The Father

United in Christ

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

For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. – Ephesians 5:30

Whatever belongs to Christ belongs to you, poor believer! Christ is rich, can you be poor? Even His Father is your Father, and His heaven is your heaven; for you are so one with Him that all the broad possession of His infinite wealth are given freely to you. He bestows upon you His bounty, not only “to the half of the kingdom”, but the whole of it. Joined to Him, all that He has is yours.

Christ is very dear to His Father’s heart. “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,” was the word which came from the opened heaven concerning Christ; and as God delights in Christ, so is He also well pleased with you who are in Christ. Yes, He is as pleased with you as He is with Christ; for He sees you in Christ, and Christ in you. God makes no division between you and Him to whom He has joined you. “What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder.” Certainly God will never separate that which He has united in Christ. Do not put yourself asunder from Christ, even in your thoughts, by supposing that you are not well-beloved of God even as His own covenant Head.

Whatever Christ is to be, you are to be a sharer of it all. How can you die while Jesus lives? How can the body die, while the head lives? If we go through the waters, they cannot overflow us until they overflow our head. While a man’s head is above water, he cannot be drowned. And Christ up yonder, in the eternities of glory, can never be conquered: neither can those be vanquished who are one with him…”We believe that we shall also live with Him: knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death shall have no dominion over Him.” Where He goes, we shall follow. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2244.cfm

Greatly Grateful

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

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ… – Ephesians 1:3

Paul does not say, “Who has, we hope and trust, blessed us,” but he writes, “Who hath blessed us.” Ah, beloved, if you have a full assurance that God has blessed you in Christ, and that now His smile rests upon you, and all the benisons of the covenant are stored there for you, I think that you cannot help saying, “Blessed, blessed be the name of the Most High!” If you have suspicions about the truth of this precious Book, if you have questions about the truth of the doctrines of grace, if you have doubts about your own interest in those things. I do not wonder that you do not praise God, for a blessing which is only mine by peradventure, well, peradventure I shall be grateful for it; but peradventure I shall not. But if I know whom I have believed; if I have a firm grip of spiritual mercies; if all heavenly things are mine in Christ my Lord, I can sing, “Wake up, my glory; awake psaltery and harp; I myself will awake right early.” “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings.”

With this full assurance should come intense delight: “Who hath blessed us.” God has blessed us. Come, brethren, He has not done some trifle for us, which we can afford to ignore. He has not merely given us some absolutely necessary boons, which we must have, for we could not live without them; but He has in grace dealt still more abundantly with us. He has gone beyond workhouse fare and made us a feast with saints and princes. He has given us more than home-spun garments; He has put upon us robes of beauty and of glory, even His own spotless righteousness. He has blessed us; we are blessed; we feel that we are.

We are not sitting here, and groaning, and crying, and fretting, and worrying, and questioning our own salvation. He has blessed us; and therefore, we will bless Him. If you think little of what God has done for you, you will do very little for Him; but if you have a great notion of His great mercy to you, you will be greatly grateful to your gracious God. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2266.cfm

Adopted and Accepted

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

…having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved…In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will… – Ephesians 1:5,6,11

The chosen ones are adopted; they become the children of God. The universal Fatherhood of God, except in a very special sense, is a doctrine totally unknown to Scripture. God is the Father of those whom He adopts into His family, who are born again into His family, and no man hath any right to believe God to be his Father except through the new birth, and through adoption. And why God thus elects or adopts is declared here: “According to the good pleasure of His will.” He does as He pleases. That old word of God is still true: “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” Men do not like that doctrine; it galls them terribly; but it is the truth of God for all that. He is Master and King, and He will sit on the throne, and none shall drag Him thence…I read here of predestination, and I read here that God hath His own way, and His own will, and that He reigns and rules, and so He will until the world’s end; and all who are loyal subjects wish God to rule. He is a traitor who would not have God to be King; for who is infinitely good and kind as God is? Let Him have His divine will. Who wishes to restrain Him? Whether we wish it or not, however, the Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice, and let His adversaries tremble. Our predestination is “according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.”

There is another precious doctrine, the acceptance of those who are adopted. We are beloved of God; He has a complacency toward us; He takes a delight in us; we are acceptable in His sight. Oh, what a blessing this is! But remember that it is all in Christ: “Accepted in the Beloved.” Because Christ is accepted, therefore those who are in Him are accepted. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2266.cfm

The Double Blessing: Grace and Peace

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

…grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ...who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love… – Ephesians 1:1-4

One of the first doctrines of our holy faith is that of the union of all believing souls with Christ. We are blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ. Apart from Christ we are nothing; in Christ we have “all spiritual blessings” We are rich as Christ is rich, when we are united to Him by the living bond of faith. Another great doctrine of Holy Scripture is that of election. We are blessed in Christ according as the Father “hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world.” Why did God choose any unto eternal life? Was it because of any holiness in them then existing, or forseen to exist? No, by no means; for we read that: “According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world.”

