Saturday, April 30, 2011

The Law that I love



Whenever you hear persons commending a low standard of religion, a low standard of morality, whenever you find them vindicating lax views of right and wrong, you may rest assured that the spirit that is in them is not the spirit of the holy God, but it is the spirit of their sinful nature; yea, the spirit of Satan may have come in to make the human spirit even worse than it was before.

But, does your heart delight in God’s law? Is there a charm in that which is right to your soul? Is there a beauty in that which is virtuous to your Spirit’s eye? Do you especially admire the character of Jesus because “in his life the law appears drawn out in living characters?” If so, then I trust, dear friends, you give evidence that you have been made partakers of the divine nature, that you are regenerate, and though there is evil in you still, yet there is the life of God in you which will resist the evil and subdue it, till you are brought safely to his right hand.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Why Am I Thus?," delivered March 14, 1872. Image by BlackburnPhoto under Creative Commons License.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Wonders of Grace



Wonders of grace are God’s delight, he loves, for Jesus’ sake, to call unto himself the lowest of the low, and the vilest of the vile... Let us rest assured that Jesus still receives sinners, and that publicans and harlots enter into the kingdom of heaven before the self-righteous and captious.

It is very remarkable that in the pedigree of Christ there should be so many women with blotted characters; that there should be an incestuous Tamar, a harlot Rahab, an idolatrous Ruth, and an adulterous Bathsheba, so that Jesus Christ, the Savior of sinners, has descended his earthly parentage from the loins of sinners, and so is nearly akin to them. O the depths of the grace of God! How matchless is the condescension of the Redeemer!

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Rahab," delivered July 21, 1872. Image by sonewfangled under Creative Commons License.

Monday, April 25, 2011

He was not disappointed



Our Lord Jesus was not disappointed in his hope. He declared his Father's faithfulness in the words, “thou wilt not leave my soul in hell,” and that faithfulness was proven on the resurrection morning. Among the departed and disembodied Jesus was not left; he had believed in the resurrection, and he received it on the third day, when his body rose in glorious life, according as he had said in joyous confidence, “neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.” Into the outer prison of the grave his body might go, but into the inner prison of corruption he could not enter. He who in soul and body was pre-eminently God's “Holy One,” was loosed from the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.

This is noble encouragement to all the saints; die they must, but rise they shall, and though in their case they shall see corruption, yet they shall rise to everlasting life. Christ's resurrection is the cause, the earnest, the guarantee, and the emblem of the rising of all his people. Let them, therefore, go to their graves as to their beds, resting their flesh among the clods as they now do upon their couches.

From The Treasury of David, exposition of Psalm 16, by Charles Haddon Spurgeon. Image by vvillamon under Creative Commons License.

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Whoever trusts Him is saved!



How can I avail myself of what Christ has done? I find in the Word that I am commanded to trust him. Trust him! That does not seem to be a harsh demand. He is true, he is great, he is God. I will trust him. God help me to trust him. I learn that whoever trusts him is saved. That is a glorious truth. I am saved and pardoned now, for I believe in Jesus. Will not some of you turn these things over in your minds? I pray God the Holy Spirit to lead you to do so.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "To The Thoughtless," delivered July 7, 1872. Image by OliBac under Creative Commons License.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Sin has been put away!



There is only one sacrifice for sin, there never was another and there never can be. All those offerings under the Aaronic priesthood which were presented because of sin were only representations of the One Sacrifice; they were that and nothing more. Jesus far excels them all. Beloved, if you want to see the lamb that Abel offered on the altar, the lamb because of which God accepted his faith, and had respect unto him, you must see Jesus Christ, for we are accepted in the Beloved. God hath respect unto any man who brings this sacrifice; but unto any who bring a bloodless sacrifice, such as the Cainites of Rome foolishly do when they offer the unbloody sacrifice of the mass, unto them God hath no respect, and never can have.

The blood of Jesus once presented has for ever put away sin, and no further sin offering can be brought.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Behold The Lamb," delivered July 14, 1872. Image by mendhak under Creative Commons License.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

But without sin



Remember, brethren, that the manhood of Christ was really human. Do not think of your Lord as though he were not truly man. Remember, he was tempted in all points like as we are, but, oh, that word, “yet without sin.” The devil sets him on the high mountain, and bribes him with a world, but he says, “Get thee behind me Satan.” The devil puts him on the pinnacle of the temple, and bids him cast himself down, but he will not tempt the Lord his God. Satan appeals to his hunger and bids him turn stones to bread, but he will not take the way of the flesh; he rests on God, knowing that “man lives not by bread alone.”

O blessed Redeemer, pattern of our spirit, model to whom we are to be conformed, we reverence thee. Conquering in so many conflicts, coming forth from every trial victorious, thou art glorious indeed.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "No Quarter," delivered June 30, 1872. Image by OliBac under Creative Commons License.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

To those most tried...



