The Beauty of Gospel Influences

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

So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. ~ Romans 9:16

No man is ever taken to heaven against his will, though I do not believe any man ever went there of his own free will till God’s sovereign grace enlightened him and made him willing. You must not suppose that Christ conquers human hearts by physical compulsion, such as the King of Prussia used, for instance, in subduing France, or such as a man uses in driving a horse. The Lord knows how to leave us free, and yet to make us do His bidding, and therein lies the beauty of gospel influences. Suppose man’s will to be a room; if you and I want to open it, we break in the lock; we do not understand the true method; but the Lord has the key and knows how to open the door without a wrench. Without violating even the most delicate spring in the watch, the maker knows how to regulate it. Grace draws, but it is with hands of a man; it rules, but it is with a scepter of love. The fact is, the great dispute between Calvinists and Arminians has arisen very much through not understanding one another, and from one brother saying, “What I hold is the truth”-and the other saying, “What I hold is truth, and nothing else.” The men need somebody to knock both their heads together and fuse their beliefs into one. They need one capacious brain to hold both the truths which their two little heads contain; for God’s word is neither all on one side nor altogether on the other: it overlaps all systems and defies all formularies. It lays the full responsibility of his ruin on man, but all the power and glory of grace it ascribes to God; and it is wise of us to do the same. The great King doeth as He wills among men as well as among the armies of heaven. Who shall stay His hand or say unto Him, “What doest thou?” He rules men as men, and not as inanimate stones. He has a scepter which is adapted to mind and spirit. The weapons of His warfare are not carnal: His forces rule the heart, the mind, the whole manhood as He has made it; and so, He conquers, and becomes the happy King of willing subjects, who, though subdued by power, are happy to own His sway. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1007.cfm

Pray to the King

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

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit… – Ephesians 6:18

I fully believe that the darkest time of any true Christian church is just the period when it ought to have the most hope; for when the Lord has allowed us to spin ourselves out till there is no more strength in us, then it is that He will come to our rescue…Look to the Most High, and not to man, or ministers, or modes, or methods, but only to Him, and the guidance of His Spirit…In His name I ask you, can anything be too hard for the Lord? Perhaps in your sphere of service you have grown so dispirited that you are inclined to say, “I may as well give up all further effort; no good will result from my endeavors.” But what have you told the Master, and what have you sought at His hand? Have you told Him all your discouragements? Have you asked Him to speak with power, and has He refused you? If so, then give it up, but not till then, for He can even now “say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back;” and as when He said to the thick primaeval darkness, “Let there be light,” and the light leaped into being, and the darkness fled, so can He, amid the gross darkness of our huge city, or the not less dense darkness of our villages, create light to our astonishment and to His glory. It is the King’s word we want-nothing short of it, and nothing more. We must get that by prayer; we must wait upon Him with importunity. If there be only two or three whose hearts break over the desolations of the church, if we have only half a dozen that resolve to give the Lord no rest till He establish and make Jerusalem a praise in the earth, we shall see great things yet. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1007.cfm

Duty is Ours, the Result is God’s

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

So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. – Romans 9:16

However intent you may be in winning souls to Christ, you shall never meet with one who can be subdued to Him by any persuasions of yours apart from the working of His own power. I know the preacher has thought within himself, “I have only to put the truth in a reasonable way, and the man will see it.” Ah! sir, but sinners are not reasonable: they are the most unreasonable of all creatures: none are so senseless, none act so madly as they do. “But,” saith one, “if I were to tell them of the love of Christ in an affectionate loving way, that would reach them.” Yes, but you will find that all your affection and your tears, and earnest delineation of the love of Jesus, will be powerless against human hearts, unless the Eternal Spirit shall drive home your appeals. We know some who have been reasoned with, and if logic could win them, they ought to have been won long ago: they have also been persuaded, and if rhetoric could reach them, they ought to have turned away from their evil ways years ago; but all human art has been tried and tried, and tried in vain; yet there is no room for despair, for Jesus can conquer the unconquerables, and heal the incurables. Do not be disappointed, dear brother, if you have hitherto failed in your efforts; you have but proved that “vain is the help of man.” You see now by experience that “it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.” It is yours to try and bring that soul to Jesus; but it lies with Him to perform the work. Duty is ours, the result is God’s. If the soil of the field committed to me will never yield a harvest, I am yet bound to plough it, if my Lord commands. If I could foresee that my child would never turn to the Lord, yet I ought not to slacken my efforts for its conversion. I have to do with my Master’s command, and what He bids me do I am bound to do…Do not forget then that there is a general opposition to the kingdom of Christ-such opposition as no human power can by any possibility overcome. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1007.cfm

Victorious with God

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

The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies. – Psalm 58:3

All the world over there is a general opposition to the cause of Christ, to the doctrine of truth, to the throne of God. Go where you may, in the highest places of the earth, you shall find true religion despised; among the lowest of the land you shall find that same religion blasphemed; and in the middle classes, where some seem to fancy that all virtue resides, you shall find carelessness about the things of the world to come, and carking carefulness about the selfishness of this present life. Jesus Christ is everywhere despised in comparison with the things that perish. They will not have this Man to reign over them…Striking is that text, “They go astray from the womb, speaking lies.” An old Puritan puts it; “They go astray before they go: they speak lies before they speak;” and so it is. Before it comes to acts, the evil propensity is in the heart; and before the lips can frame the falsehood, there is the lie within the soul. From the earliest infancy to palsied age, nothing seems to cure manhood of its rebellious disposition; the carnal mind is enmity against God, and is not reconciled to God, neither indeed while it remains what it is can it be. There is a general opposition to the cause and kingdom of Christ.

