He is God and Man

November 19, 2022November 5, 2022Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, confession of sin, promises, salvation Leave a comment

…but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. – Philippians 2:7

The Lord Jesus Christ is God, but if He were God only, you might well stand at a distance, and shudder at the splendor of His majesty. But He is man as well as God, and so it comes to pass, as Dr. Watts puts it-

“Till God in human flesh I see,
My thoughts no comfort find;
The holy, just, and sacred Three
Are terrors to my mind.

But if Immanuel’s face appear,
My hope, my joy begins;
His name forbids my slavish fear,
His grace removes my sins.”

When I see Christ in the manger where the horned ox fed, or hanging on a woman’s breast, or obedient to His parents, or “a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief,” a poor Man without a place whereon to lay His head, then I feel that I can freely come to Him. Think of Him as being precisely such as you are, in all and everything except sin, and then you will never have a thought that He will chide you for drawing near or drive you away when you venture to supplicate Him…And then that voice, how would you be charmed, you poor trembling seekers, if you heard Him say, “Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me;” you would discover such meekness and lowliness in Him, that you would not think of starting back. Oh! if your eyes could but see Him, I feel persuaded that, graciously drawn by His charms, your hearts would hasten to Him. Well, believer, come to Him, come to Him; come close to Him. Come with your troubles and tell Him all about them. Come with your sins and ask to have them washed away anew…”Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

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

Do Not Fear to Come to Him

November 18, 2022November 5, 2022Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises Leave a comment

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. – Proverbs 17:17

I have no thought of trouble or distress which I would hesitate to communicate to my brother here, for he is so good and kind. I do not think I could be in any trouble which I should not expect him to do his best to help me out of. I never feel that there is any distance between him and me, nor do you, I hope, feel so with regard to your brothers. Even so, is it with this Brother born for adversity. Believer, how is it that you are sometimes so backward and so cold towards Jesus? Christ is approachable.

“The light of love is round His feet,
His paths are never dim;
And He comes nigh to us when we
Dare not come nigh to Him.”

You need not think that your troubles are too trifling to bring to Him; He has an open ear for the little daily vexations of life. Brethren, you can come to the good elder Brother at all hours; and when He blames you for coming, let me know. He is called, too, a Friend; but He would be a very unfriendly friend who could not be approached by those He professed to love. If my friend puts a hedge around himself, and holds himself so very dignified that I may not speak with him, I would rather be without his friendship; but if he be a genuine friend, and I stand at his door knocking, he will say, “Come in, and welcome; what can I do for you?” Such a friend is Jesus Christ. He is to be met with by all needy, seeking hearts. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

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

The Lamb and the Shepherd

November 17, 2022November 17, 2022Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation Leave a comment

“Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” – John 1:29

Frequently Jesus is called the “Lamb.” Blessed name! I do not suppose there is any one here who was ever afraid of a lamb; that little girl yonder, if she saw a lamb, would not be frightened. Every child seems almost instinctively to long to put its hand on the head of a lamb. O that you might come and put your hand on the head of Christ, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.

As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day. – Ezekiel 34:12

Again, you find Him called a Shepherd: no one is afraid of a shepherd. If you were travelling in the East, and you saw Bedouins or Turkish soldiery in the distance, you might be alarmed; but if some one said, “Oh, it is only a few shepherds,” you would not be afraid of them. The sheep are not at all timid when near the shepherd. O poor wandering sheep, you, perhaps, have come to be afraid of Christ, but there is no reason why you should be, for this heavenly Shepherd says, “I will seek out My sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.” Timid, foolish, and wandering though you may be, there is nothing in the good Shepherd to drive you away from Him, but everything to entice you to come to Him. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

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

Our Brother and Great High Priest

November 16, 2022November 5, 2022Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises 1 Comment

