Go, Stand & Speak

Morning devotion - C.H. Spurgeon March 31st

"With His stripes we are healed." — Isaiah 53:5

Pilate delivered our Lord to the lictors to be scourged. The Roman scourge was a most dreadful instrument of torture. It was made of the sinews of oxen, and sharp bones were inter-twisted every here and there among the sinews; so that every time the lash came down these pieces of bone inflicted fearful laceration, and tore off the flesh from the bone. The Saviour was, no doubt, bound to the column, and thus beaten. He had been beaten before; but this of the Roman lictors was probably the most severe of His flagellations. My soul, stand here and weep over His poor stricken body.

Believer in Jesus, can you gaze upon Him without tears, as He stands before you the mirror of agonizing love? He is at once fair as the lily for innocence, and red as the rose with the crimson of His own blood. As we feel the sure and blessed healing which His stripes have wrought in us, does not our heart melt at once with love and grief? If ever we have loved our Lord Jesus, surely we must feel that affection glowing now within our bosoms.

"See how the patient Jesus stands,
Insulted in His lowest case!
Sinners have bound the Almighty's hands,
And spit in their Creator's face.

With thorns His temples gor'd and gash'd
Send streams of blood from every part;
His back's with knotted scourges lash'd.
But sharper scourges tear His heart."

We would fain go to our chambers and weep; but since our business calls us away, we will first pray our Beloved to print the image of His bleeding self upon the tablets of our hearts all the day, and at nightfall we will return to commune with Him, and sorrow that our sin should have cost Him so dear.

Witnessing to the Witnesses

This is from the other day when two ladies came to our door to invite us

to the local Jehovah's Witness commemoration of Jesus death.

Some folks may be appalled at the following technique and think it unloving. But imagine this was

the last door they ever knocked on before walking into eternity.

One day what will be seen as unloving will be shown to be the opposite.

If you are unable to witness to JW's 1-on-1... try to open air preach as they are walking away. Please pray for Barbara.

Morning devotion - C.H. Spurgeon March 29th

"Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered." — Hebrews 5:8

We are told that the Captain of our salvation was made perfect through suffering, therefore we who are sinful, and who are far from being perfect, must not wonder if we are called to pass through suffering too. Shall the head be crowned with thorns, and shall the other members of the body be rocked upon the dainty lap of ease? Must Christ pass through seas of His own blood to win the crown, and are we to walk to heaven dryshod in silver slippers? No, our Master's experience teaches us that suffering is necessary, and the true-born child of God must not, would not, escape it if he might. But there is one very comforting thought in the fact of Christ's "being made perfect through suffering"—it is, that He can have complete sympathy with us. "He is not an high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities." In this sympathy of Christ we find a sustaining power. One of the early martyrs said, "I can bear it all, for Jesus suffered, and He suffers in me now; He sympathizes with me, and this makes me strong." Believer, lay hold of this thought in all times of agony. Let the thought of Jesus strengthen you as you follow in His steps. Find a sweet support in His sympathy; and remember that, to suffer is an honourable thing—to suffer for Christ is glory. The apostles rejoiced that they were counted worthy to do this. Just so far as the Lord shall give us grace to suffer for Christ, to suffer with Christ, just so far does He honour us. The jewels of a Christian are his afflictions. The regalia of the kings whom God hath anointed are their troubles, their sorrows, and their griefs. Let us not, therefore, shun being honoured. Let us not turn aside from being exalted. Griefs exalt us, and troubles lift us up. "If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him."

Is this Benny Hinn?

THE FOLLOWING POST IS NOT, I REPEAT NOT AN ENDORSEMENT OF BENNY HINN'S MINISTRY.

However, if a false prophet like Balaam can be used to speak truth then Benny Hinn can be used as well. To all my fellow street preachers, are you willing to stand up and say with passion and conviction that Jesus is the ONLY WAY? Are you going to let a false prophet preach with more conviction? Sadly, Benny Hinn... BENNY HINN... is shaming many of us!

Brothers, stand up and mean what you say! Preach in the sight of God, as if it is the last time you will proclaim His name to a lost world! Keep doing that and one day you will be right. Let the Holy Spirit empower you to preach the truth in love and then you will know that He still uses Balaam's donkey as well.

