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QUOTES BY
CHARLES H. SPURGEON
Volume Four
Controlling Evil Thoughts
My thoughts will sometimes fly up to God with such a power that
eagles' wings cannot match it. It sometimes has such might that it
can almost see the King in His beauty, and the land which is very
far off. With regard to myself, my thoughts will sometimes; take
me over the gates of iron, across that infinite unknown, to the very
gates of pearl, and discovers the glorified Blessed One. But, if it is
powerful one way, it is also powerful in another way—for my
thoughts have taken me down to the vilest gutters and sewers of
the earth. It has given me imaginations so dreadful, that, while I
could not avoid them, yet I was thoroughly horrified at them.
These thoughts will come; and when I feel in the holiest condition,
the most devoted to God, and the most earnest in prayer, it often
happens that that is the very time when the plague breaks out the
worst. But I rejoice and think of one thing, that I can cry out
when these thoughts come upon me. I know it is said in the Book
of Leviticus, when someone committed an immoral act of evil
against a virgin, if the maiden cried out for someone to help her,
then her life was to be spared. So it is with the Christian. If he
cries out when evil thoughts come, there is hope. Can you chain
your thoughts? No! but the power of the Holy Spirit can. Yes, He
will do it! and He does it even on the earth.
The Call of Salvation
Once I was tied to the wild horse of my lust, tied hand and foot,
incapable of resistance, and was galloping on with hell's wolves
behind me, howling for my body and my soul, as their just and
lawful prey. Then there came a mighty hand which stopped that
wild horse, cut my ropes, set me down, and gave me freedom. Is
there power? Yes, there is power; and he who has felt it, must
acknowledge it. There was a time when I lived in the strong old
castle of my sins, and rested on my works. Then there came a
trumpeter to the door, and begged me to open it. I, in anger,
chased him from the porch, and said he would never enter. Then
there came a glorious and loving person; His hands were marked
with scars, where nails were driven, and His feet had nail prints
too; He lifted up His cross, using it as a hammer; at the first blow
the gate of my prejudice shook; at the second it trembled more, at
the third down it fell, and in He came; and He said, "Get up, and
stand on your feet, for I have loved you with an everlasting love."
Holy Like God
My sanctification will be finished just before I die; but not until
that moment will I ever claim perfection in myself. But at that
moment when I depart, my spirit will have its last baptism in the
Holy Spirit's fire. It will be put in the crucible for its last testing in
the furnace; and then, free from all imperfections, and fine, like a
wedge of pure gold, it will be presented at the feet of God without
the least degree of impurity. O glorious hour! O blessed moment!
I think I would still long to die if there were no heaven, if I could
only have that last purification, and come up from Jordan's
stream pure white from the washing. Oh, to be washed white,
clean, pure, perfect! There will not be one angel more pure than I
will be—yes, not God himself more holy! And I will be able to say,
in a double sense, "Great and Holy God, I am clean, through
Jesus' blood I am clean, through the Spirit's work I am clean
too!"
God's Army Comes Alive
If this earth could have its coat torn away for a little while, if the
green sod could be cut from it, and we could look about six feet
deep into the earth, what a world it would seem! What would we
see? Bones, carcasses, rottenness, worms, corruption. And you
would say, "Can these dry bones live? Can they stand up?" Yes!
"in a moment! in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet
sound, the dead will be raised." He speaks; they are alive! See
them scattered! Bones came together, bone to bone! See them
naked; flesh comes upon them! See them lifeless; "Come from the
four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain!" When the
wind of the Holy Spirit comes, they live; and they stand upon
their feet as a very great army.
The Same Yesterday and Today
Theology has nothing new in it except that which is false. The
preaching of Paul must be the preaching of the minister today.
There is no improvement here. We may advance in our
knowledge of it; but it stands the same because it is perfect, and
perfection cannot be any better.
The Resurrection of Christ
The resurrection of Christ was effected by the power of the Holy
Spirit! and here we have a vivid illustration of His omnipotence. If
you could you have stepped, as the angels did, into the grave of
Jesus, and seen His sleeping body, you would have found it cold as
any other corpse. Lift up the hand; it falls by the side. Look at the
eye; it is glazed. And there is the gaping wound in His side which
must have annihilated His life. See His hands—the blood no
longer drips from them. They are cold and motionless.
