The Double Blessing: Grace and Peace

May 25, 2024May 4, 2024Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, Sovereignty of God, The Father Leave a comment

…grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ...who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love… – Ephesians 1:1-4

One of the first doctrines of our holy faith is that of the union of all believing souls with Christ. We are blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ. Apart from Christ we are nothing; in Christ we have “all spiritual blessings” We are rich as Christ is rich, when we are united to Him by the living bond of faith. Another great doctrine of Holy Scripture is that of election. We are blessed in Christ according as the Father “hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world.” Why did God choose any unto eternal life? Was it because of any holiness in them then existing, or forseen to exist? No, by no means; for we read that: “According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world.”

We are chosen, not because we are holy, but that we may be made holy. The election precedes the character and is indeed the moving cause in producing the character. Before the foundation of the world, God chose us in Christ, “that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” You see, then, beloved brethren and sisters, the end for which the Lord chose you by His grace.

“Grace be to you,” brethren and sisters, grace in every form of it, the free favour of God, all that active force of grace which comes of His unmerited love. May you have a fresh draught of it at this time! “And peace.” May you feel a deep peace with God, with your own conscience, and with all the world! Oh, that you might find an atmosphere of quiet calm about your mind at this very moment! The double blessing of “grace” and “peace” comes “from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2266.cfm

Without Blame Before God in Love

May 24, 2024May 4, 2024Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises Leave a comment

…that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love… – Ephesians 1:4

“That we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” Does that mean that we are to be loving, full of love, and without blame in that matter? Well, I am afraid that there are not very many Christians who are without blame on the score of love. I know a man, a noble man intellectually, and, in some respects, spiritually. I believe that he would die at the stake for the grand old Calvinistic faith; but he is as hard as iron; you cannot feel any kind of love to him, for he does not feel any kind of love to anybody else. That man is not without blame before God in love. I have known others; wonderful Christians they appear to be; they could pray for a week; but if you are poor, and ask them for a little help, your asking will all be in vain. I do not think that they are without blame before God in love. O brothers, God has chosen us to be loving; He has ordained us to be loving; and all the innumerable blessings which He has given to us, He sends to win us to a loving spirit, that we may be without blame in that matter. Our dear friend, Mr. William Olney, whom we remember here still, and never can forget, was, I think, without blame in that matter of love. I sometimes thought that he used to shed his love on some who might have been the better for a hard word; for they were deceivers; but he could not bring his mind to think that anybody could be a deceiver; and if anybody was in want of help, no matter though their own misconduct had brought them into poverty, his hand was in his pocket, and out again, very quickly with help for them. He never failed in love; and I pray that you and I, with prudence and wisdom mixed with it, may be without blame before God in the matter of love. Love your fellow-Christians. Love poor sinners to Christ. Love those that despitefully use you. Love those round about you who are strangers to the love of God. It may be that they will see in your love some little image of the love of God, as in a drop of water you may sometimes see the sun and the heavens reflected. God make us to be reflections of the love of God! ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2266.cfm

To Be Made Holy

May 23, 2024May 4, 2024Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation, Sovereignty of God, The Father Leave a comment

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love… – Ephesians 1:3,4

The text tells us that God blesses us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, “that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” God’s choice of us was not because we were holy, but to make us holy; and God’s purpose will not be fulfilled unless we are made holy. Some people, when they talk about salvation, mean escaping from hell, and getting into heaven by the skin of their teeth. We never mean any such thing. We mean deliverance from evil, deliverance from sin. Like a dog in the manger, they cannot eat the hay themselves, and they growl at those who can. If you wish to be safe from sin, ask God for that great blessing, and He will give it to you; but if you do not want it, do not complain if God says, “I shall give it to such and such a person, and you that do not even ask for it shall be left without it.” If you do not care to be holy, you shall not be holy. If you did care for it, and wish for it, you might have it, for God denies it to none who seek it at His hands. But if you neither wish for it, nor value it, why do you lift your puny fist against the God of heaven because He hath chosen others, that they should be holy and without blame before Him in love? The object of our election is our holiness, and the object of every spiritual blessing is our holiness. God is aiming at making us holy. Are you not glad of that? May I not say, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, because His aim in every gift is to make us holy”? Brothers and sisters, would we not sacrifice everything we have, and count it no sacrifice, if we might be perfectly holy? ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2266.cfm

