The Father

We Shall Behold His Glory

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

“Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me…” -John 17:24

What must it be to behold His glory? Some of my brethren think that when they get to heaven they shall like to behold some of the works of God in nature and so on. I must confess myself more satisfied with the idea that I shall behold His glory, the glory of the Crucified, for it seems to me that no kind of heaven but that comes up to the description of the Apostle when he saith, “Eye hath not seen, nor hath ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” But to see the stars has entered into the heart of man, and to behold the works of God in nature has been conceived of man; but the joys we speak of are so spiritual that the Apostle says, “He has revealed them unto us by His Spirit,” and this is what He has revealed, “That they may behold My glory.”…Why, even the distant glimpse which we catch of Him through a glass or a telescope darkly ravishes the soul. Dr. Hawker was once waited upon by a friend, who asked him to go and see a naval review. He said, “No, thank you; I do not want to go.” “You are a loyal man, doctor, and you would like to see the defences of your country.” “Thank you, I do not wish to go.” “But I have got a ticket for you, and you must go.” “No,” he said, “thank you,” and after he had been pressed hard he said, “You have pressed me till I am ashamed, and now I must tell you-mine eyes have seen the King in His beauty, and the land which is very far off, and I have not any taste now for all the pomps that this world could possibly show.” And if such a distant sight of Jesus can do this, what must it be to behold His glory with what the old Scotch divines used to call “a face-to-face view”; when the veil is taken down, when the clouds are blown away, and you see Him face to face? Oh! long-expected day begin, when we shall be to Him coming to dwell with Him.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3509.cfm

 

The Blessed Confession

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

I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee -Luke 15:18

Look, there he is, with the fellow commoners of the sty, in all his mire and filthiness. Suddenly a thought, put there by the good Spirit, strikes his mind. “How is it,” says he, “that in my father’s house there is bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger? I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.”…But his father puts his hand on his mouth. “No more of that,” says he; “I forgive you all; you shall not say anything about being a hired servant-I will have none of that. Come along,” says he, “come in, poor prodigal. Ho!” says he to the servants, “bring hither the best robe, and put it on him, and put shoes on his poor bleeding feet; and bring hither the fatted calf and kill it; and let us eat and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” And they began to be merry. Oh, what a precious reception for one of the chief of sinners! Good Matthew Henry says-” His father saw him, there were eyes of mercy; he ran to meet him, there were legs of mercy; he put his arms round his neck, there were arms of mercy; he kissed him, there were kisses of mercy; he said to him, there were words of mercy; “Bring hither the best robe,” there were deeds of mercy, wonders of mercy-all mercy. Oh, what a God of mercy He is.”

Now, prodigal, you do the same…”Ah, sir, I am so black, so filthy, so vile.” Well come along with you-you cannot be blacker than the prodigal. Come to your Father’s house, and as surely as He is God He will keep His word: “Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out.”~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0113.cfm

 

 

“This is my business…”

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

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” – Matthew 6:33

There are some runners in the heavenly race who cannot win because they carry too much weight. A light weight, of course, has the advantage. There are some people who have an immensely heavy weight to carry. “How hardly shall a rich man enter into the kingdom of heaven!” What is the reason? Because he carries so much weight; he has so much of the cares and pleasures of this world; he has such a burden that he is not likely to win, unless God should please to give him a mighty mass of strength to enable him to bear it. We find many men willing to be saved, as they say they receive the word with great joy, but by-and-bye thorns spring up and choke the word. They have so much business to do; they say they must live but they forget they must die. They have such a deal to attend to they cannot think of living near to Christ. They find they have little time for devotions; morning prayer must be cut short, because their business begins early; they can have no prayer at night, because business keeps them so late. How can they be expected to think of the things of God? They have so much to do to answer these questions-“What shall I eat? what shall I drink? and wherewithal shall I be clothed?” It is true they read in the Bible that their Father who is in heaven will take care of them in these things if they will trust Him.

It is well for us if we can cast everything away except that one thing needful, and say, “This is my business, to serve God on earth, knowing that I shall enjoy Him in heaven.” For when we leave our business to God, we leave it in better hands than if we took care of it ourselves. They who carve for themselves generally cut their fingers; but they who leave God to carve for them, shall never have an empty plate. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0198.cfm

