The Holy Spirit

Hold Up Your Candle

Sherry Character of Jesus, Christian Life, repentance, salvation, The Holy Spirit Leave a comment

And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. – Luke 24:47

“Beginning at Jerusalem.” The apostles were not to pick and choose where they should start, but they were to begin at Jerusalem. Why? There were people in Jerusalem who had seen their children and their friends healed of dreadful diseases. Jesus bids His disciples face the lion in his den, and declare the gospel on the spot where, if it had been untrue, it would have been contradicted with violence. Our Lord seemed to say, “Point to the very place where My death took place. Tell them that they crucified Me, and see if they dare deny it. Bring it home to their consciences that they rejected the Christ of God.” Hence it was that, coming to the very people who had seen these things, the preaching of Peter had unusual force about it. In addition to the power of the Holy Spirit there was also this—that he was telling them of a crime which they had newly committed and could not deny. And when they saw their error they turned to God with penitent hearts. I like this thought—that they were to begin at Jerusalem, because there the events of the gospel occurred. This is a direction for you, dear friend, if you have been newly converted do not be ashamed to tell those who know you…Never be ashamed of Christ. Come straight out and say to your friends, “You know what I was, but now I have become a disciple of Jesus Christ.” Begin at Jerusalem; it was your Lord’s command. He had nothing to be ashamed of. There was no falsehood in what He bade His disciples preach, and therefore He did as good as say, “Hang up My gospel to the light. It is nothing but truth; therefore display it before My enemies’ eyes.” If yours is a true, genuine, thorough conversion, I do not say that you are to go up and down the street crying out that you are converted, but on due occasions you must not hide your convictions. Conceal not what the Lord has done for you, but hold up your candle in your own house. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

Click to access chs1729.pdf

Finding Mercy

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

He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. – Proverbs 28:13

There is nothing in repentance deserving of the favor of God. But, the Lord Jesus Christ having come, we read, “He that confesses and forsakes his sin shall find mercy.” God accepts repentance for the sake of His dear Son. He smiles upon the penitent sinner, and puts away his iniquities. This we are to make known on all sides. Every thief is sorry when he has to go to prison, every murderer is sorry when the noose is about his neck, the sinner must repent, not because of the punishment of sin, but because his sin is sin against a pardoning God, sin against a bleeding Savior, sin against a holy law, sin against a tender gospel. The true penitent repents of sin against God and he would do so even if there were no punishment. When he is forgiven, he repents of sin more than ever, for he sees more clearly than ever the wickedness of offending so gracious a God.

Repentance is not a grace which is only to be exercised by us for a week or so at the beginning of our Christian career. It is to attend us all the way to heaven. Faith and repentance are to be inseparable companions throughout our pilgrimage to heaven. Repenting of our sin and trusting in the great Sin Bearer is to be the tenor of our lives, and we are to preach to men that it must be so. The Lord Jesus Christ is exalted on high to give repentance and remission of sins. Repentance is a plant that never grows on nature’s dunghill. The nature must be changed, and repentance must be implanted by the Holy Spirit or it will never flourish in our hearts. We preach repentance as a fruit of the Spirit or else we greatly err. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

Click to access chs1729.pdf

Gospel Repentance

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

“And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” – Luke 24:47

You that would faithfully serve Christ note carefully how He taught His disciples what they were to preach. We find different descriptions of the subject of our preaching, but on this occasion it is comprised in two things—repentance and remission of sins. I am glad to find in this verse that old-fashioned virtue called repentance. It used to be preached, but is now out of fashion. Indeed, we are told that we always misunderstood the meaning of the word, “repentance,” and it simply means a “change of mind” and nothing more. I wish that those who are so wise in their Greek knew a little more of that language, for then they would not be so ready with their infallible statements. True, the word does signify a change of mind, but in its scriptural connection it indicates a change of mind of an unusual character. It is not such a fitful thing as men mean when they speak of changing their minds, as some people do fifty times a day, but it is a change of mind of a deeper kind. Gospel repentance is a change of mind of the most radical sort—such a change as never was worked in any man except by the Spirit of God.

Let every man understand that he will never have remission of sin while he is in love with sin, and that if he lives in sin he cannot obtain the pardon of sin. There must be a hatred of sin, a loathing of it, and a turning from it or it is not blotted out. We are to preach repentance as a duty. “The times of this ignorance God winked at, but now command all men everywhere to repent.” “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.” He that has sinned is bound to repent of having sinned. It is the least that he can do. How can any man ask God for mercy while he lives in his sin? ~ C.H. Spurgeon

Click to access chs1729.pdf

The Lord Hath Done It

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

Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit (My Father) taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. – John 15:2

