Daily reflection and inspiration from the "Prince of Preachers," Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
He invites us to feast everyday!
Enjoy this wish from Spurgeon to you! We'll resume publishing in January. Feel like chatting with your fellow Spurgeon fans over the holidays? Visit us on our Facebook page.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
We have nearly arrived at the great merry-making season of the year. On Christmas day we shall find all the world in England enjoying themselves with all the good cheer which they can afford. Servants of God, you who have the largest share in the person of him who was born at Bethlehem, I invite you to the best of all Christmas fare - to nobler food than makes the table groan - bread from heaven, food for your spirit. Behold, how rich and how abundant are the provisions, which God has made for the high festival which he would have his servants keep, not now and then, but all the days of their lives!
From a sermon entitled "Good Cheer For Christmas," delivered December 20, 1868. Image by jenny downing under Creative Commons License.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
You cannot, but God can
“Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades or loose the bands of Orion?”- Job 38:31.
Blessed be the Lord, we cannot have sunk so low but he can lift us up; we cannot be so barren and so comfortless but what he can make us fruitful and give us joy and peace again. There is no church, which he cannot revive. Are you members of congregations, which are slumbering? Do not despair. You will go home after the day’s service, and say, “I wish I could do some good here, but I am only one.” No, dear brother, you cannot loose the bands of Orion, but God can. The great Head of his church can suddenly come into his temple, and fill it with his glory. He can rake together the almost expiring ashes, and kindle the fire anew, and bring the sacrifice, and make your church yet to be a temple to his praise. Glorify the name of God, the all-powerful One: never let despair cross your soul.
While he lives who made heaven and earth; while he works who bears up the pillars of the universe; while he loves who once gave up his Son to redeem us, there can be no cause for trembling. Zion shall be comforted; her days of gladness shall dawn; her winter of sorrow shall flee away: God is on her side, and Orion relaxes his bonds.
From a sermon entitled "The Pleiades And Orion," delivered June 28, 1868. Image by s58y under Creative Commons License.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Giving to Him
I do not know how you feel, but when I am permitted to give anything to him who opened his five wounds for me, who gave heart and soul, and all that he had for my redemption, I am full of delight. When I receive I fall flat on my face, but when I am permitted to give, a hand is laid upon me to lift me up, and I rise honourably accepted with my gift. You would all feel honored if you were permitted to present a gift to a queen, how much more to give to the King of kings! The cattle on a thousand hills are his: if he were hungry, he would not tell us; if he were thirsty, he would ask no drink from us; but yet in condescending love he comes to us, and his church comes to us, in forma pauperis,* and begs us to assist to support his work among men; and when we give cheerfully to Jesus, we are honored in the giving.
* - Latin phrase meaning "in the form of a pauper"
From a sermon entitled "The Widow Of Sarepta," delivered June 21, 1868. Image by P J Hansen under Creative Commons License.
Labels:
charity,
Christ,
Christianity,
Spurgeon
Friday, December 18, 2009
What do we care about?
"What shall we eat? What shall we drink? and wherewithal shall we be clothed?” Let a man attend to his business, and what other care need he have? Let the working man go about his toil, and give a fair day’s work for a fair day’s wage, and what has he to do with the world to come? Let the merchant meet his bills, and keep clear of the bankruptcy court, and what has he to fear as to the court of heaven? Why need he worry his head about dying and rising again from the dead? The mass of mankind, though they will put up with religion, and will even show some sort of interest in it, and some decent respect thereto, yet have no more sense of its reality or its power than the swine that feed at a trough.
Look at these dense masses thronging the thoroughfares of this huge city, and answer me: Are not the most of them like the stones in Jordan’s* bed, dead and lifeless as to spiritual things? What care they for heaven or hell? What care they about the precious blood of Jesus, or about the power of the Holy Spirit? It is a great deal more important question to them what horse won the Derby, or what turf speculator gained thereby, than to ask who is going down to hell,
or who has an interest in the precious blood of Christ.
* - That is, the River Jordan.
From a sermon entitled "The Wall Daubed With Untempered Mortar," delivered May 31, 1868. Image by Andrew Turner under Creative Commons License.
Labels:
Blood of Christ,
Christ,
Christianity,
Spurgeon
Thursday, December 17, 2009
He who prays sincerely
There are some forms of spiritual life which are not absolutely essential, but prayer is of the very essence of spirituality. He that hath no prayer lacks the very breath of the life of God in the soul. I will not say that every man who prays is a Christian, but I will say that every man who prays sincerely is so; for, recollect, men may pray after a fashion, and even practice private prayer too, and yet may be deceiving themselves; for as the frogs of Egypt came up into the bedchambers, so doth hypocrisy intrude itself even into the private places where men pretend to worship God; but I do say that a cheerful constancy in sincere private devotion is such a mark of grace, that he who hath it may fairly conclude himself to be one of the Lord’s family.
From a sermon entitled "Daniel's Undaunted Courage," delivered June 14, 1868. Image by elbfoto under Creative Commons License.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
A simple faith in Christ
[L]et me notice that some Christians appear to try to live by experience. If they feel happy today, they say they are saved, but if they feel unhappy tomorrow, they conclude that they are lost. If they feel at one moment a deep and profound calm overspreading their spirits, then are they greatly elevated; but it the winds blow and the waves beat high, then they suppose that they are none of the Lord’s people.
Ah, miserable state of suspense! To live by feeling is a dying life; you know not where you are, nor what you are, if your feelings are to be the barometer of your spiritual condition. Beloved, a simple faith in Christ will enable you to remain calm even when your feelings are the reverse of happy, to remain confident when your emotions are far from ecstatic. If, indeed, we be saved
by Jesus Christ, then the foundation of our salvation does not lie within us, but in that crucified Man who now reigns in glory. When he changes, ah, then what changes must occur to us! But since he is the same yesterday, today, and forever, why need we be so soon removed from our
steadfastness?
From a sermon entitled "Life By Faith," delivered June 7, 1868. Image by Joel Bedford under Creative Commons License.
Labels:
Christ,
Christianity,
faith,
joy,
Spurgeon
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Saved, to serve God and men
One of the first instincts of a forgiven sinner is to become a servant in the house of his pardoning God. Listen to David in the fifty-first Psalm: “Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.” Forgiven himself, he desires to be a preacher to others. But before we can serve God we must be anointed to the service. God will have no unanointed priest in his temple, but his Holy Spirit is the anointing which he bestows upon every one of the pardoned. Not to me as the preacher alone is this anointing given, though I desire to have it more and more for your sakes, but for every one of you is this unction appointed.
