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¹⁶ Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, ¹⁷ comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.” (2 Thessalonians 2:16–17 (ESV)

A SERMON DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON ON THURSDAY EVENING, MARCH 15, 1888.

As I look at my text, a second question comes to my mind. WHY DOES THE APOSTLE SO SPECIALLY ADDRESS THIS PRAYER? Notice to whom he addresses it, “Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God, even our Father…comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.” Why is this?

It seems to me that, in the first place, in this prayer the whole Trinity is supplicated. When the apostle is desiring comfort to be given, he does not mention the Comforter, for that is needless, it would occur to every Christian mind that the Holy Spirit was necessary, since in comforting and quickening He is only exercising His special office, but the apostle does mention “Our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father,” so that, to the mind of the thoughtful reader, the prayer for comfort and establishment is directed to the ever-blessed Three-in-One.

Oh, that we oftener remembered the distinction of the Divine Persons without dividing the divine substance! It becomes instructed believers to remember that one blessing comes from the Father, another blessing from the Son, and a third blessing through the Holy Spirit. There are times when it would seem as if the one blessing must come through the three Divine Persons, that there must be a manifestation of the whole Trinity to produce the result. I cannot help noticing that truth, and reminding you how the Savior is especially placed here side by side with “God, even our Father,” that we may see that equal reverence is to be paid to Him with the Father, and equal prayer to be offered to Him with that presented to the great Father of spirits.

But then, I think next, that mention is here made of “Our Lord Jesus Christ himself” because, as the prayer is for consolation, He is “the consolation of Israel.” The Holy Spirit is the Comforter, but Christ Himself is the comfort, the Holy Spirit gives the consolation, but Jesus Christ is the consolation. Beloved, we are never so comforted as when we turn to our blessed Lord Himself. His humanity, His sympathy with us, His griefs, His bearing our infirmities, His putting away of our sins, His pleading for us at the right hand of God, His everlasting union with His people—all this makes us turn our eye to Him. He is the Sun that makes our day, from Him flows that “river of the water of life” which quenches our thirst.

So you see why the “Lord Jesus Christ himself” is mentioned in this prayer for comfort, since He is the every essence of the believer’s consolation. But then we are reminded of “God, even our Father,” and is not this expression brought to our mind that we may derive comfort from the relation which God bears to His people? O ye children of God, does not the recollection that He is your Father comfort you? Children of the heavenly King, is not the fact of your relationship to Him a well of unceasing consolation? What more do you require to lift your spirits out of the dust, than to know that this manner of love has been bestowed upon you, that you should be called the children of God, “and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ”?

I do believe that, if the Holy Spirit only lays home to the heart the fact of our new birth, and our adoption into the family of God, we have enough comfort to make us swim through seas of trouble without fear, and also enough motive for the most constant, diligent service, when we know that it is for our Father who is in heaven that we are spending the strength that He Himself gives us.

Do you not see, therefore, why the apostle thus addresses His prayer to “God, even our Father,” and to “our Lord Jesus Christ himself”? And is not this another reason why Paul thus prayed, because he would remind us that it requires the direct action of the Godhead upon our hearts to produce comfort and constancy? This is especially evident at certain times.

Very frequently, when I have to comfort mourners, cases will occur in which a young husband has been taken away, leaving a large family of little children unprovided for, or else, two persons have been together for many years, till their lives have grown into one, and on a sudden, the wife or the husband has been taken away, I have said, and I cannot help saying it often, “My dear friend,  I cannot comfort you as I should like to, I have never been exactly in your circumstances, and therefore I cannot enter into your peculiar grief, but I would remind you that one Person of the Divine Trinity has undertaken the office of Comforter, and He can do what nobody else can.”

You must sometimes have felt the power of a single text of Scripture laid upon a wound in your heart, it will staunch the bleeding, and heal by a sort of heavenly magic. Have you not at times felt in a flutter of distress, so that you could not rest? Christian friends have spoken kindly to you, but they only seemed to mock you, then, in a moment, a soft, calming influence has stolen over your spirit, and you have felt that you could bear ten times the weight which had almost crushed you an hour before?

God can comfort to purpose, hence the apostle did not say, “I hope you will enjoy the comfort I have given you, or that, peradventure, your minister next Lord’s-day may give you,” but this was his prayer at this particular juncture, “Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.”

It is grand in your prayers to fall back upon your God, and upon a God whom you know as your Lord Jesus Christ, and your Father, and to feel, “The case is beyond me, but it is not beyond my God. The trial overwhelms me even in my sympathy with the tried one, how much more does it overwhelm the actual bearer of it, but I put you and your sorrow into hands quite equal to the emergency, and leave you there.”

More to come. May the Lord’s truth and grace be found here. Have a blessed day in the Lord.

Soli deo Gloria!

¹⁶ Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, ¹⁷ comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.” (2 Thessalonians 2:16–17 (ESV)

A SERMON DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON ON THURSDAY EVENING, MARCH 15, 1888.

Now let me turn the text around the other way. I think that these two things are put together because establishment in word and work is so necessary for our comfort. I said we must be comforted that we might be constant in the service of God, now I put it that we must be constant in the service of God that we may be comforted. God does not give His dainties to idlers. He has choice secrets into which He does not admit everybody, or even all of His own family.

When we are diligent in His service, and all our powers are fully consecrated to Him, then He gives us gracious rewards, not of debt, but according to the discipline of His own house, wherein He honors the faithful, and chastises those who are negligent. Now, beloved, you will miss your comfort when you begin to neglect your work.

