God's Multiplication Table

Works for the LORD often begin on a small scale, and they are none the worse for this. 

Feebleness educates faith, brings God near, and wins glory for His name. 

Prize promises of increase! 

Mustard seed is the smallest among seeds, and yet it becomes a treelike plant, with branches which lodge the birds of heaven.

We may begin with one, and that "a little one," and yet it will "become a thousand." 

The LORD is great at the multiplication table. 

How often did He say to His lone servant, "I will multiply thee!" 

Trust in the LORD, ye ones and twos; for He will be in the midst of you if you are gathered in His name. 

A small one. What can be more despicable in the eyes of those who count heads and weigh forces! 

Yet this is the nucleus of a great nation. 

Only one star shines out at first in the evening, but soon the sky is crowded with countless lights. 

Nor need we think the prospect of increase to be remote, for the promise is, "I Jehovah will hasten it in his time."

There will be no premature haste, like that which we see at excited meetings; it will be all in due time, but yet there will be no delay. 

When the LORD hastens, His speed is glorious.

~Charles Spurgeon~

A Warning Against Hardness Of Heart

                                      
Heb 3:13  But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

The children of Israel in their coming out of Egypt, and in their forty years sojourn in the wilderness, represented the visible Church of the living God; not the secret and elect body of the redeemed, but the professing company of the outward Church.

They were very prone to the great sin of unbelief.

They believed in God after a fashion while they saw his wonders, but the moment they were brought into straits or difficulties, they at once began to doubt the power or Jehovah, and to cast off all reverence for his authority. 

Hence they fell into another sin which at last fastened on them so as to become a part of their nature...

They became stiff-necked, obstinate, rebellious, perverse, and hard of heart.

They would not learn, although their lesson-book had miracles for its pictures. 

Their hearts became so hard that although they saw all the great things which God did for them, they despised the pleasant land...

And were ready at times for the sake of the flesh-pots of Egypt, to wear again the yoke of Pharaoh, and to die the inglorious death of slaves. 

Such, also, are the great sins of the Christian Church...

Unbelief the root, and obstinacy the fruit. 

Brethren and sisters, if we know our own hearts, we must confess that unbelief is a sin which does very easily beset us, and that our obstinacy may well provoke the Lord to anger.

We rejoice in God while the rocks run with rivers, and while the daily manna drops about our tents...

But when the fiery serpent bites us...

Or the wells are bitter...

Or our comforts are in any way interfered with...

We begin to distrust and to suspect the faithfulness of God...

And, as the result of this, there is an obstinacy about us which often inclines us to stand out against the plain precepts of God...

Because, forsooth, in the judgment of our unbelief, obedience might lead us into trouble, and disobedience might make our path smooth. 

Oh that it were not, too sadly true that God's people are liable to be overtaken by the worst of sins! 

Egypt itself did not produce worse sins than those which provoked the Lord to anger in the camp of Israel...

And to this day the Church has some in it who defile her with all the sins of the world.

I do not mean to insinuate that the Church of God is not infinitely to be preferred to the world in character; God forbid that I should slander the fair bride of Christ, she is as much superior to the world as the curtains of Solomon excel the smoke blacked tents of Kedar;

But who dares deny that there are specimens to be found of the worst of sins occurring among true believers...

Just as in the most carefully tended garden there will spring up here and there some of the most noxious weeds...

Not that the weeds are permitted to smother the whole garden and kill the flowers, but that their coming there while men sleep, is an indication of what the soil is, and a plain manifestation that although the garden is very different from the piece of waste ground on the other side of the wall, yet it differs not in nature, but owes all its superiority to the culture of the husbandman...

Even as the saints owe all their excellence above the very chief of sinners, to the guardian care and omnipotent grace of the great lover of souls.

It seems, dear friends, that it is really necessary to warn God's people, although they have received the new nature, and are partakers of the adoption, against being hardened in heart through the deceitfulness of sin, and that there is a machinery provided by which the saints may be preserved from this great evil. 

Exhort one another daily, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

~T. Austin Sparks~

"If Thou Canst Believe"

Mar 9:23  Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
 
A certain man had a demoniac son, who was afflicted with a dumb spirit. 

The father, having seen the futility of the endeavors of the disciples to heal his child, had little or no faith in Christ, and therefore, when he was bidden to bring his son to him, he said to Jesus, “If thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us.” 

Now there was an “if” in the question, but the poor trembling father had put the “if” in the wrong place: 

Jesus Christ, therefore, without commanding him to retract the “if,” kindly puts it in its legitimate position...

Nay, verily, he seemed to say, “there should be no ‘if’ about my power, nor concerning my willingness, the ‘if’ lies somewhere else.”

If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

The man’s trust was strengthened, he offered a humble prayer for an increase of faith, and instantly Jesus spoke the word, and the devil was cast out, with an injunction never to return. 

