salvation

The Suffering Person

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

But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed…the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. – Isaiah 53:5,6

Sin was made to meet upon the suffering person of the innocent substitute. I have said “the suffering person” because the connection of the text requires it. “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed.” It is in connection with this, and as an explanation of all His grief, that it is added, “The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” The Lord Jesus Christ would have been incapable of receiving the sin of all His people as their substitute had He been Himself a sinner; but He was, as to His divine nature, worthy to be hymned as “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabaoth;” and, as to His human nature, He was, by miraculous conception, free from all original sin, and in the holiness of His life He was such that He was the Lamb of God, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, and therefore He was on all accounts capable of standing in the room, place, and stead of sinful men. The doctrine of the text is, that Jesus Christ, who was man of the substance of his mother, and who was, nevertheless, very God of very God, most true and glorious Creator, Preserver, did stand in such a position as to take upon Himself the iniquity of all His people, remaining still Himself innocent; having no personal sin, being incapable of any, but yet taking the sin of others upon Himself…”For He hath made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0694.cfm

All Sins Put Upon Our Redeemer

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

…and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. – Isaiah 53:6

Sin I may compare to the rays of some evil sun. Sin was scattered throughout this world as abundantly as light, and Christ is made to suffer the full effect of the baleful rays, which stream from the sun of sin. God as it were holds up a burning glass and concentrates all the scattered rays in a focus upon Christ. That which was scattered abroad everywhere is here brought into terrible concentration; upon the devoted head of our blessed Lord all the sin of His people was made to meet. Before a great storm when the sky is growing black and the wind is beginning to howl, you have seen the clouds hurrying from almost every point of the compass as though the great day of battle were come, and all the dread artillery of God were hurrying to the field. In the center of the whirlwind and the storm, when the lightnings threaten to set all heaven on a blaze, and the black clouds labor to conceal the light of day, you have a very graphic metaphor of the meeting of all sin upon the person of Christ; the sin of the ages past and the sin of the ages to come, the sins of those of the elect who were in heathendom, and of those who were in Jewry; the sin of the young and of the old, sin original and sin actual, all made to meet; all the black clouds concentrated and brought together into one great tempest that it might rush in one tremendous tornado upon the person of the great Redeemer and substitute. As when a thousand streamlets dash down the mountain side in the day of rain, and all meet in one deep swollen lake, that lake the Savior’s heart, those gushing torrents the sins of us all who are here described as making a full confession of our sins… the Lord made to meet on Him the debts of all His people so that He became responsible for all the obligations of every one of those whom His Father had given Him whatsoever their debts might be. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0694.cfm

This Blessed Unmannerliness

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

Love…endures all things. – 1 Corinthians 13:7

What did our Lord say, “I will make you fishers of men.” If you go out fishing for souls you will have to endure all things, for it will come to pass that some whom you have been seeking for a long time will grow worse instead of better. Endure this among the “all things.” Those whom you seek to bless may seem to be altogether unteachable, they may shut their ears and refuse to hear you; never mind, endure all things. They may grow sour and sullen, and revile you in their anger, but be not put about by them; let them struggle till they are wearied, and meanwhile do you quietly wait, saying to yourself, “I must save them.” A warder who has to take care of insane persons will frequently be attacked by them, and have to suffer hard blows; but what does he do? Strike the patient and make a fight of it? No, he holds him down and pins him fast; but not in anger, for he pities him too much to be angry with him. Does a nurse with a delirious patient take any notice of his cross words, and grumbling, and outcries? Not she. She says, “I must try to save this man’s life,” and so with great kindness she “endureth all things.” If you were a fireman, and found a person in an upper room, and the house was on fire, would you not struggle with him rather than let him remain in the room and burn. You would say, “I will save you in spite of yourself.” Perhaps the foolish body would call you names, and say, “Let me alone, why should you intrude into my chamber?” But you would say, “Never mind my intrusion; I will apologize afterwards for my rudeness, but you must be out of the fire first.” I pray God give you this blessed unmannerliness, this sweet casting of all things to the wind, if by any means you may save some. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1617.cfm

Love Believes in the Salvation of Men

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

Love…believes all things… – 1 Corinthians 13:7

Love believes that the precious blood of Christ can redeem the bondslaves of sin and Satan and break their iron chains; she believes that the power of the Holy Spirit can change a heart of granite into a heart of flesh. Love, therefore, believing this, believes also that God can save this sinner by herself, and she therefore begins to speak to him, expecting that the word she speaks will be God’s instrument of salvation…She does not refrain from preaching Christ through fear of failure, but she believes in the great possibilities which lie in the gospel and in the Spirit of God, and so she deals earnestly with the man next her. She believes in her own principles, she believes in the grace of God, she believes in the power of the Spirit of God, she believes in the force of truth, she believes in the existence of conscience, and so she is moved to set about her saving work. She believeth all things.

