The Holy Spirit

Take God at His Word

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

Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent. – John 6:29

Awakened souls, though they may have heard the gospel, do not in their hearts understand it. Many enquirers do not know what faith is. I am persuaded millions of our fellow country-men do not know what believing in Jesus means. Though every Sabbath-day they are told, yet do they not catch the thought, for the Spirit of God has not illuminated their minds. To believe in Jesus, as we say again, and again, and again, is simply to trust in Jesus-to take God at His word, to take Christ for what God says He is, namely, the atonement, the satisfaction for sin, the Savior of sinners…Many, though desirous to be saved, do not understand the work of Christ, or know what atonement is. Though the doctrine of substitution, which is the very marrow of the gospel, is to believers so very plain, yet many seekers have not learned it. That Jesus bore the sin of His people; that “the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all;” that He was made a sin for us; that justice received its due at His hands; this precious fact many penitent sinners have not grasped. They still think there is so much repentance to do, so much feeling to endure, so much praying to go through, so much mystery to be experienced; but the plain, simple precept, Believe and live; trust and be accepted, hide under the shadow of the cross and be safe-this, through ignorance, they do not understand, and this involves them in trouble upon trouble, till their way is hedged up with thorns…How soon would their bewilderment end in sweet repose, if they would obey the divine mandate and accept the great salvation! ~ C.H. Spurgeon

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

Drink of Salvation’s Cup

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

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. – Hebrews 11:6

It is some good thing certainly to be a seeker, but it is also an ill thing if I follow my seeking and refuse God’s way of salvation. Hear what the apostle John saith: “He that believeth not God hath made Him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of His Son.” This is no small sin to be guilty of, and it entails no small punishment, for “he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” Suppose that I have been told of a remedy for my disease. Well, it is so far good that I desire to be cured of my deadly malady, it is so far hopeful that I have sent for a physician. But after being informed that there is the one specific for my disease, and that it alone will certainly heal me-if I were still to continue seeking a remedy, or to say I am seeking this one true remedy, I shall remain sick, and ultimately die. I shall never be healed unless I take that which is prescribed: to seek it is not enough, I must actually take it…O seeker for Jesus, think of this, for while I would not discourage thee, yet would I encourage thee to end thy seeking by becoming a believer. Look not at salvation’s cup, but drink of it. Stand not by the fountain’s brim but wash in it and be clean. O may the Holy Spirit lead thee to cease thy search for goodly pearls, for the pearl of great price is before thee. Jesus is not to be discovered as a secret; He stands before thee openly. Behold His hands and His feet, mark well His riven side, and as thou lookest, trust, and henceforth He is all thine own. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

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

How Can It Be Done?

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

God hath spoken in His holiness; I will rejoice… – Psalm 108:7

It sometimes happens that our greatest difficulty in believing a promise of God lies in His holiness. There is, for instance, a promise of pardon to the soul that believeth in Jesus. We think of stern justice, with her majestic yet severe look. In our heart of hearts, we reverence her, and we ask, “How can God be just, and yet the Justifier of the ungodly…Can this holy God really mean to receive such sinners as we are whose very clothes, as Job says, do abhor us? Can He purpose to bring us to His own right hand in glory that we may be among the courtiers in His heavenly kingdom?” Yes, He does mean to do even that; yet the thought of His purity makes us wonder how it can be done.

(God) knew all that David was, and all that David would be; yet He saw it to be consistent with His infinite perfections to make, even with such a man, “an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure;” and, beloved brethren, when the Lord entered into covenant with Christ concerning those whom He gave to Him to be His portion forever, and when, in that covenant, He wrote down blessings exceedingly great and precious, and made promises so vast that we cannot at present form any estimate of their full value, He knew quite well what He was doing, and He did it, knowing all about your doubts and fears concerning your sinfulness and His own holiness. And now, without in the least marring His perfect purity, and inflexible justice, “God hath spoken in His holiness” to poor lost sinners and said that He will save all of them who trust in Jesus Christ, His Son; and He has also “spoken in His holiness” to His poor imperfect children, and said that He will bless them, and that He will not turn away from them to do them good. This is the covenant that He hath made with His people: “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them. And ye shall be My people, and I will be your God.” All this, which “God hath spoken in His holiness,” He will do without obscuring that wondrous attribute, or marring the glory of His adorable perfections. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2864.cfm

Sanctified Trials

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

And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt. – Genesis 41:41

Great riches and high positions are not to be desired. Agur’s prayer is a wise one: “Give me neither poverty nor riches.” Joseph was in great peril when he came to be lord over the land of Egypt, but during his time in prison he had been learning to spell out a mystery and answer a riddle. Practically, his interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream was what he had been learning in prison, namely, that it is idle to boast of the fat kine, since the lean kine can soon eat them up, and it is unwise to be proud of the full ears, because the withered ears can soon devour them. Pharaoh saw in the dream the lean devouring the full-fleshed, but Joseph alone understood it. He saw his fat kine when he was in his father’s house eaten up when he was sold as a slave; he saw his full ears when he was in Potiphar’s house devoured by the withered ears when he was thrown into prison, and he now knew that there was nothing here below worth our relying upon, since on the chariot of all earthly good there rides a Nemesis, and every day is followed by a night. He was tutored to be a ruler for he had learned the prisoner’s side of politics and felt how hard it was for men to be unjustly condemned without trial. He foresaw that this could not be forever endured, and that one day the long-suffering lean kine would be goaded to fury and would eat up the fat ones that oppressed them. Hence Joseph’s rule would be just and generous, for in this he would see the elements which would preserve law and order and prevent the poorer sort from overturning everything.

