The Holy Spirit

The Faith That Delights God

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

So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. -Galatians 3:9

(T)he crown of Christian experience is to be delivered from all trust in self or man, and to be brought to rely wholly and simply on Jesus Christ. I say, Christian, thy highest and noblest experience is not to be groaning about thy corruption, is not to be crying about thy wanderings, but is to say-

“With all my sin, and care, and woe,
His Spirit will not let me go.”

“Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief.” I like what Luther says: “I would run into Christ’s arms if He had a drawn sword in His hands.” Trust is called venturesome believing; but as an old divine says, there is no such thing as venturesome believing; we cannot venture on Christ; it is no venture at all; there is no hap-hazard in the least degree. It is a holy and heavenly experience, when we can go to Christ, amid the storm, and say, “Oh! Jesus, I believe I am covered by Thy blood;” …”Lord, I believe that through Christ Jesus, ragged though I am, I am fully absolved.” A saint’s faith is little faith when he believes as a saint; but a sinner’s faith is true faith when he believes as a sinner. The faith, not of a sinless being, but the faith of a sinful creature-that is the faith which delights God. Go, then, Christian: ask that this may be thy experience, to learn each day, “He only is my rock and my salvation.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0080.cfm

Perfection is of the Lord Alone

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

And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. -1 Peter 5:4

The perfection we shall soon have, when we shall stand yonder, near God’s throne, will be wholly of the Lord. That bright crown which shall sparkle on our brow, like a constellation of brilliant stars, shall have been fashioned only by our God. I go to a land, but it is a land which the plough of earth hath never upturned, though it be greener than earth’s best pastures, and though it be richer than all her harvests ever saw. I go to a building of more gorgeous architecture than man hath builded; it is not of mortal architecture; it is “a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens”. All I shall know in heaven, will be given by the Lord; and I shall say, when at last I appear before Him,-

“Grace all the work shall crown
Through everlasting days;
It lays in heaven the topmost stone,
And well deserves the praise.”

Looking back on my past life, I can see that the dawning of it all was of God; of God effectively. I took no torch with which to light the sun; but the sun did light me. I did not commence my spiritual life-no, I rather kicked and struggled against the things of the Spirit: when He drew me, for a time, I did not run after Him: there was a natural hatred in my soul of everything holy and good… I am sure you will not be many weeks a Christian, certainly not many months, before you will say, “I ascribe my change wholly to God.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0080.cfm

Twice Marked

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

And when He puts forth His own sheep, He goes before them, and the sheep follow Him: for they know His voice. -John 10:4

Our Savior marks us. It has been very properly observed, that there are two marks on Christ’s sheep. One is on their ear, the other is on their foot. The mark on the ear: “My sheep hear My voice.”The mark on the foot: “I know them, and they follow Me.”

Now, the spiritual ear listens to God. The opening of it is the work of the Holy Spirit, and this is a mark of Christ’s chosen blood-bought people, that they hear not only the hollow sound, but the hidden sense; not the bare letter, but the spiritual lesson; and that, too, not merely with the outward organ, but with the inward heart. The chief point is that they hear His voice.

Christ has marked His sheep on their feet as well as their ears. They follow Him: they are gently led, not harshly driven. They follow Him as the Captain of their salvation; they trust in the power of His arm to clear the way for them. All their trust on Him is stayed; all their hope on Him they lean. They follow Him as their teacher; they call no man “Rabbi” under heaven, but Christ alone…And the sheep of Christ follow Him as their example; they desire to be in this world as He was. It is one of their marks, that to a greater or less degree they have a Christ-like spirit; and if they could they would be altogether like their Lord. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/spurgeon/sermons17.xxviii.html

Bought with His Blood

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

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body. – 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Now, our blessed Shepherd esteems His sheep because they cost Him His blood.In the face of every saint the Savior sees, as in a glass, the memorial of His bloody sweat in Gethsemane, and His agonies at Golgotha. “Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price.” That stands as a call to duty, but it is at the same time a consolation, for if He has bought me, He will have me. Bought with such a price, He will not like to lose me, nor suffer any foe to take me out of His hand. Think not that Christ will suffer those to perish for whom He died. To me the very suggestion seems to draw near to the verge of blasphemy. If He has bought me with His blood, I cannot conceive He cares nothing for me, will take no further concern about me, or will suffer my soul to be cast into the pit. If He has suffered in my stead, where is justice gone that the substitute should bear my guilt, and I should bear it too? And where is mercy fled, that God should execute twice the punishment for one offense! Nay, beloved, those whom He hath bought with His blood are His, and He will keep them.~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/spurgeon/sermons17.xxviii.html