Morning devotion - C.H. Spurgeon March 27th

"Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled." — Matthew 26:56

He never deserted them, but they in cowardly fear of their lives, fled from Him in the very beginning of His sufferings. This is but one instructive instance of the frailty of all believers if left to themselves; they are but sheep at the best, and they flee when the wolf cometh. They had all been warned of the danger, and had promised to die rather than leave their Master; and yet they were seized with sudden panic, and took to their heels. It may be, that I, at the opening of this day, have braced up my mind to bear a trial for the Lord's sake, and I imagine myself to be certain to exhibit perfect fidelity; but let me be very jealous of myself, lest having the same evil heart of unbelief, I should depart from my Lord as the apostles did. It is one thing to promise, and quite another to perform. It would have been to their eternal honour to have stood at Jesus' side right manfully; they fled from honour; may I be kept from imitating them! Where else could they have been so safe as near their Master, who could presently call for twelve legions of angels? They fled from their true safety. O God, let me not play the fool also. Divine grace can make the coward brave. The smoking flax can flame forth like fire on the altar when the Lord wills it. These very apostles who were timid as hares, grew to be bold as lions after the Spirit had descended upon them, and even so the Holy Spirit can make my recreant spirit brave to confess my Lord and witness for His truth.

What anguish must have filled the Saviour as He saw His friends so faithless! This was one bitter ingredient in His cup; but that cup is drained dry; let me not put another drop in it. If I forsake my Lord, I shall crucify Him afresh, and put Him to an open shame. Keep me, O blessed Spirit, from an end so shameful.

Morning devotion - C.H. Spurgeon March 26th

"Jesus said unto them, If ye seek Me, let these go their way." — John 18:8

Mark, my soul, the care which Jesus manifested even in His hour of trial, towards the sheep of His hand! The ruling passion is strong in death. He resigns Himself to the enemy, but He interposes a word of power to set His disciples free. As to Himself, like a sheep before her shearers He is dumb and opened not His mouth, but for His disciples' sake He speaks with Almighty energy. Herein is love, constant, self-forgetting, faithful love. But is there not far more here than is to be found upon the surface? Have we not the very soul and spirit of the atonement in these words? The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep, and pleads that they must therefore go free. The Surety is bound, and justice demands that those for whom He stands a substitute should go their way. In the midst of Egypt's bondage, that voice rings as a word of power, "Let these go their way." Out of slavery of sin and Satan the redeemed must come. In every cell of the dungeons of Despair, the sound is echoed, "Let these go their way," and forth come Despondency and Much-afraid. Satan hears the well-known voice, and lifts his foot from the neck of the fallen; and Death hears it, and the grave opens her gates to let the dead arise. Their way is one of progress, holiness, triumph, glory, and none shall dare to stay them in it. No lion shall be on their way, neither shall any ravenous beast go up thereon. "The hind of the morning" has drawn the cruel hunters upon himself, and now the most timid roes and hinds of the field may graze at perfect peace among the lilies of his loves. The thunder-cloud has burst over the Cross of Calvary, and the pilgrims of Zion shall never be smitten by the bolts of vengeance. Come, my heart, rejoice in the immunity which thy Redeemer has secured thee, and bless His name all the day, and every day.

Morning devotion - C.H. Spurgeon March 25th

"Betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss?" — Luke 22:48

The kisses of an enemy are deceitful." Let me be on my guard when the world puts on a loving face, for it will, if possible, betray me as it did my Master, with a kiss. Whenever a man is about to stab religion, he usually professes very great reverence for it. Let me beware of the sleek-faced hypocrisy which is armour-bearer to heresy and infidelity. Knowing the deceivableness of unrighteousness, let me be wise as a serpent to detect and avoid the designs of the enemy. The young man, void of understanding, was led astray by the kiss of the strange woman: may my soul be so graciously instructed all this day, that "the much fair speech" of the world may have no effect upon me. Holy Spirit, let me not, a poor frail son of man, be betrayed with a kiss!

But what if I should be guilty of the same accursed sin as Judas, that son of perdition? I have been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus; I am a member of His visible Church; I sit at the communion table: all these are so many kisses of my lips. AM"> I sincere in them? If not, I am a base traitor. Do I live in the world as carelessly as others do, and yet make a profession of being a follower of Jesus? Then I must expose religion to ridicule, and lead men to speak evil of the holy name by which I am called. Surely if I act thus inconsistently I am a Judas, and it were better for me that I had never been born. Dare I hope that I am clear in this matter? Then, O Lord, keep me so. O Lord, make me sincere and true. Preserve me from every false way. Never let me betray my Saviour. I do love Thee, Jesus, and though I often grieve Thee, yet I would desire to abide faithful even unto death. O God, forbid that I should be a high-soaring professor, and then fall at last into the lake of fire, because I betrayed my Master with a kiss.

