The Holy Spirit

Our Weakness

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

“Out of weakness were made strong.”-Hebrews 11:34.

Brethren, as believers in the Lord Jesus, we are called to two things, namely, to do and to suffer for His name’s sake. Certain saints are summoned to active marching duty, and others are ordered to keep watch on the walls. There are warriors on the field of conflict, and sentries in the box of patience.

Both in doing and in suffering, if we are earnest and observant, we soon discover our own weakness. “Weakness” is all we possess. “Weakness” meets us everywhere. If we have to work for the Lord, we are soon compelled to cry, “Who is sufficient for these things?” and if we are called to suffer for Him, our weakness, in the case of most of us, is even greater: many who can labor without weariness cannot suffer without impatience. Men are seldom equally skilled in the use of the two hands of doing and bearing. Patience is a grace which is rarer and harder to come at than activity and zeal. It is one of the choicest fruits of the Spirit, and is seldom found on newly-planted trees. The fact soon comes home to us that we are weak where we most of all desire to be strong.

Our longing is to be able both to do and to suffer for our Lord, and to do this we must have strength from above, and that strength can only come to us through faith. (Read you this glorious 11th chapter of Hebrews), which describes the mighty men of faith, the men of renown. They accomplished all their feats by a power which was not in them by nature. They were not naturally strong either to do or to suffer. If they had been, they would not have required faith in God; but being men of like passions with ourselves, they needed to trust in the Lord, and they did so. They were quite as weak as the weakest of us; but by their faith they laid hold on heavenly strength until they could do all things. There was nothing in the range of possibility, or, I might say, nothing within the lines of impossibility, which they could not have performed. They achieved everything that was necessary in the form of service, and they bore up gloriously under the most fearful pressure of suffering, simply and only by faith in God, who became their Helper. You and I may be very weak at this time, but we can be made strong out of just such weakness. We need not wish to have any strength of our own, for by faith we can reach to any degree of power in the Lord. We can have all imaginable strength for the grandest achievements desirable, if we have faith in God. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2209.cfm

We May Take Him for Our Own

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

“I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys”…”My beloved is mine, and I am his…” – Song of Songs 1,16

Love at first sight has been begotten by the vision of a lovely countenance. Men and women, too, are struck with affection through the eye when they perceive some beauty which charms and pleases them; so, the Savior lifts the corner of the veil that conceals His glories, and lets us see some glimpse of His beauty, in order that He may win our hearts. There are some who seem to think that they can bully men to Christ; but that is a great mistake. It is very seldom that sinners can be driven to the Savior; His way is to draw them. He Himself said, “I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me. This He said, signifying what death He should die.” And the drawings of Christ are not, as it were, with a cart rope, but with silken bonds, ay, with invisible chains, for His beauty is of such a character that it creates love, His beauty is so attractive that it draws the heart. So, in infinite wisdom, our Lord Jesus Christ sets forth His own beauties that thereby He may win our hearts…Note, then, the condescension and also the wisdom which are perceptible in this self-commendation on the part of Christ: “I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.”

Does Christ commend Himself to us? Does He say to us, for instance, “I am meek and lowly in heart”? What is His object in speaking thus but that we may take His yoke upon us, and may learn of Him, and that we may find rest unto our souls? And if He says, “I am the rose of Sharon,” what does He mean but that we may pluck Him, and take Him for our own? If He says, “I am the lily of the valleys,” why does He take the trouble to tell us that but because He wants us to take Him, and to have Him for our very own? I think that it is so sweet of Christ to praise Himself in order to show that He longs for us to come to Him. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2472.cfm

His Mouth is Most Sweet

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, salvation, Sovereignty of God, The Holy Spirit 4 Comments

