As The Life - So The Fruit

2Pe 1:8  For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

If we desire to glorify our LORD by fruitfulness, we must have certain things within us...

For nothing can come out of us which is not first of all within us. 

We must begin with faith, which is the groundwork of all the virtues...

And then diligently add to it virtue, knowledge, temperance, and patience. 

With these we must have godliness and brotherly love. 
All these put together will most assuredly cause us to produce, as our life fruit, the clusters of usefulness...

And we shall not be mere idle knowers but real doers of the Word. 

These holy things must not only be in us, but abound, or we shall be barren. 

Fruit is the overflow of life, and we must be full before we can flow over.

We have noticed men of considerable parts and opportunities who have never succeeded in doing real good in the conversion of souls...

And after close observation we have concluded that they lacked certain graces which are absolutely essential to fruit bearing. 

For real usefulness, graces are better than gifts. 

As the man is, so is his work.

If we would do better, we must be better. 

Let the text be a gentle hint to unfruitful professors and to myself also. 

~Charles Spurgeon~

How Are Your Ear Connections?

A telephone must be properly connected with where the person is to whom we wish to communicate, or it will be of no value to us.

If the connection is broken, or the receiver out of order, it will be useless for us to talk into the transmitter... the person at the other end will hear none of our words.

We may speak just the same as though he were hearing, but nothing will be accomplished.

There must be a proper connection...there must be a responsive receiver at the other end of the wire.

It is just so in spiritual things.

One of the most important things is to have our ears properly connected with our hearts.

We have often heard the expression, "It just went in at one ear and out at the other."

By this is meant that the one who heard, gave no heed.

How often this occurs in regard to the things of God!

When it comes to gossip and idle tales and foolish conversation and things of that sort...we ought to let such go "in at one ear and out at the other";

We should be very careful that they find no lodging-place in our hearts.

That is the only safe way for our souls.

But too often these things are given a place in the heart and mind - there is too good a connection...

And many times there is only too ready a response in the heart for such things.

That is why some people can never keep spiritual, and are always lagging behind others.

People who have such a good connection and responsiveness in their hearts on these lines...usually have very poor connection between their ears and their hearts when it comes to the teachings of the Word of God.

They can hear the Word preached on almost any subject and not seem to think it means them.

They go along in their lives just as they had been doing before.

They feel no particular responsibility to obey.

They can go on just as if they had never heard, and still profess to be Christians.

There were times when Israel had their connection broken.
 
God said to the prophet of old, "They hear your words but they will not do them."

So many times people say, "Wasn't that a good sermon today!"

Why, yes, how they enjoyed it!

But they go their way and give no further heed to what was said.

However, in the popular pulpits of today, the preachers too often hold this attitude, "This is my opinion of things...

You may take it or let it alone, just as you please;

You have a right to your own opinions about it.

And there are a great many people who act upon this idea.
 
They feel that they can take a thing, or let it alone, just as they please...even when the words preached are the judgments of God.

Many hold that attitude not only toward preaching, but toward the Bible also.

They read, or hear read, what it says about worldliness and foolish living;

They read about being patient and holy and blameless...

About not returning evil for evil, and about speaking evil of no man...

Yet they go right on doing the things forbidden, just as though the Book said nothing!

They do not take it to heart.

The trouble is, the connections between their ears and their hearts are broken as far as these things of God are concerned.

The Bible warns us to take heed how we hear.

If we do not treat the preaching of God's Word reverently, and listen with reverent hearts to his messages...it is because we do not reverence him.

It is because in our hearts, we are lifted up against him.
 
That attitude of "I shall take or leave alone, just as I please" is one of the very worst attitudes that can be held.

Not only is it dishonoring to God, but it is exceedingly dangerous.

Sometimes such an attitude of heart is partly, at least, the result of the way the preacher preaches.

If a man has a message from God, he has authority to preach that message as the word of God, and he should so preach it.

Every true gospel preacher should be imbued with the feeling, "I am preaching the truth of God."

It is your duty to hear it...

I expect you to hear it...

And hear it you must!

Let him hold this attitude in his heart and mind, and then let him enforce upon his congregation the truth that he preaches.

If the preacher feels his authority as God's spokesman as he ought to feel it...then the people will be impressed- they cannot help it.

It is true that they may rebel, grow stubborn, or disobey;
 
They may shut his words out from their hearts...

But nevertheless he is clear...

And they only increase their responsibility, of which they must give an account to God.

Paul believed that preaching and teaching should be with "all authority."

This does not imply mere human rule, but divine authority...God speaking through the man.

