July 24, 2011 at 7:20 am | Posted in Sermon Sunday | Leave a comment
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A Sermon
(No. 120)
Delivered on Sabbath Morning, March 8, 1857, by the
REV. C. H. Spurgeon
At The Music Hall, Royal Surrey Gardens
“There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.”—Proverbs 18:24.
CICERO has well said, “Friendship is the only thing in the world concerning the usefulness of which all mankind are agreed.” Friendship seems as necessary an element of a comfortable existence in this world as fire or water, or even air itself. A man may drag along a miserable existence in proud solitary dignity, but his life is scarce life, it is nothing but an existence, the tree of life being stripped of the leaves of hope and the fruits of joy. He who would be happy here must have friends; and he who would be happy hereafter, must, above all things, find a friend in the world to come, in the person of God, the Father of his people. Continue Reading Sermon Sunday – Charles Spurgeon – A Faithful Friend…
June 12, 2011 at 6:30 am | Posted in Sermon Sunday | Leave a comment
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Christian Cautions
or
The Necessity of Self-Examination
by
Jonathan Edwards
(1703-1758)
Dated September 1733.
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” — Psalm 139:23, 24
INTRODUCTION
Subject: Persons should be much concerned to know whether they do not live in some way of sin.
This psalm is a meditation on the omniscience of God, or upon his perfect view and knowledge of everything, which the psalmist represents by that perfect knowledge which God had of all his actions, his downsitting and his uprising; and of his thoughts, so that he knew his thoughts afar off; and of his words, “There is not a word in my tongue,” says the psalmist, “but thou knowest it altogether.” Then he represents it by the impossibility of fleeing from the divine presence, or of hiding from him. So that if he should go into heaven, or hide himself in hell, or fly to the uttermost parts of the sea, yet he would not be hid from God. Or if he should endeavor to hide himself in darkness, yet that would not cover him. But the darkness and light are both alike to him. Then he represents it by the knowledge which God had of him while in his mother’s womb, Psa. 139:15, 16, “My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret; thine eyes did see my substance, yet being imperfect; and in thy book all my members were written.” Continue Reading Sermon Sunday – Jonathan Edwards – Christian Cautions…
June 5, 2011 at 8:34 am | Posted in Sermon Sunday | Leave a comment
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Christ the Believer’s Husband
by
George Whitefield
(1714-1770)
Isaiah 54:5 – “For thy Maker is thy Husband.”
Although believers by nature, are far from God, and children of wrath, even as others, yet it is amazing to think how nigh they are brought to him again by the blood of Jesus Christ. Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of any man living, fully to conceive, the nearness and dearness of that relation, in which they stand to their common head. He is not ashamed to call them brethren. Behold, says the blessed Jesus in the days of his flesh, “my mother and my brethren.” And again after his resurrection, “go tell my brethren.” Nay sometimes he is pleased to term believers his friends. “Henceforth call I you no longer servants, but friends.” “Our friend Lazarus sleepeth.” And what is a friend? Why there is a friend that is nearer than a brother, nay as near as one’s own soul. And “thy friend, (says God in the book of Deuteronomy) which is as thy own soul.” Kind and endearing applications these, that undoubtedly bespeak a very near and ineffably intimate union between the Lord Jesus and the true living members of his mystical body! But, methinks, the words of our text point out to us a relation, which not only comprehends, but in respect to nearness and dearness , exceeds all other relations whatsoever. I mean that of a Husband, “For thy Maker is thy husband; the Lord of Hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole earth shall he be called.” Continue Reading Sermon Sunday – George Whitefield – Christ, the Believer’s Husband…
May 22, 2011 at 6:30 am | Posted in Sermon Sunday | 2 Comments
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Authentic Religion
by
J. C. Ryle
(1816-1900)
“Rejected silver” (Jeremiah 6:30)
“Nothing but leaves” (Mark 11:13)
“Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth”
(1 John 3:18).
“You have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead” (Revelation 3:1)
If we profess to have any religion at all, let us be careful that it is authentic. I say it emphatically, and I repeat the saying: Let us be careful that our religion is authentic.
