Never! Never! Never! Never! Never!

[Book of Jeremiah]

This is a Word from God for some readers tonight. Never! Never! Will the Lord forsake you or leave you. Your friends may abandon you, your family may even abandon you..... the entire community may cast you out! ....but Jesus Christ will not forsake you or leave you. What a faithful Lord and Savior we serve! Be blessed as you read tonight's sermon from Charles Spurgeon.

Never! Never! Never! Never! Never!

A Sermon
(No. 477)
Delivered on Sunday Morning, October 26th, 1862, by
Rev. C. H. SPURGEON,
At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington

"He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."—Hebrews 13:5.

HAT POWER RESIDES in "Thus saith the Lord!" The man who can grasp by faith, "He hath said," has an all-conquering weapon in his hand. What doubt will not be slain by this to two-edged sword? What fear is that which shall not fall smitten with a deadly wound before this arrow from the bow of God's covenant? Will not the distresses of life and the pangs of death, will not the corruptions within and the temptations without, will not the trials from above and the temptations from beneath all seem but light afflictions when we can hide ourselves behind the bulwark of "He hath said?" Whether for delight in our quietude, or for strength in our conflict, "He hath said" must be our daily resort.

Hence, let us learn, my brethren, the extreme value of searching the Scriptures. There may be a promise in the Word which would exactly fit your case, but you may not know of it, and therefore miss its comfort. You are like prisoners in a dungeon, and there may be one key in the bunch which would unlock the door, and you might be free; but if you will not look for it you may remain a prisoner still, though liberty is near at hand. There may be a potent medicine in the great pharmacopia of Scripture, and you may still remain sick, though there is the precise remedy that would meet your disease, unless you will examine and search the Scriptures to discover what "He hath said."

Should we not, beside reading Scripture, store our memories richly with the promises of God? We can recollect the sayings of great men; we treasure up the verses of renowned poets; ought we not to be profound in our knowledge of the words of God? The Scriptures should be the classics of a Christian, and as our orators quote Homer, or Virgil, or Horace, when they would clinch a point, so we should be able to quote the promises of God when we would solve a difficulty or overthrow a doubt. "He hath said," is the foundation of all riches and the fountain of all comfort, let it dwell in you richly as "a well of water, springing up unto everlasting life."

And, oh, my brethren, how diligently should we test the Scriptures! Besides searching them by reading, and treasuring them by memory, we should test them by experience, and so often as a promise is proven to be true we should make a mark against it, and note that we also can say, as did one of old, "This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me."

"Wait on the Lord," said Isaiah, and then he added "Wait, I say, on the Lord," as if his own experience led him to echo the voice of God to his hearers. Test the promise, take God's banknote to the counter, and mark if it be cashed. Grasp the lever, which he ordains to lift your trials, and try if it possesses real power. Cast this divine tree into the bitter waters of your Marah, and learn how it will sweeten them.

Take this salt, and throw it into the turbid waters, and witness if they be not made sweet, as were the waters of old by the prophet Elisha. Taste and see that the Lord is good, for there is no want to them that fear him.

Never! Never! Never! Never! Never!

 

[Book of Jeremiah]

 

[Book of Jeremiah]

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31 ​

 

[Book of Jeremiah]

Example given by Spurgeon - God did not leave Jacob nor forsake him...

One of the first instances is to be found in Genesis 28:15. "Behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of." Here we have this promise in the case of a man of trials.

More than either Abraham or Isaac, Jacob was the son of tribulation. He was now flying away from his father's house, leaving the over-fondness of a mother's attachment, abhorred by his elder brother, who sought his blood. He lies down to sleep, with a stone for his pillow, with the hedges for his curtains, with the earth for his bed, and the heavens for his canopy; and as he sleeps thus friendless, solitary, and alone, God saith to him "I will never, never leave thee."

Mark his after career. He is guided to Padan-aram; God, his guide, leaves him not. At Padan-aram Laban cheats him, wickedly and wrongfully cheats him in many ways; but God doth not leave him, and he is more than a match for the thievish Laban. He flies at last with his wives and children; Laban, in hot haste pursues him, but the Lord does not leave him; Mizpah's Mount bears witness that God can stop the pursuer, and change the foe into a friend.

Esau comes against him; let Jabbok testify to Jacob's wrestlings, and through the power of him who never did forsake his servant, Esau kisses his brother, whom once he thought to slay.

Anon Jacob dwells in tents and booths at Succoth; he journeys up and down throughout the land, and his sons treacherously slay the Shechemites. Then the nations round about seek to avenge their death, but the Lord again interposes, and Jacob is delivered.