Can that body live? Can it rise up? Yes; and it is an illustration of
the power of the Holy Spirit. For when the power of the Holy
Spirit came on Him, as it was when it fell upon the dry bones of
the valley, "He arose in the majesty of His divinity, and, bright
and shining, astonished the Roman soldiers guarding the tomb so
that they ran away; yes, He arose never to die again, but to live
forever, King of kings and Prince of the kings of the earth."
The God of the Christians
God is love in its highest degree. He is love rendered more than
love. Love is not God, but God is love; He is full of grace, He is the
abundant source of mercy—He delights in mercy. As high as the
heavens are above the earth, so high are His thoughts of love
above our thoughts of despair; and His ways of grace above our
ways of fear. This God, in whom these three great attributes
harmonize—unlimited sovereignty, inflexible justice, and
incomprehensible grace—these three make up the main attributes
of the one God of heaven and earth whom the Christians worship.
Meditate on Christ
I urge you to meditate on Christ, as a piece of scented substance
that was perfumed in heaven. It does not matter what you have in
your house; this will make it like the fragrance of Paradise—will
make it smell like those breezes that once blew through the
garden of Eden, carrying the odor of flowers. Oh! there is nothing
that can so comfort your spirits, and relieve all your distresses
and troubles, as the feeling that now you can meditate on the
person of Jesus Christ.
Communicating with Jesus
I think that if you had a free pass to heaven's palace, you would
use it often; if you could go there and hold communion with some
person whom you dearly loved, you would often be found there.
But here is your Jesus, the king of heaven, and He gives you that
which can open the gates of heaven and let you in to personally
meet with Him, and yet you live without meditating on His work,
meditating on His person, meditating on His offices, and
meditating on His glory.
What We Do With Our Lives
Just as the tiny pieces of dirt and rock make up the mountains
and the mountains together make up the mountain range, so the
trivial actions of our lives make up the whole life and each of these
must be pulled apart separately. You had an hour to spare the
other day—what did you do with it? You had an opportunity to
speak—how did you use it? You had a pen—you could use that—
what did you write? Each opportunity and moment of our lives
will be revealed, and there will be demanded an account for each
one.
Wandering Sheep
It is good to be the sheep of God's pasture, even if we have been
wandering sheep. The straying sheep has an owner, and however
far it may stray from the fold, it never ceases to belong to that
owner. I believe that God will yet bring back into the fold every
one of His own sheep, and they all will be saved. It is good to be
aware of our wanderings, for if we feel ourselves to be lost, we will
certainly be saved; if we feel ourselves to have wandered, we will
certainly be brought back.
Worthless Virtue
Virtues in unsaved men and women are nothing but whitewashed
sins. The best accomplishment of an unchanged character is
worthless in God's sight. It lacks the stamp of grace on it; and that
which does not have the stamp of grace on it is a counterfeit coin.
Jesus Our Sweet Counselor
Good old Simeon called Jesus the consolation of Israel; and so He
was. Before His actual appearance, His name was the morning
star; celebrating the passage of darkness, and predicting the
rising of the sun. To Him they looked with the same hope which
cheers the night watchman, when from the lonely castle-top he
sees the fairest of the stars, and welcome it as the usher of the
morning.
When Jesus was on the earth, He must have been the consolation
of all those who were privileged to be His companions. We can
imagine how quickly the disciples would run to Christ to tell Him
of their griefs, and how sweetly, with that matchless inflection of
His voice, Jesus would speak to them, and command their fears to
be gone. Like children, they would have considered Him as their
Father; and to Him every need, every groan, every sorrow, every
agony, would at once be carried to Him; and He, like a wise
physician, had a ointment for every wound; He had mixed a cup
of hope for their every care; and He willingly dispensed some
mighty remedy to alleviate all the fever of their troubles. Oh! it
must have been sweet to have lived with Christ. Surely, sorrows
were then nothing but joys in masks, because they gave an
opportunity to go to Jesus to have them removed. Oh! if God had
been willing, some of us may wish, that we could have lain our
weary heads on the chest of Jesus, and that our birth had been in
that happy era, when we might have heard His kind voice, and
seen His kind look, when He said, "Let the weary ones come to
Me."