When the heart does not hear and feel, there is always a reason.

One reason is self-will.

People do not like to be told what to do.

They like to be masters of themselves.

God's government demands complete surrender of self-will, and must of necessity do so.

If we will be his servants, it is not for us to choose what our lives shall be, nor what we shall say, nor what we shall do.

It is his right to command...

It is our part to hear and to obey.

To hear, and then to heed just as we please...is setting up our authority above his.

The two ideas of service and self-will are opposed the one to the other.

Self-will always means rebellion against God's will.
 
Therefore if a person chooses what he will do, and leaves undone what he finds distasteful...then he, and not God, is the master.

This self-willed disposition is very noticeable among nominal professors of religion.

They profess to be God's servants...and yet they set their wills not to do certain things that they ought to do;

Or else to do certain things that they ought not to do.
They have their minds and hearts set in the matter.

When they hear the Word of God preached on matters predetermined by them, it falls on unhearing ears.

There is no response of the heart.

Another reason is love of ease or indolence.

People hear the voice of duty, but they do not respond to it because they do not wish to make the necessary effort.
 
They do not let their hearts be pressed by a sense of duty on that particular point, because to obey, they must arouse themselves from their indolent attitude.

One symptom showing that the heart does not hear, is unbelief.

One reason why the Jews did not believe Christ, was because their hearts were so hard...

And that is one reason why people do not hear the gospel in these days.

This is not confined to non-professing sinners;

It is a very common thing among church-members as well.

Reader, how is it with you?

Are you one of those who have the connection broken between the ears and the heart?

Or have you listening ears and a feeling heart?

When you hear the Word of God preached on certain subjects...can you slight it?

Or does it sink deep into your conscience and take hold there and produce fruit in your life?

Are you ready to live by every word of God?

Or do you want to take only that which suits your views?

If the latter is true in your case...then you are in a dangerous condition.

God has the word preached, not simply to entertain people but that they may obey it.

The soul who delights in God's will, does not have to be compelled to listen, nor does he have to be compelled to obey; he is ready both to hear and to obey.

If there is something wrong with the connection between your ears and your heart, you had better go directly to God and have the connection re-made.

Get your heart taught to feel as it ought to feel, and to respond as it ought to respond.

Be not a hearer only, but be a doer of God's Word!

~Charles Naylor 1920~

No Need To Stint

The book of Proverbs is also a book of promises. 

Promises ought to be proverbs among the people of God. 

This is a very remarkable one.

We are accustomed to think of our good things as in reversion, but here we are told that we shall have them in possession. 

Not all the malice and cunning of our enemies can work our destruction...

They shall fall into the pit which they have digged. 

Our inheritance is so entailed upon us that we shall not be kept out of it, nor so turned out of the way as to miss it. 

But what have we now? 

We have a quiet conscience through the precious blood of Jesus. 

We have the love of God set upon us beyond all change. 

We have power with God in prayer in all time of need. 

We have the providence of God to watch over us...

The angels of God to minister to us...

And, above all, the Spirit of God to dwell in us. 

In fact, all things are ours. "Whether things present or things to come: all are yours." 

Jesus is ours. 

Yea, the divine Trinity in unity is ours. Hallelujah. 

Let us not pine and whine and stint and slave, since we have good things in possession. 

Let us live on our God and rejoice in Him all the day. 

Help us, 0 Holy Ghost! 

~Charles Spurgeon~

Surgery For Healing

Hos 6:1  Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.

It is the LORD's way to tear before He heals.

This is the honest love of His heart and the sure surgery of His hand.

He also bruises before He binds up, or else it would be uncertain work.

The law comes before the gospel, the sense of need before the supply of it.

Is the reader now under the convincing, crushing hand of the Spirit?

Has he received the spirit of bondage again to fear?

This is a salutary preliminary to real gospel healing and binding up.

Do not despair, dear heart, but come to the LORD with all thy jagged wounds, black bruises, and running sores.

He alone can heal, and He delights to do it.

It is our LORD's office to bind up the brokenhearted, and He is gloriously at home at it.

Let us not linger but at once return unto the LORD from whom we have gone astray.

Let us show Him our gaping wounds and beseech him to know His own work and complete it.

Will a surgeon make an incision and then leave his patient to bleed to death?

Will the LORD pull down our old house and then refuse to build us a better one?

Dost Thou ever wantonly increase the misery of poor anxious souls?

That be far from Thee, O LORD.