The Esteem of Men is a Poor Reward

Sherry Christian Life, The Father Leave a comment

“Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.” – Matthew 6:1

Some people think they must be religious, in order to be respectable. There are a vast number of people in the world who go to church and to chapel, because everybody else does so. It is disreputable to waste your Sundays, not to be found going up to the house of God, therefore they take a pew and attend the services, and they think they have done their duty: they have obtained all that they sought for, when they can hear their neighbors saying, “Such-and-such a man is a very respectable person; he is always very regular at his Church; he is a very reputable person, and exceedingly praiseworthy.” Verily, if this be what you seek after in your religion, you shall get it; for the Pharisees who sought the praise of men “had their reward.” But when you have gotten it, what a poor reward it is! Is it worth the drudgery? I am sure, for my own part, I would not care a solitary rap what I was called, or what I was thought; nor would I perform anything that was irksome to myself for the sake of pleasing any man that ever walked beneath the stars, however great or mighty he may be. It is the sign of a fawning, cringing spirit, when people are always seeking to do that which renders them respectable. The esteem of men is not worth the looking after, and sad it is, that this should be the only prize which some men put before them, in the poor religion which they undertake.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0198.cfm

Merciful Providence

Sherry Attributes of God, Christian Life, promises, The Father, The Holy Spirit 3 Comments

All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. – Romans 8:28

Have you the notion that fate grinds on like an enormous wheel, ruthlessly crushing everything that lies in its way, not pausing for pity, nor turning aside for mercy? Remember that, if you liken Providence to a wheel, it must be a wheel which is full of eyes. Its every revolution is in wisdom and goodness. God’s eye leaves nothing in providence blind; but fills all things with sight. God works all things according to His purpose; but then He Himself works them. There is all the difference between the lone machinery of fixed fate, and the presence of a gracious, loving Spirit ruling all things. Things do happen as He plans them; but He Himself is there to make them happen, and to moderate, and guide, and secure results…With a living, loving God to superintend all things, we feel ourselves at home, resting near our Father’s heart.

Beloved, God is near His people with all His attributes; His wisdom, His power, His faithfulness, His immutability; and these are under oath to work for the good of those who put their trust in Him…Yes, God considers our times, and thinks them over; with His heart and soul planning to do us good. That august mind, out of which all things spring, bows itself to us; and those eternal wings, which cover the universe, also brood over us and our household, and our daily wants and woes. Our God sits not still as a listless spectator of our griefs, suffering us to be drifted like waifs upon the waters of circumstance; but is busily occupying Himself at all times for the defense and perfecting of His children. He leads us that He may bring us home to the place where His flock shall rest for ever.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2205.cfm

Secure in Thy Eternal Hand

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation, The Father 6 Comments

My times are in Thy hand…Oh how great is Thy goodness, which Thou hast laid up for them that fear Thee; which Thou hast wrought for them that trust in Thee before the sons of men! – Psalm 31:15, 19

Sit thou still, O child, at thy great Father’s feet, and let Him do as seemeth Him good! When thou canst not comprehend Him, know that a babe cannot understand the wisdom of its sire. Thy Father comprehends all things, though thou dost not: let His wisdom be enough for thee. Everything in the hand of God is where it may be left without anxiety; and it is where it will be carried through to a prosperous issue. Things prosper which are in His hand. “My times are in Thy hand,” is an assurance that none can disturb, or pervert, or poison them. In that hand we rest as securely as rests a babe upon its mother’s breast. Where could our interests be so well secured as in the eternal hand? What a blessing it is to see by the eye of faith all things that concern you grasped in the hand of God! What peace as to every matter which could cause anxiety flows into the soul when we see all our hopes built upon so stable a foundation, and preserved by such supreme power! “My times are in Thy hand!”

“Our times are in Thy hand,
Whatever they may be,
Pleasing or painful, dark or bright,
As best may seem to Thee.”

 The Lord Jesus loved me, and gave Himself for me, and my times are in those hands which were nailed to the cross for my redemption. What will be the effect of such a faith, if it be clear, personal, and enduring? ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2205.cfm

Our Loving Father’s Care

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

Into Thine hand I commit my spirit: Thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth. – Psalm 31:5

In life we use the words which our Lord so patiently used in death: we hand over our spirits to the hand of God. If our lives were not appointed of heaven, we should wish they were. If there were no overruling Providence, we would crave for one. We would merge our own wills in the will of the great God, and cry, “Not as we will, but as Thou wilt.” It would be a hideous thought to us if any one point of our life-story were left to chance, or to the frivolities of our own fancy; but with joyful hope we fall back upon the eternal foresight and the infallible wisdom of God, and cry, “Thou shalt choose our inheritance for us.” We would beg Him to take our times into His hand, even if they were not there.

Moreover, beloved brethren, our times are in the Lord’s hands, because we are one with Christ Jesus. “We are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones.” Everything that concerns Christ touches the great Father’s heart. He thinks more of Jesus than of all the world. Hence it follows that when we become one with Jesus, we become conspicuous objects of the Father’s care. He takes us in hand for the sake of His dear Son. He that loves the Head loves all the members of the mystical body. We cannot conceive of the dear Redeemer as ever being out of the Father’s mind; neither can any of us who are in Christ be away from the Father’s active, loving care: our tines are ever in His hand. All His eternal purposes work towards the glorifying of the Son, and quite as surely they work together for the good of those who are in His Son. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2205.cfm