A word from the wise (i.e., not me)

For those of you who've never heard of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, take a minute to read this brief biography before we go on. Quite the preacher, Spurgeon also wrote a series of devotionals - Morning and Evening. You can find this online here or here.

Tonight, I'm going to post his morning devotional from January 14 based on Isaiah 63:1, "mighty to save."

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By the words "to save" we understand the whole of the great work of salvation, from the first holy desire onward to complete sanctification. The words are multum in parvo [much in little]: indeed, here is all mercy in a word.

Indeed, here is all mercy in a word.

Christ is not only "mighty to save" those who repent, but He is able to make men repent. He will carry those to heaven who believe; but He is, moreover, mighty to give men new hearts and to work faith in them. He is mighty to make the man who hates holiness love it, and to constrain the despiser of His name to bend the knee before Him. And this is not all the meaning, for the divine power is equally seen in the after-work. The life of a believer is a series of miracles wrought by the Mighty God. The bush burns but is not consumed. He is mighty to keep His people holy after He has made them so, and to preserve them in His fear and love until He conusmmates their spiritual existence in heaven. Christ's power does not lie in making a believer and then leaving him to fend for himself; but He who begins the good work carries it on; He who imparts the first germ of life in the dead soul prolongs the divine existence and strengthens it until it breaks every bond of sin, and the soul leaps from the earth, perfected in glory. Believer, here is encouragement. Are you praying for some beloved one? Oh, do not give up praying, for Christ is 'mighty to save'. You are powerless to reclaim the rebel, but your Lord is Almighty. Lay hold on that mighty arm and rouse it to put forth its strength. Does your own case trouble you? Fear not, for His strength is sufficient for you. Whether to begin with others or to carry on the work in you, Jesus is "mighty to save," the best proof of which lies in the fact that He has saved you. What a thousand mercies that you have not found Him mighty to destroy!

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This is encouragement indeed! "He who began a good work will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." (Phil. 1:6) We know that He will sanctify us completely, and that we will be kept blameless at the coming of Jesus Christ - because He who calls us is faithful (1 Thess. 5:23-24). Even if "we are faithless, he remains faithful" (2 Tim. 2:13).

Brother or sister in Christ, take what Spurgeon reminds us about our God and be encouraged!