There is a lesson here which we need to learn. 

We, like this man, often see that there is an “if” somewhere, but we are perpetually blundering by putting it in the wrong place.

If Jesus can help me...

If he can give me grace to overcome temptation...

If he can give me pardon...

If he can make me successful? 

Nay, “if” you can believe, he both can and will. 

You have misplaced your “if.”

If you can confidently trust, even as all things are possible to Christ, so shall all things be possible to you. 

Faith standeth in God’s power, and is robed in God’s majesty...

It weareth the royal apparel, and rideth on the King’s horse...

For it is the grace which the King delighteth to honor. 

Girding itself with the glorious might of the all-working Spirit, it becomes, in the omnipotence of God, mighty to do, to dare, and to suffer. 

All things, without limit, are possible to him that believeth. 

My soul, canst thou believe thy Lord tonight?

~Charles Spurgeon~

A Zero Point

There are still a lot of people in this world who think that there is something in man that can contribute to the glory of God...

And that Christianity is only the bringing up out of man of something that is for the glory of God.

That is a long, long-standing fallacy and lie. 

It is not true.

Call it what you like; it goes by various names, such as "the inner light" or "the vital spark."

The Word of God all the way through is coming down tremendously on this thing.

I start at zero, and zero for me means that I can contribute nothing.

Everything has to come from God.

The very fact that the gift of God is eternal Life means that you have not got it until it is given to you.

You are blind until God gives you the faculty of sight.

You are dead until God gives you Life.

You are a hopeless cripple until God does something for you and in you which you can never do.

Unless God does this thing, unless this act takes place, well, there you lie.

Spiritually, that is how you are.

You can contribute nothing....

This is one of the great lessons that you and I have to learn in the School of Christ, that God begins for His glory at zero...

And God will take pains through the Holy Spirit to make us to know that it is zero...

That is, to bring us consciously to zero, and make us realize it is all with Him....

Have we got settled on this?

We take so long to learn these basic elementary lessons.

We do still cling to some sort of idea that we can produce something...

And all our miserable days are simply the result of still hoping that we can in some way provide the Lord with something.

Not being able to find it, but breaking down all the time, we get miserable, perfectly miserable.

It takes us so long to come to the place where we do fully and finally settle this matter...

That if we lived as long as ever man lived on this earth, we shall not be able to contribute one iota which can be acceptable to God...

And which He can take and use for our salvation...

For our sanctification...

For our glorification...

Not a bit.

All that He can use is His Son...

And the measure of our ultimate glory will be the measure of Christ in us, just that.

~T. Austin Sparks~

We See Hands And Feet And Side, All Pouring Forth Crimson Streams Of Precious Blood!

1Pe 1:19  But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

Standing at the foot of the cross, we see hands and feet and side, all pouring forth crimson streams of precious blood!

Christ's blood is precious because of its redeeming and atoning efficacy. 

By it, all the sins of all Christ's people are atoned for!

Christ's blood is also precious in its cleansing power. 

The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin!

Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.

Through Jesus' blood, there is not a spot left upon any believer-no wrinkle nor any such thing remains. 

Oh, precious cleansing blood-which removes the stains of abundant iniquity, and allows us to stand accepted in the Beloved, notwithstanding the many ways in which we have rebelled against our God.

The blood of Christ is likewise precious in its preserving power. 

Under the sprinkled blood, we are safe from the destroying angel.  

Remember that it is God's seeing the blood, which is the true reason for our being spared.

Here is comfort for us when the eye of faith is dim, for God's eye is still the same.

The blood of Christ is precious also in its sanctifying influence. 

The same blood that justifies by taking away sin-quickens the new nature and leads it onward to subdue sin and to follow out the commands of God.

There is no motive for holiness so great, as that which streams from the veins of Jesus!

~Charles Spurgeon~
                                                                         

Sought Out!

Isa 62:12  And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken. 

The surpassing grace of God is seen very clearly, in that He has Sought Out His chosen people.

Glory be to infinite love and unconquerable grace-we were sought out! 

No gloom could hide us, no filthiness could conceal us! 

We were sought out, found and brought home.

The lives of some of God's people, if they could be written, would fill us with holy astonishment.

Marvelous and wondrous are the ways that God uses to find His own people. 

Blessed be His name, He never relinquishes the search, until His chosen ones are effectually sought out and brought home.

Christians are not a people sought today-and cast away tomorrow. 

Almightiness and wisdom combined, will make no failures. 

They shall be called "Sought out!"

That any should be sought out is matchless grace-but that we should be sought out, is grace beyond degree! 

We can find no reason for it, but God's own sovereign love!

We lift up our heart in astonishment, and praise the Lord that we wear the name of "Sought out!"

Luke 15:6  And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.

