Charles H
Spurgeon
"Son of man, What is the
vine tree more than any
tree, or than a branch
which is among the trees
of the forest?"
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!
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A really patient man
neither complains nor
seeks to be pitied; he
will
speak simply and truly
of his trouble, without
exaggerating its weight
or bemoaning himself. If
others pity him, he will
accept their
compassion patiently,
unless they pity him for
some ill he is not
enduring, in which case
he will say so with
meekness, and abide in
patience and
truthfulness, combating
his grief and not
complaining of it.
...
Francois de Sales
(1567-1622)
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You'll be encouraged by
this devotional:
The Tapestry of Life
Charles Spurgeon:
"He hath said."
Hebrews 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."
Charles Spurgeon’s
morning and evening
readings.
"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."