It will cost you everything! Steve Lawson

Morning devotion - C.H. Spurgeon March 24th

"He was heard in that he feared." — Hebrews 5:7

Did this fear arise from the infernal suggestion that He was utterly forsaken. There may be sterner trials than this, but surely it is one of the worst to be utterly forsaken? "See," said Satan, "thou hast a friend nowhere! Thy Father hath shut up the bowels of His compassion against thee. Not an angel in His courts will stretch out his hand to help thee. All heaven is alienated from Thee; Thou art left alone. See the companions with whom Thou hast taken sweet counsel, what are they worth? Son of Mary, see there Thy brother James, see there Thy loved disciple John, and Thy bold apostle Peter, how the cowards sleep when Thou art in Thy sufferings! Lo! Thou hast no friend left in heaven or earth. All hell is against Thee. I have stirred up mine infernal den. I have sent my missives throughout all regions summoning every prince of darkness to set upon Thee this night, and we will spare no arrows, we will use all our infernal might to overwhelm Thee: and what wilt Thou do, Thou solitary one?" It may be, this was the temptation; we think it was, because the appearance of an angel unto Him strengthening Him removed that fear. He was heard in that He feared; He was no more alone, but heaven was with Him. It may be that this is the reason of His coming three times to His disciples—as Hart puts it—

"Backwards and forwards thrice He ran,
As if He sought some help from man."

He would see for Himself whether it were really true that all men had forsaken Him; He found them all asleep; but perhaps He gained some faint comfort from the thought that they were sleeping, not from treachery, but from sorrow, the spirit indeed was willing, but the flesh was weak. At any rate, He was heard in that He feared. Jesus was heard in His deepest woe; my soul, thou shalt be heard also.

Weeping For Souls - Paul Washer

Birthday Evangelism

He is with you!

“Then I said to you, ‘Do not be terrified, or afraid of them. The LORD your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness where you saw how the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place.’ Yet, for all that, you did not believe the LORD your God, who went in the way before you to search out a place for you to pitch your tents, to show you the way you should go, in the fire by night and in the cloud by day."Deuteronomy 1:29-33

BELIEVE Evangelists! That the Lord is with you and going forward to fight for you. Preparing hearts for the gospel.

Tearing down strongholds with His word!

BELIEVE that the Lord has faithfully provided & carried for you your whole life and loves you like a son.

THE LORD IS OUR GOD! Do you believe this?

Then GO and seek the lost with boldness!

This sermon from Paul Washer will bless your soul and fire you up for missions.

Evangelism Crash Course 3-March 20th: Compass Group

This Saturday March 20th we are going to do our Evangelism Crash Course Training for the CBC Singles Group: "Compass". We're meeting in the High Schoolers room at 3:00 pm SHARP!

THIS IS A SIGN-UP SHEET EVENT. This is not a walk in event, you must have previously signed up with Forest to attend. We will have two teams going to Noho & Hollywood Blvd. I've picked a small team of people who will be leading the groups.

I would kindly ask that all of our regular evangelists or new evangelists please meet at CBC parking lot at 4:30 pm so that we can figure out together where you will "GO" from there. We're trying to spread out the evangelism, so we need to work together to help train up new evangelists and keep the regulars "stoking the fire".

Not a bad problem to have is it? Trying to coordinate LOTS of evangelists. PRAISE THE LORD!!

