Author: Charles Spurgeon

Pray with Spurgeon: We are blessed to be a blessing

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Look on sinners! Oh look on sinners! When you bless your people, you make them blessings. When the church is vigorous, when the people praise you, then shall the earth yield her increase, then shall all the nations praise you too; for the joy of Zion is the joy of the whole earth.

When the Lord makes glad his people then he makes the earth sit still and rest, or even if it rages, yet still there is a time of salvation, a time of the ingathering of the hidden ones, and Christ’s name is glorious. But Lord there is a great tumult in the world just now: we pray that you would overrule it for your glory. Grant that the best ends of progress, of truth and righteousness may be subserved; and may it be seen still, that the Lord reigns.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“May God be gracious to us and bless us; may he make his face shine upon us so that your way may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.” (Psalm 67:1–2)

As showers which first fall upon the hills afterwards run down in streams into the valleys, so the blessing of the Most High comes upon the world through the church. We are blessed for the sake of others as well as ourselves. God deals in a way of mercy with his saints, and then they make that way known far and wide, and the Lord’s name is made famous in the earth. Ignorance of God is the great enemy of mankind, and the testimonies of the saints, experimental and grateful, overcome this deadly foe. God has a set way and method of dealing out mercy to men, and it is the duty and privilege of a revived church to make that way to be everywhere known.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

We need to stop living for ourselves

Today we prayed that God would bless us so that we would be a blessing to others, including the nations. And we saw in God’s Word from Psalm 67 that this is always God’s design — we are blessed, so that all nations would be blessed and hear the good news of salvation.

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: Give us hope on dark and dreary days

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

We thank you, for the many who are coming in among us fresh from the world. God be thanked for new converts; may they be like fresh blood in the veins of the church, keeping her alive and keeping her active; and may the spirit of the Lord come down upon pastors and deacons; Sunday School teachers and workers; and let the whole church be quickened.

Yes, and not my church only, but all the little hills of Zion, water them with showers from on high. Let the country churches receive a blessed visitation. Let all the churches in foreign lands also be visited by the self-same Comforter; and may there come to your church in these dark and dreary days, bright shining after the rain. May the time of the singing of birds come, and the voice of the turtle be heard in our land!

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“As he was telling them these things, suddenly one of the leaders came and knelt down before him, saying, “My daughter just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” So Jesus and his disciples got up and followed him.” (Matthew 9:18–19)

Have we such faith as this? After centuries of manifestation, is Jesus as well trusted as in the days of his earthly ministry? Have we not those among us who have not yet learned the happy blend which we see in the ruler’s conduct? He came to Jesus, he worshipped him, he prayed to him, he trusted in him.

Our King, in whom is vested the power of life and death, yields at once to the petition of faith, and sets out for the ruler’s house. The Lord follows believers, for believers follow their Lord: such is the order of verse 19. Jesus does as we pray, and we follow as he leads. The Preacher steps down from his pulpit, and becomes a visiting Surgeon, taking his rounds. From discussing Church questions our great Rabbi very readily turns aside to go and see a sick, nay, a dead girl. He is more at home in doing good than in anything else.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

See the stories of Jesus with fresh wonder

Stories of Jesus’ miracles, like the one we read from above, often become so familiar that we forget to really be amazed at what happened: sick people really were made well, blind people really did see, and a dead girl really did get up and live! These stories are astounding, but they point to even more astounding realities about who Jesus is.

That’s the point of The Wonder Working God by Jared Wilson. This book will walk through several of Jesus’ miracles to give you a framework for reading them in your Bible. It’s an incredible book that will leave you amazed at who Jesus is and what he did. Because when we start to grasp what Jesus did, we will pray more boldly, knowing that he is still able to do miracles!

The Wonder Working God is a faith-strengthening resource. I hope you’ll grab a copy and benefit from it today.

Buy The Wonder Working God:

P.S. The paperback book is only $2.99 from ChristianBook.com right now!
(I don’t know how long that sale will last.)

Pray with Spurgeon: Help the church love God

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

At this time, great Father, will you visit my church with your great favor; and as you have abounded toward us these many years in blessing, so give us now some new token, some fresh visitation for good. Lord, you have not always given summer weather to the field of nature, but spring comes on and summer returns. Oh give us summer weather as a church.

May there be a great revival of religion in all the members, and especially in the minds of such as are growing cold or indifferent to holy things. Wherever there is any laxity of life, any slight holding of precious truth; wherever the world is creeping in with its corroding influences; wherever there is anything of sin, which our eye sees not, but which your eye detects, be pleased to put it away. Fill the whole church with unity, with love, with life, with power.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.” (Matthew 16:18)

Jesus is the Builder, and he and his apostles make up the first course of stone in the great temple of the church, and this first course is one with the eternal Rock on which it rests. In the first twelve courses or foundations are the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb (Revelation 21:14). We are “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:20). Apostles are not the foundation of our confidence meritoriously; but they underlie us as to date, and we rest upon their testimony concerning Jesus and his resurrection.