“Ye have an anointing from the Holy One;” your eyes are anointed with eye salve, that you may see and discern the mystery of fellowship with God. Your hands have been anointed that you may be laborers together with God, and you have been anointed in heart, in body, soul, and spirit, that your entire man, filled with the indwelling Deity, may be consecrated to noblest ends. I pray God to give his children to feel this anointing more and more. We believe in no priestcraft, no setting apart of any set of men who are to minister in holy things as substitutes for their brethren, but all ye who are saints are alike kings and priests unto God.
From a sermon entitled "The Privileged Man," delivered May 31, 1868. Image by Phillip Capper under Creative Commons License.
Monday, December 14, 2009
The strong man in Christ
Others in our churches do something for Christ, and know that they are alive, but their whole spiritual system is relaxed. If they take up the hammer and work for God, they strike such feeble blows that the nails do not know it. If they take the spade in their hand to dig in the Master’s vineyard, the weeds laugh them to scorn. They are so exceedingly feeble, and generally so changeable, so fond of new work, and of running after this and that, that they are of little or no real service to the church.
But the strong man in Christ Jesus is one who, if he fights, dashes to pieces the helmet of his foe; and if he wields the sling and the stone, takes care that the stone shall be sent with force enough to go through Goliath’s skull. He is a man who, if he prays, makes the gates of heaven shake and the vaults of heaven to ring. He is a man who, when he pleads with sinners, pleads all over - hands and face, and every muscle revealing his earnestness.... He feels that if religion be worth anything it is worth everything, and he throws his whole being into it - body, soul, and spirit, ardently and to the utmost pitch of energy, being given up to the Master’s cause.
From a sermon entitled "Unto You, Young Men," delivered May 13, 1868. Image by Phillip Capper under Creative Commons License.
Labels:
Christ,
Christianity,
church,
Spurgeon
Friday, December 11, 2009
The Love of Jesus Toward Us
Jesus does not love his own with a little of his love, nor regard them with some small degree of affection, but he says, “As the Father hath loved me, even so have I loved you,” and the Father’s love to the Son is inconceivably great, since they are one in essence, ineffably one. The Father cannot but love the Son infinitely, neither doth the Son ever love his people less than with all his heart. It is an affection which no angelic mind could measure, inconceivable, unknown.
From a sermon entitled "The Faithfulness of Jesus," delivered May 10, 1868. Image by Andréia Bohner under Creative Commons License.
Labels:
angels,
Christianity,
God,
Jesus,
love
Thursday, December 10, 2009
We may draw near to Him
Eastern monarchs affected great seclusion, and were wont to surround themselves with impassable barriers of state. It was very difficult for even their most loyal subjects to approach them. You remember the case of Esther, who, though the monarch was her husband, yet went with her life in her hand when she ventured to present herself before the king Ahasuerus, for there was a commandment that none should come unto the king except they were called, at peril of their lives.
It is not so with the King of kings. His court is far more splendid; his person is far more worshipful; but you may draw near to him at all times without let or hindrance. He hath set no men-at-arms around his palace gate. The door of his house of mercy is set wide open. Over the lintel of his palace gate is written, “For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”
From a sermon entitled "The Aproachableness of Jesus," delivered May 3, 1868. Image by Bert K under Creative Commons License.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Some Daily Spurgeon news
"In my day, bookmarks were made of ribbon."
A rare extra post to say thanks for your ongoing support, which is tremendous.
Today marks our 700th post, and we're pretty excited about that.
We've also been recognized by the popular Xmarks bookmarking service (formerly known as Foxmarks) as being one of the Top 100 sites on the Web categorized as "Protestant." This means a lot of you are bookmarking us, and for that we thank you.
Sweet Communion with Christ
I bear my testimony tonight that there is no joy to be found in all this world like that of sweet communion with Christ. I would barter all else there is of heaven for that. Indeed, that is heaven. As for the harps of gold, and the streets like unto clear glass, and the songs of seraphs, and the shouts of the redeemed, one could very well give all these up, counting them as a drop of a bucket, if we might for ever live in fellowship and communion with Jesus. When it is our great privilege to press close to our Lord, and to feel that he loves us, and that we love him, and to lean our head upon his bosom, then it is glory this side Jordan!
From a sermon entitled "Bringing The King Back," delivered April 19, 1868. Image by Sam Ilic Photography - STAGE88 under Creative Commons License.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Seeking the Spirit's Help and Power
At the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit was poured out; then the whole church was baptized with a sacred influence, and ever since then the Holy Spirit has never been withdrawn from the Christian church. “ I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever.” We often unbelievingly pray for the Holy Spirit as if he were not still with us, as if he were not perpetually resident among the sons of men; but he is here, always here - always dwelling in the Christian church.
Now consider who the Holy Spirit is: he is the blessed God himself - one person of the glorious Trinity in unity, and he is therefore the possessor of infinite power. In the world of mind he can work according to his own will, and can convince men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He can soften the most obdurate, he can turn to kindness the most cruel, and lead into light the most darkened....
This is the church’s power; let her seek more of it, and, possessing it, let her rest assured that the purpose for which she has been raised up will be accomplished...
From a sermon entitled "Good News For Loyal Subjects," delivered April 19, 1868. Image by Sam Ilic Photography - STAGE88 under Creative Commons License.
Labels:
Christianity,
church,
God,
Holy Spirit,
Spurgeon
Monday, December 7, 2009
The God of Surprises
We know not what God has in store. He is great at surprises: his best wine last amazes us all. When the devil is most secure upon his throne, then God springs a mine, and blows his empire into atoms. Just when the wise virgins and the foolish alike have allowed their lamps to burn low, then is the cry heard, “Behold, the bridegroom cometh!” and those virgins arise and trim their lamps. So will it be among us. I am hopeful that, in answer to earnest prayer, God will speedily send amongst us a general intensity of desire for the glory of Christ, accompanied by breaking of heart and weeping of eye, for the perishing heathen, and a solemn resolve that, in Jehovah’s strength we will spare no pains, and neglect no efforts, by which we may make the gospel known unto the ends of the earth.
From a sermon entitled "A Young Man's Vision," delivered Aptil 16, 1868. Image by under Creative Commons License.
Friday, December 4, 2009
The object of the Gospel
The great object of the gospel of Christ is to create men anew in Christ Jesus. It aims at resurrection, and accomplishes it. The gospel did not come into this world merely to restrain the passions or educate the principles of men, but to infuse into them a new life which, as fallen men, they did not possess.