Whatever form sin takes, it is the same opposition, but yet it may need a different mode of treatment, and by a different weapon will it have to be overcome. My dear brother in Christ, you perhaps have a different personal, spiritual difficulty from mine. I have no wish to change with you, and I should not advise you to change with me. The same is true with our trials in winning souls. We have each our difficulties, but they are not precisely alike in detail. You have to fight the north perhaps, and I the south; but the same Lord and Master can make us victorious, and without Him we shall be equally defeated. The opposition which we encounter in serving our Lord is the same, depend upon it. You need not say, “Mine is a peculiarly hard task,” or if you do, I may say the same of mine. After all, both tasks are impossibilities without God… – C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1007.cfm

Brave Waiting

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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

Soldiers of Our King

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, Sovereignty of God, The Holy Spirit 1 Comment

These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful. – Revelation 17:14

At this moment, my brethren and sisters, we, who follow the footsteps of King Jesus, are soldiers of an army which has invaded this world. This land belongs to our great Leader for He made it. It was right that everywhere, all round the globe, His name should be honored, for He is the King among the nations, and the governor thereof. But our race has revolted, set up another monarch, and bowed its strength to support another dynasty-the dynasty of darkness and death. Our race has broken the good and wholesome laws of the great Lord, the rightful King, and set up new laws and new customs altogether opposed to right and truth. This is the Great Rebellion, the Revolt of Manhood, the Sedition of Sinners. Now, no king will willingly lose his dominions, and therefore the great King of kings has sent His son to conquer this world by force of arms, though not by arms of steel, or weapons that cut and kill and wound, yet by arms more mighty far; and this earth is to be yet subdued to the kingdom of the Crown Prince, the Prince Imperial of heaven, Jesus Christ, the Lord. We, His regenerated people, form part of the army of occupation. We have invaded the land. Hard and stern hath been the battle up to this point. We have had to win every inch of ground by sheer push of pike. Effort after effort has been put forth by the Church of God under the guidance of her heavenly Leader, and none has been in vain. Hitherto the Lord hath helped us but there is much yet to be done. Canaanites and Hivites and Jebusites have to be driven out; yea, in fact, the whole world seems still to lie in darkness and under the dominion of the wicked one. We do but hold here and there a sacred fortress for truth and holiness in the land, but these we must retain till the Lord Jesus shall send us more prosperous times, and the battle shall be tamed against the foe, and the kingdom shall come unto our Prince…He who died once for all is now life’s source, center, and Lord. The living Christ is present among us as the commander-in-chief of the church militant. Let us refresh our souls by drawing, near to Him by the power of the Holy Ghost. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1007.cfm

Come Now to Your Divine Help

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

Iniquities prevail against me: as for our transgressions, Thou shalt purge them away. Blessed is the man whom Thou choosest, and causest to approach unto Thee, that he may dwell in Thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of Thy house, even of Thy holy temple. – Psalm 65:3,4

Dear brethren and sisters, there may be difficulties in your way; iniquities may hinder you, or infirmities; but there is the promise, “Thou shalt purge them away.” Infirmities may check you, but note the word of divine help, “Blessed is the man whom Thou causest to approach unto Thee.” He will come to your aid and lead you to Himself. Infirmities, therefore, are overcome by divine grace. Perhaps your emptiness hinders you: “he shall be satisfied with the goodness of Thy house.” It is not your goodness that is to satisfy either God or you, but God’s goodness is to satisfy. Come, then, with thine iniquity, come with thine infirmity; come with thy emptiness. Come, dear brethren, if you have never come to God before. Come and confess your sin to God and ask for mercy; you can do no less than ask. Come and trust His mercy, which endures for ever; it has no limit. Think not hardly of Him but come and lay yourself down at His feet. If you perish, perish there. Come and tell your grief; pour out your hearts before Him. Bottom upwards turn the vessel of your nature, and drain out the last dreg, and pray to be filled with the fullness of His grace. Come unto Jesus; He invites you; He enables you. “(I) have not prayed before,” you say. Everything must have a beginning. Oh, that that beginning might come now. It is not because you pray well that you are to come, but because the Lord hears prayer graciously, therefore, all flesh shall come. You are welcome; none can say you nay. Come! ’tis mercy’s welcome hour. May the Lord’s bands of love be cast about you; may you be drawn now to Him. Come by way of the cross; come resting in the precious atoning sacrifice, believing in Jesus; and He has said, “Him that cometh unto Me, I will in no wise cast out.” The grace of our Lord be with you. Amen. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1023.cfm