The Holy Spirit

The Work of Christ for the Sinner

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation, The Holy Spirit 1 Comment

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:14,15

Our Lord began, in the third chapter of John’s gospel, by telling Nicodemus that he must be born again, and explaining to him the mysterious character of the new birth. Whereupon Nicodemus was filled with wonder, and unbelievingly exclaimed, “How can these things be?” He does not seem to have made the smallest advance towards faith by hearing of the new birth, and therefore on the selfsame occasion our Lord turned aside from the doctrine of regeneration, the inner work, to speak to him of the doctrine of faith, or the work of Christ, which is the object of saving faith. Thus it comes to pass that the very same chapter which has in it that searching passage, “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God,” contains also these encouraging words, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” …If we can with all boldness and distinctness declare the inward work which the Holy Ghost accomplishes in the soul by working in us to will and to do of God’s good pleasure, and at the same time can tell the sinner most plainly that the object of his faith is not the work within, but the work which Jesus Christ accomplished upon the cross for him, we shall have dealt faithfully with divine truth, and wisely with our hearer’s soul. The faith which brings salvation, looks away from everything that is inward to that which was accomplished and completed by our once slain but now ascended Lord; and yet no man has this faith except as it is wrought in him by the quickening Spirit. If we can preach both these truths in harmonious proportion, it seems to me that we shall have hit upon that form of Christian teaching which, while it is consistent with truth, is also healthful to the soul. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0755.cfm

The Holy Spirit Lightens

Sherry Attributes of God, Christian Life, prayer, promises, The Holy Spirit 1 Comment

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. – John 14:26

There is one blessed person of the divine Unity who makes it His especial office to teach us. If you go to God for wisdom, you only go for that which it is His nature and His office to give. The Holy Ghost is given to this end: “He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” When you go to God, you may say to Him these words, “O Father, you have been pleased to reveal to us the Holy Spirit, who is to lighten our darkness, and to remove our ignorance. Oh, let that Spirit of Thine dwell in me; I am willing to be taught by Thy Spirit, through Thy Word, or through Thy ministers, but I come first to Thee because I know that Thy Word and Thy ministers, apart from Thyself, cannot teach me anything. O Lord, teach Thou me.” I do not mean by any word of mine to make you think little of Scripture-God forbid! -nor little of those who may speak to you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, but I did mean to make you look even at that Book, and at God’s ministers, as being subservient to the Holy Ghost Himself. Go to Him; ask Him: for there in the Book is the letter that killeth; He, He alone can make you to know the living essence and the quickening power of that Word. Without the Holy Ghost, my dear hearer, you must still be as blind with the light as you would have been without it. You will be as foolish after having been taught the gospel in the theory of it, as you were before you knew it. Let the Holy Spirit, however, teach you, and you shall know all things that are necessary for this life and godliness. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0735.cfm

By Thy Power We Rely

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

Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith. – Acts 6:7

If we pant to see the Word of God increase, multitudes added to the disciples, and a great company of those who are least likely to be saved brought in, there must be an adequate instrumentality. Nothing can avail without the operation of the Holy Spirit and the smile from heaven. Paul planteth, Apollos watereth, and God giveth the increase. We must never begin our catalogue of outward means without referring to that blessed and mysterious Potentate who abides in the church, and without whom nothing is good, nothing efficient, nothing successful.

“Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly dove,
With all Thy quickening powers.”

This should be our first prayer whenever we attempt to serve God, for if not, we begin with pride, and can little hope to succeed by prowess. If we go to the warfare at our own charges we must not marvel if we return stained with defeat. O Spirit of the living God, if it were not for Thy power we could not make the attempt, but when we rely upon Thee, we go forward in confidence. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0802.cfm

Be Uplifted

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, The Holy Spirit 1 Comment

Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. – Song of Songs 4:16

“I will approach Thee-I will force
My way through obstacles to Thee:
To Thee for strength will have recourse,
To Thee for consolation flee!”

You, who are the true children of God, cannot ever come into a condition out of which the Holy Spirit cannot uplift you. You know the notable case of Laodicea, which was neither cold nor hot, and therefore so nauseous to the great Lord that He threatened to spue her out of His mouth, yet what is the message to the angel of that church? “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock.” This is not said to sinners, it is addressed to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hears My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.” Oh, matchless grace! He is sick of these lukewarm professors, yet He promises to sup with them, and that they shall sup with Him. That is the only cure for lukewarmness and decline, to renew heart-fellowship with Christ; and He stands and offers it to all His people now. “Only open the door, and I will sup with you, and you shall sup with Me.” O you whose graces are lying so sinfully dormant, who have to mourn and cry because of “the body of this death”-for death in you seems to have taken to itself a body, and to have become a substantial thing, no mere skeleton now, but a heavy, cumbrous form that bows you down,-cry still to Him who is able to deliver you from this lukewarm and sinful state! Let every one of us put up the prayer of our text, “Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; and blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2475.cfm

Am I Really a Child of God?