I saw yesterday what seemed to me a picture of those preachers whose sole end and aim is the moralizing of their hearers, but who have not learned the need of supernatural life. Not very far from the shore were a dozen or more boats at sea dragging for two dead bodies. They were using their lines and grappling irons, and what with hard rowing and industrious sailing, were doing their best most commendably to fish up the lost ones from the pitiless sea. I do not know if they were successful, but if so, what further could they do with them but decently to commit them to their mother earth? The process of education and everything else, apart from the Holy Spirit, is a dragging for dead men, to lay them out decently, side by side, in the order and decency of death, but nothing more can man do for man.
The gospel of Jesus Christ has a far other and higher task: it does not deny the value of the moralist’s efforts, or decry the results of education, but it asks what more can you do, and the response is, “Nothing.” There it bids the bearers of the bier stand away and make room for Jesus, at whose voice the dead arise. The preacher of the gospel cannot be satisfied with what is done in drawing men out of the sea of outward sin, he longs to see the lost life restored, he desires to have breathed into them a new and superior life to what they have possessed before.
From a sermon entitled "Resurrection With Christ," delivered April 12, 1868. Image by Jule_Berlin under Creative Commons License.
Labels:
Christ,
Christianity,
death,
Gospel,
Holy Spirit,
resurrection,
sin,
Spurgeon
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Nothing else but Jesus Christ
“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” — Acts 3:19.
Peter... preached not merely the gospel of good news, but Christ, the person of Christ; Christ crucified — crucified by them, Christ risen, Christ glorified of his Father. Depend upon it, this is the very strength of the Christian ministry, when it is saturated with the name and person and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Take Christ away, and you ungospelise the gospel, you do but pour out husks such as swine do eat, while the precious kernel is removed, seeing you have taken away the person of the Lord Jesus Christ....
Peter would tell them about Jesus Christ, and about nothing else but Jesus Christ. He knew this to be the power of God unto salvation, and he would not flinch from it; so to them, even to them, he delivered the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, with a pungency as well as a simplicity scarcely to be rivalled. Notice how he puts it: “Ye” have slain him; “ye” have crucified him; “ye” have preferred a murderer. He is not afraid of being personal; he does not shirk the touching of men’s consciences; he rather thrusts his hand into their hearts and make them feel their sin; he labors to open a window into the darkness of their spirits, to let the light of the Holy Ghost shine into their soul.
Even thus, my brethren, when we preach the gospel, must we do: affectionately but graciously must we deal with men. Far hence be all trimming and mincing of matters. Accursed let him be that takes away from the gospel of Jesus Christ that he may win popular applause, or who bates his breath and smoothes his tongue that he may please the unholy throng. Such a man may have for a moment the approbation of fools, but, as the Lord his God liveth, he shall be set as a target for the arrows of vengeance in the day when the Lord cometh to judge the nations. Peter, then, boldly and earnestly preached the gospel — preached the Christ of the gospel — preached it personally and directly at the crowd who were gathered around him.
From a sermon entitled "Apostolic Exhortation," delivered April 5, 1868. Image by Michael King under Creative Commons License.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
The unfading crown
Some have lived for wealth, but when they have gained it, they have been disappointed with the result. Though they have heaped gold in the bag, and added house to house, and field to field, yet their aching spirit has craved still for food; for gold can no more feed a soul than dust can satisfy the hunger of the body. Some have followed the star of ambition; they would be famous, and make unto themselves a name like the great men that be in the earth, and when they have gained the bubble reputation, they have wept to find that, “vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” Even the best of earthly joys pall upon the appetites of those who attain to them.
Christian, stand thou to thy God. Be it thine to live for him that made thee, to live in him that bought thee, to live with him that chose thee, to live like him who lived and died for thee. Thou shalt find that such an object of life will satisfy all the powers and passions of thy soul, for to this end thy soul was formed and suited. Thou shalt run in this race without weariness, and walk without fainting, and if thou gettest the prize, it is one that shall not wither in thy hand like the ivy wreath of Greece, or like the laurel crown of Rome, decay upon thy brow; for thou shalt win a crown of life that fadeth not away.
From a sermon entitled "Israel's God and God's Israel," delivered March 29, 1868. Image by Vince Alongi under Creative Commons License.
Labels:
Christianity,
God,
life,
Spurgeon,
wealth
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
If there be divisions...
If there be divisions amongst you, and one shall say, “I am for this,” and another, “I am for that,” how can you expect that the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of peace, should be present with you, and working among you? But when we are knit together in brotherly affection, the Lord commandeth the blessing, even life for evermore. Where brotherly love continues, and saints walk in holy unity, the witness they bear is powerful, and the increase they gather is palpable....
I think all of us who know anything of the history of churches, especially those of a democratic order, where we recognize the rights of every member, understand how easy it is for thoughts to diverge, for counsels to vary, and for excellent brethren conscientiously to disagree. A breach once made has a tendency to widen, and a rent, unless speedily repaired, may tear a church to pieces.
From a sermon entitled "Good Earnests of Great Success," delivered January 12, 1868. Image by Vince Alongi under Creative Commons License.
Labels:
Holy Spirit,
Spurgeon,
unity
Monday, November 30, 2009
In praise of grace
“And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, and stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.” — Luke 7:37-38.
Grace, my brethren, deserves our praise, since it does so much for its object. Grace does not choose a man and leave him as he is. My brethren and sisters, men rail at grace sometimes as though it were opposed to morality, whereas it is the great source and cause of all complete morality — indeed, there is no real holiness in the sight of God except that which grace creates, and which grace sustains. This woman, apart from grace, had remained black and defiled still to her dying day, but the grace of God wrought a wondrous transformation, removing the impudence of her face, the flattery from her lips, the finery from her dress, and the lust from her heart. Eyes which were full of adultery, were now founts of repentance; lips which were doors of lascivious speech, now yield holy kisses — the profligate was a penitent, the castaway a new creature. All the actions which are attributed to this woman illustrate the transforming power of divine grace.
From a sermon entitled "The Woman Which Was A Sinner," delivered March 22, 1868. Image by Nolene Dowdall under Creative Commons License.
