Author: Charles Spurgeon

Pray with Spurgeon: We live for God’s glory alone

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

We pray that you would help us who know you, to glorify you. We have known you from our youth, some of us, and hitherto have we declared your wondrous works. Oh, may there never be in our heart, and above all may there never come from our lips, or in our life, anything that might dishonor you. Oh, let us die a thousand deaths, sooner than ever dishonor your hallowed name. This is dearer to us than the apple of our eye.

We have loved the habitation of your house, and the place where your honor dwells. Gather not our soul with sinners, nor our lives with cruel men; but let us be helped, even to the end, to follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth, even if it be to Gethsemane and Calvary.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Do not destroy me along with sinners, or my life along with men of bloodshed” (Psalm 26:9)

Lord, when, like fruit, I must be gathered, put me not in the same basket with the best of sinners, much less with the worst of them. The company of sinners is so distasteful to us here, that we cannot endure the thought of being bound up in the same bundle with them to all eternity. Our comfort is, that the Great Husbandman discerns the tares from the wheat, and will find a separate place for distinct characters.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

God is real (and that is really, really good news)

Unbelief robs us of joy by bringing us to doubt that God really is there (or really is good). But when we embrace him in faith, we see that he really is perfect, loving, kind, and real.

A great resource for growing your own faith and ending your unbelief is Jesus or Nothing by Dan DeWitt. This book doesn’t just help us see that God exist, but it shows that God’s existence is really, really good news.

Because God (as he’s revealed himself in the Bible) is real, our life has meaning and joy is possible. If there isn’t a God, nothing has any meaning. 

I know that this book will strengthen your faith and equip you to share your faith with others. Jesus or Nothing is an incredible, faith-strengthening, life-giving, joy-producing, Bible-saturated book. I hope you’ll grab a copy.

Buy Jesus or Nothing:

Pray with Spurgeon: Delight yourself in the Lord…

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

What a fountain of delight you are, and how richly you have promised to bless the men that delight themselves in God. You have said, “Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you your heart’s desires” (Psalm 37:4). Do you reward us for being delighted? Oh, pleasant duty, which has appended to it so divine a promise. Shall we have the desire of our heart, when our heart finds all its desire in you? Oh blessed Lord, you do indeed meet them that work righteousness and that rejoice in your ways; and you fill your people with good things, so that their youth is renewed like the eagles’.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you your heart’s desires.” (Psalm 37:4)

Make the Lord the joy and rejoicing of your spirit. Bad men delight in carnal objects; do not envy them if they are allowed to take their fill in such vain idols; look to your better delight, and fill yourself to the full with your sublimer portion. In a certain sense imitate the wicked; they delight in their portion—take care to delight in yours, and so far from envying you will pity them. There is no room for fretting if we remember that God is ours, but there is every incentive to sacred enjoyment of the most elevated and ecstatic kind.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Find great joy in our great God

Today we prayed, confessing that God is our only hope and happiness. His love is our only true riches. To enjoy this love is the point of the Christian life. That’s why God created you: to know him and enjoy him forever.

If you want to learn more about what it actually looks like to enjoy God in your every day life, read Desiring God by John Piper. This book is an incredible explanation of how God invites us to know him for our joy. This book will leave you amazed at God’s glory, and thoroughly, unshakeable happy in God.

Each chapter focuses on one passage of Scripture, making this book great devotional reading. It will leave you amazed at the goodness of God and leave you desiring more and more of him.

If you think you know the point of this book, but haven’t read it for yourself, I encourage you to read it for yourself. You will be blessed by God’s glory and goodness to his people.

I hope you’ll grab a copy and enjoy it — I know you’ll be blessed by it.