I know how it used to be with the boys at home. In cold weather they huddled round the fire, almost sat on the fire, it was so cold that they could not tell how they would live through the bitter winter, but when Father came in, he said, “Now, you boys, set to work, and clear away that snow, don’t sit here idle, go and do something,” and they came in with ruddy cheeks, and somehow or other the temperature seemed to have altered considerably, for they were quite warm from their exercise.

I do think the best thing that could happen to some men would be that they might have something to do. I do not find much about depression of spirit in the journals of Mr. Wesley, or Mr. Whitefield, and men of that sort, who spent themselves in the Lord’s service. The fact is, the Lord seemed to carry them on from one work to another, and from strength to strength in their service, and they were comforted as to their hearts because they were established in every good word and work.

These things act and react one upon another, the comfort makes us work, the work brings to us a fresh measure of comfort. See how even the Savior puts it. He says, “Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” That is the first rest, pardon of sin. What next? “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” That is another rest over and above what Jesus gives. “Through bearing my yoke, you shall find in my service rest unto your souls.” God grant us grace to seek that rest which we are to find, now that we have received the rest which Jesus gives to those who come unto Him!

I have not yet fully answered this question—Why is there the conjunction of these two things, comfort and constancy? I think it is because the two blended together serve a very useful purpose. We are in this world to bear witness, and by our bearing witness we are to bring others to faith in Christ through the operation of the Holy Spirit. Now, there are some people who are only to be won for Christ by the holy confidence and comfort of believers. I am sure that, if a Christian woman, in the time of affliction at home, is calm, patient, resigned, and happy, she is more likely to see her husband converted by the comfort that religion brings to her own heart than by taking him to hear a sermon. By her Christian character, she will preach to him, and supply him with evidence of the power of grace which he will not be able to gainsay.

I have known persons, in a storm at sea, exercise great influence over all in the vessel by the way in which they have been able to live above the storm, resting patiently in God, and in times of personal sickness, what a wonderful influence there is about holy patience! Some members of the family, who never have been moved by the external services of religion, have been deeply impressed by the patience of great sufferers, and especially by the serenity of dying saints. They have said to themselves, “There is something in this religion, after all, there is no mistake about it, the grace which could support and calm the heart at such a time as this, must be the gift of God.”

Now, if this were accompanied by idleness, it would lose much or all of its force, but when this holy calm comes over one who, in days of health, was full of active service for the Master, then the two things together become powerful arguments which gainsayers are not able to resist. Do seek to have this blessed blending, this comfort, like a light that burns within the lamp, and then this establishment in word and work, like the rays of light that stream from the lantern at the head of the lighthouse, that all may see, both far and near. And I should like to give one other answer to this query, which is this. Paul in his prayer puts the two things together, because there is great need for both.

There is great need to pray that our Father would comfort the hearts of His people, for there is trouble enough in the land, there is trouble enough in every house, there is trouble enough for each one of us, we do need you to often pray for us, that God would comfort our hearts.

More to come. May the Lord’s truth and grace be found here. Have a blessed day in the Lord.

Soli deo Gloria!

¹⁶ Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, ¹⁷ comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.” (2 Thessalonians 2:16–17 (ESV)

A SERMON DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON ON THURSDAY EVENING, MARCH 15, 1888.

 THE Thessalonians had been a good deal fluttered by certain persons who had said that the coming of the Lord was immediately at hand. Paul therefore bade them be steadfast, and not be worried and perplexed by any such teaching, and then he presented this prayer to God for them, that they might have these two things, comfort and constancy, that God would comfort their hearts, and establish them “in every good word and work.” It is a very blessed and comprehensive prayer, and while we are thinking of it, let us be praying it for ourselves, and for one another, that the Lord may comfort our hearts, and establish us “in every good word and work.”

The first inquiry to be answered is this, WHY IS THERE THE CONJUNCTION OF THESE TWO THINGS IN THIS REMARKABLE PRAYER? Why is it put thus, “Our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father…comfort your hearts, and establish you in every good word and work”? I answer, first, the two things, comfort and constancy, are put together because comfort by itself is not enough.

We do not desire first and above all things that Christians should have comfort. It is a very great privilege to be comforted, especially by the Comforter, for such comfort is sound, and safe, and holy, but at the same time, they err who think that the first and chief reason for knowing God is that you may feel comforted and happy. I fear that there are many who are under that notion. They expect every sermon to comfort them, otherwise they think it is a wasted opportunity. Even when they are alone in prayer, their chief thought is that they want to be comforted by their own devotion.

But sometimes, rebuke is better than comfort, and spiritual quickening, and especially true sanctification, are more greatly to be valued than any measure of comfort whatsoever. If we were to confine ourselves to prayer for the Lord only to comfort His people, we should have a very imperfect form of intercession. No, it needs that we should not only be comforted by our religion, but that we should be led by it into holy activity, so as to abound in every good word and work, and be established therein.

I give another answer to the question. Why is there this conjunction between comfort and constancy? Because establishment in every good word and work is not enough if it is alone. We need to be comforted as well as to serve the Lord.