~Charles Spurgeon~ 

Let No Evil Remain

Deu 13:17  And there shall cleave nought of the cursed thing to thine hand: that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and shew thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers;

Israel must conquer idolatrous cities and destroy all the spoil, regarding all that had been polluted by idolatry as an accursed thing to be burned with fire. 

Now, sin of all sorts must be treated by Christians in the same manner. 

We must not allow a single evil habit to remain. 

It is now war to the knife with sins of all sorts and sizes, whether of the body, the mind, or the spirit. 

We do not look upon this giving up of evil as deserving mercy, but we regard it as a fruit of the grace of God, which we would on no account miss.

When God causes us to have no mercy on our sins, then He has great mercy on us. 

When we are angry with evil, God is no more angry with us. 

When we multiply our efforts against iniquity, the LORD multiplies our blessings. 

The way of peace, of growth, of safety, of joy in Christ Jesus will be found by following out these words: "There shall nought of the cursed thing cleave to thine hand.

LORD, purify me this day. 

Compassion, prosperity, increase, and joy will surely be given to those who put away sin with solemn resolution. 

~Charles Spurgeon~

Forget And Forgive

Be not in haste. Let anger cool down. 

Say nothing and do nothing to avenge yourself. 

You will be sure to act unwisely if you take up the cudgels and fight your own battles...

And, certainly, you will not show the spirit of the LORD Jesus.

It is nobler to forgive and let the offense pass. 

To let an injury rankle in your bosom and to meditate revenge is to keep old wounds open and to make new ones. 

Better forget and forgive.

Peradventure, you say that you must do something or be a great loser...

Then do what this morning's promise advises: "Wait on the LORD, and he shall save thee."

This advice will not cost you money but is worth far more...

Be calm and quiet. 

Wait upon the LORD...

Tell Him your grievance; spread Rabshakeh's letter before the LORD, and this of itself will be an ease to your burdened mind. 

Besides, there is the promise "He shall save thee."

God will find a way of deliverance for you. 

How He will do it neither you nor I can guess, but do it He will...

If the LORD saves you, this will be a deal better than getting into petty quarrels and covering yourself with filth by wrestling with the unclean.

Be no more angry. Leave your suit with the Judge of all.

~Charles Spurgeon~

CERTAINTY

The people of God are Robbed of their Fighting Power when the enemy has got them to Doubt and Question their standing in Christ.

God must build His city in Certainty, and we must Stand in the full assurance of faith.

To be Established in the faith with Full Assurance enables us to strike a blow at Principalities and Powers...

But the devil and his hosts have Much Power where there is uncertainty, doubt, question.

When the believer knows the power of the personal "I know" because of full assurance in the Word of God, then that very knowledge is a Weapon of defense against the enemy...

Hence the devil desires to prevent assurance by inserting doubt whenever he gets a chance.

Stand on God's Facts and not on the Quicksands of your Own Feelings. 

Some are doubting simply because of feelings!

Salvation is not a matter of feeling, it is God's fact "It is written" - God hath said.

~T. Austin Sparks~

Blessed Is He That Is Not Offended In Me

Mat 11:6  And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.

The Word of God does take account of the possibility of our being offended with Him. 

It does not say anywhere that that possibility should never arise and will never arise. 

The Lord has no where said that we shall never have any occasion for being offended with Him. 

He HAS indicated that there will be PLENTY of opportunity for so stumbling at Him, falling over Him, coming down because of Him – if you like: crashing because of Him. 

There will be plenty of occasion or opportunity for doing so. 

He has never said that it will never be so. 

It is as well for us to recognize that.

The Lord sent no word of rebuke to poor John the Baptist in the prison when he was perilously near to being offended with the Lord because of his situation. 

The Lord was not hard on John because of his question. He might, had He been another, have said, “But John, did you not point Me out as the Lamb of God?"...

Did you not proclaim Me as the One, the Messiah?...

Haven’t you preached about Me to multitudes?...

Have you not made the strongest declarations and affirmations as to what you believed about Me?...

And here you’re asking a fundamental question about Me...

John, what’s gone wrong with you?...

No, nothing like that. 

The Lord knows our frame, that we are dust. 

And the Lord, I’m saying, takes account of this ever present possibility, in our weakness, of being offended with Him. 

But He does attach to this matter a particular blessedness if we don’t crash over the Stumbling Block of His ways with us...  

AND blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in Me.

~T. Austin Sparks~

He Never Fails

Joshua 1:5  There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. 

This word to Joshua is often quoted; it is the basis of that New Testament word "He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."

Beloved, a life of warfare is before us, but the LORD of Hosts is with us. 

