you can kill jesus everyday for the rest of your life to save your
soul carl.
it just doesn't seem to make a difference in your life as you witness
here.
and since no one ever dies, you are crying wolf while having eternal
life.
in love with the living gay jesus,
merlin
alt.bible, alt.christnet, alt.christnet.bible,
alt.christnet.christianlife, alt.religion.christian,
alt.religion.christian.baptist, alt.religion.christian.biblestudy,
alt.religion.christian.methodist, alt.religion.christian.pentecostal,
free.christians
On Apr 30, 12:38 pm, "Carl" <sai...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> Charles Spurgeon takes the topic for his sermon presented below from 1
John
> 3:16 which teaches that Jesus Christ died for us. It is an inspiring and
> uplifting sermon.
>
> May God bless,
> Carl
> my website --http://www.nettally.com/saints/
> my blog --http://www.anniemayhem.com/cgi-bin/wordpress/
>
> ---
>
> The Death Of Christ For His People
> by C.H. Spurgeon
>
> "He laid down his life for us."-1 John 3:16
>
> Come, believer and contemplate this sublime truth, thus proclaimed to
thee
> in simple monosyllables: "He laid down his life for us." There is not
one
> long word in the sentence; it is all as simple as it can be; and it is
> simple because it is sublime. Sublimity in thought always needs
simplicity
> in words to express itself. Little thoughts require great words to
explain
> them; little preachers need Latin words to convey their feeble ideas,
but
> great thoughts and great expressers of those thoughts are content with
> little words.
>
> "He laid down his life for us." Here there is not much upon which any
man
> can display his eloquence; here is little room for metaphysical
discussion
> or for deep thought; the text sets before us a simple yet sublime
doctrine.
> What, then, shall I do with it? If I would speak of it profitably to
myself,
> since I need not employ my wit to dissect it, nor my oratory to proclaim
it,
> let me exercise my adoration to wor****p it; let me prostrate all my
powers
> before the throne, and, like an angel when his work is done, and he has
> nowhere else to fly at his Lord's command, let me fold the wings of my
> contemplation, and stand before the throne of this great truth, and
meekly
> bow myself, and wor****p him that was, and is, and is to come,-the great
and
> glorious One who "laid down his life for us."
>
> It will be well for me, in commencing my discourse, to remind you that
there
> is no understanding the death of Christ unless we understand the person
of
> Christ. If I were to tell you that God died for us, although I might be
> telling you a truth, and you might possibly not misunderstand what I
meant,
> yet I should be at the same time uttering an error. God cannot die; it
is,
> of course, impossible, from his very nature, that he could even for a
moment
> cease to exist. God is incapable of suffering. It is true that we
sometimes
> use words to express emotions On the part of God; but, then, we speak
after
> the manner of men. He is impassive; he cannot suffer; it is not possible
for
> him to endure aught; much less, then, is it possible for him to suffer
> death. Yet we are told, in the verse from which our text is taken,
"Hereby
> perceive we the love of God." You notice that the words "of God" are
> inserted by the translators. They are in italics because they are not in
the
> original. A better translation would be, "Hereby perceive we love." But
when
> we read "of God," it might lead the ignorant to fancy that God could
die;
> whereas, God could not. We must always understand, and constantly
remember,
> that our Lord Jesus Christ was "very God of very God," and that, as God,
he
> had all the attributes of the Most High, and could not, therefore, be
> capable either of suffering or death. But then he was also man, "man of
the
> substance of his mother," man, just like ourselves, sin alone excepted.
And
> the Lord Jesus died not as God; it was as man that he gave up the ghost;
as
> man, he was nailed to the cross. As God, he was in heaven, even when his
> body was in the tomb; as God, he was swaying the sceptre of all worlds
even
> when the mock sceptre of reed was in his hand, and the imperial robe of
> universal monarchy was on the eternal shoulders of his Godhead when the
> soldier's old purple cloak was wrapped about his manhood. He did not
cease
> to be God, he did not lose his Omnipotence, and his eternal dominion,
when
> he became man; nor did he, as God, die or suffer; it was as man that he
> "laid down his life for us."
>
> Come, now, my soul, and wor****p this man, this God. Come, believer, and
> behold thy Saviour; come to the innermost circle of all sanctity, the
circle
> that contains the cross of Christ, and here sit down; and, whilst thou
dost
> wor****p, learn three lessons from the fact that "he laid down his life
for
> us." The first lesson should be,-Did he lay down his life for us? Ah!
then,
> my brethren, how great must have been our sins that they could not have
been
> atoned for at any other price! Secondly, did he lay down his life for
us?
