The Father

Be Humbled and Warned

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

We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly. Our fathers understood not Thy wonders in Egypt; they remembered not the multitude of Thy mercies; but provoked Him at the sea, even at the Red Sea…Save us, O Lord our God. – Psalm 106:6,7,47

OUR FATHERS! From them we derive our nature. We inherit our fathers’ propensities; for that which is born of the flesh is flesh. As is the nature, such is the conduct. Hence the Psalmist writes in verse 6: “We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.” If we must mention our fathers’ faults, it is not to screen ourselves; for we have to confess that our life’s story is no brighter than theirs. It is not because the fathers have eaten sour grapes that the children’s teeth are set on edge; for we ourselves have greedily devoured those evil clusters: “We have sinned with our fathers.” “As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man.” When we read of the sins of others, we ought to be humbled and warned; for “all we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way.” We have no space wherein to set up a monument to our own glory. As we cannot boast in our pedigree, for we are the children of sinners; so we cannot exalt ourselves because of our personal excellence, for there is none that doeth good, no not one. We come before God and confess our iniquities as a race and as individuals; and we cry unto Him, in the words of the forty-seventh verse, “Save us, O Lord our God.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2204.cfm

We Have Peace with God

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

Lord, now lettest thou Thy servant depart in peace… – Luke 2:29

No man can depart in peace who has not lived in peace; but he who has attained peace in life shall possess peace in death, and an eternity of peace after death. “Being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jesus has bequeathed us peace, saying, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you.” “For He is our peace,” and “the fruit of the Spirit is peace.” We are reconciled unto God by the death of His Son. Whatever peace flowed in the heart of Simeon, I am sure it was not of a diviner nature than that which dwells in the bosom of every true believer. If sin be pardoned, the quarrel is ended; if the atonement is made, then is peace established, a peace covenanted to endure for ever. We are now led in the paths of peace; we walk the King’s highway, of which it is written, “no lion shall be there;” we are led beside the still waters and made to lie down in green pastures. We feel no slavish fear of God, though He be “a consuming fire” even to us; we tremble no longer to approach into His presence, who deigns to be our Father. The precious blood upon the mercy-seat has made it a safe place for us to resort at all times; boldness has taken the place of trembling. The throne of God is our rejoicing, though once it was our terror.

Therefore, brethren, having peace with God, we may be sure that we shall “depart in peace.” We need not fear that the God of all consolation, who has already enriched us in communion with Himself, and peace in Christ Jesus, will desert us at the last. He will help us to sing a sweet swan-song, and our tabernacle shall be gently taken down, to be rebuilt more enduringly in the fair country beyond Jordan. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1014.cfm

Made Meet to Depart

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

“Lord, now lettest thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word: for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation.”- Luke 2:29-30.

Blessed wert thou, O Simeon, for flesh and blood had not revealed this unto thee; neither had it enabled thee so cheerfully to bid the world farewell. The flesh clings to the earth-it is dust and owns affluity to the ground out of which it was taken; it loathes to part from mother earth. Even old age, with its infirmities, does not make men really willing to depart out of this world. By nature we hold to life with a terrible tenacity; and even when we sigh over the evils of life, and repine concerning its ills, and fancy that we wish ourselves away, it is probable that our readiness to depart lies only upon the surface, but down deep in our hearts we have no will to go. Flesh and blood had not revealed unto Simeon that he saw God’s salvation in that babe which he took out of the arms of Mary and embraced with eager joy. God’s grace had taught him that this was the Savior, and God’s grace at the same time loosened the cords which bound him to earth and made him feel the attractions of the better land. Blessed is that man who has received by grace a meekness for heaven, and a willingness to depart to that better land: let him magnify the Lord who has wrought so great a work in him. As Paul says, “Thanks be unto the Father who hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.” Certainly, none of us were meet by nature-not even Simeon; the fitness of the venerable man was all the handiwork of God, and so, also, was his anxiety to obtain the inheritance for which God had prepared him. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1014.cfm

A Learner in the School of Christ

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

But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. Luke 10:42

The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master. – Luke 6:40

Discipleship is too often forgotten; it is as needful as faith. We are to go into all the world and disciple all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and of the Holy Ghost. A man cannot be saved unless he has become a learner in the school of Christ, and a learner, too, in a practical sense, being willing to practice what he learns. Only he who does the Master’s will knows His doctrines. We are, if we have chosen the good part, sitters at the feet of Jesus, just as Saul of Tarsus sat at the feet of Gamaliel; Christ is to us our great Instructor, and we take the law from His lips. The believer’s position is that of a pupil, and the Lord Jesus is his teacher. Except we be converted and become as little children, we can in no wise enter the kingdom of heaven. Sitting at the feet of Jesus indicates the child-like spirit of true discipleship; and this is the one thing needful: there is no salvation apart from it.