Buy Desiring God:

Pray with Spurgeon: God alone is our greatest joy

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

O God, you are our exceeding joy. The very singing of your praises lifts our heart upward: when we can join in the solemn psalm or the sacred hymn, our heart leaps within us. And when your name is glorified, when we see sinners glorifying the name of Jesus, when we look forward to the brighter days when myriads shall flock to the Crucified: above all, when we contemplate his final triumph, then is our heart very restful, and our spirit rejoices in God our Savior. What a fountain of delight you are, and how richly you have promised to bless the men that delight themselves in God.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4)

God is to be the great object of your joy. Rejoice in the Father, your Father who is in heaven, your loving, tender, unchangeable God. Rejoice, too, in the Son, your Redeemer, your Brother, the Husband of your soul, your Prophet, Priest, and King. Rejoice also in the Holy Spirit, your Quickener, your Comforter, in him who shall abide with you forever.

Sometimes, brothers and sisters, you cannot rejoice in anything else, but you can rejoice in the Lord; then, rejoice in him to the full. Do not rejoice in your temporal prosperity, for riches take to themselves wings, and fly away. Do not rejoice even in your great successes in the work of God. If the Lord is your joy, your joy will never dry up. All other things are but for a season; but God is forever and ever. Make him your joy, the whole of your joy, and then let this joy absorb your every thought. Be baptized into this joy; plunge into the deeps of this unutterable bliss of joy in God.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

We need to stop living for ourselves

Today we prayed, praising God for bringing us a great joy in him. If God is really our greatest joy, then we will be freed to give everything we are away.

Unfortunately, this isn’t always our experience today. We frequently hoard our blessings instead of pouring them out on others — this is not God’s design, so we can’t keep living that way.

That’s the point of Something Needs to Change by David Platt. This book is an incredible testimony and devotional, sharing both biblical truth about God’s heart for the nations and his plan for your life, as well as David’s own experience coming face-to-face with urgent physical and spiritual need in the Himalayas.

Warning: this book will challenge you and shake you out of your comfort zone. But the good news is that it will make you take up your call to be a blessing to all nations.

Buy Something Needs to Change:

Pray with Spurgeon: A Good Friday Prayer

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

How heavy was the load of sin! All our thoughts were engrossed with that sense of pressure and of dread. We looked on the right hand and there was none, and on the left and we found no helper; but then you yourself delivered us by leading us to look with faith to the Divine, Only begotten, and crucified Son.

At this moment vividly is it upon our recollection, how you brought us up out of the “horrible pit.” We remember now the new song which you put into our mouths, as we found our feet fast on the rock, and our goings established. It is long since then with some of us, but all the way has been strewn with mercies, and we desire this morning to record, “Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all his benefits.”

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished.’ Then bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.” (John 20:30)

“Finished!” By that one word Jesus declared that he had broken the head of the old dragon. We have a stern battle yet to fight, but what does that matter? Our Lord has defeated the foe, and we have to fight with one who is already vanquished. Surely, “It is finished,” sounds like the trumpet of victory. Let us have faith to claim that victory through the blood of the Lamb. And let all Christians, as one mighty army, take comfort from this dying word of the now risen and ever-living Savior. His church may rest perfectly satisfied that his work for her is fully accomplished.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Don’t just celebrate Easter — live the resurrection life with Jesus

This weekend we will joyfully celebrate Jesus’ victory over Satan, sin, and death. And the reason that this is such good news is because WE are raised up with him (Ephesians 2:6)!

How will the good news of Easter change your life on Monday? Can you really, confidently say why?

That’s the point of Risen by Steven Mathewson — this book offers 50 short, practical devotionals, each explaining a specific thing that was accomplished by Jesus’ resurrection. They’re quick to read, packed with insight, and really, really, encouraging.

Jesus’ resurrection must change our lives. I know that if you spend time reading Risen, you’ll be amazed at the incredible things that Christ has accomplished by conquering death. I hope you’ll buy a copy today!

Buy Risen:

Pastor, preach the gospel this Easter (but people may not like it)

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ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PASTORS (BY SPURGEON)

The new birth is the mysterious point in all religion. If you preach anything else except the new birth you will always get on well with your hearers; but if you insist that in order to enter heaven there must be a radical change, though this is the doctrine of the Scripture, it is so unpalatable to mankind in general that you will scarcely get them to listen.