Jesus sought me when a stranger, Wandering from the fold of God;
 
He, to rescue me from danger, Interposed His precious blood!

~Charles Spurgeon~

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~

For A Rational Man To Be So Attached To A Bubble, Is A Most Irrational Thing!

1Jn 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Worldliness is an undue attachment to this world. 

It is living for this world-its riches, its honor, its joys and its cares.

It is living by the principles of this world: greed, covetousness, deceit and lust.

Nothing is more dangerous to the souls of men-than the love of the world.

Nothing more effectually chokes out the influence of the gospel in a man's heart-than the cares of this world.

Nothing is more difficult to avoid-than an undue attachment to this world.

Therefore, John sets these four words up as a beacon. 

They stand in blazing letters to warn us of great danger: "LOVE NOT THE WORLD!"

Beloved, this world and all that it offers, is no more than a bubble that soon must burst! 

Your money, your farms, your houses, your influence, your families-everything here is temporary. 

It will all vanish away!

We laugh at the small child who cries when the bubbles he is playing with burst. 

But, for a rational man to be so attached to a bubble, is a most irrational thing!

What fools they are who love and seek this world! 

I cannot warn you enough of the danger of worldliness-of loving, seeking, and living for this world!

Are you God's child? 

Are you risen with Christ? 

Do you live in the hope of eternal glory?

Then count this world to be a dead thing.

Live no longer for this world.

Set your heart on things above.

Live above this pile of rubbish that must soon burn!

Live to do the will of God, seek the glory of Christ, further the gospel of the grace of God, and serve the people of God. 

Quit seeking those things for which unbelieving men live, and seek those things which are above...life, immortality, and glory.

~Don Fortner~

Those Who Trust In The LORD Are Like Mount Zion

Those who Trust in the LORD are like Mt. Zion, which Cannot Be Shaken but Endures Forever.
 
As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people both now and forevermore.

Mountains? And the Lord like the mountains?
 
What is that?

It is fortification, it is strength, it is protection.

And what is the point of fortification if there is nothing against which to be fortified?

Away back in Old Testament times, when the people came into the land, the remarkable thing is that they occupied the higher places more than the lower.

You will find that their towns, cities and villages are almost all of them upon some high place...

The reason being that their enemies, who had chariots and horses, had their strength on the level, in the plain, but they could do nothing with chariots and horses against mountains.

And therefore the safety, security and fortification of the Lord’s people was by being on high places.

That is a parable.

If the enemy can get you on to his level he has beaten you.

So he must pull you down, he must get you down, he must get you to accept something less than God’s full place and mind for you, and then he will undo you.

That is what he has done with the church, speaking of the church now in very general terms.

He has pulled it down to this world level...

He has reduced it to the level of things here, and he has absolutely disintegrated it, broken it up and divided it and robbed it of its power.

The church which is revealed to us in the New Testament is always on high ground....

In Ephesians, it is “in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus.”

It is a great power to be on high ground, it is a great defensive, protective factor...

The enemy can do little with you if you keep up there and refuse to come down.

Nehemiah found that to be so, when they said, “Come down and let us confer”; and he said, “I am doing a great work so that I cannot come down” (Neh. 6:3).

It is a principle operating.
 
~T. Austin Sparks~

Be Cautious Of Grace Denial

Beloved, mistake not the nature and the evidence of growth in sanctification.

In all your self-denial in this great work, be cautious of grace denial.

You will need much holy wisdom here, lest you overlook the work of the Spirit within you.

You have thought, it may be, of the glory that Christ receives from brilliant genius, and profound talent, and splendid gifts, and glowing zeal, and costly sacrifices, and extensive usefulness.

But have you ever thought of the glory, the far greater, richer glory, that flows to Him from the contrite spirit, the broken heart, the lowly mind, the humble walk, the tear of godly repentance that falls when seen by no human eye...

The sigh of godly sorrow that is breathed when heard by no human ear, the sin abhorrence, the self loathing, the deep sense of vileness, and poverty...

And infirmity that takes you to Jesus with the prayer: Lord, here I am; I have brought to You my rebellious will, my wandering heart, my worldly affections, my peculiar infirmity, my besetting and constantly overpowering sin...

Receive me graciously, put forth the mighty power of Your grace in my soul, and subdue all, and rule all, and subjugate all to Yourself!

Will it not be for Your glory, the glory of Your great name if this strong corruption were subdued by Your grace...

If this powerful sin were nailed to Your cross...

If this temper so volatile, if this heart so impure, if these affections so truant, if this mind so dark, if these desires so earthly, if these pursuits so carnal, if these aims so selfish, were all entirely renewed by Your Spirit, sanctified by Your grace, and made each to reflect Your image?

Yes, Lord, it would be for Your glory, through time and through eternity!’

~Octavius Winslow~