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

While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. – Matthew 25:5

Alas! on a hot and drowsy day, when everything has fallen into a deep slumber, even God’s saints, though they be wise virgins, go as soundly asleep as the foolish virgins, and they forget that “the Bridegroom cometh.” “While the Bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept;” and, sometimes, you and I must catch ourselves nodding when we ought to be wide awake. We are going through a part of that enchanted ground which John Bunyan describes, and we do not know what to do to keep ourselves awake.

At such times, a Christian is very apt to ask, “Am I indeed planted in God’s garden? Am I really a child of God?” Now, I will say what some of you may think a strong thing; but I do not believe that he is a child of God who never raised that question. I have sung, and I expect that I may have to sing again, –

“‘Tis a point I long to know;
Oft it causes anxious thought;
Do I love the Lord or no?
Am I His, or am I not?”

I cannot bear to get into that condition, and I cannot bear to keep in it when I am in it, but still, there must be anxious thought about this all-important matter. Because you happened to be excited on a certain occasion, and thought you were converted and were sure of heaven, you had better look well to the evidence on which you are relying. You may be mistaken after all; and while I would not preach up little faith, I would preach down great presumption. No man can have a faith too strong, and no assurance can be too full, if it comes really from God the Holy Spirit. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2475.cfm

These Sweet Odours

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

Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. – Song of Songs 4:16

The spices with which God is conserving this present evil age, lest His anger should destroy it because of the growing corruption, are to be found in the flowers which He has planted in the garden of His Church. It sometimes happens that these sweet odours within God’s people lie quiet and still...I recollect, when I was young, reading an expression, -I think of Erskine’s, -in which he says that he likes a roaring devil better than a sleeping devil. It struck me then that, if I could keep the devil always asleep, it would be the best thing that could possibly happen for me; but now I am not so sure that I was right. At all events, I know this, when the old dog of hell barks very loudly, he keeps me awake; and when he howls at me, he drives me to the mercy-seat for protection; but when he goes to sleep, and lies very quiet, I am very apt to go to sleep, too, and then the graces that are within my soul seem to be absolutely hidden. And mark you, hidden grace, which in no way reveals itself by its blessed odours, is all the same as if there were none to those that watch from the outside and sometimes to the believer himself. What is wanted, in order that he may know that he has these sweet perfumes is something outside himself. You cannot stir your own graces, you cannot make them more, you cannot cause their fragrance to flow forth. True, by prayer, you may help to this end; but then, that very prayer is put into you by the Holy Spirit, and when it has been offered to the Lord, it comes back to you laden with blessings; but often something more is needed, some movement of God’s providence, and much more; some mighty working of His grace, to come and shake the flower bells in His garden, and make them shed their fragrance on the air. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2475.cfm

God Delights in Us

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

What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that Thou visitest him? – Psalm 8:4

What an exaltation it is to us worms of the earth that there should ever be anything in us well-pleasing unto God! Well did the psalmist say, “What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that Thou visitest him?” But God is mindful of us, and He does visit us. Of old, before Christ came into this world-in human form, His delights were with the sons of men; much more is it so now that He has taken their nature into heaven itself and given to those sons of men His own Spirit to dwell within them. Let it ravish your heart with intense delight that, though often you can take no complacency in yourself, but go with your head bowed down, like a bulrush, and cry, “Woe is me!” yet in that very cry of yours God hears a note that is sweet and musical to His ears. Blessed is repentance, with her tear-drops in her eyes, sparkling like diamonds. God takes delight even in our longings after holiness, and in our loathings of our own imperfections. Just as the father delights to see his child anxious to be on the best and most loving terms with him, so does God delight in us when we are crying after that which we have not yet reached, the perfection which shall make us to be fully like Himself. O beloved, I do not know anything that fills my soul with such feelings of joy as does the reflection that I, even I, may yet be and do something that shall give delight to the heart of God Himself! He has joy over one sinner that repenteth, though repentance is but an initial grace; and when we go on from that to other graces, and take yet higher steps in the divine life, we may be sure that His joy is in us, and therefore our joy may well be full. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2475.cfm