The first duty, indeed, of the student to the tutor is that he be cheerful in accepting, and diligent in retaining, what is taught: in this sense, Mary was really waiting upon Christ in one of His loftiest capacities, namely that of a teacher and prophet in the midst of Israel. In that same spirit, had the Master only intimated it, she would have risen to wash His feet, or anoint His head, or wait at table, as Martha did; but she would, while she was performing these active duties, have continued spiritually in her first posture; she could not, of course, have continued literally sitting at the feet of the Saviour, but her heart would have remained in the condition which that posture indicates. She was in the fittest position for service, for she waited to hear what her Lord would have her to do. We must all be servants, too; as we have been servants of unrighteousness, we must by grace submit ourselves unto the rules of Jesus, and become servants of righteousness, or, else, we miss the one thing that is indispensable for entrance into heaven. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1015.cfm

Choosing That Good Part

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

But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. – Luke 10:42

We have no difficulty whatever in deciding what the one thing is. We are not allowed to say that it is the Saviour, for He is not a thing; and we are not permitted to say that it is attention to our own salvation, for although that would be true, it is not mentioned in the context. The one thing needful evidently is that which Mary chose-that good part which should not be taken away from her. Very clearly this was to sit at Jesus’ feet and hear His word. This and nothing less, this and nothing more.

The mere posture of sitting down and listening to the Saviour’s word was nothing in itself: it was that which it indicated. It indicated, in Mary’s case, a readiness to believe what the Saviour taught, to accept and to obey-nay to delight in, the precepts which fell from His lips. And this is the one thing needful-absolutely needful; for no rebel can enter the kingdom of heaven with the weapons of rebellion in his hands. We cannot know Christ while we resist Christ: we must be reconciled to His gentle sway, and confess that He is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

To sit at Jesus’ feet implies faith as well as submission. Mary believed in what Jesus said, and, therefore, sat there to be taught by Him. It is absolutely necessary that we have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, in His power as God and man, in His death as being expiatory, in His crucifixion as being a sacrifice for our sins. We must trust Him for time and eternity, in all His relationships as Prophet, Priest, and King. We must rely on Him; He must be our hope, our salvation, our all in all. This one thing is absolutely necessary: without it we are undone. A believing submission, and a submissive faith in Jesus we must have, or perish. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1015.cfm

Offending the Persons of the Trinity

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, promises, repentance, salvation, Sovereignty of God, The Father, The Holy Spirit, the unbelieving life Leave a comment

He was numbered with the transgressors; and He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. – Isaiah 53:12 (read Isaiah 53)

The unbeliever perpetrates an offense against every person of the blessed Trinity. He may think that his not believing is a very small business, but indeed, it is a barbed shaft shot against the Deity. Take the persons of the blessed Trinity, beginning with the Son of God who comes to us most nearly. It is to me the most surprising thing I ever heard of that, “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” I do not wonder that in India the missionaries are often met with this remark: “It is too good to be true that God ever took upon Himself the nature of such a thing as man.”

Yet, more wonderful does it seem to be that, when Christ became man, He took all the sorrows and infirmity of man, and in addition, was made to bear the sin of many. The most extraordinary of all facts is this that the infinitely Holy should be “numbered with the transgressors,” and in the words of Isaiah, should “bear their iniquities.” The Lord has made Him who knew no sin, to be made sin for us. Wonder of wonders! It is beyond all degree amazing that He who distributes crowns and thrones should hang on a tree and die, the just for the unjust, bearing the punishment due to sinners for guilt.

Now, knowing this, as most of you do, and yet refusing to believe, you do, in effect, say, “I do not believe that the incarnate God can save.” “Oh no,” you reply, “We sincerely believe that He can save.” Then it must be that you feel, “I believe He can, but I will not have Him save me.” Wherein I excuse you in the first place, I must bring the accusation more heavily in the second. You answer that “(I) do not say (I) will not believe Him.” Why do you then remain in unbelief? The fact is you do not trust Him; you do not obey Him. I pray you account for the fact. If there be any barrier, it is not with God, it is not with Christ, it is with your own sinful heart. You are welcome to the Savior now, and if you trust Him now, He is yours forever. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1012.cfm

Will You Receive God’s Mercy or His Condemnation?

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, promises, Sovereignty of God, The Father, The Holy Spirit, the unbelieving life Leave a comment

And when He comes, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on Me… – John 16:8,9

He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. – John 3:18

The all-seeing One, when He beholds men spurning the supreme gift of His love, cannot but regard such rejection as the worst proof of the hatred of their hearts against Himself. When the Holy Spirit comes to convince men of sin, the special sin which He brings to light is thus described, “Of sin, because they believed not on Me.” Not because the heathen were licentious in their habits, barbarians in their wars, and the bloodthirsty in their spirit. No, “Of sin, because they believe not on Me.”

Condemnation has come upon men, but what is the condemnation? “That light is come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil.” Remember, also, that expressive text, “He that believes not is condemned already.” And what is he condemned for? “Because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.”

Let me remark, further, that in the rejection of divine mercy as presented in Christ, the unbeliever has displayed intense venom against God, for observe how it is. He must either receive the mercy of God in Christ, or he must be condemned—there is no other alternative. He must trust Christ whom God has set forth to be the propitiation for sin, or else he must be driven from the presence of God into eternal punishment. The unbeliever in effect says, “I had sooner be damned than accept God’s mercy in Christ.” Can we conceive a grosser insult to the infinite compassion of the great Father? ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1012.cfm