Grace Gems for July 2000
The college of fools!
The following is from Spurgeon's sermon,
"Praise Thy God, O Zion" No. 678
There are no prerequisites necessary in order to enter
into Christ's college. He takes fools, and makes them
know the wonders of his dying love!
"Brothers, think of what you were when you were called.
Not many of you were wise by human standards; not
many were influential; not many were of noble birth.
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame
the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to
shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this
world and the despised things..... so that no
one may boast before him." 1 Cor. 1:26-29
Heads & Legs!
The following is from Spurgeon's sermon,
"Faith Versus Sight" No. 677.
2 Cor. 5:7. "We walk by faith..."
Oh! I wish that some Christians would pay a
little attention to their legs, instead of paying
it all to their heads!
When children's heads grow too fast it is a sign of
disease, and they get the rickets, or water on the brain.
So, there are some very sound brethren, who seem
to me to have got some kind of disease, and when
they try to walk, they straightway make a tumble
of it, because they have paid so much attention to
perplexing doctrinal views, instead of looking, as
they ought to have done, to the practical part of
Christianity.
By all means let us have doctrine, but by all means
let us have precept too. By all means let us have
inward experience, but by all means let us also have
outward "holiness, without which no man can see the Lord."
Against the flow!
The following is from Spurgeon’s sermon,
"A SERMON FROM A RUSH"
Be a man who can be singular when to be singular
is to be right. If the whole world shall run headlong
down the broad road, be it yours to thread your way
through the crowd against the current along the
uphill way of life. The dead fish floats down the
stream, the live fish goes against it!
The missionary!
The following is from Spurgeon’s sermon,
"The Great Itinerant" No. 655. Acts 10:38.
A minister once announced to his congregation
one Sunday morning, "I am going on a mission
to the heathen."
Now he had not told his deacons about it, and
they looked puzzled at one another. Some of
the good people in the congregation began
to take out their pocket handkerchiefs, as they
thought their minister was going to leave them–
he was so useful and necessary to them that they
felt sad at the bare idea of loosing him.
"But" he added, "I shall not be out of town."
So may you also go on a mission to the heathen
without going out of this huge town of yours!
You might almost preach to every sort of heathen
within the bounds of your town. If you want to
reach the heathen who have gone farthest into
sin, you need not certainly leave your town for
that. You shall find men and women rotten with
sin, and reeking in the nostrils of God with their
abominations. You may go about on a mission
to the heathen, and your railway ticket need
not cost you one penny!
Home churches
The following is from Spurgeon's sermon,
"Additions to the Church" No. 1167. Acts 2:47.
These first believers were in such a condition
that their homes were holy places. I beg you
to notice this, that they were breaking bread
from house to house, and did eat their food
with gladness and singleness of heart.
They did not think that religion was meant
only for Sundays, and for what men now-a-days
call the 'House of God'.
Their own houses were houses of God, and their
own meals were mixed and mingled with the
Lord's Supper. They elevated their meals into diets
for worship. They so consecrated everything with
prayer and praise that all around them was holiness
unto the Lord.
I wish our houses were thus dedicated to the Lord,
so that we worshipped God all the day long, and
made our dwellings temples for the living God.
Does God need a 'special house'?
He who made the heavens and the earth,
does he dwell in temples made with hands?
What crass ignorance is this!
No house beneath the sky is more holy than the
place where a Christian lives, and eats, and drinks,
and sleeps, and praises the Lord in all that he does.
There is no worship more heavenly than that which
is presented by holy families, devoted to his fear.
To sacrifice home worship to public worship
is a most evil course of action.
Morning and evening devotion in a cottage is infinitely
more pleasing in the sight of God than all the cathedral
pomp which delights the carnal eye and ear.
Every truly Christian household is a church, and
as such it is competent for the discharge of any
function of divine worship, whatever it may be.
Are we not all priests? Why do we need to call in
others to make devotion a performance? Let every
man be a priest in his own house.
Are you not all kings if you love the Lord? Then make
your houses palaces of joy and temples of holiness.
One reason why the early church had such a blessing
was because her members had such homes. When
we are like them we shall have "added to the church
daily of the saved."
What should the church look like?
(The following is by Buff Scott)
What should the community of believers
in the 21st century look and be like?
1) Simple, as opposed to elaborate organizational
structures, projects, and programs.
2) Informal but serious meetings.
3) Independent but cooperative.