Are we called to lead a great but fickle people? 

This promise guarantees us all the wisdom and prudence that we shall need. 

Have we to contend with cunning and powerful enemies? 

Here is strength and valor, prowess and victory. 

Have we a vast heritage to win? 

By this sign we shall achieve our purpose; the LORD Himself is with us.

It would be woe to us indeed if Jehovah could fail us...

But, as this can never be, the winds of disquietude are laid to sleep in the caverns of divine faithfulness. 

On no one occasion will the LORD desert us. 

Happen what may, He will be at our side. 

Friends drop from us, their help is but an April shower...

But God is faithful, Jesus is the same forever, and the Holy Spirit abideth in us.

Come, my heart, be calm and hopeful today. 

Clouds may gather, but the LORD can blow them away. 

Since God will not fail me, my faith shall not fail...

And as He will not forsake me, neither will I forsake Him. 

Oh, for a restful faith! 

~Charles Spurgeon~

Preserved To Work's End

Act 23:11  And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome. 

Are you a witness for the LORD, and are you just now in danger?

Then remember that you are immortal till your work is done. 

If the LORD has more witness for you to bear, you will live to bear it.

Who is he that can break the vessel which the LORD intends again to use?

If there is no more work for you to do for your Master, it cannot distress you that He is about to take you home...

And put you where you will be beyond the reach of adversaries. 

Your witness-bearing for Jesus is your chief concern, and you cannot be stopped in it till it is finished...

Therefore, be at peace. 

Cruel slander, wicked misrepresentation...

Desertion of friends, betrayal by the most trusted one...

And whatever else may come cannot hinder the LORD's purpose concerning you. 

The LORD stands by you in the night of your sorrow, and He says, "Thou must yet bear witness for me."

Be calm; be filled with joy in the LORD.

If you do not need this promise just now, you may very soon. 

Treasure it up. 

Remember also to pray for missionaries and all persecuted ones, that the LORD would preserve them even to the completion of their lifework. 

~Charles Spurgeon~

God's Hornets

Exo 23:28  And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee. 

What the hornets were we need not consider. 

They were God's own army which He sent before His people to sting their enemies and render Israel's conquest easy. 

Our God by His own chosen means will fight for His people and gall their foes before they come into the actual battle. 

Often He confounds the adversaries of truth by methods in which reformers themselves have no hand 

The air is full of mysterious influences which harass Israel's foes. 

We read in the Apocalypse that "the earth helped the woman."

Let us never fear. 

The stars in their courses fight against the enemies of our souls. 

Oftentimes when we march to the conflict we find no host to contend with. 

The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

God's hornets can do more than our weapons. 

We could never dream of the victory being won by such means as Jehovah will use. 

We must obey our marching orders and go forth to the conquest of the nations for Jesus...

And we shall find that the LORD has gone before us and prepared the way...

So that in the end we will joyfully confess, "His own right hand and his holy arm, have gotten him the victory." 

~Charles Spurgeon~

The King's Highway

Isa 35:8  And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.

The way of holiness is so straight and plain that the simplest minds cannot go astray if they constantly follow it. 

The worldly wise have many twists and turns, and yet they make terrible blunders and generally miss their end.

Worldly policy is a poor, shortsighted thing...

And when men choose it as their road, it leads them over dark mountains. 

Gracious minds know no better than to do as the LORD bids them...

But this keeps them in the King's highway and under royal protection.

Let the reader never for a moment attempt to help himself out of a difficulty by a falsehood or by a questionable act...

But let him keep in the middle of the high road of truth and integrity, and he will be following the best possible course.

In our lives we must never practice circular sailing nor dream of shuffling. 

Be just and fear not, Follow Jesus and heed no evil consequences.

If the worst of ills could be avoided by wrongdoing, we should, in the very attempt, have fallen into an evil worse than any other ill could be.

God's way must be the very best way...

Follow it though men think you a fool, and you will be truly wise.

LORD, lead Thy servants in a plain path because of their enemies.

~Charles Spurgeon~

The Spirit's Work A Hidden One

We must remember that the work that the Lord is doing, this testimony concerning His Son, this manifestation of the greatness, fulness and sufficiency of Christ is all spiritual.

Zerubbabel thought in his difficulty, if only there were more temporal forces to count upon and natural resources to draw upon...

If only he could see things happening and see God coming out and doing things before his eye...

If only it were in that realm of natural, sentient appreciation and apprehension, how much easier it would be.

But the Lord says, "by My Spirit".

