Tag Archives: justification by faith

Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon – Dilemma and deliverance

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CharlesSpurgeon

“Thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.” Psalm 9:10

Suggested Further Reading: Psalm 23

If we could but once believe the doctrine that the child of God might fall from grace and perish everlastingly, we might, indeed, shut up our Bible in despair. To what purpose would my preaching be—the preaching of a rickety gospel like that? To what purpose your faith—a faith in a God that cannot and would not carry on to the end? To what use the blood of Christ, if it were shed in vain, and did not bring the blood-bought ones securely home? To what purpose the Spirit, if he were not omnipotent enough to overcome our wandering, to arrest our sins and make us perfect, and present us faultless before the throne of God at last? That doctrine of the final perseverance of the saints is, I believe, as thoroughly bound up with the standing or falling of the gospel, as is the article of justification by faith. Give that up and I see no gospel left; I see no beauty in religion that is worthy of my acceptance, or that deserves my admiration. An unchanging God, an everlasting covenant, a sure mercy, these are the things that my soul delights in, and I know your hearts love to feed upon them. But take these away, and what have we? We have a foundation of wood, hay, straw, and stubble. We have nothing solid. We have a fort of earthworks, a mud hovel through which the thief may break and steal away our treasures. No, this foundation stands sure —“The Lord knoweth them that are his;” and he will certainly bring them all to his right hand at last in glory everlasting.

For meditation: If the truly converted man can be lost, Jesus must have meant “lend” when he said “give”, “temporary” when he said “eternal” and “perhaps” when he said “never” (John 10:28). Uncertainty is the hallmark of man-made religion.

Sermon no. 287

4 December (1859)

Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon – Fields white for harvest

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CharlesSpurgeon

‘Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.’ John 4:35

Suggested Further Reading: 3 John 5–12

Grind your sickles; you must go to work with such cutting truths as justification by faith, as the total ruin of mankind, as the hope that is laid up in the cross, as the energy of the Holy Spirit; and when you know these truths, and know how to use them, you shall then be made great reapers in the Master’s harvest. It is idle to say, ‘I will go,’ and then go with no tool in your hand. Get the truth; get a hold of it well, get it sharp and in good order, and who knows, under the blessing of God the Holy Spirit, what you may do! The next want of harvest is some close binders. When the wheat is cut down you must tie it up with sheaves. We want some of you who cannot preach, who cannot use the sickle, to go and gather up the wheat which falls under the sickle when it is used by others. Invite them to come into church fellowship; talk to them, get them into union with the people of God. And if you happen to be in the church yourselves, try to keep the church knit together in love. Bind the sheaves together. We cannot have good harvest work without loving hands to bind the people of God in one. Then we want beside these some to take the sheaves home. The church of God is the barn; it is the Master’s garner here; he has another garner yonder on the hill-top in heaven, but here we want you to assist in bringing them into the church of Christ. When God has saved them, try if you can get them to practise the ordinances of God, and to be joined with his people. And we want some of you, if you cannot do anything yourselves either in reaping, or binding, or bringing the sheaves home, at least by kind words and loving speeches to bring refreshments to the reapers.

For meditation: There is a great mission-field to be harvested. What part do you play?—praying, labouring (Luke 10:2); sowing, reaping (John 4:36–38) or just sleeping (Proverbs 10:5)?

Sermon no. 706

29 July (1866)

Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg – Walk With Christ in White

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Alistair Begg

Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.

Revelation 3:4

We may understand this to refer to justification. “They will walk in white”; that is, they will enjoy a constant sense of their own justification by faith; they will understand that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to them, that they have all been washed and made whiter than the newly-fallen snow.

Again, it refers to joy and gladness, for white robes were holiday dress among the Jews. They who “have not soiled their garments” will have their faces always bright; they will understand what Solomon meant when he said, “Go, eat your bread in joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. Let your garments be always white.”1

The one who is accepted by God will wear white garments of joy and gladness while they walk in sweet communion with the Lord Jesus. Why are there so many doubts, so much misery and mourning? It is because so many believers spoil their garments with sin and error, and as a result they lose the joy of their salvation and the comfortable fellowship of the Lord Jesus; they do not walk here below in white.

The promise also refers to walking in white before the throne of God. Those who have not soiled their garments here will most certainly walk in white in heaven, where the white-robed crowd sings perpetual hallelujahs to the Most High. They will possess joys inconceivable, happiness beyond a dream, bliss that imagination knows not, blessedness that even the stretch of desire has not reached.

“Those whose way is blameless”2 shall have all this-not of merit, nor of works, but of grace. They shall walk with Christ in white, for He has made them “worthy.” In His sweet company they will drink from the fountains of living waters.

1 Ecclesiastes 9:7-8

2 Psalm 119:1

 

 

Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon – Dilemma and deliverance

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CharlesSpurgeon

“Thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.” Psalm 9:10

Suggested Further Reading: Psalm 23

If we could but once believe the doctrine that the child of God might fall from grace and perish everlastingly, we might, indeed, shut up our Bible in despair. To what purpose would my preaching be—the preaching of a rickety gospel like that? To what purpose your faith—a faith in a God that cannot and would not carry on to the end? To what use the blood of Christ, if it were shed in vain, and did not bring the blood-bought ones securely home? To what purpose the Spirit, if he were not omnipotent enough to overcome our wandering, to arrest our sins and make us perfect, and present us faultless before the throne of God at last? That doctrine of the final perseverance of the saints is, I believe, as thoroughly bound up with the standing or falling of the gospel, as is the article of justification by faith. Give that up and I see no gospel left; I see no beauty in religion that is worthy of my acceptance, or that deserves my admiration. An unchanging God, an everlasting covenant, a sure mercy, these are the things that my soul delights in, and I know your hearts love to feed upon them. But take these away, and what have we? We have a foundation of wood, hay, straw, and stubble. We have nothing solid. We have a fort of earthworks, a mud hovel through which the thief may break and steal away our treasures. No, this foundation stands sure —“The Lord knoweth them that are his;” and he will certainly bring them all to his right hand at last in glory everlasting.

