GOD’S WORD FOR  SEPTEMBER 29

We are using Charles Spurgeon book, “The Risen King.”  It’s a collection of well chosen excerpts from Spurgeon’s  “Easter” sermons in devotional form, put together by Jeff Medders.   Pastor Spurgeon lived from 1834 to 1892  in London, England, and had a unique gift of understanding and showing the depth of our faith.  Thus, his reverential title as the Prince of Preachers.   Even though we’re not in or near that season, every day is a good day to focus on Christ’s sacrifice and victory for us!

THE HEART OF JESUS

Matthew 11:28-30

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

This verse is one of those great wells of salvation from which we may always draw, for we can never exhaust it.  The more we draw from such a text as this, the sweeter and fuller its meaning appears to us.

It is very remarkable that the only passage in the whole New Testament  in which the heart of Jesus is distinctly mentioned is the one before us.  In His being gentle, we see that His strength is quiet forbearance and patient endurance.  His mightiest force is the sweet attraction of compassion and love.  In His being lowly, which means “near the ground.” We learn the posture of Christ’s heart.  We cannot be so low that He will not stoop to reach us.  Christ is willing to receive the poorest sinner in the world.  He receives the lowest, the shabbiest, the vilest, the scum, the filth, the garbage of the world, for He is “lowly in heart.” 

Out of such people as us, He builds a holy temple and gathers to Himself trophies for His honor and praise.  There are some goldsmiths that can only think of preparing and polishing the choicest diamonds, but Jesus Christ polishes a common pebble and makes a jewel!!  Goldsmiths make their precious treasures out of precious materials:  Christ makes His precious things out of rubbish!!

If  we wish to see the way of peace clearly, it is vital to understand that we must each come personally to Jesus for rest:  “Come to Me, all who labor.”  You must trust in Him yourself.  IN HIM ONLY.  Jesus says, “come to ME” – – not to anybody else but to ME.

  He does not say “Come to hear a sermon about Me”

 He does not say, “come to sacraments, which shall teach you something about me”

But.—“COME TO ME” – to My work and person.  Come to Jesus directly  —To Jesus Himself.

Come to Him KNOWING that you were born a sinner, and you have sinned yourself.  Therefore,  there is no hope of you ever being good enough to get to heaven, no matter how good you think you are.  Only by acknowledging His substitution for you – acknowledging that He took your sins onto Himself and therefore your punishment onto Himself, and saved your eternal life, will make you want to forsake every sin, past and present, and live for Him in gratitude for His great sacrifice just for you…..worshipping Him in that gratitude and accepting the forgiveness and love that He lavishes on His children.  Then He is your Lord and Savior, and you are secure for eternity.

Here is His promise:  “I will give you rest.”  This ought to be  a very precious word to all believers.  He promises to give you rest – be sure that you get it.  Divest yourselves of your cares, your anxieties, your doubts, your fears.  There He stands:  He with the pierced feet and the nailed hands and the crimson side.

There He stands in glory, and He bids you come to Him and trust Him completely – He is still gentle and lowly.  Lay your burdens down at His feet.  Why should you carry what He will readily carry for you?  Tell Him all your griefs.

Why do you hide them from Him?  Should He not know your heart if you are married to Him? (if you are saved, He is your husband, taking care of everything in your life.) Should there be a secret kept away from Him? 

I am persuaded that I am pointing you to what will be more healing than the balm of Gilead and sweeter than the sweetest music to lull you into a delightful peace, if you will but listen to this gospel invitation and come to Jesus, by a simple act of faith, and by a great resolve of fellowship, for He said, “I will give you rest.”

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Hebrews 4:1-3

“Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: “So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest,’ ” although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. …”

(the meaning of these verses for us is that the Israelites, fresh out of their freedom from Egyptian slavery, were promised their new life in the promised land… the “land of milk and honey”…. but they didn’t take the Lord’s promises, nor His instructions seriously;  rather,  they had their minds on their own comfort and earthly desires.  So it is with our promise of Salvation and the eternal Promised Land.  We can hear about it three times a day, but if we don’t “mix it with faith”…..TRUE FAITH …..it will  never be ours….and even that faith comes from Him!!!   Romans 10:17 ~ “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”  And He dispels it to us through His Word ….the Bible, so we must read the word, with the prayer that He’ll show us what He wants us to learn ).

Matthew 6:21

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

James 5:11

Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

Matthew 9:36

But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.

Matthew 14:14

And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.

Matthew 15:32

Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.”

Mark 1:41

Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.”

Luke 7:13

When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.”

Romans 9:15

For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.”

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