Sovereignty of God

Acknowledge Your Sin to God

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, confession of sin, promises, repentance, salvation, Sovereignty of God, The Father 2 Comments

And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. – Luke 15:21-24

The prodigal had many sins to confess; but before he came to the details of them, his father had forgiven him. I love confession of sin after forgiveness. Some suppose that after we are forgiven we are never to confess; but, oh, beloved, it is then that we confess most truly, because we know the guilt of sin most really! Then do we plaintively sing-

“My sins, my sins, my Saviour,
How sad on Thee they fall!
Seen through Thy gentle patience,
I tenfold feel them all,
I know they are forgiven,
But still their pain to me
Is all the grief and anguish
They laid, my Lord, on Thee.”

To think that Christ should have washed me from my sins in His own blood, makes me feel my sin the more keenly, and confess it the more humbly before God. The picture of this prodigal is marvelously true to the experience of those who return to God. His father kissed him with the kiss of forgiveness; and yet, after that, the young man went on to say, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.” Do not hesitate, then, to acknowledge your sin to God, even though you know that in Christ it is all put away. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2236.cfm

Torrents of Love

Sherry Attributes of God, Christian Life, confession of sin, promises, repentance, salvation, Sovereignty of God, The Father 3 Comments

…his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell upon his neck, and covered him with kisses. – Luke 15:20 (DBY)

In the Revised Version, if you will kindly look at the margin, you will find that the text there reads, “And kissed him much.” This is a very good translation of the Greek, which might bear the meaning, “Kissed him earnestly,” or “Kissed him eagerly,” or “Kissed him often.”…God never gives an expression of love without feeling it in His infinite heart. God will never give a Judas-kiss, and betray those whom He embraces. There is no hypocrisy with God; He never kisses those for whom He has no love. Oh, how God loves the sinner! You who repent, and come to Him, will discover how greatly He loves you. There is no measuring the love He bears towards you. He has loved you before the foundation of the world, and He will love you when time shall be no more. Oh, the immeasurable love of God to sinners who come and cast themselves upon His mercy!

This much kissing also means much love manifested. God’s people do not always know the greatness of His love to them. Sometimes, however, it is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. Some of us know at times what it is to be almost too happy to live! …Beloved, God has wondrous ways of opening His people’s hearts to the manifestation of His grace. He can pour in, not now and then a drop of His love, but great and mighty streams. Madame Guyon used to speak of the torrents of love that come sweeping through the spirit, bearing all before them. The poor prodigal in the parable had so much love manifested to him, that he might have sung of the torrents of his father’s affection. That is the way God receives those whom He saves, giving them not a meager measure of grace, but manifesting an overflowing love. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2236.cfm

Receive Him at Once

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

Not of works, lest any man should boast. – Ephesians 2:9

No assistance is wanted by Christ on your part. He does not come with half a salvation, and look to you to complete it. He does not come to bring you a robe half woven, which you are to finish. How could you finish it? Could the best saint in the world add anything to Christ’s righteousness? No good man would even dream of adding his home-spun to that raiment which is of wrought gold. What! are you to make up the deficient ransom price? Is it deficient? Would you bring your clods of mud into the royal treasury, and lay them down side by side with sapphires? Would you help Christ? Go, yoke a mouse with an elephant! Go harness a fly side by side with an archangel. But dream not of yoking yourself with Christ.

Receive Him: receive Him at once. Dear children of God, and sinners that have begun to feel after Him, say with one accord, “Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus.” If He says, “Lo, I come,” and the Spirit and the bride say, Come; and he that heareth says, Come, and he that is athirst comes, and whosoever will is bidden to come and take the water of life freely; then let us join the chorus of comes, and come to Christ ourselves. “Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go you out to meet Him!” Ye who most of all need Him, be among the first and gladdest, as you hear Him say, “Lo, I come.”

All that I have said will be good for nothing as to saving results unless the Holy Ghost shall apply it with power to your hearts. Join with me in prayer that many may see Jesus just now, and may at once behold and accept the present salvation which is in Him. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2203.cfm

Shut Not Out Your Own Mercy

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

“I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not My people, thou art My people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.” – Hosea 2:23

O words of wondrous grace! No search is needed to find the Lord, for He comes in manifested grace, and calls upon us to see Him. “I have long been searching for Christ” murmurs one. What! seeking for the sun at noonday? Jesus is not lost. It is you that are lost, and He is searching for you…Still one declares that he has been seeking the Lord Jesus for many a day. This is sadly strange, for Jesus is near. “Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? or, Who shall descend into the deep? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that if thou wilt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” If thou believest in the Lord Jesus Christ, thou shalt be saved.

