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Denisegilmore
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Username: Denisegilmore
Post Number: 91
Registered: 10-2000
| | Posted on Monday, October 04, 2004 - 9:26 pm: |     |
C.H. Spurgeon
"At evening time it shall be light."óZechariah 14:7.
OFTENTIMES we look forward with forebodings to the time of old age, forgetful that at eventide it shall be light.
To many saints, old age is the choicest season in their lives. A balmier air fans the mariner's cheek as he nears the shore of immortality, fewer waves ruffle his sea, quiet reigns, deep, still and solemn.
From the altar of age the flashes of the fire of youth are gone, but the more real flame of earnest feeling remains.
The pilgrims have reached the land Beulah, that happy country, whose days are as the days of heaven upon earth. Angels visit it, celestial gales blow over it, flowers of paradise grow in it, and the air is filled with seraphic music.
Some dwell here for years, and others come to it but a few hours before their departure, but it is an Eden on earth.
We may well long for the time when we shall recline in its shady groves and be satisfied with hope until the time of fruition comes.
The setting sun seems larger than when aloft in the sky, and a splendour of glory tinges all the clouds which surround his going down.
Pain breaks not the calm of the sweet twilight of age, for strength made perfect in weakness bears up with patience under it all. Ripe fruits of choice experience are gathered as the rare repast of life's evening, and the soul prepares itself for rest.
The Lord's people shall also enjoy light in the hour of death.
Unbelief laments; the shadows fall, the night is coming, existence is ending.
Ah no, crieth faith, the night is far spent, the true day is at hand. Light is come, the light of immortality, the light of a Father's countenance.
Gather up thy feet in the bed, see the waiting bands of spirits! Angels waft thee away.
Farewell, beloved one, thou art gone, thou wavest thine hand. Ah, now it is light. The pearly gates are open, the golden streets shine in the jasper light.
We cover our eyes, but thou beholdest the unseen; adieu, brother, thou hast light at even-tide, such as we have not yet.
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Denisegilmore
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Username: Denisegilmore
Post Number: 95
Registered: 10-2000
| | Posted on Friday, October 08, 2004 - 10:08 pm: | |
C.H Spurgeon
"Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught."óLuke 5:4.
WE learn from this narrative, the necessity of human agency.
The draught of fishes was miraculous, yet neither the fisherman nor his boat, nor his fishing tackle were ignored; but all were used to take the fishes.
So in the saving of souls, God worketh by means; and while the present economy of grace shall stand, God will be pleased by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
When God worketh without instruments, doubtless He is glorified; but He hath Himself selected the plan of instrumentality as being that by which He is most magnified in the earth.
Means of themselves are utterly unavailing. "Master, we have toiled all the night and have taken nothing." What was the reason of this?
Were they not fishermen plying their special calling? Verily, they were no raw hands; they understood the work. Had they gone about the toil unskillfully? No. Had they lacked industry? No, they had toiled. Had they lacked perseverance? No, they had toiled all the night. Was there a deficiency of fish in the sea? Certainly not, for as soon as the Master came, they swam to the net in shoals.
What, then, is the reason?
Is it because there is no power in the means of themselves apart from the presence of Jesus? "Without Him we can do nothing."
But with Christ we can do all things. Christ's presence confers success. Jesus sat in Peter's boat, and His will, by a mysterious influence, drew the fish to the net.
When Jesus is lifted up in His Church, His presence is the Church's poweróthe shout of a king is in the midst of her.
"I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me."
Let us go out this morning on our work of soul fishing, looking up in faith, and around us in solemn anxiety. Let us toil till night comes, and we shall not labour in vain, for He who bids us let down the net, will fill it with fishes.
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Denisegilmore
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Username: Denisegilmore
Post Number: 96
Registered: 10-2000
| | Posted on Sunday, October 10, 2004 - 3:09 am: | |
C.H. Spurgeon
"Faultless before the presence of His glory."óJude 24.
REVOLVE in your mind that wondrous word, faultless!" We are far off from it now; but as our Lord never stops short of perfection in His work of love, we shall reach it one day.
The Saviour who will keep His people to the end, will also present them at last to Himself, as "a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, but holy and without blemish."
All the jewels in the Saviour's crown are of the first water and without a single flaw. All the maids of honour who attend the Lamb's wife are pure virgins without spot or stain.
But how will Jesus make us faultless?