4) Benevolent and evangelistic.
5) Non-ritualistic and non-formalistic.
6) Shepherds who lead rather than dictate,
teach and persuade rather than command.
7) All believers recognized as ministers,
servants, and priests.
"And now God is building you, as living stones,
into his spiritual temple. What's more, you are
God's holy priests, who offer the spiritual
sacrifices that please him because of Jesus Christ."
1 Peter 2:5
"He has made us his kingdom and his priests who
serve before God his Father. Give to him everlasting
glory! He rules forever and ever!" Amen! Rev. 1:6
Christ, The Example Of Ministers
(the following is by Jonathan Edwards)
It is not only our great duty, but will be our
greatest honor, to imitate Christ, and do
the work that he has done, and so act as
co-workers with him.
The ministers of Christ should be persons of
the same spirit that their Lord was of-- the
same spirit of humility and lowliness of heart;
for the servant is not greater than his Lord.
They should be of the same spirit of heavenly
mindedness, and contempt of the glory,
wealth, and pleasures of this world.
They should be of the same spirit of devotion
and fervent love to God. They should follow the
example of his prayerfulness; of whom we read
from time to time of his retiring from the world,
away from the noise and applause of the
multitudes, into mountains and solitary places,
for secret prayer, and holy converse with his Father.
Ministers should be persons of the same quiet,
lamb like spirit that Christ was of, the same
spirit of submission to God’s will, and patience
under afflictions, and meekness towards men;
of the same calmness and composure of spirit
under reproaches and sufferings from the
malignity of evil men; of the same spirit of
forgiveness of injuries; of the same spirit of
charity, of fervent love and extensive benevolence;
the same disposition to pity the miserable, to
weep with those that weep, to help men under
their calamities of both soul and body, to hear
and grant the requests of the needy, and relieve
afflicted; the same spirit of condescension to the
poor and lowly, tenderness and gentleness toward
the weak, and great and effectual love to enemies.
They should also be of the same spirit of zeal,
diligence, and self-denial for the glory of God,
and advancement for his kingdom, and for
the good of mankind; for which things sake
Christ went though the greatest labors, and
endured the most extreme sufferings.
And in order to our imitating Christ in the work
of the ministry, in any tolerable degree, we should
not have our hearts weighed down, and time filled
up with worldly affections, cares, and pursuits.
The duties of a minister that have been recommended,
are absolutely inconsistent with a mind much taken up
with worldly profit, glory, amusements, and entertainments.
Powerful, supernatural, irresistible, mighty,
overwhelming, constraining
(The following is by Spurgeon)
We declare on scriptural authority that the human will
is so desperately set on mischief, so depraved, so
inclined to everything that is evil, and so disinclined
to everything that is good, that without the powerful,
supernatural, irresistible influence of the Holy Spirit,
no one will ever be constrained toward Christ.
A man is not saved against his will, but he is made
willing by the operation of the Holy Spirit. A mighty
grace which he does not wish to resist enters into the
man, disarms him, makes a new creature of him, and
he is saved.
If I did not believe that there was might going forth
with the word of Jesus which makes men willing, and
which turns them from the error of their ways by the
mighty, overwhelming, constraining force of divine
influence, I should cease to glory in the cross of Christ.
God's hammer!
The following is from Spurgeon’s sermon,
"The Mighty Arm" No. 674. Psalm 89:13.
"Powerful is your arm! Strong is your hand! Your
right hand is lifted high in glorious strength."
-Psalm 89:13
God's power is perfectly irresistible.
When God puts forth his omnipotence,
who, who is there that can stay his hand?
Proud hearts are humbled,
hard hearts are broken,
iron melts, and
rock dissolves!
There is no heart so hard but what
God's hammer can dash it in pieces!
The Lord has but to will it with his omnipotent
will, and the sinner becomes a saint, and the
most rebellious cast down their weapons!
Let us never despair, while we can say
of our God, "Powerful is your arm!"
Lord, here is a great and hard rock; now wield
your great hammer, and the sparks shall fly,
and the adamant rock shall be broken into pieces.
Quarry your own stones, O God, and make them
fit for your temple, for "Powerful is your arm!"
Subdued by sovereign love!
(The following is by Spurgeon)
"All that the Father gives me shall come to me."
- John 6:37
This declaration involves the doctrine of election--
there are some whom the Father gave to Christ.