His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. – Songs 5:16

Oh that I could rise to something better than myself. I often feel like a chick in the egg; I am picking my way out, and I cannot get clear of my prison. Fain would I chip the shell, come forth to freedom, develop wings, and soar heavenward, singing on the road. Would God that were our portion. If anything can help us to get out of the shell, and to begin to rise and sing, it must be a full and clear perception that Jesus is altogether lovely. Come, let us be married to Him afresh. Come, believing hearts, yield again to His charms; again surrender yourselves to the supremacy of His affection. Let us have the love of our espousals renewed. As you come to His table bethink you of the lips of Christ, of which the spouse had been speaking before she uttered my text: “His mouth is most sweet.” There are three things about Christ’s mouth that are very sweet. The first is His Word. The second is His breath. Come, Holy Spirit, make Thy people feel that. And the third is His kiss. May every believing soul have that sweet token of His eternal love.

May some that never knew my Master ask to know Him…Read the Word to find Him. Cry to Him in prayer and He will be found of you. He is so lovely that I should not live without loving Him; and I shall deeply regret if any one of you shall spend another four-and-twenty hours without having had a sight of His divine face by faith. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1446.cfm

I do love Him!

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, The Holy Spirit 8 Comments

Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory… – 1 Peter 1:8

Do not, I pray you, deny Christ your love. It is all you can give Him. It is a poor thing, but He values it. He would sooner have your heart than all the gold in Europe. He would sooner have the heart of a poor servant girl or of a poor humble labourer upon the soil than the queen’s diadem. He loveth love. Love is His gem-His jewel. He delights to win it, and if He be indeed altogether lovely, let Him have it. You have known people, I dare say, whom you could not help loving. they never had to say to you, “Love me,” for you were captivated at once by the very sight of them. In like manner many and many have only received one beam of light from the Holy Spirit, and have thereby seen who Jesus was, and they have at once said of Him, “Thou hast ravished my heart with one look of Thine eyes,” and so it has been that all their life long they have loved their Lord. Now, the praise is suggestive still further. “Is Christ altogether lovely? Then do I love Him? As a child of God, do I love Him as much as I ought? I do love Him. Yes, blessed be His name, I do love Him. But what a poor, cold, chill love it is. How few are the sacrifices I make for Him. How few are the offerings that I present to Him. How little is the fellowship that I maintain with Him.”

I cannot tell you how near a man may live to heaven, but I am persuaded that a very large proportion of the bliss of heaven may be enjoyed before we come there. There is one conduit pipe through which heavenly joy will flow, and if you draw from it you may have as much as you will. “Abide in Me” says Christ; and if you do abide in His love you shall have His joy fulfilled in yourselves that your joy may be full. You will have more capacious vessels in heaven, but even now the little vessel that you have can be filled up to the brim by knowing the inexpressible loveliness of Jesus and surrendering your hearts to it. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1446.cfm

Do you not love Christ?

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation, Sovereignty of God, The Holy Spirit, the unbelieving life 3 Comments

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. – 1 Corinthians 2:14

If you were to go to some remote island where beauty consisted in having one eye and a twisted mouth, and a sea-green complexion, you would say, “Those people are strange beings.” Such are the people of this world; spiritual beauty is not appreciated by them. This world appreciates the man who makes money, however reckless he may be of the welfare of others while scheming to heap up riches for himself. As for the man who slays his fellow-creatures by thousands, they mount him on a bronze horse, put him on an arch, or they pile up a column, and set him as near heaven as they can. He slew his thousands: he died blood-red: he was an emperor, a tyrant, a conqueror; the world feels his power and pays its homage. As for this Jesus, He only gave His life for men; He was only pure and perfect, the mirror of disinterested love. The vain world cannot see in Him a virtue to admire. It is a blind world, a fool world, a world that lieth in the wicked one. Not to discern the beauties of Jesus is an evidence of terrible depravity. Have you, my dear friend, frankly to confess that you were never enamoured of Him who was holy, harmless, and undefiled, and went about doing good? Then let this come home to you-that the question is not as to whether Christ is lovely or not, the mistake is here-that you have not a spiritually enlightened eye, a fine moral perception, nor even a well-regulated conscience, or you would see His loveliness at once. You are dark and blind. God help you to feel this.