It was right for Jesus to slumber in the dust awhile, that He might
perfume the cavity of the grave to make it—"No longer a
repository for the bones and bodies of the dead—the relics of lost
innocence." It was good for Jesus to have a resurrection, that we,
who will one day be the dead in Christ, might rise first, and in
glorious bodies stand upon earth. And it was good for Jesus that
He ascended up to heaven, that He might lead captivity captive;
that He might chain the demons of hell; that He might tie them to
His chariot-wheels, and drag them up high heaven's hill, to make
them feel a second overthrow from His right arm, when He will
throw them from the pinnacles of heaven down to the deeper
depths beneath. "It is for your good that I am going away," said
Jesus, "Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you."
Jesus must go. Weep, you disciples—Jesus must go. Mourn, you
poor ones, who are to be left without a Counselor. But hear how
kindly Jesus speaks—"I will not leave you as orphans; I will ask
the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you
forever."
Jesus would not leave those few poor sheep alone in the
wilderness; He would not desert His children, and leave them
fatherless. Although He had a mighty mission which filled His
heart and hand; even though He had so much to perform, that we
might have thought that even His gigantic intellect would be
overburdened; although He had so much to suffer, that we might
suppose His whole soul would be concentrated on the thought of
the sufferings to be endured. Yet it was not so; before Jesus left,
He gave soothing words of comfort; like the good Samaritan, He
poured in oil and wine, and we see what He promised—"I will
send you another Counselor—one who will be just what I have
been, yes, even more; who will console you in your sorrows,
remove your doubts, comfort you in your afflictions, and stand as
My vicar on earth, to do that which I would have done had I
stayed with you.
Sitting Next to Jesus
Let your face always wear a smile; let your eyes sparkle with
gladness; live near your Master; live in the suburbs of the celestial
city, and when your time comes, you will be given better wings
than angels ever wore, and out-soar the cherubim, and climb up
where your Jesus sits—and sit at His right hand, even as He has
overcome and has sat down at His Father's right hand.
A Heart Pounding for Christ
Many good old gospel blades has been made blunt against the
hard heart. Many pieces of the true steel that God has put into the
hands of His servants has had their edges dulled by being used
against the sinner's heart. We cannot reach the soul, but the Holy
Spirit can. We read in the Song of Solomon, "My lover thrust His
hand through the latch-opening; my heart began to pound for
Him" (Song of Solomon 5:4). Jesus can give a sense of bloodbought
forgiveness that will dissolve a heart of stone.
Peace in the Midst of Trouble
The very fact that you have troubles is a proof of His faithfulness;
for you have received one half of His gift, and you will receive the
other half. You know that Christ's last will and testament has two
portions in it. "In this world you will have trouble:" and you have
received that. The next clause is, "So that in Me you may have
peace." You have that too. "But take heart! I have overcome the
world." That is yours also.
Christ is Everything
There will be little else we will want in heaven besides Jesus
Christ. He will be our bread, our food, our beauty, and our
glorious garment. The atmosphere of heaven will be Christ;
everything in heaven will be Christ-like—yes, Christ is the heaven
of His people.
Warning to the Scorner
Be assured, O Scorner, that your laughs cannot alter truth, your
ridicule cannot avert your inevitable doom. Though in your
foolishness you would make an alliance with death, and sign a
covenant with hell—yet swift justice will overtake you, and strong
vengeance will strike you down. In vain do you jeer and mock, for
eternal truths are greater than your twisted lies, nor can your sly
sayings alter a single word of divine truth in the Word of God.
Oh! why do you quarrel with your best friend, and mistreat you
only refuge? However, hope still remains, even for the scorner.
Hope in a Savior's veins. Hope in the Father's mercy. Hope in the
Holy Spirit's supreme power.
The Provision of God
It is true that you do not have a fiery chariot to take you to
heaven; but the angels will carry you to Jesus' waiting arms, and
that is just as good. It is true, no ravens bring you food; it is also
true that you get your food somehow or other. It is quite certain
that no rock gushes out with water; but you always have water to
drink. It is true your child has not been raised from the dead; but
you must remember that David had a child that was not raised
any more than yours. You have the same consolation as he had—
"I will go to him; he will not return to me."
