Sovereignty of God

He Has Made Me Glad

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

For Thou hast made him most blessed for ever: Thou hast made him exceeding glad with Thy countenance. – Psalm 21:6

Do not be ashamed to let others see that you are glad. Rejoice in the Lord also when you are alone. I know what happens to some of you on Sunday night. You have had such a blessed Sabbath, and you have gone away from the Lord’s table with the very flavour of heaven in your mouths; and then some of you have had to go home where everything is against you. The husband does not receive you with any sympathy with your joy, or the father does not welcome you with any fellowship in your delight. When you cannot get anybody else to rejoice with you, still continue to rejoice. There is a way of looking at everything which will show you that the blackest cloud has a silver lining. There is a way of looking at all things in the light of God, which will turn into sweetness that which otherwise had been bitter as gall. I do not know whether any of you keep a quassia cup at home. If you do, you know that it is made of wood, and you pour water into the bowl, and the water turns bitter directly before you drink it. You may keep this cup as long as you like, but it always embitters the water that is put into it. I think that I know some dear brethren and sisters who always seem to have one of these cups handy. Now instead of that, I want you to buy a cup of another kind that shall make everything sweet, whatever it is. Whatever God pleases to pour out of the bowl of providence shall come into your cup, and your contentment, your delight in God, shall sweeten it all. God bless you, dear friends, with much of this holy joy! ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2405.cfm

Joy In the Lord, a Sea of Delight

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

Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice… – Psalm 32:11

We read in Scripture that children are to obey their parents “in the Lord.” We read of men and women being married “only in the Lord.” Now, dear friends, no child of God must go outside that ring, “in the Lord.” There is where you are, where you ought to be, where you must be. You cannot truly rejoice if you get outside that ring; therefore, see that you do nothing which you cannot do “in the Lord.” Mind that you seek no joy which is not joy in the Lord; if you go after the poisonous sweets of this world, woe be to you. Never rejoice in that which is sinful, for all such rejoicing is evil. Flee from it; it can do you no good. That joy which you cannot share with God is not a right joy for you. No; “in the Lord” is the sphere of your joy.

Rejoice in the Father, your Father who is in heaven, your loving, tender, unchangeable God. Rejoice, too, in the Son, your Redeemer, your Brother, the Husband of your soul, your Prophet, Priest, and King. Rejoice also in the Holy Ghost, your Quickener, your Comforter, in Him who shall abide with you for ever. Rejoice in the one God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob; in Him delight yourselves, as it is written, “Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” We cannot have too much of this joy in the Lord, for the great Jehovah is our exceeding joy. Or if, by “the Lord” is meant the Lord Jesus, then let me invite, persuade, command you to delight in the Lord Jesus, incarnate in your flesh, dead for your sins, risen for your justification, gone into the glory claiming victory for you, sitting at the right hand of God interceding for you, reigning over all worlds on your behalf, and soon to come to take you up into His glory that you may be with Him for ever. Rejoice in the Lord Jesus. This is a sea of delight; blessed are they that dive into its utmost depths. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2405.cfm

Costly Doubt

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, Sovereignty of God 4 Comments

Thou shalt be dumb and not able to speak until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season. – Luke 1:20

Zacharias is a striking example of the ills a good man may have to suffer as the result of his unbelief. He was undoubtedly a believer. He is said, in the sixth verse, to have been righteous before God. No man ever obtained such a reputation except by faith. “The just shall live by faith.” No other righteousness than that which is faith is of any esteem in God’s account. Such was the righteousness of Abraham, and such was the righteousness of all the saints before the advent of our Redeemer. Such, too, has been the standard ever since. Zacharias evidently was a real believer. Yet for all that, when the angel appeared to him, and God gave him the promise of a son, he was amazed, bewildered, incredulous, and could not credit, but only question the announcement. “How shall I know that these things shall be?”

That he was well instructed in the Word of God is undeniable. He could not otherwise have discharged his duty, for the priest’s lips must keep knowledge, and he must teach men. Being proficient in the one, and competent for the other, ignorance offered him no excuse. Moreover, as a man of years, he was probably to be classed among the experienced saints of his time. He had borne the burden and heat of the day, and received proof upon proof of the abundant mercy of God. Now mark this. For any of us to doubt, who have been justified by faith is a shameful delinquency. For those to doubt who have, in addition to their first convictions, a thousand confirmations of the truth they have embraced, who are acquainted with the covenant and its rich inventory of promises, who are deeply taught in the things of God, for such to doubt involves a higher degree of guilt. I pray God that your conscience may be tenderly sensitive, and that you may be aroused to a sense of the dishonour you bring to Him by your faithlessness.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3495.cfm

This is Heaven Indeed

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

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God. – Revelation 21:3

Mark, that in all Christ has, a believer has a share. This seems to me to be the sum total, and the crowning of it all- to reign with Christ, to ride in His triumphal chariot, and have a portion of His joy; to be honored with Him, to be accepted in Him, to be glorified with Him. This is heaven, this is heaven indeed.