He will wash us from our sins in His own blood until we are white and fair as God's purest angel; and we shall be clothed in His righteousness, that righteousness which makes the saint who wears it positively faultless; yea, perfect in the sight of God.
We shall be unblameable and unreproveable even in His eyes. His law will not only have no charge against us, but it will be magnified in us.
Moreover, the work of the Holy Spirit within us will be altogether complete. He will make us so perfectly holy, that we shall have no lingering tendency to sin. Judgment, memory, willóevery power and passion shall be emancipated from the thraldom of evil.
We shall be holy even as God is holy, and in His presence we shall dwell for ever. Saints will not be out of place in heaven, their beauty will be as great as that of the place prepared for them.
Oh the rapture of that hour when the everlasting doors shall be lifted up, and we, being made meet for the inheritance, shall dwell with the saints in light.
Sin gone, Satan shut out, temptation past for ever, and ourselves "faultless" before God, this will be heaven indeed!
Let us be joyful now as we rehearse the song of eternal praise so soon to roll forth in full chorus from all the blood-washed host; let us copy David's exultings before the ark as a prelude to our ecstasies before the throne.
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Denisegilmore
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Username: Denisegilmore
Post Number: 99
Registered: 10-2000
| | Posted on Thursday, October 14, 2004 - 7:14 am: | |
C.H. Spurgeon
"I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord."óPhilippians 3:8.
SPIRITUAL knowledge of Christ will be a personal knowledge. I cannot know Jesus through another person's acquaintance with Him. No, I must know Him myself; I must know Him on my own account. It will be an intelligent knowledgeóI must know Him, not as the visionary dreams of Him, but as the Word reveals Him.
I must know His natures, divine and human. I must know His officesóHis attributesóHis worksóHis shameóHis glory. I must meditate upon Him until I "comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge."
It will be an affectionate knowledge of Him; indeed, if I know Him at all, I must love Him. An ounce of heart knowledge is worth a ton of head learning.
Our knowledge of Him will be a satisfying knowledge. When I know my Saviour, my mind will be full to the brimóI shall feel that I have that which my spirit panted after. "This is that bread whereof if a man eat he shall never hunger."
At the same time it will be an exciting knowledge; the more I know of my Beloved, the more I shall want to know. The higher I climb the loftier will be the summits which invite my eager footsteps. I shall want the more as I get the more. Like the miser's treasure, my gold will make me covet more.
To conclude; this knowledge of Christ Jesus will be a most happy one; in fact, so elevating, that sometimes it will completely bear me up above all trials, and doubts, and sorrows; and it will, while I enjoy it, make me something more than "Man that is born of woman, who is of few days, and full of trouble"; for it will fling about me the immortality of the everliving Saviour, and gird me with the golden girdle of His eternal joy.
Come, my soul, sit at Jesus's feet and learn of Him all this day.
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Denisegilmore
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Username: Denisegilmore
Post Number: 103
Registered: 10-2000
| | Posted on Thursday, October 21, 2004 - 11:39 pm: | |
C.H. Spurgeon
"The love of Christ constraineth us."ó2 Corinthians 5:14.
HOW much owest thou unto my Lord? Has He ever done anything for thee? Has He forgiven thy sins? Has He covered thee with a robe of righteousness? Has He set thy feet upon a rock? Has He established thy goings? Has He prepared heaven for thee? Has He prepared thee for heaven? Has He written thy name in His book of life? Has He given thee countless blessings? Has He laid up for thee a store of mercies, which eye hath not seen nor ear heard?
Then do something for Jesus worthy of His love. Give not a mere wordy offering to a dying Redeemer. How will you feel when your Master comes, if you have to confess that you did nothing for Him, but kept your love shut up, like a stagnant pool, neither flowing forth to His poor or to His work. Out on such love as that!
What do men think of a love which never shows itself in action? Why, they say, "Open rebuke is better than secret love." Who will accept a love so weak that it does not actuate you to a single deed of self-denial, of generosity, of heroism, or zeal!
Think how He has loved you, and given Himself for you! Do you know the power of that love? Then let it be like a rushing mighty wind to your soul to sweep out the clouds of your worldliness, and clear away the mists of sin.
"For Christ's sake" be this the tongue of fire that shall sit upon you: "for Christ's sake" be this the divine rapture, the heavenly afflatus to bear you aloft from earth, the divine spirit that shall make you bold as lions and swift as eagles in your Lord's service.
Love should give wings to the feet of service, and strength to the arms of labour.