He makes his rock-founded building into a stronghold, against which the powers of evil lay continual siege, but all in vain.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

A simple read to help you love your church more

Today we prayed for our own churches. Your local church is not an activity or entertainment — it is the family that God has given you to keep you alive.

We all need to grow to love our local church family more. And a great resource for helping you along the way is Love Your Church by Tony Merida. This is a new book that outlines eight great things about being a church member. I received a review copy several months ago and was so thankful for the book’s faithfulness to Scripture and practical application.

The book is simple and short. I promise you, if you will read this book and apply it’s lessons to your own local church, you will grow in love for your church family and grow in godliness as a result.

Buy Love Your Church:

Pray with Spurgeon: God, I am weak; fill me with joy

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

O Lord our God, we do ask you to look upon the faint-hearted and those who are falling through affliction. Bring up your people from the depths of the sea. Take away our mourning and give us music; remove our sackcloth and give us beauty; take away our sighs and fill our mouths with songs; and let this be a radiant day of gladness, and a time of feasting from the Bridegroom’s own hand; and may our own spirits rejoice in him, with joy unspeakable and full of glory.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the person who seeks him.” (Lamentations 3:25)

With his mouth full of gravel stones and made drunk with wormwood, overwhelmed with sorrow, yet Jeremiah says, “The Lord is my portion.” Whatever else we have lost, we have not lost our God.

Even though it is out of the depths of the utmost distress that we seek God, we will find him to be good to us. “To those who wait for him.” We must not be in a hurry. We should not expect to be delivered out of our trouble the first time we begin to cry out to God. “Wait for him.”

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Your Kids Were Created to Know God*

None of us — including our children — were made to live for the fleeting pleasures of this world. We were made to know God. To worship God. To serve God. To be with God.

But with so many distractions around us every day, it can be easy for your kids to be distracted — to forget that they were made to know God.

We need to capture our children’s imagination, to ignite the wonders of their hearts to long for heaven. And a great resource to help you do that is God With Us by Jeremy Pierre and illustrated by Cassandra Clark.

God With Us is a new kids’ storybook Bible. It features 30 Bible stories, from the Old and New Testament, told over 300-pages with stunning full-color illustrations.

All of the stories are focused on the big Bible theme of God’s presence — what we were made to know and enjoy.

God With Us is an incredible book. You’ll definitely want to grab a copy for your family’s library.

Pre-order God With Us on Amazon.

Pray with Spurgeon: Restore my childlike faith in God

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

At this time, we would entreat you to visit us with your salvation. Lord we all want renewing, refreshing, reviving; but there are some of your people that sink very low, by reason of physical infirmity and mental suffering; they lie in the very dust. But Lord, when our soul clings to the dust, you can still quicken us, according to your word; and we ask you to make this a red-letter day in our experience.

May we renew our youth; may the love of our beliefs come back to us; may the joy of our first days be restored; may the childlike faith of the first steps we ever took towards Christ, be given to us now; and may we learn to rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“He satisfies you with good things; your youth is renewed like the eagle.” (Psalm 103:5)

Renewal of strength, amounting to a grant of a new lease of life, was granted to the Psalmist; he was so restored to his former self that he grew young again, and looked as vigorous as an eagle, whose eye can gaze upon the sun, and whose wing can mount above the storm. The text describes the diseased one as so healed and strengthened, that he became as full of energy as the bird which is strongest of the feathered race, most fearless, most majestic, and most soaring. The Lord works marvelous changes in us, and we learn by such experiences to bless his holy name.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Pursue holiness like your life depends on it.

Today we prayed for God to bring back the complete trust and overflowing joy in him that we once had. In this pursuit of holiness, we need a lot of help along the way, don’t we?

One of the most motivating and empowering books on personal holiness that I have ever read is The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges. This book will show you the high calling of holiness that God has laid on all of his people (and why it’s so important) while also giving grace-fueled practical guidance on actually pursuing holiness in your own life.

This book will equip you and empower you to pursue holiness. I hope you’ll grab a copy and be blessed by it.

Buy The Pursuit of Holiness:

Pray with Spurgeon: God the Holy Spirit Helps Us

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Lord, you know the groanings of our heart; our prayers cannot express them: but we bless you that there is One who makes intercession for us, with groanings that cannot be uttered, who is with us, and dwells in us, and is promised to be with us forever.

