Sovereignty of God

A Rest for the People of God.

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

There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. – Hebrews 4:9

Oh! happy truth, there remaineth a rest for the people of God. ” They rest from their labors, and their works do follow them.” Others of you are always in the field of battle; you are so tempted within, and so molested by foes without, that you have little or no peace. I know where your hope lies. It lies in the victory, when the banner shall be waved aloft, and the sword shall be sheathed, and you shall hear your Captain say, “Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast fought a good fight; thou hast finished thy course: henceforth wear thou the crown of life which fadeth not away.” Some of you are tossed about with many troubles; you go from care to care, from loss to loss: it seems to you as if all God’s waves and billows had gone over you; but you shall soon arrive at the land of happiness, where you shall bathe your weary soul in seas of heavenly rest, You shall have no poverty soon; no mud-hovel, no rags, nor hunger. “In My Father’s house are many mansions,” and there shall you dwell, satisfied with favor, and full of every blessing. You have had bereavement after bereavement; the wife has been carried to the tomb, the children have followed, father and mother are gone, and you have few left to love you here; but you are going to the land where graves are unknown things, where they never see a shroud, and the sound of the mattock and the spade are never heard; you are going to your Father’s house in the land of the immortal, in the country of the hereafter, in the home of the blessed, in the habitation of God Most High, in the Jerusalem which is above, the mother of us all. Is not this your best joy, that you are not to be here for ever, that you are not to dwell eternally in this wilderness, but shall soon inherit Canaan? ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0562.cfm

Joy Unaffected by Circumstances

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

But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. – 1 Peter 4:13

I would not change five minutes of the excessive joy my soul has sometimes felt for a thousand years of the best mirth that the children of this world could give me. O friends, there is a happiness which can make the eye sparkle and the heart beat high, and the whole man as full of bounding speed of life as the chariots of Amminadib. There are raptures and high ecstasies, which on festival days such as the Lord allotteth to His people, the saints are permitted to enjoy. I must not fail to remind you that the Christian is the happiest of men for this reason, that his joy does not depend upon circumstances...A rightly cultivated mind, under the power of divine grace and the exercise of a benevolent disposition affords a ground of satisfaction that is not to be affected by “heres” and “theres.” Every Christian will bear you his witness that he has found his sad times to be his glad times, his losses to be his gains, his sicknesses a means to promote his soul’s health. Our summer does not depend upon the sun, nor our flood-tide upon the moon. We can rejoice even in death. We look forward to that happy hour when we shall close our eyes in the peaceful slumbers of death, believing that our last day will be our best day. Even the crossing of the river Jordan is but an easy task, for we shall hear Him say, “Fear not; I am with thee: be not dismayed, I am thy God; when thou passest through the rivers I will be with thee, and the floods shall not overflow thee.” We dare to say it, then, very boldly, we are not of all men most miserable: we would not change (our joy) with unconverted men for all their riches, and their pomp, and their honor thrown into the scale. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0562.cfm

A Lasting Peace of Mind and Joy

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

The righteous shall be glad in the LORD and shall trust in Him; and all the upright in heart shall glory. – Psalm 64:10

Among all men there are none who enjoy such a constant peace of mind as believers in Christ. Our joy is not like that of the sinner, noisy and boisterous. You know what Solomon says- “The laughter of fools is as the crackling of thorns under a pot”-a great deal of blaze and much noise, and then a handful of ashes, and it is all over. “Who hath woe, who hath redness of the eyes? They that tarry long at the wine-men of strength to mingle strong drink.” The Christian, in truth, does not know much of the excitement of the bowl, the viol and the dance, nor does he desire to know; he is content that he possesses a calm deep-seated repose of soul. “He is not afraid of evil tidings, his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.” He is not disturbed with any sudden fear: he knows that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” He is in the habit in whatever society he may be, of still lifting up his heart to God; and therefore, he can say with the Psalmist, “My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.” “There is a river the streams whereof make glad the city of God.” Believers drink of that river and thirst not for carnal delights. They are made “to lie down in green pastures,” and are led “beside the still waters.” Now this solid, lasting joy and peace of mind sets the Christian so on high above all others, that I boldly testify that there are no people in the world to compare with him for happiness. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0562.cfm

