The Holy Spirit

The Language of Christ

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

“Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” – Matthew 11:28

“Ye horny-handed sons of toil, ye smiths and carpenters, ye ploughers and diggers, come unto Me, yea, come all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” And again, “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink.” He invites men to come; He pleads with them to come; and when they will not come, He gently upbraids them with such words as these, “Ye will not come unto Me that ye might have life.” And, again, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not.” It is not “I would not,” but “ye would not.” Why, the whole of Scripture in its invitations, may be said to be the language of Christ, and therein you find loving, pleading words of this kind, “Come now, and let us reason together: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” All our blessed Lord’s sermons were so many loving calls to poor aching hearts to come and find what they needed in Him. I pray that the Holy Spirit may give an effectual call to many of you. It would gladden the heart of the Redeemer in the skies if you would come to Him for salvation, for you may come, since there is no barrier between you and the Savior of men. What is it that keeps you back? I repeat it with tears, what is it keeps you back? ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0809.cfm

Our Approachable Lord and Savior

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

“Then drew near unto Him all the publicans and sinners for to hear Him.”-Luke 15:1

The most depraved and despised classes of society formed an inner ring of hearers around our Lord. I gather from this that He was a most approachable person, that He was not of repulsive manners, but that He courted human confidence and was willing that men should commune with Him…Eastern monarchs affected great seclusion and were wont to surround themselves with impassable barriers of state. It was very difficult for even their most loyal subjects to approach them. You remember the case of Esther, who, though the monarch was her husband, yet went with her life in her hand when she ventured to present herself before the king Ahasuerus, for there was a commandment that none should come unto the king except they were called at peril of their lives. It is not so with the King of kings. His court is far more splendid; His person is far more worshipful; but you may draw near to Him at all times without let or hindrance. He hath set no men-at-arms around His palace gate. The door of His house of mercy is set wide open. Over the lintel of His palace gate is written, “For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”

Though He is greater than the greatest, and higher than the highest, He has been pleased to put out of the way everything which might keep the sinner from entering into His halls of gracious entertainment. From His lips we hear no threatenings against intrusion, but hundreds of invitations to the nearest and dearest intimacy. Jesus is to be approached, not now and then, but at all times, and not by some favored few, but by all in whose hearts His Holy Spirit has enkindled the desire to enter into His secret presence. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0809.cfm

Is His Promise Truly Ours?

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, promises, Sovereignty of God, The Holy Spirit 2 Comments

…they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing. – Psalm 34:10

We must be among those who seek the Lord heartily, not merely saying that we do, or wishing that we did, but, filled with the Holy Spirit, and in the power of His blessed residence in our souls, we must be panting after God’s glory heartily, otherwise I do not see that we can put our hands on the promise without presumption. We must be seeking it honestly, too, for there is a way of seeking God’s good and your own at the same time- I mean having a sinister and selfish motive. We may preach, and not be preaching only for God at all. A man may live in the Sanctuary, in holy engagements from morning until night and yet may never ardently, intensely seek the Lord. A man may be a great giver to charities, a great attender at prayer-meetings, a great doer of all kinds of Christian work, and yet he may never seek the Lord, but may yet be seeking to have his name known, to be noted as a generous man, or be merely seeking to get merit to himself, or self-complacency to his own conscience. It is a downright honest desire to serve and glorify God while we are here that is meant in the text. If we have got it-and I think we may readily see whether we have or not-then is the word of the Psalmist true to us.

Oh! may God grant that we may all be able truly to say, “I seek the Lord; I am sure, I am certain that I seek Him,” for if we can feel that that is true, then we can take the promise of the text; if not, we may not touch it. If we, as professing Christians, fire not at top and bottom, in heart, and soul, and spirit, and in all that we do, really seeking the glory of God, the promise does not belong to us; but if we can from our very souls declare, “Notwithstanding a thousand infirmities, yet, Lord, Thou knowest all things: Thou knowest that I love Thee, and that I seek Thine honour,” then this is true of us, and no one of us shall want any good thing. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3409.cfm

The Desire of the Christian

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

O fear the LORD, ye His saints: for there is no want to them that fear Him… they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing. – Psalm 34:9,10

The (saved) man seeks the Lord by daily and constant prayer, seeking that he may be upheld, guided, constrained in paths of righteousness, and restrained from the ways of sin. He becomes a seeker of the Lord after sanctification as once he was after justification. And then he becomes a seeker of the Lord in a further sense. He seeks to enjoy the Lord’s love, and His gracious fellowship and communion. He seeks to get near in reverent friendship to his Lord. He now longs to grow up in the likeness of Christ, that his intercourse with the Father and the Son may be more close, more sweet, more continuous. He feels that God is his Father, and that he is no longer at a distance from him in one sense, for he is made nigh by the blood of the cross. Yet sometimes he is oppressed with a sense of his old evil heart of unbelief and in departure from the living God, and he cries out, “Draw me nearer to Thyself.” In fact, his prayer always is:

“Nearer my God to Thee,
Nearer to Thee:
E’en though it be a cross that raiseth me,
Still all my cry shall be,
Nearer to Thee, nearer to Thee.”

