Tag Archives: Spurgeon

Uncategorized

Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

Leave a comment

 

Morning   “Without the shedding of blood is no remission.” / Hebrews 9:22

This is the voice of unalterable truth. In none of the Jewish ceremonies were  sins, even typically, removed without blood-shedding. In no case, by no means  can sin be pardoned without atonement. It is clear, then, that there is no  hope for me out of Christ; for there is no other blood-shedding which is worth  a thought as an atonement for sin. Am I, then, believing in him? Is the blood  of his atonement truly applied to my soul? All men are on a level as to their  need of him. If we be never so moral, generous, amiable, or patriotic, the  rule will not be altered to make an exception for us. Sin will yield to  nothing less potent than the blood of him whom God hath set forth as a  propitiation. What a blessing that there is the one way of pardon! Why should  we seek another?

Persons of merely formal religion cannot understand how we can rejoice that  all our sins are forgiven us for Christ’s sake. Their works, and prayers, and  ceremonies, give them very poor comfort; and well may they be uneasy, for they  are neglecting the one great salvation, and endeavouring to get remission  without blood. My soul, sit down, and behold the justice of God as bound to  punish sin; see that punishment all executed upon thy Lord Jesus, and fall  down in humble joy, and kiss the dear feet of him whose blood has made  atonement for thee. It is in vain when conscience is aroused to fly to  feelings and evidences for comfort: this is a habit which we learned in the  Egypt of our legal bondage. The only restorative for a guilty conscience is a  sight of Jesus suffering on the cross. “The blood is the life thereof,” says  the Levitical law, and let us rest assured that it is the life of faith and  joy and every other holy grace.

“Oh! how sweet to view the flowing

Of my Saviour’s precious blood;

With divine assurance knowing

He has made my peace with God.”

 

Evening   “And these are ancient things.” / 1 Chronicles 4:22

Yet not so ancient as those precious things which are the delight of our  souls. Let us for a moment recount them, telling them over as misers count  their gold. The sovereign choice of the Father, by which he elected us unto  eternal life, or ever the earth was, is a matter of vast antiquity, since no  date can be conceived for it by the mind of man. We were chosen from before  the foundations of the world. Everlasting love went with the choice, for it  was not a bare act of divine will by which we were set apart, but the divine  affections were concerned. The Father loved us in and from the beginning. Here  is a theme for daily contemplation. The eternal purpose to redeem us from our  foreseen ruin, to cleanse and sanctify us, and at last to glorify us, was of  infinite antiquity, and runs side by side with immutable love and absolute  sovereignty. The covenant is always described as being everlasting, and Jesus,  the second party in it, had his goings forth of old; he struck hands in sacred  suretyship long ere the first of the stars began to shine, and it was in him  that the elect were ordained unto eternal life. Thus in the divine purpose a  most blessed covenant union was established between the Son of God and his  elect people, which will remain as the foundation of their safety when time  shall be no more. Is it not well to be conversant with these ancient things?  Is it not shameful that they should be so much neglected and even rejected by  the bulk of professors? If they knew more of their own sin, would they not be  more ready to adore distinguishing grace? Let us both admire and adore  tonight, as we sing —

“A monument of grace,    A sinner saved by blood;

The streams of love I trace    Up to the Fountain, God;

And in his sacred bosom see    Eternal thoughts of Love to me.”

Uncategorized

Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

Leave a comment

 

Morning  “They shall sing in the ways of the Lord.” / Psalm 138:5

The time when Christians begin to sing in the ways of the Lord is when they  first lose their burden at the foot of the Cross. Not even the songs of the  angels seem so sweet as the first song of rapture which gushes from the inmost  soul of the forgiven child of God. You know how John Bunyan describes it. He  says when poor Pilgrim lost his burden at the Cross, he gave three great  leaps, and went on his way singing–

“Blest Cross! blest Sepulchre! blest rather be

The Man that there was put to shame for me!”

Believer, do you recollect the day when your fetters fell off? Do you remember  the place when Jesus met you, and said, “I have loved thee with an everlasting  love; I have blotted out as a cloud thy transgressions, and as a thick cloud  thy sins; they shall not be mentioned against thee any more forever.” Oh! what  a sweet season is that when Jesus takes away the pain of sin. When the Lord  first pardoned my sin, I was so joyous that I could scarce refrain from  dancing. I thought on my road home from the house where I had been set at  liberty, that I must tell the stones in the street the story of my  deliverance. So full was my soul of joy, that I wanted to tell every  snow-flake that was falling from heaven of the wondrous love of Jesus, who had  blotted out the sins of one of the chief of rebels. But it is not only at the  commencement of the Christian life that believers have reason for song; as  long as they live they discover cause to sing in the ways of the Lord, and  their experience of his constant lovingkindness leads them to say, “I will  bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.” See  to it, brother, that thou magnifiest the Lord this day.

“Long as we tread this desert land,    New mercies shall new songs demand.”

 

Evening  “Thy love to me was wonderful.” / 2 Samuel 1:26

Come, dear readers, let each one of us speak for himself of the wonderful  love, not of Jonathan, but of Jesus. We will not relate what we have been  told, but the things which we have tasted and handled-of the love of Christ.  Thy love to me, O Jesus, was wonderful when I was a stranger wandering far  from thee, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. Thy love  restrained me from committing the sin which is unto death, and withheld me  from self-destruction. Thy love held back the axe when Justice said, “Cut it  down! why cumbereth it the ground?” Thy love drew me into the wilderness,  stripped me there, and made me feel the guilt of my sin, and the burden of  mine iniquity. Thy love spake thus comfortably to me when, I was sore  dismayed–“Come unto me, and I will give thee rest.” Oh, how matchless thy  love when, in a moment, thou didst wash my sins away, and make my polluted  soul, which was crimson with the blood of my nativity, and black with the  grime of my transgressions, to be white as the driven snow, and pure as the  finest wool. How thou didst commend thy love when thou didst whisper in my  ears, “I am thine and thou art mine.” Kind were those accents when thou  saidst, “The Father himself loveth you.” And sweet the moments, passing sweet,  when thou declaredst to me “the love of the Spirit.” Never shall my soul  forget those chambers of fellowship where thou has unveiled thyself to me. Had  Moses his cleft in the rock, where he saw the train, the back parts of his  God? We, too, have had our clefts in the rock, where we have seen the full  splendours of the Godhead in the person of Christ. Did David remember the  tracks of the wild goat, the land of Jordan and the Hermonites? We, too, can  remember spots to memory dear, equal to these in blessedness. Precious Lord  Jesus, give us a fresh draught of thy wondrous love to begin the month with.  Amen.

Uncategorized

Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

Leave a comment

 

Morning  “The Lord our Righteousness.” / Jeremiah 23:6

It will always give a Christian the greatest calm, quiet, ease, and peace, to  think of the perfect righteousness of Christ. How often are the saints of God  downcast and sad! I do not think they ought to be. I do not think they would  if they could always see their perfection in Christ. There are some who are  always talking about corruption, and the depravity of the heart, and the  innate evil of the soul. This is quite true, but why not go a little further,  and remember that we are “perfect in Christ Jesus.” It is no wonder that those  who are dwelling upon their own corruption should wear such downcast looks;  but surely if we call to mind that “Christ is made unto us righteousness,” we  shall be of good cheer. What though distresses afflict me, though Satan  assault me, though there may be many things to be experienced before I get to  heaven, those are done for me in the covenant of divine grace; there is  nothing wanting in my Lord, Christ hath done it all. On the cross he said, “It  is finished!” and if it be finished, then am I complete in him, and can  rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, “Not having mine own  righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of  Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.” You will not find on this  side heaven a holier people than those who receive into their hearts the  doctrine of Christ’s righteousness. When the believer says, “I live on Christ  alone; I rest on him solely for salvation; and I believe that, however  unworthy, I am still saved in Jesus;” then there rises up as a motive of  gratitude this thought–“Shall I not live to Christ? Shall I not love him and  serve him, seeing that I am saved by his merits?” “The love of Christ  constraineth us,” “that they which live should not henceforth live unto  themselves but unto him which died for them.” If saved by imputed  righteousness, we shall greatly value imparted righteousness.