Labels:
Christianity,
God,
grace,
sin,
Spurgeon
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving to all our American friends! We'll resume publishing on Monday.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
The infinite and atoning God
My brethren, when in the stillness of the starry night we look up to the orbs of heaven, and remember the marvelous truths which astronomy has revealed to us, of the magnificence, the inconceivable majesty of creation, if we then reflect that the infinite God who made all these became man for us, and that as man he was fastened to the transverse wood, and bled to death for us, why it will appear to us that if all the stars were crowded with inhabitants, and all those inhabitants had everyone been rebellious against God, and had steeped themselves up to the very throat in scarlet crimes, there must be efficacy enough in the blood of such a one as God himself incarnate to take all their sins away.... If thou believest in him it is done, for to trust him is to be clean.
From a sermon entitled "The Centurion's Faith And Humility," delivered March 15, 1868. Image by Jeff under Creative Commons License.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Declare His Name
How many times this week have you praised the dear Redeemer to your friends? Have you done it once? I do it often officially; but I wish I did it more often, spontaneously and personally, to those with whom I may commune by the way. You have doubtless murmured this week, or spoken against your neighbors, or spread abroad some small amount of scandal, or, it may be, you have talked frothily and with levity. It is even possible that impurity has been in your speech; even a Christian’s language is not always so pure as it should be.
Oh, if we saved our breath to praise God with, how much wiser! If our mouth were filled with the Lord’s praise and with his honor all the day, how much holier! If we would but speak of what Jesus has done for us, what good we might accomplish! Why, every man speaks of what he loves! Men can hardly hold their tongues about their inventions and their delights. Speak well, O ye faithful, of the Lord’s name. I pray you, be not dumb concerning one who deserves so well of you; but make this the resolve of this Sabbath morning, “I will declare thy name unto my brethren.”
From a sermon entitled "Jesus, The Example Of Holy Praise," delivered March 8, 1868. Image by Paul Tomlin under Creative Commons License.
Monday, November 23, 2009
On the mountain of prayer
One night alone in prayer might make us new men, changed from poverty of soul to spiritual wealth, from trembling to triumphing. We have an example of it in the life of Jacob. Aforetime the crafty shuffler, always bargaining and calculating, unlovely in almost every respect, yet one night in prayer turned the supplanter into a prevailing prince, and robed him with celestial grandeur. From that night he lives on the sacred page as one of the nobility of heaven. Could not we, at least now and then, in these weary earthbound years, hedge about a single night for such enriching traffic with the skies? What, have we no sacred ambition? Are we deaf to the yearnings of divine love? Yet, my brethren, for wealth and for science men will cheerfully quit their warm couches, and cannot we do it now and then for the love of God and time good of souls? Where is our zeal, our gratitude, our sincerity? I am ashamed while I thus upbraid both myself and you....
Christ had said to his disciples, “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.” What he told them to do he would be sure to do himself. He was just about to choose twelve apostles, and before that solemn act of ordination was performed, he sought power for them from the Most High. Who can tell what blessings were vouchsafed to the twelve, in answer to that midnight intercession? If Satan fell like lightning from heaven, Jesus’ prayer did it, rather than the apostles’ preaching.
So, Christian man, if you enter upon a new enterprise, or engage in something that is weightier and more extensive than what you have done before, select a night or a day, and set it apart for special communion with the Most High. If you are to pray, you must work, but if you are to work, you must also pray. If your prayer without your work will be hypocrisy, your work without your prayer will be presumption; so see to it that you are specially in supplication when specially in service.
From a sermon entitled "Special Protracted Prayer," delivered March 1, 1868. Image by Rietje Swart under Creative Commons License.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Wood, hay and stubble
When the church of God is extending her bounds rapidly, it is of the utmost importance that the growth should be real and permanent. If the walls of Zion are being builded quickly, the master builders should keep an anxious eye upon the workmanship, lest the stones should be put together with untempered mortar, and therefore the whole erection should by-and-by come to the ground. We desire not to grow up in a night as the gourd, lest we also perish in a night.
Our Lord Jesus, who is the great Shepherd of the sheep, sends to his churches at times when they are most prospering sad reminders of human frailty, by which he warns them to “take heed that they be not deceived; but see to it that they make sure work, and build substantially, with gold, silver, and precious stones, and not with wood, and hay, and stubble.” It is a very doleful season for the church of God when everything is asleep, but there are dangers connected even with activity. When a man is under the intense excitement of earnest endeavor for Christ, it is possible that much within him may be spurious, a mere fungus growth forced out by heat; and hence it is deeply necessary, as Jude says, to write unto the saints and to speak unto believers concerning this thing, that they be sound, true, real, sincere, and approved in the sight of God.
Jude tells us in the text, and indeed in his whole epistle, that many who make a high profession, are not what they profess to be, and that in the church of God in her best estate, many are clouds without rain, trees without fruit, and wandering stars reserved for eternal darkness.
From a sermon entitled "Spots in our Feast of Charity," delivered February 23, 1868. Image by Iain Buchanan under Creative Commons License.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
To obey Christ
Joshua was especially exhorted to continue in the path of obedience. He was the captain, but there was a great Commander-in-chief who gave him his marching orders. Joshua was not left to his own fallible judgment, or fickle fancy, but he was to do according to all that was written in the book of the law.
So is it with us who are believers. We are not under the law, but under grace; yet still there is a gospel rule which we are bound to follow, and the law in the hand of Christ is a delightful rule of life to the believer. We are not to follow, in the service of God, our own fancies. We are not allowed to frame regulations according to our own conceptions, but our direction is, “whatsoever HE saith unto you, do it.” His servants shall serve him, his sheep follow his footsteps, his disciples obey their Lord, his soldiers fulfill his pleasure: “By their fruits ye shall know them.” If we are not obedient unto Christ, we may rest assured that we have not the spirit of Christ, and are none of his.
From a sermon entitled "Joshua's Obedience." Image by Nic McPhee under Creative Commons License.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Have we been faithful?
Dear friends, let us pause and ask ourselves, as believers, whether we have been in all respects conscientiously attentive to our Master’s commands? If not, we may not expect Him to send a blessing to the church or to the world through us, until first of all we have yielded our willing obedience to that which He has prescribed for us. Are any of you living in the neglect of a known part of the divine will? Or are you undesirous of knowing some portions of God’s will, and therefore willfully blind to them? My dear brother, you are cutting the Achilles’ tendon of your strength. You can never overthrow your enemies like Samson while your locks are thus shorn. You cannot expect that God should send you forth to conquer and to bring to Him renown, when you have not as yet conquered your own personal indolence and disobedience. He that is unfaithful in that which is least will be unfaithful in that which is greater; and if you have not kept the Master’s saying in the little vineyard of your personal history, how much less shall you be able to do it if He should entrust you with a greater field of service!