Looking the Wrong Direction
Men in the days of Whitfield looked back to the days of Bunyan;
men in the days of Bunyan wept for the days of Wycliffe, and
Calvin, and Luther; and men in their day then wept for the days
of Augustine and Chrysostom. Men in those days wept for the
Apostles; and doubtless men in the days of the Apostles wept for
the days of Jesus Christ; and no doubt some in the days of Jesus
Christ were so blind as to wish to return to the days of the
prophets, and thought more of the days of Elijah than they did of
the most glorious day of Christ. Some men look more to the past
than the present. Rest assured that Jesus Christ is the same today
as He was yesterday, and He will be the same forever.
Sound Preaching
The old truth that Calvin preached, that Chrysostom preached,
that Paul preached, is the truth I must preach today, or else I
would be a liar to my conscience and my God. I cannot shape the
truth. I know of no such thing as shaving off the rough edges of a
doctrine. John Knox's gospel is my gospel. That which thundered
through Scotland must thunder through England again. The great
majority of our ministers are sound enough in the faith, but not
sound enough in the way they preach it.
Our Precious Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit champions our cause with Jesus Christ, with
groans that words cannot express. O my soul! You are ready to
burst within me. O my heart! You are swollen with grief. The hot
tide of my emotion would quickly overflow the channels of my
veins. I long to speak, but the very desire chains my tongue. I wish
to pray, but the fervency of my feeling curbs my language. There
is a groaning within that cannot be uttered. Do you know who can
utter that groaning? Who can understand it, and who can put it
into heavenly language, and utter it in a celestial language, and
utter it in a celestial tongue, so that Christ can hear it? O yes; it is
God the Holy Spirit; He defends our cause with Christ, and then
Christ defends it with His Father. He is the advocate who makes
intercession for us, with groans that words cannot express.
The Life Giver
You may take a corpse, you may dress it in all the garments of
eternal decency; you may wash it with the water of morality; yes,
you may adorn it with the crown of profession, you may put on its
forehead a tiara of beauty, you may paint its cheeks, until you
make it almost lifelike. But remember, unless the Spirit is there,
the worm will feed on the painted cheek, and corruption will soon
seize the body. It is the Holy Spirit that is the one who gives life.
The Holy Spirit's Love for Us
Oh! there is a voice in love; it speaks a language which is its own;
it has a dialect and an accent which no one can mimic; wisdom
cannot imitate it; oratory cannot attain to it; it is love alone which
can reach the mourning heart; love is the only handkerchief
which can wipe away the mourner's tears. And isn’t the Holy
Spirit a loving comforter? Do you know, O saint, how much the
Holy Spirit loves you? Can you measure the love of the Holy
Spirit? Do you know how great the affection of His soul is towards
you? Go measure heaven with your ruler; go weigh the mountains
with your scales; go take the ocean's water, and count each drop;
go count the sand on the sea's wide shore; and when you have
accomplished all this, you still can't tell how much He loves you.
He has loved you extensively, He has loved you abundantly, He
has loved you forever, and He still will love you always; surely He
is the person to comfort you, because He loves.
The Power of the Holy Spirit
Spiritual farmer! Sharpen your plow with the Holy Spirit.
Spiritual sower! Dip your seed in the Holy Spirit, so it will
germinate; and ask the Holy Spirit to give you grace to scatter it,
that it may fall into the right furrows. Spiritual Warrior! Sharpen
your sword with the Holy Spirit, and ask the Holy Spirit, whose
word is indeed a sword, to strengthen your arm to wield it.
The Wicked in Old Age
The young may die; the old must! To sleep in youth is to sleep in a
siege; to sleep in old age is to slumber during the attack. What!
Will you that are so near the Maker's court still put Him off with
the question "Go your way?" What! Procrastinate now, when the
knife is at your throat—when the worm is at the heart of the tree,
and the branches have begun to wither—when the molars in your
mouth fail even now, because they are few, and your eyes that
look out of the windows are darkened? The dried up and yellow
leaf has come on you, and you are still not ready for your doom!
The Closed Canon of Scripture
The canon of revelation is closed; there is no more to be added;
God does not give a fresh revelation, but He rivets the old one.
When it has been forgotten, and laid in the dusty closet of our
memory, He grabs it out and cleans the picture, but does not paint
a new one. There are no new doctrines, but the old ones are often
revived. It is not, I say, by any new revelation that the Holy Spirit
comforts. He does so by telling us old things over and over again;
He brings a bright light to manifest the treasures hidden in
Scripture; He unlocks the vaults in which the truth has long lain,
and He points to secret rooms filled with untold riches; but He
coins no more, for enough is done.
