Sermon Shorts from Spurgeon – Sermon 11: The People’s Christ

Christ was chosen out of the people—that he might know our wants and sympathize with us. You know the old tale, that one half the world does not know how the other half lives; and that is very true. I believe some of the rich have no notion whatever of what the distress of the poor is. They have no idea of what it is to labor for their daily food. They have a very faint conception of what a rise in the price of bread means. They do not know anything about it; and when we put men in power who never were of the people, they do not understand the art of governing us. But our great and glorious Jesus Christ is one chosen out of the people; and therefore he knows our wants. Temptation and pain he suffered before us; sickness he endured, for when hanging upon the cross, the scorching of that broiling sun brought on a burning fever; weariness—he has endured it, for weary he sat by the well; poverty—he knows it, for sometimes he had not bread to eat, save that bread of which the world knows nothing; to be houseless—he knew it, for the foxes had holes, and the birds of the air had nests, but he had not where to lay his head. My brother Christian, there is no place where thou canst go, where Christ has not been before thee, sinful places alone excepted. In the dark valley of the shadow of death thou mayest see his bloody footsteps—footprints marked with gore; ay, and even at the deep waters of the swelling Jordan, thou shalt, when thou comest hard by the side, say, “There are the footprints of a man: whose are they?” Stooping down, thou shalt discern a nail-mark, and shalt say. “Those are the footsteps of the blessed Jesus.” He hath been before thee; he hath smoothed the way; he hath entered the grave, that he might make the tomb the royal bedchamber of the ransomed race, the closet where they lay aside the garments of labor, to put on the vestments of eternal rest. In all places whithersoever we go, the angel of the covenant has been our forerunner; each burden we have to carry, has once been laid on the shoulders of Immanuel.

From the Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Volume 1, Sermon 11 by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

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

Should We Change the Lord’s Prayer?

Many news outlets have reported that Pope Francis wants to change the translation of the Lord’s Prayer.  Specifically, he objects that “lead us not into temptation” (Matt. 6:13) makes it seem like the Lord leads us to sin. 

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/12/07/pope-francis-wants-to-change-line-our-father-prayer.html

With all due respect, I strongly believe he is wrong.  The pope said, “That is not a good translation.”  Actually, it is an excellent translation as you’ll see in this article.  Continue reading

Satan: The Subtle Serpent

In the previous two chapters of Genesis, everything God created was good. However, now we will see trouble in paradise as we see Satan appear and introduce doubt into the minds of Adam and Eve.

Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? (Genesis. 3:1)

The serpent is a real, physical serpent which is being used by Satan to communicate to Eve. The fact that Satan takes on the body of a serpent is confirmed by Revelation 12:9, “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” (see also Revelation 20:2) Here we see that part of Satan’s character is deception. Jesus stated that the devil is the father of lies. (John 8:44)

Continue reading

How To Face Temptation

During His earthly ministry, the Bible is clear that Jesus Christ faced temptations as we do.  One of those instances is documented in Matthew 4 (a parallel passage is Luke 4) where He is tempted by Satan himself.  In accordance with His perfect life, Jesus did not give in, but rather provides us with a primer on how to deal with the temptations we face. Continue reading