It involves the doctrine of effectual calling--
these who are given must and shall come; however
stoutly they may set themselves against it, yet they
shall be brought out of darkness into God's marvellous light.
It teaches us the indispensable necessity of faith--
for even those who are given to Christ are not saved
except they come to Jesus.
Even they must come, for there is no other way to heaven
but by the door, Christ Jesus. All that the Father gives to
our Redeemer must come to him, therefore none can come
to heaven except they come to Christ.
Oh! the power and majesty which rest in the words
"shall come." He does not say they have power to come,
nor they may come if they will, but they "shall come."
The Lord Jesus does by his messengers, his word, and
his Spirit, sweetly and graciously compel men to come
in that they may eat of his marriage supper. And this he
does, not by any violation of the free agency of man,
but by the power of his grace.
Jehovah Jesus knows how, by irresistible arguments
addressed to the understanding, by mighty reasons
appealing to the affections, and by the mysterious
influence of his Holy Spirit operating upon all the
powers and passions of the soul, so to subdue the
whole man, that whereas he was once rebellious,
he yields cheerfully to his government, subdued
by sovereign love!
But how shall those be known whom God has chosen?
By this result-- that they do willingly and joyfully accept
Christ, and come to him with simple and sincere faith,
resting upon him as all their salvation and all their desire.
Reader, have you thus come to Jesus?
Idiots catching flies!
The following is from Spurgeon's sermon,
"Hope, Yet No Hope. No Hope, Yet Hope"
No. 684. Isaiah 57:10.
Most people are not seeking to escape from the
wrath to come- they are busy in worldly things
while hell is near them. They are like idiots
catching flies on board a ship which is in the
very act of sinking!
We see many people busy about their bodies,
decorating themselves, when their soul is in ruin.
They are like a man painting the front door,
when the house is in flames!
Men are in a restless pursuit after satisfaction in earthly things.
They will hunt the purlieus of wealth, they will travel
the pathways of fame, they will dig into the mines
of knowledge, they will exhaust themselves in the
deceitful delights of sin, and, finding them all to
be vanity and emptiness, they will become very
perplexed and disappointed.
But they will still continue their fruitless search.
Though wearied, they still stagger forward under the
influence of spiritual madness, and though there is
no result to be reached except that of everlasting
disappointment, yet they press forward with much ardor.
Living for today is enough for them-- that they are
still alive, that they possess present comforts and
present enjoyments, this contents the many.
As for the future, they say, "Let it take care of itself."
As for eternity, they leave others to care for its
realities; the present life is enough for them.
Their motto is, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die."
They have no forethought for their eternal state;
the present hour absorbs them.
Carnal minds pursue with all their might earth's vanities,
and when they are wearied in their pursuit they but change
their direction, and continue the idle chase.
They turn to another and another of earth's broken
cisterns, hoping to find water where not a drop was
ever discovered yet.
Bad dogs!
From Spurgeon's, "The Great Arbitration Case"
No. 661. Job 9:33.
Which of you would keep a dog, which, instead
of fawning upon you, would bark at you, fly at
you, and tear you in his rage?
Some of us have done this to God- we have
perhaps cursed him to his face, laughed at
his gospel, and persecuted his saints.
You would have said of such a dog, "Let it die!"
Why should I harbor in my house a dog that
treats me thus?
Yet, hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth!
God has borne with your evil ways, and he
still cries, "Refrain!" He puts the lifted thunder
back into the arsenal of his dread artillery.
I wish I could state the case as I ought. My lips are but
clay; and these words should be like fire in the sinner's
soul. When I meditated upon this subject, I felt much
sympathy with God, that He should have been so ill treated!
And whereas some men speak of the flames of hell as too
great a punishment for sin, it seems ten thousand marvels
that we should not have been thrust down there long ago!
There are no atheists in hell!
The following is from Spurgeon's sermon,
"Last Things" No. 667. Proverbs 5:11.
How will unbelief look in the flames of hell?
There are no infidels anywhere but on earth!
There are none in heaven, and there are none in hell.
Atheism is a strange thing. Even the devils never fell
into that vice, for "the devils believe and tremble."
And there are some of the devil's children that have
gone beyond their father in sin, but how will it look
when they are forever lost?
When God's foot crushes them, they
will not be able to doubt his existence!
When he tears them in pieces and there is none to
deliver, then their sophistical syllogisms, their empty
logic, their brags and bravadoes, will be of no avail!