For meditation: If the truly converted man can be lost, Jesus must have meant “lend” when he said “give”, “temporary” when he said “eternal” and “perhaps” when he said “never” (John 10:28). Uncertainty is the hallmark of man-made religion.

Sermon no. 287

4 December (1859)

Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon – Continental tour H1

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CharlesSpurgeon

Suggested Reading: Mark 9:38-41

In Brussels I heard a good sermon in a Romish church. The church was crowded with people, many of them standing, though you might have a seat for a halfpenny or a farthing. But I stood too. And that good man—for I believe he is a good man—preached the Lord Jesus with all his might. He spoke of the love of Christ, so that I, a very poor hand at the French language, could fully understand him, and my heart kept beating within me as he spoke of the beauties of Christ and the preciousness of his blood, and of his power to save the chief of sinners. He did not say justification by faith, but he did say, “Efficacy of the blood,” which comes to very much the same thing. He did not tell us we were saved by grace and not by our works, but he did say that all the works of men were less than nothing when they were brought into competition with the blood of Christ, and that that blood was in itself enough. True there were objectionable sentences, as naturally there must be, but I could have gone to that man and could have said, “Brother, you have spoken the truth;” and if I had been handling the text myself, I must have done it in the same way, if I could have done it as well. I was pleased to find my own opinion verified in that case, that there are some, even in the apostate church, who cleave unto the Lord; some sparks of heavenly fire that tremble amidst the rubbish of old superstition, some lights that are not blown out, even by the strong wind of popery, but still cast a feeble gleam across the waters sufficient to guide the soul to the rock Christ Jesus.

For meditation: We may find it impossible to understand or agree with their position, but the true believing saints of God can sometimes be found in the most unexpected places (1 Kings 18:3-4; Philippians 4:22. NB: The Caesar in question was Nero!)

Part of nos. 331-332

20 July ( From A Lecture on August 21 1860 )

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Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

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Morning   “Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments;

and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.” / Revelation 3:4

We may understand this to refer to justification. “They shall walk in white;”

that is, they shall enjoy a constant sense of their own justification by

faith; they shall understand that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to

them, that they have all been washed and made whiter than the newly-fallen

snow.

Again, it refers to joy and gladness: for white robes were holiday dresses

among the Jews. They who have not defiled their garments shall have their

faces always bright; they shall understand what Solomon meant when he said “Go

thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart. Let

thy garments be always white, for God hath accepted thy works.” He who is

accepted of God shall wear white garments of joy and gladness, while he walks

in sweet communion with the Lord Jesus. Whence so many doubts, so much misery,

and mourning? It is because so many believers defile their garments with sin

and error, and hence they lose the joy of their salvation, and the comfortable

fellowship of the Lord Jesus, they do not here below walk in white.

The promise also refers to walking in white before the throne of God. Those

who have not defiled their garments here shall most certainly walk in white up

yonder, where the white-robed hosts sing perpetual hallelujahs to the Most

High. They shall possess joys inconceivable, happiness beyond a dream, bliss

which imagination knoweth not, blessedness which even the stretch of desire

hath not reached. The “undefiled in the way” shall have all this–not of

merit, nor of works, but of grace. They shall walk with Christ in white, for

he has made them “worthy.” In his sweet company they shall drink of the living

fountains of waters.

 

Evening   “Thou, O God, hast prepared of thy goodness for the poor.” / Psalm 68:10

All God’s gifts are prepared gifts laid up in store for wants foreseen. He

anticipates our needs; and out of the fulness which he has treasured up in

Christ Jesus, he provides of his goodness for the poor. You may trust him for

all the necessities that can occur, for he has infallibly foreknown every one

of them. He can say of us in all conditions, “I knew that thou wouldst be this

and that.” A man goes a journey across the desert, and when he has made a

day’s advance, and pitched his tent, he discovers that he wants many comforts

and necessaries which he has not brought in his baggage. “Ah!” says he, “I did

not foresee this: if I had this journey to go again, I should bring these

things with me, so necessary to my comfort.” But God has marked with prescient

eye all the requirements of his poor wandering children, and when those needs

occur, supplies are ready. It is goodness which he has prepared for the poor

in heart, goodness and goodness only. “My grace is sufficient for thee.” “As

thy days, so shall thy strength be.”

Reader, is your heart heavy this evening? God knew it would be; the comfort

which your heart wants is treasured in the sweet assurance of the text. You

are poor and needy, but he has thought upon you, and has the exact blessing

which you require in store for you. Plead the promise, believe it and obtain

its fulfilment. Do you feel that you never were so consciously vile as you are

now? Behold, the crimson fountain is open still, with all its former efficacy,

to wash your sin away. Never shall you come into such a position that Christ

cannot aid you. No pinch shall ever arrive in your spiritual affairs in which

Jesus Christ shall not be equal to the emergency, for your history has all

been foreknown and provided for in Jesus.