Brethren, do you want a model of this? Then I beseech you look to your divine Master. See Him in the morning when the sheep are counted, missing one of them, and so full of faith is He that He can find the lost one, that He leaves the ninety and nine, and cheerfully enters the pathless wilderness. See how He bounds over the mountains! How He descends the ravines! He is seeking His sheep until He finds it, for He is fully assured that He shall find it. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, for His faith is great in the salvation of men, and He goes forth to it believing that sinners shall be saved. I delight in the deep, calm faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. He had no faith in man’s goodness, for “He knew what was in man”; but He had great faith in what could be done in men and what could be wrought for them, and for the joy that was set before Him in this He endured the cross, despising the shame. He had faith that grand things would come of His salvation-men would be purified, error would be driven out, false-hood would be slain, and love would reign supreme. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1617.cfm

Bear All Things for Christ’s Sake

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

Charity beareth all things… – 1 Corinthians 13:7

If you should meet with some extraordinary sinner who opens his mouth with cruel speeches such as you have never heard before, and if by attempting to do him good you only excite him to ribaldry and blasphemy, do not be astonished; have at him again, for charity “beareth all things,” whatever they may be. Push on and say, “Yes, all this proves to me how much you want saving. You are my man; if I get you to Christ there will be all the greater glory to God.” O blessed charity, which can thus cover all things and bear all things for Christ’s sake.

Do you want an example of it? Would you see the very mirror and perfection of the charity that beareth all things? Behold your divine Lord. Oh, what He has covered! It is a tempting topic, but I will not dwell on it. How His glorious righteousness, His wondrous splendour of love has covered all our faults and all their consequences, treating us as if He saw no sin in Jacob, neither perversity in Israel. Think what He bore when He came unto His own and His own received Him not! What a covering was that when He said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” What a pitying sight of the fearful misery of man our Lord Jesus had when holy tears bedewed those sacred eyes! What a generous blindness to their infamous cruelty He manifested when He prayed for His bloodthirsty enemies. O beloved, you will never be tempted, and taunted, and tried as He was; yet in your own shorter measure may you possess that love which can silently bear all things for the elect’s sake and for Christ’s sake, that the multitude of the redeemed may be accomplished, and that Christ, through you, may see of the travail of His soul. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1617.cfm

Still Speak Concerning Christ

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

Love bears all things… – 1 Corinthians 13:7

Those who love the souls of men must be prepared to cover much when they deal with them, and to bear much from them in silence. When I begin to seek the conversion of anyone, I must try as much as ever I can to ignore any repulsiveness that there may be in his character. I know that he is a sinner, else I should not seek his salvation; but if he happens to be one who has fallen very low in the esteem of others, I must not treat him as such, but cover his worst points. You cannot possibly bring the Samaritan woman who has had five husbands into a right state of mind by “wondering that he spake with the woman.” Thus, the disciples acted, but not so their Master, for He sat on the well and talked with her and made Himself her willing companion that He might be her gracious Saviour; He ignored her sin so far as to converse with her for her good.

You will not long have begun this holy work before you will discover in the heart you seek to win much ignorance of the gospel. Bear with it and bring forward the text which sheds light on that darkness and teach the truth which will remove that error. Ere long you will have to contend with hardness of heart, for when a man knows the truth, he is not always willing to receive it. Bear it and be not vexed…You are sent to turn men from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God…In addition to this perhaps you will have ridicule poured upon you; your attempts to convert will be converted into jests. Bear it; bear all things! Remember how the multitude thrust out the tongue at your Lord and Master when he was dying and be not you so proud as to think yourself too good to be laughed at. Still speak concerning Christ, and whatever happens, bear all things. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1617.cfm

Love Overcomes Evil

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation 1 Comment

Charity…beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. – 1 Corinthians 13:7

Happily, though love has many difficulties, it overcomes them all, and overcomes them four times. There is such vitality in evil that it leaps up from the field whereon it seemed to be slain, and rages with all its former fury. First, we overcome evil by patience, which “beareth all things.” Let the injury be inflicted, we will forgive it, and not be provoked: even seventy times seven will we bear in silence. If this suffice not, by God’s grace we will overcome by faith: we trust in Jesus Christ, we rely upon our principles, we look for divine succour, and so we “believe all things.” We overcome a third time by hope: we rest in expectation that gentleness will win, and that long-suffering will wear out malice, for we look for the ultimate victory of everything that is true and gracious, and so we “hope all things.” We finish the battle by perseverance: we abide faithful to our resolve to love, we will not be irritated into unkindness, we will not be perverted from generous, all-forgiving affection, and so we win the battle by steadfast non-resistance. We have set our helm towards the port of love, and towards it we will steer, come what may. Baffled often, love “endureth all things.”

It seems to me that I might read my text as if it said that love conquers in all stages of her life. She begins in conversion, and straightway those that mark her birth are angry, and the powers of evil are at once aroused to seek her destruction. Then she “beareth all things.” Let them mock, love never renders railing for railing: Isaac is not to be provoked by Ishmael’s jeers. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1617.cfm