Sovereignty of God

Seeing Jesus in the Ordinances

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

And the scribe said unto Him…for there is one God; and there is none other but He: And to love Him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. – Mark 12:32,33

Suppose this man had really loved God with all his heart, and understanding, and soul, and strength…Would he not have exclaimed, “This Man, too, loves God with all His heart”? He must have perceived it, for the zeal which Christ had for the Father was immeasurable; it flashed in every gleam of His eye, it tinctured every word that fell from His lips. Jesus lived for God and glorified the Father with all His heart and soul, and any person who truly loved God would soon have perceived that fact. “Ah!” he would have exclaimed, “here is one who loves God better than I do; here is one who honors God more than I do; here is one who is more consecrated, more devoted, more godlike than I am.” By that door he would have been led to admiration of Jesus, to communion with Him, and ultimately to belief in Him as the Messiah. Let us hope that the scribe was so led, for the way is plain enough.

You notice that he said that to love God was more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices…Suppose he had begun to try and read the meaning of the paschal lamb, or of the daily lamb, or of the sin-offering, why, methinks, if he turned to that blessed fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, and began to read it in order to understand the sacrifices of the old law, it would have happened to him as it did to the eunuch when Philip opened to him the Scriptures-he would have seen Jesus in them all. He must have seen Him. And if you, dear friend, have come to see the right place of gospel ordinances through candidly searching out their meaning, you have seen that their whole teaching is Christ Jesus, the sacrifice for sin. Christ’s sufferings, death, burial, and resurrection set forth in baptism: Christ’s death set forth until He come at the communion table- life given us by our Savior’s death, and life sustained by the same means. Jesus is the body of the ordinances of the Old Testament, and the soul of those of the New. If you are but candid enough to desire to push through the veil and get at the real meaning of every outward ordinance, you will see Jesus ere long. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1517.cfm

Come, Enter into His Kingdom

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

And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, He said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. – Mark 12:34

This man came so near to the kingdom: did he ever enter it? We do not know.

There was in after years another scribe, a rabbi-you will recollect his name-who said, “I consent unto the law, that it is good; but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.” You see the process of thought. It is a very simple one. This scribe sees the law of God to be a spiritual law, demanding the obedience of his heart, his understanding, his soul, and his strength. If he had thought awhile, he would, as a candid man, have said, “I have not kept this law. What is more, I cannot keep it. If I try to keep it, I find a something within me against which I struggle, but which, nevertheless, brings me into captivity to another law-a law of selfishness, a law of sin.” Then, as a man anxious to be right, he would have said, “How can I be delivered? Oh, that I might be set free to keep the law of God! I cannot abide in this bondage. I ought to keep this law, I shall never be happy till I do love God with all my heart, for He ought to be so loved, and I perceive that there can be no heaven to a heart which does not love God intensely, for this is one of the essentials of peace and rest. How can I get at it?” In such a condition as that, if he had heard the sweet invitation of our Lord, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” would he not have leaped at the sound? Do you not see the simple doorway for such a man as that to become a Christian? He had come so far that surely, he should come a little farther. Let us trust that he did. At any rate, if any of you have come so far, may God’s sweet Spirit lead you to take those other steps, and to enter into the kingdom, submitting to the sweet sovereignty of the Prince Immanuel, whose scepter is of silver, and whose servitude is an honor and a delight to all His subjects. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1517.cfm

A Sweet Sign of Dawn

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

And to love Him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. – Mark 12:33

It was clear to (the scribe) that there was but one God, and that man was made on purpose to be one and undivided in His service. He perceived that man should love, honor, and serve that one God with all his heart, with all his understanding, with all his soul, and with all his strength. Do you know that, dear friend? Come now, if you are not a saved man, I will ask you-do you recognize this to be true, that it is your bounden duty to serve your God with all your heart and understanding, and soul, and strength? Do you admit this? If you do, and if you are an honest man, you are not far from the kingdom of God, because honest men earnestly endeavor to pay their debts, and when they find that they cannot, they are distressed. If you are in distress of mind because you cannot meet your obligations to God, then you are not far from the kingdom. I rejoice in your discovery of shortcoming, failure, and inability, for these lie near that hearty penitence which is the sister of saving faith, and the sure herald of joy and peace. When a man feels his own inability to do as he ought, when he trembles before the law which, nevertheless, he honors and admits to be just and right, then he is not far from self-renunciation, and from accepting that matchless righteousness which Jesus Christ has come to bring. A consciousness of the supremacy of the sovereignty of God over us, so that he ought to have every thought, every breath, every pulse, is the work of the Spirit, who thereby convinces us of sin, and it is a sweet sign of dawn in the once darkened soul. Admit that God ought to be heartily loved, and you are not far from loving Him; feel that you are guilty for not loving, and the seeds of love are in your heart. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1517.cfm

The Only Acceptable Worship

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

And to love Him with all the heart…is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. – Mark 12:33