 

Evening  “Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain, and overran Cushi.” / 2 Samuel

18:23

Running is not everything, there is much in the way which we select: a swift  foot over hill and down dale will not keep pace with a slower traveller upon  level ground. How is it with my spiritual journey, am I labouring up the hill  of my own works and down into the ravines of my own humiliations and  resolutions, or do I run by the plain way of “Believe and live”? How blessed  is it to wait upon the Lord by faith! The soul runs without weariness, and  walks without fainting, in the way of believing. Christ Jesus is the way of  life, and he is a plain way, a pleasant way, a way suitable for the tottering  feet and feeble knees of trembling sinners: am I found in this way, or am I  hunting after another track such as priestcraft or metaphysics may promise me?  I read of the way of holiness, that the wayfaring man, though a fool, shall  not err therein: have I been delivered from proud reason and been brought as a  little child to rest in Jesus’ love and blood? If so, by God’s grace I shall  outrun the strongest runner who chooses any other path. This truth I may  remember to my profit in my daily cares and needs. It will be my wisest course  to go at once to my God, and not to wander in a roundabout manner to this  friend and that. He knows my wants and can relieve them, to whom should I  repair but to himself by the direct appeal of prayer, and the plain argument  of the promise. “Straightforward makes the best runner.” I will not parlay  with the servants, but hasten to their master.

In reading this passage, it strikes me that if men vie with each other in  common matters, and one outruns the other, I ought to be in solemn earnestness  so to run that I may obtain. Lord, help me to gird up the loins of my mind,  and may I press forward towards the mark for the prize of my high calling of  God in Christ Jesus.

Uncategorized

Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

Leave a comment

 

Morning “When thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees,

then thou shalt bestir thyself.” / 2 Samuel 5:24

The members of Christ’s Church should be very prayerful, always seeking the  unction of the Holy One to rest upon their hearts, that the kingdom of Christ  may come, and that his “will be done on earth, even as it is in heaven;” but  there are times when God seems especially to favour Zion, such seasons ought  to be to them like “the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees.”  We ought then to be doubly prayerful, doubly earnest, wrestling more at the  throne than we have been wont to do. Action should then be prompt and  vigorous. The tide is flowing–now let us pull manfully for the shore. O for  Pentecostal outpourings and Pentecostal labours. Christian, in yourself there  are times “when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry  trees.” You have a peculiar power in prayer; the Spirit of God gives you joy  and gladness; the Scripture is open to you; the promises are applied; you walk  in the light of God’s countenance; you have peculiar freedom and liberty in  devotion, and more closeness of communion with Christ than was your wont. Now,  at such joyous periods when you hear the “sound of a going in the tops of the  mulberry trees,” is the time to bestir yourself; now is the time to get rid of  any evil habit, while God the Spirit helpeth your infirmities. Spread your  sail; but remember what you sometimes sing —

“I can only spread the sail;

Thou! Thou! must breathe the auspicious gale.”

Only be sure you have the sail up. Do not miss the gale for want of  preparation for it. Seek help of God, that you may be more earnest in duty  when made more strong in faith; that you may be more constant in prayer when  you have more liberty at the throne; that you may be more holy in your  conversation whilst you live more closely with Christ.

 

Evening “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance.” / Ephesians 1:11

When Jesus gave himself for us, he gave us all the rights and privileges which  went with himself; so that now, although as eternal God, he has essential  rights to which no creature may venture to pretend, yet as Jesus, the  Mediator, the federal head of the covenant of grace, he has no heritage apart  from us. All the glorious consequences of his obedience unto death are the  joint riches of all who are in him, and on whose behalf he accomplished the  divine will. See, he enters into glory, but not for himself alone, for it is  written, “Whither the Forerunner is for us entered.” Heb. 6:20. Does he stand  in the presence of God?–“He appears in the presence of God for us.” Heb.  9:24. Consider this, believer. You have no right to heaven in yourself: your  right lies in Christ. If you are pardoned, it is through his blood; if you are  justified, it is through his righteousness; if you are sanctified, it is  because he is made of God unto you sanctification; if you shall be kept from  falling, it will be because you are preserved in Christ Jesus; and if you are  perfected at the last, it will be because you are complete in him. Thus Jesus  is magnified–for all is in him and by him; thus the inheritance is made  certain to us–for it is obtained in him; thus each blessing is the sweeter,  and even heaven itself the brighter, because it is Jesus our Beloved “in whom”  we have obtained all. Where is the man who shall estimate our divine portion?  Weigh the riches of Christ in scales, and his treasure in balances, and then  think to count the treasures which belong to the saints. Reach the bottom of  Christ’s sea of joy, and then hope to understand the bliss which God hath  prepared for them that love him. Overleap the boundaries of Christ’s  possessions, and then dream of a limit to the fair inheritance of the elect.  “All things are yours, for ye are Christ’s and Christ is God’s.”

Uncategorized

Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

Leave a comment

 

Morning  “The things which are not seen.” / 2 Corinthians 4:18

In our Christian pilgrimage it is well, for the most part, to be looking  forward. Forward lies the crown, and onward is the goal. Whether it be for  hope, for joy, for consolation, or for the inspiring of our love, the future  must, after all, be the grand object of the eye of faith. Looking into the  future we see sin cast out, the body of sin and death destroyed, the soul made  perfect, and fit to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light.  Looking further yet, the believer’s enlightened eye can see death’s river  passed, the gloomy stream forded, and the hills of light attained on which  standeth the celestial city; he seeth himself enter within the pearly gates,  hailed as more than conqueror, crowned by the hand of Christ, embraced in the  arms of Jesus, glorified with him, and made to sit together with him on his  throne, even as he has overcome and has sat down with the Father on his  throne. The thought of this future may well relieve the darkness of the past  and the gloom of the present. The joys of heaven will surely compensate for  the sorrows of earth. Hush, hush, my doubts! death is but a narrow stream, and  thou shalt soon have forded it. Time, how short–eternity, how long! Death,  how brief–immortality, how endless! Methinks I even now eat of Eshcol’s  clusters, and sip of the well which is within the gate. The road is so, so  short! I shall soon be there.

“When the world my heart is rending

With its heaviest storm of care,

My glad thoughts to heaven ascending,

Find a refuge from despair.

Faith’s bright vision shall sustain me

Till life’s pilgrimage is past;

Fears may vex and troubles pain me,

I shall reach my home at last.”

 

Evening   “The dove came in to him in the evening.” / Genesis 8:11

Blessed be the Lord for another day of mercy, even though I am now weary with its toils. Unto the preserver of men lift I my song of gratitude. The dove found no rest out of the ark, and therefore returned to it; and my soul has learned yet more fully than ever, this day, that there is no satisfaction to be found in earthly things–God alone can give rest to my spirit. As to my business, my possessions, my family, my attainments, these are all well enough in their way, but they cannot fulfil the desires of my immortal nature. “Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.” It was at the still hour, when the gates of the day were closing, that with weary wing the dove came back to the master: O Lord, enable me this evening thus to return to Jesus. She could not endure to spend a night hovering over the restless waste, nor can I bear to be even for another hour away from Jesus, the rest of my heart, the home of my spirit. She did not merely alight upon the roof of the ark, she “came in to him;” even so would my longing spirit look into the secret of the Lord, pierce to the interior of truth, enter into that which is within the veil, and reach to my Beloved in very deed. To Jesus must I come: short of the nearest and dearest intercourse with him my panting spirit cannot stay. Blessed Lord Jesus, be with me, reveal thyself, and abide with me all night, so that when I awake I may be still with thee. I note that the dove brought in her mouth an olive branch plucked off, the memorial of the past day, and a prophecy of the future. Have I no pleasing record to bring home? No pledge and earnest of lovingkindness yet to come? Yes, my Lord, I present thee my grateful acknowledgments for tender mercies which have been new every morning and fresh every evening; and now, I pray thee, put forth thy hand and take thy dove into thy bosom.

