salvation

Sinner, the Way to Christ is Simple

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

“Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.’ ” – Luke 14:23

What is the way for a sinner to come to Christ? It is simply this-the sinner, feeling his need of a Savior, trusts himself to the Lord Jesus Christ. This was the perplexity of my boyhood, but it is so simple now. When I was told to go to Christ, I thought “Yes, if I knew where He was, I would go to Him-no matter how I wearied myself, I would trudge on till I found Him.” I never could understand how I could get to Christ till I understood that it is a mental coming, a spiritual coming, a coming with the mind. The coming to Jesus which saves the soul is a simple reliance upon Him, and if being sensible of your guilt, you will rely upon the atoning blood of Jesus, you have come to Him, and you are saved. Is He not, then, approachable indeed, if there is so simple a way of coming? No good works, ceremonies, or experiences are demanded, a childlike faith is the royal road to Jesus.

This truth is further illustrated by the help which He gives to coming sinners, in order to bring them near to Himself. He it is who first makes them coming sinners. It is His Eternal Spirit who draws them unto Himself. They would not come to Him of themselves, they are without desires towards Him, but it is His work to cast secret silken cords around their hearts, which He draws with His strong hand, and brings them near to Himself. Depend upon it, He will never refuse those whom He Himself draws by His Spirit. Rest assured He will never shut the door in the face of any soul that comes to feed at the gospel banquet, moved to approach by the power of His love. He said once, “Compel them to come in,” but He never said, “Shut the door in their faces and bolt them out.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0809.cfm

Boldly Come to the Throne of Heavenly Grace

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

Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. – Romans 8:34

The Man who has lived a life of service, at last dies a felon’s death! Look upon His head girt with the crown of thorns! Mark well His cheeks whence they have plucked off the hair! See the spittle from those scornful mouths, staining His marred countenance! Mark the crimson rivers which are flowing from His back where they have scourged Him! See His hands and His feet which are pierced with the nails, and from which ensanguined rills are flowing! Look to that face so full of anguish, listen to His cry, “I thirst, I thirst;” and as you see Him there expiring, can you think that He will spurn the seeker? As you see Him turn His head and say to the dying thief by His side, “Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise,” you dare not belie Him so much as to deem that you may not come to Him. You will outrage your reason if you start back from Jesus crucified. The cross of Christ should be the hope, the anchorage of faith. You may come, sinner, black, vile, hellish sinner, you may come and have life even as the dying thief had it when he said, “Lord, remember me.”

Do you know what He is doing in heaven at this moment? He is exalted on high to give repentance and remission of sins. What a help that is to those who are coming to Him! This repentance is the greatest want of coming sinners, and He from the skies supplies it. Moreover, “He ever liveth to make intercession for us.” His occupation in the skies is to plead for those sinners whom He redeemed with His blood, and hence He is able to save them unto the uttermost. Since He is the intercessor for souls, there is no reason why you should start back, but every reason why you should boldly come to the throne of heavenly grace, because you have a High Priest who is passed into the heavens. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0809.cfm

The Language of Christ

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

“Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” – Matthew 11:28

“Ye horny-handed sons of toil, ye smiths and carpenters, ye ploughers and diggers, come unto Me, yea, come all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” And again, “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink.” He invites men to come; He pleads with them to come; and when they will not come, He gently upbraids them with such words as these, “Ye will not come unto Me that ye might have life.” And, again, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not.” It is not “I would not,” but “ye would not.” Why, the whole of Scripture in its invitations, may be said to be the language of Christ, and therein you find loving, pleading words of this kind, “Come now, and let us reason together: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” All our blessed Lord’s sermons were so many loving calls to poor aching hearts to come and find what they needed in Him. I pray that the Holy Spirit may give an effectual call to many of you. It would gladden the heart of the Redeemer in the skies if you would come to Him for salvation, for you may come, since there is no barrier between you and the Savior of men. What is it that keeps you back? I repeat it with tears, what is it keeps you back? ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0809.cfm

He is God and Man

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

…but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. – Philippians 2:7

The Lord Jesus Christ is God, but if He were God only, you might well stand at a distance, and shudder at the splendor of His majesty. But He is man as well as God, and so it comes to pass, as Dr. Watts puts it-

“Till God in human flesh I see,
My thoughts no comfort find;
The holy, just, and sacred Three
Are terrors to my mind.

But if Immanuel’s face appear,
My hope, my joy begins;
His name forbids my slavish fear,
His grace removes my sins.”

