salvation

Never Despair Over a Lost Soul

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

…I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished... suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. – Acts 22:5,6

I remember being in Dr. John Campbell’s house, one day, when he told me that a minister was preaching at Whitefield’s old Tabernacle in Moorfields. One evening, when there were present, under very strange circumstances, two young men who had fallen into dissipated habits, and who had made an appointment with each other for the commission of some gross sin that very night…They were passing by the Moorfields Tabernacle and as they wanted to know the time at which they were to meet for this unholy purpose, one of them said to the other, “Go in, and see the time; there is sure to be a clock in there.” But the clock was not fixed as it is here, at the back of the preacher, but the other way; so, the young man had to go some little distance further in than he intended, in order to see the clock. If I remember rightly, the preacher that night was Matthew Wilks, and he was just uttering some quaint remark, something that arrested the young man’s attention, and held him fast in the aisle. His companion waited, outside for a time, but it was cold, so he thought he had better go in, and look at the clock himself, and fetch his friend out. He went in; the arrows of the Lord pierced the heart of both of them, and the second of those young men was John Williams, the famous missionary, and at last the martyr of Erromanga…You would not have thought it possible that those men should become, as they did, preachers of the gospel, when they were, at that very time, desperately set on the commission of a great sin against God, and their hearts were wholly given up to the pleasures and follies of this world; but so it happened, and our Lord still knows how to stop men as he stopped Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus…After such a triumph of divine grace, let us never despair of any sinner, however far he may have gone, into, sin. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2663.cfm

God’s Timing

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, salvation, Sovereignty of God, The Holy Spirit 2 Comments

And last of all He was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. – 1 Corinthians 15:8

Mr. Tennant, a famous American minister of Whitefield’s time, one of the most earnest and seraphic men who ever proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ, had a hearer, who remained unmoved under many a score of his most faithful sermons. Others were saved, but not this man; he seemed unmoved and immovable; but it came to pass, on a certain Sabbath, that a very unusual thing happened. Mr. Tennant had prepared his sermon with great, care, it was what we are wont to call a laborious discourse, into which he had put all the thought and all the pains possible; but he had not been preaching long before his memory completely failed him, his mind refused to work, and, after floundering about for a while, he was obliged to sit down in great confusion, and say that, he could not preach to the people that day. The man I have mentioned, who had never before been impressed under Mr. Tennant’s ministry, was that day called by sovereign grace, as “one born out of due time,” for he was led to see that there was a spiritual and supernatural force which had usually helped the pastor to preach, and that, when this divine influence was withdrawn, he was as weak as other men, and could not speak with power: as he had been accustomed to do. This truth, somehow or other, -for human minds are strangely constituted, and things which have no effect upon certain people very greatly affect others who are present at the same time;- this truth, I say, induced the man to think; thinking, he was led to believe in God, and to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of his soul. He was, without doubt, one “born out of due time.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2663.cfm

Converted

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, salvation, Sovereignty of God, The Holy Spirit 1 Comment

“One born out of due time.”-1 Corinthians 15:8

It was necessary that Paul, as an apostle, should have seen the Lord. He was not converted at the time of Christ’s ascension; yet he was made an apostle, for the Lord Jesus appeared to him in the way, as he was going to Damascus to persecute the saints of God. When he looked upon himself as thus put in, as it were, at the end of the apostles, he spoke of himself in the most depreciating terms, calling himself, “one born out of due time.” Those who are acquainted with the Greek tongue know what a despicable term Paul here applied to himself,-as though he was scarcely a man at all,-at any rate, as the very last of the family, “born out of due time;” and not only the last, but also the very least, for he says, “I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.” 

Paul proved that he was a true citizen of the New Jerusalem because he became, of all men, most zealous for Christ, zealous for the gospel, zealous for the winning of souls; he seemed to try to do all he could to undo the mischief he had wrought in the days of his unregeneracy, and to work with both his hands and all his heart to establish and extend the kingdom which once he tried to overthrow. O God, by Thy great mercy, cause another Paul to be born in this house of prayer! Thou canst do it; wilt Thou not bring to Thyself, by the power of the Eternal Spirit, some wild, threatening, blustering, blaspheming hater of Christ, lay him at the dear feet of the Crucified, and cause him to look up and live? Pray for this, dear Christian people. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2663.cfm

Tokens of the Power of Love

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

And David said unto Ahimelech, and is there not here under thine hand spear or sword? – 1 Samuel 21:8