Uncategorized

Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

Leave a comment

 

 

Morning  “Perfect in Christ Jesus.” / Colossians 1:28

Do you not feel in your own soul that perfection is not in you? Does not every

day teach you that? Every tear which trickles from your eye, weeps

“imperfection;” every harsh word which proceeds from your lip, mutters

“imperfection.” You have too frequently had a view of your own heart to dream

for a moment of any perfection in yourself. But amidst this sad consciousness

of imperfection, here is comfort for you–you are “perfect in Christ Jesus.”

In God’s sight, you are “complete in him;” even now you are “accepted in the

Beloved.” But there is a second perfection, yet to be realized, which is sure

to all the seed. Is it not delightful to look forward to the time when every

stain of sin shall be removed from the believer, and he shall be presented

faultless before the throne, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing? The

Church of Christ then will be so pure, that not even the eye of Omniscience

will see a spot or blemish in her; so holy and so glorious, that Hart did not

go beyond the truth when he said–

“With my Saviour’s garments on,

Holy as the Holy One.”

Then shall we know, and taste, and feel the happiness of this vast but short

sentence, “Complete in Christ.” Not till then shall we fully comprehend the

heights and depths of the salvation of Jesus. Doth not thy heart leap for joy

at the thought of it? Black as thou art, thou shalt be white one day; filthy

as thou art, thou shalt be clean. Oh, it is a marvellous salvation this!

Christ takes a worm and transforms it into an angel; Christ takes a black and

deformed thing and makes it clean and matchless in his glory, peerless in his

beauty, and fit to be the companion of seraphs. O my soul, stand and admire

this blessed truth of perfection in Christ.

 

Evening  “And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things

that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.” / Luke 2:20

What was the subject of their praise? They praised God for what they had

heard–for the good tidings of great joy that a Saviour was born unto them.

Let us copy them; let us also raise a song of thanksgiving that we have heard

of Jesus and his salvation. They also praised God for what they had seen.

There is the sweetest music–what we have experienced, what we have felt

within, what we have made our own–“the things which we have made touching the

King.” It is not enough to hear about Jesus: mere hearing may tune the harp,

but the fingers of living faith must create the music. If you have seen Jesus

with the God-giving sight of faith, suffer no cobwebs to linger among the harp

strings, but loud to the praise of sovereign grace, awake your psaltery and

harp. One point for which they praised God was the agreement between what they

had heard and what they had seen. Observe the last sentence–“As it was told

unto them.” Have you not found the gospel to be in yourselves just what the

Bible said it would be? Jesus said he would give you rest–have you not

enjoyed the sweetest peace in him? He said you should have joy, and comfort,

and life through believing in him–have you not received all these? Are not

his ways ways of pleasantness, and his paths paths of peace? Surely you can

say with the queen of Sheba, “The half has not been told me.” I have found

Christ more sweet than his servants ever said he was. I looked upon his

likeness as they painted it, but it was a mere daub compared with himself; for

the King in his beauty outshines all imaginable loveliness. Surely what we

have “seen” keeps pace with, nay, far exceeds, what we have “heard.” Let us,

then, glorify and praise God for a Saviour so precious, and so satisfying.

Uncategorized

Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

Leave a comment

 

Morning  “And of his fulness have all we received.” / John 1:16

These words tell us that there is a fulness in Christ. There is a fulness of

essential Deity, for “in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead.” There

is a fulness of perfect manhood, for in him, bodily, that Godhead was

revealed. There is a fulness of atoning efficacy in his blood, for “the blood

of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin.” There is a fulness of

justifying righteousness in his life, for “there is therefore now no

condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.” There is a fulness of divine

prevalence in his plea, for “He is able to save to the uttermost them that

come unto God by him; seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.”

There is a fulness of victory in his death, for through death he destroyed him

that had the power of death, that is the devil. There is a fulness of efficacy

in his resurrection from the dead, for by it “we are begotten again unto a

lively hope.” There is a fulness of triumph in his ascension, for “when he

ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and received gifts for men.”

There is a fulness of blessings of every sort and shape; a fulness of grace to

pardon, of grace to regenerate, of grace to sanctify, of grace to preserve,

and of grace to perfect. There is a fulness at all times; a fulness of comfort

in affliction; a fulness of guidance in prosperity. A fulness of every divine

attribute, of wisdom, of power, of love; a fulness which it were impossible to

survey, much less to explore. “It pleased the Father that in him should all

fulness dwell.” Oh, what a fulness must this be of which all receive! Fulness,

indeed, must there be when the stream is always flowing, and yet the well

springs up as free, as rich, as full as ever. Come, believer, and get all thy

need supplied; ask largely, and thou shalt receive largely, for this “fulness”

is inexhaustible, and is treasured up where all the needy may reach it, even

in Jesus, Immanuel–God with us.

 

Evening   “But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.” / Luke 2:19

There was an exercise, on the part of this blessed woman, of three powers of

her being: her memory–she kept all these things; her affections–she kept

them in her heart; her intellect–she pondered them; so that memory,

affection, and understanding, were all exercised about the things which she

had heard. Beloved, remember what you have heard of your Lord Jesus, and what

he has done for you; make your heart the golden pot of manna to preserve the

memorial of the heavenly bread whereon you have fed in days gone by. Let your

memory treasure up everything about Christ which you have either felt, or

known, or believed, and then let your fond affections hold him fast for

evermore. Love the person of your Lord! Bring forth the alabaster box of your

heart, even though it be broken, and let all the precious ointment of your

affection come streaming on his pierced feet. Let your intellect be exercised

concerning the Lord Jesus. Meditate upon what you read: stop not at the

surface; dive into the depths. Be not as the swallow which toucheth the brook

with her wing, but as the fish which penetrates the lowest wave. Abide with

your Lord: let him not be to you as a wayfaring man, that tarrieth for a

night, but constrain him, saying, “Abide with us, for the day is far spent.”

Hold him, and do not let him go. The word “ponder,” means to weigh. Make ready

the balances of judgment. Oh, but where are the scales that can weigh the Lord

Christ? “He taketh up the isles as a very little thing:”–who shall take him

up? “He weigheth the mountains in scales”–in what scales shall we weigh him?

Be it so, if your understanding cannot comprehend, let your affections

apprehend; and if your spirit cannot compass the Lord Jesus in the grasp of

understanding, let it embrace him in the arms of affection.

Uncategorized

Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

Leave a comment

 

Morning  “Your heavenly Father.” / Matthew 6:26

God’s people are doubly his children, they are his offspring by creation, and

they are his sons by adoption in Christ. Hence they are privileged to call

him, “Our Father which art in heaven.” Father! Oh, what precious word is that.

Here is authority: “If I be a Father, where is mine honour?” If ye be sons,

where is your obedience? Here is affection mingled with authority; an

authority which does not provoke rebellion; an obedience demanded which is

most cheerfully rendered–which would not be withheld even if it might. The

obedience which God’s children yield to him must be loving obedience. Do not

go about the service of God as slaves to their taskmaster’s toil, but run in

the way of his commands because it is your Father’s way. Yield your bodies as

instruments of righteousness, because righteousness is your Father’s will, and

his will should be the will of his child. Father!–Here is a kingly attribute

so sweetly veiled in love, that the King’s crown is forgotten in the King’s

face, and his sceptre becomes, not a rod of iron, but a silver sceptre of

mercy–the sceptre indeed seems to be forgotten in the tender hand of him who

wields it. Father!–Here is honour and love. How great is a Father’s love to

his children! That which friendship cannot do, and mere benevolence will not

attempt, a father’s heart and hand must do for his sons. They are his

offspring, he must bless them; they are his children, he must show himself

strong in their defence. If an earthly father watches over his children with

unceasing love and care, how much more does our heavenly Father? Abba, Father!

He who can say this, hath uttered better music than cherubim or seraphim can

reach. There is heaven in the depth of that word–Father! There is all I can

ask; all my necessities can demand; all my wishes can desire. I have all in

all to all eternity when I can say, “Father.”

