21,22

You say, “I have prayed long for a dear friend, and I believed, some time ago, that my prayer was heard, and that there was a change for the better; indeed, there was an apparent change; but it came to nothing.” You are just like Martha. She kept saying to herself, “Christ will come. Brother is very ill, but Jesus will come before he dies; I know He will. It cannot be that He will stay away much longer; and when He comes, Lazarus will soon be well.” Day after day, Mary and she sent their messenger to look toward the Jordan, to see if Jesus was not coming. But He did not come. It must have been a terrible disappointment to both these sisters; enough to stagger the strongest faith that had ever had in the sympathy of Christ. But Martha got the better of it, and she said, “Even now, though disappointed so bitterly, I believe that Thou canst do whatsoever Thou wilt.” Learn from Martha, my discouraged brother. You thought that your friend was converted, but he wanted to go back again; you thought that there was a real work of grace upon his heart, but it turned out to be a mere disappointment, and disappeared, like the mist in the sun. But can you not believe over the head of your disappointment, and say, “I believe even now, even now”? Blessed shall your faith be, if it gets so far. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2249.cfm

The Living Intercessor is Mighty to Save

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, prayer, promises, salvation Leave a comment

“But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” – John 11:22

If you are in the same position as Martha, I can bring out several points of likeness which should encourage you to persevere. You, mother, have prayed for your boy; you, father, have pleaded for your girl; you, dear wife, have been much in prayer for your husband; you beloved teacher, have frequently brought your class before God; and yet there is a bad case pressing upon your mind, and your heart is heavy about some dear one, whose condition seems hopeless. I want you to believe that now, even now, Christ can grant your prayer, and save that soul; that now, even now, He can give you such a blessing that the past delay shall be more than recompensed to you.

There is one, for instance, in whom we are deeply interested, and we can say that the case has caused great sorrow. So, Martha could have said of Lazarus. “Blessed master”, she might have said, “my brother took the fever”- (for I should think it was a fever that he had) -“and I watched him; I brought cold water from the well, and I laved his burning brow; I was by his bedside all night. Nobody knows how my heart was wrung with anguish as I saw the hot beaded drops upon his brow and tried to moisten his parched tongue and lips. I sorrowed as though I was about to die myself; but in spite of all that, I believe even now that Thou canst help me; even now.” Alas! There are many griefs in the world like this. A mother says, “Nobody knows what I have suffered through that son of mine. I shall die of a broken heart because of his conduct.” “No one can tell,” says the father, “what grief that daughter of mine has caused me. I have sometimes wished that she had never been born.” There have been many, many such stories told into my ear, in which a beloved one has been the cause of anguish and agony untold to gracious, loving hearts. To those so sorely troubled I now speak. Can you believe that even now the living Intercessor is “mighty to save”? It may be that you are at this moment trembling on the verge of the blessing you so long have sought. God give you faith to grasp it “even now”! ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2249.cfm

Even Now

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, prayer, promises, salvation, The Holy Spirit 1 Comment

Therefore, the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”…So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was…”But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” John 11:3,6,22

I hope that there are a great many persons here who are interested in the souls of those around them. We shall certainly never exercise faith concerning those for whose salvation we have no care. I trust, also, that we are diligent in looking after individuals, especially those who are amongst our own family and friends. This is what Martha did; her whole care was for her brother. It is often easier to have faith that Christ can save sinners in general, than to believe that He can come into our own home and save some particular member of our household. But, oh, the joy when this comes to pass; when we are able to kneel beside some of our loved ones and rejoice with them in being made alive by the power of the Holy Ghost! We cannot expect to have this privilege, however, unless like Martha we send our prayers to Jesus, and go to meet Him, and tell Him of our need. In the presence of Christ it seems very natural to trust Him even at the worst extremity. It is when we are at our wits’ end that He delights to help us. When our hopes seem to be buried, then it is that God can give a resurrection. When our Isaac is on the altar, then the heavens are opened, and the voice of the Eternal is heard. Art thou giving way to despair concerning thy dear friend? Art thou beginning to doubt thy Saviour, and to complain of His delay? Be sure that Jesus will come at the right time, though He must be the judge of which is the best time for Him to appear.

Believe that Christ can save even now. You believe, perhaps, that Christ can save. I want you to be persuaded that He can save…even now; that is to say, at this exact hour and minute, going by the clock, while you hear these words, even now, Christ can forgive; even now, Christ can save; even now, Christ can bless. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2249.cfm

The Unshakable

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

Now this, “Yet once more” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. – Hebrews 12:27

Many things in our possession at the present moment can be shaken, and it ill becomes a Christian to set much store by them, for there is nothing stable under these rolling skies. Change is written on all things. If the things that can be shaken would all be taken away, you may derive real comfort from the things that cannot be shaken, which will remain.

