Leaders Endued with Power from on High

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

“Then he remembered the days of old Moses, and his people, saying, Where is He that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of His flock? Where is He who put His Holy Spirit within them.” -Isaiah 63:11

Moses and Aaron, and a band of godly men who were with them, were the leaders of the people, through the sea and through the wilderness. Brethren, we are apt to think too little of our leaders. First of all we think too much of them, and afterwards we think too little of them. We seem to swing like a pendulum between these two extremes. Man is reckoned as if he were everything to some, and God becomes nothing to such; but, without unduly exalting man, we can truly say that it really is a great blessing to the church when God raises up men who are qualified to lead His people. Israel did not go out of Egypt as a mob; they were led out by their armies. They did not plunge into the Red Sea as an undisciplined crowd; but Moses stood up there with his uplifted rod, and led them on that memorable day. We may as well sigh for the glorious days of old, when God gave His people mighty preachers of His Word. There have been epochs in history that were prolific of great leaders of the Christian church. No sooner did Luther give his clarion call, than God seemed to have a bird in every bush; and Calvin, and Farel, and Melancthon, and Zwingle, and so many besides that I will not attempt to make out the list, joined with him in his brave protest against the harlot-church of Rome. “The Lord gave the Word: and great was the company of those that published it.” The church remembers those happy days, with earnest longing for their return. They were giants in those days; mighty men of renown, well fitted by the Lord to lead His people.

Where is He that put His Holy Spirit within them? A man with God’s Holy Spirit within him, can anybody estimate his worth? God says that He will make a man more precious that the gold of Ophir; but, to a man filled with His Spirit, mines of rubies or of diamonds cannot be set in comparison. When the eleven apostles went forth, on the day of Pentecost, endowed by the Spirit of God, there were forces in the world whose very tramp might make it quiver beneath their feet. God send us once more many of His servants, within whom He has put His Spirit in an eminent and conspicuous manner, and then we shall see bright days indeed! The command to such still is, “Tarry until ye be endued with power from on high.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2258.cfm

God is True, and Events are Witnesses of His Faithfulness

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

No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of Me, saith the LORD. – Isaiah 54:17

O, blessed be the name of the Lord! “no weapon that is formed against the church shall prosper.” We glory because we can put our finger upon history and exclaim, God is true, and events are witnesses of His faithfulness. O beloved, has the Holy Ghost given you an inwrought knowledge of the truth of this word of God? Have you experienced blessed deliverances from the right hand of the Most High? Many of you, I fear, have neither part nor lot in this matter, and you have true cause to lament your terrible loss in being unable to grasp these covenant blessings. But some of us may now anticipate the hour when we shall obtain complete redemption with all the blood-bought family, and then, ah, then, how shall we with rapture review delivering grace in all its thousand instances! Hark! hark! methought I heard sweet music; methought I heard a song descending from the regions up above, borne down by gales whose breath is sweet as that which comes from the spicy groves of Araby. I hear a sound not earthly: it is, it must be, celestial, for no mortal sonnets can with these compare. O river of harmony! Where are the lips from which thou flowest? …Holy ones, repeat the song; saints of God, re-echo the chorus; repeat it yet again, that these ears may hear it. What do you sing? “No weapon that is formed against us hath prospered; every tongue that hath risen against us in judgment we have condemned.” This is the heritage-“Our righteousness is of the Lord.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2908.cfm

What is Your Righteousness?

Sherry Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation Leave a comment

“Your righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord.” – Isaiah 54:17

What is your righteousness? O, I am as good as my neighbors. Go along with you; you are not my comrade. What is your righteousness? Well, I am rather better than my neighbors, for I go to chapel regularly. Off with you, sir; you do not know the watchword. And you next; what is your righteousness? I have been baptized, and am a member of the church. Yes, and so you may be; and if that is your hope, you are in the gall of bitterness. Now, you next; what is your hope? O, I do all I can, and Christ makes up the rest. Rubbish! You are a Babylonian, you are no Israelite: Christ is no make-weight-away with you. Here comes the last. What is your righteousness? My righteousness is filthy rags, except one righteousness which I have, which Christ wrought out for me on Calvary, imputed to me by God Himself, which makes me pure and spotless as an angel. Ah, brother, you and I are fellow-soldiers: I have found you out; that is the watchword. “Your righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord.” I do not ask whether you are Churchmen, or whether you are Methodists, or Independents, or Baptists, if you do but know this watchword-“Your righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord.” I can forgive all those other minor things, if you can sing-

“Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness,
My beauty are, my glorious dress.”

Tell me you have got any other trust, and I will have nothing to do with you. Tell me you can work out your own salvation, and I will not acknowledge you for a brother. But if you tell me that from first to last you rely on Jesus, then I acknowledge you as a fellow-soldier; and I am glad to see you wherever I meet you. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2908.cfm

Choice Portions

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You who are King of kings and Lord of lords, we worship You. Before Jehovah’s awful throne we bow with sacred joy.