Ah! Now ye turn away if I begin to tell you, that “except ye be born of water and of the Spirit, ye cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.” If I tell you that there must be a regenerating influence exerted upon your minds by the power of the Holy Ghost, then I know ye will say “it is enthusiasm.” Ah! but it is the enthusiasm of the Bible. There I stand; by this I will be judged. If the Bible does not say we must be born again, then I give it up; but if it does then, sirs, do not distrust that truth on which your salvation hangs.

SERMON ILLUSTRATION (BY SPURGEON)

Spurgeon was a master illustrator. You can use this illustration in your own preaching to describe God’s love for sinners.

Do not attempt to touch yourself up and make yourself something other than you really are; but come as you are to him who justifies the ungodly. A great artist some short time ago had painted a part of the corporation of the city in which he lived, and he wanted, for historic purposes, to include in his picture certain characters well known in the town. A crossing-sweeper, unkempt, ragged, filthy, was known to everybody, and there was a suitable place for him in the picture. The artist said to this ragged and rugged individual, “I will pay you well if you will come down to my studio and let me take your likeness.” He came round in the morning, but he was soon sent about his business; for he had washed his face, and combed his hair, and donned a respectable suit of clothes. He was needed as a beggar, and was not invited in any other capacity. Even so, the gospel will receive you into its halls if you come as a sinner, not otherwise. Wait not for reformation, but come at once for salvation. God justifies the ungodly, and that takes you up where you now are: it meets you in your worst estate.

THANKS FOR READING

Brothers,

Thank you for taking the time to read this note on a busy Easter week. This Easter, we’ll celebrate that Jesus is alive. And because Jesus is alive, he can raise others to life as well. I believe that this can happen in your church this weekend, by grace.

If this newsletter is encouraging, please share it with another pastor. You can forward this email to a pastor you know.

If someone forwarded this email to you, sign up to get another one every week. Click here to subscribe.

Blessings to your ministry,

Doug H.
Creator of SpurgeonBooks

Pray with Spurgeon: God, use us for your glory

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Now Lord, bless your people, our beloved church. You have been very gracious to us; be gracious to us still. Oh that we had health and strength to labor here as our heart desires: may it please you yet to give us these! But if not, use what there is of us until the last is gone, and be pleased ever to find some one or other to go in and out before this people, to feed them with knowledge and understanding. “Father, glorify Thy name.”

We ask you once more that you would, by some means, cause peace to be re-established throughout the earth.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 2:3)

The soldier is full often a suffering man. There are wounds, there are toils, there are frequent lyings in the hospitals, there may be ghastly cuts which let the soul out with the blood. Such the Christian soldier must be, ready to suffer, enduring hardness, not looking for pleasure of a worldly kind in this life, but counting it his pleasure to renounce his pleasure for Christ’s sake.

The true soldier is an ambitious being. He pants for honor, seeks for glory. On the field of strife he gathers his laurels, and amidst a thousand dangers he reaps renown. The Christian is fired by higher ambitions than earthly warrior ever knew. He sees a crown that can never fade; he loves a King who best of all is worthy to be served; he has a motive within him which moves him to the noblest deeds, a divine spirit impelling him to the most self-sacrificing actions. Thus you see the Christian is a soldier, and it is one of the main things in Christian life, to contend earnestly for the faith, and to fight valorously against sin.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

A devotional to help you run from sin and cling to Christ

Today we prayed that God would help us to serve him. But we will only ever be able to consistently serve God if we remember that we are forgiven of our sin by the great mercy of Christ.

One resource that’s been helpful as I’ve studied God’s Word and his promise of forgiveness is Whiter Than Snow: Meditations on Sin and Mercy by Paul Tripp. This book features 52 short devotionals (one for every week of the year) on Psalm 51. This is an incredible resource to help you remember the horrors of your sin and the wonders of God’s amazing grace.