Our God is not like Pharaoh, who would not give to the children of Israel even a day in which they might have rest, and worship God. Pharaoh said, “Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let (or hinder) the people from their works? Get you unto your burdens,” but God does not speak so to us. The service which His children render to Him is quite compatible with rest. We are like certain birds that are said to rest on the wing, we never have a better rest than when every faculty is occupied in the service of our Lord. But work by itself, establishment in every good word and work alone, might tend to weariness, we might be jaded, if God did not minister to us divine consolation while we served Him.

Moreover, I am sure that we should never do the work well if God did not comfort us, for unhappy workers, those who do not love their work, and are not at home in it, those who feel no comfort of religion themselves, are generally very poor and unsuccessful workers.

The second blessing mentioned in our text is certainly a very necessary one, this establishing in every good word and work, but you also need the first one, that God may, “comfort your hearts.” When you get the two together, when you are up to your necks in holy service, and up to your hearts in divine comfort, then these two things cause you not to be barren or unfruitful, and at the same time they help you not to be weary in well-doing. You are made to be “steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,” because you are comforted with the belief that “your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” I see those two reasons for the conjunction of comfort and constancy in the text, first, because comfort alone is not sufficient, and secondly, because constancy without comfort will not suffice us.

And next, dear friends, it is because the comfort of the heart aids in the establishment of the soul in service. They are put together because the one helps the other. May the Lord “comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work!” He that is happy in the Lord will persevere in the service of the Lord. He that derives real support and comfort from his religion is the man who will not backslide from it.

I notice that it is usually thus with those who decline, they first of all lose the comfort and joy of religion, they have not the brightness and delight that they once had in the things of God, and then, of course, they drop first this particular service, and then the other, they begin to absent themselves from the means of grace, prayer meetings, and so forth, because they miss what is so material a stay to the establishment of their minds, that is, the comfort, and joy, and peace that true religion used to bring them.

Whenever you are not happy in the Lord, I urge you not to rest until you become so. It is no small evil to get out of the sunlight of God’s countenance. A dear child will not say, “If my father is angry with me, it does not matter, he will not kill me, I shall always be his child.” No, just in proportion as he enjoys his father’s love, it will be painful to him to come in the least degree under his father’s displeasure, and he will cry out to be fully restored, and to have again from those dear lips the kiss of forgiveness that will put away all his offenses.

So, dear friends, do believe that your lack of comfort is an evil thing, which may lead to your loss of industry and perseverance in the cause of your Lord. If your heart be not comforted of God, you are not likely to be “stablished in every good word and work.”

More to come. May the Lord’s truth and grace be found here. Have a blessed day in the Lord.

Soli deo Gloria!

¹⁶ Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, ¹⁷ comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.” (2 Thessalonians 2:16–17 (ESV)

Following his extensive treatise on the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thess. 3:1-15), the Apostle Paul invoked a prayer on behalf of not only himself, but also Silas, Timothy and the Thessalonians believers. It is a prayer in which the entire triune Godhead was involved. The Holy Spirit inspired the prayer (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21), while God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and God the Father are the objects of the prayer.

The prayer contains two primary divisions. First, Paul expressed adoration and praise to God. Second, the apostle presented his petition and request before God. The order is significant. Prayer should always begin with adoration to be followed by supplication.

Paul’s adoration and praise to God in prayer focused upon the Lord’s love, comfort, hope and grace towards sinners like himself, Silas, Timothy and the Thessalonians. These attributes and actions by God dominated the apostle’s praise.

The phrase who loved us (ἀγαπήσας ἡμᾶς; agapesas hemas) refers to the Lord’s self-sacrificial love of the will. Paul described such love in I Corinthians 13:1-8). The Apostle John set forth the Lord Jesus Christ as the perfect embodiment of such love (I John 4:7-12). God’s love summarized the entire scope of God’s salvation (Rom. 3:21-26; 5:1-10; Eph. 2:1-10).

Comfort (παράκλησιν; paraklesin) is encouragement and consolation. Paul wrote to the Corinthian church describing the Lord as the God of all comfort (2 Cor. 1:3-7). This comfort is eternal (αἰωνίαν; aionian) or unlimited by time.

Hope (ἐλπίδα; elpida) refers to confident expectation because what God promises he will fulfill. Paul called this hope from God good (ἀγαθὴν; agathen). God’s hope is pleasant and nice.

God’s love, comfort and hope are by the means of His grace (χάριτι; chariti). This is the Lord’s unmerited kindness and favor towards those who deserve His wrath and judgment.

The apostle’s request before God was for continued comfort and establishment of the Thessalonian believers. To establish (στηρίξαι; sterixai) means to strengthen and make more firm. This comfort and strength would come from every good work and word.

Every good work (παντὶ ἔργῳ ἀγαθῷ; panti ergo agatho) refers to all the pleasant tasks the believers would accomplish for God. The word (λόγῳ; logo) means the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

One commentator writes, “Having exhorted us not to be shaken by false teaching regarding the return of Christ and having called us to stand fast in the truth (2 Thess. 2:1–15), Paul prays that God, who has given us eternal comfort in Christ, will comfort our hearts and establish in them every good work and word. The Lord must bless the teaching of His Word if that Word is to bear fruit in the good work of obedience and trust in His truth.”

“Because of remaining sin, even we who believe in Jesus are constantly fighting against doubt and against desires that are contrary to the Lord. This would be a losing battle if it were not for God’s gracious work to keep us in the faith and to root out and destroy the remnants of our fallenness (Rom. 7:7–25). Without this, there is no hope. Sinners do not need merely more information about what is right and true but need new hearts that the Lord sustains in love of Him and His Word (Ezek. 36:26).”