Jesus is very dear to every child of God, but to the most tried he is the most precious. You who have had him with you when every one else has left you, know what a dear friend he is; you who have been nursed by him when your bones have come through your skin, know what a beloved physician he is; you who have been succoured, and fed, and led, and guided by him when all around has been a wilderness to you, know what a good shepherd he is; and you who have been upon the brink of death and have seen all things melt away, know how blessedly he is immortality and life, and what a fullness dwells in him sufficient to fill the soul when all created joys are gone.

O Lord God, if it will magnify Jesus do what thou wilt with thy people. Not one of us would flinch and try to make provision for the flesh if Jesus can be made great. For any other reason less than this we would not say as much; but for Jesus' glory, for magnifying of his name, if only thou wilt give us strength we will not dread martyrdom, though it be by fire. Anything for Jesus, everything for Jesus. Does not your heart say so, my brother?

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Untrodden Ways," delivered June 23, 1872. Image by OliBac under Creative Commons License.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Safe in His hand!



The very air is full of tempters who would if they could pluck us away from Christ. We have, therefore, cause for great watchfulness, deep humility, but also for much thankfulness that we are placed where the tempters cannot reach us, for the promise assures us that none is able to pluck us out of Christ’s hand. There is not power enough in legions of fallen spirits, if they were marshalled in battle array against one poor weak Christian, to snatch him away from Christ yea, should they besiege him without intermission, like a vast herd of lions seeking to devour one lamb, the defense were so much stronger than the invasion that they could not pluck even that one out of Christ’s hand. The destroyer has never yet celebrated a triumph over the Redeemer.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Perseverance Without Presumption," delivered March 7, 1872. Image by OliBac under Creative Commons License.

Monday, April 18, 2011

He loved you all the same



The Savior knew that men would be unkind to him, he knew it all beforehand, and when men were ungrateful he did not merely hear their words, but he read their hearts, and he knew that their hearts were yet more opposed to him, yet he never turned aside from his course of love, he pressed on still through reproaches and shame and derision and every form of human evil till he had finished the redemption of his people. Admire his love and let it kindle in you love in return.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Ingratitude of Man," delivered June 9, 1872. Image by Shek Graham under Creative Commons License.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

The Lord Our Righteousness



We were guilty, for are broke the law; God provided a substitute who suffered the penalty of our law-breaking: but, he has done more, he has found a representative who has kept the law for us, so that after washing us he clothes us, after taking away our guilt he makes us positively righteous and praiseworthy before the throne of justice through Jesus Christ, his Son, whose righteousness we wrap about our loins, and in it stand fair and comely before the eyes of infinite purity. Oh, this is right royal and truly divine. Here is blood most precious removing every spot, and a righteousness most glorious conferring a matchless beauty, a beauty such as Adam in his perfection never had for his was but human righteousness, but this day the children of God wear the righteousness of the Lord himself, and this is the name wherewith Jesus is called, “The Lord our Righteousness.”

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Waters To Swim In," delivered April 25, 1872. Image by zoomion under Creative Commons License.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

The Most Important Question



The most important question concerning any man living is this, is he a saved soul or no? It is of comparatively little consequence whether he be rich or poor, educated or uneducated, compared with this. Is he among the living before God or is he dead in sins? Is he pardoned or unpardoned? Is he a child of God or an heir of wrath? Is he walking in the darkness or has he passed into the light? Hence of all the days of a man’s history the most important is the day in which he is born again.

If the man be indeed saved, and a new man in Christ Jesus, he will look back upon the day of his regeneration as his chief birthday. His new birth is second in order of time, but he will always put it first in importance. His birth gave him his being, but his new birth secured his well being. Being born first we might have descended into hell; but, being born a second time we are secured for heaven.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Testimony and Experience," delivered June 2, 1872. Image by SF Brit under Creative Commons License.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

A Depth in the Gospel



Some, we know, have a notion that religion is a mere sentiment; that it lies in being affected about your dead children and your parents in heaven, in weeping over death-bed scenes; in fact, is best seen in excited meetings and their consequent emotions. By worldlings religion is judged to consist in womanly feeling, but to have no truth, no facts, no philosophy at its back. Oh, but it is not so; we can give as good a reason for the hope that is in us as though our religion never brought a tear to our eye, and never stirred the emotion of joy within our souls. I venture to say it, that our religion is as much based on facts as astronomy or geology, I mean indisputable historical facts; and I assert that the doctrines of revelation are verities as certain as the demonstrations of mathematics. The gospel reveals certainties, and they are worthy of the contemplation of men of the most enlarged minds.

