Sermon Shorts from Spurgeon — Sermon 20: The Carnal Mind Is Enmity against God

Is the carnal mind at enmity against God? Then salvation cannot be by merit; it must be by grace. If we are at enmity with God, what merit can we have? How can we deserve anything from the being we hate? Even if we were pure as Adam, we could not have any merit; for I do not think Adam had any desert before his Creator. When he had kept all his Master’s law he was but an unprofitable servant; he had done no more than he ought to have done; he had no surplus, no balance. But since we have become enemies, how much less can we hope to be saved by works! Oh! no; but the whole Bible tells us, from beginning to end, that salvation is not by the works of the law, but by the deeds of grace. Martin Luther declared that he constantly preached justification by faith alone, “because,” said he, “the people would forget it; so that I was obliged almost to knock my Bible against their heads, to send it into their hearts.” So it is true; we constantly forget that salvation is by grace alone.

From the Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Volume 1, Sermon 20 by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Sermon Shorts from Spurgeon – Sermon 5: The Comforter

Think not, O poor downcast child of God, because the scars of thine old sins have marred thy beauty, that he loves thee less because of that blemish. O no! He loved thee when he foreknew thy sin; he loved thee with the knowledge of what the aggregate of thy wickedness would be; and he does not love thee less now. Come to him in all boldness of faith; tell him thou hast grieved him, and he will forget thy wandering, and will receive thee again; the kisses of his love shall be bestowed upon thee, and the arms of his grace shall embrace thee. He is faithful; trust him, he will never deceive you; trust him, he will never leave you.

From the Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Volume 1, Sermon 5 by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

https://ccel.org/ccel/spurgeon/sermons01/sermons01.v.html

Dependence upon God

Proverbs 16:9 A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.

This verse informs us that a person may decide a direction to take in life and may plan how to get there, but it is the Lord Who guides his steps.  This is dependence.  As Jesus stated in John 15:5, “without me ye can do nothing”, we cannot prosper without divine assistance.  Continue reading

Living Under Grace

Christians have an obligation to live a life of holiness in honor of their God Who is holy (Leviticus 11:44; 1 Peter 1:15-16) and provided a holy sacrifice for their sins in the Person of His Son, Jesus Christ.  This is the only reasonable response believers have (Romans 12:1).  Paul wrote of this in the Epistle to the Romans.

Romans 6:11-15 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.  12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.  13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.  14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.  15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Continue reading

The Purpose of the Law

A large portion of the Old Testament is devoted to the Law of Moses and its practice.  However, we are told that the Law cannot make anyone righteous (justified) before God (Galatians 2:16).  So, what was the purpose of giving the Law and practicing the aspects of it if that did not gain favor with God? Let’s look at what the Apostle Paul wrote on this subject. Continue reading