Sermon Shorts from Spurgeon — Sermon 29: Christ Manifesting Himself to His People

Then what will be the natural effects of this spiritual manifestation? The first effect will be humility. If a man says, “I have had such and such spiritual communications, I am a great man;” he has never had any communications at all; for “God has respect unto the humble, but the proud he knoweth afar off.” He does not want to come near them to know them, and will never give them any visits of love. It will give a man happiness; for he must be happy who lives near to God. Again: it will give a man holiness. A man who has not holiness has never had this manifestation. Some men profess a great deal; but do not believe any man unless you see that his deeds answer to what he says. “Be not deceived, God is not mocked.” He will not bestow his favors upon the wicked; for while he wild not cast away a perfect man, neither will he respect an evil doer. Thus there will three effects of nearness to Jesus, all beginning with the letter h—humility, happiness, and holiness. May God give them to us!

From the Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Volume 1, Sermon 29 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

Sermon Shorts from Spurgeon – Sermon 1: The Immutability of God

Remember God is the same, whatever is removed. Your friends may be disaffected, your ministers may be taken away, every thing may change, but God does not. Your brethren may change and cast out your name as vile: but God will love you still. Let your station in life change, and your property be gone; let your whole life be shaken, and you become weak and sickly; let everything flee away—there is one place where change cannot put his finger; there is one name on which mutability can never be written; there is one heart which never can alter; that heart is God’s—that name Love.

“Trust him, he will ne’er deceive you. Though you hardly of him deem; He will never, never leave you, Nor will let you quite leave him.”

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

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

The End of Christian Freedom in the U.S.?

With the recent Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage (marriage equality), there have been dire warnings from numerous sources heralding the negative effects of this landmark decision.  Todd Starnes has outlined one in this opinion piece: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015/08/11/chaplains-banned-from-preaching-that-homosexuality-is-sin.html.

Essentially, a Christian chaplain in Kentucky was told he could no longer minister to juvenile inmates because he refused to “sign a state-mandated document promising to never tell inmates that homosexuality is ‘sinful’”.  Although the final outcome will be decided in court, this is just one example of Christians being discriminated against for not toeing the the line of political correctness. Continue reading

The Whole Duty of Man

Ecclesiastes12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

Solomon spend a good portion of his life seeking satisfaction apart from God.  He tried wine, women, and song.  He tried humor, building projects, and riches.  He tried everything “under the sun”.  Nothing satisfied him.  The book of Ecclesiastes chronicles his search.  He finally concludes, as the verse above testifies, that the whole duty of man is to fear God and keep His commandments. Continue reading