God’s Purpose in Our Blessings

May 22, 2024May 4, 2024Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, Sovereignty of God, The Father Leave a comment

According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world… – Ephesians 1:4

We have to bless God that all His gifts come to us in Christ. Notice Paul’s words, “according as He hath chosen us in Him.” God called us in Christ. He justified us in Christ. He sanctified us in Christ. He will perfect us in Christ. He will glorify us in Christ. We have everything in Christ, and we have nothing apart from Christ. Let us praise and bless the name of the Lord that this sacred channel of His grace is as glorious as the grace itself. There is as much grace in the gift of Christ to save us as there is in the salvation which Christ has wrought out for us. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

“Before the foundation of the world”, says the text, there was a purpose in the heart of God, and in that purpose, we were chosen, and by that same purpose God continues to bless us. Look, beloved, God never gives His people either a gift or a grace without His purpose. Has God given you a tongue fluent, eloquent? Speak for Him. He does not give you these gifts without purpose. Has God given you influence among your fellow-men? Use it for Him. Your election came according to His purpose; and so have all your gifts, and much more, all your graces. Have you a strong, bright-eyes faith? Have you burning zeal? Have you vehement love? Have you any of these gifts of the covenant? Use them for a purpose. God has given them for a purpose; find out what that purpose is and glorify God thereby. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2266.cfm

The Hall-mark of Sovereign Grace upon Every Blessing

May 21, 2024May 4, 2024Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, Sovereignty of God Leave a comment

…According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love… – Ephesians 1:4

We are to praise God because all spiritual blessings have come to us in the same way as our election came, “according as He hath chosen us in Him.” How did that come? Well, it came of His free, sovereign grace. He loved us because He would love us. “Ye have not chosen Me; but I have chosen you.” If there is any virtue, if there be any praise in us now, He put it there. To the bottomless abyss of His own infinite goodness we must trace the election of His grace. Well, now, every blessing comes to us in the same way. God hath not blessed thee, my brother, with usefulness because thou didst deserve it, but because of His grace. He did not redeem thee, or regenerate thee, or sanctify thee, or uphold thee, because of anything in thee. Again and again, by the prophet Ezekiel, did the Lord remind His ancient people that the blessings He bestowed upon them were all gifts of His grace. “Therefore, say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God, I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for Mine holy name’s sake.” And again, “Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord God, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.” Every blessing comes to us with the hall-mark of sovereign grace upon it. As the Lord distributed the gifts of His grace, He says, “May I not do as I will with My own?” He does so, and we bless, and praise, and adore the sovereign grace of God, which having chosen us, continues to bless us according as He hath chosen us in Christ. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2266.cfm

Blessed with All Spiritual Blessings

May 20, 2024May 4, 2024Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, Sovereignty of God, The Father 2 Comments

…who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings… – Ephesians 1:3

An enlightened man is grateful to God for temporal blessings; but he is much more grateful to God for spiritual blessings, for temporal blessings do not last long; they are soon gone. Temporal blessings are not definite marks of divine favour, since God gives them to the unworthy, and to the wicked, as well as to the righteous. The corn, and wine, and oil, are for Dives; and Lazarus gets even less than his share. Our thanks are due to God for all temporal blessings; they are more than we deserve. But our thanks ought to go to God in thunders of hallelujahs for spiritual blessings. A new heart is better than a new coat. To feed on Christ is better than to have the best earthly food. To be an heir of God is better than being the heir of the greatest nobleman. To have God for our portion is blessed, infinitely more blessed than to own broad acres of land. God hath blessed us with spiritual blessings. These are the rarest, the richest, the most enduring of all blessings; they are priceless in value. Wherefore, let me beg you to join in blessing the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed you with spiritual blessings.

But did you notice the word “all”? I must bring that out clearly. I must turn the microscope on it. “Who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings.” Surely, Paul means that we have not a spiritual blessing which God did not give. We have never earned one; we could never create one. All spiritual blessings come from the Father; He has really given us all spiritual blessings… A new heart, a tender conscience, a submissive will, faith, hope, love, patience, we have all these in Christ. Regeneration, justification, adoption, sanctification, perfection are all in Christ…He hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2266.cfm