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Spurgeon's Morning & Evening Devotions
Morning, February 27
"Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." - 1 Corinthians
10:12
It is a curious fact, that there is such a thing as being proud of grace. A man
says, "I have great faith, I shall not fall; poor little faith may, but I never
shall." "I have fervent love," says
another, "I can stand, there is no danger of my going astray."
He who boasts of grace has little grace to boast of. Some who do this imagine
that their graces can keep them, knowing not that the stream must flow
constantly from the fountain head, or else the brook will soon be dry. If a
continuous stream of oil comes not to the lamp, though it burn brightly to-day,
it will smoke to-morrow, and noxious will be its scent.
Take heed that thou gloriest not in thy graces, but let all thy glorying and
confidence be in Christ and his strength, for only so canst thou be kept from
falling. Be much more in prayer. Spend longer time in holy adoration.
Read the Scriptures more earnestly and constantly. Watch your lives more
carefully. Live nearer to God.
Take the best examples for your pattern. Let your conversation be redolent of
heaven. Let your hearts be perfumed with affection for men's souls.
So live that men may take knowledge of you that you have been with Jesus, and
have learned of him; and when that happy day shall come, when he whom you love
shall say, "Come up higher," may it be your happiness to hear him say, "Thou
hast fought a good fight, thou hast finished thy course, and henceforth there
is laid up for thee a crown of righteousness which fadeth not away. " On,
Christian, with care and caution! On, with holy fear and trembling! On, with
faith and confidence in Jesus alone, and let your constant petition be, "Uphold
me according to thy word. " He is able, and he alone, "To keep you from
falling, and to
present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. "
Evening, February 27
"I will take heed to my ways." - Psalm 39:1
Fellow-pilgrim, say not in your heart, "I will go hither and thither, and I
shall not sin;" for you are never so out of danger of sinning as to boast of
security. The road is very miry, it
will be hard to pick your path so as not to soil your garments This is a world
of pitch; you will need to watch often, if in handling it you are to keep your
hands clean.
There is a robber at every turn of the road to rob you of your jewels; there is
a temptation in every mercy; there is a snare in every joy; and if you ever
reach heaven, it will be a miracle of
divine grace to be ascribed entirely to your Father's power. Be on your guard.
When a man carries a bomb-shell in his hand, he should mind that he does not go
near a candle; and you too must take care that you enter not into temptation.
Even your common actions are edged tools; you must mind how you handle them.
There is nothing in this world to foster a Christian's piety, but everything to
destroy it. How anxious
should you be to look up to God, that he may keep you! Your prayer should be,
"Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe."
Having prayed, you must also watch; guarding every thought, word, and action,
with holy jealousy. Do not expose yourselves unnecessarily; but if called to
exposure, if you are bidden to go where the darts are flying, never venture
forth without your shield; for if once the devil finds you without your
buckler, he will rejoice that his hour of triumph is come, and will soon make
you fall down wounded by his arrows. Though slain you cannot be; wounded you
may be.
"Be sober; be vigilant, danger may be in an hour when all seemeth securest to
thee." Therefore, take heed to thy ways, and watch unto prayer. No man ever
fell into error through being too watchful. May the Holy Spirit guide us in all
our ways, so shall they always please the Lord.
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Daily devotions for 02-26-2005:
Devotion: Morning and Evening
Morning Title: Salvation From the Lord
Evening Title: Wholly Clean
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Morning: Salvation From the Lord
"Salvation is of the Lord." --Jonah 2:9
Salvation is the work of God. It is He alone who quickens the soul "dead in
trespasses and sins," and it is He also who maintains the soul in its spiritual
life. He is both "Alpha and Omega."
"Salvation is of the Lord." If I am prayerful, God makes me prayerful; if I
have graces, they
are God's gifts to me; if I hold on in a consistent life, it is because He
upholds me with
His hand. I do nothing whatever towards my own preservation, except what God
Himself first does in me. Whatever I have, all my goodness is of the Lord
alone. Wherein I sin, that is my own; but wherein I act rightly, that is of
God, wholly and completely. If I have repulsed a spiritual enemy, the Lord's
strength nerved my arm.
Do I live before men a consecrated life? It is not I, but Christ who liveth in
me. Am I
sanctified? I did not cleanse myself: God's Holy Spirit sanctifies me. Am I
weaned from the world? I am weaned by God's chastisements sanctified to my
good. Do I grow in knowledge? The great Instructor teaches me. All my jewels
were fashioned by heavenly art. I find in God all that I want; but I find in
myself nothing but sin and misery. "He only is my rock and my salvation." Do I
feed on the Word? That Word would be no food for me unless the Lord made it
food for my soul, and helped me to feed upon it. Do I live on the manna which
comes down from heaven? What is that manna but Jesus Christ himself incarnate,
whose body and whose blood I eat and drink? Am I continually receiving fresh
increase of strength?
Where do I gather my might? My help cometh from heaven's hills: without Jesus I
can do nothing.
As a branch cannot bring forth fruit except it abide in the vine, no more can
I, except I abide
in Him. What Jonah learned in the great deep, let me learn this morning in my
closet: "Salvation is of the Lord."
Evening: Wholly Clean
"Behold, if the leprosy have covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce him
clean that hath the
plague." --Leviticus 13:13
Strange enough this regulation appears, yet there was wisdom in it, for the
throwing out of the
disease proved that the constitution was sound.
This evening it may be well for us to see the typical teaching of so singular a
rule. We, too,
are lepers, and may read the law of the leper as applicable to ourselves. When
a man sees himself to be altogether lost and ruined, covered all over with the
defilement of sin, and in no part free from pollution; when he disclaims all
righteousness of his own, and pleads guilty
before the Lord, then he is clean through the blood of Jesus, and the grace of
God. Hidden,
unfelt, unconfessed iniquity is the true leprosy; but when sin is seen and
felt, it has received
its deathblow, and the Lord looks with eyes of mercy upon the soul afflicted
with it. Nothing is
more deadly than self-righteousness, or more hopeful than contrition. We must
confess that we are "nothing else but sin," for no confession short of this
will be the whole truth; and if the
Holy Spirit be at work with us, convincing us of sin, there will be no
difficulty about making
such an acknowledgment--it will spring spontaneously from our lips. What
comfort does
the text afford to truly awakened sinners: the very circumstance which so
grievously discouraged them is here turned into a sign and symptom of a hopeful
state! Stripping comes before clothing; digging out the foundation is the
first thing in building--and a thorough sense of sin is one of the earliest
works of grace in the heart. O thou poor leprous sinner, utterly destitute of a
sound spot, take heart from the text, and come as thou art to Jesus--
"For let our debts be what they may, however great or small, As soon as we have
nought to pay, our Lord forgives us all. 'Tis perfect poverty alone that sets
the soul at large: While we can call one mite our own, we have no full
discharge."
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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