We are not going to see God coming out in mighty manifestations of His power as we might see things done by a great army, temporal forces.

It is going to be hidden, secret, quiet, without demonstration.

We are not going to see much at all in that realm, but the most tremendous, the most terrific thing that is happening in this universe will be going on.

That is why that little phrase, that little question, is put in - "Who hath despised the day of small things?"

By my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts, before whom the great mountain comes down and is like a plain.

That tremendous thing, that mountain-removing, leveling power, is done in a day of small things, a remnant despised, laughed at.

You know how they laughed at them when Nehemiah started to build the wall.

They laughed, scoffed, made jokes. "If a fox go up, he shall break down their stone wall"! - that sort of thing.

Little, despised people, and yet this infinite power of God working through that despised people, and the result was that it was more than a match for all the powers that be.

That is the history of anything that God has done.

It may not seem like that, and this word is to recall us, perhaps rebuke us, but also to enhearten us and to encourage.

The Lord is set upon something.

Are we sure about it?

What is He set upon?

If what I am saying now is not true, we had better quit.

God's concern is Jesus Christ - to have Him established in this universe as Lord of all.

Now, is that true?

But there is another thing which goes with it - is God bent upon having that through us, through a people?

Are we bound up with that?

Have we been called for that very purpose - to be the means, the instrument, the channel, of establishing the testimony of Jesus, that is, the Lordship of Christ and the sovereignty of Christ?

If we are not in it, let us quit, I say.

This is either true or not true.

Then, if it is true, what about the difficulties, difficulties in ourselves, difficulties outside, a mighty enemy, all set against it?

How are we going to meet this great mountain?

"By My Spirit".

We also are sons of oil.

The whole point upon which this turns for us is this: He is the fulness and we are partakers of His fulness.

The same thing is said of us as of Jesus Christ; the difference is in measure - He is the fulness and we are partakers of His fulness.

We are not Christ personally, we are not God's Son in that essential sense, but the same thing is said about us.

"Sons of oil"; that is, joined to the Lord like those branches to the stem, one with the centre, joined to Him in organic union.

The same Spirit as was in Him, flowed through Him, worked through Him and triumphed through Him, is in us.

We are sons in that sense, we have the Spirit of Christ.

The same Spirit that has triumphed through Him is working and going to work out His triumph through us.

"Not by might".

What might are you looking for, what power? "By My Spirit" there is nothing that can match that.

The difficulty is we always want to feel and see, and the Lord works so quietly.

See what man's workings are like, trying to blast a way with terrific force, a way to power, to pre-eminence.

How long will it last if they get it?

See what man does to get his dominion; the crash, and noise, and thunder of it all, the power demonstrated; to nature it is awful, a shattering thing.

That is man's way of getting pre-eminence.

Go out into the garden.

See what that little buried seed has to contend with, maybe tons of soil, surrounded by stones and rock and the forces of death working upon it.

Slowly it comes up; the tons of soil give way, even the rock has to yield.

It comes up: you hear no sound, you will not hear splitting and rending rocks, but up it comes.

Eventually it will be a mighty tree.

You heard nothing, there was no demonstration, no shouting.

It was just the power of life quietly at work, but it has done the thing, it is there, it is triumphant.

That is what we have to be satisfied with, and it is so difficult for these souls of ours to be satisfied with that.

We must have display, we must have something that speaks of power, position, so that we are somebody.

The Lord says, "No, none of that; My way is the quiet way of the Spirit".

The greatest power in this universe is that quiet working of the Spirit; the end will be with that.

The Lord give us grace to accept this as His own word to us.

~T. Austin Sparks~

The Best Man

It seems to me that the best and most tender duty that Christians do for their Lord Jesus, is... 

That which is touched with the bloodmark...

Which bears the stamp of the cross.
 
The best preaching is, "We preach Christ crucified!"

The best living is, "We are crucified with Christ!"

The best man, is a crucified man!

The more we live beholding our Lord's unutterable griefs...

And understanding how He has fully put away our sin...

The more holiness we shall produce.

The more we dwell where the cries of Calvary can be heard...

Where we can view Heaven, and earth, and Hell, all moved by His wondrous suffering...

The nobler will our lives become.

Nothing puts life into men, like a dying Savior!

Come, let us slay sin-for Christ was slain.

Come, let us bury all our pride-for Christ was buried.

Come, let us rise to newness of life-for Christ has risen.

Let us be united with our crucified Lord in His one great objective. 

Let us live and die with Him...

And then every action of our lives will be very beautiful. 

~Charles Spurgeon~