The Promises of God E-Book

Charles H. Spurgeon

• Herausgeber: Crossway
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Seitenzahl: 481

Beschreibung

For a century and a half, Charles Spurgeon's classic daily devotional on God's promises has comforted the hearts of God's people. For each day of the year, Spurgeon reflects on a specific promise of God from Scripture that strengthened his own heart in times of severe depression and suffering. In this volume, Tim Chester allows Spurgeon speak to a new generation—updating archaic words, shortening sentences, and using modern word ordering—while maintaining Spurgeon's passionate and pastoral voice. These devotional readings will propel modern Christians to renewed faith in the promise-making and promise-keeping God of the Bible.

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The Promises of God

The Promises of God

A New Edition of the Classic Devotional Based on the English Standard Version

Charles Spurgeon

Revised and Updated by

Tim Chester

The Promises of God: A New Edition of the Classic Devotional Based on the English Standard Version

Copyright © 2019 by Tim Chester

Published by Crossway1300 Crescent StreetWheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law. Crossway® is a registered trademark in the United States of America.

Cover design: Jordan Singer

First printing 2019

Printed in the United States of America

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked ASV are from the American Standard Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture references marked NKJV are from The New King James Version. Copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission.

All emphases in Scripture quotations have been added by the author.

Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4335-6324-9 ePub ISBN: 978-1-4335-6327-0 PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-6325-6 Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-6326-3

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Spurgeon, C. H. (Charles Haddon), 1834–1892, author. | Chester, Tim, editor.

Title: The promises of God : a new edition of the classic devotional based on the English Standard version / Charles Spurgeon; revised and updated by Tim Chester.

Other titles: Cheque book of the bank of faith

Description: Wheaton : Crossway, 2019. | Originally published as The cheque book of the bank of faith. It has been reprinted, revised, etc. with various titles generally using “promises” in the title. | Includes index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018037955 (print) | LCCN 2018054418 (ebook) | ISBN 9781433563256 (pdf) | ISBN 9781433563263 (mobi) | ISBN 9781433563270 (epub) | ISBN 9781433563249 (hc)

Subjects: LCSH: God (Christianity)—Promises—Meditations. | Devotional calendars—Baptists.

Classification: LCC BS680.P7 (ebook) | LCC BS680.P7 S68 2019 (print) | DDC 242/.2—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018037955

Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

2019-05-28 11:11:37 AM

Editor’s Introduction

For as long as I can remember, my father has had a plaster bust of Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834–1892) in his study. Like my father and me, Spurgeon was a Reformed Baptist pastor, and Spurgeon has always been one of our heroes. When, in 2017, my father preached his last sermon, he passed the bust on to me. So, as I write these words, Spurgeon is looking down on me.

Known as “the Prince of Preachers,” Spurgeon attracted large crowds, often speaking to over ten thousand people at a time before the days of amplification. His preaching was characterized by the directness of his address and the vividness of his language. In 1861, his congregation moved to the specially-built Metropolitan Tabernacle with seating for five thousand people and standing room for a further thousand. It would remain his base for the next thirty-eight years until his death in 1892.

Spurgeon founded a pastor’s college to train church planters, opposed slave ownership, and opened an orphanage. He also fiercely opposed liberal theology. He paid a price for this workload and the controversies it brought, suffering for many years physically with gout and emotionally with depression. It is to these struggles that he alludes in his preface for this volume.

Spurgeon reached a still wider audience through his writings. His sermons were transcribed by stenographers as he spoke and on sale for a penny the following day. Among his many works was The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith.

It was not Spurgeon’s first book of daily devotional readings. In 1865, he published Morning by Morning, followed three years later by Evening by Evening.Soon they were combined into Morning and Evening, selling over 230,000 copies during his lifetime and many more since.

Twenty years or so later, Spurgeon wrote The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith as a follow-up. And this was my father’s favorite. He used to read it to our family during my childhood.

In The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith,Spurgeon likens the promises of God in the Bible to checks (or “cheques” as Spurgeon himself would have spelled it). A check is a promise in written form. It promises to give the recipient the stated sum whenever they present it at a bank. The promises of God, says Spurgeon, are like checks waiting to be cashed in “the bank of faith.”