Fixed on God with a constancy that is not to be shaken, resolute to honour Him with a determination that is not to be turned aside, and pressing on with an ardour never to be wearied, let us manifest the constraints of love to Jesus.
May the divine loadstone draw us heavenward towards itself.
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Denisegilmore
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Username: Denisegilmore
Post Number: 113
Registered: 10-2000
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 27, 2004 - 10:24 pm: | |
C.H. Spurgeon
"It is a faithful saying."ó2 Timothy 2:11.
PAUL has four of these "faithful sayings." The first occurs in 1 Timothy 1:15, "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners."
The next is in 1 Timothy 4:6, "Godliness is profitable unto all things, having the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation."
The third is in 2 Timothy 2:12, "It is a faithful sayingóIf we suffer with Him we shall also reign with Him";
and the fourth is in Titus 3:3, "This is a faithful saying, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works."
We may trace a connection between these faithful sayings. The first one lays the foundation of our eternal salvation in the free grace of God, as shown to us in the mission of the great Redeemer.
The next affirms the double blessedness which we obtain through this salvationóthe blessings of the upper and nether springsóof time and of eternity.
The third shows one of the duties to which the chosen people are called; we are ordained to suffer for Christ with the promise that "if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him."
The last sets forth the active form of Christian service, bidding us diligently to maintain good works.
Thus we have the root of salvation in free grace; next, the privileges of that salvation in the life which now is, and in that which is to come; and we have also the two great branches of suffering with Christ and serving with Christ, loaded with the fruits of the Spirit.
Treasure up these faithful sayings. Let them be the guides of our life, our comfort, and our instruction. The apostle of the Gentiles proved them to be faithful, they are faithful still, not one word shall fall to the ground; they are worthy of all acceptation, let us accept them now, and prove their faithfulness.
Let these four faithful sayings be written on the four corners of My house.
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Denisegilmore
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Username: Denisegilmore
Post Number: 121
Registered: 10-2000
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 2:59 am: | |
C.H. Spurgeon
"I am the Lord, I change not."óMalachi 3:6.
IT is well for us that, amidst all the variableness of life, there is One whom change cannot affect; One whose heart can never alter, and on whose brow mutability can make no furrows.
All things else have changedóall things are changing. The sun itself grows dim with age; the world is waxing old; the folding up of the worn-out vesture has commenced; the heavens and earth must soon pass away; they shall perish, they shall wax old as doth a garment; but there is One who only hath immortality, of whose years there is no end, and in whose person there is no change.
The delight which the mariner feels, when, after having been tossed about for many a day, he steps again upon the solid shore, is the satisfaction of a Christian when, amidst all the changes of this troublous life, he rests the foot of his faith upon this truthó"I am the Lord, I change not."
The stability which the anchor gives the ship when it has at last obtained a hold-fast, is like that which the Christian's hope affords him when it fixes itself upon this glorious truth.
With God "is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." What ever His attributes were of old, they are now; His power, His wisdom, His justice, His truth, are alike unchanged.
He has ever been the refuge of His people, their stronghold in the day of trouble, and He is their sure Helper still. He is unchanged in His love.
He has loved His people with "an everlasting love"; He loves them now as much as ever He did, and when all earthly things shall have melted in the last conflagration, His love will still wear the dew of its youth.
Precious is the assurance that He changes not! The wheel of providence revolves, but its axle is eternal love.
"Death and change are busy ever,
Man decays, and ages move;
But His mercy waneth never;
God is wisdom, God is love."
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Colleentinker
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Username: Colleentinker
Post Number: 887
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 10:38 am: | |
Thank you for this message today, Denise.
Colleen |
Denisegilmore
Registered user
Username: Denisegilmore
Post Number: 122
Registered: 10-2000
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 18, 2005 - 1:53 am: | |
C.H. Spurgeon
""There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God."óHebrews 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 for ever; 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 for ever! 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.
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Carol_2
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Username: Carol_2
Post Number: 225
Registered: 2-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 18, 2005 - 11:41 am: | |
Thanks for sharing that Denise. I was twice blessed today, as I'd read it in a devotional also.
I hope you are feeling well.
Love, Carol |
Denisegilmore
Registered user
Username: Denisegilmore
Post Number: 123
Registered: 10-2000
| | Posted on Monday, January 24, 2005 - 3:45 am: | |
C.H. Spurgeon
"Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler."óPsalm 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 snareódoes 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 saithó
"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 promiseó
"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.