We shall overcome, we shall win the victory, we shall rise superior to depression of spirit, we shall overcome the doubts, and fears, and tribulations of our inward heart—we shall overcome, for Christ does lead the way and victory lies in his cross; and we are sure of it, and therefore would we begin to sing the hymn of victory even now, saying—“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in Christ’s triumphal procession” (2 Corinthians 2:14).

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings.” (Romans 8:26)

I should have thought that it would have read, “But the Spirit itself teaches us what we should pray for.” But it does more than that. He goes beyond teaching us what we should pray for. He “intercedes for us, with inexpressible groanings.” Do you know what those groanings are? I am afraid that those who never had groanings which cannot be uttered will never know anything of that glory which cannot be expressed, for that is the way to it. The groanings that cannot be uttered lead on to unutterable joy.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Who is the Holy Spirit, anyway?

Today’s prayer celebrated the wonderful truth that God the Holy Spirit is praying for us. This can be a confusing topic for many Christians, because we often aren’t so sure we know who the Holy Spirit is. He’s not a positive energy or divine force — he is God himself.

A great book to understand and apply the Bible’s teaching on who the Holy Spirit is (and what he does) is Rediscovering the Holy Spirit: God’s Perfecting Presence in Creation, Redemption, and Everyday Life by Michael Horton.

This book unpacks the Holy Spirit’s work throughout the Bible and in our lives today. It is thoroughly biblical and practical.

Knowing and loving the Holy Spirit is a crucial part of the Christian life. I know this book will be a helpful tool as you worship God the Holy Spirit — I hope you’ll grab a copy today.

Buy Rediscovering the Holy Spirit:

Pray with Spurgeon: May my sin be totally destroyed

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

We are wretched, because of this, and we cry out to you to deliver us. Oh that you would deliver us! We do thank you, that Jesus gives us the victory; but we long to have that victory in ourselves more constantly realized—more perfectly enjoyed.

We would lie in the very dust before you because of sin; and yet, at the same time, rejoice in the great Sin-bearer, that the sin is not imputed to us, that it is put away by his precious blood, that we are accepted in the Beloved. But even this does not content us; we are crying after the work of the Holy Ghost within, until Satan shall be bruised under our feet, and sin shall be utterly destroyed.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Therefore, brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election, because if you do these things you will never stumble.” (2 Peter 1:10)

We are told not to be slothful in business, and this matter of which Peter writes is the most important of all business. To prosper in this world may bring some advantages, but to prosper in heavenly things is infinitely better. “Give diligence to make your calling and election sure,”—that you may be sure of it, and that others may be sure of it too. Let it not continue a subject of question with you, “Am I the Lord’s, or am I not? Am I called by grace, am I chosen by God, or am I not?” Make these things sure beyond all doubt.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

A Beautiful Book You (And Your Kids!) Will Love*

Recently, I’ve been blown away by a new kids’ storybook Bible that beautifully captures the story of Scripture. It’s called God With Us by Jeremy Pierre, illustrated by Cassandra Clark.

This book is a stunning collection of 30 Bible stories, told over nearly 300 pages, each with beautiful, full-color illustrations. The illustrations are absolutely gorgeous and will keep the littlest kiddos excited and the oldest kids engaged.

And the storytelling is just magnificent. The stories are all focused on the biblical theme of God’s presence with his people throughout all of Scripture — all looking forward to the day when we will all be with him, face-to-face, as it was in the Garden.

This book is nothing short of a masterpiece. I hope you’ll grab a copy. You will love it. And your kids will too.

Pre-order God With Us on Amazon.

Pray with Spurgeon: God is all my hope and happiness

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

You know, Lord, for you search the heart and you test the reins of the children of men—you know we can truly say, unless indeed we are under a very deep delusion, that we do wish to promote your glory among the sons of men; and that we count nothing to be riches, but that which makes us rich towards God; nothing to be health, but that which is sanity before the most High—holiness in your sight; and we reckon nothing to be pure, but what you have cleansed; and nothing to be good, but that upon which your blessing rests.

Yet Lord, though it be so, though our mind has been by your Spirit set towards holiness, there is a death within us; the old nature which strives against our life, and the members of the body, often join with the corrupt nature within, to lead us astray. We swing towards holiness, and then we seem like the pendulum, to swing the other way. We are wretched, because of this, and we cry out to you to deliver us. Oh that you would deliver us!

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.” (2 Peter 1:11)

You shall get far into the kingdom, you shall know the innermost joys of it. You shall get near the King, and you shall become like the King; and when you come to die, you shall not be tugged into the harbor like a dismasted, water-logged vessel, but you shall go in like a full-rigged ship with all sails set, and so you shall have an abundant entrance into the fair haven of eternal felicity.