Morning devotion - C.H. Spurgeon March 13th

"Why sit her until we die?" 2 Kings 7:3

"Dear reader, this little book was mainly intended for the edification of believers, but if you are yet unsaved, our heart yearns over you: and we would fain say a word which may be blessed to you. Open your Bible, and read the story of the lepers, and mark their position, which was much the same as yours. If you remain where you are you must perish; if you go to Jesus you can but die. "Nothing venture, nothing win," is the old proverb, and in your case the venture is no great one. If you sit still in sullen despair, no one can pity you when your ruin comes; but if you die with mercy sought, if such a thing were possible, you would be the object of universal sympathy. None escape who refuse to look to Jesus; but you know that, at any rate, some are saved who believe in Him, for certain of your own acquaintances have received mercy: then why not you? The Ninevites said, "Who can tell?" Act upon the same hope, and try the Lord's mercy. To perish is so awful, that if there were but a straw to catch at, the instinct of self-preservation should lead you to stretch out your hand. We have thus been talking to you on your own unbelieving ground, we would now assure you, as from the Lord, that if you seek Him He will be found of you. Jesus casts out none who come unto Him. You shall not perish if you trust Him; on the contrary, you shall find treasure far richer than the poor lepers gathered in Syria's deserted camp. May the Holy Spirit embolden you to go at once, and you shall not believe in vain. When you are saved yourself, publish the good news to others. Hold not your peace; tell the King's household first, and unite with them in fellowship; let the porter of the city, the minister, be informed of your discovery, and then proclaim the good news in every place. The Lord save thee ere the sun goes down this day."

Mike & Aiden

This was a witness encounter that started from handing out Million Dollar Bills at the Hollywood & Vine Subway station. Mike asked me what it was and off we went! His friend Aiden shortly joined in. I'll admit I was a little all over the place and learned what not to say from listening to the recording of myself. I encourage everyone to GET A RECORDER and listen to your own witnessing encounters. You'll learn a lot from your own mistakes. Praise the Lord that He saves people in-spite of us!

If you ever walk away from a witnessing encounter and knew you didn't do a great job or say everything correct, the Lord can take what you did share to work on the person's heart. You'll get better the more you "GO"! Just be faithful!

The Mouth Speaks

"And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”"

Mark 7:20-23

Yesterday Mike S., Aaron, Nathan and I went to John Burroughs High to hand out bibles and tracts. Something I try to do now as I'm handing out bibles is to preach the Gospel. The Gospel truly brings out the worst in man. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Some of the most vile, blasphemy I have yet heard comes out of the mouth of the children at high schools. It grieves your heart. There go I but by the grace of God. If only someone had come to my school when I was their age and preached the good news, many a pains of regret would have been avoided. But PRAISE THE LORD, I handed out about 15 Bibles, even while preaching! Please pray for those who heard and received tracts and bibles. The enemy hates that we go to those schools! Yesterday alone, 4 people tried to stop us from preaching.

Marching Orders for a Backslidden Church (Phil Johnson) Shepherd's Conference 2010)

Every preacher should hear this message!

John Piper - What about Muslims, Hindus, Buddhist, and Jewish people?

Morning devotion - C.H. Spurgeon March 10th

"In my prosperity I said I shall never be moved." — Psalm 30:6

"Moab settled on his lees, he hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel." Give a man wealth; let his ships bring home continually rich freights; let the winds and waves appear to be his servants to bear his vessels across the bosom of the mighty deep; let his lands yield abundantly: let the weather be propitious to his crops; let uninterrupted success attend him; let him stand among men as a successful merchant; let him enjoy continued health; allow him with braced nerve and brilliant eye to march through the world, and live happily; give him the buoyant spirit; let him have the song perpetually on his lips; let his eye be ever sparkling with joy—and the natural consequence of such an easy state to any man, let him be the best Christian who ever breathed, will be presumption; even David said, "I shall never be moved;" and we are not better than David, nor half so good. Brother, beware of the smooth places of the way; if you are treading them, or if the way be rough, thank God for it. If God should always rock us in the cradle of prosperity; if we were always dandled on the knees of fortune; if we had not some stain on the alabaster pillar; if there were not a few clouds in the sky; if we had not some bitter drops in the wine of this life, we should become intoxicated with pleasure, we should dream "we stand;" and stand we should, but it would be upon a pinnacle; like the man asleep upon the mast, each moment we should be in jeopardy.

We bless God, then, for our afflictions; we thank Him for our changes; we extol His name for losses of property; for we feel that had He not chastened us thus, we might have become too secure. Continued worldly prosperity is a fiery trial.

"Afflictions, though they seem severe,
In mercy oft are sent."

John Piper - Seeing the Glory of Christ Changes Us

Life Lessons With My Son

I often learn life lessons while doing chores around the house with my son.