What do I mean when I use the word “authentic.” I mean that which is genuine, and sincere, and honest, and thorough. I mean that which is not inferior, and hollow, and formal, and false, and counterfeit, and sham, and nominal. “Authentic” religion is not mere show, and pretense, and skin-deep feeling, and temporary profession, and works only on the outside. It is something inward, solid, substantial, intrinsic, living, lasting. We know the difference between counterfeit and authentic money–between solid gold and tinsel–between plated metal and silver–between authentic stone and plaster imitation. Let us think of these things as we consider the subject of this paper. What is the character of our religion? Is it authentic? It may be weak, and feeble, and mingled with many defects. That is not the point before us today. Is our religion authentic? Is it true?
The times in which we live demand attention to this subject. A want of authenticity is a striking feature of a vast amount of religion in the present day. Poets have sometimes told us that the world has passed through four different states or conditions. We have had a golden age, and a silver age, a brass age, and an iron age. How far this is true, I do not stop to inquire. But I fear there is little doubt as to the character of the age in which we live. It is universally an age of cheap metal and alloy. If we measure the religion of the age by its apparent quantity, there is much of it. But if we measure it by its quality, there is indeed very little. On every side we want MORE AUTHENTICITY. Continue Reading Sermon Sunday – J.C. Ryle – Authentic Religion…
April 10, 2011 at 7:13 pm | Posted in Sermon Sunday | Leave a comment
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The Duty of searching the Scriptures
by
George Whitefield
(1714-1770)
John 5:39 – “Search the Scriptures.”
When the Sadducees came to our blessed Lord, and put to him the question, “whose wife that woman should be in the next life, who had seven husbands in this,” he told them “they erred, not knowing the scriptures.” And if we would know whence all the errors, that have over-spread the church of Christ, first arose, we should find that, in a great measure, they flowed from the same fountain, ignorance of the word of God.
Our blessed Lord, though he was the eternal God, yet as man, he made the scriptures his constant rule and guide. And therefore, when he was asked by the lawyer, which was the great commandment of the law, he referred him to his Bible for an answer, “What readest thou?” And thus, when led by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil, he repelled all his assaults, with “it is written.”
A sufficient confutation this, of their opinion, who say, “the Spirit only, and not the Spirit by the Word, is to be our rule of action.” If so, our Savior, who had the Spirit without measure, needed not always have referred to the written word.
But how few copy after the example of Christ? How many are there who do not regard the word of God at all, but throw the sacred oracles aside, as an antiquated book, fit only for illiterate men? Continue Reading Sermon Sunday – George Whitefield…
March 29, 2010 at 2:46 pm | Posted in Christianity | Leave a comment
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Many people today, inside and outside the church, have become focused on self. They are all about them and what they can do. They often don’t know or care what God has done for them. Those who aren’t professing Christians can’t see that their very life is a gift from God. Sadly, this affects the gospel. When people don’t understand what God has done for them or why He did it, is cheapens the gospel and lessens the effect the good news can have in a person’s life. When pastors don’t preach the true gospel, the people listening don’t receive what they need to hear to help them understand who God is and what He’s done for them. Continue Reading What has God done for me?…
February 8, 2010 at 4:41 pm | Posted in Christianity | Leave a comment
Tags: abomination, active, affinity, agape, arrogant, ateasetees, authority, bear, believe, boast, brag, brotherly, candy, Christian, clothes, cologne, complacent, control, covet, dinner, emotion, endure, enemies, eros, erotic, ethereal, evangelism, false, feeling, flowers, Foreigner, gift, God, gospel, Greek, grudge, hell, holiness, homosexuality, hope, impulse, indecent, inspiration, jealous, Jesus, judgment, kind, life, love, lust, never fails, new, old, pastor, patient, perfume, phileo, philosphy, physical, poem, pride, proud, provoke, rejoice, rely, rude, selfish, shine, sin, son, song, spirituality, tender, testament, trust, truth, unbecoming, unrighteousness, Valentine's Day, warm fuzzy
This weekend, men and women will be celebrating love on Valentine’s Day. They will wining and dining in their best clothes. They will be giving candy, flowers, perfumes/colognes, and other assorted gifts and goodies to show that special someone just how much they love them. Love will be in the air and romance will be the word of the day. If it’s really strong, a song might be dedicated or even written. All of this in the name of love. None of this is bad, in and of itself. If you are in love then you should celebrate that. But I want to ask you something that you may not have given any attention to. Do you know true love? Do you know what love really is (I really have to get that Foreigner song out of my head…)? Continue Reading Love…
Get the Word out! 