 

A True Conversion’s Witness

Sherry Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, salvation, The Holy Spirit 3 Comments

And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prays – Acts 9:11

These words are the hallmark of genuine conversion. “Behold, he prayeth” is a surer witness of a man’s conversion than, “Behold, he singeth, or, readeth the Scripture, or, preacheth.” These things may be admirably done by men who are not regenerate; but if a man really prays, we may know that he has passed from death unto life. Prayer is the autograph of the Holy Ghost upon the renewed heart. Hence the Lord gave to Ananias his sure indication that Saul of Tarsus was a converted man, by saying to him, “Behold, he prayeth.” In Saul’s case, this indication was very specially remarkable: “Behold, he prayeth” had a peculiar meaning in relation to this converted Pharisee. It was thought a great wonder that King Saul, of the Old Testament, prophesied. So unexpected and singular was the event that it became a proverb: “Is Saul also among the prophets?” But it was an equal marvel when this more modern Saul was seen to pray. Is Saul of Tarsus among those who pray to Jesus for mercy? The Lord from heaven Himself mentions it as a prodigy, he points to it as a thing to be beheld and wondered at, for He says to His servant Ananias, “Behold, he prayeth.”… This is very striking, for Saul was a Pharisee, and therefore a man who habitually repeated prayers; but He who searcheth the hearts, and knew what prayer is, here declares that now at length he begins to pray. What his friends would have put down as a great mass of prayer, the Lord makes nothing of…Words are but the body of devotion: the confession of sin, the longing for mercy, these are the spirit of prayer. A man may have repeated the choicest words, and yet not have prayed at all. A man may utter no word whatever, and he may be praying most effectually, as Moses and Hannah. Anyhow, that prayer which is not spiritual is not prayer; for “God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” If the spirit does not commune with God, there may have been music and oratory, but there has been no prayer. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://biblehub.com/sermons/auth/spurgeon/behold_he_prayeth.htm

 

Repent, Sinner!

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

If a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword; He has bent His bow and made it ready. -Psalm 7:12

Because the wrath of God is not instantly poured out against an evil deed, therefore men and women say, “We need not trouble ourselves. God doesn’t see our sins, or if He does He doesn’t care about them. He winks at our iniquities; He counts them as mere trifles. No harm will come to us because of them.” I can only reply to these foolish people, “Oh, if you are prepared to throw away the Bible, I can understand a little why you would talk like that; but if you really believe that the Scriptures are the Word of God, you know what the consequences of your sin must be…Even if you are so foolish as to throw away your Bibles, yet, unless you think of yourselves as nothing more than a mere animal that will turn back into dust when you die, and totally cease to exist, then you must expect that there will be another state of existence in which right will be vindicated and wrong will be punished. It seems to lie upon the very conscience of men and women, in the unwritten code of intuitive knowledge, or of knowledge handed down from our fathers, that there must come a time in which God will surely expose every secret sin, and pour out His judgment on the proud and the arrogant sinner, and vindicate the rights of men and women and the rights of His own throne. It must be so; and even though the wrath is delayed for a while, it will surely come.

Oh, if God the Holy Spirit will make you feel your imminent danger, you will want to fly to Christ with the swiftness of the lightning-flash; you will not be satisfied to linger as you are even for another hour. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.biblebb.com/files/spurgeon/2704.htm

No More of Works

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

And if by grace, then is it no more of works; otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace; otherwise work is no more work. – Romans 11:6

Go home, sir, and make yourself a stirabout with fire and water, endeavour to keep in your house a lion and a lamb, and when you have succeeded in doing these, tell me that you have made works and grace agree, and I will tell you, you have told me a lie even then, for the two things are so essentially opposite, that it cannot be done. Whosoever amongst you will cast all his good works away, and will come to Jesus, with this “Nothing, nothing, NOTHING,

But nothing in my hands I bring,
Simply to the cross I cling.

I am nothing at all, but
 Jesus Christ’s my all in all.

Christ will give you good works enough. His Spirit will work in you to will and to do of His good pleasure, and will make you holy and perfect; but if you have endeavoured to get holiness before Christ, you have begun at the wrong end, you have sought the flower before you have the root, and are foolish for your pains. Ishmaels, tremble before Him now! If others of you be Isaacs, may you ever remember that you are children of the promise. Stand fast. Be not entangled by the yoke of bondage, for you are not under the law, but under grace. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0069.cfm