In 2003, Crossway published an edition of Morning and Evening updated by Alistair Begg using the English Standard Version of the Bible. I have taken the liberty of doing the same with The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith. I have replaced archaic words, shortened sentences, used modern word ordering, and added references to biblical allusions. I have also changed the title, partly because checks are becoming dated and partly to prevent a fight with my publishers over the spelling of “cheque” (the UK spelling) and “check” (the US spelling)! Apart from this, the content is the same. Only occasionally have I retained an archaic phrase to retain the poetic power of the original text. My aim has been to let Spurgeon speak to a new generation. Why? Not as an historical curiosity. But so the promise-making and promise-keeping God of the Bible speaks words of comfort to his people. As Spurgeon says in his preface,

I have written out of my own heart with the view of comforting their hearts. . . . May the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, inspire the people of the Lord with fresh faith!

Many thanks to Richard Chester (my father) and Tamsin Faiers for reading my draft to ensure it sounded contemporary while retaining the “voice” of Spurgeon.

Tim Chester

2018

Author’s Preface

A promise from God is like a check payable to order. It is given to the believer with the view of delivering to him some good thing. We are not meant to read it at our leisure and then forget about it. No, we are to treat the promise as a reality, as someone treats a check.

We are to take the promise and endorse it with our own name by personally receiving it as true. We are to accept it by faith as our own. We seal the deal by believing that God is true and true to this particular word of promise. We go further, believing that we have the blessing by having the sure promise of it. And therefore we put our names to it to acknowledge the receipt of the blessing.

This done, we must present the promise to the Lord in faith, as someone presents a check at the counter of the bank. We must plead it by prayer, expecting to have it fulfilled. If we have come to heaven’s bank at the right date, we will receive the promised amount at once. If the date should happen to be in the future, we must patiently wait until it arrives. But meanwhile we may count the promise as money, for heaven’s bank is sure to pay when the due time arrives.

Some fail to place the endorsement of faith upon the check and so they get nothing. Others are slack in presenting it, and they also receive nothing. This is not the fault of the promise, but of those who do not use it in a common-sense, business-like manner.

God has given no pledge that he will not redeem and encouraged no hope that he will not fulfill. To help my brothers and sisters to believe this, I have prepared this little volume. The sight of the promises themselves is good for the eyes of faith. The more we study the words of grace, the more grace we will receive from the words. To these encouraging scriptures I have added testimonies of my own, the fruit of trial and experience. I believe all the promises of God, but many of them I have personally tried and proved. I have seen that they are true, for they have been fulfilled to me. This, I trust, may be encouraging to the young and not without comfort to those who are older. One person’s experience may be a great help to another. This is why the man of God of old wrote, “I sought the Lord, and he answered me” and “This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him” (Ps. 34:4, 6).

I commenced these daily thoughts when I was wading in the surf of controversy. Since then I have been cast into waters “deep enough to swim in” (Ezek. 47:5) which, but for God’s upholding hand, would have proved waters to drown in. I have endured tribulation from many sources. Sharp bodily pain succeeded mental depression, and this was accompanied both by bereavement and affliction in someone as dear to me as life itself. The waters rolled in continually, wave upon wave. I do not mention this to win your sympathy, but simply to let the reader see that I am no dry-land sailor. I have traveled many times across those stormy oceans. I know the roll of the waves and the rush of the winds. Never were the promises of Jehovah so precious to me as during this time. Some of them I never understood until now. I had not yet reached the date at which the promise matured, for I myself was not mature enough to perceive their meaning.

How much more wonderful is the Bible to me now than it was a few months ago! In obeying the Lord and bearing his reproach outside the camp (Heb. 13:13), I have not received new promises, but the result to me is much the same as if I had done so. For the old promises have opened up to me with richer stores.