Oh, that they had been wise and had not darkened
their foolish hearts, but had turned unto the living God!
No escape!
The following is from Spurgeon’s sermon,
"Last Things" No. 667 Proverbs 5:11.
We are immortal, every one of us, and when the
stars go out and Sol's great furnace is extinguished
for lack of fuel, and, like a vesture, God’s wide
universe shall be rolled up, we shall be living still,
a life as eternal as the Eternal God himself.
Oh, when we leave this world, we are told that
after death there comes a judgment to us.
How will you face him, you that have despised him?
You who have doubted his deity, how will you bear
the blaze of it? You rejected and trampled on his
precious blood, how will you bear the weight of his
almighty arm? When on the cross you would not
receive him, and when on the throne you shall
not escape from him!
That silver scepter which he stretches out now to
you, if you refuse to touch it, shall be laid aside,
and he will take one of another metal, a rod of iron,
and he shall break you in pieces, yes, he shall dash
you in pieces like potters' vessels!
What will it be to stand at the bar of God and to
receive from him the sentence of damnation!
Your eyes shall see him in that day;
you shall understand his presence.
You will try to be hidden from him; you would desire
hell itself, and think it a place of shelter, if you could
escape from him; but everywhere that fire shall encircle
you, shall consume you, for "our God is a consuming fire."
You shall no more be able to escape from yourself than
from God. You shall find him as present with you as your
own soul will be, and you shall feel his hand of fire
searching for the chords of your soul, and sweeping
with a doleful Miserere all the heart-strings of your spirit.
Misery unspeakable must be yours when the
voice of the God-man, shall say, "Depart,
you cursed ones, into everlasting fire in hell.”
Let me take you to your dying chamber!
The following is from Spurgeon’s sermon,
"Last Things" No. 667. Proverbs 5:11.
Let me take you upstairs to your own dying chamber!
Look at actions which you have thought to be great,
and upon which you have prided yourself- how will
they look at the last?
You made money; you made money fast; you did it very
cleverly; you praised yourself for it, just as others have
praised themselves for conquering nations, or forcing
their way to fame, or lifting themselves into eminence.
Now you are dying, and what do you think of all that?
Is it so great as it seemed to be?
Oh, how you leaped up to it, how you strained yourself
to reach it, and you have got it, and you are dying.
What do you think of it now?
The greatest of human actions will appear to be
insignificant when we come to die, and especially
those upon which men most pride themselves-
these will yield them the bitterest humiliation.
We shall then say what madmen we must have
been to have wasted so much time and energy
upon such paltry things!
When we shall discover that they were not real,
that they were but mere bubbles, mere pretenses,
we shall then look upon ourselves as demented to
have spent the whole of our life and of our energy
upon them!
A vast den of poisonous hissing serpents!
The following is from Jonathan Edwards
book, "Charity and its Fruit"
Hell is a place where God manifests his
displeasure and wrath.
Everything in hell is hateful.
There is not one solitary object there that is
not odious and detestable, horrid and hateful.
There is no person or thing to be seen there, that
is amiable or lovely; nothing that is pure, or holy,
or pleasant, but everything abominable and odious.
There are no beings there but devils,
and damned spirits that are like devils.
Hell is, as it were, a vast den of poisonous hissing
serpents- the old serpent, who is the devil and Satan,
and with him all his hateful brood!
Those in hell hate God, and Christ, and angels, and
saints in heaven; and not only so, but they hate one
another, like a company of serpents or vipers, not
only spitting out venom against God, but at one another,
biting and stinging and tormenting each other.
All things in the wide universe that are hateful shall
be gathered together in hell, as in a vast receptacle
provided on purpose, that the universe which God
has made may be cleansed of its filthiness, by casting
it all into this great sink of wickedness and woe.
It is a world prepared on purpose for the expression
of God's wrath. He has made hell for this; and he has
no other use for it but there to testify forever his hatred
of sin and sinners, where there is no token of love or mercy.
In hell, there is nothing there but what shows
forth the Divine indignation and wrath.
Every object shows forth wrath.
It is a world all overflowed with a deluge of wrath, as
it were, with a deluge of liquid fire, so as to be called
a lake of fire and brimstone, and the second death.
Deluged with love!
God is the fountain of love, as
the sun is the fountain of light.
Every stream of holy love, yes, every drop
that is, or ever was, proceeds from God.