Do you not love Christ? Then let me ask you why you do not? There was never a man yet that knew Christ that could give a reason for not loving Him, neither is there such a reason to be discovered. He is altogether lovely. In nothing is He unlovable. Oh I wish that the good Spirit of God would whisper in your heart, and incline you to say, “I will see about this Christ. I will read of Him. I will look at the portraits of Him painted by the evangelists, and if He be indeed thus lovely, no doubt He will win my heart as He appears to have won the hearts of others.” I pray He may. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1446.cfm

Always and Ever Lovely

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

He is altogether lovely. – Songs 5:16

Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. – Hebrews 13:8

No fairer flower ever bloomed in the garden of creation than the mind of that youth of Nazareth gradually unfolding, as He “grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon Him.” All the while He lived on earth, what moral perfections, what noble qualities, what spiritual charms were about His sacred person! His life among men is a succession of charming pictures. And He was lovely in His bitter passion, when as the thick darkness overshadowed His soul He prayed, in an agony of desire, “Not My will, but Thine, be done.” The bloody sweat did not disfigure, but adorned Him. And oh, was He not lovely when He died? Without resentment He interceded for His murderers. His patience, His self-possession, His piety, as “the faithful martyr,” have fixed as the meridian of time the hour when He said, “It is finished,” and “bowed His head,” and “cried with a loud voice, Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit.” He is lovely in His resurrection from the dead; beyond description lovely. Not a word of accusation did He utter against His cruel persecutors, though He had risen clothed with all power in heaven and in earth. With such tender sympathy did He make Himself known to His sorrowing disciples, that despite the waywardness of their unbelief their hearts’ instinct told them it was “the same Jesus.” He is altogether lovely.

He will be lovely when He comes with solemn pomp, and sound of trumpet, and escort of mighty angels, and brings all His saints who have departed with Him, and calls up those that are alive and remain on the earth till His advent, to meet Him in the air. Oh, how lovely He will appear to the two throngs who will presently join in one company! How admirable will His appearance be! How eyes, ears, hearts and voices will greet Him! With what unanimity the host redeemed by blood will account their highest acclamations as a trivial tribute to His honour and glory! ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1446.cfm

What is Loveliness?

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

He is altogether lovely. – Songs 5:16

What, I pray you, what is loveliness? To discern it is one thing, but it is quite another thing to describe it…How can I-enamoured, entranced, enraptured as I am with Him whom my soul loveth-how can I speak of Him? He is altogether lovely? Where shall I find words, terms, expressions that shall fitly set Him forth? Unless the Eternal Spirit shall upraise me out of myself I must for ever be incapable of setting forth the Well-beloved… I suppose that, by-and-by, when our Lord had entered upon His active life, and encountered its struggles, His youthful beauty was marred with lines of sadness and sorrow. Still His courage so overshadowed His cares, the mercy He showed so surpassed the misery He shared, and the grace He dispensed so exceeded the griefs that He carried, that a halo of real glory must ever have shone around His brow. His countenance must still have been lovely even when surrounded with the clouds of care and grief. How can we describe even the marred visage? It is a great mystery, but a sure fact, that in our Lord’s marred countenance His beauty is best seen. Anguish gave Him a loveliness which else He had not reached. His passion put the finishing touch upon His unrivalled loveliness.

Brethren, I am not about to speak of Christ’s loveliness after the flesh, for now after the flesh know we Him no more. It is His moral and spiritual beauty, of which the spouse in the song most sweetly says, “Yea, he is altogether lovely.” The loveliness which the eye dotes on is mere varnish when compared with that which dwells in virtue and holiness; the worm will devour the loveliness of skin and flesh, but a lovely character will endure for ever. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1446.cfm