> Ah! then, beloved, how great must have been his love! He would not stop
> short anywhere, until life itself had been resigned. Thirdly, did he lay
> down his life for us? Ah! then, my soul, be of good cheer; how safe art
> thou! If such an atonement hath been offered, if such a sure
satisfaction
> hath been given to Almighty God, how secure thou art! Who is he that can
> destroy him who hath been bought with the blood of such a Redeemer?
>
> I. Come, then, let me believingly meditate on the first sad fact. Did
Christ
> lay down his life for me? Then, HOW GREAT MUST HAVE BEEN MY SINS!
>
> Ah! my brethren, I will speak a little of my own experience, and in so
doing
> I shall also be describing yours. I have seen my sins in many different
> ways. I saw them once by the blazing light of Sinai; and, oh! my spirit
> shrank within me, for my sins seemed exceeding black. When the sound of
the
> trumpet waxed loud and long, and the lighting and fire flashed into my
> heart, I saw a very hell of iniquity within my soul, and I was ready
then to
> curse the day that I was horn, that I should have had such a heart, so
vile
> and so deceitful. I thought that then I had seen the exceeding blackness
of
> my sin. Alas! I had not seen enough of sin to make me loathe it so as to
> leave it, for that conviction passed away. Sinai was but a volcano, and
it
> was hushed to silence; and then I began to play with sin again, and
loved it
> as much as ever.
>
> I beheld another sight one day; I saw my sins by the light of heaven. I
> looked up, and I considered the heavens, the work of God's fingers; I
> perceived the purity of God's character written on the sunbeams, I saw
his
> holiness engraved upon the wide world, as well as revealed in Scripture;
and
> as I compared myself with him, I thought I saw how black I was. O God! I
> never knew the heinousness of my own guilt, until I saw the glory of thy
> character; but now I see the brightness of thy holiness, my whole soul
is
> cast down at the thought of my sinfulness, and my great departure from
the
> living God. I thought that, then, I had seen enough. Ah! I had seen
enough
> to make me wor****p for a moment; but my gladness was as the early cloud
and
> as the morning dew, and I went my way, and forgot what manner of man I
was.
> When I had lost the sense of the majesty of God, I lost also the
> consciousness of my own guilt.
>
> Then there came to me another view, and I beheld God's lovingkindness to
me;
> I saw how he had dandled me upon the knee of Providence,-how he had
carried
> me all my life long,-how he had strewn my path with plenty, and given me
all
> things richly to enjoy. I remembered how he had been with me in the hour
of
> trial, how he had preserved me in the day of hurricane, and kept me safe
at
> the moment of storm. I remembered all his goodness to me; and, struck
with
> surprise at his mercy, I looked upon my sin in the light of his grace;
and I
> said, "O sin, how base thou art, what dire ingratitude dost thou
manifest
> against a God so profoundly kind!"
>
> I thought, then, surely I had seen the worst of sin, when I had laid it
side
> by side, first with the character of God, and afterwards wit his
bounties. I
> cursed sin from my inmost heart, and thought I had seen enough of it.
But,
> ah! my brethren, I had not. That sense of gratitude passed away, and I
found
> myself still prone to sin, and still loving it.
>
> But, oh, there came a thrice-happy, yet thrice-mournful hour! One day,
in my
> wanderings, I heard a cry, a groan; metought 'twas not a cry such as
came
> from mortal lip, it had in it such unutterable depths of wondrous woe. I
> turned aside, expecting to see some great sight; and it was indeed a
great
> sight that I saw. Lo, there, upon a tree, all bleeding, hung a man. I
marked
> the misery that made his flesh all quiver on his bones; I beheld the
dark
> clouds come rolling down from heaven, like the chariots of misery; I saw
> them clothe his brow with blackness; I saw even in the thick darkness,
for
> mine eyes were opened, and I perceived that his heart was as full of the
> gloom and horror of grief as the sky was full of blackness. Then I
seemed to
> look into his soul, and I saw there torrents of unutterable
anguish,-wells
> of torment of such an awful character that mortal lip dare not sip, lest
it
> should be burned with scalding heat. I said, "Who is this mighty
sufferer?
> Why doth he suffer thus? Hath he been the greatest of all sinners, the
> basest of all blasphemers?" But a voice came forth from the excellent
glory,
> and it said, "This is my beloved Son; but he took the sinner's sin upon
> himself, and he must bear its penalty." O God! I thought, I never saw
sin
> till that hour, when I saw it tear Christ's glories from his head,-when
it
> seemed for a moment even to withdraw the lovingkindness of God from
> him,-when I saw him covered with his own blood, and plunged into the
> uttermost depths of oceans of grief. Then I said, "Now shall I know what
> thou art, O sin, as never before I knew it!" Though those other sights
might
> teach me something of the dire character of evil, yet never, till I saw
the
> Saviour on the tree, did I understand how base a traitor man's guilt was
to
> man's God.