Joseph believed the word of the Lord, and he spoke with the accent of conviction, and Pharaoh believed also. Whence came this simple-minded courage? Whence this boldness? It was the right royal velour which doth hedge about a virtuous soul-or rather the fearlessness which follows from the fear of God. He stood forth and delivered his message, and the Lord established his word. He had been preparing for this in the day of his sorrow: like a good sword-blade, he had been passed through the fire and through the fire again, that now he might not fail in the day of battle. Oh, dear brothers and sisters, may you gain as much from tribulation as Joseph did, and you will do so if the Holy Spirit sanctifies them to you. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1277.cfm

It is Good to be Afflicted

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

…for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. – 1 Chronicles 28:9

No Christian man is all that he thinks he is; our purest gold is alloyed. We have none of us so much faith as we impute to ourselves, nor so much patience, or humility, or meekness, or love to God, or love to men. Spurious coin swells our apparent wealth. It is amazing how rich and increased in goods we are till the Lord deals with us by a trial, and then full often we discover that we are naked, and poor, and miserable in the very respects in which we boasted ourselves. Oh, man, if thou be a child of God thou art like a house which He is building with gold, and silver, and precious stones; but by reason of thine old nature thou art mixing up with the divine material much of thine own wood, and hay, and stubble; therefore, is it that the fire is made to rage around thee to burn out this injurious stuff which mars the whole fabric. If the Holy Spirit be pleased to bless thine afflictions to thee then wilt thou be daily led to put away the materials of the old nature with deep abhorrence and repentance, and thus shall the true work of God which He has built upon the sure foundation, stand in its true beauty, and thou shalt be builded for eternity.

The rod of God teacheth us more than all the voices of His ministers. When the Christian has been passed through the fire, the assaying, by removing the dross, adds a new lustre to the gold. Brother, thou art not what thou shalt be, nor canst thou be what thou shalt be except through a measure of trial. Child, it is needful for thee to feel the weight of thy Father’s hand, or thou wilt never behave thyself as a man. Thou must see His face veiled with frowns and hear His voice in harshness chiding thee for thy transgressions, otherwise thou wilt always retain the follies of childhood. Our chastisements are our promotions. They are privileges more precious than the rights of princes. “It is good for me that I have been afflicted.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1277.cfm

Take Counsel from God

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

And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men’s counsel that they gave him; And spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke… – 1 Kings 12: 13,14

Old men are not always wise, and young men are not always wise; he who consults with men only shall yet learn the truth of this verse, “Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.” Among Rehoboam’s counsellors, the old men had no real principle to guide them, they said to the king, in effect, “Just butter these people with soft words, delude and deceive them with the idea that you are going to yield to them, and then, when you once get the reins into your own hands, you can govern the nation as you like.” This was a wicked policy; but the young men said to the king, “No, no, no; do not pretend that you will listen to the people. There is nothing like putting a bold face on it, and just letting the people know that you will not yield to them. They will be startled by what you say; have you not the authority and example of your father Solomon? Nobody ever dared speak a word of this kind to him, so do you put it down at once, and be bold.” There is no principle, you see, about the advice in either case; it is all policy, but the latter policy is sure not to succeed. I counsel you, brother, -nay, I will give you no counsel except that I counsel you to take counsel of God. Wait upon Him, for He knows what you should do in every difficulty that may arise. If Rehoboam had only had wit enough and grace enough to lay this case before his God He would have given him somewhat of the largeness of heart and the wisdom which He gave to his father Solomon. We often blunder over very ample matters when we speak without asking guidance of God; but in the most intricate circumstances our course will be perfectly clear if we commit our way unto the Lord. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2476.cfm

Commit Yourselves to God’s Guidance

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

…this thing is from Me… – 1 Kings 12:24

There sat, one Sabbath day, in that left-hand gallery, a young Hindoo gentleman wearing a scarlet sash. I preached that morning from this text, “What if thy father answer thee roughly?”* and I had hardly reached the vestry at the back before this young Hindoo gentleman was there with an aged man, and all in a hurry the young man said, “Sir, has Mr. E_____ told you about me?” “No,” I said, “I have not seen him for months; what could he have told me about you?” “Are you sure that you never heard of me before?” “To my knowledge, I never heard of you, and never saw you before.” “Well then, sir,” he said, “there is a God, and that God is in this place.” “How so?” I asked. “Last night, I told this gentleman here that I was almost persuaded to be a Christian; but that, when I went home to India, I should be disinherited by my father, and I felt sure that I should not have the courage to stand out as a Christian; and then my friend said, ‘Come and hear Mr. Spurgeon to-morrow morning,’ and I came in here, and you preached from those words, ‘What if thy father answer thee roughly?’ Verily,” he said, “the God of the Christians is God, and He has spoken to me this day.” That was an illustration of our text, “This thing is from Me.” Has it not often happened so? The providential working of the Holy Ghost is a very wonderful subject. They who are the Holy Ghost’s servants learn to depend upon Him for every word they are to utter; they sometimes feel their flesh creep, and almost every hair on their head stand on end at the way in which they have unconsciously spoken so as to depict to the very life the character of their hearers, -casual hearers, perhaps, -as if they had photographed them though they knew them not. Oh, you who are the Lord’s workers, commit yourselves to God’s guidance; the more you can do it, the better, for often you will have to say of an event that happens to you, “This thing is from the Lord.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2476.cfm