In heaven, this glorious God is manifested, and
shines forth, in full glory, in beams of love.
And there this glorious fountain forever flows
forth in streams, yes, in rivers of love and delight,
and these rivers swell, as it were, to an ocean of
love, in which the souls of the ransomed may bathe
with the sweetest enjoyment, and their hearts, as it
were, be deluged with love! -Spurgeon
Holy and humble Christian love
The following is from Jonathan Edwards
book, "Charity and its Fruit"
Holy and humble Christian love, is a principle
of wonderful power to give ineffable quietness
and tranquillity to the soul. It banishes all
disturbance, and sweetly composes and brings
rest to the spirit, and makes all divinely calm
and sweet and happy. In that soul where divine
love reigns and is in lively exercise, nothing can
cause a storm, or even gather threatening clouds.
The foulest and most detestable thing in the whole universe!
The following is from Spurgeon’s sermon,
"From the Dunghill to the Throne"
No. 658. Psalm 113:7, 8.
All the filth and loathsomeness that ever offended
eye and nostril, is sweetness itself compared with sin.
The foulest and most detestable
thing in the whole universe is sin!
Sin is that which keeps the fire of hell
burning as God's great sanitary necessity.
Well may God cause the fiery flames of eternal torment
to go up for ever and ever, for it is only by such terrific
punishment that the plague of sin can be at all restrained
within bounds.
Sin is a horrible evil, a deadly poison; and yet, sinner,
though you be as full of sin as an egg is full of meat,
and as reeking with sin as the foulest piece of noxious
matter can be reeking with foul smell-- yet the infinite
mercy of God in Christ Jesus can lift you from this
utmost degradation, and make you to shine as a star
in his kingdom at the last!
To know that my Beloved is mine, and that I am his,
and that he loved me and gave himself for me, this is
far better than to be heir-apparent to a score of empires!
The remedy, cure, antidote, panacea, and golden key!
The following is from Spurgeon’s sermon,
"The Ravens' Cry" No. 672. Psalm 147:9.
Prayer is–
ruin's remedy,
doubt's destroyer,
the cure of all cares,
the antidote to all anxieties,
the grand panacea for all pains, and
the golden key that can open the gate of mercy!
The ship of prayer!
The following is from Spurgeon’s sermon,
"Memory -the Handmaid of Hope"
No. 654. Lamentations 3:21.
In all states of dilemma or of difficulty,
prayer is an available source.
The ship of prayer may sail through all
temptations, doubts and fears, straight
up to the throne of God; and though
she may be outward bound with only
griefs, and groans, and sighs, she shall
return freighted with a wealth of blessings!
Universal Redemption
(The following is by Don Fortner)
When the Lord Jesus Christ poured out his life's
blood at Calvary, he did not make salvation a
possibility, but a reality. He obtained eternal
redemption for God's elect.
Any doctrine which says that Christ wants to save
those who perish, tries to save those who perish,
and provides salvation for those who perish is
nonsense, theological rubbish, and blasphemy.
Jesus Christ is God almighty!
He is not a whining wimp. What he wants to do he
does (Isa. 46:10). He never tries to do anything.
He simply does what he will. His grace, his power,
and even his will are irresistible.
(Ps. 135:6; Dan. 4:34-35).
If he wanted to save everybody in the world, where
is the force that could stop him from doing so?
Any man who worships a god who wants to do what
he cannot do, or tries to do what he fails to accomplish,
is a fool. Such a god, if he existed, would be as useless
as a lantern without oil, or a bucket without a bottom.
Failure is an embarrassment to man. How much more so
it would be to the eternal God.
The doctrine of universal redemption- that doctrine which
says that Christ wants to save everybody, tries to save
everybody, and provides salvation for everybody, tramples
the blood of Christ under foot, despises the work of Christ,
robs the Son of God of all glory in salvation, and puts him
to an open shame.
Those who say, "Jesus loves everybody and died for
everybody," proclaim a love and a death which are
totally useless for anything more than sentimentalism.
They preach a redemption by which no one was redeemed.
Universal redemption is no redemption at all.
Redemption was effectually accomplished by Christ on
the cross (John 19:30; Heb. 9:12). And redemption is
effectually applied by Christ on the throne (John 17:2).
It never was our Lord's intention,
desire, or purpose to save all men.
The vital spark!