Oh, that I might comfort some of my Master’s servants! I have written out of my own heart with the view of comforting their hearts. I would say to them in their trials: “My brothers and sisters, God is good. He will not forsake you. He will bear you through. There is a promise prepared for your present emergencies. And if you will believe it and plead it at the mercy seat through Jesus Christ, you will see the hand of the Lord stretched out to help you. Everything else will fail, but his Word never will. He has been so faithful to me in countless instances that I must encourage you to trust him. I should be ungrateful to God and unkind to you if I did not do so.”

May the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, inspire the people of the Lord with fresh faith! I know that, without his divine power, none of what I say will be of any help. But, under his life-giving influence, even the humblest testimony will fortify feeble knees and strengthen weak hands. God is glorified when his servants trust him implicitly. We cannot be too much like children before our heavenly Father. Our young ones never question our will or our power. Instead, having received a promise from their father, they rejoice in the prospect of its fulfillment, never doubting that it is as sure as the sun. May many readers, whom I may never see, discover the duty and delight of such childlike trust in God while they are reading the little bit which I have prepared for each day in the year.

May our Lord Jesus accept this, my service for his sheep and lambs, from his unworthy servant.

Charles H. Spurgeon

1888

January

January 1

I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and her offspring;

he shall bruise your head,

and you shall bruise his heel.

Genesis 3:15

This is the first promise to fallen humanity. It contains the whole gospel and the essence of the covenant of grace, God’s eternal plan to save his people. It has been in good measure fulfilled. The seed of the woman, who is our Lord Jesus, had his hell when his heel was bruised, and a terrible bruising it was. How much more terrible will be the final bruising of the serpent’s head! This was mostly done when Jesus took away sin, vanquished death, and broke the power of Satan. But it awaits a still fuller accomplishment at our Lord’s second coming and in the day of judgment.

To us the promise stands as a prophecy that we will be afflicted by the powers of evil in our bodily life, and thus bruised in our heel. But we will triumph in Christ, who sets his foot on the old serpent’s head. Throughout this year we may have to learn part of this promise by experience as we experience the temptations of the devil and the unkindness of the ungodly, who are the devil’s offspring. They may so bruise us that we are forced to limp with our sore heels. But let us grasp the second part of the text and we will not be dismayed. By faith let us rejoice that we will yet reign in Christ Jesus, the woman’s offspring.

January 2

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.

Romans 16:20

This promise follows yesterday’s promise. It is clear that we are to be like our covenant Head, Jesus, not only in his being bruised in his heel, but also in his conquest of the evil one. Even under our feet is the old dragon to be bruised. The Roman believers were suffering from conflict in the church. But their God was “the God of peace,” and he gave rest to their souls. The archenemy tripped up the feet of the unwary and deceived the hearts of the simple. But he would get the worst of it, for he would be trodden down by those whom he had troubled. This victory would not come to the people of God through their own skill or power, but God himself would bruise Satan. Though it would be under their feet, yet the bruising would be through the Lord alone.

Let us bravely tread upon the tempter! Not only lesser spirits, but the prince of darkness himself must fall before us. In unquestioning confidence in God, let us look for speedy victory. “Soon!” Happy word! Soon we will set our foot on the old serpent! What a joy to crush evil! What dishonor to Satan to have his head bruised by human feet! Let us by faith in Jesus tread the tempter down.

January 3

The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring.

Genesis 28:13

This promise is no one’s private possession. It belongs not to one saint, but to all believers. If, my brother or sister, you can in faith lie down upon a promise and take your rest upon it, it is yours. Where Jacob came and stayed and rested, there he took possession. Stretching out his weary length upon the ground, with stones for his pillow, he little realized that he was entering into ownership of the land. Yet this is what happened. He saw in his dream that wonderful ladder which, for all true believers, unites earth and heaven. And surely where the foot of the ladder stood he must have a right to the soil, for otherwise he could not reach the divine stairway. All the promises of God are “Yes” and “Amen” in Christ Jesus. And, as he is ours, so every promise is ours if we lie down upon it in restful faith.

Come, weary one, use your Lord’s words as your pillow. Lie down in peace. Dream only of him. Jesus is your ladder of light. See the angels coming and going on him between your soul and your God. And be sure that the promise is your own God-given inheritance. So it will not be robbery for you to take it for yourself, as if it had been spoken especially to you.

