Blessed and Envied

For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him. – Genesis 26:14

While these Philistines saw that God blessed Isaac, they nevertheless envied him, as we read in the fourteenth verse. How strange it is that men, who do not care to be blessed of God themselves, envy them who are blessed of Him! I heard one say, “It is not just that God should have a chosen people.” Sir, do you want to be one of God’s people? These blessings which God gives to them, do you want to have them? You may have them, if you will. If you will not have them, I pray you do not quarrel with God because He chooses to give them where He wills…If you want the blessing of the Lord, have it even now, for my commission as an ambassador of Christ is to beseech men to be reconciled to God; if you do not want it, do not quarrel with God for giving it to His own chosen. It was so with those Philistines-they wanted not Jehovah’s blessing, and yet they envied Isaac, who had it.

But while they envied him, they feared him, and courted his favour. Do I speak to some young believer who has gone into a house of business, or some Christian woman who has been placed in a family where her religion exposes her to opposition? Let me counsel you to go straight on, taking no notice of the hindrances thrown in your way. You will first be envied; after that you will be feared; and after that you will be sought after, and your company will be desired. If you can only keep as firm as Isaac did, never losing your temper, but always being gentle, and meek, and kind, you will conquer; and you who are to-day despised, will yet come to be honoured, even as Isaac was by the very Abimelech who had, just a little while before, asked him to go away. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

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

A Sign of His Blessing

Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him…thou art now the blessed of the LORD. – Genesis 26:12-14; 27-29

There are some of God’s people who are so evidently favoured of heaven that even those who despise and oppose them cannot help saying of them, “They are the blessed of the Lord.” I wish that we were all such; so distinguished by piety, so marked out by strength of faith and prevalence of prayer, that even our Abimelechs might be forced to say to each of us, “Thou art now the blessed of the Lord.” We read in the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth verses, “Then Isaac sowed in the land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him. And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great: for he had possession of flocks and possession of herds, and great store of servants.” Prosperity is not always a token of blessing. It may be proof of the Lord’s favour, and it may not be…Nevertheless, it is true that worldly prosperity may be sent, and has been sent, to the children of God, as a token of divine favour. It is not always when we eat the quails that they make us ill; God can send them in such a way that we may enjoy them and be strengthened by them. He can give riches as well as poverty. That was the Philistines’ reason, and it is a Philistine’s reason. It is not a very satisfactory one, but it has some force, for the Lord Jesus Himself gave the sign of blessing upon the meek, saying, “They shall inherit the earth;” and in the same memorable discourse upon the mount, He uttered the exhortation and promise, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things”-the things which the Gentiles seek after-“shall be added unto you.” So, we may fairly construe the “mercies of God” as a sign of His blessing. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

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

Begin with Christ, End with Christ

Let Israel hope in the LORD… – Psalm 130:7

Lay the foundation of your hope in the Lord; go on building up your comfort in the Lord Jesus; and in Him bring forth the topstone. Begin with Christ, and end with Christ. As Christ grows more to you, take care that self grows less and less. If your Christianity puffs you up, it is not Christ’s Christianity. Read in the Second of Chronicles, chapter twenty-six, at the fifteenth verse- “(Uzziah) was marvellously helped, till he was strong.” When he became strong, he went off the lines, and we read, “When he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction.” Mind that. God will always help us while we are weak. When we are strong, what shall I say?- then are we weak, and have need to fear, for we are being lifted up already, or we should not count ourselves strong- poor, puny creatures that we are! God will always bless us as long as we confess our dependence upon His blessing. He will always fill us as long as we are empty. He will always feed us as long as we are hungry. He will be your all in all so long as you are nothing. But the moment you boast in yourself, and say, “I am rich, and increased in goods, and have need of nothing,” you will be left to learn that you are naked, and poor, and miserable. Nebuchadnezzar is proud, and soon finds a rapid descent from the throne to eating grass like the cattle. Worms, in the presence of the Lord, do all they may do when they hope, they do all they can do when they hope in Him. They have nothing but sin, and He has mercy upon them. They are slaves to evil, but He has plenteous redemption wherewith to set them free. The poorest, weakest, saddest among us may hope in the Lord, for He can do all things: wherefore, let us continue in our faith in “the God of hope,” till we receive the heaven we hope for through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2199.cfm

Remember Uzziah

Let Israel hope in the LORD…He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities. – Psalm 130:7,8