>
> O heir of heaven, lift now thine eye, and behold the scenes of suffering
> through which thy Lord passed for thy sake! Come in the moonlight, and
stand
> between those olives; see him sweat great drops of blood. Go from that
> garden, and follow him to Pilate's bar. See your Matter subjected to the
> grossest and filthiest insult; gaze upon the face of spotless beauty
defiled
> with the spittle of soldiers; see his head pierced with thorns; mark his
> back, all rent, and torn, and scarred, and bruised, and bleeding beneath
the
> terrible lash. And O Christian, see him die! Go and stand where his
mother
> stood, and hear him say to thee, "Man, behold thy Saviour!" Come thou
> to-night, and stand where John stood; hear him cry, "I thirst," and find
> thyself unable either to assuage his griefs or to comprehend their
> bitterness. Then, when thou hast wept there, lift thine hand, and cry,
> "Revenge!" Bring out the traitors; where are they? And when your sins
are
> brought forth as the murderers of Christ, let no death be too painful
for
> them; though it should involve the cutting off of right arms, or the
> quenching of right eyes, and putting out their light for ever; do it!
For if
> these murderers murdered Christ, then let them die. Die terribly they
may,
> but die they must. Oh! that God the Holy Ghost would teach you that
first
> lesson, my brethren, the boundless wickedness of sin, for Christ had to
lay
> down his life before your sin could be wiped away.
>
> II. Now we will come to the second head, and here we will lift up our
hearts
> from the depths of sadness to the heights of affection. Did the Saviour
lay
> down his life for me? We will read it now, "He laid down his life for
me;"
> and I pray the Lord to help each of you, by faith, to read it so,
because,
> when we say "us", that is dealing in generalities,-blessed generalities,
it
> is true,-but let us, at this time, deal in specialities, and say, each
one
> of us who can do so truthfully, "He laid down his life for me." Then,
HOW
> GREATLY HE MUST HAVE LOVED ME!
>
> Ah, Lord Jesus! I never knew thy love till I understood the meaning of
thy
> death. Beloved, we shall try again, if we can, to tell the story of our
own
> experience, to let you see how God's love is to be learned. Come, saint,
sit
> down, and meditate on thy creation, note how marvellously thou hast been
> formed, and all thy bones fitted to one another, and see love there.
Mark,
> next, that predestination which placed thee where thou art; for the
lines
> have fallen unto thee in pleasant places, and, notwithstanding all thy
> troubles, thou hast, compared with many a poor soul, "a goodly
heritage."
> Mark, then, the love of God displayed in the predestination that has
made
> thee what thou art, and placed thee where thou art. Then look thou back,
and
> see the lovingkindness of thy Lord, as displayed to thee in all thy
journey
> up till now. Thou art getting old, and thy hair is whitening above thy
brow;
> but he hath carried thee all the days of old; not one good thing hath
failed
> of all that the Lord thy God hath promised. Recall thy life-story. Go
back
> now, and look at the tapestry of thy life, which God has been working
every
> day with the golden filament of his love, and see what pictures of grace
> there are upon it. Canst thou not say that Jesus has loved thee? Turn
thine
> eye back, and read the ancient rolls of the everlasting covenant, and
see
> thy name amongst the firstborn, the elect, the Church of the living God.
> Say, did he not love thee when he wrote thy name there? Go and remember
how
> the eternal settlements were made, and how God decreed and arranged all
> things so that thy salvation should come to pass. Say, was there not
love
> there?
>
> Pause at the remembrance of thy convictions; think of thy conversion;
> recollect thy preservation, and how God's grace hath been working upon
thee,
> in adoption, in justification, and in every item of the new covenant;
and
> when thou hast summed up all these things, let me ask thee this
question,-Do
> all these things produce in thee such a sense of gratitude as the one
thing
> that I shall mention now, the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ? For, my
> brother, if thy mind is like mine, although thou wilt think highly
enough of
> all these things that God hath given thee, thou wilt be obliged to
confess
> that the thought of the death of Christ upon the cross swallows them all
up.
> This I know, my brethren, I may look back, I may look forward, but
whether I
> look back to the decrees of eternity, or look forward to the pearl-gated
> city, and all the splendours that God has prepared for his own beloved
> children, I can never see my Father's love so beaming forth, in all its
> effulgence, as when I look at the cross of Christ, and see him die
thereon.