John Calvin comments, “Unquestionably there will be but an empty sound striking upon the ear, if doctrine does not receive efficacy from the Spirit.”

“Divine grace is not something that we need only at the start of our Christian Walk but at every step of the journey. Thanks be to God, He not only brings us into the faith, but He also sustains our faith and will complete the good work He has begun in us (Phil. 1:6). Let us thank the Lord for His grace this day and admit our continual need of His sustaining work in our hearts,” concludes Dr. R. C. Sproul.

May the Lord’s truth and grace be found here. Have a blessed day in the Lord.

Soli deo Gloria!

¹³ But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the first fruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. ¹⁴ To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁵ So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.” (2 Thessalonians 2:13–15 (ESV)

On the basis of God’s unconditional election of sinners unto salvation, which the Apostle Paul stated in vs. 13-14, what is to be the believer’s response?  Paul sets for the purpose and response for the believer in vs. 15 of today’s text. Believers in Christ are to stand firm in biblical doctrine. Our trust in, commitment to, dependence upon and worship of the Lord must be grounded in biblical truth (Psalm 1; 19; 119; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21).

“Regrettably, many believers today regard Christian doctrine as merely theoretical, having no practical value. For Paul and the other Apostles, however, theology was immensely practical. Just consider 2 Thessalonians 2:1–12. Why does Paul remind us of various doctrines regarding what must happen before Christ returns? Because he does not want us to be “shaken in mind or alarmed” (v. 2). He teaches doctrine so that readers will enjoy the practical benefits of emotional stability and confidence in Christ,” explains Dr. R. C. Sproul.

So then, brothers (οὖν ἄρα; oun ara) can be translated “therefore.” This phrase indicates a conclusion, consequence or result. In other words, what is the consequential or resulting behavior of God’s people to His unconditional election of sinners unto salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone? The word brothers (ἀδελφοί; adelphoi) in the context refers to fellow believers in Christ or the church. (2 Thess. 1:1).

Believers in Christ are to stand firm and hold. To stand firm (στήκετε; stekete) is a present, active, imperative, plural verb. To stand firm is to be done presently, actively, obediently and collectively by the believing community. It means to have determination and steadfastness. To hold (κρατεῖτε; krateite) is also a present, active, imperative, plural verb. It means to seize and take possession. In what is the church to stand firm and hold?

To the traditions you were taught by us. Traditions (παραδόσεις; paradoseis) refers to doctrine or teachings handed down from one generation to the next generation. In this context, the traditions were the doctrines Paul, Silas and Timothy taught (ἐδιδάχθητε; edidachthete) and instructed the Thessalonian believers. This was done either by their spoken word (Acts 17:1-9) or by their first and second letter (I Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:1).

John Calvin writes, “Some restrict this to precepts of external polity; but this does not please me, for he points out the manner of standing firm. Now, to be furnished with invincible strength is a much higher thing than external discipline. Hence, in my opinion, he includes all doctrine under this term, as though he had said that they have ground on which they may stand firm, provided they persevere in sound doctrine, according as they had been instructed by him.”

“I do not deny that the term παραδόσεις is fitly applied to the ordinances which are appointed by the Churches, with a view to the promoting of peace and the maintaining of order, and I admit that it is taken in this sense when human traditions are treated of, (Matthew 15:6.) Paul, however, will be found in the next chapter making use of the term tradition, as meaning the rule that he had laid down, and the very signification of the term is general. The context, however, as I have said, requires that it be taken here to mean the whole of that doctrine in which they had been instructed. For the matter treated of is the most important of all — that their faith may remain secure in the midst of a dreadful agitation of the Church.”

“In context, the traditions to which Paul refers are found in 2 Thessalonians 2:1–12, where Paul reminds his readers that what he says in writing is what he had told them face-to-face (v. 5). In other words, Paul did not tell the Thessalonians by mouth anything other than the traditions he puts into writing. There is no body of teaching that the Apostles wanted the church to have that can be found outside the Scriptures,” concludes Dr. Sproul. (See 2 Tim. 3:16–17).

Scripture reveals what sinners must believe in order to be saved and how then they must live to please God. May the Lord’s truth and grace be found here. Have a God-honoring day in the Lord.

Soli deo Gloria!

¹³ But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. ¹⁴ To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 2:13–14 (ESV)

A SERMON DELIVERED ON SABBATH MORNING, SEPTEMBER 2, 1855, BY THE REV. C. H. SPURGEON, AT NEW PARK STREET CHAPEL, SOUTHWARK.

And now, lastly, to the ungodly. What says election to you? First, you ungodly ones, I will excuse you for a moment. There are many of you who do not like election and I cannot blame you for it, for I have heard those preach election, who have sat down and said, “I have not one word to say to the sinner.” Now, I say you ought to dislike such preaching as that, and I do not blame you for it. But I say, take courage, take hope, O you sinner, that there is election.

So far from dispiriting and discouraging you, it is a very hopeful and joyous thing that there is an election. What if I told you perhaps none can be saved, none are ordained to eternal life? Would you not tremble and fold your hands in hopelessness and say, “Then how can I be saved, since none are elect?” But I say there is a multitude of elect, beyond all counting—a host that no mortal can number.