January 4

I will make you lie down in safety.

Hosea 2:18

Yes, the saints are to have peace. The passage from which this gracious word is taken speaks of peace “with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground” (Hos. 2:18). This is peace with earthly enemies, mysterious evils, and little annoyances! Any of these might keep us from lying down, but none of them will do so. The Lord will utterly destroy those things that threaten his people: “I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land” (v. 18). Peace will be profound indeed when all the instruments of discord are broken to pieces.

With this peace will come rest.“For he gives to his beloved sleep” (Ps. 127:2). Fully supplied and divinely quieted, believers lie down in calm repose.

This rest will be a safe one. It is one thing to lie down, but quite another to “lie down in safety.” We are brought to the land of promise, the house of the Father, the chamber of love, and the heart of Christ: surely we may now “lie down in safety.” It is safer for a believer to lie down in peace than to sit up and worry. “He makes me lie down in green pastures” (Ps. 23:1). We never rest till the Comforter makes us lie down.

January 5

I will strengthen you.

Isaiah 41:10

When called to serve or to suffer, we take stock of our strength. And we find it to be less than we thought and less than we need. But do not let our hearts sink within us while we have such a word as this to fall back on. For it guarantees us all that we can possibly need. God has strength omnipotent. That strength he can share with us, and his promise is that he will do so. He will be the food of our souls and the health of our hearts. And so he will give us strength. There is no telling how much power God can put into a person. When divine strength comes, human weakness is no longer a hindrance.

Do we not remember periods of labor and trial in which we received such special strength that we wondered at ourselves? In the midst of danger we were calm, under bereavement we were resigned, in slander we were self-contained, and in sickness we were patient. The fact is, God gives unexpected strength when unusual trials come upon us. We rise out of our feeble selves. Cowards play the man, foolish ones receive wisdom, and the silent receive words to speak at the very moment they need them. My own weakness makes me shrink, but God’s promise makes me brave. Lord, “strengthen me according to your word” (Ps. 119:28).

January 6

I will help you.

Isaiah 41:10

Yesterday’s promise secured us strength for what we have to do, but this promise guarantees us help in situations where we cannot act alone. The Lord says, “I will help you.” Strength on the inside is supplemented by help from the outside. God can raise up for us allies in our warfare if it seems good in his sight. And, even if he does not send us human assistance, he himself will be at our side, and this is better still. Our Ally is better than legions of mortal helpers.

His help is timely: he is “a very present help in trouble” (Ps. 46:1). His help is very wise: he knows how to give each person help suited just for them. His help is most effective, though the help of people is empty. His help is more than help, for he bears all the burden and supplies all the need. “The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Ps. 118:6).

Because he has already been our help, we feel confidence in him for the present and the future. Our prayer is, “O Lord, be my helper!” (Ps. 30:10). And our experience is, “The Spirit helps us in our weakness” (Rom. 8:26). Our expectation is, “I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord” (Ps. 121:1–2). And our song will soon be, “You, Lord, have helped me” (Ps. 86:17).

January 7

You will see greater things than these.

John 1:50

This promise was spoken to a childlike believer who was ready to accept Jesus as the Son of God, the King of Israel, after just one convincing piece of argument. Those who are willing to see shall see. It is because we shut our eyes that we become so sadly blind.

We have seen much already. The Lord has shown us great and unsearchable things for which we praise his name. But there are greater truths in his Word, greater depths of experience, greater heights of fellowship, greater works of usefulness, greater discoveries of power and love and wisdom. These we are yet to see if we are willing to believe our Lord. The capacity to invent false doctrine is ruinous, but the power to see the truth is a blessing. Heaven will be opened to us, the way there will be made clear to us in the Son of Man, and the angelic movement between the upper and the lower kingdoms will be revealed to us. Let us keep our eyes open toward spiritual objects, and expect to see more and more. Let us believe that our lives will not drivel down into nothing. But instead let us believe that we will be always growing, seeing greater and still greater things, until we behold the Great God himself, and never again lose sight of him.

