Wednesday, May 30, 2012

If Jesus loves a man































When I first came to London from the village where I formerly preached, I was very glad to see anybody who came from that region; and if I had seen a dog wag its tail that I had once seen in that village I should have been pleased. I should have loved anybody for the sake of the dear old place; and, surely, when you can say, “My God,” you love all the Lord’s people. Many a young Christian has been deceived by hypocrites because of his love to Christians, and that love is sometimes abated by such ill deeds; but where there is overflowing love to the Father there will be affection for the family. Be it ours to show it. If you see in any man anything that is like Christ, love him for it. If he is not all you would like him to be, remember that you, also, are not all you ought to be.

Surely if Jesus Christ loves a man you should love him too. Seek your brother’s good and aim at benefiting him because he is one of Christ’s members. Love for Christ’s sake all those who can say “My God.”

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "My God," delivered March 30, 1876. Image by Stefano on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Friday, May 25, 2012

He made us for His Glory






















It was for this end that the Almighty made us, and for nothing short of this, that we might glorify God and enjoy him for ever. When a man fashions a vessel or a tool, it is that it may answer the purpose for which he designed it, and if it does not answer his design he casts it away. What man will keep a horse or a cow if it yield him no benefit? And if a dog never owned you as its master, who among you would long call it your own? God has made us that we may glorify him, and if we do not honor him we miss the end and object of our being. I care not what you do nor what you are; though you should be owners of a score of counties, if you love not God your soul is poor and degraded; though men should set you on a column high in air, and account you a hero, if you have not lived for God you have lived in vain. As the vine which yields no cluster is useless, so is a man who has not honored God. As an arrow which falls short of the mark, as a fig tree which yields no figs, as a candle which smokes but yields no light, as a cloud without rain and a well without water, is a man who has not served the Lord. He has led a wasted life — a life to which the flower and glory of existence are lacking. Call it not life at all, but write it down as animated death.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Gone. Gone For Ever," delivered May 28, 1876. Image by Stefano on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Monday, May 21, 2012

The Man of Glory is with you!






















They that serve God much, and well, and draw near to his innermost presence, in that proportion draw away from men, as to deriving comfort from them. But, oh, there are no heights to which Jesus has not risen, no attainments which he has not surpassed. That glorious man is with you, with you in the singleness of heart with which you serve your God, with you in the perfect consecration which the Holy Ghost has given you, with you in the intimate fellowship of your soul with the Eternal Father. In your highest flight of ecstasy there is still a man at your right hand, saying, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God.”

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Our Lord's Humanity - A Sweet Source of Comfort." Image by Stefano on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

God has given you an anchor






















This world is like a sea, restless, unstable, dangerous, never at one stay. Human affairs may be compared to waves driven with the wind and tossed. As for ourselves, we are the ships which go upon the sea, and are subject to its changes and motions. We are apt to be drifted by currents, driven by winds, and tossed with tempests: we have not yet come to the true terra firma, the rest which remaineth for the people of God; God would not have us carried about with every wind, and therefore he has been pleased to fashion for us an anchor of hope most sure and stedfast, so that we may outride the storm.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Anchor," delivered May 21, 1876. Image by Stefano on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Friday, May 11, 2012

You cannot know what Christ has done for you






















A superior in the East never washes an inferior’s feet: Christ acts as if he were inferior to his friends, inferior to those poor fishermen, inferior to those foolish scholars who learned so slowly, with whom he had been so long a time and yet they did not know him, who soon forgot what they knew, and needed line upon line and precept upon precept. Having loved them to the end, he stoops to the extreme of stooping, and bows at their feet to cleanse their defilements.

Who, I say, can compute the depth of this descent? You cannot know what Christ has done for you, because you cannot conceive how high he is by nature, neither can you guess how low he stooped in his humiliation and death. With an eagle’s wing you could not soar so high as to behold him as God over all blessed for ever, sitting at the right hand of the Father, the adored of cherubim and seraphim: nor could you dive, even if you dared to take a plunge into the abyss, until you reached the depth of “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me”: and yet you must somehow know the interval, I was about to say the infinity, between these two points of height and depth before you could know what Jesus has done for you.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Unknown Ways Of Love," delivered May 14, 1876. Image by Stefano on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

The tree is known by its fruit




























Saving faith appropriates the finished work of the Lord Jesus, and so saves by itself alone, for we are justified by faith without works; but the faith which is without works cannot bring salvation to any man. We are saved by faith without works, but not by a faith that is without works, for the real faith that saves the soul works by love and purifies the character.