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Denisegilmore
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Username: Denisegilmore
Post Number: 125
Registered: 10-2000
| | Posted on Monday, January 31, 2005 - 3:30 am: | |
C.H. Spurgeon
"The Lord our Righteousness."óJeremiah 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 thoughtó-
"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.
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Denisegilmore
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Username: Denisegilmore
Post Number: 126
Registered: 10-2000
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 02, 2005 - 2:39 am: | |
C.H. Spurgeon
"Without the shedding of blood is no remission."óHebrews 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." |
Denisegilmore
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Username: Denisegilmore
Post Number: 129
Registered: 10-2000
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 09, 2005 - 7:58 pm: | |
C.H. Spurgeon
"And David enquired of the Lord."ó2 Samuel 5:23.
When David made this enquiry he had just fought the Philistines, and gained a signal victory. The Philistines came up in great hosts, but, by the help of God, David had easily put them to flight.
Note, however, that when they came a second time, David did not go up to fight them without enquiring of the Lord.
Once he had been victorious, and he might have said, as many have in other cases, "I shall be victorious again; I may rest quite sure that if I have conquered once I shall triumph yet again. Wherefore should I tarry to seek at the Lord's hands?" Not so, David. He had gained one battle by the strength of the Lord; he would not venture upon another until he had ensured the same. He enquired, "Shall I go up against them?"
He waited until God's sign was given.
Learn from David to take no step without God. Christian, if thou wouldst know the path of duty, take God for thy compass; if thou wouldst steer thy ship through the dark billows, put the tiller into the hand of the Almighty.
Many a rock might be escaped, if we would let our Father take the helm; many a shoal or quicksand we might well avoid, if we would leave to His sovereign will to choose and to command.
The Puritan said, "As sure as ever a Christian carves for himself, he'll cut his own fingers;" this is a great truth.
Said another old divine, "He that goes before the cloud of God's providence goes on a fool's errand;" and so he does.
We must mark God's providence leading us; and if providence tarries, tarry till providence comes.
He who goes before providence, will be very glad to run back again.
"I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go," is God's promise to His people.
Let us, then, take all our perplexities to Him, and say, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" Leave not thy chamber this morning without enquiring of the Lord.
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Denisegilmore
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Username: Denisegilmore
Post Number: 132
Registered: 10-2000
| | Posted on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 10:13 pm: | |
C.H Spurgeon
"And his allowance was a continual allowance given him of the king, a daily rate for every day, all the days of his life."ó2 Kings 25:30.
JEHOIACHIN was not sent away from the king's palace with a store to last him for months, but his provision was given him as a daily pension. Herein he well pictures the happy position of all the Lord's people. A daily portion is all that a man really wants.
We do not need tomorrow's supplies; that day has not yet dawned, and its wants are as yet unborn. The thirst which we may suffer in the month of June does not need to be quenched in February, for we do not feel it yet; if we have enough for each day as the days arrive we shall never know want.
Sufficient for the day is all that we can enjoy. We cannot eat or drink or wear more than the day's supply of food and raiment;
the surplus gives us the care of storing it, and the anxiety of watching against a thief. One staff aids a traveller, but a bundle of staves is a heavy burden. Enough is not only as good as a feast, but is all that the veriest glutton can truly enjoy.
This is all that we should expect; a craving for more than this is ungrateful. When our Father does not give us more, we should be content with his daily allowance.
Jehoiachin's case is ours, we have a sure portion, a portion given us of the king, a gracious portion, and a perpetual portion. Here is surely ground for thankfulness.
Beloved Christian reader, in matters of grace you need a daily supply.
You have no store of strength.
Day by day must you seek help from above.
It is a very sweet assurance that a daily portion is provided for you. In the word, through the ministry, by meditation, in prayer, and waiting upon God you shall receive renewed strength.
In Jesus all needful things are laid up for you.
Then enjoy your continual allowance.
Never go hungry while the daily bread of grace is on the table of mercy.
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Denisegilmore
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Username: Denisegilmore
Post Number: 133
Registered: 10-2000
| | Posted on Monday, February 21, 2005 - 7:28 am: | |
C.H. Spurgeon
"He hath said."óHebrews 13:5.
If we can only grasp these words by faith, we have an all-conquering weapon in our hand.