The following is from Spurgeon’s sermon,
"Light, Natural and Spiritual" No. 660. Genesis 1:1-5.
"You must be born again."
Do not think Christians are made by
education; they are made by creation.
You may wash a corpse as long as you please,
and that corpse could be clean, but you cannot
wash life into it!
You may deck it in flowers, and robe it in scarlet
and fine linen, but you cannot make it live!
The vital spark must come from above!
Regeneration is not of the will of man, nor of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, but by the power and
energy of the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of God alone!
See then, the ruin of nature and the freeness of grace!
Void and dark, a chaos given up to be covered with
blackness and darkness forever, and, while as yet
it is unseeking God, the light arises, and the promise
is fulfilled, "I am found of them that sought me not;
I said, behold me! behold me! to a people that were
not a people."
While we were lying in our blood, filthily polluted,
defiled, he passed by, and he said in the sovereignty
of his love, "Live!" and we do live.
The whole must be traced to sovereign grace!
From this sacred well of discriminating distinguishing
grace we must draw water this morning, and we must
pour it out, saying, "Oh Lord, I will praise your name,
for the first origin of my light was your sovereign
purpose, and nothing in me."
I would sooner be a devil than be a priest!
Of all pretensions on earth, there is none so
detestable as the pretense of being able to
bestow grace upon men, and of standing
between their souls and God.
From Spurgeon's sermon,
"Obedience Better than Sacrifice"
No. 686. 1 Samuel 15:22.
Salvation by ceremonies?
The following is from Spurgeon's sermon,
"Hope, Yet No Hope. No Hope, Yet Hope"
No. 684. Isaiah 57:10.
I turn with loathing from gaudily decorated churches,
dedicated to salvation by ceremonies, daubed with paint,
smothered with glitter, and bedizened with pictures,
dolls, and all sorts of baby prettinesses.
I turned aside from them uttering, "If your god accepts
such rubbish as this, he is no God to me- my God is too
sublime, too noble, too great minded to take delight in
your genuflections, and stage play devotions."
When I behold processions with banners, and crosses,
and smoking censers, and see men who claimed to be
sent of God, and yet dress themselves like Tom-fools,
I do not care for their god, but reckon that it was some
heathenish idol whom I scoff at and despise.
Has it never struck you that ceremonial salvation
would be a very wicked way of salvation?
What is there, for instance, about drops of baptismal
water which could make men better? What is there
about confirmation that should assure you of the
forgiveness of your sins? What is there about
receiving a piece of bread and drinking a drop
of wine that should confer grace?
Might you not remain as bad at heart and as wicked
after all these ceremonies as you were before?
And is it not a violation of the eternal principles of
morality that a man should be endowed with grace
while still his soul clings to sin?
Now, if there be no effect in water to make you hate
sin, and no result from the priest's hands to make you
love God, and no result from sacraments to make you
holy and heavenly-minded, why do you trust in them?
Surely it is immoral in the highest degree to tell a
man that by outward ceremonies, which cannot
change the life, he shall have his sin forgiven!
The gospel gives not a vestige of confidence to anybody
who hopes to be saved by the performances of ritualism.
The gospel is so simple, so divine; how is it that so
many cast it aside, and take up with these sillinesses
which are the inventions of man?
Only divine grace can turn you from the delusive path
of trusting in vain religious ceremonies for salvation!
Death-bed salvations?
The following is from Spurgeon's sermon,
"Man's Thoughts and God's Thoughts"
No. 676 Isaiah 55:8, 9.
As for peace in the hour of death, he who is not
pardoned while living is not likely to be pardoned
when dying. Nine out of ten, perhaps nine hundred
and ninety-nine out of every thousand of professed
death-bed salvations are a delusion.
We have good facts to prove that.
A certain physician collected notes of several hundred
cases of people who professed conversion when they
thought they were dying. These people did not die
as they had expected to, but continued to live.
In the case of all but one they lived just as they had
lived before, though when they were thought to be
dying they appeared as if they were truly converted.
Do not look forward to a death-bed salvation,
it is a mere snare of Satan.
Of them the proverbs are true: "A dog returns to its
vomit," and, "A sow that is washed goes back to her
wallowing in the mud." -2 Peter 2:22
We hate the world's religion!
The following is from Spurgeon’s sermon,
"JESUS, THE SHEPHERD" No. 652. Isaiah 40:11.
"The Church is in the desert now.
We have left the world- we have left
its maxims, its customs, its religion.