Supposing Him to be the gardener. – John 20:15

Certain of us have been made to suffer much physical pain, which often bites into the spirit, and makes the heart to stoop: others have suffered heavy temporal losses, having had no success in business, but, on the contrary, having had to endure privation, perhaps even to penury. Are you ready to complain against the Lord for all this? I pray you, do not do so. Take the supposition of the text into your mind this morning. The Lord has been pruning you sharply, cutting off your best boughs, and you seem to be like a thing despised that is constantly tormented with the knife. Yes, but “supposing Him to be the gardener,” suppose that your loving Lord has wrought it all, that from His own hand all your grief has come, every cut, and every gash, and every slip: does not this alter the case? Hath not the Lord done it? Well, then, if it be so, put your finger to your lip and be quiet, until you are able from your heart to say, “The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away, and blessed be the name of the Lord.” I am persuaded that the Lord hath done nothing amiss to any one of His people; that no child of His can rightly complain that He has been whipped with too much severity; and that no one branch of the vine can truthfully declare that it has been pruned with too sharp an edge. No; what the Lord has done is the best that could have been done, the very thing that you and I, if we could have possessed infinite wisdom and love, would have wished to have done; therefore, let us stop each thought of murmuring, and say, “The Lord hath done it,” and be glad…Let us believe great things from the work of Christ by His Spirit in the midst of His people’s hearts, and we shall not be disappointed. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1699.cfm

It Is in His Own Hands

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

Supposing Him to be the gardener. – John 20:15

And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts. – Malachi 3:11

I am sometimes troubled by the question, what if roots of bitterness should spring up among us to trouble us? We are all such fallible creatures, supposing some brother should permit the seed of discord to grow in his bosom, then there may be a sister in whose heart the seeds will also spring up, and from her they will fly to another sister, and be blown about till brethren and sisters are all bearing rue and wormwood in their hearts. Who is to prevent this? Only the Lord, Jesus by His Spirit. He can keep out this evil. The root which beareth wormwood will grow but little where Jesus is. Dwell with us, Lord, as a church and people: by Thy Holy Spirit reside with us and in us, and never depart from us, and then no root of bitterness shall spring up to trouble us.

Then comes another fear. Suppose the living waters of God’s Spirit should not come to water the garden, what then? We cannot, make them flow, for the Spirit is a sovereign, and He flows where He pleases. Ah, but the Spirit of God will be in our garden, “supposing our Lord to be the gardener.” There is no fear of our not being watered when Jesus undertakes to do it. “He will pour water on him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground.” But what if the sunlight of His love should not shine on the garden? If the fruits should never ripen, if there should be no peace, no joy in the Lord? That cannot happen “supposing Him to be the gardener;” for His face is the sun, and His countenance scatters those health-giving beams, and nurturing warmths, and perfecting influences which are needful for maturing the saints in all the sweetness of grace to the glory of God. So, “supposing Him to be the gardener” I fling away my doubts and fears and invite you who bear the Church upon your heart to do the same. It is all well with Christ’s cause because it is in His own hands. He shall not fail nor be discouraged. The pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hands. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1699.cfm

An Oasis of Life in a Desert of Death

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

Supposing Him to be the gardener. – John 20:15

Upon a hard and flinty rock the Lord has made the Eden of His Church to grow. How came it to be, here an oasis of life in a desert of death? How came faith in the midst of unbelief, and hope where all is servile fear, and love where hate abounds? “Ye are of God, little children, and the whole world lieth in the wicked one.” How came there to be a people for God, separated, and sanctified, and consecrated, and ordained to bring forth fruit unto His name? …How comes the Church of God to flourish in such a clime? This present evil world is very uncongenial to the growth of grace, and the Church is not able by herself alone to resist the evil influences which surround her. The Church contains within itself elements which tend to its own disorder and destruction if left alone; even as the garden has present in its soil all the germs of a tangled thicket of weeds. The best Church that ever Christ had on earth would, within a few years, apostatise from the truth if deserted by the Spirit of God. The world never helps the Church; it is all in arms against it; there is nothing in the world’s air or soil that can fertilise the Church even to the least degree. How is it, then, that notwithstanding all this, the Church is a fair garden unto God, and there are sweet spices grown in its beds, and lovely flowers are gathered by the Divine hand from its borders? The continuance and prosperity of the Church can only be accounted for by “supposing Him to be the gardener.” Almighty strength is put to the otherwise impossible work of sustaining a holy people among men; almighty wisdom exercises itself upon this otherwise insuperable difficulty. Hear ye the word of the Lord and learn hence the reason for the growth of His Church below. “I, the Lord, do keep it: I will water it every moment; lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1699.cfm

Our Lord Thirsts for Us

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

“I thirst.” – John 19:28

Our blessed Lord has at this time a thirst for communion with each one of you who are His people, not because you can do Him good, but because He can do you good. He thirsts to bless you and to receive your grateful love in return; He thirsts to see you looking with believing eye to His fulness and holding out your emptiness that He may supply it…And what makes Him love us so? Ah, that I cannot tell, except His own great love. He must love, it is His nature. He must love His chosen whom He has once begun to love, for He is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. His great love makes Him thirst to have us much nearer than we are; He will never be satisfied till all His redeemed are beyond gunshot of the enemy. I will give you one of His thirsty prayers-“Father, I will that they also whom Thou hast given Me be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory.” He wants you brother, He wants you, dear sister, He longs to have you wholly to Himself. Come to Him in prayer, come to Him in fellowship, come to Him by perfect consecration, come to Him by surrendering your whole being to the sweet mysterious influences of His Spirit. Sit at His feet with Mary, lean on His breast with John; yea, come with the spouse in the song and say, “Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth, for His love is better than wine.” He calls for that: will you not give it to Him…Let all your love be His. I know He loves to receive from you, because He delights even in a cup of cold water that you give to one of His disciples; how much more will He delight in the giving of your whole self to Him? Therefore, while He thirsts give Him to drink this day. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1409.cfm