For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. – Hebrews 4:15

The true priest was truly the brother of all the people. There was no man in the whole camp so brotherly as Aaron. So much were Aaron and the priests who succeeded him the first points of contact with men, on God’s behalf, that when a leper had become too unclean for anybody else to draw near to him, the last man who touched him was the priest. The house might be leprous, but he talked with him, and examined him, the last of Israel’s tribes who might be familiar with the wretched outcast; and if afterwards that diseased man was cured, the first person who touched him must be a priest. “Go, show thyself to the priest,” was the command, to every recovering leper; and until the priest had entered into fellowship with him, and had given him a certificate of health, he could not be received into the Jewish camp. The priest was the true brother of the people, chosen from among themselves, at all times to be approached; living in their midst, in the very center of the camp, ready to make intercession for the sinful and the sorrowful. So is it with our Lord…He can be touched with a feeling of our infirmities, and He was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. Surely, you will never doubt that if Jesus perfectly sustains the office of priest, as He certainly does, He must be the most approachable of beings, approachable by the poor sinner, who has given himself up to despair, whom only a sacrifice can save; approachable by the foul harlot who is put outside the camp, whom only the blood can cleanse; approachable by the miserable thief who has to suffer the punishment of his crimes, whom only the great High Priest can absolve. No other man may care to touch you, O trembling outcast, but Jesus will. You may be separated from all of humankind, justly and righteously, by your iniquities, but you are not separated from that great friend of sinners who at this very time is willing that publicans and sinners should draw near unto Him. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

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

By His Blood and Righteousness

November 15, 2022November 15, 2022Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation, Sovereignty of God Leave a comment

For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time…- 1 Timothy 2:5-7

Our Lord Jesus is said to be the Mediator between God and man. Now, observe, that the office of mediator implies at once that he should be approachable. A daysman, as Job says, is one who can put his hand upon both; but if Jesus will not familiarly put His hand on man, certainly He is no daysman between God and man. A mediator is not a mediator of one-he must be akin to both the parties between whom he mediates. If Jesus Christ shall be a perfect mediator between God and man, He must be able to come to God so near that God shall call Him His fellow, and then He must approach to man so closely that He shall not be ashamed to call him brother. This is precisely the case with our Lord. Do think of this, you who are afraid of Jesus. He is a mediator, and as a mediator you may come to Him. Jacob’s ladder reached from earth to heaven, but if He had cut away half-a-dozen of the bottom rungs, what would have been the good of it? Who could ascend by it into the hill of the Lord? Jesus Christ is the great conjunction between earth and heaven, but if He will not touch the poor mortal man who comes to Him, why then, of what service is He to the sons of men? You do need a mediator between your soul and God; you must not think of coming to God without a mediator; but you do not want any mediator between yourselves and Christ. There is a preparation for coming to God-you must not come to God without a perfect righteousness; but you may come to Jesus without any preparation, and without any righteousness, because as mediator He has in Himself all the righteousness and fitness that you require and is ready to bestow them upon you. You may come boldly to Him even now; He waits to reconcile you unto God by His blood. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

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

Our Beloved’s Condescending Tenderness

November 14, 2022November 14, 2022Sherry Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises Leave a comment

Then drew near unto Him all the publicans and sinners for to hear Him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This Man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. – Luke 15:1,2

The philosophical teachers of our Lord’s day affected very great seclusion. They considered their teachings to be so profound and eclectic that they were not to be uttered in the hearing of the common multitude. “Far hence, ye profane,” was their scornful motto. Like Simeon Stylites, they stood upon a lofty pillar of their fancied self-conceit, and dropped down now and then a stray thought upon the vulgar herd beneath, but they did not condescend to talk familiarly with them, considering it to be a dishonor to their philosophy to communicate it to the multitude. One of the greatest philosophers wrote over his door, “Let no one who is ignorant of geometry enter here;” but our Lord, compared with whom all the wise men are but fools, who is, in fact, the wisdom of God, never drove away a sinner because of his ignorance, never refused a seeker because he was not yet initiated, and had not any thirsty spirit to be chased away from the crystal spring of truth divine. His every word was a diamond, and His lips dropped pearls, but He was never more at home than when speaking to the common people and teaching them concerning the kingdom of God.

You may thus contrast and compare our Lord’s gentle manners with those of kings, and nobles, and sages, but you shall find none to equal Him in condescending tenderness. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

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