January 8

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Matthew 5:8

Purity, even purity of heart, is the main thing to be aimed at. We need to be made clean on the inside through the Spirit and the Word, and then we will be clean on the outside by consecration and obedience. There is a close connection between the affections and the understanding. If we love evil, we cannot understand that which is good. If the heart is foul, the eye will be darkened. How can those who love unholy things see a holy God?

What a privilege it is to see God! A glimpse of him is heaven below! In Christ Jesus the pure in heart see the Father. We see him, his truth, his love, his purpose, his sovereignty, and his covenant character. Yes, we see God himself in Christ. But this is only apprehended as sin is kept out of the heart. Only those who aim at godliness can cry, “My eyes are ever toward the Lord” (Ps. 25:15). The desire of Moses, “Please show me your glory” (Ex. 33:18), can only be fulfilled in us as we purify ourselves from all iniquity. “We shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure” (1 John 3:2–3). The enjoyment of present fellowship and the hope of this coming vision of God are compelling motives for purity of heart and life.

Lord, make us pure in heart that we may see you!

January 9

Whoever brings blessing will be enriched.

Proverbs 11:25

If I want my soul to flourish, I must not hoard up my stores, but must distribute to the poor. To be tight and miserly is the world’s way to prosperity, but it is not God’s way. For God says, “One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want” (Prov. 11:24). Faith’s way of gaining is giving. I must try this again and again. And I may expect that as much prosperity as will be good for me will come to me as a gracious reward for a generous course of action.

Of course, I may not be sure of growing rich. I will “be enriched,” but not with more riches than my soul can bear. Too many riches might weigh me down, tethering my heart to the treasures of this world or tying me down so I am no longer nimble in the service of God. Just as too much food can lead to heart disease, so too many riches can lead to soul disease. We must learn to be content with the earthly treasure which God in his wisdom allows us to enjoy and look forward to the heavenly treasure that awaits the children of God.

But there is a mental and spiritual wealth which I greatly desire. And these come as the result of generous thoughts toward my God, his church, and my fellow men. Let me not be stingy, lest I starve my heart. Let me be bountiful and generous; for in this way I will be like my Lord. He gave himself for me: Will I grudge him anything?

January 10

One who waters will himself be watered.

Proverbs 11:25

If I carefully consider others, God will consider me. In some way or other he will recompense me. Let me consider the poor, and the Lord will consider me. Let me look after little children, and the Lord will treat me as his child. Let me feed his flock, and he will feed me. Let me water his garden, and he will make my soul a watered garden. This is the Lord’s own promise: may I fulfill the condition, and then may I expect its fulfillment.

I may care about myself until I grow morbid. I may watch over my own feelings until I feel nothing. I may lament my weakness until I grow almost too weak to lament. It would be far more profitable for me to become unselfish, and out of love to my Lord Jesus begin to care for the souls of those around me.

My water tank is getting very low. No fresh rain comes to fill it. So what should I do? I will open the outlet, and let its contents run out to water the withering plants around me. What do I see? My cistern seems to fill as it flows. A secret spring is at work! While all was stagnant, the fresh spring was sealed. But as my reserves flow out to water others, the Lord considers my needs. Hallelujah!

January 11

When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant.

Genesis 9:14–15

Just now clouds are plentiful enough, but we are not afraid that the world will be destroyed by a deluge. We see the rainbow often enough to prevent us having any such fears. The covenant that the Lord made with Noah stands fast, and we have no doubts about it. Why, then, should we think that the clouds of trouble, which now darken our sky, will end in our destruction? Let us dismiss such groundless and dishonoring fears.

Faith always sees the bow of covenant promise whenever sense sees the cloud of affliction. God has a bow with which he might shoot out his arrows of destruction. But look! It is turned upward. It is a bow without an arrow or a string. It is a bow hung up for show, no longer used for war. It is a bow of many colors, expressing joy and delight. It is not a bow blood red with slaughter or black with anger.

So let us be of good courage. God never darkens our sky so as to leave us without a sign of his covenant. And, even if he did, we would trust him, since he cannot change, or lie, or in any other way fail to keep his covenant of peace. Until the waters go over the earth again, we will have no reason for doubting our God.