Today we were digging up dandelion weeds in the front yard. The job is: I dig them up & my son puts them in the bucket. I've already taught him that sin is like weeds. The longer you ignore it the worse it gets. The only way to deal with it is to take a tool and dig it out! I guess in our own lives the tool would be God's word and by the power of the Spirit, the Lord digs it out of us.

But todays lesson hit me when my son stopped helping me put the weeds in the bucket and just went around pointing out where the dandelions were. What I realized is that many Christians (myself included) do that with SIN in our culture or the world. We go around pointing it out but never do anything to remedy it. We never take the "tool" of the gospel and share it so that people will be saved from the very sin they are perishing from. What I have learned is if you don't share your faith you will just complain. Share Christ! If the person gets saved the Lord will transform the heart of the person and they to in-turn will be a soul winner!

Wether in weeding our soul winning they both require you get your hands dirty.

This is a sermon we listened to yesterday from Pastor Chris Barksdale from The Hollywood Church. This is a man who he and his family have truly forsaken the world in order to win the lost in Hollywood to Christ! Please pray for his ministry, this sermon will hopefully encourage you to "GO" to seek the lost!

Congrats to Mike & Dan!!

First Ambassadors Academy of the year had TWO brothers "representin" CBC!

Great job guys, now you will have no excuse for NOT open air preaching!!

Spurgeon quote for the day! 3-6-10

Sharon sent me this great quote from "The Soul Winner". Seriously, this book should be required reading for every evangelist.

"We ought to regard the Christian Church, not as a luxurious hostelry where Christian gentlemen may each one dwell at his ease in his own inn, but as a barracks in which soldiers are gathered together to be drilled and trained for war. We should regard the Christian Church, not as an association for mutual admiration and comfort, but as an army with banners, marching to the fray, to achieve victories for Christ, to storm the strongholds of the foe, and to add province after province to the Redeemer's kingdom" - C.H. Spurgeon

Do you have ZEAL?

Last night Dean, Sai, Aaron, Bea, Nathan and I went to Noho subway station. There was so much demonic activity out, you could feel it in the air. We had a horde of JW's, a raging drunk, a Scientologist handing out his cult material AND the flute guy who plays super loud! (Thankfully the police came and shut him down)

At one point Aaron and I were both moved to open air. Aaron did a great job preaching in Spanish and even though I couldn't understand him I could hear his ZEAL. Afterwards the Lord moved me to preach and to be honest... I lost my mind. Gratefully my recorder was full and I didn't record one second of my preaching, because you would have heard a freak. Yet afterwards the saints said many encouraging things about what was said.

This was my morning reading from Numbers 25:1-13 and I it struck me the practical application of this passage of how we are to have ZEAL for the Lord:

Israel’s Harlotry in Moab

¹ Now Israel remained in Acacia Grove, and the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab. ² They invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. ³ So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, and the anger of the LORD was aroused against Israel.

⁴ Then the LORD said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and hang the offenders before the LORD, out in the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel.”
⁵ So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Every one of you kill his men who were joined to Baal of Peor.”
⁶ And indeed, one of the children of Israel came and presented to his brethren a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. ⁷ Now when Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose from among the congregation and took a javelin in his hand; ⁸ and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her body. So the plague was stopped among the children of Israel. ⁹ And those who died in the plague were twenty-four thousand.
¹⁰ Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: ¹¹ “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned back My wrath from the children of Israel, because he was zealous with My zeal among them, so that I did not consume the children of Israel in My zeal. ¹²Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him My covenant of peace; ¹³ and it shall be to him and his descendants after him a covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was zealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel.’”

Now I'm not suggesting you should go out and "skewer" the next JW you see. What I'm asking is: DO YOU HAVE ZEAL FOR THE LORD? In a dark, evil world that is numb to its own sin a man or woman on fire for the Lord will burn brighter! What was encouraging to me is that the Lord says in v. 11 "he was zealous with My zeal". As if God had given it to him.

One thing I had learned after last night was that even though I had zeal for the Lord... I failed. You might ask "How did you fail?" I failed because after I got off the box people said very kind things about ME and that was the problem. If I had preached rightly they would have glorified God! It's not their fault, it is the preachers.

A great quote I once read was after C.H Spurgeon had finished preaching someone came up to him and said what a magnificent job he had done preaching. Spurgeon's response, "I know. The devil already told me before I got out of the pulpit."

Who's that guy?

