DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)
Father, our prayer is that you would bless those that do not know you. We pray that we may have in our own hearts much of the heaviness that Paul knew, when we think of the many ungodly ones, especially of those that are of our own kith and kin, such as have heard the gospel from their very childhood, in whose father’s house there was a prophet’s chamber, whose mother died with the name of Jesus on her lips, whose father, grown grey with age, is on the road to glory, and they are still unconverted. Oh, bring them in!
Amen.
VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)
“I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience testifies to me through the Holy Spirit—that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the benefit of my brothers and sisters, my own flesh and blood.” (Romans 9:1–3)
They hated Paul intensely; nothing could surpass the malice of the Jewish leaders against the man whom they reckoned to be an apostate from the true faith, because he had become a follower of Christ, the Nazarene. Yet note what is Paul’s feeling towards his cruel countrymen; he is willing, as it were, to put his own salvation in pawn if by doing so the Jewish people might but be saved. Of course, this could not be; and no one understood better than Paul did that there is only one Substitute and one Sacrifice for sinners.
Do you, dear friends, feel that same concern about your brethren, your kinsmen according to the flesh? If they are not saved, do you greatly wonder that they are not, if you have no such concern about them? But when once your heart is brought to this pitch of agony about their souls, you will soon see them saved.
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE
Spurgeon’s word to non-Christians — updated in contemporary English
Today we prayed for God to save people that we don’t know him, and we saw a challenge in God’s Word that we must be concerned about those who don’t know Christ.
This passion for the lost permeated every aspect of Spurgeon’s ministry, and it led him to write a book — All of Grace. A dear friend of mine has updated this classic book in contemporary English to make it more accessible for modern readers.
Reading this book will reinvigorate your passion for God — it is an incredible explanation of the wonder of God’s grace that will leave you amazed! But reading this book will also equip you for evangelism. As you read Spurgeon’s appeal to the lost, you will be equipped to share with the lost people you know.
Reading All of Grace will bless you in so many ways. I hope you’ll grab a copy of this newly updated edition.