You could read the book over the next few months with just five minutes a day, or read one devotional each week for the next year. I can’t think of a better way to spend your time than reflecting on God’s mercy towards broken sinners like us.

I hope you’ll buy a copy and enjoy mediating on God’s unending mercy with me.

Buy Whiter Than Snow:

Pray with Spurgeon: May we stand side by side with Jesus

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

May there be a people found in this place, and throughout this land, that will abide by the doctrines of the gospel, come what may. May we not be ashamed to be old fashioned, and to be thought fanatical. May we not wish to be thought cultured, nor aim to keep abreast of the times. May we be side by side with you, O bleeding Savior; and be content to be rejected, be willing to take up unpopular truth, and to hold fast despised teachings of sacred Scriptures even to the end. Oh make us faithful—faithful unto death.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.” (John 14:1)

I am glad the apostles were not perfect men. Otherwise they would have understood all that Jesus said at once, and we would have lost our Lord’s instructive explanations. They would also have lived above all trouble of mind, and then the Master would not have said to them these golden words, “Don’t let your heart be troubled.” The Lord takes no delight in the doubt and disquietude of his people. He would not have us sad. Great personal sorrows may well be an excuse if the griefs of others are somewhat overlooked. Yet although Jesus was going to his last bitter agony, and to death itself, he overflowed with sympathy for his followers.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

A devotional to prepare for Good Friday.

Today’s prayer asked God to help us endure to the end — to suffer for the gospel, just as Jesus did. This is what Jesus came to do — to die for his people. As we approach Good Friday and Easter, it’s important for us to slow down and think like this about why Christ died and why he rose again. Fifty Reasons Jesus Came to Die by John Piper is an excellent devotional for considering the cost and the reward of the cross.

The book offers fifty short devotionals, each explaining a different reason Jesus came to die. Fifty Reasons Jesus Came to Die is a great devotional to focus your heart on Christ and his cross.

There’s only a few days left until Good Friday, but this is a great time to dedicate extra time to remembering Jesus’ sufferings. I know this book will encourage you, so I hope you’ll grab a copy today.

Buy Fifty Reasons Jesus Came to Die:

Pray with Spurgeon: We need courage for trials, grace for joys

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

We ask you to strengthen your servants for the battles you have prepared. Give them courage for all the trials, give them grace for all the joys. Help us to be a holy and a happy people! Let the redeemed of the Lord speak well of his name, and whatever their distress may be at times, yet over all may they lift up notes of perpetual joy, glorying in the name of the Lord their God. We ask you, O God, at this time to revive religion in our land. Oh, that you would be pleased to speak by the Holy Spirit that the gospel’s power may be known: there be many that run away from the truth; Lord, hold us fast to it, bind us to it.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11)

Jesus stands in the same relationship to his people as a shepherd does to his flock. He owns his people; every one of them belong to him. He prizes them because they are his—sets a value on each of them. He takes care of them, remembering them both night and day. His heart is never off them, and because of his inward love, there is an outward goodness that he constantly extends to them. He protects them from the wolf. He guards them from a thousand dangers. He supplies all their needs. He guides them in the right way. He brings them back when they wander. He strengthens them when they are weak. He carries them when they are too feeble to go on. He sees that they are a weak flock, a silly flock, and a wandering flock; therefore he is their strength, their wisdom, their righteousness, their all.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Teach Your Kids to Love “All Sorts of People”

The Bible paints a beautiful picture of God’s people — coming from every tribe, tongue, and nation, brought together by the blood of Jesus. This is God’s plan, so we need to teach our children to treasure it.

My family has been LOVING a new kid’s book, The Big Wide Welcome by Trillia Newbell (the latest installment in the “Tales That Tell the Truth” series, illustrated by Catalina Echeverri), which I received a copy of from The Good Book Company.

The book tells teaching from James 2 (about the sin of of favoritism — treating rich people better than poor people) in the form of a story. The book ends with truth about Jesus, who always did what was right and loved people who were different from him — including us!