Found this picture of the Ambassador's Academy registration tonight. Who is that guy walking through the door? Well, its our very own Mike S!! Please pray for him and Dan from CBC who are going through the intensive training of the Ambassador's Academy this weekend.

John Piper - Atheism: Laughable and blasphemous

A Wideness in God's Mercy?

Spurgeon quote for the day! 3-1-10

"And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people. And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed."—Numbers 16:47-48

Let me now view Aaron as THE INTERPOSER. Let me explain what I mean. As the old Westminster Annotations say upon this passage, "The plague was moving among the people as the fire moveth along a field of corn." There it came; it began in the extremity; the faces of men grew pale, and swiftly on, on it came, and in vast heaps they fell till some fourteen thousand had been destroyed. Aaron wisely puts himself just in the pathway of the plague. It came on, cutting down all before it, and there stood Aaron the interposer with arms outstretched and censor swinging towards heaven, interposing himself between the darts of death and the people. "If there be darts that must fly," he seemed to say, "let them pierce me; or let the incense shield both me and the people. Death," saith he, "art thou coming on thy pale horse? I arrest thee, I throw back thy steed upon his haunches. Art thou coming, thou skeleton king? With my censor in my hand I stand before thee; thou must march over my body; thou must empty my censer; thou must destroy God's High Priest, ere thou canst destroy this people." Just so was it with Christ. Wrath had gone out against us. The law was about to smite us the whole human race must be destroyed. Christ stands in the forefront of the battle. "The stripes must fall on me," he cries; "the arrows shall find a target in my breast. On me, Jehovah, let thy vengeance fall." And he receives that vengeance, and afterwards upspringing from the grave he waves the censer full of the merit of his blood, and bids this wrath and fury stand back. On which side are you to-day, sinner? Is God angry with thee, sinner? Are thy sins unforgiven? Say, art thou unpardoned? Art thou abiding still an heir of wrath and an inheritor of death? Ah! then would that thou wert on the other side of Christ. If thou dost believe on Christ, then let me ask thee, dost thou know that thou art completely saved? No wrath can ever reach thee, no spiritual death can ever destroy thee, no hell can ever consume thee, and why? What is thy guard, what thy protection? I see the tear, glistening in thine eye as thou sayest, "There is nothing between me and hell save Christ? There is nothing between me and Jehovah's wrath save Christ? There is nothing between me and instant destruction save Christ? But he is enough. He with the censor in his hand—God's great ordained Priest—he is enough." Ah, brothers and sisters, if you have put between you and God, baptisms and communions, fastings, prayers, tears and vows, Jehovah shall break through your refuges as the fire devours the stubble. But if, my soul, Christ stands between thee and Jehovah, Jehovah cannot smite thee; his thunderbolt must first pierce through the Divine Redeemer ere it can reach thee, and that can never be.
My dear hearers, do you perceive this great truth, that there is nothing which can save the soul of man, save Jesus Christ standing between that soul and the just judgment of God? And oh, I put again the personal enquiry to you, are you sheltered behind Christ? Sinner, are you standing to-day beneath the cross? Is that thy shelter? Is the purple robe of Jesus' atonement covered over you?
Are you like the dove which hides in the clefts of the rock? Have you hidden in the wounds of Christ? Say, have you crept into his side, and do you feel that he must be your shelter till the tempest be overpast? Oh, be of good cheer; he for whom Christ is the intercessor, is a rescued man. Oh, soul, if thou art not in Christ, what wilt thou do when the destroying angel comes? Careless sinner, what will become of thee when death arrests thee? Where wilt thou be when the judgment trumpet rings in thine ears, and sounds an alarm that shall wake the dead? Sleepy sinner, sleeping to-day under God's Word, will you sleep then, when Jehovah's thunders are let loose, and all his lightnings set the heavens in a blaze? I know where then you shall seek a shelter! You shall seek it where you cannot find it, you shall bid the rocks fall upon you, and ask the mountains to hide you, but their stony bowels shall know of no compassion, their hearts of adamant shall yield you no pity, and you shall stand exposed to the blast of vengeance and the shower of the hot hail of God's fury, and nothing shall protect you, but as Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed from off the face of the earth, so must you be destroyed, and that for ever and ever, because ye believed not on Jesus Christ, the Son of God."

C.H. Spurgeon - "The High Priest Standing Between the Living and the Dead"