May God grant us this unspeakable blessedness, so that we shall not “be saved—but only as through fire” (1 Corinthians 3:15), but that we shall find our heaven begun below, and go from heaven below to heaven above scarcely knowing any change at all! There have been saints who have found the stream of Christ’s love running so strongly, and carrying them down to the great ocean of eternal life, that they have scarcely known where the river and the ocean have met.

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 portion 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.

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

Buy Desiring God:

Pastor, being a minister is better than being a king

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ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PASTORS (BY SPURGEON)

Oh, the delight of preaching the gospel! I often say to young men who apply for admission to the College, “Don’t you become a minister if you can help it.” And I say to everybody,—Do not become a minister if you can help it; but if you cannot help it, if a divine destiny drives you on, thank God that it is so! You are a happier man, if you are able to preach the gospel, than if you had been elected to a throne. There is no business like it under heaven.

I have heard some say that our professional study of the Word of God may be a hindrance to our growth in the divine life. I know what they mean, and there is some truth in their words; but to me, the preaching of the gospel has been a continual means of grace, and I can say with the Apostle Paul, “This grace was given to me—the least of all the saints—to proclaim to the Gentiles the incalculable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8).

SERMON ILLUSTRATION (BY SPURGEON)

Spurgeon was a master illustrator. You can use this illustration in your own preaching to describe true faith (not self-confidence).

I am told that years ago a boat was upset above the falls of Niagara, and two men were being carried down the current, when persons on the shore managed to float a rope out to them, which rope was seized by them both. One of them held fast to it and was safely drawn to the bank; but the other, seeing a great log come floating by, unwisely let go the rope and clung to the log, for it was the bigger thing of the two, and apparently better to cling to. Alas! the log with the man on it went right over the vast abyss, because there was no union between the log and the shore.

The size of the log was no benefit to him who grasped it; it needed a connection with the shore to produce safety. So when a man trusts to his works, or to sacraments, or to anything of that sort, he will not be saved, because there is no junction between him and Christ; but faith, though it may seem to be like a slender cord, is in the hands of the great God on the shore side; infinite power pulls in the connecting line, and thus draws the man from destruction. Oh the blessedness of faith, because it unites us to God!

THANKS FOR READING

Brothers,

Ministry is hard, but, oh, what a privilege we have to study and teach the Bible! Keep your calling in mind as you persevere through the harder days: we get to teach the Bible!

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

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Blessings to your ministry,

Doug H.
Creator of SpurgeonBooks

Pray with Spurgeon: God, we love you and trust you (our only hope)

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Our Father, we dare to call you by that blessed name, for we feel the spirit of children. We have an earnest love for you, and an implicit trust in you; and we desire in all things to be obedient to your will, and to seek your honor. All our dependence is placed on you, since the day when you taught us to believe in Jesus Christ: and now, you are all in all to us, you are our fulness, and we lose ourselves and find ourselves completely in you.

We would come to you this morning by the way which you have appointed; and enabled by the Spirit whom you have given, we would speak with you. Father, we are always grieving if more or less we offend against your holy mind; and we grieve ourselves, to think that we should grieve you.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Instead, you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father!’” (Romans 8:15)

Oh the blessed state of heart to feel that now we are born into the family of God and that the choice word that no slave might ever pronounce may now be pronounced by us: “Abba!” It is a child’s word, such as a little child utters when he first opens his mouth to speak, and it runs the same both backwards and forwards: AB-BA. Oh to have a childlike spirit that in whatever state of heart I am, I may still be able to say, in the accents even of spiritual infancy, “Abba, Father!”

What better testimony can we have than that of these two witnesses, first of our own spirit and then of the Holy Spirit himself? This is not spoken concerning everybody. The doctrine of the universal fatherhood of God is a doctrine of the flesh, not of the Spirit. It is not taught anywhere in God’s Word. This is a fatherhood that relates only to those who are spiritual. We are born into it by the new birth and brought into it by an act of divine grace in adoption.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

A New Storybook Bible — Fill Your Kids with the Hope of Heaven*

I’m so excited about a new storybook Bible for kids of all ages — God With Us by Jeremy Pierre, illustrated by Cassandra Clark. This book is an incredible telling of 30 Bible stories that will leave kids of any age (and their parents) amazed at the greatness and goodness of God.

Unlike other storybook Bibles, God With Us focuses on the theme of God’s presence. It makes plain that the horrors of sin have separated us from God, but that, because of Jesus, we have hope to be with God forever.

There are 30 Bible stories, with stunning story-telling and captivating illustrations, told over the course of nearly 300 pages — all focused on telling one beautiful, hope-filled story about God dwelling with his people.

This book will fill your child’s heart with love for God and a desire to see him face-to-face.

(And the stories are so good, you’ll be blessed as well.)

I know that this book will be a blessing to your whole family — I hope you’ll pre-order a copy today.

Pre-order God With Us on Amazon.