Therefore, take heart, you poor sinner! Cast away your despondency—may you not be elect as well as any other? for there is chosen an innumerable host. There is joy and comfort for you! Then, not only take heart, but go and try the Master. Remember, if you were not elect, you would lose nothing by it. What did the four lepers say? “Let us fall unto the host of the Syrians, for if we stay here, we must die, and if we go to them, we can but die.” O sinner! Come to the throne of electing mercy.

You may die where you are. Go to God, and even supposing He should spurn you, suppose His uplifted hand should drive you away—a thing impossible—yet you will not lose anything. You will not be more damned for that. Besides, supposing you are damned, you would have the satisfaction at least of being able to lift up your eyes in hell and say, “God, I asked mercy of You and You would not grant it. I sought it, but You did refuse it.” That you never shall say, O sinner! If you go to Him and ask Him, you shall receive, for He never has spurned one yet! Is not that hope for you?

What though there is an allotted number, yet it is true that all who seek belong to that number. Go you and seek, and if you should be the first one to go to hell, tell the devils that you did perish thus—tell the demons that you are a castaway, after having come as a guilty sinner to Jesus. I tell you it would disgrace the Eternal—with reverence to His name—and He would not allow such a thing. He is jealous of His honor and He could not allow a sinner to say that. But ah, poor soul! Do not think thus, that you can lose anything by coming.

There is yet one more thought—do you love the thought of election this morning? Are you willing to admit its justice? Do you say, “I feel that I am lost. I deserve it and if my brother is saved, I cannot murmur. If God destroys me, I deserve it, but if He saves the person sitting beside me, He has a right to do what He will with His own, and I have lost nothing by it.” Can you say that honestly from your heart?

If so, then the doctrine of election has had its right effect on your spirit, and you are not far from the kingdom of heaven. You are brought where you ought to be, where the Spirit wants you to be, and being so this morning, depart in peace. God has forgiven your sins. You would not feel that if you were not pardoned, you would not feel that if the Spirit of God were not working in you. Rejoice, then, in this. Let your hope rest on the cross of Christ. Think not on election, but on Christ Jesus. Rest on Jesus—Jesus first, midst, and without end.

May the Lord’s truth and grace be found here. Have a blessed day in the Lord.

Soli deo Gloria!

Our current weekly study from Scripture concerns the subject of holiness. This week’s essay begins to examine the holiness of God from Isaiah 6:1-7.

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” (Isaiah 6:1-3).

To truly know God is to know His attributes, or His personal characteristics. They are those qualities which make God, God. Some of the LORD’s attributes He has chosen to share with His creation. Some of His attributes He alone possesses.  Isaiah 6:1-3 reveals one of God’s most significant attributes; holiness.

I Peter 1:15-16 says, “But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” Peter quotes Leviticus 11:44.

What does it mean when the Bible says that God is holy? As previously noted, holy, or holiness, means to be set-apart. In Scripture, holiness refers to a variety of people, places and things. However, the word holy ultimately points to God as the one who is qualitatively different or set apart from creation. Holy may also be used to describe someone or something that God has “set apart” for special purposes. In the NT holiness takes on the sense of ethical purity or freedom from sin. Holiness is God’s “otherness” and “purity”, as well as to God’s prerogative to set people and things apart for God’s own purposes.

In Isaiah 6, we see one of the most striking accounts of not only the holiness of God but also the un-holiness of man. Isaiah 6 does not apply just to the Prophet Isaiah alone, but also to sinners and believers in Christ today.

Isaiah was a prophet during the kingly reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah in the Kingdom of Judah. He ministered for over 40 years. As Isaiah 6 opens, King Uzziah died approximately in the year 740 B.C. The king died of leprosy (2 Chronicles 26:16-21). This was a direct result of disobedience before God. His death signaled the conclusion of a long period (52 years) of peace and prosperity for the nation of Judah.

Following Uzziah’s death, Isaiah encountered a theophany, or a Christophany (John 12:41), which is a visible manifestation of God. Such instances are often accompanied by earthquakes, smoke, fire and lightening (Isaiah 29:1-6; 30:27-31; Exodus 19:18-19; Psalm 18:7-15; 50:1-3; 97:1-2; Micah 1:1-4; Nahum 1:3-8; Habakkuk 3:1-15).

Isaiah 6:1 says that the prophet saw the Lord. The word Lord is the Hebrew word Adonai which literally means Sovereign One or Master. Isaiah described the Lord sitting upon a throne. This symbolically means the Lord is consistently ruling over heaven and earth in power and authority. While the human king Uzziah was dead, the eternal King of kings was very much alive and reigning. 

The prophet said the Lord was “high and lifted up.” The Lord’s throne was greatly elevated illustrating that this was the One and only Most High God. No one is higher or greater. Additionally, the “train of his robe filled the temple.” The hem or fringe of God’s glorious robe filled the temple acknowledging supreme majesty. The Lord is the central and only object of worship.

Verse 2 focuses upon the reality, the rejoicing and the resulting effect of the praise given to God by the Seraphim angels. “Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.”

The Hebrew word Seraphim literally means burning ones. The Seraphim are specifically named angels whose task is to worship God before His heavenly throne. We do not know how many Seraphim angels there are before God’s throne, but we do know that there were/are more than one.

Dr. R.C. Sproul explains that, “Angels appear frequently throughout the Bible, particularly in the New Testament. In fact “angelos,” the Greek word that means “angel/messenger,” occurs more frequently than the term translated as “sin” (hamartia). Yet at the same time, Scripture does not give us much detailed information about these beings. They appear at key points in redemptive history to help God’s people, but the Bible says little about their appearance and origin. Still, the information we do have is sufficient for what we need to know about angels.”