 

Evening “All they that heard it wondered at those things.” / Luke 2:18

We must not cease to wonder at the great marvels of our God. It would be very

difficult to draw a line between holy wonder and real worship; for when the

soul is overwhelmed with the majesty of God’s glory, though it may not express

itself in song, or even utter its voice with bowed head in humble prayer, yet

it silently adores. Our incarnate God is to be worshipped as “the Wonderful.”

That God should consider his fallen creature, man, and instead of sweeping him

away with the besom of destruction, should himself undertake to be man’s

Redeemer, and to pay his ransom price, is, indeed marvellous! But to each

believer redemption is most marvellous as he views it in relation to himself.

It is a miracle of grace indeed, that Jesus should forsake the thrones and

royalties above, to suffer ignominiously below for you. Let your soul lose

itself in wonder, for wonder is in this way a very practical emotion. Holy

wonder will lead you to grateful worship and heartfelt thanksgiving. It will

cause within you godly watchfulness; you will be afraid to sin against such a

love as this. Feeling the presence of the mighty God in the gift of his dear

Son, you will put off your shoes from off your feet, because the place whereon

you stand is holy ground. You will be moved at the same time to glorious hope.

If Jesus has done such marvellous things on your behalf, you will feel that

heaven itself is not too great for your expectation. Who can be astonished at

anything, when he has once been astonished at the manger and the cross? What

is there wonderful left after one has seen the Saviour? Dear reader, it may be

that from the quietness and solitariness of your life, you are scarcely able

to imitate the shepherds of Bethlehem, who told what they had seen and heard,

but you can, at least, fill up the circle of the worshippers before the

throne, by wondering at what God has done.

 

Uncategorized

Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

Leave a comment

 

Morning   “I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the Lord, and the praises of the Lord,

according to all that the Lord hath bestowed on us.” / Isaiah 63:7

And canst thou not do this? Are there no mercies which thou hast experienced?

What, though thou art gloomy now, canst thou forget that blessed hour when

Jesus met thee, and said, “Come unto me”? Canst thou not remember that

rapturous moment when he snapped thy fetters, dashed thy chains to the earth,

and said, “I came to break thy bonds and set thee free”? Or if the love of

thine espousals be forgotten, there must surely be some precious milestone

along the road of life not quite grown over with moss, on which thou canst

read a happy memorial of his mercy towards thee? What, didst thou never have a

sickness like that which thou art suffering now, and did he not restore thee?

Wert thou never poor before, and did he not supply thy wants? Wast thou never

in straits before, and did he not deliver thee? Arise, go to the river of

thine experience, and pull up a few bulrushes, and plait them into an ark,

wherein thine infant–faith–may float safely on the stream. Forget not what

thy God has done for thee; turn over the book of thy remembrance, and consider

the days of old. Canst thou not remember the hill Mizar? Did the Lord never

meet with thee at Hermon? Hast thou never climbed the Delectable Mountains?

Hast thou never been helped in time of need? Nay, I know thou hast. Go back,

then, a little way to the choice mercies of yesterday, and though all may be

dark now, light up the lamps of the past, they shall glitter through the

darkness, and thou shalt trust in the Lord till the day break and the shadows

flee away. “Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses, for

they have been ever of old.”

 

Evening  “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the

law.” / Romans 3:31

When the believer is adopted into the Lord’s family, his relationship to old

Adam and the law ceases at once; but then he is under a new rule, and a new

covenant. Believer, you are God’s child; it is your first duty to obey your

heavenly Father. A servile spirit you have nothing to do with: you are not a

slave, but a child; and now, inasmuch as you are a beloved child, you are

bound to obey your Father’s faintest wish, the least intimation of his will.

Does he bid you fulfil a sacred ordinance? It is at your peril that you

neglect it, for you will be disobeying your Father. Does he command you to

seek the image of Jesus? Is it not your joy to do so? Does Jesus tell you, “Be

ye perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect”? Then not

because the law commands, but because your Saviour enjoins, you will labour to

be perfect in holiness. Does he bid his saints love one another? Do it, not

because the law says, “Love thy neighbour,” but because Jesus says, “If ye

love me, keep my commandments;” and this is the commandment that he has given

unto you, “that ye love one another.” Are you told to distribute to the poor?

Do it, not because charity is a burden which you dare not shirk, but because

Jesus teaches, “Give to him that asketh of thee.” Does the Word say, “Love God

with all your heart”? Look at the commandment and reply, “Ah! commandment,

Christ hath fulfilled thee already–I have no need, therefore, to fulfil thee

for my salvation, but I rejoice to yield obedience to thee because God is my

Father now and he has a claim upon me, which I would not dispute.” May the

Holy Ghost make your heart obedient to the constraining power of Christ’s

love, that your prayer may be, “Make me to go in the path of thy commandments;

for therein do I delight.” Grace is the mother and nurse of holiness, and not

the apologist of sin.

Uncategorized

Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

Leave a comment

 

Morning “Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler.” / Psalm 91:3

God delivers his people from the snare of the fowler in two senses. From, and  out of. First, he delivers them from the snare–does not let them enter it;  and secondly, if they should be caught therein, he delivers them out of it.

The first promise is the most precious to some; the second is the best to  others.    “He shall deliver thee from the snare.” How? Trouble is often the means  whereby God delivers us. God knows that our backsliding will soon end in our  destruction, and he in mercy sends the rod. We say, “Lord, why is this?” not  knowing that our trouble has been the means of delivering us from far greater  evil. Many have been thus saved from ruin by their sorrows and their crosses;  these have frightened the birds from the net. At other times, God keeps his  people from the snare of the fowler by giving them great spiritual strength,  so that when they are tempted to do evil they say, “How can I do this great  wickedness, and sin against God?” But what a blessed thing it is that if the  believer shall, in an evil hour, come into the net, yet God will bring him out  of it! O backslider, be cast down, but do not despair. Wanderer though thou  hast been, hear what thy Redeemer saith–“Return, O backsliding children; I  will have mercy upon you.” But you say you cannot return, for you are a  captive. Then listen to the promise–“Surely he shall deliver thee out of the  snare of the fowler.” Thou shalt yet be brought out of all evil into which  thou hast fallen, and though thou shalt never cease to repent of thy ways, yet  he that hath loved thee will not cast thee away; he will receive thee, and  give thee joy and gladness, that the bones which he has broken may rejoice. No  bird of paradise shall die in the fowler’s net.

 

Evening “Martha was cumbered about much serving.” / Luke 10:40

Her fault was not that she served: the condition of a servant well becomes  every Christian. “I serve,” should be the motto of all the princes of the  royal family of heaven. Nor was it her fault that she had “much serving.” We  cannot do too much. Let us do all that we possibly can; let head, and heart,  and hands, be engaged in the Master’s service. It was no fault of hers that  she was busy preparing a feast for the Master. Happy Martha, to have an  opportunity of entertaining so blessed a guest; and happy, too, to have the  spirit to throw her whole soul so heartily into the engagement. Her fault was  that she grew “cumbered with much serving,” so that she forgot him, and only  remembered the service. She allowed service to override communion, and so  presented one duty stained with the blood of another. We ought to be Martha  and Mary in one: we should do much service, and have much communion at the  same time. For this we need great grace. It is easier to serve than to  commune. Joshua never grew weary in fighting with the Amalekites; but Moses,  on the top of the mountain in prayer, needed two helpers to sustain his hands.  The more spiritual the exercise, the sooner we tire in it. The choicest fruits  are the hardest to rear: the most heavenly graces are the most difficult to  cultivate. Beloved, while we do not neglect external things, which are good  enough in themselves, we ought also to see to it that we enjoy living,  personal fellowship with Jesus. See to it that sitting at the Saviour’s feet  is not neglected, even though it be under the specious pretext of doing him  service. The first thing for our soul’s health, the first thing for his glory,  and the first thing for our own usefulness, is to keep ourselves in perpetual  communion with the Lord Jesus, and to see that the vital spirituality of our  religion is maintained over and above everything else in the world.