We hate the world's religion
as much as we do its irreligion."
Editor's note– Biblical Christianity is the ONLY
religion to teach salvation by grace alone,
obtained without any human merit whatsoever.
All other religions teach that salvation is somewhat
dependent on human merit. The reason why Scripture
is so adamant in denouncing these false religious
systems is because they dishonor God by rejecting
His only way of salvation, and effectually damn the
eternal souls of their adherents.
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--
and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--
not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8-9
"No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord
Jesus that we are saved, just as they are." Acts 15:11
"He saved us, not because of the good things we did,
but because of his mercy." Titus 3:5
"But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach
a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let
him be eternally condemned! As we have already said,
so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a
gospel other than what you accepted, let him be
eternally condemned!" Galatians 1:8-9
Our purpose at Grace Quotes will remain--
To humble the pride of man,
to exalt the grace of God in salvation
and to promote real holiness in heart and life.
Sovereign Grace!
(The following is by Don Fortner)
There is absolutely no difference between the
denial of God's sovereignty and the denial of
God's being. Arminianism is neither more nor
less than religious atheism.
The sovereignty of God's grace is set before us
most clearly in Hebrews 2:16. It is written, "For
verily he took not on him the nature of angels;
but he took on him the seed of Abraham."
The Sovereignty Of God's Grace--
We were lost, rushing headlong to destruction,
until Christ reached down the hand of his sovereign
power and delivered us. Every saved sinner is "a
brand plucked from the burning" (Zech. 3:2),
snatched out of the jaws of hell, snatched out
from among perishing men by sovereign mercy
and irresistible grace. He passed by the fallen
angels, and took hold upon the seed of Abraham.
God our Savior reserves the right of absolute
sovereignty in the exercise of his saving grace
and in the application of his mercy. As he is
sovereign in creation and in providence, our God
is absolutely sovereign in the salvation of sinners.
Let men, if they dare, deny it, ridicule it, and rebel
against it as they will. God’s indisputable sovereignty
is a fundamental doctrine of Holy Scripture, a vital
point of Christian theology.
Sovereign Grace Illustrated--
Grace For Fallen Men – No Grace For Fallen Angels
As a result of their sin, the angels were forever
doomed to suffer the wrath of God. No mercy was
extended to them. No grace was offered to them.
No Savior was sent to deliver them. The fallen
angels were forever damned without the least
measure of grace. The angels who sinned were
passed by, reprobate, without mercy.
Yet, when Adam did the same thing, God extended
mercy to man. That is divine sovereignty.
Why did God pass by the angels that fell?
Why did God extend mercy to fallen men?
Only one answer can be given, "He has mercy
on whom he will have mercy, and whom he
will he hardens" (Rom. 9:18).
The God of the Bible is an absolute sovereign.
He can save you, or he can damn you. That is
his right as God. It is entirely up to him.
Great Grace For Some Men -- No Grace For Others
Among the fallen sons of Adam there are some who
are chosen of God, to whom he will be gracious, and
there are some whom God has passed by, to whom
no grace is given.
Adam had two sons, Cain and Abel. God
passed by Cain, the older, and saved Abel.
Abraham had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac.
God passed by Ishmael and saved Isaac.
Isaac had two sons, Esau and Jacob. God
passed by Esau because he hated Esau, and
saved Jacob because he loved Jacob.
In the days of Noah, God destroyed the entire
human race, except for one man and his family.
Why did God save Noah? Because "Noah found
grace in the eyes of the Lord" (Gen. 6:8).
It is God’s right as God to do with his own what
he will, to be gracious to whom he will be gracious,
to have compassion on whom he will have compassion,
to save whom he will and to harden whom he will.
The God of glory is absolutely sovereign in salvation.
He wounds; and he heals.
He kills; and he makes alive.
It is his sovereign right to either save me or damn
me, to either be gracious to me, or to pass me by.
For God’s elect, and them alone, he made intercession.
For them, and them alone, he shed his precious blood.
For them, and them alone, he obtained eternal redemption.
In this day of man centered, man exalting, man
pleasing "will worship," while men everywhere
declare God’s helplessness, I am determined to
lift high the glorious banner of God’s absolute
sovereignty, calling for proud worms to bow
down before God’s sovereign throne. I am, in
the name of God, calling for lost sinners to lay
down your weapons of rebellion and surrender
to God our Savior in his total sovereignty.