Believer! There is enough in the Bible for you to live on forever. If
you should outnumber the years of Methuselah, there would be no
need for a fresh revelation; if you should live until Christ returns,
there would be no necessity for the addition of one single word; if
you should go down as deep as Jonah, or even descend as David
said he did, into the depths of hell, still there would be enough in
the Bible to comfort you without one extra sentence.
The Foolish Gospel Conquers Worldly Wisdom
Worldly wisdom has had its time, and enough time; it has done its
all, and that was not enough; it has made the world worse than it
was before it stepped on to it, and "now," God says, "foolishness
will overcome worldly wisdom; now ignorance, as you call it, will
sweep away science; now (God says), humble, childlike faith will
smash into dust all the colossal systems your hands have piled
up."
He calls His warriors. Christ puts His trumpet to His mouth and
up come the warriors, dressed in fisherman's garb, with the
dialect of the lake of Galilee—poor humble fishermen. Here are
the warriors, O worldly wisdom, that are to confound you; these
are the heroes who will overcome your proud philosophers; these
men are to plant their standard on your ruined walls, and call
them to fall forever; these men and their successors are to exalt a
gospel in the world which you may laugh at as absurd, which you
may sneer at as folly, but which will be exalted above the hills,
and will be glorious even to the highest heavens.
Security
There are moments when the eyes glisten with joy—and we can
say, "we are persuaded, confident, and certain." I don't wish to
distress any one who is under doubt. Often gloomy doubts will
prevail; there are seasons when you fear that you have not been
called, when you doubt your interest in Christ. Oh! What a mercy
it is that it is not your hold on Christ that saves you, but His hold
on you! What a sweet fact that it is not how you grasp His hand,
but His grasp of yours, that saves you.
Thoughts of God
The book of nature is an expression of the thoughts of God. We
have God's terrible thoughts in the thunder and lightning; God's
loving thoughts in the sunshine and the balmy breeze; God's
plentiful, prudent, careful thoughts in the waving harvest and in
the ripening meadow. We have God's brilliant thoughts in the
wondrous scenes which are beheld from mountaintop and valley;
and we have God's most sweet and pleasant thoughts of beauty in
the little flowers that blossom at our feet.
Indifference
I remember standing on a seashore once, on a narrow neck of
land, thoughtless that the tide might come up. The tide kept
continually washing up on either side, and, wrapped in thoughts, I
still stood there, until finally I had the greatest difficulty in getting
to shore. You and I stand each day on a narrow neck, and there is
one wave coming up there; see, how near it is to your foot; and
look! another follows at every tick of the clock; "our hearts, like
muffled drums, are beating funeral marches to the tomb."
Dying Grace
A martyr is going to the stake; the men with their axes are around
him; the crowds are mocking, but he is marching steadily on. See,
they tie him, with a chain around his waist, to the stake; they heap
sticks and twigs all around him; the flame is lighted; listen to his
words—"Bless the Lord O my soul, and all that is within me, bless
His holy name."
The flames are burning around his legs; the fire is burning him
even to the bone; see him lift up his hands and say, "I know that
my redeemer lives, and though the fire devour this body, yet in
my flesh I will see the Lord." Look at him clutch the stake and
kiss it, as if he loved it, and hear him say, "For every chain of iron
that man tied me with, God will give to me a chain of gold; for all
these sticks and twigs, and this disgrace and shame, He will
increase the weight of my eternal glory."
See all the lower parts of his body are consumed; still he lives in
the torture; finally he bows himself, and the upper part of his
body falls over; and as he falls you hear him say, "Into Your
hands I commend my spirit." Sir, what wondrous magic was on
him? What made that man strong? What helped him to bear that
cruelty? What made him stand unmoved in the flames? It was the
thing of power; it was the cross of Jesus crucified. For "unto us
who are saved it is the power of God."