 

Uncategorized

Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

1 Comment

 

Morning”I have exalted one chosen out of the people.” / Psalm 89:19

Why was Christ chosen out of the people? Speak, my heart, for heart-thoughts are best. Was it not that he might be able to be our brother, in the blest tie of kindred blood? Oh, what relationship there is between Christ and the believer! The believer can say, “I have a Brother in heaven; I may be poor, but I have a Brother who is rich, and is a King, and will he suffer me to want while he is on his throne? Oh, no! He loves me; he is my Brother.” Believer, wear this blessed thought, like a necklace of diamonds, around the neck of thy memory; put it, as a golden ring, on the finger of recollection, and use it as the King’s own seal, stamping the petitions of thy faith with confidence of success. He is a brother born for adversity, treat him as such. Christ was also chosen out of the people that he might know our wants and sympathize with us. “He was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin.” In all our sorrows we have his sympathy. Temptation, pain, disappointment, weakness, weariness, poverty–he knows them all, for he has felt all. Remember this, Christian, and let it comfort thee. However difficult and painful thy road, it is marked by the footsteps of thy Saviour; and even when thou reachest the dark valley of the shadow of death, and the deep waters of the swelling Jordan, thou wilt find his footprints there. In all places whithersoever we go, he has been our forerunner; each burden we have to carry, has once been laid on the shoulders of Immanuel.

“His way was much rougher and darker than mine

Did Christ, my Lord, suffer, and shall I repine?”

Take courage! Royal feet have left a blood-red track upon the road, and

consecrated the thorny path forever.

 

Evening  “We will remember thy love more than wine.” / Song of Solomon 1:4

Jesus will not let his people forget his love. If all the love they have enjoyed should be forgotten, he will visit them with fresh love. “Do you forget my cross?” says he, “I will cause you to remember it; for at my table I will manifest myself anew to you. Do you forget what I did for you in the council-chamber of eternity? I will remind you of it, for you shall need a counsellor, and shall find me ready at your call.” Mothers do not let their children forget them. If the boy has gone to Australia, and does not write home, his mother writes–“Has John forgotten his mother?” Then there comes back a sweet epistle, which proves that the gentle reminder was not in vain. So is it with Jesus, he says to us, “Remember me,” and our response is, “We will remember thy love.” We will remember thy love and its matchless history. It is ancient as the glory which thou hadst with the Father before the world was. We remember, O Jesus, thine eternal love when thou didst become our Surety, and espouse us as thy betrothed. We remember the love which suggested the sacrifice of thyself, the love which, until the fulness of time, mused over that sacrifice, and long for the hour whereof in the volume of the book it was written of thee, “Lo, I come.” We remember thy love, O Jesus as it was manifest to us in thy holy life, from the manger of Bethlehem to the garden of Gethsemane. We track thee from the cradle to the grave–for every word and deed of thine was love–and we rejoice in thy love, which death did not exhaust; thy love which shone resplendent in thy resurrection. We remember that burning fire of love which will never let thee hold thy peace until thy chosen ones be all safely housed, until Zion be glorified, and Jerusalem settled on her everlasting foundations of light and love in heaven.

Uncategorized

Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

Leave a comment

 

Morning   “Son of man, What is the vine tree more than any tree, or than a branch which

is among the trees of the forest?” / Ezekiel 15:2

These words are for the humbling of God’s people; they are called God’s vine,

but what are they by nature more than others? They, by God’s goodness, have

become fruitful, having been planted in a good soil; the Lord hath trained

them upon the walls of the sanctuary, and they bring forth fruit to his glory;

but what are they without their God? What are they without the continual

influence of the Spirit, begetting fruitfulness in them? O believer, learn to

reject pride, seeing that thou hast no ground for it. Whatever thou art, thou

hast nothing to make thee proud. The more thou hast, the more thou art in debt

to God; and thou shouldst not be proud of that which renders thee a debtor.

Consider thine origin; look back to what thou wast. Consider what thou wouldst

have been but for divine grace. Look upon thyself as thou art now. Doth not

thy conscience reproach thee? Do not thy thousand wanderings stand before

thee, and tell thee that thou art unworthy to be called his son? And if he

hath made thee anything, art thou not taught thereby that it is grace which

hath made thee to differ? Great believer, thou wouldst have been a great

sinner if God had not made thee to differ. O thou who art valiant for truth,

thou wouldst have been as valiant for error if grace had not laid hold upon

thee. Therefore, be not proud, though thou hast a large estate–a wide domain

of grace, thou hadst not once a single thing to call thine own except thy sin

and misery. Oh! strange infatuation, that thou, who hast borrowed everything,

shouldst think of exalting thyself; a poor dependent pensioner upon the bounty

of thy Saviour, one who hath a life which dies without fresh streams of life

from Jesus, and yet proud! Fie on thee, O silly heart!

 

Evening   “Doth Job fear God for nought?” / Job 1:9

This was the wicked question of Satan concerning that upright man of old, but

there are many in the present day concerning whom it might be asked with

justice, for they love God after a fashion because he prospers them; but if

things went ill with them, they would give up all their boasted faith in God.

If they can clearly see that since the time of their supposed conversion the

world has gone prosperously with them, then they will love God in their poor

carnal way; but if they endure adversity, they rebel against the Lord. Their

love is the love of the table, not of the host; a love to the cupboard, not to

the master of the house. As for the true Christian, he expects to have his

reward in the next life, and to endure hardness in this. The promise of the

old covenant was prosperity, but the promise of the new covenant is adversity.

Remember Christ’s words–“Every branch in me that beareth not fruit”–What?

“He purgeth it, that it may bring forth fruit.” If you bring forth fruit, you

will have to endure affliction. “Alas!” you say, “that is a terrible

prospect.” But this affliction works out such precious results, that the

Christian who is the subject of it must learn to rejoice in tribulations,

because as his tribulations abound, so his consolations abound by Christ

Jesus. Rest assured, if you are a child of God, you will be no stranger to the

rod. Sooner or later every bar of gold must pass through the fire. Fear not,

but rather rejoice that such fruitful times are in store for you, for in them

you will be weaned from earth and made meet for heaven; you will be delivered

from clinging to the present, and made to long for those eternal things which

are so soon to be revealed to you. When you feel that as regards the present

you do serve God for nought, you will then rejoice in the infinite reward of

the future.

Uncategorized

Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

Leave a comment

 

Morning “And so all Israel shall be saved.” / Romans 11:26

Then Moses sang at the Red Sea, it was his joy to know that all Israel were

safe. Not a drop of spray fell from that solid wall until the last of God’s

Israel had safely planted his foot on the other side the flood. That done,

immediately the floods dissolved into their proper place again, but not till

then. Part of that song was, “Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people

which thou hast redeemed.” In the last time, when the elect shall sing the

song of Moses, the servant of God, and of the Lamb, it shall be the boast of

Jesus, “Of all whom thou hast given me, I have lost none.” In heaven there

shall not be a vacant throne.

“For all the chosen race

Shall meet around the throne,

Shall bless the conduct of his grace,

And make his glories known.”

As many as God hath chosen, as many as Christ hath redeemed, as many as the

Spirit hath called, as many as believe in Jesus, shall safely cross the

dividing sea. We are not all safely landed yet:

“Part of the host have crossed the flood,

And part are crossing now.”

The vanguard of the army has already reached the shore. We are marching

through the depths; we are at this day following hard after our Leader into

the heart of the sea. Let us be of good cheer: the rear-guard shall soon be

where the vanguard already is; the last of the chosen ones shall soon have

crossed the sea, and then shall be heard the song of triumph, when all are

secure. But oh! if one were absent–oh! if one of his chosen family should be

cast away–it would make an everlasting discord in the song of the redeemed,

and cut the strings of the harps of paradise, so that music could never be

extorted from them.

