From C. H. Spurgeon's serman, "Faith and Repentance Inseparable" Delivered on Sunday Morning, July 13th, 1862.
I shall commence my remarking that the gospel which Christ preached was, very plainly, a command. "Repent ye, and believe the gospel." Our Lord does condescend to reason. Often his ministry graciously acted out the old text, "Come, now, and let us reason together; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as wool." He does persuade men by telling and forcible arguments, which should lead them to seek the salvation of their souls. He does invite men, and oh, how lovingly he woos them to be wise. "Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." He does entreat men; he condescendeth to become, as it were, a beggar to his own sinful creatures, beseeching them to come to him. Indeed, he maketh this to be the duty of his ministers, "As though God did beseech you by us, we pray you, in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God." Yet, remember, though he condescendeth to reason, to persuade, to invite, and to beseech, still his gospel hath in it all the dignity and force of a command; and if we would preach it in these days as Christ did, we must proclaim it as a command from God, attended with a divine sanction, and not to be neglected save at the infinite peril of the soul. When the feast was spread upon the table for the marriage-supper, there was an invitation, but it had all the obligation of a command, since those who rejected it were utterly destroyed as despisers of their king. When the builders reject Christ, he becomes a stone of stumbling to "the disobedient"; but how could they disobey if there were no command? The gospel contemplates, I say, invitations, entreaties, and beseechings, but it also takes the higher ground of authority. "Repent ye" is as much a command of God as "Thou shalt not steal." "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ" has as fully a divine authority as "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy strength." Think not, O men, that the gospel is a thing left to your option to choose it or not! Dream not, O sinners, that ye may despise the Word from heaven and incur no guilt! Think not that ye may neglect it and no ill consequences shall follow! It is just this neglect and despising of yours which shall fill up the measure of your iniquity. It is this concerning which we cry aloud, "How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation!" God commands you to repent. The same God before whom Sinai was moved and was altogether on a smoke—that same God who proclaimed the law with sound of trumpet, with lightnings and with thunders, speaketh to us more gently, but still as divinely, through his only begotten Son, when he saith to us, "Repent ye, and believe the gospel."
To read the entire sermon click the title.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Thursday, December 8, 2011
A Christmas Burden
Let me start by saying that I am NOT anti-Christmas. However, I do agree with A.W. Pink when it comes to the burden our Christmas traditions can put on many people. If one has the means and ability to give gifts I am all for it, but, we should never give Christmas gifts because we feel obligated to give them. Even more, may we never expect a "return" on the gifts we do give.
"There are those who DO abstain from some of the grosser carnalities of the "festive season," yet are they nevertheless in cruel bondage to the prevailing custom of "Christmas", namely that of exchanging "gifts." We say "exchanging", for that is what it really amounts to in many cases. A list is kept, either on paper or in memory, of those from whom gifts were received last year, and that for the purpose of returning the compliment this year. Nor is this all—great care has been taken that the "gift" made to the friend is worth as much in dollars and cents as the one they expect to receive from him or her. Thus, with many who can ill afford it, a considerable sum has to be set aside each year with which to purchase things simply to send them out in RETURN for others which are likely to be received. Thus a burden has been bound on them which not a few find hard to bear" A.W. Pink.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
The Battle Against Error - By C.H. Spurgeon
Even though it is an error that is in an Evangelical Church, yet we must destroy it. I love all those who love the Lord Jesus Christ, but, nevertheless, I cannot have any truce or any treaty with the numerous errors that have crept into the church, nor would I have you regard them with complacency. We are one in Christ; let us be friends with one another; but let us never be friends with one another’s error. If I am wrong, sternly rebuke me; I can handle it, and handle it cheerfully, and if you are wrong, expect me to do likewise, showing no peace with your errors in doctrine. Let us all be true to one another, and true to Christ; and as soon as we perceive an error, though it is only the shadow of one, let us root it out and drive it from us, lest it plague the whole body, and allow the entire fabric of the church to be affected with leprosy. No peace with sin. No peace with false doctrines. War, war, war without deliberation: war forever with error and deceit!
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
The Battle Against Sin - By C.H. Spurgeon
The Lord’s battle is first of all with sin.
Seek grace to fight that battle in your own heart. Endeavor by divine grace to overcome those propensities which continually push you towards iniquity. On your knees wrestle against the sins that so easily entangle you. As sinful habits appear, then endeavor to break them by the sword of strong resolution wielded by the arm of faith. Take all your lusts as they become active to the foot of the cross, and let the blood of Jesus fall on those vipers and they will die. The blood of Christ will cause the blood of sin to flow. The death of Christ will be the death of iniquity, the cross of Christ will be the crucifixion of transgression. Labor with yourselves to drive the Canaanites out of your hearts. Spare none, let no petty lust escape. Go after pride and laziness, and lust, and unbelief and you will have a battle before you which will keep you busy, and more than busy. Oh! cry to God for your strength, where your help comes from, and then fight on again, and as each sin is overcome, as each evil habit is broken, as each lust is denied then go on and search out others, and keep on destroying them, until all are subdued, then your body, soul, and spirit will be consecrated to Christ as a living sacrifice, purified by his Holy Spirit.