However, God does give us information regarding the appearance of the Seraphim angels. To begin with, each one of these innumerable angels have six wings. Why six? The only reason given is what the Seraphim do with each set of wings.

With two wings, the Seraphim cover their face. Why do they do this? The reason is the Seraphim have no inherent glory of their own which compares with God’s glory. Therefore, as created beings they cannot directly look upon the glory of God.

The Seraphim cover their feet. Why do they do this? The reason is the Seraphim are created beings. They recognize their lowliness before God even as they engage in divine service. This is something which would be wise for humans to keep in mind regarding their own worship and service for God.

Finally, with two wings the Seraphim fly. Why do they do this? The reason is the Seraphim serve God in their flight. Fish swim, lions roar and snakes’ slither. Angels fly! That’s what God designed them to do.

The Seraphim have an all-important task to perform. They call to one another in antiphonal praise and cry out “holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.” The threefold repetition indicates this attribute of God is superlative. It is unmatched, untouchable, and unparalleled. There is no greater attribute God possesses than holiness.

Holiness is the only attribute God possesses which is repeated to the third degree. God is never described as love, love, love. Neither is He mentioned as just, just, just. However, He is regarded as holy, holy, holy. This indicates a possible reference to the Trinity, but it also may mean all of God’s other attributes are shaped and influenced by His holiness. Therefore, His love is a holy love. His justice is a holy justice. And so on.

The name LORD of hosts refers to the most personal name for God: Yahweh. Yahweh, the self-existent One possesses divine control over the entire universe. He is the holy One. He is the self-existent One. He is I AM WHO I AM (Ex.3:13-14; John 8:58).

Because the LORD of hosts is holy, holy, holy, all of creation is full of His glory. The LORD is ruler over all, and His glory, truthfulness, righteousness and beauty of His character, fills creation.

To truly know God is to recognize and understand He is holy, holy, holy, and we are not. He is set apart from sin, while we belong and revel in sin. How then can sinful creatures ever hope to eternally be in the presence of this God who is holy, holy, holy? What hope then does any sinner have before the awesome holiness of God? What hope did the Prophet Isaiah have?

There is no hope in ourselves. Our only hope or confidence is in the gracious redemption by the LORD Jesus Christ. This biblical truth is illustrated in Isaiah’s response to the holiness of God and the LORD’s response to the sinful prophet.

Take the time today to meditate and consider the holiness of God.

Soli deo Gloria!

¹³ But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. ¹⁴ To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 2:13–14 (ESV)

A SERMON DELIVERED ON SABBATH MORNING, SEPTEMBER 2, 1855, BY THE REV. C. H. SPURGEON, AT NEW PARK STREET CHAPEL, SOUTHWARK.

Now, lastly, what are the true and legitimate TENDENCIES of right conceptions concerning the doctrine of election? First, I will tell you what the doctrine of election will make saints do under the blessing of God. And secondly what it will do for sinners if God blesses it to them.

First, I think election, to a saint, is one of the most stripping doctrines in all the world—to take away all trust in the flesh or all reliance upon anything except Jesus Christ. How often do we wrap ourselves up in our own righteousness and array ourselves with the false pearls and gems of our own works and doings? We begin to say, “Now I shall be saved, because I have this and that evidence.” Instead of that, it is naked faith that saves, that faith and that alone unites to the Lamb irrespective of works, although it is productive of them.

How often do we lean on some work, other than that of our own Beloved, and trust in some might, other than that which comes from on High? Now if we would have this might taken from us, we must consider election. Pause, my soul, and consider this. God loved you before you had a being. He loved you when you were dead in trespasses and sins and sent His Son to die for you. He purchased you with His precious blood ere you could lisp His name. Can you then be proud?

I know nothing, nothing again, that is more humbling for us than this doctrine of election. I have sometimes fallen prostrate before it, when endeavoring to understand it. I have stretched my wings and eagle-like, I have soared towards the sun. Steady has been my eye and true my wing for a season, but when I came near it and the one thought possessed me—“God has from the beginning chosen you unto salvation,” I was lost in its luster, I was staggered with the mighty thought, and from the dizzy elevation down came my soul, prostrate and broken, saying, “Lord, I am nothing, I am less than nothing. Why me? Why me?”

Friends, if you want to be humbled, study election, for it will make you humble under the influence of God’s Spirit. He who is proud of his election is not elect, and he who is humbled under a sense of it, may believe that he is. He has every reason to believe that he is, for it is one of the most blessed effects of election that it helps us to humble ourselves before God.

Election in the Christian should make him very fearless and very bold. No man will be so bold as he who believes that he is elect of God. What cares he for man if he is chosen of his Maker? What will he care for the pitiful chirpings of some tiny sparrows when he knows that he is an eagle of a royal race? Will he care when the beggar points at him, when the blood royal of heaven runs in his veins? Will he fear if all the world stand against him? If earth is all in arms abroad, he dwells in perfect peace, for he is in the secret place of the tabernacle of the Most High, in the great pavilion of the Almighty. “I am God’s,” he says, “I am distinct from other men. They are of an inferior race.