 

Evening   “He was sore athirst, and called on the Lord, and said, thou hast given this

great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for

thirst?” / Judges 15:18

Samson was thirsty and ready to die. The difficulty was totally different from

any which the hero had met before. Merely to get thirst assuaged is nothing

like so great a matter as to be delivered from a thousand Philistines! but

when the thirst was upon him, Samson felt that little present difficulty more

weighty than the great past difficulty out of which he had so specially been

delivered. It is very usual for God’s people, when they have enjoyed a great

deliverance, to find a little trouble too much for them. Samson slays a

thousand Philistines, and piles them up in heaps, and then faints for a little

water! Jacob wrestles with God at Peniel, and overcomes Omnipotence itself,

and then goes “halting on his thigh!” Strange that there must be a shrinking

of the sinew whenever we win the day. As if the Lord must teach us our

littleness, our nothingness, in order to keep us within bounds. Samson boasted

right loudly when he said, “I have slain a thousand men.” His boastful throat

soon grew hoarse with thirst, and he betook himself to prayer. God has many

ways of humbling his people. Dear child of God, if after great mercy you are

laid very low, your case is not an unusual one. When David had mounted the

throne of Israel, he said, “I am this day weak, though anointed king.” You

must expect to feel weakest when you are enjoying your greatest triumph. If

God has wrought for you great deliverances in the past, your present

difficulty is only like Samson’s thirst, and the Lord will not let you faint,

nor suffer the daughter of the uncircumcised to triumph over you. The road of

sorrow is the road to heaven, but there are wells of refreshing water all

along the route. So, tried brother, cheer your heart with Samson’s words, and

rest assured that God will deliver you ere long.

Uncategorized

Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

1 Comment

 

Morning “Abel was a keeper of sheep.” / Genesis 4:2

As a shepherd Abel sanctified his work to the glory of God, and offered a

sacrifice of blood upon his altar, and the Lord had respect unto Abel and his

offering. This early type of our Lord is exceedingly clear and distinct. Like

the first streak of light which tinges the east at sunrise, it does not reveal

everything, but it clearly manifests the great fact that the sun is coming. As

we see Abel, a shepherd and yet a priest, offering a sacrifice of sweet smell

unto God, we discern our Lord, who brings before his Father a sacrifice to

which Jehovah ever hath respect. Abel was hated by his brother–hated without

a cause; and even so was the Saviour: the natural and carnal man hated the

accepted man in whom the Spirit of grace was found, and rested not until his

blood had been shed. Abel fell, and sprinkled his altar and sacrifice with his

own blood, and therein sets forth the Lord Jesus slain by the enmity of man

while serving as a priest before the Lord. “The good Shepherd layeth down his

life for the sheep.” Let us weep over him as we view him slain by the hatred

of mankind, staining the horns of his altar with his own blood. Abel’s blood

speaketh. “The Lord said unto Cain, The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth

unto me from the ground.'” The blood of Jesus hath a mighty tongue, and the

import of its prevailing cry is not vengeance but mercy. It is precious beyond

all preciousness to stand at the altar of our good Shepherd! to see him

bleeding there as the slaughtered priest, and then to hear his blood speaking

peace to all his flock, peace in our conscience, peace between Jew and

Gentile, peace between man and his offended Maker, peace all down the ages of

eternity for blood-washed men. Abel is the first shepherd in order of time,

but our hearts shall ever place Jesus first in order of excellence. Thou great

Keeper of the sheep, we the people of thy pasture bless thee with our whole

hearts when we see thee slain for us.

 

Evening “Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.” /

Psalm 119:37

There are divers kinds of vanity. The cap and bells of the fool, the mirth of

the world, the dance, the lyre, and the cup of the dissolute, all these men

know to be vanities; they wear upon their forefront their proper name and

title. Far more treacherous are those equally vain things, the cares of this

world and the deceitfulness of riches. A man may follow vanity as truly in the

counting-house as in the theatre. If he be spending his life in amassing

wealth, he passes his days in a vain show. Unless we follow Christ, and make

our God the great object of life, we only differ in appearance from the most

frivolous. It is clear that there is much need of the first prayer of our

text. “Quicken thou me in thy way.” The Psalmist confesses that he is dull,

heavy, lumpy, all but dead. Perhaps, dear reader, you feel the same. We are so

sluggish that the best motives cannot quicken us, apart from the Lord himself.

What! will not hell quicken me? Shall I think of sinners perishing, and yet

not be awakened? Will not heaven quicken me? Can I think of the reward that

awaiteth the righteous, and yet be cold? Will not death quicken me? Can I

think of dying, and standing before my God, and yet be slothful in my Master’s

service? Will not Christ’s love constrain me? Can I think of his dear wounds,

can I sit at the foot of his cross, and not be stirred with fervency and zeal?

It seems so! No mere consideration can quicken us to zeal, but God himself

must do it, hence the cry, “Quicken thou me.” The Psalmist breathes out his

whole soul in vehement pleadings: his body and his soul unite in prayer. “Turn

away mine eyes,” says the body: “Quicken thou me,” cries the soul. This is a

fit prayer for every day. O Lord, hear it in my case this night.

Uncategorized

Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

Leave a comment

Morning “I sought him, but I found him not.” / Song of Solomon 3:1
Tell me where you lost the company of Christ, and I will tell you the most
likely place to find him. Have you lost Christ in the closet by restraining
prayer? Then it is there you must seek and find him. Did you lose Christ by
sin? You will find Christ in no other way but by the giving up of the sin, and
seeking by the Holy Spirit to mortify the member in which the lust doth dwell.
Did you lose Christ by neglecting the Scriptures? You must find Christ in the
Scriptures. It is a true proverb, “Look for a thing where you dropped it, it
is there.” So look for Christ where you lost him, for he has not gone away.
But it is hard work to go back for Christ. Bunyan tells us, the pilgrim found
the piece of the road back to the Arbour of Ease, where he lost his roll, the
hardest he had ever travelled. Twenty miles onward is easier than to go one
mile back for the lost evidence.

Take care, then, when you find your Master, to cling close to him. But how is
it you have lost him? One would have thought you would never have parted with
such a precious friend, whose presence is so sweet, whose words are so
comforting, and whose company is so dear to you! How is it that you did not
watch him every moment for fear of losing sight of him? Yet, since you have
let him go, what a mercy that you are seeking him, even though you mournfully
groan, “O that I knew where I might find him!” Go on seeking, for it is
dangerous to be without thy Lord. Without Christ you are like a sheep without
its shepherd; like a tree without water at its roots; like a sere leaf in the
tempest–not bound to the tree of life. With thine whole heart seek him, and
he will be found of thee: only give thyself thoroughly up to the search, and
verily, thou shalt yet discover him to thy joy and gladness.

Evening “Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the
Scriptures.” / Luke 24:45

He whom we viewed last evening as opening Scripture, we here perceive opening
the understanding. In the first work he has many fellow-labourers, but in the
second he stands alone; many can bring the Scriptures to the mind, but the
Lord alone can prepare the mind to receive the Scriptures. Our Lord Jesus
differs from all other teachers; they reach the ear, but he instructs the
heart; they deal with the outward letter, but he imparts an inward taste for
the truth, by which we perceive its savour and spirit. The most unlearned of
men become ripe scholars in the school of grace when the Lord Jesus by his
Holy Spirit unfolds the mysteries of the kingdom to them, and grants the
divine anointing by which they are enabled to behold the invisible. Happy are
we if we have had our understandings cleared and strengthened by the Master!
How many men of profound learning are ignorant of eternal things! They know
the killing letter of revelation, but its killing spirit they cannot discern;
they have a veil upon their hearts which the eyes of carnal reason cannot
penetrate. Such was our case a little time ago; we who now see were once
utterly blind; truth was to us as beauty in the dark, a thing unnoticed and
neglected. Had it not been for the love of Jesus we should have remained to
this moment in utter ignorance, for without his gracious opening of our
understanding, we could no more have attained to spiritual knowledge than an
infant can climb the Pyramids, or an ostrich fly up to the stars. Jesus’
College is the only one in which God’s truth can be really learned; other
schools may teach us what is to be believed, but Christ’s alone can show us
how to believe it. Let us sit at the feet of Jesus, and by earnest prayer call
in his blessed aid that our dull wits may grow brighter, and our feeble
understandings may receive heavenly things.