We are chosen, not because we are holy, but that we may be made holy. The election precedes the character and is indeed the moving cause in producing the character. Before the foundation of the world, God chose us in Christ, “that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” You see, then, beloved brethren and sisters, the end for which the Lord chose you by His grace.

“Grace be to you,” brethren and sisters, grace in every form of it, the free favour of God, all that active force of grace which comes of His unmerited love. May you have a fresh draught of it at this time! “And peace.” May you feel a deep peace with God, with your own conscience, and with all the world! Oh, that you might find an atmosphere of quiet calm about your mind at this very moment! The double blessing of “grace” and “peace” comes “from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2266.cfm

To Be Made Holy

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

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love… – Ephesians 1:3,4

The text tells us that God blesses us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, “that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” God’s choice of us was not because we were holy, but to make us holy; and God’s purpose will not be fulfilled unless we are made holy. Some people, when they talk about salvation, mean escaping from hell, and getting into heaven by the skin of their teeth. We never mean any such thing. We mean deliverance from evil, deliverance from sin. Like a dog in the manger, they cannot eat the hay themselves, and they growl at those who can. If you wish to be safe from sin, ask God for that great blessing, and He will give it to you; but if you do not want it, do not complain if God says, “I shall give it to such and such a person, and you that do not even ask for it shall be left without it.” If you do not care to be holy, you shall not be holy. If you did care for it, and wish for it, you might have it, for God denies it to none who seek it at His hands. But if you neither wish for it, nor value it, why do you lift your puny fist against the God of heaven because He hath chosen others, that they should be holy and without blame before Him in love? The object of our election is our holiness, and the object of every spiritual blessing is our holiness. God is aiming at making us holy. Are you not glad of that? May I not say, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, because His aim in every gift is to make us holy”? Brothers and sisters, would we not sacrifice everything we have, and count it no sacrifice, if we might be perfectly holy? ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2266.cfm

God’s Purpose in Our Blessings

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

According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world… – Ephesians 1:4

We have to bless God that all His gifts come to us in Christ. Notice Paul’s words, “according as He hath chosen us in Him.” God called us in Christ. He justified us in Christ. He sanctified us in Christ. He will perfect us in Christ. He will glorify us in Christ. We have everything in Christ, and we have nothing apart from Christ. Let us praise and bless the name of the Lord that this sacred channel of His grace is as glorious as the grace itself. There is as much grace in the gift of Christ to save us as there is in the salvation which Christ has wrought out for us. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

“Before the foundation of the world”, says the text, there was a purpose in the heart of God, and in that purpose, we were chosen, and by that same purpose God continues to bless us. Look, beloved, God never gives His people either a gift or a grace without His purpose. Has God given you a tongue fluent, eloquent? Speak for Him. He does not give you these gifts without purpose. Has God given you influence among your fellow-men? Use it for Him. Your election came according to His purpose; and so have all your gifts, and much more, all your graces. Have you a strong, bright-eyes faith? Have you burning zeal? Have you vehement love? Have you any of these gifts of the covenant? Use them for a purpose. God has given them for a purpose; find out what that purpose is and glorify God thereby. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2266.cfm

Blessed with All Spiritual Blessings

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

…who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings… – Ephesians 1:3 

An enlightened man is grateful to God for temporal blessings; but he is much more grateful to God for spiritual blessings, for temporal blessings do not last long; they are soon gone. Temporal blessings are not definite marks of divine favour, since God gives them to the unworthy, and to the wicked, as well as to the righteous. The corn, and wine, and oil, are for Dives; and Lazarus gets even less than his share. Our thanks are due to God for all temporal blessings; they are more than we deserve. But our thanks ought to go to God in thunders of hallelujahs for spiritual blessings. A new heart is better than a new coat. To feed on Christ is better than to have the best earthly food. To be an heir of God is better than being the heir of the greatest nobleman. To have God for our portion is blessed, infinitely more blessed than to own broad acres of land. God hath blessed us with spiritual blessings. These are the rarest, the richest, the most enduring of all blessings; they are priceless in value. Wherefore, let me beg you to join in blessing the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed you with spiritual blessings.

But did you notice the word “all”? I must bring that out clearly. I must turn the microscope on it. “Who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings.” Surely, Paul means that we have not a spiritual blessing which God did not give. We have never earned one; we could never create one. All spiritual blessings come from the Father; He has really given us all spiritual blessings… A new heart, a tender conscience, a submissive will, faith, hope, love, patience, we have all these in Christ. Regeneration, justification, adoption, sanctification, perfection are all in Christ…He hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2266.cfm