The Poison of False Teaching
There have been many destroyed by poisons, given to lull them to
sleep; many have been ruined by the cry of "peace, peace," when
there is no peace; hearing gentle things, when they ought to be
hearing things that convict their hearts. Cleopatra's asp was
brought in a basket of flowers; and men's ruin often lurks in fair
and sweet speeches. But the Holy Spirit's comfort is safe, and you
may rest on it. Let him speak the word, and there is a reality
about it; let him give the cup of consolation, and you may drink it
to the bottom; for in its depths there is no residue, nothing to
intoxicate or ruin; it is completely safe.
The Wisdom of the Gospel
The gospel is the sum of wisdom; a collection of knowledge; a
treasure-house of truth; and a disclosure of mysterious secrets. In
it we see how justice and mercy may be associated; here we see
unalterable law entirely satisfied, and sovereign love carrying
away the sinner in triumph. Our meditation on it broadens the
mind; and as it opens to our soul in successive flashes of glory, we
stand astonished at the profound wisdom manifest in it. Yes, dear
friends! if you seek wisdom, you will see it displayed in all its
greatness; not in the firmness of the earth's foundations—not in
the measured march of the clouds of the sky, nor in the perpetual
motions of the waves of the sea; not in the vegetation with all its
intricate forms of beauty, nor in the animal with its marvelous
tissue of nerve, and vein, and sinew; nor even in man, that last
and loftiest work of the Creator. But turn aside and see this great
sight!—an incarnate God on the cross; a substitute atoning for
mortal's guilt; a sacrifice satisfying the vengeance of Heaven, and
delivering the rebellious sinner. Here is essential wisdom;
enthroned, crowned, and glorified. Admire, you men and women
of the earth, if you are not blind; and you who glory in your
learning, bow your heads in reverence, and admit that all your
skill could not have devised a gospel that is one so just to God, and
so safe to man.
Communion with God
"All my fountains are in you," said David. If you have all your
fountains in God, your heart will be completely full. If you went to
the foot of Calvary, there your heart will be bathed in love and
gratitude. If you go often to your place of seclusion, and there talk
with your God, it is there that your heart will be filled with calm
determination. If you go out with the Master to the Mount of
Olives, and looked down with Him on a wicked Jerusalem, and
weep over it with Him, then your heart will be full of love for
eternal souls. If you continually draw your stimulus, your life,
your entire being from the Holy Spirit, without whom you can do
nothing, and if you live in close communion with Christ, then
there will be no fear of you having a cold heart.
One who lives without prayer—one who lives with little prayer—
one who seldom reads the Word—one who seldom looks up to
heaven for a fresh influence from on high—will be the person
whose heart will become cold and barren; but the person who
calls in secret to their God—who spends much time in holy
seclusion—who delights to meditate on the words of the Most
High—whose soul is given up to Christ—who delights in his
fullness, rejoices in his complete sufficiency, prays for his second
coming, and delights in the thought of his glorious return—such a
person, I say, must have an overflowing heart; and as their heart
is, so will be their life. It will be a full life; it will be a life that will
speak from the grave, and reverberate into the future. "Above all
else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life," and plead
with the Holy Spirit to keep it full; otherwise, the outcome of your
life will be feeble, shallow, and superficial; and you might as well
not have lived at all.
Loving Your Neighbor
I am certain you need no exhortation to love yourself, you will
take care of your body, your comfort will be your primary
concern. You would line your own nest with downy feathers if you
could. You will do these things for yourself. Well, then, as much as
you love yourself, love your neighbor.
Power in the Heart
A person's power in the world, other things being equal, is simply
the ratio of the power and strength of their heart. A heart full of
power and strength always makes a powerful person—if they are
wrong, then they are powerful for deception; if error is in their
heart, then they are sure to make it notorious, even though it may
be a downright lie. May a person never be so ignorant as to be
powerful for error. However, if their heart is full of love for a
good cause, they become a powerful person for that issue, because
they have heart-power, heart force.
A person may be lacking a good education and training in the
proper manners of our society; but give them a good strong heart,
that beats hard, and there is no mistake about their power. Let
them have a heart that is filled to the brim with a purpose, and
that person will accomplish their goal, or else they will die
gloriously defeated, and will glory in their defeat. Heart is power!
Shadows of Mercy
When the sunlight of God's mercy rises upon our needs, it casts
the shadow of prayer far down upon the plain; or, to use another
illustration, when God piles up a hill of mercies, He Himself
shines behind them, and He casts on our spirits the shadow of
prayer, so that we may have confidence, if we are in prayer, that
our prayers are the shadows of mercy.
