I woke up early today...Ernie had to be somewhere by 6am, and it didn't take long for me to feel wide awake. These days each morning is so unpredictable, my body can be ready to go at 5:30, or needs extra sleep until 10. But today was a great day to begin early, I began my new goal of gradually making my way through all of Charles Haddon Spurgeon's sermans, with the first chapter of our volumes.
The first chapter was based off of Isaiah 45:22 “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other."
Spurgeon talked about 2 things: How God makes it clear to man that "I am God and there is no other", and "Simply Look to me, and be saved." The sermon title was Sovereignty and Salvation.
As I was reading I was reminded that I have fear of other leaders, religions, and idols who claim to be gods to other people and really have a grip on them. Sometimes it seems like their lies are so powerful, and their followers are many. But Spurgeon mentions God teaches that he is God alone to idols, empires, monarchs, wise men, and even the church of God.
Where can we find the "ancient gods of the heathen?" asks Spurgeon. "Where are those false deities before whom the multitudes of Nineveh prostrated themselves?....ask the moles...or the mounds beneath which they are buried...walketh through a museum -see them there as curiosities and smile to think that men would ever bow before such gods as these. Others such as the gods of Greece, Persia, or Rome. Are there any now that bow before these gods? No, they have lost their thrones. God teaches that he alone is God, and beside him, there is none else.
God teaches empires. Many empires claimed to be great, eternal cities. Spurgeon pointed out you could go to Babylon, covered in sand, it's sand of it's own ruins. Or go to the empty theaters of Rome and "hear a voice in the wild wind amid those ruins- "I am God and there is none else, oh city, thou didst call thyself eternal; I have made thee melt away like dew..."
God teaches Monarchs and Kings. Spurgeon uses Herod as an example here. Herod called himself a god, thought himself to be above man, yet he was eaten by worms. "Ah! Monarch! Thou thoughtest of being a god, and worms have eaten thee!"
God teaches the wise men of this world. "The wisdom of man will not see God...wise men have become fools. These men...who have devised systems of philosophy, saying they will last forever...wrote their sayings on enduring parchment...but once man is done gazing at one system, his eyes sparkle at another. Another century later, their words are wood, hay and stubble.
Once Spurgeon has shown us the many ways God has made himself to be God alone, he points to how God tells us to be saved. Spurgeon was using the King James, which says Look unto me and be saved (from his passage in Isaiah 45:22)...He explains how simple it is. Yet it is the most difficult thing for man to look to Jesus instead of looking to themselves to be right with God. Some say in their despair, they cannot see Jesus. Spurgeon says it doesn't require for you to see but only look! People think righteousness is what qualifies them to come to Jesus, Spurgeon says: "Sin is the only qualification for a man to come to Jesus...the more sin I have the more cause I have to hope for mercy...the more vile a man is, the more eagerly I invite them to believe in Jesus." "So if a sinner only looks to Jesus, he will save him; for Jesus in the dark is as good as Jesus in the light; and Jesus, when you cannot see him, is as good as Jesus when you can. It says only 'look!'"
