The Spring Of True Obedience To God!

2John 1:6  And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.

Love to God is the spring of true obedience to God.

One who is not obedient to His commandments, is evidently not a true believer...

For although good works do not save us...yet, being saved, believers are sure to produce good works.

Though the fruit is not the root of the tree...yet a well-rooted tree will, in its season, bring forth its fruits. 

So, though the keeping of the commandments does not make me a child of God...yet, being a child of God, I shall be obedient to my heavenly Father. 

But this I cannot be, unless I love God.

A mere external formal obedience is not sincere obedience in God's sight. 

He abhors the sacrifice, where the heart is not found. 

I must obey Him because I love Him or else I have not truly obeyed at all. 

See then, that to produce the indispensable fruits of saving faith...there must be sincere love for God.

John 14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments.

John 14:21  He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

John 14:23  Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
 
John 14:24  He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.

~Charles Spurgeon~
 

Deliverance Not Limited

Job 5:19  He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. 

Eliphaz in this spoke the truth of God...

We may have as many troubles as the workdays of the week, but the God who worked on those six days will work for us till our deliverance is complete. 

We shall rest with Him and in Him on our Sabbath.

The rapid succession of trials is one of the sorest tests of faith. 

Before we have recovered from one blow it is followed by another and another till we are staggered. 

Still, the equally quick succession of deliverances is exceedingly cheering. 

New songs are rung out upon the anvil by the hammer of affliction, till we see in the spiritual world the antitype of "the Harmonious Blacksmith." 

Our confidence is that when the LORD makes our trials six... six they will be and no more.

It may be that we have no rest day, for seamen troubles come upon us. 

What then? 

In seven there shall be no evil touch thee.

Evil may roar at us, but it shall be kept at more than arm's length and shall not even touch us. 

Its hot breath may distress us, but its little finger cannot be laid upon us. 

With our loins girt about us, we will meet the six or the seven troubles and leave fear to those who have no Father, no Savior, and no Sanctifier.

~Charles Spurgeon~

Child Chastisement Not Forever

1Ki 11:39  And I will for this afflict the seed of David, but not for ever. 

In the family of grace there is discipline, and that discipline is severe enough to make it an evil and a bitter thing to sin. 

Solomon, turned aside by his foreign wives, had set up other gods and grievously provoked the God of his father; therefore, ten parts out of twelve of the kingdom were rent away and set up as a rival state. 

This was a sore affliction to the house of David, and it came upon that dynasty distinctly from the hand of God, as the result of unholy conduct. 

The LORD will chasten His best beloved servants if they cease from full obedience to His laws...

Perhaps at this very hour such chastening is upon us. 

Let us humbly cry, "O LORD, show me wherefore thou contendest with me." 

What a sweet saving clause is that..."but not for ever"!

The punishment of sin is everlasting, but the fatherly chastisement of it in a child of God is but for a season. 

The sickness, the poverty, the depression of spirit, will pass away when they have had their intended effect. 

Remember, we are not under law but under grace, 

The rod may make us smart, but the sword shall not make us die. 

Our present grief is meant to bring us to repentance that we may not be destroyed with the wicked.

~Charles Spurgeon~

Law In The Heart

                                                    
Put the law into the heart, and the whole man is right. 

This is where the law should be; for then it lies, like the tables of stone in the ark, in the place appointed for it. 

In the head it puzzles, on the back it burdens, in the heart it upholds.

What a choice word is here used, "the law of his God"! 

When we know the LORD as our own God His law becomes liberty to us. 

God with us in covenant makes us eager to obey His will and walk in His commands.

Is the precept my Father's precept? Then I delight in it.

We are here guaranteed that obedient-hearted man shall be sustained in every step that he takes. 

He will do that which is right, and he shall therefore do that which is wise. 

Holy action is always the most prudent, though it may not at the time seem to be so...

We are moving along the great highroad of God's providence and grace when we keep to the way of His law. 

The Word of God has never misled a single soul yet...

Its plain directions to walk humbly, justly, lovingly, and in the fear of the LORD are as much words of wisdom to make our way prosperous as rules of holiness to keep our garments clean. 

He walks surely who walks righteously. 

~Charles Spurgeon~

An Appeal; Deliverance

This is a Promise Indeed!

Here is an urgent occasion..."the day of trouble." 

It is dark at noon on such a day, and every hour seems blacker than the one which came before it. 

Then is this promise in season: it is written for the cloudy day.

Here is condescending advice, "Call upon me." 

We ought not to need the exhortation: it should be our constant habit all the day and every day. 

What a mercy to have liberty to call upon God! 

What wisdom to make good use of it! 

How foolish to go running about to men! 

The LORD invites us to lay our case before Him, and surely we will not hesitate to do so.

Here is reassuring encouragement: "I will deliver thee." 

Whatever the trouble may be, the LORD makes no exceptions but promises full, sure, happy deliverance. 

He will Himself work out our deliverance by His own hand. 

We believe it, and the LORD honors faith.

Here is an ultimate result: "Thou shalt glorify me." 

Ah, that we will do most abundantly. 

When He has delivered us we will loudly praise Him; and as He is sure to do it, let us begin to glorify Him at once.

~Charles Spurgeon~