Uncategorized

Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

Leave a comment

 

Morning “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.” / Hebrews 4:9

How different will be the state of the believer in heaven from what it is

here! Here he is born to toil and suffer weariness, but in the land of the

immortal, fatigue is never known. Anxious to serve his Master, he finds his

strength unequal to his zeal: his constant cry is, “Help me to serve thee, O

my God.” If he be thoroughly active, he will have much labour; not too much

for his will, but more than enough for his power, so that he will cry out, “I

am not wearied of the labour, but I am wearied in it.” Ah! Christian, the hot

day of weariness lasts not forever; the sun is nearing the horizon; it shall

rise again with a brighter day than thou hast ever seen upon a land where they

serve God day and night, and yet rest from their labours. Here, rest is but

partial, there, it is perfect. Here, the Christian is always unsettled; he

feels that he has not yet attained. There, all are at rest; they have attained

the summit of the mountain; they have ascended to the bosom of their God.

Higher they cannot go. Ah, toil-worn labourer, only think when thou shalt rest

forever! Canst thou conceive it? It is a rest eternal; a rest that

“remaineth.” Here, my best joys bear “mortal” on their brow; my fair flowers

fade; my dainty cups are drained to dregs; my sweetest birds fall before

Death’s arrows; my most pleasant days are shadowed into nights; and the

flood-tides of my bliss subside into ebbs of sorrow; but there, everything is

immortal; the harp abides unrusted, the crown unwithered, the eye undimmed,

the voice unfaltering, the heart unwavering, and the immortal being is wholly

absorbed in infinite delight. Happy day! happy! when mortality shall be

swallowed up of life, and the Eternal Sabbath shall begin.

 

Evening  “He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”

/ Luke 24:27

The two disciples on the road to Emmaus had a most profitable journey. Their

companion and teacher was the best of tutors; the interpreter one of a

thousand, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. The Lord

Jesus condescended to become a preacher of the gospel, and he was not ashamed

to exercise his calling before an audience of two persons, neither does he now

refuse to become the teacher of even one. Let us court the company of so

excellent an Instructor, for till he is made unto us wisdom we shall never be

wise unto salvation.

This unrivalled tutor used as his class-book the best of books. Although able

to reveal fresh truth, he preferred to expound the old. He knew by his

omniscience what was the most instructive way of teaching, and by turning at

once to Moses and the prophets, he showed us that the surest road to wisdom is

not speculation, reasoning, or reading human books, but meditation upon the

Word of God. The readiest way to be spiritually rich in heavenly knowledge is

to dig in this mine of diamonds, to gather pearls from this heavenly sea. When

Jesus himself sought to enrich others, he wrought in the quarry of Holy

Scripture.

The favoured pair were led to consider the best of subjects, for Jesus spake

of Jesus, and expounded the things concerning himself. Here the diamond cut

the diamond, and what could be more admirable? The Master of the House

unlocked his own doors, conducted the guests to his table, and placed his own

dainties upon it. He who hid the treasure in the field himself guided the

searchers to it. Our Lord would naturally discourse upon the sweetest of

topics, and he could find none sweeter than his own person and work: with an

eye to these we should always search the Word. O for grace to study the Bible

with Jesus as both our teacher and our lesson!

Uncategorized

Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

1 Comment

 

Morning  “And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion.” / Revelation 14:1

The apostle John was privileged to look within the gates of heaven, and in

describing what he saw, he begins by saying, “I looked, and, lo, a Lamb!” This

teaches us that the chief object of contemplation in the heavenly state is

“the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world.” Nothing else

attracted the apostle’s attention so much as the person of that Divine Being,

who hath redeemed us by his blood. He is the theme of the songs of all

glorified spirits and holy angels. Christian, here is joy for thee; thou hast

looked, and thou hast seen the Lamb. Through thy tears thine eyes have seen

the Lamb of God taking away thy sins. Rejoice, then. In a little while, when

thine eyes shall have been wiped from tears, thou wilt see the same Lamb

exalted on his throne. It is the joy of thy heart to hold daily fellowship

with Jesus; thou shalt have the same joy to a higher degree in heaven; thou

shalt enjoy the constant vision of his presence; thou shalt dwell with him

forever. “I looked, and, lo, a Lamb!” Why, that Lamb is heaven itself; for as

good Rutherford says, “Heaven and Christ are the same thing;” to be with

Christ is to be in heaven, and to be in heaven is to be with Christ. That

prisoner of the Lord very sweetly writes in one of his glowing letters–“O my

Lord Jesus Christ, if I could be in heaven without thee, it would be a hell;

and if I could be in hell, and have thee still, it would be a heaven to me,

for thou art all the heaven I want.” It is true, is it not, Christian? Does

not thy soul say so?

“Not all the harps above

Can make a heavenly place,

If God his residence remove,

Or but conceal his face.”

All thou needest to make thee blessed, supremely blessed, is “to be with

Christ.”

 

Evening  “And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and

walked upon the roof of the king’s house.” / 2 Samuel 11:2

At that hour David saw Bathsheba. We are never out of the reach of temptation.

Both at home and abroad we are liable to meet with allurements to evil; the

morning opens with peril, and the shades of evening find us still in jeopardy.

They are well kept whom God keeps, but woe unto those who go forth into the

world, or even dare to walk their own house unarmed. Those who think

themselves secure are more exposed to danger than any others. The

armour-bearer of Sin is Self-confidence.

David should have been engaged in fighting the Lord’s battles, instead of

which he tarried at Jerusalem, and gave himself up to luxurious repose, for he

arose from his bed at eventide. Idleness and luxury are the devil’s jackals,

and find him abundant prey. In stagnant waters noxious creatures swarm, and

neglected soil soon yields a dense tangle of weeds and briars. Oh for the

constraining love of Jesus to keep us active and useful! When I see the King

of Israel sluggishly leaving his couch at the close of the day, and falling at

once into temptation, let me take warning, and set holy watchfulness to guard

the door.

Is it possible that the king had mounted his housetop for retirement and

devotion? If so, what a caution is given us to count no place, however secret,

a sanctuary from sin! While our hearts are so like a tinder-box, and sparks so

plentiful, we had need use all diligence in all places to prevent a blaze.

Satan can climb housetops, and enter closets, and even if we could shut out

that foul fiend, our own corruptions are enough to work our ruin unless grace

prevent. Reader, beware of evening temptations. Be not secure. The sun is down

but sin is up. We need a watchman for the night as well as a guardian for the

day. O blessed Spirit, keep us from all evil this night. Amen.

Uncategorized

Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

Leave a comment

 

Morning “I will help thee, saith the Lord.” / Isaiah 41:14

This morning let us hear the Lord Jesus speak to each one of us: “I will help

thee.” “It is but a small thing for me, thy God, to help thee. Consider what I

have done already. What! not help thee? Why, I bought thee with my blood.

What! not help thee? I have died for thee; and if I have done the greater,

will I not do the less? Help thee! It is the least thing I will ever do for

thee; I have done more, and will do more. Before the world began I chose thee.

I made the covenant for thee. I laid aside my glory and became a man for thee;

I gave up my life for thee; and if I did all this, I will surely help thee

now. In helping thee, I am giving thee what I have bought for thee already. If

thou hadst need of a thousand times as much help, I would give it thee; thou

requirest little compared with what I am ready to give. ‘Tis much for thee to

need, but it is nothing for me to bestow. Help thee?’ Fear not! If there were

an ant at the door of thy granary asking for help, it would not ruin thee to

give him a handful of thy wheat; and thou art nothing but a tiny insect at the

door of my all-sufficiency. I will help thee.'”

 

O my soul, is not this enough? Dost thou need more strength than the

omnipotence of the United Trinity? Dost thou want more wisdom than exists in

the Father, more love than displays itself in the Son, or more power than is

manifest in the influences of the Spirit? Bring hither thine empty pitcher!

Surely this well will fill it. Haste, gather up thy wants, and bring them

here–thine emptiness, thy woes, thy needs. Behold, this river of God is full

for thy supply; what canst thou desire beside? Go forth, my soul, in this thy

might. The Eternal God is thine helper!

“Fear not, I am with thee, oh, be not dismay’d!

I, I am thy God, and will still give thee aid.”