From a sermon entitled "Joshua's Vision," delivered February 16, 1868. Image by ((brian)) under Creative Commons License.
Labels:
Christianity,
church,
faithfulness,
God,
service,
Spurgeon
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
He makes them His friends
Those who are of a meek and lamb-like spirit are precisely such as become lovers of the gentle Prophet of Nazareth. Like attracts its like. He is meek and lowly in heart, and therefore those who are like him come to him. The power of his gospel, wherever it is exerted, produces men of such character. Those who came to Christ, when he was upon earth, may have been boisterous enough in their natural dispositions, but after they had received the baptism of his Spirit, they were an inoffensive race. They proclaimed the gospel with boldness, and for their Master they were very valiant, but they rose not in arms against Caesar; they headed no seditions; they were no competitors in the race for power; they shed not blood even to win their liberties; they were examples of suffering affliction and of patience; they were ready to live or to die for the truth, but that truth was love to God and man.
Self pride, greed, wrath, as works of the old nature, they sought to mortify, and it was their daily desire to do good unto all men as they had opportunity. Jesus will always gather such lambs. The world hates them and scatters them, the world ridicules and despises them, but Jesus makes them his bosom friends. The world of old hounded them to death, made them pine in the damps of the catacombs of Rome, or perish among the snows of the Alps, but their glorified Lord gathered them by tens of thousands from the prison, the amphitheater, the stake, the bloody scaffold, and in his blessed bosom they rest in congenial company, forever as the Lord’s lambs are they glorified with the Lamb of God.
From a sermon entitled "Jesus And The Lambs," delivered February 9, 1868. Image by rachel_thecat under Creative Commons License.
Labels:
Christ,
Christianity,
God,
Jesus,
persecution,
salvation
Monday, November 16, 2009
Away from Jesus, away from joy
The most healthy state for a Christian is that of unbroken and intimate fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. From such a state of heart he should never decline. “Abide in me, and I in you,” is the loving precept of our ever loving Lord. But, alas! my brethren, as in this world our bodies are subject to many sicknesses, so our souls also, by reason of the body of this death with which we are encompassed, are often sorely afflicted with sin, sickness, and an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the Lord. We are not what we might be, we are not what we should be, we are not what we shall be, we are not what we wish to be.
I fear that many of us are not walking in the light of God’s countenance, are not resting with our heads upon the Savior’s bosom, nor sitting with Mary at the Master’s feet; we dwell in Kedar rather than Zion, and sojourn in Mesech rather than Jerusalem. Spiritual sickness is very common in the church of God, and the root of the mischief lies in distance from Jesus, following Christ afar off, and yielding to a drowsy temperament. Away from Jesus, away from joy. Without the sun the flowers pine; without Jesus our hearts faint.
From a sermon entitled "Nearer and Dearer," delivered February 2, 1868. Image by Brian Leon under Creative Commons License.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Those who have loved much
If we have been delivered from great sin or from great despair, should we not say in our souls, “Now, from this day I will be the constant student of Jesus Christ’s teaching. The gospel has done so much for me, that I will seek to know all of it that can be known this side the grave. I will pry into its mysteries, press into its spiritualities, and learn its precepts. And while I am a learner I will also be a follower. Where Christ is I will go. His example shall be law to me. I will pray to have his Spirit. I will ask to be conformed to his image, and what the Master was, that shall the servant be. I will give to him of my substance. If I can, I will give much, but if I have not much, I will give in fair proportion. I will make a system of offering to God: he shall have a set portion of all mine income, and that I will put aside, so that when there is a call for it, I shall not imagine that I am giving from my own purse, but I will give my Lord’s money, which has already been consecrated. Then I shall not feel us if I were giving, but as if I were only a steward, handing out what belonged to Christ before?"
Where persons love little, do little, and give little, we may shrewdly suspect that they have never had much affliction of heart for their sins and that they think they owe but very little to divine grace.
From a sermon entitled "Mary Magdalene," delivered January 29, 1868. Image by Rennett Stowe under Creative Commons License.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
His redeeming arm
Rejoice when the harlot bows before the Savior with breaking heart, be glad when Saul of Tarsus yields his persecuting heart to the Savior’s scepter, but equally adore the majesty of love when the young man who has kept all these commandments from his youth up seeks the one thing which he lacks, and trusts his heart with Jesus Christ without delay!
When we shall get to heaven, we will astonish the angels with what we shall have to tell, the depths of sin out of which we have been delivered, the fiery lusts from which we have been rescued, the stiff necks that have been made to bow, and the unyielding knees that have been compelled to bend. Glory be unto God. I cannot help saying so again, Glory be to God, for as I look around this place and think of some of you in whom God’s great and wondrous arm has been revealed in redeeming you from all your iniquities, dare make it my boast that here the Lord has broken “the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the battle.”
From a sermon entitled "The Arrows of the Bow Broken in Zion," delivered January 19, 1868. Image by Trent Roche under Creative Commons License.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Labor in the King's garden
The church is the King’s garden. I am going to ask, now, if the church be a garden, what does it need? One thing it certainly requires, is labor. You cannot keep a garden in proper order without work. We want more laborers in this church, especially of one sort. We want some who will be planters.
I had a letter last week from a young woman; I do not know who she is... She says that she has been here for two years; that she has been very anxious about her soul, and she has often wished that somebody would speak to her, but nobody has done so. Now, if I knew where she sat, I should say to the friends who sit there, that I am ashamed of them! As I do not know where she sits, will those of you who do love Christ, but who have not been in the habit of looking after others, be so kind as to be ashamed of yourselves, because there is somebody or other to be blamed in this business. If you love Jesus at all, I cannot tell how you can let a person come to this Tabernacle for two years and not speak to them. Somebody has been negligent, very negligent; whoever it may be, let him see to it.
From a sermon entitled "King's Gardens," delivered December 29, 1867. Image by Abby Lanes under Creative Commons License.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Continue to entertain hope!
We must never pause in our efforts for any man till he is either saved or the funeral bell has tolled for him. Even if the last hour is come, and the object of your solicitude is stretched upon the couch, which is evidently meant to be his deathbed, still pursue his soul to the very brink of hell. Up to the very gates of perdition hope should track the rebel. When once that iron gate is shut, it is all over with our efforts, but, meanwhile, until then we may entertain hope for any man. You and I have read nowhere concerning such-and-such a man that God will have no mercy on him. We have never scanned the rolls of God’s decree, and cannot act upon what is not revealed. We have rejoiced to learn that our own names are written in the Lamb’s book of life, and yet we were by nature as vile as any; then who shall say that any are too vile; for the Lord may have made the worst of men the objects of his electing love.