Well said Chrysostom, “The pains of hell are not the greatest part of hell; the loss of heaven is the weightiest woe of hell;” to lose the sight of Christ, the company of Christ, to lose the beholding of His glories, this must be the greatest part of the damnation of the lost. Oh, you that have not this bright hope, how is it that you can live? You are going through a dark world, to a darker eternity. I beseech you stop and pause. Consider for a moment whether it is worth while to lose heaven for this poor earth. What! pawn eternal glories for the pitiful pence of a few moments of the world’s enjoyments? No, stop I beseech you; weigh the bargain ere you accept it. What shall it profit you to gain the whole world and lose your soul, and lose such a heaven as this?

But as for you who have a hope, I beseech you hold it fast, live on it, rejoice in it-

“A hope so much divine,
May trials well endure,
May purge your soul from sense and sin,
As Christ the Lord is pure.”

~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0188.cfm

Beholding Christ’s Glory

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, Sovereignty of God, The Father 3 Comments

“…that they may behold My glory which Thou hast given Me.” – John 17:24

This is heaven’s sweetest employment, “That they may behold My glory.” O for the tongue of an angel! O for the lip of Cherubim! for one moment to depict the mighty scenes which the Christian shall behold when he seeth the glory of his Master, Jesus Christ! Let us pass as in a panorama before your eyes the great scenes of glory which you shall behold after death. The moment the soul departs from this body, it will behold the glory of Christ. The glory of His person will be the first thing that will arrest our attention. There will He sit in the midst of the throne, and our eyes will first be caught with the glory of His appearance. Perhaps we shall be struck with astonishment. Is this the visage that was more marred than that of any man? Are these the hands that once rude iron tore? Is that the head that once was crowned with thorns? Oh, how shall our admiration rise, and rise, and rise to the very highest pitch, when we shall see Him who was-

“The weary Man, and full of woes
The humble Man before His foes,”

now King of Kings, and Lord of Lords…I doubt not the next glory we shall see will be the glory of His enthronement. Oh, how will the Christian stop at the foot of His Master’s throne and look upward, and if there could be tears in heaven, tears of rich delight will roll down his cheeks when he looks and sees the Man enthroned. “Oh,” saith he “I often used to sing on earth Crown Him! crown Him! crown Him! King of Kings, and Lord of Lords!” And now I see Him, up those hills of glorious light, my soul doth not dare to climb. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0188.cfm

Given to Christ by God

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, salvation, Sovereignty of God, The Father, The Holy Spirit 7 Comments

“Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am…” – John 17:24

Answer this question-Have you given yourselves to Christ? Have you been brought, by the constraining power of His own free love, to make a voluntary surrender of yourself to Him? Have you said, “O Lord, other lords have had dominion over me; but now I reject them, and I give myself up to Thee…Little am I worth, but such as I am, I give all I have and all I am to Thee. It is true, I was never worth Thy purchasing, but since Thou hast bought me, Thou shalt have me. Lord, I make a full surrender of myself to Thee.” Well, soul, if thou hast done this, if thou hast given thyself to Christ, it is but the result of that ancient grant made by Jehovah to His son long ere the worlds were made. And, once again, canst thou feel to-day that thou art Christ’s? If thou canst not remember the time when He sought thee and brought thee to Himself, yet canst thou say with the spouse “I am my Beloved’s?” Can you now from your inmost soul say, “Whom have I in heaven but Thee, and there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee!” If so, trouble not your minds about election, there is nothing troublesome in election to you. He that believes is elected, he who is given to Christ now, was given to Christ from before the foundation of the world. You need not dispute divine decrees, but sit down and draw honey out of this rock, and wine out of this flinty rock. Oh, it is a hard, hard doctrine to a man who has no interest in it, but when a man has once a title to it, then it is like the rock in the wilderness, it streams with refreshing water whereat myriads may drink and never thirst again.

Again, I say, be not cast down, neither let your hearts be disconsolate. If you be given to Christ now, you are among the happy number for whom He intercedes above, and you shall be gathered amongst the glorious throng, to be with Him where He is, and to behold His glory. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0188.cfm

To See God’s Elect Ingathered

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation, Sovereignty of God 4 Comments

And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! – Romans 10:15

Beloved, the greatest help that the gospel brings is help to the soul. Ah, Christian men, ye know what this means: your brothers and sisters are this day wandering blindfold, they know not whither. Ye know, for the Bible tells you that they are wending their weary way down to the gulf of black despair! Oh does not your heart desire that the blind eye should be opened, that the misguided should be directed on the path to heaven: would not your pity desire to snatch the fire brand from the flame? Do you not anxiously seek to know how you can lead the vicious to virtue, and the virtuous to the righteousness that is in Jesus Christ? Have you no desire to see God’s elect ingathered, to see them washed, and sanctified, and perfected? Remember this is to be, and since it is to be it is certain that ye must send the gospel far and wide, for by no other means can God’s elect be gathered home. How can they believe without a preacher? How can they preach except they be sent? The gospel must go throughout all lands, that the elect may be gathered home, and the Messiah’s kingdom come. Oh! ye who love the souls of men, is it to you an awful thought that hell’s caverns are filling; is it a dreary thing to you to see the broad road so crowded with its many travelers? You are longing and wishing that the narrow way might have more pilgrims, I beseech you, then, look to it, that by every mean. and by all means ye aid the preaching of the gospel of Jesus; for it is the help for which the earth calls, and the help which you must render to it. Come over and help us by preaching Christ’s holy gospel. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0189.cfm