January 12

For the Lord will not

cast off forever.

Lamentations 3:31

The Lord may cast away for a season, but not forever. A woman may leave off her favorite jewelry for a few days, but she will not forget it, nor throw it in the wastebasket. In the same way, the Lord will not cast away those whom he loves. For, “having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end” (John 13:1). Some talk of our being “in grace” and “out of it,” as if we were like rabbits that run in and out of their burrows. But, it is not so. The Lord’s love is far more serious and enduring.

He chose us from eternity, and he will love us throughout eternity. Jesus loved us so much that he died for us, and we may therefore be sure that his love will never die. His honor is so wrapped up in the salvation of the believer that he can no more cast us off than he can cast off the robes of his office as the King of glory. No, no! The Lord Jesus, as a Head, never casts off the members of his body. As a Husband, he never casts off his bride.

Did you think you have been cast off? Why did you think such evil of the Lord who has betrothed you to himself? Cast off such thoughts, and never let them lodge in your soul again. “God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew” (Rom. 11:2). “He hates divorce” (Mal. 2:16 NKJV).

January 13

Whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

John 6:37

Has there ever been a case of our Lord’s casting out a coming one? If there is, we would like to know about it! But there has been none, and there never will be. Among the lost souls in hell there is not one that can say, “I went to Jesus, and he refused me.” It is not possible that you or I should be the first to whom Jesus will break his word. Let us not entertain so dark a suspicion.

Suppose we go to Jesus now about the evils of today. Of this we may be sure—he will not refuse to give us an audience or cast us out. Those of us who have often been to him, and those who have never gone before—let us go together, and we will see that he will not shut the door of his grace in the face of any one of us.

“This man receives sinners,” but he repulses none (Luke 15:2). We come to him in weakness and sin, with trembling faith, small knowledge, and slender hope. But still he does not cast us out. We come by prayer, and those prayers are broken. We come with confession, and that confession is faulty. We come with praise, and that praise falls far short of his merits. And yet he receives us. We come diseased, polluted, worn out, and worthless. But still he does not cast us out.

Let us come again today to him who never casts us out.

January 14

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Matthew 11:28

We who are saved find rest in Jesus. Those who are not saved will receive rest if they come to him, for here he promises to “give” it. Nothing can be freer than a gift. Let us gladly accept what he gladly gives. You are not to buy it, nor to borrow it; but to receive it as a gift. Do you labor under the lash of ambition, covetousness, lust, or anxiety? He will set you free from this iron bondage and give you rest. You are “laden”—yes, “heavy laden” with sin, fear, care, remorse, and fear of death. But if you come to him, he will unload you. He carried the crushing mass of our sin, that we might no longer carry it. He made himself the great Burden-Bearer, that we might no longer bend under the enormous pressure of our heavy burdens.

Jesus gives rest. It is so. Will you believe it? Will you put it to the test? Will you do so at once? Come to Jesus by quitting every other hope, by thinking of him, believing God’s testimony about him, and trusting everything with him. If you come to him in this way, the rest which he will give you will be deep, safe, holy, and everlasting. He gives a rest which grows into heaven. And he gives it this day to all who come to him.

January 15

For the needy shall not always be forgotten,

and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.

Psalm 9:18

Poverty is a hard inheritance. But those who trust in the Lord are made rich by faith. They know that they are not forgotten by God. Though it may seem they are overlooked in his providential distribution of good things, they look to a time when all this will be put right. Lazarus will not always lie among the dogs at the rich man’s gate, but he will have his reward at Abraham’s side (Luke 16:21–22).

Even now the Lord remembers his poor but precious sons. “I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me,” said one of old (Ps. 40:17). And so it is. The godly poor have great expectations. They expect the Lord to provide everything necessary for life and godliness (2 Pet. 1:3). They expect to see all things working for their good (Rom. 8:28). They expect to have all the closer fellowship with their Lord, for he had nowhere to lay his head (Luke 9:58). They expect to share in the glory of his second coming. This expectation cannot perish for it is laid up in Christ Jesus, who lives forever; and because he lives, it will live also. The poor saint sings many a song which the rich sinner cannot understand. Therefore, let us, when we have meager provisions below, think of the royal table above.