If you can cheat across the counter, your hope of heaven is a cheat too; though you can pray as prettily as anybody, and practice acts of outward piety as well as any other hypocrite, you are deceived if you expect to be right at last. If as a servant you are lazy, lying, and loitering, or if as a master you are hard, tyrannical, and unchristianlike towards your men, your fruit shows that you are a tree of Satan’s own orchard, and bear apples which will suit his tooth. If you can practice tricks of trade, and if you can lie — and how many do lie every day about their neighbors or about their goods — you may talk about being justified by faith as you like, but all liars will have their portion in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone, and amongst the biggest liars you will be, for you are guilty of the lie of saying, “I am a Christian,” whereas you are not. A false profession is one of the worst of lies, since it brings the utmost dishonor upon Christ and his people.

The fruit of the righteous is righteousness: the fig tree will not bring forth thorns, neither shall we gather grapes from thistles. The tree is known by its fruit, and if we cannot judge men’s hearts, and must not try to do so, we can judge their lives, and I pray God we may all be ready to judge our own lives and see if we are bringing forth righteous fruit, for if not, ye are not righteous men.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Soul-Winner," delivered January 20, 1876. Image by Jenny Downing  on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Work for Christ while you are young!




























But there is work for every believer to do in Christ’s vineyard. There is work for children, there is work for young men, work for young women, and it is good to begin early. The Lord Jesus Christ, who was so pleased with the widow’s mite, is very pleased with a child’s love to him. We big people are very apt to think, “What can a little girl do for Jesus?” Oh, but if that little girl does not do something for Jesus now that she is saved, she will very likely grow up to be an idle Christian, and not serve God in after years as she should.

I like to see the little trees which they put into our gardens, you know, the little pyramids, and other dwarf trees; I like to see them even from the first bear just a little fruit. I think, sometimes, that pears, when there are only one or two on the tree, are far finer in flavour than those on the big tree, which too often have lost in quality what they have gained in quantity. That which is done for Jesus Christ by young Christians, by weak Christians, by timid Christians, often has a very delicate flavour about it, precious to the taste of Jesus. It is good to begin serving him in our youth.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Best Burden For Young Shoulders." delivered. Image by Jenny Downing on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

God is jealous for you



















Holy fear leads us to dread anything which might cause our Father’s displeasure. A good child would not do anything which would make his father feel vexed with him. “It vexes me,” says he, “if it vexes my father.” So let there be always with us a fear to offend our loving God. He is jealous, remember that. It is one of the most solemn truths in the Bible, “The Lord thy God is a jealous God.” We might have guessed it, for great love has always that dangerous neighbor jealousy not far off.

They that love not have no hate, no jealousy, but where there is an intense, a definite love, like that which glows in the bosom of God, there must be jealousy. And oh, how jealous he is of the hearts of his people! How determined he is to have all their love! How I have known him to take away the objects of their attachment, one after another — break their idols, and deprive them of their precious vanities — all to get their hearts wholly to himself, because he knew it would never be right with them while they had a divided heart, It was injurious to themselves, and so he is jealous of that which injures them, and jealous of that which dishonors him. Let us have this holy fear very strong upon us, and we shall avoid anything which might grieve the Spirit of God.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Godly Fear And Its Goodly Consequence." delivered. Image by Jenny Downing on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Monday, May 7, 2012

He considers your sins to be gone































When God forgives our sin he covers us as completely as the wood of the ark was covered within and without with pitch: our sin is covered and hidden right away from his observation. Child of God, I beg you to think of this for a moment, God is pacified towards you because your sin is covered — all of it; yea, it is all gone. As far as God is concerned your sin has ceased to be. He laid it on Jesus Christ your substitute, and he took it and bore the penalty of it — nay the thing itself; he, as your scapegoat, carried your sin right away, and it is lost in the wilderness of forgetfulness. Into the depths of the sea hath he cast your iniquities. In his own tomb hath he buried your offenses.

What saith the Scripture? “He has finished transgression and made an end of sin.” Grand word! Made an end of it. And if there be an end of it, why there is an end of it, and it has gone. This day, O believing child of God, there is fulfilled towards you that gracious word: “In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve.” Through faith in Jesus your transgressions are all removed as far from you as the east is from the west. The depths have covered your sins; there is not one of them left. The Lord is pacified for all that we have done, so that no ground of quarrel remains.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Heart Full And The Mouth Closed." Image by Attila Magyar on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Hunger for Jesus




...Christ is as needful to the soul as bread is to the body. Meat and drink are absolutely requisite: and so you must have Christ or you cannot live in the true sense of that word. Take away food from the body it must die: deny Christ to a man, and he is dead while he liveth. There is in us a natural desire after meat and drink, an appetite which springs out of our necessity, and reminds us of it: labor to feel just such an appetite after Christ.