Am I not noble? Am I not one of the aristocrats of heaven? Is not my name written in God’s Book?” Does he care for the world? Nay, like the lion that cares not for the barking of the dog. He smiles at all his enemies and when they come too near him, he moves himself and dashes them to pieces. What cares he for them? He walks about them like a colossus, while little men walk under him and understand him not. His brow is made of iron, his heart is of flint—what does he care for man? Nay, if one universal hiss came up from the wide world, he would smile at it, for he would say, “He that has made his refuge God, Shall find a most secure abode.”

I am one of His elect. I am chosen of God and precious, and though the world cast me out, I fear not. Ah! you time-serving professors, some of you will bend like the willows. There are few oaken-Christians nowadays, that can stand the storm and I will tell you the reason. It is because you do not believe yourselves to be elect. The man who knows he is elect will be too proud to sin, he will not humble himself to commit the acts of common people.

The believer in this truth will say, “I compromise my principles? I change my doctrines? I lay aside my views? I hide what I believe to be true? No. Since I know I am one of God’s elect, in the very teeth of all men I shall speak God’s truth, whatever man may say.” Nothing makes a man so truly bold as to feel that he is God’s elect. He shall not quiver, he shall not shake, who knows that God has chosen him.

Moreover, election will make us holy. Nothing under the gracious influence of the Holy Spirit can make a Christian more holy than the thought that he is chosen. “Shall I sin,” he says, “after God has chosen me? Shall I transgress after such love? Shall I go astray after so much loving kindness and tender mercy? Nay, my God, since You have chosen me, I will love You. I will live to You “Since You, the everlasting God, My Father have become.” I will give myself to You to be Yours forever, by election and by redemption, casting myself on You and solemnly consecrating myself to Your service.

May the Lord’s truth and grace be found here. Have a blessed day in the Lord.

Soli deo Gloria!

¹³ But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. ¹⁴ To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 2:13–14 (ESV)

A SERMON DELIVERED ON SABBATH MORNING, SEPTEMBER 2, 1855, BY THE REV. C. H. SPURGEON, AT NEW PARK STREET CHAPEL, SOUTHWARK.

The other thought is—for my time flies too swiftly to enable me to dwell at length upon these points—that election produces GOOD RESULTS. “He has from the beginning chosen you unto sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.” How many men mistake the doctrine of election altogether! And how my soul burns and boils at the recollection of the terrible evils that have accrued from the spoiling and the wresting of that glorious portion of God’s glorious truth! How many are there who have said to themselves, “I am elect,” and have sat down in sloth and worse than that! They have said, “I am the elect of God,” and with both hands they have done wickedness. They have swiftly run to every unclean thing, because they have said, “I am the chosen child of God, irrespective of my works, therefore I may live as I like and do what I like.”

O, beloved! Let me solemnly warn every one of you not to carry the truth too far—or rather not to turn the truth into error, for we cannot carry it too far. We may overstep the truth. We can make that which was meant to be sweet for our comfort, a terrible mixture for our destruction. I tell you there have been thousands of men who have been ruined by misunderstanding election, who have said, “God has elected me to heaven and to eternal life,” but they have forgotten that it is written, God has elected them, “through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.” This is God’s election—election to sanctification and to faith.

God chooses His people to be holy and to be believers. How many of you here then are believers? How many of my congregation can put their hands upon their hearts and say, “I trust in God that I am sanctified”? Is there one of you who says, “I am elect”? —I remind that you swore last week. One of you says, “I trust I am elect,” but I jog your memory about some vicious act that you committed during the last six days.

Another of you says, “I am elect,” but I would look you in the face and say, “Elect! you are a most cursed hypocrite and that is all you are.” Others would say, “I am elect,” but I would remind them that they neglect the mercy seat and do not pray. Oh, beloved! never think you are elect unless you are holy. You may come to Christ as a sinner, but you may not come to Christ as an elect person until you can see your holiness.

Do not misconstrue what I say—do not say, “I am elect,” and yet think you can be living in sin. That is impossible. The elect of God are holy. They are not pure, they are not perfect, they are not spotless, but taking their life as a whole, they are holy persons. They are marked and distinct from others, and no man has a right to conclude himself elect except in his holiness. He may be elect and yet lying in darkness, but he has no right to believe it. No one can say it, there is no evidence of it. The man may live one day, but he is dead at present. If you are walking in the fear of God, trying to please Him, and to obey His commandments, doubt not that your name has been written in the Lamb’s Book of Life from before the foundation of the world.

And lest this should be too high for you, note the other mark of election, which is faith, belief of the truth. Whoever believes God’s truth and believes on Jesus Christ, is elect. I frequently meet with poor souls who are fretting and worrying themselves about this thought, “What if I should not be elect.” “Oh, sir,” they say, “I know I put my trust in Jesus. I know I believe in His name and trust in His blood, but what if I should not be elect?”

Poor dear creature! You do not know much about the Gospel or you would never talk so, for he that believes is elect. Those who are elect, are elect unto sanctification and unto faith. And if you have faith, you are one of God’s elect. You may know it and ought to know it, for it is an absolute certainty. If you, as a sinner, look to Jesus Christ this morning and say— “Nothing in my hands I bring, Simply to Your cross I cling,” you are elect.

I am not afraid of election frightening poor saints or sinners. There are many divines who tell the inquirer, “Election has nothing to do with you.” That is very bad, because the poor soul is not to be silenced like that. If you could silence him so, it might be well, but he will think of it, he can’t help it. Say to him then, if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you are elect. If you will cast yourself on Jesus, you are elect.