And while this battle is being fought, and while it is still fighting back, go out and fight with other men’s sins. Hit them first with the weapon of holy example. Be in yourself what you would want others to be. Be clean that you can hope to be the purifiers of the world; and then, having first sought the blessing of God, go out into the world and bear your witness against sin. Let your testimony be unflinching; never let a sin pass under your eye without rebuke. Utterly slay young and old; let no one escape. Speak sometimes sternly if the sinner is hardened in his sin, speak gently, if it is his first offense, seeking not to break his head but to break the head of his iniquity - not to break his bones or wound his feelings, but to cut his sin in two, and leave his iniquity dead before his eyes. Go forth where sin is the most rampant. Go down the dark alley, climb the creaking staircase; penetrate the dens of iniquity where the lion of the pit lies in his death den, and go and pluck out of the mouth of the lion-two legs and a piece of a ear, if that is all which you can save. Count it always your joy to follow the track of the lion, to confront him in his den, and fight him where he reigns most secure. Protest daily, hourly, by act, by word, by pen, by tongue, against evil of every kind and shape. Be like burning and shining lights in the midst of darkness, and as two-edged swords in the midst of the army of sin. Why, a true Christian who lives near to God, and is filled with grace and is kept holy, may stand in the midst of sinners and do wonders. What a marvelous feat that Jonah did! There was the great city of Nineveh, having in it more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who could not tell their right hand from their left, and one man went against it - Jonah - and as he approached it he began to proclaim, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be destroyed.” He entered the city - perhaps he stood aghast for a moment at the multitude of its population, at its richness and splendor, but again he lilted up his sharp shrill voice, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be destroyed.” On he went, and the crowd increased around him as he passed through each street, but they heard nothing but the solemn monotony, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be destroyed;” and yet again, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be destroyed.” And on he went, that solitary man, till he caused turmoil in the midst of the multitude, and the king on his throne robed himself in sackcloth and proclaimed a fast, a day of mourning and of sadness. Yet on he went, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be destroyed,” till all the people bowed before him, and that one man was the conqueror of the multitude. Oh! believer, if you will go out and do the same, if you will go into the streets, the roads, the highways, the houses, and into the private places of sin, and still with this continued cry against sin and iniquity, say to them, “Look to the cross and live, look to the cross and live.” Though there were only one earnest man in London who would continue that monotony of “Look to the cross and live,” from end to end this city would shake, and the great monster metropolis would be made to tremble. Go forth then, believer, and cry against sin with all your might.
Seek grace to fight that battle in your own heart. Endeavor by divine grace to overcome those propensities which continually push you towards iniquity. On your knees wrestle against the sins that so easily entangle you. As sinful habits appear, then endeavor to break them by the sword of strong resolution wielded by the arm of faith. Take all your lusts as they become active to the foot of the cross, and let the blood of Jesus fall on those vipers and they will die. The blood of Christ will cause the blood of sin to flow. The death of Christ will be the death of iniquity, the cross of Christ will be the crucifixion of transgression. Labor with yourselves to drive the Canaanites out of your hearts. Spare none, let no petty lust escape. Go after pride and laziness, and lust, and unbelief and you will have a battle before you which will keep you busy, and more than busy. Oh! cry to God for your strength, where your help comes from, and then fight on again, and as each sin is overcome, as each evil habit is broken, as each lust is denied then go on and search out others, and keep on destroying them, until all are subdued, then your body, soul, and spirit will be consecrated to Christ as a living sacrifice, purified by his Holy Spirit.