What doubt will not be slain by this two-edged sword? What fear is there which shall not fall smitten with a deadly wound before this arrow from the bow of God's covenant? Will not the distresses of life and the pangs of death; will not the corruptions within, and the snares without; will not the trials from above, and the temptations from beneath, all seem but light afflictions, when we can hide ourselves beneath the bulwark of "He hath said"?
Yes; whether for delight in our quietude, or for strength in our conflict, "He hath said" must be our daily resort.
And this may teach us the extreme value of searching the Scriptures. There may be a promise in the Word which would exactly fit your case, but you may not know of it, and therefore you miss its comfort.
You are like prisoners in a dungeon, and there may be one key in the bunch which would unlock the door, and you might be free; but if you will not look for it, you may remain a prisoner still, though liberty is so near at hand.
There may be a potent medicine in the great pharmacopoeia of Scripture, and you may yet continue sick unless you will examine and search the Scriptures to discover what "He hath said."
Should you not, besides reading the Bible, store your memories richly with the promises of God? You can recollect the sayings of great men; you treasure up the verses of renowned poets; ought you not to be profound in your knowledge of the words of God, so that you may be able to quote them readily when you would solve a difficulty, or overthrow a doubt?
Since "He hath said" is the source of all wisdom, and the fountain of all comfort, let it dwell in you richly, as "A well of water, springing up unto everlasting life." So shall you grow healthy, strong, and happy in the divine life.
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Denisegilmore
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Username: Denisegilmore
Post Number: 144
Registered: 10-2000
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 01, 2005 - 7:44 pm: | |
C.H. Spurgeon
"Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out."óSong of Solomon 4:16.
Anything is better than the dead calm of indifference. Our souls may wisely desire the north wind of trouble if that alone can be sanctified to the drawing forth of the perfume of our graces. So long as it cannot be said, "The Lord was not in the wind," we will not shrink from the most wintry blast that ever blew upon plants of grace.
Did not the spouse in this verse humbly submit herself to the reproofs of her Beloved; only entreating Him to send forth His grace in some form, and making no stipulation as to the peculiar manner in which it should come?
Did she not, like ourselves, become so utterly weary of deadness and unholy calm that she sighed for any visitation which would brace her to action?
Yet she desires the warm south wind of comfort, too, the smiles of divine love, the joy of the Redeemer's presence; these are often mightily effectual to arouse our sluggish life. She desires either one or the other, or both; so that she may but be able to delight her Beloved with the spices of her garden.
She cannot endure to be unprofitable, nor can we.
How cheering a thought that Jesus can find comfort in our poor feeble graces. Can it be? It seems far too good to be true. Well may we court trial or even death itself if we shall thereby be aided to make glad Immanuel's heart.
O that our heart were crushed to atoms if only by such bruising our sweet Lord Jesus could be glorified.
Graces unexercised are as sweet perfumes slumbering in the cups of the flowers: the wisdom of the great Husbandman overrules diverse and opposite causes to produce the one desired result, and makes both affliction and consolation draw forth the grateful odours of faith, love, patience, hope, resignation, joy, and the other fair flowers of the garden.
May we know by sweet experience, what this means.
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Denisegilmore
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Username: Denisegilmore
Post Number: 146
Registered: 10-2000
| | Posted on Sunday, March 06, 2005 - 7:38 am: | |
C.H. Spurgeon
"Ye must be born again."óJohn 3:7.
Regeneration is a subject which lies at the very basis of salvation, and we should be very diligent to take heed that we really are "born again," for there are many who fancy they are, who are not.
Be assured that the name of a Christian is not the nature of a Christian; and that being born in a Christian land, and being recognized as professing the Christian religion is of no avail whatever, unless there be something more added to itóthe being "born again," is a matter so mysterious, that human words cannot describe it.
"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit."
Nevertheless, it is a change which is known and felt: known by works of holiness, and felt by a gracious experience.
This great work is supernatural. It is not an operation which a man performs for himself: a new principle is infused, which works in the heart, renews the soul, and affects the entire man.
It is not a change of my name, but a renewal of my nature, so that I am not the man I used to be, but a new man in Christ Jesus.
To wash and dress a corpse is a far different thing from making it alive: man can do the one, God alone can do the other.
If you have then, been "born again," your acknowledgment will be, "O Lord Jesus, the everlasting Father, Thou art my spiritual Parent; unless Thy Spirit had breathed into me the breath of a new, holy, and spiritual life, I had been to this day 'dead in trespasses and sins.' My heavenly life is wholly derived from Thee, to Thee I ascribe it. 'My life is hid with Christ in God.' It is no longer I who live, but Christ who liveth in me."