Sermon Text

The Saint’s Watchword

Sherry Christian Life Leave a comment

The saint’s watchword. What is that?

“This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord.” – Isaiah 54:17

In ancient times, if not at present, armies used to have their watchwords, by which they might recognize one another in the dark. We want a watchword now. It is very difficult to tell the children of God unless we have certain signs. God Himself gives us the watchword. “Your righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord.” You can always tell a saint of God by this watchword. If he says, “My righteousness is of God,” you may safely believe that he is a disciple of Jesus Christ. If he does not understand our shibboleth, he may not have lived in that country where they speak the pure language of Canaan, and that may excuse defects in his language. He may differ from us in some points, but if he sincerely says, “My righteousness is of God,” you may safely conclude that he is not an enemy of truth. I mean “THE TRUTH as it is in Jesus.”

O, there is to be a time when God’s children shall come out clear of all slander, when falsehood shall be swept away, and they shall stand forth justified even by their enemies. Their slanderers shall have nothing to say against them. They shall share in the admiration which an assembled universe shall be constrained to give to Him who doeth all things well. But this vindication will not be brought about by their own efforts. They have not been anxious to avoid reproach for Christ’s sake. They have not wept and bemoaned themselves because they were counted the offscouring of all things. No; their righteousness, their entire clearing from the aspersions of malice and the calumnies of envy will come from Jehovah…The character of the saints God Himself shall vindicate, and all liars shall have their portion in the lake of fire and brimstone. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2908.cfm

In the Court of King’s Bench Above

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

And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. – Romans 16:20

Satan is always rising in judgment against us. Whenever we get into a little trouble, he comes and says, “You are no saint.” If we commit a sin-“You should not sin like that, if you had been a child of God; you have no interest in the covenant; you are an enthusiast, you have deceived yourself.” How many times Satan has risen against me in judgment-so risen that I have been fool enough to heed what he said. I have told him sometimes, “You are a liar, and the father of lies;” but at other times I have believed his malicious accusation. O, it is no easy thing to stand against the insinuations of the evil one. You, my brethren, are not strangers to his devices. He has set conscience at you, the hell-hounds of legal convictions howled upon you, and the drum of terrible doom thundered in you ears; then up stood the fiend himself and denied your union with Jesus, claiming you as his own prey and portion. Ah, how glorious the moment when our Advocate entered the forum of conscience, and assured us that He had pleaded our cause in the court of King’s Bench above. And, oh, when He showed us the adversary’s brief, spoiled by the nails of the cross, we felt that the tongue of Satan was condemned, and his calumnies hushed. Glorious Councillor, all praise to Thine adorable name.

Let the saints know also that they shall soon have a yet more public triumph over their cruel enemy. At the day of judgment, the foe of God and man shall be dragged from his cell, shall lift his brazen front with thunder scarred, receive his sentence, and begin a hell more terrible than all he has endured before. O saint, dost thou know that thou shalt judge him? Know you not that you shall judge angels? You, sons of God, shall sit as assessors with the firstborn Son, and when He shall pronounce the doom of the dragon, you shall solemnly say “Amen” to the sentence. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2908.cfm

Lying Tongues We Shall Condemn

Sherry Christian Life, promises, salvation, Sovereignty of God Leave a comment

…and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. – Isaiah 54:17

Where are the various systems of infidelity which have arisen one after another? They are gone quite out of sight. Now and then we felt rather alarmed; because we heard that some great people were going to prove that the Bible was not true, and our creed was not sound. I remember talking with an old man once: “Ah,” said he, “sir, this geology will quite ruin man’s belief in the Bible.” But where is geology now? Instead of opposing the gospel, it furnishes many powerful confirmations of the facts of revelation. Each one of the sciences has, in its imperfect condition, been used as a battering-ram against the truth of God; but as soon as it has been understood it has been made a pillar in Zion’s outworks. Fear not, O son of God, that the perversions of men of science can damage our cause. Lying tongues we shall condemn. O infidelity! abortion of the night! thou hast been condemned a thousand times. Thou art a Protean creature, changing thy shape as ages change. Once thou wast a laughing idiotic plaything for Voltaire; then a bullying blasphemer with Tom Paine; then a cruel, blood-drinking fiend, fit mate for Robespierre; anon, a speculating theorist with Owen; and now a worldly, gross, secularizing thing for impious lecturers and profane admirers. I fear thee not, infidelity; thou art an asp, biting at iron, spending thy spleen, and breaking thy fangs.

My friends, did you ever walk the centuries, and mark the rise and fall of various empires of unbelief? If so, you will seem to be on a battle-field, and you see corpses; you ask the name of the dead, and some one replies, that is the corpse of such a system, and that the carcase of such a theory; and, mark you, as surely as time rolls on, the now rampant style of infidelity will perish, and, in fifty years, we shall see the skeleton of an exploded scheme, and of its admirers the epitaph will be, “Here lies a fool, called of old, a secularist.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2908.cfm