Poor Jacob is bereaved of his sons. He cries—"Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and now ye will take Benjamin away; all these things are against me." But they are not against him; God has not left him, for he has not yet done everything that he had spoken to him of.

The old man goes into Egypt; his lips are refreshed while he kisses the cheeks of his favourite Joseph, and until the last, when he gathers up his feet in the bed and sings of that coming Shiloh and the scepter that should not depart from Judah, good old Jacob proves that in six troubles God is with his people, and in seven he doth not forsake them; that even to hoar hairs he is the same, and until old age he doth carry them.

You Jacobs, full of affliction, you tried and troubled heirs of heaven, he hath said to you, each one of you—oh! believe him!—I will never leave thee; I will never forsake thee."

Never! Never! Never! Never! Never!

 

[Book of Jeremiah]

Another example of God's faithfulness to His Servant Moses and His people....

The next instance in which we find this same promise is in Deuteronomy 31:6. Here we find it spoken, not so much to individuals as to the whole body collectively.

Moses said unto the people of Judah, by the Word of God, "Be strong, and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee."

Beloved, we may take this promise as being spoken to God's Church, as a Church. These people were to fight the accursed nations of Canaan, to drive out the giants, and the men who had chariots of iron, but the Lord said he would never leave them, nor did he, till from Dan to Beersheba the favored race possessed the promised land, and the tribes went up to Jerusalem with the voice of joyful song.

Now, as the Church of God, let us remember that the land lieth before us, and we are called of God to go up and possess it. I would it were my lot yet more and more, like Joshua, to lead you from one place to another, smiting the enemies of the Lord and extending the kingdom of Messias!

Let us undertake what we may, we shall never fail. Let us, by faith, dare great things, and we shall do great things. Let us venture upon notable exploits which shall seem fanatical to reason and absurd to men of prudence, for he hath said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

If the Church of God would but know that her Lord cannot leave her, she might attempt greater things than she has ever done, and the success of her attempts would be most certain and sure. God never can forsake a praying people, nor cast off a laboring Church; he must bless us even to the end.
Never! Never! Never! Never! Never!

 

[Book of Jeremiah]

Listen to this Word from God to Joshua! To God be the Glory!
_____

The third occasion upon which this promise was made is in Joshua 1:5, where the Lord says to Joshua, "There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

"Now this is a minister's text. If we be called to lead the people, to bear the brunt of the fight, the burden and heat of the day, let us treasure up this as our precious consolation, he will not fail us nor forsake us.

It needs not that I should tell you that it is not every man who can stand first in the ranks, and that, albeit there is no small share of honor given by God to such a man, yet there is a bitterness in his lot which no other men can know.

There are times when, if it were not for faith, we would give up the ghost, and, were not the Master with us, we would turn our back and fly, like Jonah, unto Nineveh. But if any of you be called to occupy prominent positions in God's Church, bind this about your arm and it shall make you strong; He hath said to you, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." Go, in this thy might; the Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor.

Never! Never! Never! Never! Never!
______
I have to point out something here - Charles Spurgeon had not received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and so it is understandable that he would not understand that the Scripture he is quoting (Joshua 1:5) is unto All Believers not just the office of Pastor. Scripture clearly tells us that we are ministers of the Gospel and we are to minister by the Spirit of God not the dead letter of the law...

Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. -2 Corinthians 3:6

 

[Book of Jeremiah]

God's promise to the man after His Own Heart... David! You too, can have a relationship with God as King David did! What a glorious gift Salvation from Jesus Christ is to those who have received Him! Thank God for the Comforter He has sent us! The Holy Spirit!
_______
On the next occasion, this same promise was given by David in his last moments to his son Solomon, 1 Chronicles 28:20. David was speaking of what he himself by experience had proved to be true, and he declares—"Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the Lord God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord."

Some Christians are placed where they need much prudence, discretion, and wisdom. You may take this for your promise. The Queen of Sheba came to see Solomon; she put to him many difficult questions, but God did not leave him, nor forsake him, and he was able to answer them all.

As judge over Israel, many knotty points were brought before him; you remember the child and the harlots, and how wisely he decided the case. The building of the temple was a very mighty work—the like of which the earth had never seen, but, by wisdom given to him, the stones were fashioned, and laid one upon another, till at last the top stone was brought out with shoutings.

You shall do the same, O man of business, though yours be a very responsible situation. You shall finish your course, O careful worker, though there are many eyes that watch for your halting.

You shall do the same, sister, though you need to have seven eyes rather than two, you shall hear the voice of God saying, "This is the way, walk ye in it." Thou shalt never be ashamed nor confounded, world without end.

Never! Never! Never! Never! Never!