From a sermon entitled "Lingerers Hastened," delivered January 12, 1868. Image by Taras Kalapun under Creative Commons License.
Monday, November 9, 2009
The Body of the Resurrection
Many believers make a mistake when they long to die and long for heaven. Those things may be desirable, but they are not the ultimatum of the saints. The saints in heaven are perfectly free from sin, and, so far as they are capable of it, they are perfectly happy; but a disembodied spirit never can be perfect until it is reunited to its body. God made man not pure spirit, but body and spirit, and the spirit alone will never be content until it sees its corporeal frame raised to its own condition of holiness and glory. Think not that our longings here below are not shared in by the saints in heaven. They do not groan, so far as any pain can be, but they long with greater intensity than you and I long, for the “adoption, to wit, the redemption of the body.”
People have said there is no faith in heaven, and no hope; they know not what they say - in heaven it is that faith and hope have their fullest swing and their brightest sphere, for glorified saints believe in God’s promise, and hope for the resurrection of the body. The apostle tells us that “they without us cannot be made perfect;” that is, until our bodies are raised, theirs cannot be raised, until we get our adoption day, neither can they get theirs. The Spirit saith Come, and the bride saith Come - not the bride on earth only, but the bride in heaven saith the same, bidding the happy day speed on when the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For it is true, beloved, the bodies that have mouldered into dust will rise again, the fabric which has been destroyed by the worm shall start into a nobler being, and you and I, though the worm devour this body, shall in our flesh behold our God.
From a sermon entitled "Creation's Groans And The Saints' Sighs," delivered January 5, 1868. Image by Olof Sunder Creative Commons License.
Labels:
Christianity,
God,
Holy Spirit,
resurrection,
Spurgeon
Friday, November 6, 2009
His mercy endureth forever
Let us bless God for the eyes with which we behold the sun, for the health and strength to walk abroad in the sunlight; let us praise him for the mercies which are new every morning, for the bread we eat, for the raiment which clothes us, for houses which give us shelter; let us bless him that we are not deprived of our reason, or stretched upon the bed of languishing; let us praise him that we are not cast out among the hopeless, or confined amongst the guilty; let us thank him for liberty, for friends, for family associations and comforts; let us praise him, in fact, for everything which we receive from his bounteous hand, for we deserve little, and yet are most plenteously endowed.
“His mercy endureth forever:” every morning’s light proclaims it, the beams of every moon declare it; every breath of air, every heaving of the lungs, every beating of the pulse, are fresh witnesses that “his mercy endureth for ever.”
From a sermon entitled "A Song, A Solace, A Sermon, And A Summons" delivered December 29, 1867. Image by Sean McGrath under Creative Commons License.
Labels:
Christianity,
God,
mercy,
Spurgeon
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Mystery: Incarnation
My brethren, if you will carefully consider it, this is one of the most extraordinary doctrines that was ever declared in human hearing, for were it not well attested, it would be absolutely incredible that the infinite God who filleth all things, who was and is, and is to come, the Almighty, the Omniscient, and the Omnipresent, actually condescended to veil himself in the garments of our inferior clay.
He made all things, and yet he deigned to take the flesh of a creature into union with himself: the Infinite was linked with the infant, and the Eternal was blended with mortality. That manger at Bethlehem, tenanted by the express image of the Father’s glory, was a great sight indeed to those who understood it. Well might the angels troop forth in crowds from within the gates of pearl, that they might behold him whom heaven could not contain, finding accommodation in a stable with a lowly wedded pair. Wonder of wonders! God over all, blessed forever, became one with a newborn babe which slept in a manger where the horned oxen fed.
From a sermon entitled "The Great Mystery Of Godliness," delivered December 22, 1867. Image by ~My aim is true~ under Creative Commons License.
Labels:
Christ,
Christianity,
God,
Incarnation,
Spurgeon
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Excuses for keeping out Christ
To harbour Christ was to run the risk of being put out of the synagogue in the first place, to become the object of public contempt in the second, and perhaps in conclusion to meet with a sudden and violent death; therefore, prudent, careful men, closed their doors against him, and argued that they could not expose their families to so much peril. They might in their hearts admire him, in their souls they might lament that he was so hardly dealt with, but they could not run the risk of declaring themselves to be on his side by entertaining him at that moment of excitement.
So is it at this hour, men always have a good reason, as they think, for that most unreasonable of all unkindnesses, the rejection of Jesus, their best friend. The farm, the merchandise, the newlymarried wife, all these are the transparently weak excuses for not coming to the gospel supper. Preoccupation of mind with some other pursuit, or the self-denials which Christianity would involve, or the difficulties which are supposed to beset a consistent Christian profession, any, or all of these, and worse than these, serve to satisfy the human conscience with the shadow of an excuse. Jesus Christ is kept on the cold side of the door, and our worst enemies are welcomed. Though it is the highest honor that man can have to entertain him, yet a cruel refusal is given him, and any excuse in the world is thought to be sufficient.
From a sermon entitled "Wanted, A Guestchamber!," delivered December 15, 1867. Image by Steve Willi under Creative Commons License.
Labels:
Christ,
Christianity,
salvation,
Spurgeon
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Love for Him empowers us
Love has laughed at impossibilities, and proved that she is not to be quenched by many waters, nor drowned by floods. Impassable woods have nevertheless been made a footway for the Christian missionary; through the dense jungle, steaming with malaria, men have passed, bearing the message of truth; into the midst of hostile and savage tribes, weak and trembling women even have forced their way to tell of Jesus; no sea has been so stormy, no mountains have been so elevated that they could shut out the earnest spirit; no long nights of winter in Labrador or in Iceland have been able to freeze up the love of Christ in the Moravian’s heart: it has not been possible for the zeal of the heir of heaven to be overcome, though all the elements have combined with the cruelty of wicked men, and with the malice of hell itself.
Christ’s people have been more than conquerors through him that hath loved them, when his love has been shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Spirit, and they have had elevated thoughts of their Lord.
From a sermon entitled "The Rose And The Lily," delivered December 8, 1867. Image by Richard0 under Creative Commons License.