May the Lord enable us to be well assured on this vital point, for to be unregenerate is to be unsaved, unpardoned, without God, and without hope.
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Denisegilmore
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Username: Denisegilmore
Post Number: 178
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| | Posted on Thursday, March 10, 2005 - 11:19 pm: | |
C.H. Spurgeon
Sin . . . exceeding sinful."óRomans 7:13.
BEWARE of light thoughts of sin. At the time of conversion, the conscience is so tender, that we are afraid of the slightest sin. Young converts have a holy timidity, a godly fear lest they should offend against God.
But alas! very soon the fine bloom upon these first ripe fruits is removed by the rough handling of the surrounding world: the sensitive plant of young piety turns into a willow in after life, too pliant, too easily yielding.
It is sadly true, that even a Christian may grow by degrees so callous, that the sin which once startled him does not alarm him in the least. By degrees men get familiar with sin. The ear in which the cannon has been booming will not notice slight sounds.
At first a little sin startles us; but soon we say, "Is it not a little one?" Then there comes another, larger, and then another, until by degrees we begin to regard sin as but a little ill; and then follows an unholy presumption:
"We have not fallen into open sin. True, we tripped a little, but we stood upright in the main. We may have uttered one unholy word, but as for the most of our conversation, it has been consistent."
So we palliate sin; we throw a cloak over it; we call it by dainty names. Christian, beware how thou thinkest lightly of sin. Take heed lest thou fall by little and little.
Sin, a little thing? Is it not a poison? Who knows its deadliness? Sin, a little thing? Do not the little foxes spoil the grapes? Doth not the tiny coral insect build a rock which wrecks a navy? Do not little strokes fell lofty oaks? Will not continual droppings wear away stones? Sin, a little thing?
It girded the Redeemer's head with thorns, and pierced His heart! It made Him suffer anguish, bitterness, and woe.
Could you weigh the least sin in the scales of eternity, you would fly from it as from a serpent, and abhor the least appearance of evil. Look upon all sin as that which crucified the Saviour, and you will see it to be "exceeding sinful."
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Denisegilmore
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Post Number: 245
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| | Posted on Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - 4:26 am: | |
C.H. Spurgeon
"He was numbered with the transgressors."óIsaiah 53:12.
Why did Jesus suffer Himself to be enrolled amongst sinners?
This wonderful condescension was justified by many powerful reasons. In such a character He could the better become their advocate. In some trials there is an identification of the counsellor with the client, nor can they be looked upon in the eye of the law as apart from one another.
Now, when the sinner is brought to the bar, Jesus appears there Himself. He stands to answer the accusation. He points to His side, His hands, His feet, and challenges Justice to bring anything against the sinners whom He represents; He pleads His blood, and pleads so triumphantly, being numbered with them and having a part with them, that the Judge proclaims, "Let them go their way; deliver them from going down into the pit, for He hath found a ransom."
Our Lord Jesus was numbered with the transgressors in order that they might feel their hearts drawn towards Him. Who can be afraid of one who is written in the same list with us? Surely we may come boldly to Him, and confess our guilt. He who is numbered with us cannot condemn us. Was He not put down in the transgressor's list that we might be written in the red roll of the saints?
He was holy, and written among the holy; we were guilty, and numbered among the guilty; He transfers His name from yonder list to this black indictment, and our names are taken from the indictment and written in the roll of acceptance, for there is a complete transfer made between Jesus and His people.
All our estate of misery and sin Jesus has taken; and all that Jesus has comes to us. His righteousness, His blood, and everything that He hath He gives us as our dowry.
Rejoice, believer, in your union to Him who was numbered among the transgressors; and prove that you are truly saved by being manifestly numbered with those who are new creatures in Him.
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Denisegilmore
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Post Number: 271
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| | Posted on Friday, April 29, 2005 - 3:40 am: | |
C.H. Spurgeon
"Thou art my hope in the day of evil."óJeremiah 17:17.
The path of the Christian is not always bright with sunshine; he has his seasons of darkness and of storm.
True, it is written in God's Word, "Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace;" and it is a great truth, that religion is calculated to give a man happiness below as well as bliss above;
but experience tells us that if the course of the just be "As the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day," yet sometimes that light is eclipsed. At certain periods clouds cover the believer's sun, and he walks in darkness and sees no light.