January 16

And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Joel 2:32

Why don’t I call on his name? Why do I run to this neighbor and that, when God is so near and will hear my faintest call? Why do I sit down and devise schemes and invent plans? Why not at once hand myself and my burden over to the Lord? Straight ahead is the best direction to run. So why don’t I run at once to the living God? It is useless to look for deliverance anywhere else. But with God I shall find it. For here I have his royal “shall” to guarantee it—“it shall come to pass.”

I need not ask whether I may call on him or not, for that word “everyone” is a very wide and comprehensive one. “Everyone” means me, for it means anybody and everybody who calls upon God. I will therefore follow the leading of the text and at once call upon the glorious Lord who has made such a large promise.

My case is urgent, and I do not see how I can be delivered. But the means of my deliverance is not my business. He who makes the promise will find ways and means of keeping it. It is my task to obey his commands; it is not mine to direct his plans. I am his servant, not his master. I call upon him, and he will deliver me.

January 17

He said, “But I will be with you.”

Exodus 3:12

Of course, if the Lord sent Moses on an errand, he would not let him go alone. The tremendous risk it would involve, and the great power it would require, would render it ridiculous for God to send a poor, lone Hebrew to confront the mightiest king in all the world, and then leave him to himself. It could not be imagined that a wise God would match poor Moses with Pharaoh and the enormous forces of Egypt. Hence he says, “I will certainly be with you” (Ex. 3:12 NKJV), as if it were out of the question that he would send him alone.

In my case, also, the same rule will hold good. If I go on the Lord’s errand, with a simple reliance upon his power and a single eye to his glory, it is certain that he will be with me. His sending me binds him to back me up. Is this not enough? What more can I want? If all the angels and archangels were with me, I might fail. But if he is with me, I must succeed.

But let me take care that I respond to this promise in a worthy way. Don’t let me go timidly, halfheartedly, carelessly, or presumptuously. What type of person ought he to be who has God with him? In such company, I ought to play the man and, like Moses, go to Pharaoh without fear.

January 18

When his soul makes an offering for guilt,

he shall see his offspring.

Isaiah 53:10

Our Lord Jesus has not died in vain. His death was sacrificial: he died as our substitute, because death was the penalty of our sins. And, because his substitution was accepted by God, he has saved those for whom he made his soul a sacrifice. By death he became like the grain of wheat which produces a great harvest. There must be a succession of children for Jesus, for he is the “Everlasting Father” (Isa. 9:6). He will say, “Behold, I and the children God has given me” (Heb. 2:13).

A man is honored in his children, and Jesus has his quiver full of these arrows of the mighty (Ps. 127:5). A man is represented in his children, and so is Christ in Christians. In his seed a man’s life seems to be prolonged and extended; and so the life of Jesus is continued in believers.

Jesus lives, for he sees his seed. He fixes his eye on us; he delights in us; he recognizes us as the fruit of his soul’s labor. Let us be glad that our Lord does not fail to enjoy the result of his dreadful sacrifice, and that he will never cease to feast his eyes upon the harvest of his death. Those eyes, which once wept for us, are now viewing us with pleasure. Yes, he looks on those who are looking to him. Our eyes meet! What a joy is this!

January 19

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Romans 10:9

There must be confession with the mouth. Have I made it? Have I openly pledged my faith in Jesus as the Savior whom God has raised from the dead? And have I done it in God’s way? These are questions we must each honestly ask ourselves.

There must also be belief with the heart. Do I sincerely believe in the risen Lord Jesus? Do I trust in him as my sole hope of salvation? Is this trust from my heart? Let me answer before God.

If I can truly claim that I have both confessed Christ and believed in him, then I am saved. The text does not say it may be so, but it is plain as day, and clear as the sun in the heavens: “You will be saved.” As a believer and a confessor, I may lay my hand on this promise and plead it before the Lord God at this moment, throughout life, in the hour of death, and at the day of judgment.