Whatever your losses have been, or may be, you enjoy present salvation. You are standing at the foot of the cross, trusting alone in the merit of Jesus’ precious blood. No rise or fall of the markets can interfere with your salvation in Him. No breaking of banks, no failures, no bankruptcies can touch that. He who is God and man loves you with all the strength of His affectionate nature, nothing can affect that. We cannot lose our best portion and richest heritage. Let us show that we are not such little children as to be cast down by what may happen in this poor fleeting state of time. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

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Sow the Seed. You Can Never Tell What God Will Bless

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

Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth. If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth… – Ecclesiastes 11:1-3

What says Solomon? “Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.” Go, my brothers and sisters, and find out the most unlikely people, and begin to work for God with them. Now, try, if you can, to pick out the worst street in your neighbourhood, and visit from house to house, and if there is a man or woman more given up than another, make that person the object of your prayers and of your holy endeavours. Cast your bread upon the waters; then it will be seen that you are trusting God, not trusting the soil, nor trusting the seed.

“Give a portion to seven, and also to eight.” Talk of Christ to everybody you meet with. If God has not blessed you to one, try another; and if He has blessed you with one, try two others; and if He has blessed you to two others, try four others; and always keep on enlarging your seed-plot as your harvest comes in.

Learn this lesson: “If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth;” and say to yourself, “If God has made me full of grace, I will go and pour it out to others. I know the joy of being saved, if I have had fellowship with Him, I will make a point of being more industrious than ever, because God has been unusually gracious to me. My fulness shall be helpful to others. I will empty myself for the good of others, even as the clouds pour down the rain upon the earth.” Beloved, sow in the morning, sow in the evening, sow at night, sow all day long, for you can never tell what God will bless. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2264.cfm

Disregard What You Feel or Think

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

Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters… – Isaiah 32:20

Some one may say, “I would not mind the moral condition of the people, but it is their surroundings that are the trouble. What is the use of trying to save a man while he lives, as he does, in such a horrible street, in one room? What is the use of seeking to raise such and such a woman while she is surrounded, as she is, with such examples? The very atmosphere seems tainted.” Just so, dear friend; while you observe the winds, and regard the clouds, you will not sow, and you will not reap. You will not attempt the work, and of course you will not complete what you do not commence. You can go on making all kinds of excuses for doing nothing with certain people, because you feel or think that they are not those whom God is likely to bless. I know this to be a common case, even with very serious and earnest workers for Christ.

Let me carry this principle, however, a little further. You may unduly consider circumstances in reference to the business of your own eternal life. You may, in that matter, observe the winds, and never sow; you may regard the clouds, and never reap. “I feel,” says one, “as if I never can be saved. There never was such a sinner as I am. My sins are peculiarly black.” Yes, and if you keep on regarding them, and do not remember the Saviour, and His infinite power to save, you will not sow in prayer and faith. “Ah, sir; but you do not know the horrible thoughts I have; the dark forebodings that cross my mind!” I know what I feel myself, and I expect that your feelings are very like my own; but be what they may, if, instead of looking to Christ, you are always studying your own condition, your own withered hopes, your own broken resolutions, then you will still keep where you are, and you will neither sow nor reap. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2264.cfm

Go and Sow Regardless

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

Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters… – Isaiah 32:0

Now, if I were to consider in my mind nothing but the natural depravity of man, I should never preach again. To preach the gospel to sinners, is as foolish a thing as to bid dead men rise out of their graves. For that reason, I do it, because it has pleased God, “by the foolishness of preaching, to save them that believe.” When I look upon the alienation from God, the hardness of the human heart, I see that old Adam is too strong for me; and if I regarded that one cloud of the fall, and original sin, and the natural depravity of man, I, for one, should neither sow nor reap. I am afraid that there has been a good deal of this, however. Many preachers have contemplated the ruin of man, and they have had so clear a view of it that they dare not say, “Thus saith the Lord, Ye dry bones, live.” They are unable to cry, “Dear Master, speak through us, and say, ‘Lazarus, come forth!’ ” Some seem to say, “Go and see if Lazarus has any kind of feeling of his condition in the grave. If so, I will call him out, because I believe he can come;” thus putting all the burden on Lazarus and depending upon Lazarus for it…If our Master bids us call him out from his grave, we can call him out, and he will come; not because he can come by his own power, but because God can make him come, for the time now is when they that are in their graves shall hear the voice of God, and they that shall hear shall live.

You know, from observation, that there are some persons who are much worse than others, some who are not amenable to kindness, or any other human treatment. They do not seem to be terrified by law or affected by love…There are such boys, and there are such girls, full of mischief, and levity, or full of malice and bitterness; and you say to yourself, “I cannot do anything with them. It is of no use.” Just so. You are observing the winds, and regarding the clouds. You will not be one of those to whom Isaiah says, “Blessed be ye that sow beside all waters.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2264.cfm