There are many who have rejoiced in the presence of God for a season; they have basked in the sunshine in the earlier stages of their Christian career; they have walked along the "green pastures" by the side of the "still waters,"
but suddenly they find the glorious sky is clouded; instead of the Land of Goshen they have to tread the sandy desert; in the place of sweet waters, they find troubled streams, bitter to their taste, and they say, "Surely, if I were a child of God, this would not happen."
Oh! say not so, thou who art walking in darkness. The best of God's saints must drink the wormwood; the dearest of His children must bear the cross.
No Christian has enjoyed perpetual prosperity; no believer can always keep his harp from the willows.
Perhaps the Lord allotted you at first a smooth and unclouded path, because you were weak and timid. He tempered the wind to the shorn lamb, but now that you are stronger in the spiritual life, you must enter upon the riper and rougher experience of God's full-grown children.
We need winds and tempests to exercise our faith, to tear off the rotten bough of self-dependence, and to root us more firmly in Christ. The day of evil reveals to us the value of our glorious hope.
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Denisegilmore
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Post Number: 274
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| | Posted on Sunday, May 15, 2005 - 4:25 am: | |
C.H. Spurgeon
"All that believe are justified."óActs 13:39.
The believer in Christ receives a present justification. Faith does not produce this fruit by-and-by, but now. So far as justification is the result of faith, it is given to the soul in the moment when it closes with Christ, and accepts Him as its all in all.
Are they who stand before the throne of God justified now?óso are we, as truly and as clearly justified as they who walk in white and sing melodious praises to celestial harps.
The thief upon the cross was justified the moment that he turned the eye of faith to Jesus; and Paul, the aged, after years of service, was not more justified than was the thief with no service at all. We are to-day accepted in the Beloved, to-day absolved from sin, to-day acquitted at the bar of God. Oh! soul-transporting thought!
There are some clusters of Eshcol's vine which we shall not be able to gather till we enter heaven; but this is a bough which runneth over the wall. This is not as the corn of the land, which we can never eat till we cross the Jordan; but this is part of the manna in the wilderness, a portion of our daily nutriment with which God supplies us in our journeying to and fro.
We are nowóeven now pardoned; even now are our sins put away; even now we stand in the sight of God accepted, as though we had never been guilty.
"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus."
There is not a sin in the Book of God, even now, against one of His people. Who dareth to lay anything to their charge? There is neither speck, nor spot, nor wrinkle, nor any such thing remaining upon any one believer in the matter of justification in the sight of the Judge of all the earth.
Let present privilege awaken us to present duty, and now, while life lasts, let us spend and be spent for our sweet Lord Jesus.
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Jeremy
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Username: Jeremy
Post Number: 661
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, May 15, 2005 - 4:37 pm: | |
Denise,
Thank you so much for posting that wonderful commentary from Spurgeon.
God bless you abundantly with His grace, mercy, peace, and joy!
Jeremy |
Colleentinker
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Username: Colleentinker
Post Number: 1971
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Monday, May 16, 2005 - 11:16 am: | |
Denise, I echo Jeremy. Thank you for the devotional!
With prayers for you,
Colleen |
Denisegilmore
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Username: Denisegilmore
Post Number: 282
Registered: 10-2000
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 17, 2005 - 3:38 am: | |
Jeremy and Colleen,
I'm happy you enjoy these. And very thankful the Lord revealed to me His faithful servant Spurgeon!
Blessings to you both.
In Christ Jesus of Nazareth.
denise |
Denisegilmore
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Post Number: 290
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| | Posted on Thursday, May 19, 2005 - 7:29 am: | |
C.H. Spurgeon
I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth."óEcclesiastes 10:7.
Upstarts frequently usurp the highest places, while the truly great pine in obscurity. This is a riddle in providence whose solution will one day gladden the hearts of the upright; but it is so common a fact, that none of us should murmur if it should fall to our own lot.
When our Lord was upon earth, although He is the Prince of the kings of the earth, yet He walked the footpath of weariness and service as the Servant of servants: what wonder is it if His followers, who are princes of the blood, should also be looked down upon as inferior and contemptible persons?
The world is upside down, and therefore, the first are last and the last first. See how the servile sons of Satan lord it in the earth! What a high horse they ride! How they lift up their horn on high!
Haman is in the court, while Mordecai sits in the gate; David wanders on the mountains, while Saul reigns in state; Elijah is complaining in the cave while Jezebel is boasting in the palace; yet who would wish to take the places of the proud rebels? and who, on the other hand, might not envy the despised saints?