> I can read the love of God in the rocky letters of the eternal covenant,
and
> in the blazing letters of heaven hereafter; but, my brethren, in those
> crimson lines, those lines written in blood, there is something more
> striking than there is anywhere else, for they say, "He laid down his
life
> for us" Ah, here it is ye learn love. You know the old story of Damon
and
> Pythias,-how the two friends struggled together as to which should die
for
> the other; there was love there. But, ah! there is no comparison between
> Damon and Pythias, and a poor sinner and his Saviour. Christ laid down
his
> life, his glorious life, for a poor worm; he stripped himself of all his
> splendours, then of all his happiness, then of his own righteousness,
then
> of his own robes, till he was ****d to his own shame; and then he laid
down
> his life, that was all he had left, for our Saviour had not kept
anything
> back.
>
> Just think of that for a moment. He had a crown in heaven; but he laid
that
> aside, that you and I might wear one for ever. He had a girdle of
> brightness-brighter than the stars,-about his loins; but he took it off,
and
> laid it by, that you and I might eternally wear a girdle of
righteousness.
> He had listened to the holy songs of the cherubim and seraphim; but he
left
> them all that we might for ever dwell where angels sing; and then he
came to
> earth, and he had many things, even in his poverty, which might have
tended
> to his comfort; he laid down, first one glory, and then another, at
love's
> demand; at last, it came to this, he had nothing left but one poor
garment,
> woven from the top throughout, and that was clinging to his back with
blood,
> and he laid down that also. Then there was nothing left, he had not kept
> back one single thing. "There," he might have said, "take an inventory
of
> all I have, to the last farthing; I have given it all up for my people's
> ransom." And there was nought left now but his own life. O love
insatiable!
> couldst thou not stay there? Though he had given up one hand to cancel
sin,
> and the other hand to reconcile us unto God; and had given up one foot
that
> we might have our sinful feet for ever transfixed, and nailed, and
fastened,
> never to wander, and the other foot to be fastened to the tree that we
might
> have our feet at liberty to run the heavenly race; and there was nothing
> left but his poor heart, and he gave his heart up too, and they set it
> abroach with the spear, and forthwith there came out thence blood and
water.
>
> Ah, my Lord! what have I ever given to thee compared to what thou hast
given
> for me? Some poor things, like some rusty farthings, I have given thee;
but
> how little compared with what thou hast given me! Now and then, my Lord,
I
> have given thee a poor song upon an ill-toned instrument; sometimes, my
> Lord, I have done some little service for thee; but, alas! my fingers
were
> so black, they spoiled what I intended to have presented to thee white
as
> snow. It is nought I have done for thee, my Lord. No, though I have been
a
> missionary, and surrendered home and friends; no, though I have been a
> martyr, and given my body to be burned, I will say, in the last hour,
"My
> Master, I have done nothing for thee, after all, in comparison with what
> thou hast done for me; and yet, what can I do more? How can I show my
love
> to thee, for thy love to me, so peerless, so matchless? What shall I do?
I
> will do nothing but-
>
> "'Dissolved by thy goodness, I'll fall to the ground,
> And weep to the praise of the mercy I've found.'
> "That is all I can do, and that I must and will do."
>
> III. Now, beloved, we will change the theme, and go one note higher. We
have
> run up the gamut a long way, and now we have just reached the height of
the
> octave. But we have something else to get out of the text: "He laid down
his
> life for us." Did my Saviour lay down his life for me? Then, HOW SAFE I
AM!
>
> We will have no controversy to-night with those who do not see this
truth;
> the Lord open their blind eyes, and show it to them! That is all we will
> say. We, who know the gospel, see, in the fact of the death of Christ, a
> reason that no strength of logic can ever shake, and no power of
unbelief
> can remove, why we should be saved. There may be men, with minds so
> distorted that they can conceive it possible that Christ should die for
a
> man who afterwards is lost; I say, there may be such. I am sorry to say
that
> there are still to be found some such persons, whose brains have been so
> addled, in their childhood, that they cannot see that what they hold is
both
> a preposterous falsehood and a blasphemous libel. Christ dies for a man,
and
> then God punishes that man again; Christ suffers in a sinner's stead,
and
> then God condemns that sinner after all! Why, my friends, I feel quite
> shocked in only mentioning such an awful error; and were it not so
current
> as it is, I should certainly pass it over with the contempt that it
> deserves. The doctrine of Holy Scripture is this, that God is just, that
> Christ died in the stead of his people, and that, as God is just, he
will
> never punish one solitary soul of Adam's race for whom the Saviour did
thus
> shed his blood. The Saviour did, indeed, in a certain sense, die for
all;
> all men receive many a mercy through his blood, but that he was the
> Substitute and Surety for all men, is so inconsistent, both with reason
and
> Scripture, that we are obliged to reject the doctrine with abhorrence.