Our gospel is not mere platitude and baby talk; there is a depth in it which no intellect can fathom. Titanic intellects have found their match in the things of God. The genius of Newton and Locke did not complain of want of room in the wondrous truths of God; to them they were waters to swim in. There is room for all the high culture, and all the thought, and all the training that this world shall ever see; room for it, ay, and at its utmost, it shall only stand upon the shore of the main ocean of divine truth and cry, “O the depths of the wisdom of the Lord.”

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Sphere of Instrumentality," delivered May 26, 1872. Image by Louis Vest under Creative Commons License.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

And who can praise Him?



The prayers which the Lord accepts are not the chantings of functionaries, the litanies of priests, or the devout tones of a mechanical service; they must be the prayers of saints: in the life, the character, the soul, the sweetness lies — the acceptance comes not unless they be the prayers of saints.

And who are the saints? They are men whom the Lord has made holy by the power of his Spirit, whose nature he has purified, whom he has washed in the precious blood of Jesus, and so sanctified unto himself, whom he has filled with his Spirit, and so set apart to his worship. These persons loving him, praising him, bowing before him with solemn awe, lifting their whole Souls up in adoring love — these are they who can offer sweet incense; their thoughts, their desires, their longings, their confessions, their pleadings, their praises — these are sweet to God: this is music to him, this is perfume to his heart, delightful to his infinite mind, pleasant to his sacred spirit, for God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth, and after no other fashion is a spiritual God to be worshipped.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Golden Vials Full of Odors," delivered May 19, 1872. Image by daita saru under Creative Commons License.

Monday, April 11, 2011

A future and a hope for Israel



They are scattered: behold them wandering on the face of the earth without a country of their own; they are a people who have been oppressed and downtrodden almost beyond belief: the hand of the heathen and the hand of the so-called Christian hath been very heavy upon them; they have been jeered and hooted at for ages, though they are in truth the very nobles of God, and their ancient lineage is like that of kings. Let us not, however, despair for them. Abraham, their father, was but a heathen when God called him out of a family that had worshipped the seraphs and made him to be a witness of the living and true God, and honored his faith with exceeding great reward.

Doubt not, then, that he can call Israel again from all her wanderings, cleanse her from all her profane traditions and her unbelief, and separate her unto himself to be a holy people, in whom once again his power shall be made known, and made known in such a way that they shall not speak of the ark of the Lord, or the redemption out of Egypt as the chief symbol of their national glory, or the grandest theme of their patriotic song, for a greater redemption and a greater manifestation of the Divine presence shall be in the midst of Israel than the wilderness of Sinai had ever known, or the mountains round about Jerusalem had ever witnessed. God grant it to them, and hasten the fulfillment of the promises in which he has made us to hope.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "A Bright Light in Deep Shades," delivered May 12, 1872. Image by nao.k under Creative Commons License.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Praying for our Fellow Believers



Every believer has a watchman’s place appointed him in the matter of prayer, and he is bound not to be silent, but to give the Lord no rest till he establish and make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. We are all equally bound to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and our prosperity is made to hinge upon it. The new commandment which the Lord has given us, in which he bids us “love one another,” necessitates our praying for each other.

How shall a man claim that he loves his brother if he never intercedes with God for him? Can I live continually with my fellow-believers and see their sorrows, and never cry to God on their behalf? Can I observe their poverty, their tribulation, their temptation, their heaviness of heart, and yet forget them in my supplications? Can I see their work of faith and labor of love, and never implore a blessing upon them? Can I wrap up myself within myself, and be indifferent to the case of those who are my brethren in Christ Jesus? Impossible. I must belong to some other family than that of God, for in the family of love, common sympathy leads to constant intercession. God forbid that we should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for our brethren.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Intercessory Prayer," delivered May 5, 1872. Image by nao.k under Creative Commons License.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

The poor have the Gospel preached to them



Though ye are common in rank, know ye not that the common people heard him gladly? Publicans and sinners pressed around him to hear him. Though ye are but commoners in your wealth, possessing little of this world’s goods, yet, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Common in your talents and in your gifts, yet he bids you come, for these things are hid from the wise and prudent. It is not for those who think themselves distinguished that he has especially laid down his life, but “the poor have the gospel preached to them,” and in their salvation he will be glorified.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Sin Offering for the Common People," delivered April 28, 1872. Image by jjjj56cp under Creative Commons License.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

As soon as we get out of the dust



If the church expects small results from missions, I readily concede that she is acting consistently with her anticipations; and if she has indeed given up the work as a hopeless case, I think she is doing about as little as she could consistently with the bare appearance of obeying her Lord’s commands to evangelize the nations.