Your wisdom lies in your knowing that you must have Jesus to be your own Savior, and in owning* that you will perish if you do not receive him, and it is well with you when this knowledge makes you crave, and pine, and pant for him. Hunger after him, thirst after him; blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after him, for he will fill them.

* - that is, admitting

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Truly Eating The Flesh Of Jesus," delivered April 9, 1876. Image by Jenny Pansing on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

His Strength is made perfect in weakness























I do not wonder when strong men say strong things, but I have often marvelled when I have heard such heroic sentences from the weak and trembling. To hear the sorrowing comfort others, when you would think they needed comfort themselves; to mark their cheerfulness, when if you and I suffered half as much we should have sunk to the earth — this, is, worthy of note.

God’s strength is perfectly revealed in the trials of the weak. When you see a man of God brought into poverty, and yet in that poverty never repining; when you hear his character assailed by slander, and yet he stands unmoved like a rock amidst the waves; when you see the gracious man persecuted and driven from home and country for Christ’s sake, and yet he takes joyfully the spoiling of his goods and banishment and disgrace — then the strength of God is made perfect in the midst of weakness. While the man of God suffers, and is under necessities and distresses, and infirmities, then it is that the power of God is seen. It was when tiny creatures made Pharaoh tremble that his magicians said, “This is the finger of God,” and evermore God’s greatest glory comes from things weak and despised.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Strengthening Words From The Savior's Lips," delivered April 2, 1876. Image by Jenny Pansing on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Prayer is your Weapon!
























“Praying in the Holy Ghost” is the weapon with which the hosts of the Lord will put to rout the armies of the alien. The prayers of saints are the mighty artillery with which the walls of our Jerusalem are protected. Supplication is a cannon which throws tremendous bolts against the advancing foe, as Sennacherib knew when Hezekiah pleaded with God. The prayers, however, must be deeply spiritual, written on the heart by the Holy Ghost, and presented with energy of his creating. Formal, lifeless petitions are but a Chinese painted fortress, but praying in the Holy Ghost is an impregnable castle.

Those “groanings which cannot be uttered” are pieces of ordnance which make the gates of hell to tremble. But we must put our hearts under the influence of the blessed Spirit of God and then lift them up in continued intercession before God, and there can be no fear about the preservation of our minds from the error of the wicked. A praying church soon tries the spirits of false prophets, and casts them forth as evil. I have far more faith in prayer than in controversy. Keep the prayer meetings right, maintain private prayer with earnestness, and we may laugh to scorn all the sophisms of unbelievers and deceivers.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "A Weighty Charge," delivered March 26, 1876. Image by Stephen Heron on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Trials help to strengthen us





















You may have learned all about anchors, sir, but you never know the value of a sheet anchor till you have got into a storm. You may read and hear on shore all about a tempest, and you may have met with beautiful descriptions of it, and think you know how it tosses the ship about; but I will warrant you that a good heave or two will let you know more about sea-sickness and the effects of those mighty tempests that rouse the billows and rock the vessels than all the books you have ever read for sound instruction or seasonable entertainment. And how much has the character of God been revealed to us in trouble.

We do not know our friends till we fall into adversity; neither is that "friend who sticketh closer than a brother" truly prized by us till we are brought into trouble, and then we know his power to sympathize and to succor. Trials help to strengthen us. It is impossible for a Christian to be very strong — in certain ways, at any rate — unless he grapple with difficulties and endure hardships. There is no proving your courage and prowess in war, except you smell gunpowder, and are exposed to the dread artillery. There is no learning to be strong in the battle except you pass through trouble: depend upon it. My arm would soon weary if I had to lift the blacksmith’s hammer for an hour or two, and make horseshoes. I am afraid I should soon give up the business. But the blacksmith’s arm does not ache, for he has been at it so many years, and he rings out a tune on the anvil, so joyfully does his strong arm do the work. Practice has strengthened him. And so, when we have become inured to trial and trouble, faith is to us a far more simple matter than it was before, and we become "strong in the Lord and in the power of his might."

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Sihon and Og, Or Mercies In Detail." Image by Zach Dischner on Flickr under Creative Commons License.