When the wheel turns, those who are lowest rise, and the highest sink. Patience, then, believer, eternity will right the wrongs of time.
Let us not fall into the error of letting our passions and carnal appetites ride in triumph, while our nobler powers walk in the dust.
Grace must reign as a prince, and make the members of the body instruments of righteousness.
The Holy Spirit loves order, and He therefore sets our powers and faculties in due rank and place, giving the highest room to those spiritual faculties which link us with the great King; let us not disturb the divine arrangement, but ask for grace that we may keep under our body and bring it into subjection.
We were not new created to allow our passions to rule over us, but that we, as kings, may reign in Christ Jesus over the triple kingdom of spirit, soul, and body, to the glory of God the Father.
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I needed to read this one today! |
Denisegilmore
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Username: Denisegilmore
Post Number: 328
Registered: 10-2000
| | Posted on Friday, July 22, 2005 - 10:51 pm: | |
C.H. Spurgeon
Even thou wast as one of them."óObadiah 1:11.
Brotherly kindness was due from Edom to Israel in the time of need, but instead thereof, the men of Esau made common cause with Israel's foes.
Special stress in the sentence before us is laid upon the word thou; as when Caesar cried to Brutus, "and thou Brutus"; a bad action may be all the worse, because of the person who has committed it.
When we sin, who are the chosen favorites of heaven, we sin with an emphasis; ours is a crying offence, because we are so peculiarly indulged.
If an angel should lay his hand upon us when we are doing evil, he need not use any other rebuke than the question, "What thou? What dost thou here?"
Much forgiven, much delivered, much instructed, much enriched, much blessed, shall we dare to put forth our hand unto evil? God forbid!
A few minutes of confession may be beneficial to thee, gentle reader, this morning.
Hast thou never been as the wicked?
At an evening party certain men laughed at uncleanness, and the joke was not altogether offensive to thine ear, even thou wast as one of them.
When hard things were spoken concerning the ways of God, thou wast bashfully silent; and so, to on-lookers, thou wast as one of them.
When worldlings were bartering in the market, and driving hard bargains, wast thou not as one of them?
When they were pursuing vanity with a hunter's foot, wert thou not as greedy for gain as they were?
Could any difference be discerned between thee and them? Is there any difference?
Here we come to close quarters. Be honest with thine own soul, and make sure that thou art a new creature in Christ Jesus; but when this is sure, walk jealously, lest any should again be able to say, "Even thou wast as one of them."
Thou wouldst not desire to share their eternal doom, why then be like them here?
Come not thou into their secret, lest thou come into their ruin. Side with the afflicted people of God, and not with the world.
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Denisegilmore
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Post Number: 358
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| | Posted on Friday, August 26, 2005 - 8:02 am: | |
C.H. Spurgeon
"He hath commanded His covenant for ever."óPsalms 111:9.
The Lord's people delight in the covenant itself. It is an unfailing source of consolation to them so often as the Holy Spirit leads them into its banqueting house and waves its banner of love.
They delight to contemplate the antiquity of that covenant, remembering that before the day-star knew its place, or planets ran their round, the interests of the saints were made secure in Christ Jesus.
It is peculiarly pleasing to them to remember the sureness of the covenant, while meditating upon "the sure mercies of David."
They delight to celebrate it as "signed, and sealed, and ratified, in all things ordered well."
It often makes their hearts dilate with joy to think of its immutability, as a covenant which neither time nor eternity, life nor death, shall ever be able to violateóa covenant as old as eternity and as everlasting as the Rock of ages.
They rejoice also to feast upon the fulness of this covenant, for they see in it all things provided for them. God is their portion, Christ their companion, the Spirit their Comforter, earth their lodge, and heaven their home.
They see in it an inheritance reserved and entailed to every soul possessing an interest in its ancient and eternal deed of gift.
Their eyes sparkled when they saw it as a treasure-trove in the Bible; but oh! how their souls were gladdened when they saw in the last will and testament of their divine kinsman, that it was bequeathed to them!
More especially it is the pleasure of God's people to contemplate the graciousness of this covenant.
They see that the law was made void because it was a covenant of works and depended upon merit, but this they perceive to be enduring because grace is the basis, grace the condition, grace the strain, grace the bulwark, grace the foundation, grace the topstone.
The covenant is a treasury of wealth, a granary of food, a fountain of life, a store-house of salvation, a charter of peace, and a haven of joy.
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