Do you ask, "Where does that leave man?"
I answer, it leaves man in the hands of God almighty.
Do you ask, "What about my choice? Have I no
choice in this matter?" I answer, you do indeed.
You have two choices: Either surrender to Christ's
sovereign dominion, or be crushed into hell for
your rebellion.
Men rail at God’s servants for preaching the
sovereignty of his free grace in Christ. They
angrily denounce us. I care nothing for their
opinions. I count it an honor to be the brunt
of their slander and scorn. If a man hates the
truth, I shall never be backward about stirring
up his wrath. If a man is offended by the
character of God, I shall be delighted to
offend him (Isa. 45:5-10, 20-25; 43:1-13).
It is the very glory of God to have mercy on
whom he will have mercy and to be gracious
to whom he will be gracious (Ex. 34:6).
Those who deny his sovereignty hate the fact
that he is God and would rob him of his glory
as God. Do not be numbered among them.
The absolute Monarch of the universe!
The following is by Don Fortner
To worship a god...
...whose purpose can be defeated,
...whose will can be thwarted,
...whose work can be overturned, and
...whose grace can be frustrated is to worship an idol.
Such a god is no GOD at all!
Jesus Christ our Lord is the unrivaled Sovereign of the
universe (Matt. 28:18; John 17:2). He who is God our
Savior does as he will in the army of heaven and among
the inhabitants of the earth. He makes one a vessel of
honor and another a vessel of dishonor, one a vessel of
mercy and another a vessel of wrath, one to show forth
the riches of his grace and another to show forth the severity
of his justice, exactly as it pleased him from all eternity.
To deny that Christ created all things and rules all things
is to deny that he is God. To deny that he is God is to
mock him, blaspheme him, and attempt to deny him his glory.
To deny that Christ is God, sovereign upon his throne is to
deny hope to needy sinners who look to him alone for grace,
salvation, and eternal life (John 17:2; Rom. 14:9).
None but an absolute sovereign Lord can save.
None but an absolute sovereign can be trusted implicitly.
None but an absolute sovereign will be worshipped.
Jesus Christ, our God and Savior, rules all things absolutely
(Ps. 76:10; 115:3; 135:6; Pro.16:1, 33; 21:1).
Jesus Christ is the absolute Monarch of the universe!
Our Savior is the great King! Nothing more fully shows
forth the unrivaled excellence of Christ than his total
sovereignty, "upholding all things by the word of his power."
The greatest wonder in heaven, or earth, or even in hell!
The following is from Spurgeon's sermon,
"Open House for All Comers" No. 665. Luke 15:2.
But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered,
"This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."
-Luke 15:2
Jesus receives sinners into his heart's love!
This is the greatest wonder in heaven,
or earth, or even in hell!
There is no marvel like the truth that He who ever
lives bowed his head to die for sinners; and having
made atonement for sin, now receives the very chief
of sinners into his heart's love, and makes us his
companions and his friends!
He takes us from the dunghill and
wears us as jewels in his crown!
He plucks us as brands from the burning, and
preserves us as precious monuments of his mercy!
None are so precious in his sight as the sinners for whom he died!
The little garden!
The following is from Spurgeon’s sermon,
"Memory- the Handmaid of Hope"
No. 654 Lamentations 3:21.
A child had a little garden in which she planted
many flowers, but they never grew. She put them
in, as she thought tenderly and carefully, but
they would not live. She sowed seeds and they
sprang up; but very soon they withered away.
So she ran to her father's gardener, and when
he came to look at it, he said, "I will make it
a nice garden for you, that you may grow whatever
you want." He fetched a pick, and when the
little child saw the terrible pick, she was afraid
for her little garden. The gardener struck his tool
into the ground and began to make the earth
heave and shake for his pickaxe had caught
the edge of a huge stone which underlayed
almost all the little plot of ground. All the
little flowers were turned out of their places
and the garden spoiled for a season so that
the little maid wept much. He told her he
would make it a fair garden yet, and so he
did, for having removed that stone which
had prevented all the plants from striking
root he soon filled the ground with flowers
which lived and flourished.
Just so, the Lord has come, and has turned
up all the soil of your present comfort to get
rid of some big stone that was at the bottom
of all your spiritual prosperity, and would not
let your soul flourish. Do not weep with the
child, but be comforted by the blessed results
and thank your Father’s tender hand!