Labels:
Christ,
Christianity,
evangelism,
Jesus,
Spurgeon
Monday, November 2, 2009
Pray for God to raise up ministers
There is sadly little prayer in the church for the rising ministry. You pray for those who are your pastors, and rightly so. “Brethren, pray for us,” you cannot do us a better favor. But there is so little prayer that God would raise up ministers! Know ye not that, as surely as the blood of Christ bought the redemption of his people, as surely as the resurrection of Christ was for the justification of the saints, so surely the ascension of Christ was for the distribution of ministry among the sons of men? Know ye not the passage, “He ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men and he gave [these were the gifts] some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers”?
Now, you plead the precious blood when you would obtain pardon, you plead the resurrection, and you receive justification; but how seldom do you plead the ascension, so as to obtain a faithful ministry!
From a sermon entitled "Sermons From Saintly Death-Beds," delivered December 1, 1867. Image by Noël Zia Lee under Creative Commons License.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Christ, the unmerited gift
Christ was God’s gift to the fallen seed of man. Long ere this world was made, he ordained in the eternal purpose that Christ should be the covenant Head of his elect, their Surety, and their Redeemer: he gave Christ to us before he spread the starry sky: he was the Father’s goodly gift when the fullness of time was come. Many promises had heralded the Master’s coming, and at last he appeared, a babe of a span long in his mother’s arms. His holy life and his suffering death were the gifts of God to us, for “He spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all.”
To the whole company of God’s elect, Christ Jesus is the priceless boon which the Father’s love has bestowed upon them. And when you and I receive Jesus Christ into our heart, he evermore comes as a gift. The faith by which we receive him is a gift: the gift of God is faith, but Jesus Christ himself never comes to a soul that has faith, as a reward. No man ever received Christ by the works of the law or the deeds of the flesh.
From a sermon entitled "Saying Knowledge," delivered November 24, 1867. Image by Brian Leon under Creative Commons License.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
If you belonged...
The Christian’s life is a matchless riddle. No worldling can comprehend it; even the believer himself cannot understand it. He knows it, but as to solving all its enigmas, he feels that to be an impossible task. Dead, yet alive; crucified with Christ, and yet at the same time risen with Christ in newness of life! Do not expect the world to understand you, Christian, it did not understand your Master. When your actions are misrepresented, and your motives are ridiculed, do not be surprised. “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” If you belonged to the village the dogs would not bark at you.
From a sermon entitled "Christus Et Ego," delivered November 17, 1867. Image by Marilyn Peddle under Creative Commons License.
Labels:
Christ,
Christianity,
persecution,
Spurgeon,
world
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Doubt yourself but not Him!
Doubt thyself, and go to Jesus. Never doubt him. Confess thyself now to be undone and ruined if so it be, but go to him who is still the Savior, able to save to the uttermost. Still guilty, still lost, still defiled, go still to the “fountain filled with blood;” go still to the openhanded Savior, and ask him to press thee to his bosom and to save thee now. This is the quick way, the sure way, the blessed way of finding out the secret spot, to go at once to Christ. If I never came before, O bleeding Savior, now I come, and if I have often come and put my trust in thee, I come again. Accept a guilty sinner who casts himself alone on thee, and save him for thy mercy’s sake. Amen.
From a sermon entitled "The Secret Spot," delivered November 10, 1867. Image by liz west under Creative Commons License.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
He has provided!
The Lord our God has provided for us in Christ, for all the necessities that can occur, for he has foreknown all these necessities. “I knew that thou wouldst be this and that.” Oh, is your heart heavy this morning? God knew it would be: there is the comfort that your heart wants already treasured in the promise. Seek the promise, believe it and obtain it. Do you feel, this morning, that you never were so consciously vile as you are now? Behold, the crimson fountain is open still with all its former efficacy to wash your sin away. Never shall you come into such a position that Christ cannot aid you. No pinch shall ever come in your spiritual affairs in which Jesus Christ shall not be equal to the emergency, for it has all been foreknown and provided for in him.
A man goes a journey across the desert, and when he has made a day’s advance and he pitches his tent, he discovers that he wants many comforts and necessaries, which he has not brought in his baggage. “Ah!” says he, “I did not foresee this: if I had this journey to go again, I should bring these things with me, so necessary to my comfort.” But God has foreseen all the necessities of his poor wandering children, and when those needs occur, supplies will be found ready. “My grace is sufficient for thee.” “As thy days, so shall thy strength be.”
From a sermon entitled "God's Foreknowledge of Man's Sin," delivered November 3, 1867. Image by Keven Law under Creative Commons License.
Labels:
Christ,
God,
providence,
Spurgeon
Monday, October 26, 2009
The deceitfulness of head-knowledge
We may learn that a man may know a great deal about true religion, and yet be a total stranger to it. He may know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God Most High, and yet he may be possessed of a devil; nay, as in this case, he may be a den for a whole legion of devils. Mere knowledge does nothing for us but puff us up. We may know, and know, and know, and so increase our responsibility, without bringing us at all into a state of hope.
Beware of resting in head-knowledge. Beware of relying upon orthodoxy, for without love, with all your correctness of doctrine, you will be a sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. It is well to be sound in the faith, but the soundness must be in the heart as well as in the head. There is as ready a way to destruction by the road of orthodoxy as by the paths of heterodoxy. Hell has thousands in it who were never heretics. Remember that the devils “believe and tremble.” There are no sounder theoretical believers than devils, and yet their conduct is not affected by what they believe, and consequently they still remain at enmity to the Most High God. A mere head-believer is on a par therefore with fallen angels, and he will have his portion with them forever unless grace shall change his heart.
From a sermon entitled "Plain Words With The Careless," delivered October 13, 1867. Image by Brandon Godfrey under Creative Commons License.
Cheerfully sharing Christ
I thank God there are some of you who will not let a stranger go out without a good word concerning Christ. I pray you persevere in the good habit, and the Lord will bless you, for while there is much to be done in such a congregation as this by the preacher, there is yet more to be done by these helps in getting to the conscience, and doing good to the soul. For a thoroughly efficient “help,” give me a man with a loving face. We do not make our own faces; but I do not think a brother will do much with anxious enquirers who is habitually grim. Cheerfulness commends itself, especially to a troubled heart. We do not want levity; there is a great difference between cheerfulness and levity.
I can always tell a man who looks sweetly at me what I feel, far better than I can tell it to one who in a sort of official way talks to me as though it were his only business to enquire into my private concerns, and to find out all about what I am, and where I have been. Go about your work softly, gently, affectionately; let your cheerful countenance tell that the religion you have is worth having...
From a sermon entitled "Helps." Image by kaktuslampa under Creative Commons License.