Heritors of Joy Forever

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

Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. – Colossians 3:24

Think of a Christian! He is a king, and shall the king be the most melancholy of men? He is a priest unto God, and shall he offer no sweet incense of hallowed joy and grateful thanksgiving? We are fit companions for angels: He hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; and shall we have no days of heaven upon earth? …Heritors of joy for ever, have we no foretastes of our portion? …The Christian knows that his sins are forgiven; there is not against the believer a single sin recorded in God’s book. “I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins.” More than that, the believer is accounted by God as if he had perfectly kept the law, for the righteousness of Christ is imputed to him, and he stands clothed in that fair white linen which is the righteousness of the saints. and shall the man whom God accepts be wretched? Shall the pardoned offender be less happy than the man upon whom the wrath of God abideth? Can you conceive such a thing? Moreover, my brethren, we are made temples of the Holy Ghost, and is the Holy Ghost’s temple to be a dark, dolorous place, a place of shrieks, and moans, and cries, like the Druidic groves of old? …Oh! if ye knew the Christian’s privilege, if ye understood that the secret of the Lord is laid open to him, that the wounds of Christ are his shelter, that the flesh and blood of Christ are his food, that Christ Himself is his sweet companion and his abiding friend… “Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord?” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0562.cfm

The Joyous Peace of the Christian

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

“If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.”-1 Corinthians 15:19

The apostle is arguing with professedly Christian people, who were dubious about the resurrection of the dead. He is not saying that all men are now miserable if there be no hope of the world to come, for such an assertion would be untrue. There are very many who never think of another life, who are quite happy in their way, enjoy themselves, and are very comfortable after a fashion. But he speaks of Christian people-“If we, who have hope in Christ, are led to doubt the doctrine of a future state and of a resurrection, then we are of all men most miserable.” The argument has nothing to do with some of you who are not Christians; it has nothing to do with you who have never been brought out of a state of nature into a state of grace; it only respects those who are real, living followers of the Savior, and who are known by this, that they have hope in Christ-hope in His blood for pardon, in His righteousness for justification, in His power for support, in His resurrection for eternal glory. “If we who have hope in Christ, have that hope for this life only, then we are of all men most miserable.” You understand the argument; he is appealing to their consciousness; they, as Christians, had real enjoyments, “but,” says he, “you could not have these enjoyments if it were not for the hope of another life; for once take that away, if you could still remain Christians and have the same feelings which you now have, and act as you now do, you would become of all men most miserable,” therefore to justify your own happiness and make it all reasonable, you must admit a resurrection; there is no other method of accounting for the joyous peace which the Christian possesses. Our riches are beyond the sea; our city with firm foundations lies on the other side of the river; gleams of glory from the spirit-world cheer our hearts and urge us onward; but if it were not for these, our present joys would pine and die. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0562.cfm

When Jesus Returns

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

Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord… – Acts 3:19

Jesus is yet to come a second time, and like a mighty shower flooding a desert shall His coming be. His church shall revive and be refreshed; she shall once again lift up her head from her lethargy, and her body from her sepulchre. But woe unto you who are not saved when Christ cometh, for the day of the Lord will be darkness and not light to you. When Christ cometh to the unconverted, “the day shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble.” “But who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He appeareth? for He is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and He shall purify the sons of Levi.” Oh, if ye repent and be converted, ye shall stand fully absolved in the day of His coming, when heaven and earth do reel, when the solid rock begins to melt, and the stars, like fig-leaves withered, fall from the tree, when the trumpet sounds exceeding loud and long, “Awake, ye dead and come to judgment,” when the grand assize is sitting, and the Judge shall be there-the Judge of the quick and dead, to separate the righteous from the wicked. The Lord have mercy upon you in that day; and so He shall if His grace shall make you obedient to the words of our text, “Repent and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0804.cfm

Mercy for the Repentant Soul

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

Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out… – Acts 3:19

…and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out. – John 6:37

There is not a conscience here that will say to a man, “You can hope to be saved and yet live as you like.” Some have said this-I query if any have believed it. No, no, no, blind as conscience is, and though its voice be often very feeble, yet there is enough of sight about conscience to see that continuance in sin and pardon cannot coexist, and that there must be a forsaking of iniquity if there is to be a forgiving of it. My hearer, whether your conscience shall say so or not, God says it; “He that confesseth and forsaketh his sin shall find mercy,” but there is no promise for the unrepentant. God declares that he that repents shall be forgiven. “To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at My word;” but for haughty Pharaoh, who says, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey Him?” there is nothing but eternal destruction from the presence of the Lord. He who goeth on in his iniquity and hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. Ah! I have no pardons to preach to you who settle your minds to continue in sin, no gentle notes of love at all, nothing but a fearful looking for of judgment and of fiery indignation. But ah! if you loathe your sins, if God’s Holy Spirit has made you hate your past lives, if you are anxious to be made new men in Christ Jesus, I have nothing but notes of love for you. Believe in Jesus, cast yourself on Him, for He has said, “Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out.” “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” The door is shut and fast bolted to every man who will keep his sin, but it is wide open even to the biggest sinner out of hell, if he will but leave his sin and lay hold of Jesus and put his trust in Him. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0804.cfm