C. H. Spurgeon
Excerpt from A Sermon(No. 991)
Delivered on Thursday Evening, April 27th, 1871, by
C. H. SPURGEON,
"I wish it were possible for me to rise to the height of my text, but my wings flag; I cannot ascend as the eagle, and face the full blaze of the sun; I can but mount a little as the lark, and sing my song, and then return to my nest. God grant you to know the Lord Jesus in his fullness in your personal experience."
"All, then, that you can possibly want, O Christian, is in Christ. You cannot conceive a need which Jesus does not supply. "Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption," you have all in him. Some gather a flower here; some gather another there; some will go farther, and pluck another there; and some will go yet beyond to grasp a fourth; but when we win Christ we have a posey; we have all sweet flowers in one.
In my Beloved meet and shine
Thou brightest, sweetest, fairest one,
That eyes have seen or angels known."
COMMENTARY:
The Apostle Paul, in dealing with the church at Corinth, spoke initially of their very spiritual existence. Who better to speak of such things than Paul, the founder of the church at Corinth. He spoke of their acceptance of the Gospel message only to "blend" in with their environment and expose their weakness of will. When speaking of the gifts of God, their spiritual wealth, and a foursome of declarations regarding Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification and Redemption. Proverbs summed up wisdom with the following offering "The Fear of the Lord is the Beginning of Wisdom... (Pvbs. 1:1) We are made right before God by His atonement on the Cross. That process, "justification" is why we can answer positively God's Question; "Why should I let you into my Heaven". Our hope rest in His righteousness and none of our own. On accepting Jesus we are" set apart for service", sanctified. It is that setting apart which leads us to do good works, not for salvation, but because we love
the God who gave His Son. Finally, God put forth from the beginning, a plan to reconcile man unto Himself. That plan required the submitting His only begotten son to bear the sins of the world in unfathomable physical pain
and a heart broken from the rejection of those for who He died.
Spurgeon ended his sermon with the heart found words of a master
set to surmise and with his own booming voice and piercing eyes; Those
that seep so very deep into our mix of mystery and majesty...
"Jesus, lover of my soul
Let me to thy bosom fly
While the nearer waters roll
While the tempest is still high.
Hide me o my Savior hide...
Till the span of life is past.
Safe into thy haven guide
O receive my soul...at last."
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