Recollect what happened to Uzziah. He was a man of God, and a king; but when he had grown very great, he thought that he would act as priest for himself, and go into the sanctuary of the Lord, and burn incense on his own account, without the Lord’s appointed priest; but he was struck with leprosy, and not only was he thrust out, but he, himself, hastened to go out of the temple. I tremble for those in whom I see any sign of going before God in right of their own character. I fear that among God’s own professing people there are some who are so conscious of their own knowledge, and growth, that they pray without Christ, praise without Christ, and talk of being no longer in need of confessing sin. They dare to act without humbly depending upon the presence of the great High Priest; and then they fall into sin, and thus they are struck with leprosy, and, perhaps, to their dying day they can never enter into such fellowship with God as once they knew. I would do nothing without Jesus. I would not even wish to repent except my eye were upon the cross. I would not hope to think a holy thought except as my soul still gazed upon Jesus my all. Away, away with every idea of mercy except it be mercy received through Jesus, for He alone is full of grace, and of His fullness must we receive. I would bind you, brethren, if I could, to the cross as your one hope. I pray the Lord bind me for ever to the cross: the wounds my only founts of hope, the blood and water my only cleansing. Go you who have a righteousness of your own and hope elsewhere; but the long hope of my soul is the bleeding, dying, buried, risen, coming Savior. “Let Israel hope in the Lord: for with the Lord there is mercy,” and with Him alone: all the exercises of faith about mercy must ever be tethered to the cross. Mercy flows through Christ alone. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2199.cfm

For By Him is the Way

For she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.” …and when He saw her He said, “Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that hour.- Matthew 9:21,22

It is easier to believe in a personal Christ than in impersonal promises. That poor woman who was sick, in Jesus Christ’s day, might have said to herself, “It is impossible that I should be healed;” but then she thought not so much of the healing as of the Healer, and when she saw Jesus walking about among the crowds, healing all manner of diseases, and when she believed that God was in Him, why, then she inferred that He could heal her disease, and she came behind Him, and touched the hem of His garment. She sought Him, and so sought healing. Do keep in this line, let not the devil take you off it-that the first object of your faith should be the Lord Jesus; for by Him, as the ladder which God has set up, you can climb to the highest place of privilege, and lay hold upon the choicest gift of grace. This is the way even to God Himself, and the only way which our human feet can tread. Consider well who Christ was, and what He has done, and then you will conclude that He can save even you. By looking to Him you will be saved; and what is easier than to look? To hope in God is a far more simple matter than to search for signs and evidences in yourself, or to labor to force yourself up into certain states of mind. Answer the question, “Will He save me?” by looking to see what kind of a Savior Jesus is; and when you perceive the glory of His person, the perfection of His obedience, and the merit of His blood, you will be convinced that you may safely trust in Him according to His command; for He commands you to believe. Jesus declares, “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” Let us come at once, for it is the nearest and best road to peace. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2199.cfm

Rely On the Boundless Power of Jesus

Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ… – Hebrews 13:20,21

Sometimes it seems to a burdened heart to be more than difficult to believe in the pardon of innumerable sins: it appears impossible. Guilty one, do not try to believe in pardon in the abstract, but believe in Jesus the Sacrifice and Savior, who has once for all appeared to put away sin. Believe in the divine Substitute, and then you will believe that the forgiveness of your sins is a thing provided for by Him. Do not even say, “I can never be sanctified; such a wretched sinner as I am could never be made into a saint. “Do not try to believe in sanctification but rely upon the boundless power of Jesus to “make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight.” For all parts of salvation, hope in the Lord, and look to His hand for the working thereof. Forget yourself now, and only think of Him who worketh all things according to the good pleasure of His will. Cease looking for the water and look for the well. You will more readily see the Savior than see salvation, for He is lifted up, even He who is God, and beside Him there is none else. You will more easily fix your eye on Jesus than upon justification, sanctification, or any other separate blessing. When the work seems hard, look to His hand: “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” You may fix your eye upon a covenant promise till it dazzles you; but if you see Jesus, the sight will strengthen your eyes, and you will see the promise in Him, and perceive it to be yea and amen to the glory of God. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/heb/13/21/s_1146021

Look at the Savior Himself!

…for with the LORD there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption. – Psalm 130:7

You seek pardon, look to the pardoning God. You will soon believe in forgiveness if you cause the first exercise of your faith to refer to the Forgiver, even Christ Jesus Himself. When you have believed in Him as able to say, “Thy sins be forgiven thee,” then you will believe in sins being forgiven. This is the natural order of things. To be healed, you believe first in the Healer. So, also, if you desire to believe for salvation, and to be assured that you have it, or may have it at once, the simple course-the natural course-is to believe in the Savior. When you have believed in the Savior, then you will believe in the salvation. If you know that Jesus can save you, if you desire to be saved, you will trust Him to save you. You will be readily able to believe that you can be saved when you trust in Jesus as able to save to the uttermost. Poor trembling heart, do not look at the blessing, and say, “Alas, it is too great!” Look at the Savior Himself! Is anything too great for Him to give who gave His heart’s blood to redeem? Do not say, “My heart is so hard, it cannot be changed.” Look at the Savior; is anything impossible to Him to whom the Father has committed all power? Is He not mighty to save? Fix your eye, first and foremost, upon Him who is both God and man, and has therefore power and sympathy, majesty and mercy, omnipotence and brotherliness. I pray you, do not consider so much the greatness of the effect as the unlimited power of the Cause. I may doubt my washing, but not when I believe in the cleansing virtue of the precious blood. It may be difficult to believe in my salvation, but not to believe in my Savior. It may be hard to hope for heaven; but the text sets me an easier task-“Let Israel hope in the Lord.“ ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2199.cfm