If you are in yourself sadly unready, yet He himself will make everything ready for Himself. Only open wide the door, and let Him in. Do you say, “But I am ashamed”? Be ashamed. He bids you be ashamed, and be confounded, while He declares, “I do not this for your sakes.” Yet be not so ashamed as to commit another shameful deed by shutting the door in your Redeemer’s face. Shut not out your own mercy…Many a troubled soul thinks that Jesus is one who comes to ask of us what we cannot give; but indeed He comes to give us all things. His errand is not to condemn, but to forgive. Miss not the charity of God through unbelief. Run to the door, and say to your loving Redeemer, “Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof; but as Thou hast come to me, I welcome Thee with all my heart.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2203.cfm

Jesus Loves You

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

For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. – Romans 5:6

When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly, because it was the due time according to covenant purposes. Christ comes to a guilty sinner, just as He once came to a manger and a stable, because so it was appointed. There is nothing for Him to get, but everything for Him to give; but He comes because it is written in the volume of the divine decrees-

“Thus the eternal counsel ran,-
Almighty grace, arrest that man.”

Therefore, in love the Savior appears to the sinner, and by grace arrests him in his mad career.

It is His Father’s will. Christ’s coming to save a soul is with His Father’s full consent and aid. The Father wills that you who believe in Him, lost though you be, should now be saved, and Jesus comes to do the will of the Father.

He comes because His heart is set on you. He loves you, and so He hastens to your rescue. Your salvation is His delight. Though your soul is sunk in a sea of need, and you are in despair because of that need, Jesus loves you, and comes to meet your case. The best of all is that Jesus loves you. One asked an old man of ninety, “Do you love Jesus?” and the old man answered with a smile, “I do, indeed; but I can tell you something better than that.” His friend said, “Something better than loving Jesus! What is that?” The old disciple replied, “He loves me.” O soul, I wish you could see this fact, which is indeed better than your love to Jesus, namely, His love to you! Because He loved His redeemed from before the foundation of the world, therefore in due time He says, “Lo, I come.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2203.cfm

Yield to the Pressure of His Love

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

Lo, I come. – Psalm 40:7

Come unto Me… – Matthew 11:28

Christ is salvation, and everything needful to salvation is in Him. If He comes, all good comes with Him, or rather in Him. An enquirer once said to a minister, “The next step for me is to get a deeper conviction of sin.” The minister said, “No such thing, my friend: the next step is to trust in Jesus, for He says, Come unto Me.” To come to Jesus, or rather to receive Jesus who has come to us, is the one essential step into eternal salvation. Though our Lord does say, “Come unto Me,” He has preceded it with this other word, “Lo, I come.” Poor cripple, if you cannot come to Jesus, ask Him to come to you; and He will. Here you lie, and you have been for years in this case; you have no man to put you into the pool, and it would do you no good if he did; but Jesus can make you whole, and He is here. You cannot stir hand or foot because of spiritual paralysis; but your case is not hopeless. Listen to my Lord in the text, “Then said I, Lo, I come.” He has no paralysis. He can come, leaping over the mountains of division. I know my Lord came to me, or I should never have come to Him: why should He not come to you? I came to Him because He came to me.

“He drew me, and I followed on,
Charmed to confess the voice divine.”

Why should He not draw us also? Is He not doing so? Yield to the pressure of His love.

“Then said I, Lo, I come.” You see our Lord is His own spokesman. He says to me, “Go and tell those people about My coming”; and I gladly do so; but you will forget my words, and refuse to accept the Coming One. Your consciences will be unawakened, your hearts unmoved: I fear it will be so. But if this text be fulfilled concerning our Lord this day-“Then said I, Lo, I come”-you will hear HIM. If He speaks He is Himself the Almighty Word, and His voice will reach your hearts, and accomplish His purpose. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2203.cfm

Jesus is the Way to Himself

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, promises, salvation, Sovereignty of God 1 Comment

“I was found by those who did not seek Me; I was made manifest to those who did not ask for Me.” – Romans 10:20 (Isaiah 65:1)

Lo, I come. – Psalm 40:7

To many men and women Christ has come though they had not even desired Him. Yea, He has come even to those who hated Him. Saul of Tarsus was on his way to worry the saints at Damascus, but Jesus said, “Lo, I come”; and when He looked out of heaven He turned Saul, the persecutor, into Paul, the apostle. The promise is fulfilled, “I was found of them that sought Me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after Me.” Herein is the glorious sovereignty of His love fully exercised, and grace reigns supreme. “Lo, I come,” is the announcement of majestic grace which waiteth not for man, neither tarrieth for the sons of men.

Our Lord Jesus is the way to Himself. Did you ever notice that? He comes Himself to us, and so He is the way by which we meet Him. He is our rest, and the way to our rest; He says, “I am the way.” You want to know how to get to Christ? You have not to get to Christ, for He has come to you. It is well for you to come to Christ; but that is only possible because Christ has come to you. Jesus is near you: near you now. Backslider, He comes to you! Wandering soul, roving to the very brink of perdition, the good Shepherd cries, “Lo, I come.” He is the way to Himself. ` C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2203.cfm