He seeks the Lord’s company. He delights to be in God’s house, and at God’s mercy-seat, and at the foot of the cross, where God reveals Himself in all His glory. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3409.cfm

Consider the Probabilities of It

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

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. – Romans 10:17

The only way by which you can be saved is by faith. Take that to be settled. Now if a man says, “I cannot believe such a thing”-what then? What is his wisest course? Suppose you find a difficulty in believing a report-what do you do? why, you consider the probabilities of it. Suppose it, had been rumoured that the emperor Napoleon had shot himself. Shall I believe the report? I will ask whence the rumor comes, what intelligence corroborates it, upon what authority it is stated, and soon by that means I arrive at a conclusion whether it is probably true or is a mere idle tale. Now if you earnestly desire to believe, faith is the gift of God, and a work of the Spirit, but God works according to the laws of mind, and faith in Christ will most readily come to you in conformity with those laws. “Faith cometh by hearing,” how by hearing? Why, because by hearing I learn the truth concerning Christ, and what I hear commends itself to my judgment and understanding, and so I come to believe. Faith comes to us by reading which is another form of hearing. Read what the Scripture has to say about the Messiah and His work, and you will be helped to believe God’s testimony, by knowing what it is and on what authority it comes to you…Is it not a marvellous system that God should be pleased to put away sin through an atonement, by laying the sin upon another, and punishing it in the person of His Son? Do you know of any other system that would meet the case so well, that would be so suitable to you? I believe that the authenticity of Scripture is better proved by the very existence of this doctrine than by anything else, for no human mind could ever have contrived or conceived of a way so just to God, and yet so infinitely gracious. I feel sure it is true, I am certain of it. Then I find it promised over and over again by God Himself, that if I trust Christ I shall have the benefit of all His work. I therefore believe the thing is reasonable, it is proclaimed by divine authority. I have God’s promise for it, I know that the Almighty One cannot lie; I cheerfully accept what He provides for me, and I am saved. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0947.cfm

The Most God-like Work

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

Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” – John 6:28

Never hope to be saved except by God’s way of salvation. O that the Holy Ghost would enable you in your heart to say, “Now I come to Thee, O Jesus; guilty as I am, I lift my eyes to Thee, and this is my prayer: ‘Help me for Thy mercy’s sake; have pity upon me and cleanse me in Thy blood, for I put all my trust in Thee.'” Resolve, O seeker, to have no refuge of lies, no Savior but the Lamb of God.

I will confess to you, dear seeker, that often I am myself personally driven to do what I trust you may be led to do today. I look back upon my past life, and while I have much to thank God for, much in which to see His Spirit’s hand, yet when I feel my responsibilities and my shortcomings, my heart sinks within me. When I think of my transgressions, better known to myself than to anyone else, and remember too that they are not known even to me as they are to God, I feel all hope swept away and my soul left in utter despair, until I come anew to the cross, and bethink me of who it was that died there, and why He died, and what designs of infinite mercy are answered by His death. It is so sweet to look up to the Crucified One again, and say, “I have nought but Thee, my Lord, no confidence but Thee. If Thou be not accepted as my substitute I must perish; if God’s appointed Savior be not enough, I have no other, but I know Thou art the Father’s Well-beloved, and I am accepted in Thee. Thou art all I want, and all I have.”…The Jews asked our Savior, “What shall we do that we may work the works of God?” and He said, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent.” The greatest of all works, the most Godlike work, is to leave off self-righteous seeking, and trust in Jesus. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0947.cfm

Dear Seeker…

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

Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. – Isaiah 55:6

You have perhaps heard the incident of a dove pursued by a hawk, which flew into the bosom of a man who was walking in the fields, and you remember that it was safely protected by him whom it had trusted. The dove would not of itself have flown there, but under the terror of the hawk it sought a shelter. You have been afraid of Jesus, you have thought He would not receive you. But now that hell pursues you, be venturesome, and fly to Him. If Christ stood with a drawn sword in His hand, you had better run on the point of His sword than perish without Him. O come thou to Him, driven by desperation itself, if by nothing else, come into His bosom! Thou shalt have peace at once. But all the while thou remainest seeking, I know not in what distracted manner, thou art wasting time, thou art missing comfort, thou art losing opportunities of happiness. Cease thy seeking, for there is the Man whom you seek. He stands revealed before thee. Reach hither thy finger and put it into the print of the nails; or if that be too bold, touch but the hem of His garment, and thou shalt be made whole.

You are a seeker, and I am glad you are but if you will not put your trust in Jesus and lay your burden down at the cross where He offered the great sacrifice, it is no marvel if you continue to seek in vain. It will be a great sorrow, but it will not be a great wonder, if you become at last despairing, and are shut up in the iron cage. O man, O woman, break away from this. May God’s Holy Spirit come to your rescue now! Give up thine own ideas of how to get peace and take God’s method of salvation, and lay hold on eternal life by trusting in the Savior slain. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0947.cfm