No,
> my soul, how shalt thou be punished if thy Lord endured thy punishment
for
> thee? Did he die for thee? O my soul, if Jesus was not thy Substitute,
and
> did not die in thy very stead, then he is no Saviour to thee! But if he
was
> thy Substitute, if he suffered as thy Surety, in thy stead, then, my
soul,
> "Who is he that condemneth?" Christ hath died, yea, rather, hath risen
> again, and sitteth at the right hand of God, and maketh intercession for
us.
> There stands the master-argument: Christ "laid down his life for us,"
and
> "if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his
> Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." If the
> agonies of the Saviour put our sins away, the everlasting life of the
> Saviour, with the merits of his death added thereunto, must preserve his
> people, even unto the end.
>
> This much I know,-ye may hear men stammer when they say it,-but what I
> preach is the old Lutheran, Calvinistic, Augustinian, Pauline, Christian
> truth,-there is not one sin in the Book of God against anyone that
> believeth. Our sins were numbered on the Scapegoat's head, and there is
not
> one sin, that ever a believer did commit, that hath any power to damn
him,
> for Christ hath taken the damning power out of sin, by allowing it, to
speak
> by a bold metaphor, to damn himself, for sin did condemn him; and,
inasmuch
> as sin condemned him, sin cannot condemn us. O believer, this is thy
> security, that all thy sin and guilt, all thy transgressions and thine
> iniquities, have been atoned for, and were atoned for before they were
> committed; so that thou mayest come with boldness, though red with all
> crimes, and black with every lust, and lay thine hand on that
Scapegoat's
> head, and when thou hast put thine hand there, and seen that Scapegoat
> driven into the wilderness, thou mayest clap thine hands for joy, and
say,
> "It is finished, sin is pardoned."
>
> "Here's pardon for transgressions pest,
> It matters not how black their cast;
> And oh, my soul, with wonder view,
> For sin's to come, here's pardon too!"
>
> This is all I want to know; did the Saviour die for me? Then I will not
> continue in sin that grace may abound; but nothing shall stop me of thus
> glorying, in all the churches of the Lord Jesus, that my sins are
entirely
> removed from me; and, in God's sight, I may sing, as Hart did sing,-
>
> "With Christ's spotless vesture on,
> Holy as the Holy One."
>
> O marvellous death of Christ, how securely dost, thou set the feet of
God's
> people on the rocks of eternal love; and how securely dost thou keep
them
> there! Come, dear brethren, let us suck a little honey out of this
> honeycomb. Was there ever anything so luscious and so sweet to the
> believer's taste as this all-glorious truth that we are complete in him;
> that in and through his death and merits we are accepted in the Beloved?
Oh,
> was there ever anything mare sublime than this thought, that he hath
already
> raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in
Christ
> Jesus, far above all principalities and powers; just where he sits?
Surely
> there is nothing more sublime than that, except it be that a
master-thought
> stamps all these things with more than their own value,-that
master-thought
> that, though the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, the
covenant
> of his love shall never depart from us. "For," saith Jehovah, "I will
never
> forget thee, O Zion;" "I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands;
thy
> walls are continually before me." O Christian, that is a firm
foundation,
> cemented with blood, on which thou mayest build for eternity! Ah, my
soul!
> thou needest no other hope but this. Jesus, thy mercy never dies; I will
> plead this truth when cast down with anguish,-Thy mercy never dies. I
will
> plead this when Satan hurls temptations at me, and when conscience casts
the
> remembrance of my sin in my teeth; I will plead this ever, and I will
plead
> it now,-
>
> "Jesus, thy blood and righteousness
> My beauty are, my glorious dress."
> Yea, and after I die, and even when I stand before thine eyes, thou
dread
> Supreme,-
>
> "When from the dust of death I rise,
> To take my mansion in the skies,
> E'en then shall this be all my plea,
> 'Jesus hath lived and died for me.'
> "Bold shall I stand in that great day,
> For who aught to my charge shall lay?
> While through Christ's blood absolved I am
> From sin's tremendous curse and shame."
>
> Ah, brethren, if this is your experience you may come to the table of
> communion now right happily; it will not be coming to a funeral, but to
a
> feast of gladness. "He laid down his life for us."
|