Labels:
Christ,
Christianity,
evangelism,
God,
Spurgeon
Friday, October 23, 2009
A brief word on promised grace
“The Lord spake unto Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water.”
Beloved, we have a promise. A promise? nay, a thousand promises! God’s people were never in any plight whatever, but what there was a promise to meet that condition. There is not a single lock of which God has not the key. You shall never be placed in a difficulty without some provision being made for that difficulty, which God foresaw, and for which his heavenly wisdom had devised a way of escape.
From a sermon entitled "A Song At The Well-Head," delivered October 10, 1867. Image by Sergio Tudela under Creative Commons License.
Labels:
Christianity,
God,
Moses,
promises,
Spurgeon
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Wonderful Cross
The death of our Lord Jesus Christ must have appeared to his apostles to be an unmitigated misfortune. No doubt they conceived that it would be the death of the cause, a heavy blow, and a deep discouragement. Smite the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered. Strike the head, and what shall become of the members? But our Lord instructed his disciples that this, which seemed so dreary a circumstance, was really the most hopeful of all the points of his history. He assured them that by his death he would totally defeat the powers of darkness. “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.” He comforted them yet further by the declaration that his crucifixion, instead of driving men away from his doctrine, would give to that doctrine a peculiar lustre and a special charm.
The cross of Christ, with all its ignominy and shame, is no hindrance to his heavenly teaching but is, in fact, a matchless loadstone by which men are attracted to it. There is such a thing as “the offense of the cross,” and that offense has not ceased; but still, listen to the Master’s words, “I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” The attractive power of the gospel lies mainly in the crucifixion of the gospel’s great Teacher.
From a sermon entitled "The Great Attraction," delivered October 13, 1867. Image by jenny downing under Creative Commons License.
Labels:
Christ,
Christianity,
cross,
Jesus,
Spurgeon
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Do we truly have God's love?
I do not say, is love upon your tongue, but, does love rule thy heart? Dost thou love God as a child loves its father? Dost thou love the Savior from a sense of gratitude to him who bought thee with his blood? Dost thou feel the love of the gracious Comforter, who dwells in thee, if thou be indeed a child of God? What knowest thou about love to the brethren? Dost thou love the saints, as saints, whether they belong to thy church or no; whether they please thee or serve thy turn or no? Say, dost thou love God’s poor? Dost thou love God’s persecuted and despised ones?
Answer, I pray thee. What about love to the kingdom of the Lord’s dear Son, and to the souls of men? Canst thou sit still and be satisfied with being saved thyself while thy neighbors are being damned by thousands? Are thine eyes never wet with tears for impenitent souls? Do the terrors of the Lord never get hold upon thee, when thou thinkest of men plunging themselves into perdition? “He that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” Hast thou this fruit, then? for if not, “every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away.”
From a sermon entitled "A Sharp Knife for the Vinebranches," delivered October 6, 1867. Image by rachel_thecat under Creative Commons License.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
The Covenant of Grace
How great is the goodness of God, which he laid up in the covenant of grace! He determined to bless us in a way of covenant relationship, into which he entered on our behalf with our federal head, the Lord Jesus. To attempt, my dear brethren, to read to you the treasures, which God has made over to us in the covenant of grace, were to attempt an impossibility. The catalogue is far too comprehensive. Behold, he has given all things to you in the covenant of his eternal love, for all things are yours, whether things present or things to come-life and death, time and eternity; nay, more, God himself is yours!
“I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” The Father is your Father; the Son of God is your Brother; the Spirit of God is your Comforter, who abides with you forever. In that golden casket of the covenant of grace, all the wealth of the Eternal is stored up for the chosen. David laid up in store for the temple, but Jesus has treasured up far more for his church; Jacob gave to Joseph one portion above his brethren, but our heavenly Father has given to all the family an inheritance surpassing all conception. Nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, can fully estimate the infinite wealth of blessedness laid up in the everlasting covenant.
From a sermon entitled "David's Holy Wonder At The Lord's Great Goodness," delivered September 19, 1867. Image by under Creative Commons License.
Monday, October 19, 2009
He delights to save
Our Lord for the “joy set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame.” It is written, that he rejoices over us with joy and singing, so that he reaps the fruit of his pains and groans in our salvation. When the shepherd lays the sheep on his shoulders, he returns home rejoicing, for he has found the sheep which was lost. The joy of finding the strayed one compensates him for all his toil, he forgets the length of the road, the toilsome climb up the mountains in search of it. It is found! It is found! That is enough: that one joyful cry embodies the measure of his satisfaction and rewards. How Christ delights to save! This is how Christ is rewarded for his soul’s travail.
From a sermon entitled "Delay Is Dangerous." Image by rachel_thecat under Creative Commons License.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Variations
There are hours when some of us would be glad to creep into a mouse hole or hide ourselves in a nutshell. We feel so little, so insignificant. Our faith is at so miserable an ebb, that we know not what to do. Well, let us not be astonished, as though we were not the children of God, because of this. Everything that has life has variations. A block of wood is not affected by the weather, but a living man is. You may drive a stake into the ground, and it will feel no influence of spring, summer, autumn, or winter; but if the stake be alive, and you drive it into the soil where there is moisture, it will soon begin to sprout, and you will be able to tell when spring and winter are coming by the changes that take place in the living tree. Life is full of these changes; do not wonder, then, if you experience them.
From a sermon entitled "Seeing Jesus." Image by brokinhrt2 under Creative Commons License.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
He calleth thee!
It is impossible that the bleeding Lamb should cease to be pitiful to poor bleeding hearts. By everything that can make the name of the great Physician glorious, by every pang of his soul on account of sinners, I am persuaded that he will not deny you. Why, the more a physician cures, the greater is his fame; the more the Savior saves, the higher is his honor; the more Jesus Christ can bless, the more lofty will be the praise, and the more exalted that mighty shout of “Hallelujah!” that shall go up from ten thousand times ten thousand of sinners, who have been washed in his blood.
Come, then, seeking sinner, come thou now, and by humble faith trust in the Mediator’s sacrifice. Wipe those eyes of thine. Be of good cheer. Be bold in heart. He calleth thee. There is room at his table. The door is open. There is room in his heart, he died for those who rest in him. If thou wishest for Christ, he wishes for thee. If thou longest to go to the feast, he wants guests as much as thou wantest the feast. Only trust thou him! God help thee to trust him by his Spirit, and thou shalt live.
From a sermon entitled "The Water Of Life." Image by joiseyshowaa under Creative Commons License.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)