 

[HaShev]

Ummmm, the character abandoned his apostles and got them slain.
Never trust a psychodelic mushroom eating
long haired bearded hippy in sack cloth robe and sandals.

 

[Book of Jeremiah]

Once more, and perhaps this fifth occasion may be the most comforting to the most of you, Isaiah 41:17, "When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them."

You may be brought to this state to-day. Your soul may need Christ, but you may not be able to find him. You may feel that without the mercy which comes from the atoning blood you are lost.

You may have gone to works and ceremonies, to prayings and doings, to alms-givings and to experiences, and have found them all dried wells, and now you can hardly pray, for your tongue cleaves to the roof of your mouth for thirst. Now in your worst condition, brought to the lowest state into which a creature ever can be cast, Christ will not forsake you, he will appear for your help.

Surely, one of these five occasions must suit you, and let me here remind you that whatever God has said to any one saint he has said to all. When he opens a well for one man it is that all may drink.

When the manna falls, it is not only for those in the wilderness, but we by faith do eat the manna still. No promise is of private interpretation. When God openeth a granary-door to give out food, there may be some one starving man who is the occasion of its being opened, but all the hungry besides may come and feed too.

Whether he gave the word to Abraham or to Moses matters not; he has given it to thee as one of the covenanted seed. There is not a high blessing too lofty for thee; nor a wide mercy too extensive for thee. Lift up now thine eyes to the north and to the south, to the east and to the west, for all this is thine.

Climb to Pisgah's top, and view the utmost limit of the divine promise, for the land is all thine own. There is not a brook of living water of which thou mayest not drink. If the land floweth with milk and honey, eat the honey and drink the milk.

The fattest of the kine, yea, and the sweetest of the wines, let all be thine, for there is no denial of any one of them to any saint. Be thou bold to believe, for he hath said, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."

To put everything in one, there is nothing you can want, there is nothing you can ask for, there is nothing you can need in time or in eternity, there is nothing living, nothing dying, there is nothing in this world, nothing in the next world, there is nothing now, nothing at the resurrection-morning, nothing in heaven that is not contained in this text—"I will never leave thee; I will never forsake thee."

Never! Never! Never! Never! Never!

 

[HaShev]

You posted "the God of Israel" but then you are preaching the god of the Babylonians and Phonecians through his new image mask the dying son of Baal (morning star mythology of the Canaanites).

 

[JakeStarkey]

You posted "the God of Israel" but then you are preaching the god of the Babylonians and Phonecians through his new image mask the dying son of Baal (morning star mythology of the Canaanites).

Come on, bobby, you promised your keepers you would take your meds if they let you out for the coming weekend!

 

[ABikerSailor]

WTF Jeremiah? Are you someone who failed out of the priesthood and has now decided to preach on messageboards?

 

[LA RAM FAN]

how about NEVER NEVER NEVER the Rams leave LA again? lol

 

[LA RAM FAN]

WTF Jeremiah? Are you someone who failed out of the priesthood and has now decided to preach on messageboards?

For once I actually agree with you.
since you abandoned me on my Rams thread Jeri,,cant defend you anymore.

 

[Book of Jeremiah]

 

[ABikerSailor]

Scratch that................Jeremiah isn't preaching, he's running his own Sunday school, complete with hokey songs.

Yo...................Jeremiah..........................when does the graham crackers and apple juice come out?

 

[Book of Jeremiah]

WTF Jeremiah? Are you someone who failed out of the priesthood and has now decided to preach on messageboards?

I'm obeying the Lord. I'm glad to see you and others are reading tonight. Be sure to listen to the hymns. They are very beautiful. Thank you for reading, Biker.

 

[ABikerSailor]

Actually, I'm laughing at you more than I'm reading.

 

[Book of Jeremiah]

WTF Jeremiah? Are you someone who failed out of the priesthood and has now decided to preach on messageboards?

For once I actually agree with you.
since you abandoned me on my Rams thread Jeri,,cant defend you anymore.

As I recall I only posted a few comments supporting you in your hopes for the Rams to return to LA as this appeared to be what you wanted to see happen, 9/11. I prayed for your team, they returned and you did not give the glory to God for that answered prayer. Life is more than the geographical location of a football stadium, 9/11. Far more. I never needed you to defend me. Why would I need a human to defend me when God Almighty is my Father and He is my defense?

I simply do not even have concerns such as that. My concern is for those of you who do not realize the lateness of the hour! Soon the judgment of God will fall upon America - California which is a Sodom and Gomorrah will be in ashes as will other locations around the country and where shall you be then? Where would you go if you died tonight?

To day is the day of Salvation.

 

[ABikerSailor]

Question Jeremiah................is Jesus going to prevent the Buddhists from entering Nirvana because He's upset they didn't follow Him?