I tell you the chief of sinners—this morning, I tell you in His name, if you will come to God without any works of your own, cast yourself on the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ, if you will come now and trust in Him, you are elect—you were loved of God from before the foundation of the world, for you could not do that unless God had given you the power and had chosen you to do it. Now you are safe and secure if you do, but come and cast yourself on Jesus Christ, and wish to be saved and to be loved by Him.

But think not that any man will be saved without faith and without holiness. Do not conceive, my hearers, that some decree, passed in the dark ages of eternity, will save your souls, unless you believe in Christ. Do not sit down and fancy that you are to be saved without faith and holiness. That is a most abominable and accursed heresy, and has ruined thousands. Lay not election as a pillow for you to sleep on or you may be ruined. God forbid that I should be sewing pillows under armholes that you may rest comfortably in your sins.

Sinner! there is nothing in the Bible to lighten your sins, but if you are condemned, O man! if you are lost, O woman! you will not find in this Bible one drop to cool your tongue, or one doctrine to lessen your guilt. Your damnation will be entirely your own fault and your sin will richly merit it, because you believe you are not condemned. “ You believe not because you are not of my sheep. You will not come to me that you might have life.” Do not fancy that election excuses sin—do not dream of it—do not rock yourself in sweet complacency in the thought of your irresponsibility. You are responsible. We must give you both things. We must have divine sovereignty and we must have man’s responsibility. We must have election, but we must ply your hearts, we must send God’s truth at you. We must speak to you and remind you of this, that while it is written, “In me is your help,” yet it is also written, “O Israel, you have destroyed yourself.”

More to come. May the Lord’s truth and grace be found here. Have a blessed day in the Lord.

Soli deo Gloria!

¹³ But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. ¹⁴ To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 2:13–14 (ESV)

A SERMON DELIVERED ON SABBATH MORNING, SEPTEMBER 2, 1855, BY THE REV. C. H. SPURGEON, AT NEW PARK STREET CHAPEL, SOUTHWARK.

Then, thirdly, this election is ETERNAL. “God has from the beginning chosen you unto eternal life.” Can any man tell me when the beginning was? Years ago we thought the beginning of this world was when Adam came upon it, but we have discovered that thousands of years before that, God was preparing chaotic matter to make it a fit abode for man, putting races of creatures upon it, who might die and leave behind the marks of His handiwork and marvelous skill, before He tried His hand on man.

But that was not the beginning, for revelation points us to a period long ere this world was fashioned, to the days when the morning stars were begotten when, like drops of dew from the fingers of the morning, stars and constellations fell trickling from the hand of God. When, by His own lips, He launched forth ponderous orbs. When with His own hand, He sent comets, like thunderbolts, wandering through the sky, to find one day their proper sphere.

We go back to years gone by, when worlds were made and systems fashioned, but we have not even approached the beginning yet. Until we go to the time when all the universe slept in the mind of God as yet unborn, until we enter the eternity where God the Creator lived alone, everything sleeping within Him, all creation resting in His mighty gigantic thought, we have not guessed the beginning.

We may go back, back, back, ages upon ages. We may go back, if we might use such strange words, whole eternities and yet never arrive at the beginning. Our wing might be tired, our imagination would die away. Could it outstrip the lightnings flashing in majesty, power, and rapidity, it would soon weary itself ere it could get to the beginning. But God from the beginning chose His people.

When the unnavigated ether was yet unfanned by the wing of a single angel. When space was shoreless or else unborn. When universal silence reigned and not a voice or whisper shocked the solemnity of silence. When there was no being and no motion, no time and nought but God Himself, alone in His eternity. When without the song of an angel, without the attendance of even the cherubim, long ere the living creatures were born, or the wheels of the chariot of JEHOVAH were fashioned, even then, “In the beginning was the word,” and in the beginning God’s people were one with the Word and “In the beginning he chose them unto eternal life.” Our election then is eternal. I will not stop to prove it. I only just run over these thoughts for the benefit of young beginners, that they may understand what we mean by eternal, absolute election.

And, next, the election is PERSONAL. Here again, our opponents have tried to overthrow election by telling us that it is an election of nations and not of people. But here the apostle says, “God has from the beginning chosen you.” It is the most miserable shift on earth to make out that God has not chosen persons, but nations, because the very same objection that lies against the choice of persons, lies against the choice of a nation. If it were not just to choose a person, it would be far more unjust to choose a nation, since nations are but the union of multitudes of persons.

And to choose a nation seems to be a more gigantic crime—if election be a crime—than to choose one person. Surely to choose ten thousand would be reckoned to be worse than choosing one—to distinguish a whole nation from the rest of mankind does seem to be a greater extravaganza in the acts of divine sovereignty than the election of one poor mortal and leaving out another. But what are nations, but men? What are whole peoples, but combinations of different units?

A nation is made up of that individual, and that, and that. And if you tell me that God chose the Jews, I say then, He chose that Jew, and that Jew, and that Jew. And if you say He chooses Britain, then I say He chooses that British person, and that British person, and that British person. So that it is the same thing after all. Election then is personal. It must be so. Everyone who reads this text and others like it, will see that Scripture continually speaks of God’s people one by one and speaks of them as having been the special subjects of election. “Sons we are through God’s election, Who in Jesus Christ believe; By eternal destination Sovereign grace we here receive.” We know it is personal election

More to come. May the Lord’s truth and grace be found here. Have a blessed day in the Lord.

Soli deo Gloria!