 

Evening “The Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself.” / Daniel 9:26

Blessed be his name, there was no cause of death in him. Neither original nor

actual sin had defiled him, and therefore death had no claim upon him. No man

could have taken his life from him justly, for he had done no man wrong, and

no man could even have lain him by force unless he had been pleased to yield

himself to die. But lo, one sins and another suffers. Justice was offended by

us, but found its satisfaction in him. Rivers of tears, mountains of

offerings, seas of the blood of bullocks, and hills of frankincense, could not

have availed for the removal of sin; but Jesus was cut off for us, and the

cause of wrath was cut off at once, for sin was put away forever. Herein is

wisdom, whereby substitution, the sure and speedy way of atonement, was

devised! Herein is condescension, which brought Messiah, the Prince, to wear a

crown of thorns, and die upon the cross! Herein is love, which led the

Redeemer to lay down his life for his enemies!

It is not enough, however, to admire the spectacle of the innocent bleeding

for the guilty, we must make sure of our interest therein. The special object

of the Messiah’s death was the salvation of his church; have we a part and a

lot among those for whom he gave his life a ransom? Did the Lord Jesus stand

as our representative? Are we healed by his stripes? It will be a terrible

thing indeed if we should come short of a portion in his sacrifice; it were

better for us that we had never been born. Solemn as the question is, it is a

joyful circumstance that it is one which may be answered clearly and without

mistake. To all who believe on him the Lord Jesus is a present Saviour, and

upon them all the blood of reconciliation has been sprinkled. Let all who

trust in the merit of Messiah’s death be joyful at every remembrance of him,

and let their holy gratitude lead them to the fullest consecration to his

cause.

//

Uncategorized

Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

Leave a comment

 

Morning   “Do as thou hast said.” / 2 Samuel 7:25

God’s promises were never meant to be thrown aside as waste paper; he intended

that they should be used. God’s gold is not miser’s money, but is minted to be

traded with. Nothing pleases our Lord better than to see his promises put in

circulation; he loves to see his children bring them up to him, and say,

“Lord, do as thou hast said.” We glorify God when we plead his promises. Do

you think that God will be any the poorer for giving you the riches he has

promised? Do you dream that he will be any the less holy for giving holiness

to you? Do you imagine he will be any the less pure for washing you from your

sins? He has said “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord:

though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be

red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Faith lays hold upon the promise of

pardon, and it does not delay, saying, “This is a precious promise, I wonder

if it be true?” but it goes straight to the throne with it, and pleads, “Lord,

here is the promise, Do as thou hast said.'” Our Lord replies, “Be it unto

thee even as thou wilt.” When a Christian grasps a promise, if he does not

take it to God, he dishonours him; but when he hastens to the throne of grace,

and cries, “Lord, I have nothing to recommend me but this, Thou hast said

it;'” then his desire shall be granted. Our heavenly Banker delights to cash

his own notes. Never let the promise rust. Draw the sword of promise out of

its scabbard, and use it with holy violence. Think not that God will be

troubled by your importunately reminding him of his promises. He loves to hear

the loud outcries of needy souls. It is his delight to bestow favours. He is

more ready to hear than you are to ask. The sun is not weary of shining, nor

the fountain of flowing. It is God’s nature to keep his promises; therefore go

at once to the throne with “Do as thou hast said.”

 

Evening  “But I give myself unto prayer.” / Psalm 109:4

Lying tongues were busy against the reputation of David, but he did not defend

himself; he moved the case into a higher court, and pleaded before the great

King himself. Prayer is the safest method of replying to words of hatred. The

Psalmist prayed in no cold-hearted manner, he gave himself to the

exercise–threw his whole soul and heart into it–straining every sinew and

muscle, as Jacob did when wrestling with the angel. Thus, and thus only, shall

any of us speed at the throne of grace. As a shadow has no power because there

is no substance in it, even so that supplication, in which a man’s proper self

is not thoroughly present in agonizing earnestness and vehement desire, is

utterly ineffectual, for it lacks that which would give it force. “Fervent

prayer,” says an old divine, “like a cannon planted at the gates of heaven,

makes them fly open.” The common fault with the most of us is our readiness to

yield to distractions. Our thoughts go roving hither and thither, and we make

little progress towards our desired end. Like quicksilver our mind will not

hold together, but rolls off this way and that. How great an evil this is! It

injures us, and what is worse, it insults our God. What should we think of a

petitioner, if, while having an audience with a prince, he should be playing

with a feather or catching a fly?

Continuance and perseverance are intended in the expression of our text. David

did not cry once, and then relapse into silence; his holy clamour was

continued till it brought down the blessing. Prayer must not be our chance

work, but our daily business, our habit and vocation. As artists give

themselves to their models, and poets to their classical pursuits, so must we

addict ourselves to prayer. We must be immersed in prayer as in our element,

and so pray without ceasing. Lord, teach us so to pray that we may be more and

more prevalent in supplication.

//

Uncategorized

Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

Leave a comment

 

Morning  “Mighty to save.” / Isaiah 63:1

By the words “to save” we understand the whole of the great work of salvation,

from the first holy desire onward to complete sanctification. The words are

multum in parro: indeed, here is all mercy in one word. Christ is not only

“mighty to save” those who repent, but he is able to make men repent. He will

carry those to heaven who believe; but he is, moreover, mighty to give men new

hearts and to work faith in them. He is mighty to make the man who hates

holiness love it, and to constrain the despiser of his name to bend the knee

before him. Nay, this is not all the meaning, for the divine power is equally

seen in the after-work. The life of a believer is a series of miracles wrought

by “the Mighty God.” The bush burns, but is not consumed. He is mighty to keep

his people holy after he has made them so, and to preserve them in his fear

and love until he consummates their spiritual existence in heaven. Christ’s

might doth not lie in making a believer and then leaving him to shift for

himself; but he who begins the good work carries it on; he who imparts the

first germ of life in the dead soul, prolongs the divine existence, and

strengthens it until it bursts asunder every bond of sin, and the soul leaps

from earth, perfected in glory. Believer, here is encouragement. Art thou

praying for some beloved one? Oh, give not up thy prayers, for Christ is

“mighty to save.” You are powerless to reclaim the rebel, but your Lord is

Almighty. Lay hold on that mighty arm, and rouse it to put forth its strength.

Does your own case trouble you? Fear not, for his strength is sufficient for

you. Whether to begin with others, or to carry on the work in you, Jesus is

“mighty to save;” the best proof of which lies in the fact that he has saved

you. What a thousand mercies that you have not found him mighty to destroy!

 

Evening   “Beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.” / Matthew 14:30

Sinking times are praying times with the Lord’s servants. Peter neglected

prayer at starting upon his venturous journey, but when he began to sink his

danger made him a suppliant, and his cry though late was not too late. In our

hours of bodily pain and mental anguish, we find ourselves as naturally driven

to prayer as the wreck is driven upon the shore by the waves. The fox hies to

its hole for protection; the bird flies to the wood for shelter; and even so

the tried believer hastens to the mercy seat for safety. Heaven’s great

harbour of refuge is All-prayer; thousands of weather-beaten vessels have

found a haven there, and the moment a storm comes on, it is wise for us to

make for it with all sail.

Short prayers are long enough. There were but three words in the petition

which Peter gasped out, but they were sufficient for his purpose. Not length

but strength is desirable. A sense of need is a mighty teacher of brevity. If

our prayers had less of the tail feathers of pride and more wing they would be

all the better. Verbiage is to devotion as chaff to the wheat. Precious things

lie in small compass, and all that is real prayer in many a long address might

have been uttered in a petition as short as that of Peter.

Our extremities are the Lord’s opportunities. Immediately a keen sense of

danger forces an anxious cry from us the ear of Jesus hears, and with him ear

and heart go together, and the hand does not long linger. At the last moment

we appeal to our Master, but his swift hand makes up for our delays by instant

and effectual action. Are we nearly engulfed by the boisterous waters of

affliction? Let us then lift up our souls unto our Saviour, and we may rest

assured that he will not suffer us to perish. When we can do nothing Jesus can

do all things; let us enlist his powerful aid upon our side, and all will be

well.

//