And while this battle is being fought, and while it is still fighting back, go out and fight with other men’s sins. Hit them first with the weapon of holy example. Be in yourself what you would want others to be. Be clean that you can hope to be the purifiers of the world; and then, having first sought the blessing of God, go out into the world and bear your witness against sin. Let your testimony be unflinching; never let a sin pass under your eye without rebuke. Utterly slay young and old; let no one escape. Speak sometimes sternly if the sinner is hardened in his sin, speak gently, if it is his first offense, seeking not to break his head but to break the head of his iniquity - not to break his bones or wound his feelings, but to cut his sin in two, and leave his iniquity dead before his eyes. Go forth where sin is the most rampant. Go down the dark alley, climb the creaking staircase; penetrate the dens of iniquity where the lion of the pit lies in his death den, and go and pluck out of the mouth of the lion-two legs and a piece of a ear, if that is all which you can save. Count it always your joy to follow the track of the lion, to confront him in his den, and fight him where he reigns most secure. Protest daily, hourly, by act, by word, by pen, by tongue, against evil of every kind and shape. Be like burning and shining lights in the midst of darkness, and as two-edged swords in the midst of the army of sin. Why, a true Christian who lives near to God, and is filled with grace and is kept holy, may stand in the midst of sinners and do wonders. What a marvelous feat that Jonah did! There was the great city of Nineveh, having in it more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who could not tell their right hand from their left, and one man went against it - Jonah - and as he approached it he began to proclaim, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be destroyed.” He entered the city - perhaps he stood aghast for a moment at the multitude of its population, at its richness and splendor, but again he lilted up his sharp shrill voice, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be destroyed.” On he went, and the crowd increased around him as he passed through each street, but they heard nothing but the solemn monotony, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be destroyed;” and yet again, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be destroyed.” And on he went, that solitary man, till he caused turmoil in the midst of the multitude, and the king on his throne robed himself in sackcloth and proclaimed a fast, a day of mourning and of sadness. Yet on he went, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be destroyed,” till all the people bowed before him, and that one man was the conqueror of the multitude. Oh! believer, if you will go out and do the same, if you will go into the streets, the roads, the highways, the houses, and into the private places of sin, and still with this continued cry against sin and iniquity, say to them, “Look to the cross and live, look to the cross and live.” Though there were only one earnest man in London who would continue that monotony of “Look to the cross and live,” from end to end this city would shake, and the great monster metropolis would be made to tremble. Go forth then, believer, and cry against sin with all your might.
Friday, November 18, 2011
What are the battles of God? By C.H. Spugeon
Let us here carefully distinguish between the battles of God, and our own.
Oh, my brothers and sisters in Christ, it is not your business to fight your own battles, not even in defense of your own character. If you are criticized and slandered, leave the slanderer alone. His cruelty will only be increased by any attempt that you make to defend yourself. As a soldier of Christ you are to fight for your Master, not for yourself. You are not to carry on a private warfare for your own honor, but all your time and all your energy is to be given to his defense and his war. You are not to speak a word in your own defense. Too often, when we get angry, and our blood pressure is stirred up, we are apt to think that we are fighting the cause of truth, when we are really maintaining our own pride. We imagine that we are defending our Master, but we are defending our own little selves. Too often the anger rises against an adversary not because his words reflect dishonor upon the glorious Christ, but because they dishonor us. Oh! let us not be so petty as to fight our own battles! Depend on it, the noblest means of conquest for a Christian in the matter of slander and lies, is to stand still and see the salvation of God. When you come to fight your own battle, put away all your own weapons and let God fight for you, and you will be more than a conqueror.
Oh, my brothers and sisters in Christ, it is not your business to fight your own battles, not even in defense of your own character. If you are criticized and slandered, leave the slanderer alone. His cruelty will only be increased by any attempt that you make to defend yourself. As a soldier of Christ you are to fight for your Master, not for yourself. You are not to carry on a private warfare for your own honor, but all your time and all your energy is to be given to his defense and his war. You are not to speak a word in your own defense. Too often, when we get angry, and our blood pressure is stirred up, we are apt to think that we are fighting the cause of truth, when we are really maintaining our own pride. We imagine that we are defending our Master, but we are defending our own little selves. Too often the anger rises against an adversary not because his words reflect dishonor upon the glorious Christ, but because they dishonor us. Oh! let us not be so petty as to fight our own battles! Depend on it, the noblest means of conquest for a Christian in the matter of slander and lies, is to stand still and see the salvation of God. When you come to fight your own battle, put away all your own weapons and let God fight for you, and you will be more than a conqueror.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
THE BATTLES OF THE LORD, what are they? By C. H. Spurgeon
Not the uniform rolled in blood, not the noise, and smoke, and clamor of human slaughter. These may be the battles of the devil, if you please, but not the Lord’s. They may be days of God’s vengeance but their manner of war is something that the servant of Jesus can not mingle. We stand distant. Our kingdom is not of this world; or else God’s servants would fight with sword and spear. Ours is a spiritual kingdom, and the weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the world, but spiritual, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Is Christianity Intolerant?
From Christian Apologetics Research Ministry, CARM.org
Is Christianity intolerant? Yes it is intolerant. In fact, it is very intolerant to say that Jesus is the way the truth and the life and that no one can get to God except through Him as Jesus Himself said in John 14:6. It is also intolerant to state that there is no other name under heaven other than Jesus by which a person can be forgiven of his sins as Peter said in Acts 4:12. Keep reading...
Is Christianity intolerant? Yes it is intolerant. In fact, it is very intolerant to say that Jesus is the way the truth and the life and that no one can get to God except through Him as Jesus Himself said in John 14:6. It is also intolerant to state that there is no other name under heaven other than Jesus by which a person can be forgiven of his sins as Peter said in Acts 4:12. Keep reading...
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