May the day come when her spirit shall revive, when she shall feel that the earth belongs to Christ, and shall hear her Master’s voice pealing like thunder within her conscience, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” May she rise to the dignity of her position, and perceive that her field is the world, since the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. All things are possible to him that believeth; may we yet receive the faith which subdues nations. When the church is ready for great events they shall occur to her. God has blessed us already up to the full measure of our fitness to be blessed, and perhaps a great deal beyond it; we have seen more gracious results than we could have expected from our poor efforts, but when the whole church shall become fired with the love of Christ, when every man’s heart shall glow with a furnace heat of ardent desire for the glory of Jesus, then like molten lava from the red lips of a volcano, the current of church life shall burn a passage for itself. As soon as Zion shakes herself from the dust and goes forth to war in the strength of her Lord, she shall cause her enemies to flee before her, as Midian fled before the sword of the Lord and of Gideon.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Triumph of Christianity," delivered April 21, 1872. Image by Zach Dischner under Creative Commons License.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Dwelling in His People



An incarnate God is a mystery, — the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us; but, here is another mystery, God dwells in every son of God. God dwelleth in us, and we in him. The mystery of the incarnation is not greater than that of the Holy Ghost’s indwelling, nor does it appear to me to involve more condescension. I marvel at Christ’s dwelling with sinners, and I marvel equally at the Holy Ghost’s dwelling in sinners. God himself, for whom the universe is not too vast a temple, the ever blessed Spirit in whose presence the heavens are not clean, yet saith, “To this man will I look even to him that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my word.”

The indwelling of the Holy Ghost within us implies the exercise of his influences, the bestowal of his gifts, and the implantation of his graces; and, moreover, it involves the exercise of all his sacred offices, for where the Holy Ghost indwells he acts as a teacher, an illuminator, a Comforter, a Creator, a strengthener, a preserver: all that he is in all his offices he will be according to his own will to every man in whom he takes up his abode.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Covenant Blessings," delivered April 14, 1872. Image by Jason under Creative Commons License.

Monday, April 4, 2011

We have not yet attained



We have not yet attained. Far be it from us to imagine that we are or have all that the Lord intends. Let us not sit down contented with the notion that the gospel contains no more, for rest assured, to him who is able to follow after it there are whole worlds of privilege yet to be discovered. We are only at the foot of the mountain as yet. We may take for our motto the words, “Higher, higher, higher,” and may soar aloft again and again on eagles’ wings, for heaven is higher than our loftiest flight....

A nobler future allures us, a higher line of spiritual things invites us; let us by faith and patience press forward to it. The borders of Immanuel’s land have yielded us choice fruit, but the inner valleys are rich with Eshcol clusters, and the brooks in the heart of the country overflow with milk and honey.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Joy In A Reconciled God," delivered April 7, 1872. Image by Geof Wilson under Creative Commons License.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Beneath my dignity?



“One mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose.” — Luke 3:16.

... [N]o form of holy service is to be lightly set by.

To unloose the latchets of Christ’s shoes might seem very trivial; it might even seem as if it involved the loss of self-respect for a man of position and influence to stoop to offices which a servant might quite as well perform. Why should I bring myself down to that? I will learn of Christ; I will distribute bread among the multitude for Christ; I will have my boat by the sea shore ready for Christ to preach in, or I will go and fetch the ass upon which he shall ride in triumph into Jerusalem: but what need can there be for the disciple to become a mere menial? Such a question as that is here for ever silenced, and the spirit which dictates it is practically rebuked.

Nothing is dishonorable by which Jesus may be honored. Nothing lowers a man if thereby he honors his Lord. It is not possible for any godly work to be beneath our dignity; rather ought we to know that the lowest grade of service bestows dignity upon the man who heartily performs it. Even the least and most obscure form of serving Christ is more high and lofty than we are worthy to undertake.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Loosing The Shoe-Latchet," delivered March 31, 1872. Image by Charles Knowles under Creative Commons License.

Friday, April 1, 2011

Transformed



Man was originally made in the image of God, but by sin he has defaced that image, and now we who are born into this world are fashioned, not in the heavenly image of God, but in the earthy image of the fallen Adam. “We have borne,” says the Apostle, in the first Epistle to the Corinthians, “the image of the earthy.” The Lord in boundless grace has resolved that a company whom no man can number, called here “many brethren,” shall be restored to his image, in the particular form in which his Eternal Son displays it. To this end Jesus Christ came into the world and bore our image, that we, through his grace, might bear his image. He became a partaker of our infirmities and sicknesses that we might be partakers of the divine nature in all its excellence and purity. Now, therefore, the one thing to which the Lord is working us through his Spirit, both by providence and by grace, is the likeness of the Lord from heaven. He is evermore transforming the chosen, removing that defilement of sin, and moulding them after the perfect model of his Son, Jesus Christ, the second Adam, who is the firstborn amongst the “many brethren.”

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Glorious Predestination," delivered March 24, 1872. Image by BriYYZ under Creative Commons License.