This book will fill your kids with compassion and a desire to love “all sorts of people,” just as Jesus did. I know you’ll be thankful if you add it to your family’s library.

Buy The Big Wide Welcome:

Pray with Spurgeon: God, let us never wander away from you

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Above all, blessed Jesus, our Reedemer, let your love to us fire us with love to you. Stamp your dear image on our hearts, and let us never wander from the path of complete obedience to your will. Here we stand, asking to be washed again in the open fountain that every sin may be put away; but also begging to be washed in the water “from the riven side that flows,” that every wrong desire, every base aspiration, everything contrary to the mind of God may be utterly taken away from us.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory.” (2 Corinthians 4:17)

Our affliction is light compared with the blessing and privileges that we enjoy. The blessing of full and free forgiveness far outweighs any affliction we ever have to endure. And our affliction is light as we prove the power of the Lord’s sustaining grace. We may well say that no affliction weighs more than a gnat resting on an elephant when the Lord’s upholding grace is sweetly manifested to our soul in times of perplexity, anxiety, and pain. Once more our affliction is light when we see what it leads to. Our growth in grace is greatly assisted by affliction and trial. Certain propensities to evil can only be removed in the furnace—as the dross is burned away from the pure metal.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

FINAL DAY: Order Easter Gifts for Your Kids*

Today is the FINAL DAY to order a kids’ Bible and receive it in time to give to your kids on Easter. 

These Bibles have really fun covers that your kids won’t be able to stop picking up — and they also have TONS of great devotionals, illustrations, and age-appropriate resources that your kids won’t be able to put down.

Lifeway has TONS of great choices for kids’ Bibles. And you can save $5 on a purchase of $30 or more with code EASTERBIBLES.

I hope you’ll grab Bibles for your kids today, and have a happy, blessed, Christ-centered Easter together!

Shop for Kids’ Bibles on Lifeway.com

Pray with Spurgeon: God, be glorified by my life!

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

We ask that you would glorify the Father’s name in us more than ever before. Perhaps this may involve deeper trial, but let it be if we can glorify God. Perhaps this may involve the being cast aside from the service that we love; but we would prefer to be laid aside if we could glorify you better. Perhaps this may involve the ending of all life’s pleasant work and the being taken home—well, your children make no sort of stipulations with their God, but this one prayer ascends from all true hearts this morning, “Father, glorify your name.”

Will you glorify yourself, great Father, by making us more holy? Purge us every day, we ask you, from the selfishness that clings to us. Deliver us also from the fear of man, from the love of approval so far as these might lead us astray. Help us to be resolute and self-contained to do, and think, and speak the right at all times. Give us great love to our fellow men. May we love them so that we could die for them if need be.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“‘Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven: ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’” (John 12:28)

When you do not know how to pray, you may always present that petition, “Father, glorify your name.” You have some dear one at home very ill; you would be glad if the precious life might be spared, yet you are not sure whether you may ask for it. Well then, say, “Father, glorify your name.” Possibly, you are passing through a great trial, and you would be glad to escape from it; yet you do not know whether it is the divine will that you should do so. Well then, you may, at any rate, put up this prayer, “ ‘Father, glorify your name.’ Whatever is most for your glory, let that be my will as it is your will.”

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

God is at work in your trials. Learn more from Spurgeon

Today we prayed, asking God to be glorified in our lives, even if that means we experience trials. God is always at work in our life for his glory, including when we suffer.

Spurgeon knew that suffering was an important experience in the Christian life, which is why he preached about it so often. If you want to learn Spurgeon’s biblical wisdom on trials, check out Spurgeon on Suffering: Reflections on Our Pain and God’s Grace. This is a collection of 12 classic sermons on trials, suffering, and perseverance.

I put this collection together to help suffering Christians (which is all of us!) find a deeper, more biblical hope through the worst of our trials. I know that this book will encourage you.

(Plus, buying a copy of this book is a great way to support this ministry, so I can continue to send out a newsletter each day)

Buy Spurgeon on Suffering: