The Holy Spirit

In the Deepest Darkness He is With You

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

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me. – Psalm 23:4

“Oh!” says one, “I have no joy; I have very little rest; I have nothing but trouble; deep calleth unto deep at the noise of His waterspouts, and I am so weak, so feeble, so faint, I cannot imagine that the Lord is with me. I see no signs of His presence, neither do I perceive even a star of hope amid the dense darkness of the night.” Listen, dear friend; have you taken Him to be your God? Are you trusting Him? Are you determined to rely on nothing but the finished work of Christ? Then, He is with you; though you do not perceive His Holy Spirit, in the deepest darkness He is with you.

If the Lord had not been with you, your despondency might have become despair. If He had not been with you, your despair might have gone further still. You are yet alive, remember, you have not laid violent hands upon yourself, as you might have done if you had been left to yourself. God is with you, keeping you, even while you live on the very brink of despair. I know that there are some here who were sure God was with them in their darkness because it did not grow any darker. It was a black night, but still it was not altogether dark, there was a gleam of light left. Ah, yes! it was your gracious Lord who gave you that little ray of hope.

Tell me, sad heart, what is it that causes you to hate sin, and makes you so wretched without the presence of the Savior? It is because you have His presence though you do not know it. You have, perhaps, seen your boy play with a magnet and a needle; the needle is above the table, and the magnet, though out of sight, acts upon it, the needle feels the attraction of the magnet, and moves after it; and those desires, those groans, those cries, that inward anguish, that self-despair, that horror of great darkness, all these prove that God is secretly working with you, and drawing you to Himself. He is with you; and if you take Him afresh to be your God, if you come and trust in His promises, I should not wonder but that, even now, your midnight shall burst into a glorious meridian. The Lord send it to you right speedily! Only, do rest in Him. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2471.cfm

He Has Pledged Himself to Us

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

Is not the LORD your God with you? – 1 Chronicles 22:18

…for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. – Hebrews 13:5

Remember how Divine Wisdom said, “My delights were with the sons of men.” It is a wonderful thing to be able to say, but God takes a great deal more pleasure in us than we do in Him; yet there seems in us nothing that can give Him pleasure, while in Him there is everything that can afford us delight. The Lord so loves His people that He is never long away from them. You know that dear relationship into which our Lord has entered with His Church; she is His bride, He loves her as He loves His own soul. In some respects, He loves her better than He loves Himself, for He gave Himself for her; and do you think that He is happy away from His bride, His spouse? It is not so; He saith to her, “Let Me see thy countenance, let Me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely;” and whenever she calls for Him, saying, “Let my Beloved come into His garden,” His quick answer is, “I am come into My garden, My sister, My spouse.” He so loves us that, when we shut the door against Him, He stands and knocks, and cries to us, “Open to Me, My sister, My love, My dove, My undefiled; for My head is filled with dew, and My locks with the drops of the night.” Do not think that He has gone from you when He loves you so as your Father, and as the Husband of your soul. Moreover, He will be with His Church in her work, because her work is His work; and wherever there is a heart on the earth, sanctified by the Holy Ghost, in sympathy and harmony with the heart of Christ, depend upon it He is assuredly there, for that sympathy and that harmony are created by His very presence. Well, then, as He has pledged Himself, and He is Himself pleased to be with His people, we believe the assertion which is implied in the enquiry, “Is not the Lord your God with you?” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2471.cfm

Is Not the Lord Your God With You?

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

Is not the LORD your God with you? – 1 Chronicles 22:18

For this God is our God for ever and ever: He will be our guide even unto death. – Psalm 48:14

Brethren and sisters in Christ, the Lord our God is with us…Do you ask how I know that? Well, I know it because He has pledged Himself to be with His people. “He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Is not the Lord your God with you, then? Assuredly He is, if He keeps His promise; and you do not doubt His fidelity, do you? Can He forget His promise, or, remembering it, will He treat it as if it were more verbiage, words without meaning? There are men who can do that, we know; but does God act so? Can you suppose it possible? No, not for an instant; then, as He hath said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee,” He will keep His word. We say, “Never is a long day,” and so it is, for it covers all time; and the Lord hath said, “I will never leave thee,”-in poverty, in sickness, in slander and reproach, in depression of spirit, in the hour of death, in the day of judgment,-“I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” He has pledged Himself to this, and God forbid that we should, for even a moment, doubt that He will keep His word! To believers in their church capacity, there is a pledge given by the blessed Lord Jesus Himself which refers especially to His work: “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” “Lo, I am with you,” says Christ, as much as to say, “Not only do I promise to be with you, but I am with you, I am already fulfilling My promise to you. For the past, for the present, and for the future, ‘Lo, I am with you alway.'” Let not any Church of God hesitate to answer this question, “Is not the Lord your God with you?” If He be your God, He is with you as individuals, and He is especially with you as a Christian community going forth to preach His gospel to every creature. That ought to be enough, surely? He has pledged Himself to be with us. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2471.cfm

With the Lord’s Presence We Can Do It

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

Is not the LORD your God with you? – 1 Chronicles 22:18

We are engaged in the building of a temple, in a spiritual sense. God has sent His servants into the world, to gather together for His beautiful house, stones hewn out of the quarry of nature, to be shaped, polished, and prepared for building into the temple of His grace. The Church is the living temple of God, “exceeding magnifical.” It is a wondrous idea that men’s hearts and souls can be blended together, and built up into a spiritual temple wherein God will dwell. This temple is to be builded of stones taken from the quarry of nature, and, God being with us, you and I are to go forth, and to hew out and shape and prepare the stones for the building of this house of the Lord which shall endure for over.