When I see Christ in the manger where the horned ox fed, or hanging on a woman’s breast, or obedient to His parents, or “a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief,” a poor Man without a place whereon to lay His head, then I feel that I can freely come to Him. Think of Him as being precisely such as you are, in all and everything except sin, and then you will never have a thought that He will chide you for drawing near or drive you away when you venture to supplicate Him…And then that voice, how would you be charmed, you poor trembling seekers, if you heard Him say, “Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me;” you would discover such meekness and lowliness in Him, that you would not think of starting back. Oh! if your eyes could but see Him, I feel persuaded that, graciously drawn by His charms, your hearts would hasten to Him. Well, believer, come to Him, come to Him; come close to Him. Come with your troubles and tell Him all about them. Come with your sins and ask to have them washed away anew…”Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0809.cfm

The Lamb and the Shepherd

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

“Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” – John 1:29

Frequently Jesus is called the “Lamb.” Blessed name! I do not suppose there is any one here who was ever afraid of a lamb; that little girl yonder, if she saw a lamb, would not be frightened. Every child seems almost instinctively to long to put its hand on the head of a lamb. O that you might come and put your hand on the head of Christ, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.

As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day. – Ezekiel 34:12

Again, you find Him called a Shepherd: no one is afraid of a shepherd. If you were travelling in the East, and you saw Bedouins or Turkish soldiery in the distance, you might be alarmed; but if some one said, “Oh, it is only a few shepherds,” you would not be afraid of them. The sheep are not at all timid when near the shepherd. O poor wandering sheep, you, perhaps, have come to be afraid of Christ, but there is no reason why you should be, for this heavenly Shepherd says, “I will seek out My sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.” Timid, foolish, and wandering though you may be, there is nothing in the good Shepherd to drive you away from Him, but everything to entice you to come to Him. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0809.cfm

By His Blood and Righteousness

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

For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time…- 1 Timothy 2:5-7

Our Lord Jesus is said to be the Mediator between God and man. Now, observe, that the office of mediator implies at once that he should be approachable. A daysman, as Job says, is one who can put his hand upon both; but if Jesus will not familiarly put His hand on man, certainly He is no daysman between God and man. A mediator is not a mediator of one-he must be akin to both the parties between whom he mediates. If Jesus Christ shall be a perfect mediator between God and man, He must be able to come to God so near that God shall call Him His fellow, and then He must approach to man so closely that He shall not be ashamed to call him brother. This is precisely the case with our Lord. Do think of this, you who are afraid of Jesus. He is a mediator, and as a mediator you may come to Him. Jacob’s ladder reached from earth to heaven, but if He had cut away half-a-dozen of the bottom rungs, what would have been the good of it? Who could ascend by it into the hill of the Lord? Jesus Christ is the great conjunction between earth and heaven, but if He will not touch the poor mortal man who comes to Him, why then, of what service is He to the sons of men? You do need a mediator between your soul and God; you must not think of coming to God without a mediator; but you do not want any mediator between yourselves and Christ. There is a preparation for coming to God-you must not come to God without a perfect righteousness; but you may come to Jesus without any preparation, and without any righteousness, because as mediator He has in Himself all the righteousness and fitness that you require and is ready to bestow them upon you. You may come boldly to Him even now; He waits to reconcile you unto God by His blood. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0809.cfm

The Life of the Christian

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

…they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing. – Psalm 34:10

The term to “seek the Lord,” I may say, is the description of the life of the Christian. When he lives as he should, his whole life is seeking the Lord. It is with this he begins. “Behold, he prayeth,” that is, he seeks the Lord. He has begun to be conscious of his sin; he is seeking pardon of the Lord. He has begun to be aware of his danger; he is seeking salvation in the Lord. He is now aware of his powerlessness, and he is looking for strength to the Lord. Those deep convictions, those cries and tears, those repentings and humblings, and, above all, those acts of simple confidence in which he casts himself upon the great atonement made upon Calvary’s bloody tree-those are all acts of seeking the Lord. Now, perhaps, some of you have got no farther than this. Well, you shall have your proportion of blessing, according to your strength. You shall have your share in it, little as you are. He will give to His children at the table their portion, as well as to those who have grown to manhood.

After a man has attained unto eternal life by confiding in the Lord Jesus, he then goes on to seek the Lord in quite another way. No wonder; since he has found the Lord, or rather has been found of Him, and yet he still presses on to apprehend Him of whom he has been already apprehended. He still presses forward, seeking the Lord, and he seeks the Lord thus. He seeks now to know the Lord’s mind, the Lord’s law and will. “Show me what Thou wouldest have me to do,” saith he. “Lord, I went by my own wit once, and I brought myself into a dark wood: I lost myself: I was at hell’s brink, and Thou didst save me: now, Lord, guide and direct me: be pleased to teach me: open my lips when I speak: guide my hands when I act: I wait at Thy feet, feeling that –

“For holiness no strength have I;
My strength is at Thy feet to lie.”

~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3409.cfm