There are some great sinners at this day who are wonderful tokens of the power of love. When we look round the temple and see the shields and spears hung up, we say, “Who did those shields and spears belong to?” One says, “Why, that is the shield and spear of John Newton, the old blasphemer!” Glory be to God, Christ conquered him. Whose shield and spears are those? Why, that is the shield and spear of John Bunyan, the blasphemer on the village green. God’s mercy conquered him. Yes, there will be a pillar for many of us, and I do not know which will bring Christ most honor, for He had much ado to bring us down. I wonder whether there will be a place for you, you old sailor? These many years you have been living without God and without Christ. You have been a frequenter of every place of sin, every filthy haunt in London. I do trust God’s grace will meet with you. The poor harlot, Mary, the woman that was a sinner-there hangs her shield and spear. She was a hard fighter, a very Amazon, but Christ conquered her, hung up her shield and spear, and there it shall hang for ever, to the praise of the glory of His grace, who vanquished even her, and made her His willing servant, nay, His beloved friend. What will heaven be when all of us shall be trophies of His power to save, and when our bodies shall be there as well as our souls! “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”-when not only souls, but bodies shall be in heaven too, all as trophies of what Christ has done when He plucked His people from the jaws of the grave and delivered them from the grasp of the sepulcher. Let us take care that we have good confidence, always walking by faith, be the path of our pilgrimage rough or smooth, and ever maintaining the fight of faith, however fierce our temptations or fiery our trials. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0972.cfm

The Trophies of Our King

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

And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod… – 1 Samuel 21:9

Jesus Christ, our King, has hung up many shields and spears in the house of the Lord. I shall not occupy many minutes, but I invite every believer’s heart to look at the great temple that Christ has builded, and see how He has hung it round with trophies of His victory. Sin-Christ has borne it in Himself, endured its penalty and overcome it; He has hung up the handwriting of ordinances that was against us as a trophy in the house of the Lord. He has nailed it to the cross. Satan-our great foe-He met him foot to foot in the wilderness and discomfited him-met him in the garden-overcame him on the cross. Now hell, too, is vanquished-Christ is Lord. The prince of the power of the air is but His serf. The King of kings hath led captivity captive, and all the crowns of this prince of the power of the air are hung up as trophies. Broken are their spears: their shields all battered and vilely cast away, hang up as memorials of what Christ has done. Death, too, the last enemy, Christ hath taken spoils from him when He rose again Himself from his prison house, and ascended on high, leading captivity captive. And the enmity of the human heart, my brethren. Oh! how many of these enmities has Christ hung up in the hall, for He has conquered that enmity and made the hater into a lover. My heart, your heart, all our hearts, are trophies of what Christ’s love can do. God grant that all of us may be trophies of Christ and hung up thus as memorials for ever. Amen. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0972.cfm

Of Present Honour and Eternal Joys

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

And (Abraham) believed in the LORD; and He counted it to him for righteousness. – Genesis 15:6

A man of God, who was bearing testimony for the faith, on one occasion was pushed into a kennel by a person passing by who said, as he thrust him in, “There, take that, John Bunyan.” He took off his hat, and said, “I will take anything if you give me the name of John Bunyan. I count it such an honour to have that title, that you may do anything that you like with me.” To be identified with those who have been blessed of the Lord is worth more than all the favours of the world. We are in good company. If men despise you, it matters little when God has blessed you. If they push you into the gutter for being a Christian, take your hat off, and thank them, for it is worthwhile to bear any scorn, that you may have the honour to be numbered with the followers of Christ. Rest assured that if you will count it a privilege even to be mocked for your faith, those who persecute you to-day, will acknowledge your high position to-morrow. It is a grand thing when any one of us thus gets the testimony of our enemies, “Thou art now the blessed of the Lord.”

Sinner, he that believeth in Jesus hath all the blessing which Jesus can give to him; forgiveness for the past; grace for the present; and glory for the future. He was made a curse for thee, that He might redeem thee from the curse of the broken law, for it is written, “Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.” Believe thou in Him, and as thou believest, eternal joys shall come streaming down into thy dry and desolate heart, and it shall be said to thee, “Thou art now the blessed of the Lord.” You shall be blessed now and blessed for evermore! God grant it, for our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake! Amen. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2238.cfm

Tell Others About It

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

…thou art now the blessed of the LORD. And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink. – Genesis 26:29,30

How few there are of us who make it our business to be constantly telling out the sweet story of Jesus and His love! I read, the other day, of a chaplain in the Northern army in the lamentable war in the United States, who, while he lay wounded on the battle-field, heard a man, not far off, utter an oath. Though he himself was so badly wounded that he could not stand, yet he wished to reach the swearer to speak a gospel message to him, and he thought, “I can get to him if I roll over.” So, though bleeding profusely himself, he kept rolling over and over till he got to the side of the poor blasphemer, and on the lone battle-field he preached to him Jesus. Some of the other men came along, and he said to them, “Can you carry me? I fear that I am dying, but I do not want to be taken off the field. I should like you, if you would, to carry me from one dying man to another, all the night long, that I might tell them of a Saviour.” What a splendid deed was this! A bleeding man talking to those who were full of sin about a Saviour’s bleeding wounds! Oh, you who have no wounds, who can walk, and possess all the faculties to fit you for the service, how often you miss opportunities and refuse to speak of Jesus! “Thou art now the blessed of the Lord,” and at this moment I would have you think that the blessed Lord lays His pierced hand on thee saying, “Go and tell others what I have done for thee.” Never cease to tell the divine tale, as opportunity is given, until thy voice is lost in death; then thy spirit shall begin to utter the story in the loftier sphere. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2238.cfm