Tag Archives: Evening’s With Spurgeon

“Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?”~ Job 38:31 ~ If inclined to boast of our abilities, the grandeur of nature may soon show us how puny we are. We cannot move the least of all the twinkling stars, or quench so much as one of the beams of the morning. We speak… (more…)

“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church.”~ Ephesian 5:25 ~ What a golden example Christ gives to His disciples! Few masters could venture to say, “If you would practise my teaching, imitate my life;” but as the life of Jesus is the exact transcript of perfect virtue, He can point to Himself as the paragon of… (more…)

“And she did eat, and was sufficed, and left.”~ Ruth 2:14 ~ Whenever we are privileged to eat of the bread which Jesus gives, we are, like Ruth, satisfied with the full and sweet repast. When Jesus is the host no guest goes empty from the table. Our head is satisfied with the precious truth which Christ reveals; our heart… (more…)

“As the Father hath loved Me, so have I loved you.”~ John 15:9 ~ As the Father loves the Son, in the same manner Jesus loves His people. What is that divine method? He loved Him without beginning, and thus Jesus loves His members. “I have loved thee with an everlasting love.” You can trace the beginning of human affection;… (more…)

“Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.~ Matthew 5:9 ~ This is the seventh of the beatitudes: and seven was the number of perfection among the Hebrews. It may be that the Saviour placed the peacemaker the seventh upon the list because he most nearly approaches the perfect man in Christ Jesus. He who… (more…)

“Keep back Thy servant also from presumptuous sins.”~ Psalm 19:13 ~ Such was the prayer of the “man after God’s own heart.” Did holy David need to pray thus? How needful, then, must such a prayer be for us babes in grace! It is as if he said, “Keep me back, or I shall rush headlong over the precipice of… (more…)

“He did it with all his heart and prospered.”~ 2 Chronicles 31:21 ~ This is no unusual occurrence; it is the general rule of the moral universe that those men prosper who do their work with all their hearts, while those are almost certain to fail who go to their labour leaving half their hearts behind them. God does not… (more…)

“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… (more…)

“Then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.”~ Genesis 8:9 ~ Wearied out with her wanderings, the dove returns at length to the ark as her only resting place. How heavily she flies she will drop she will never reach the ark! But she struggles on. Noah has been looking… (more…)

“To whom belongest thou?”~ 1 Samuel 30:13 ~ No neutralities can exist in religion. We are either ranked under the banner of Prince Immanuel, to serve and fight His battles, or we are vassals of the black prince, Satan. “To whom belongest thou? “Reader, let me assist you in your response. Have you been “born again”? If you have, you… (more…)

“Thou shalt be called, Sought out.”~ Isaiah 62:12 ~ The surpassing grace of God is seen very clearly in that we were not only sought, but sought out. Men seek for a thing which is lost upon the floor of the house, but in such a case there is only seeking, not seeking out. The loss is more perplexing and… (more…)

“Man . . . is of few days, and full of trouble.”~ Job 14:1 ~ It may be of great service to us, before we fall asleep, to remember this mournful fact, for it may lead us to set loose by earthly things. There is nothing very pleasant in the recollection that we are not above the shafts of adversity,… (more…)

“Abide in Me.”~ John 15:4 ~ Communion with Christ is a certain cure for every ill. Whether it be the wormwood of woe, or the cloying surfeit of earthly delight, close fellowship with the Lord Jesus will take bitterness from the one, and satiety from the other. Live near to Jesus, Christian, and it is matter of secondary importance whether… (more…)

“She called his name Ben-oni (son of sorrow), but his father called him Benjamin (son of my right hand).”~ Genesis 35:18 ~ To every matter there is a bright as well as a dark side. Rachel was overwhelmed with the sorrow of her own travail and death; Jacob, though weeping the mother’s loss, could see the mercy of the child’s… (more…)

“It is better to trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in man.”~ Psalm 118:8 ~ Doubtless the reader has been tried with the temptation to rely upon the things which are seen, instead of resting alone upon the invisible God. Christians often look to man for help and counsel, and mar the noble simplicity of their reliance upon… (more…)

“Before destruction the heart of man is haughty.”~ Proverbs 18:12 ~ IT is an old and common saying, that “coming events cast their shadows before them;” the wise man teaches us that a haughty heart is the prophetic prelude of evil. Pride is as safely the sign of destruction as the change of mercury in the weather-glass is the sign… (more…)

  “Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.”~ Psalm 35:3 ~ What does this sweet prayer teach me? It shall be my evening’s petition; but first let it yield me an instructive meditation. The text informs me first of all that David had his doubts; for why should he pray, “Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation,” if… (more…)