In order to do this, we certainly need the presence and the help of God; for what can we do without Him? In the work of conversion, what can be done without the Spirit of God? I would like anybody who thinks he can convert another person without divine help, to try and do it, and see what a wretched failure he will make of it, or what a dire hypocrisy he will produce by his apparent success. We must have God with us for this work; we cannot create a spark of grace, how then can we create a new heart and a right spirit? Conversion is an absolute creation, regeneration is a miracle of divine grace, the work of the Spirit of God; and this is altogether beyond our power. We need the Spirit of God to aid us in the building of a temple for God; but, brethren, with the Lord’s presence we can do it. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2471.cfm

God Strengthening You

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

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen….By faith… – Hebrews 11

Faith is the great force which is needed by those whose principal work is to overcome sin. When God began with many of us, He found us very low down beneath the flood of evil. It may be that an awful temper broke over us in surging waves. We have to rise superior to it. Possibly He found us plunged in the great deeps of an evil habit. Was it drunkenness? Was it gambling? What was it? It had to be left beneath; we were called to rise out of it. Some are permitted to sink a long way down in sin; and when God begins with them, they have a desperate ascent even to reach common morality; what must the conflict be before they attain to spirituality and holiness? It is hard for those to rise to the surface who have been plunged in the deeps. If a man has been sunk down in black waters full of filth, a thousand fathoms deep, and if he has been long imprisoned in dark caves where no light has come, what a wondrous power would that be which should raise him to the sunlight! The Spirit of God comes to many when they are in much the same condition; and what a work it is to bring up from the horrible midnight, and to give strength to rise out of the inky waters! I have seen many a soul wearying to ascend; receiving a little light, and a little more light, and a little more light; but yet far from being clear of the dark waters of iniquity. Dear struggler, you will never overcome sin except by faith in Jesus Christ. Trust Him! Trust in the precious blood: that is the great sin-killer. Trust His pierced hands to pierce the hands of your lusts. Trust His wounded side to smite through the heart of your evil desires. Your hope lies there: where Jesus died, where Jesus rose again, where Jesus has gone into the glory. You may resolve to overcome a sin, and, perhaps, any one sin you may conquer for a time; but sin itself, as a force, in all its armies, is never to be overcome, save through the blood of the Lamb. You will never be able to cut down this huge upas tree except with the axe of Christ’s atoning sacrifice. Take that, and every blow will tell, but no other instrument will avail. God strengthening you, you shall out of weakness be made strong to overcome sin, though it be backed by the world, the flesh, and the devil. Entrenched in your nature though your sins may be, you will drive out these Canaanites, and free your heart from their dominion. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

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

Masters of the Art of Prayer

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

Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. – 11:33,34

Can you pray, my brother? If you know how to pray, you can move heaven and earth. Can you pray, my brother? Then you can set almighty forces in operation. You can suffer no need, for everlasting supplies await the hand of prayer: “Ask, and it shall be given you.” You cannot miss your way, for you shall be guided in answer to prayer. You shall hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk ye in it.” “O sir,” you say, “I cannot pray prevailingly.” Then you are not like Jacob, good at wrestling. You cannot take hold upon the angel, and win the victory. Do you feel in prayer as if the sinew of your strength were shrunk, and your knee out of joint? Well, then, let me bring the text before you. Out of this weakness in prayer you can only be made strong by faith. Believe in God, and you will prevail with God. Believe in His promise, and plead it. Believe in His Spirit, and pray by His help. Believe in Jesus, who makes intercession; for through Him you may come boldly to the throne of grace. Faith alone can confirm feeble knees. “According to your faith be it unto you.”…Seek faith to become Masters of the Art of prayer. I would rather be Master of the Art of prayer than M.A. of both universities. He who knows how to pray has his hand on a leverage which moves the universe. But there is no praying without believing. If thou believest not, thou mayest be heard-it is more than I can promise thee; but if thou believest, thou shalt be heard, for God refuses no believing prayer. To refuse to keep His own promise when it is pleaded would be to falsify His word, and change His character; and neither of these things can ever be. Have thou strong confidence: “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” Jesus said, “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him?” Believe in prayer, and you will pray believingly. Some do not think that there is much in prayer. Poor souls! The Lord teach them better! O my brothers, believe up to the hilt in prayer, and you will find it to be the most remunerative work on earth! He that trades with God in prayer enters upon a business whereof the merchandise is better than silver or gold. Prayer makes us “rich towards God,” and this is the best of riches; but it must be believing prayer. “Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.” Hast thou a poor, faint heart in this sacred exercise? Be assured that only by faith out of this weakness canst thou be made strong. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

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

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