All of Grace - Cat and the Pig

So, I wanted to share another Charles Spurgeon quote from All of Grace. This is an illustration of what our lives are like when Christ comes into our lives. It is a very clear picture of being born again.

"Do you see that cat? What a cleanly creature she is! How cleverly she washes herself with her tongue and her paws! It is  quite a pretty sight! Did you ever see a sow do that? No, you never did. It is contrary to its nature. It prefers to wallow in the mire.  Go and teach a sow to wash itself, and see how little success you would gain. It would be a great sanitary improvement if swine would be clean. Teach them to wash and clean themselves as the cat has been doing! Useless task. You may by force was that sow, but it hastens to the mire, and is soon as foul as ever. The only way in which you can get a sow to wash itself is to transform it into a cat; then it will wash and be clean, but not till then! Suppose that transformation to be accomplished, and then what was difficult or impossible is easy enough; the swine will henceforth be fit for your parlor and your hearth-rug. So it is with an ungodly man; you cannot force him to do what a renewed man does willingly; you may teach him, and set a him a good example, but he cannot learn the art of holiness, for he has no mind to it; his nature leads him another way. When the Lord makes a new man of him; hen all things wear a different aspect."

Did you catch what he was saying? When we are unsaved we care nothing for the things of God. Unbelievers think that the things of God are foolish. The Bible even says that in 1 Corinthians 2:14. When we become a Christian, the Holy Spirit goes inside of us. God comes into believers. He makes them into a new creation. You go from being an enemy of God to a child of God. You go from caring for the mud and filth of this world to pursuing to the righteousness of God. The person that you are after being saved does not resemble anything to the person that you were before you encountered the creator of the universe. Do you still struggle with sin once you become saved? Yes, but how your idea about sin is changed. You hate your sin. When you become a Christian your whole life should be focused on following His ways and not your own.

I would suggest that if you are a Christian then you should read this book in order to gain an idea of how to reach outsiders. If you are not a Christian then I still suggest reading this book. Spurgeon addresses many questions that unbelievers have.

All of Grace

   So, I guess I need to catch my readers up to speed. So, I have recently moved to Kansas City, Missouri. I am the Head of Acquisitions of the library at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. So, far I have really liked my time here. I have wonderful co-workers. This job is allowing me to gain great experience. Right now I am living on campus. Living on campus is really a blessing because I get to be around the patrons that I serve in the library. I am having a great time right now.

   I just thought I would share some quotes from a book I am reading right now called All of Grace by Charles Spurgeon. In case you did not know, Charles Spurgeon was a preacher and evangelist from the nineteenth century.  We actually have a Charles Spurgeon collection in the library at Midwestern. We have some of his personal books from his library along with his desk. So here are some quotes from this book that I wanted to share:

"God will spare the sinner because He did not spare His Son. God can pass by your transgressions because He laid those transgressions upon His only begotten Son nearly two thousand years ago. If you believe in Jesus, then your sins were carried away by Him who was the scapegoat for His people. What is it to believe in Him? It is not merely to say  'He is God and the Savior,' but to trust Him wholly and entirely, and take Him for all your salvation from this time forth and forever --your Lord, your Master, your all."

"My sole hope for heaven lies in the full atonement made upon Calvary's cross for the ungodly. On that I firmly rely. I have not he shadow of a hope anywhere else. You are in the same condition as I am; for we neither of us have anything own worth as a ground of trust. Let us join hands and stand together at the foot of the cross, and trust our souls for once for all to Him who shed His blood for the guilty."

(On how becoming a new person in Christ occurs) "'I cannot make this change,' says one. Who said you could? The Scripture which we have quoted speaks not of what man will do, but of what God will do. It is God's promise and it is for Him to fulfill his own engagements. Trust in Him to fulfill His Word to you, and it will be done. 'But how is it to be done' What business is that of yours? Must the Lord explain His methods before you will believe him? The Lord's working in this matter is a great mystery: the Holy Ghost performs it. He who made the promise has the responsibility of keeping the promise, and He is equal to the occasion. God who promises this marvelous change, will assuredly carry it out in all who receive Jesus, for to all such He gives power to become the Sons of God."