Omnipotence
Omnipotence may build a thousand planets, and fill them with
treasures; Omnipotence may crush mountains into dust, and
cause all the seas to evaporate, and destroy the stars, but
Omnipotence cannot do one unloving thing toward a believer. Oh!
rest assured, Christian, a harsh act, an unloving action from God
toward one of His own people is quite impossible. He is just as
kind to you when he throws you into prison as when he takes you
into a palace; He is as good to you when He sends famine into
your house as when He fills your cupboards with plenty. The only
question is, "Are you His child?" If so, He has rebuked you in
affection, and there is love in His discipline.
Wings of Prayer
Prayer is the rustling of the wings of the angels that are on their
way bringing us the blessings of heaven. Have you heard prayer in
your heart? You will see the angel in your house. When the
chariots that bring us blessings rumble, their wheels sound with
prayer. We hear the prayer in our own spirits, and that prayer
becomes the sign of the coming blessings. Even as the clouds
appear before the rain, so prayer precedes the blessing; even as
the first green blade of a plant is the beginning of the harvest, so is
prayer the prediction of the blessing that is about to come.
Reservoir of the Heart
You have seen the great reservoirs provided by our water
companies, in which is the water is kept which supplies thousands
of homes. Now, the heart is the reservoir of a person, and our life
is allowed to flow in its proper season. That life may flow through
different pipes—the mouth, the hand, the eye; but still all the
actions of the hands, the eyes, and the lips, derive their source
from the great fountain and central reservoir, the heart; and
therefore, there is no problem showing the great need that exists
for keeping this reservoir, the heart, in a proper state and
condition, since otherwise that which flows through the pipes
would be polluted and corrupt.
God's Purpose for Us
There is not a spider hanging on the wall that doesn't have a
purpose; there is not a weed growing in the corner of the church
lot that doesn't have a reason for being there; there is not a single
insect fluttering in the breeze that does not accomplish some
divine decree; and I will never believe that God created any man
or woman, especially any Christian man or woman, to be a blank,
and to be a nothing. He made you for a purpose. Find out what
that purpose is; find out your niche, and fill it. Even if it is
something small, if it is only to be someone who picks up trash at
the side of the road, or one who mows the church lawn, do
something in this great battle for God and truth.
Undivided Purpose of Heart
Suppose you see a lake, and there are twenty or thirty streams
running from it—why, there won't be one strong river in the
whole area; there will be a number of little brooks which will be
dried up in the summer, and will be temporary torrents in the
rainstorm. Every one of them will be useless for any great
purpose, because there is not enough water in the lake to feed
more than one great stream. Now a person's heart has only
enough life in it to fully pursue one object. You must not give half
of your love to Christ, and the other half to the world. No person
can serve God and money, because there is not enough in the
heart to serve the two.
Pride
How easy it is for you and I to boast in ourselves! How hard it is
to be humble! That demon of pride was born with us, and it will
not die one hour before us. It is so woven into our very natures,
that we will never hear the last of it until we are dressed in our
grave clothes and lying in our coffin.
Trusting Works
Any person who trusts in their works, even in the smallest
amount, is a lost soul. They who trust in the smallest fragment of
their works, though it is so small that they themselves cannot
discern it, will be lost.
Full Surrender
Don't keep back any part of your life. Make a full surrender of
every inclination of your heart; work to have but one purpose,
and one aim. And for this purpose give God complete control of
your heart. Cry out for more of the divine control of the Holy
Spirit, so that as your soul is preserved and protected by Him,
that it may be directed into one river, and one only, that your life
may run deep and pure, and clear and peaceful; its only banks
being God's will, its only river the love of Christ and a desire to
please Him.
Pride in the Believer
There was never a saint yet, that grew proud of their fine feathers,
that the Lord didn’t plucked them out one by one. There never
was an angel yet, that had pride in his heart, that didn’t lose his
wings, and fall into Hell, as Satan and those fallen angels did; and
there will never be a saint who indulges in self-conceit, pride, and
self-confidence, that won’t have the Lord spoil their glories, and
trample their honors in the mud, and make them cry out, "Lord
have mercy on me."
Brains versus Pride
People who have no brains are always great persons; but those
who think, must think their pride away, if God is with them in
their thinking.