This scribe knew the superiority of an inward religion over that which is external, for he declares, “To love Him with all thy heart is more than whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” Thousands at this hour are publicly teaching us that the principal point of religion is that you shall be duly and properly baptized and confirmed and shall reverently and properly receive the sacrament…Books have been written about how the service is to be performed, and how it is not to be performed, and a great noise has been made about a piece of bread which was brought before a court of law. I believe a very great dignitary has been so weak as to certify that this baked dough has been “reverently consumed”: and yet this is not a heathen country, nor are we worshippers of fetishes! Great importance is attached to the style of garment, which should be worn by priests on Holy Monday, or Good Friday. Colours vary according to the almanack, and the age of the moon. I must confess I need all my gravity when I think of copes, and girdles, and surplices, and gowns being matters of serious discussion. Surely these poor dupes of superstition are far, very far, from the kingdom of God, which is not meat and drink, nor clothing, nor posture, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Their whole line of thought is alien to the mind of God, who is a spirit, and must be worshipped in spirit and in truth. In the whole business of exhibitional religion what is there to content the soul? What can there be in it to please God? If our God were a royal puppet I could conceive of His being pleased with ceremonial; or if He were like the heathens’ idiotic deities, I could understand that mummeries, masquerades, postures, processions, robes, and round-robins might please Him; but seeing that He is God, the only wise, be it far from me to dream of such a thing…Only spiritual worship is worship, and only as the heart adores does God accept the homage which is offered to Him. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1517.cfm

Believe God’s Everlasting Salvation for You

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

For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. – 1 John 5:4

The Lord God of Israel will never stain His glory, wherefore be ye confident that He who brought you out of Egypt will bring you into Canaan. “Ah” murmurs one, “I don’t believe that!” Then I am sorry for you; for “according to your faith be it unto you.” “I believe,” says one, “that men fall away and perish.” It will be an evil thing for you if it should be to you according to your faith. If you have grace enough to grasp the whole range of blessing which the covenant of God offers you, then the whole shall be yours by a covenant of salt. He that thinks he can be off and on with God, saved today and lost to-morrow, and then saved again has a comfortless creed to defend, and a world of absurdities to meet. You are born again. Suppose that you could lose the new life which comes by the new birth, what then? I have heard of people being born again, but could they be born again, and again, and again? According to the notion of some, certain persons are born again, and again, and again, and again, and again; I do not know how many times. There is nothing in Scripture to warrant such a strange idea. If you, my friend, will come and cast yourself on Christ, and take Him to be your Saviour once for all, He will save you now with an everlasting salvation. He saith, “The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” Jesus Himself has said it, “I give unto My sheep eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.” Believe for this with heroic faith. Believe for eternal salvation in Jesus Christ, who is able to work in you a lifelong escape from sin. According to your faith, so shall it be. Our sins and our fears hath He thrown into the sea. So be it. Hallelujah! Amen. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2188.cfm

God Will Be Faithful for His Name’s Sake

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

And Israel saw that great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and his servant Moses. – Exodus 14:31

Do I hear some one say, “I fear that I shall never get out of my difficulties”? Yet you believe that the Lord has brought you out from the dominion of Satan? Tell me, has God brought you so far to let you perish? He has broken off the yoke of sin; He has given you a hope in Christ, and you are a changed man. Do you think that He would do all this for you, and then leave you? Come, my brother, has the Lord brought you out of Egypt, by the precious blood of the Lamb, that you should die in the wilderness? Do you believe that Jesus has redeemed you to let you be lost after all? …Do not doubt Him now, I pray you. Do not please the devil by distrusting your faithful God.

Suppose that the Israelites had been left to perish when Pharaoh said they were shut in, what then? What would the Lord have done for His great name? Would not the Egyptians have exulted over Israel’s God? A Scotch minister tells the story of an aged saint who, on her dying bed, said that her Saviour would never leave her to perish. “But suppose that He did not keep His promise, and you were to be lost?” She answered, “He would be a greater loser than I.” When asked what she meant, she answered, “It is true that I would lose my soul; but God would lose His honor and His glory if He were not true.” Brethren, if we have trusted in God, and have come out of the Egypt of the world through His grace, and have left all its sins behind us, if we were left to die in the wilderness, the Lord Jesus Christ would lose His glory as a Saviour, the divine Father would lose His name for immutable faithfulness, and the Holy Ghost would lose His honor for perseverance in completing every work which He undertakes. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2188.cfm

Our Heavenly Guide and His Appointed Way

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

“They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in” – Exodus 14:3.

Though Pharaoh said, “They are entangled in the land; the wilderness hath shut them in,” yet they had a guide. Look at the surroundings of my text, and you will see that they were guided by a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night, so that they had no need to be in any perplexity as to their road. We, too, have a Guide. In providence we are not left without a Leader, and in spiritual things we are not left without the Spirit of God, who shall lead us into all truth. Young traveler, you are not turned out alone into a wild wilderness to find a path: the Good Shepherd goes before you; follow Him as the sheep follow their shepherd. He never led His flock in the wrong direction yet. Do what He bids you, and you are safe. Do as He did when He was here below: His example is your safe direction. Believe Him and obey Him. Keep to the narrow path. Hold fast your integrity, and never let go your faith. You have a heavenly Guide. You are not left alone, and therefore you cannot be entangled in the land; the wilderness has not shut you in.

Remember that the Lord had appointed a way for these people. There was not only a guide, but a way. But where was that way? Mountains blocked them on either side. They could not turn back, for Pharaoh shut up that route. Where should they go? The reedy Red Sea rolled across their front. Hearken! Their way is across the bottom of that sea, and up from its depths to the other shore. A strange path! “It is no way at all,” cries unbelief. Have you never read concerning God, “Thy way is in the sea, and Thy path in the great waters, and Thy footsteps are not known.” Tried believer, the Lord will make a way for you where no foot has been before. That which, like a sea, threatens to drown you, shall be a highway for your escape. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2188.cfm