“They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of Thy house.”~ Psalm 36:8 ~ Sheba’s queen was amazed at the sumptuousness of Solomon’s table. She lost all heart when she saw the provision of a single day; and she marvelled equally at the company of servants who were feasted at the royal board. But what is this to the hospitalities… (more…)

“He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove.”~ Matthew 3:16 ~ As the Spirit of God descended upon the Lord Jesus, the head, so He also, in measure, descends upon the members of the mystical body. His descent is to us after the same fashion as that in which it fell upon our Lord. There is often a… (more…)

“But all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his share, and his coulter, and his ax, and his mattock.”~ 1 Samuel 13:20 ~ We are engaged in a great war with the Philistines of evil. Every weapon within our reach must be used. Preaching, teaching, praying, giving, all must be brought into action, and talents… (more…)

“Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out.”~ Song 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… (more…)

“Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” ~ Micah 5:2 ~ The Lord Jesus had goings forth for His people as their representative before the throne, long before they appeared upon the stage of time. It was “from everlasting” that He signed the compact with His Father, that He would pay blood for blood, suffering for suffering,… (more…)

“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… (more…)

“But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa.”~Jonah 1:3 ~ Instead of going to Nineveh to preach the Word, as God bade him, Jonah disliked the work, and went down to Joppa to escape from it. There are occasions when God’s servants shrink from duty. But what is the… (more…)

“O Lord of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy upon Jerusalem? . . . And the Lord answered the angel . . . with good words and comfortable words.” ~ Zechariah 1:12,13 ~ What a sweet answer to an anxious enquiry! This night let us rejoice in it. O Zion, there are good things in store for thee; thy… (more…)

“Take up the cross, and follow Me.”~ Mark 10:21 ~ You have not the making of your own cross, although unbelief is a master carpenter at cross-making; neither are you permitted to choose your own cross, although self-will would fain be lord and master; but your cross is prepared and appointed for you by divine love, and you are cheerfully… (more…)

“The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power.”~ Nahum 1:3 ~ JEHOVAH “is slow to anger.” When mercy cometh into the world she driveth winged steeds; the axles of her chariot-wheels are red hot with speed; but when wrath goeth forth, it toileth on with tardy footsteps, for God taketh no pleasure in the sinner’s death. God’s rod… (more…)

“Understandest thou what thou readest?”~ Acts 8:30 ~ We should be abler teachers of others, and less liable to be carried about by every wind of doctrine, if we sought to have a more intelligent understanding of the Word of God. As the Holy Ghost, the Author of the Scriptures is He who alone can enlighten us rightly to understand… (more…)

“Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.”~ Matthew 4:1 ~ A holy character does not avert temptation Jesus was tempted. When Satan tempts us, his sparks fall upon tinder; but in Christ’s case, it was like striking sparks on water; yet the enemy continued his evil work. Now, if the devil… (more…)

“He first findeth his own brother Simon.”~ John 1:41 ~ This case is an excellent pattern of all cases where spiritual life is vigorous. As soon as a man has found Christ, he begins to find others. I will not believe that thou hast tasted of the honey of the gospel if thou canst eat it all thyself. True grace… (more…)

“Father, I have sinned.”~ Luke 15:18 ~ It is quite certain that those whom Christ has washed in His precious blood need not make a confession of sin, as culprits or criminals, before God the Judge, for Christ has for ever taken away all their sins in a legal sense, so that they no longer stand where they can be… (more…)

“Whereas the Lord was there.”~ Ezekiel 35:10 ~ Edom’s princes saw the whole country left desolate, and counted upon its easy conquest; but there was one great difficulty in their way quite unknown to them The Lord was there”; and in His presence lay the special security of the chosen land. Whatever may be the machinations and devices of the… (more…)

“Thy good Spirit.”~ Nehemiah 9:20 ~ Common, too common is the sin of forgetting the Holy Spirit. This is folly and ingratitude. He deserves well at our hands, for He is good, supremely good. As God, He is good essentially. He shares in the threefold ascription of Holy, holy, holy, which ascends to the Triune Jehovah. Unmixed purity and truth,… (more…)

“Whereby they have made Thee glad.”~ Psalm 45:8 ~ And who are thus privileged to make the Saviour glad? His church His people. But is it possible? He makes us glad, but how can we make Him glad? By our love. Ah! we think it so cold, so faint; and so, indeed, we must sorrowfully confess it to be, but… (more…)

“She was healed immediately.”~ Luke 8:47 ~ One of the most touching and teaching of the Saviour’s miracles is before us to-night. The woman was very ignorant. She imagined that virtue came out of Christ by a law of necessity, without His knowledge or direct will. Moreover, she was a stranger to the generosity of Jesus’ character, or she would… (more…)