I must be saved from the guilt of sin, the power of sin, the punishment of sin, and ultimately from the very being of sin. God has said it: “You will be saved.” I believe it. I will be saved. I am saved. Glory be to God forever and ever!

January 20

To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

Revelation 2:7

No man may turn his back in the day of battle or refuse to go to the holy war. We must fight if we would reign, and we must carry on the warfare until we overcome every enemy. Otherwise this promise is not for us, since it is only for “the one who conquers.” We are to overcome the false prophets who have come into the world, and all the evils which accompany their teaching. We are to overcome our own faintness of heart and our tendency to lose our first love. Read the whole of the Spirit’s Word to the church at Ephesus (Rev. 2:1–7).

If by grace we win the day, as we will if we truly follow our conquering Leader, then we will be admitted to the very center of the paradise of God. We will be permitted to pass by the cherubim and his flaming sword (Gen. 3:24), and come to that guarded tree from which, if a man eats, he will live forever. We will thus escape that endless death that is the doom of sin. Instead, we will gain everlasting life that is the seal of innocence, the outgrowth of immortal principles of Godlike holiness.

Come, my heart, pluck up courage! To flee the conflict will be to lose the joys of the new and better Eden. To fight until victory is to walk with God in paradise.

January 21

The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.

Exodus 7:5

The ungodly world is hard to teach. Egypt does not know the Lord, and therefore dares to set up its idols. It even ventures to ask, “Who is the Lord?” (Ex. 5:2). Yet the Lord intends to break proud hearts, whether they choose or not. When his judgments thunder over their heads, darken their skies, destroy their harvests, and slay their sons, they begin to discern something of the Lord’s power. There will again be such things done in the earth to bring skeptics to their knees. Let us not be dismayed because of their blasphemies, for the Lord can take care of his own name, and he will do so in a very effectual manner.

The salvation of his own people was another powerful means of making Egypt know that the God of Israel was the Lord, the living and true God. No Israelite died by any one of the ten plagues. None of the chosen seed were drowned in the Red Sea. In the same way, the salvation of the elect and the sure glorification of all true believers will make the most obstinate of God’s enemies acknowledge that “the Lord, he is God” (1 Kings 18:39).

Oh, that his convincing power would go forth by his Holy Spirit in the preaching of the gospel until all nations bow at the name of Jesus and call him Lord!

January 22

Blessed is the one who considers the poor!

In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him.

Psalm 41:1

To think about the poor and let them lie on our hearts is a Christian man’s duty. For Jesus placed them with us and near us when he said, “For you always have the poor with you” (Matt. 26:11).

Many give their money to the poor in a hurry, without thought. And many more give nothing at all. This precious promise belongs to those who consider the poor, look into their case, devise plans for their benefit, and considerately carry them out. We can do more by care than by cash, and most with the two together.

To those who consider the poor, the Lord promises his own consideration in times of distress. He will bring us out of trouble if we help others when they are in trouble. We will receive very special providential help if the Lord sees that we try to provide for others. We will have a time of trouble, however generous we may be. But if we are charitable, we may put in a claim for peculiar deliverance, and the Lord will not deny his own word and bond. Miserly curmudgeons may help themselves, but considerate and generous believers will be helped by the Lord. As you have done to others, so will the Lord do to you. So empty your pockets!

January 23

He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.

Leviticus 1:4

If the bull becomes his sacrifice when the one who offers it lays his hand on it, how much more will Jesus become ours by the laying on of the hand of faith?

My faith doth lay her hand

on that dear head of thine,

while like a penitent I stand,

and there confess my sin.

Isaac Watts

If a bull could be accepted to make atonement, how much more will the Lord Jesus be our full and all-sufficient propitiation? Some quarrel with the great truth of substitution. But as for us, it is our hope, our joy, our boast, our all. Jesus is accepted for us to make atonement for us, and we are “blessed . . . in Christ” (Eph. 1:3).

Let the reader take care at once to lay his hand on the Lord’s completed sacrifice, that by accepting it he may obtain the benefit of it. If he has done so once, let him do it again. If he has never done so, let him put out his hand without a moment’s delay. Jesus is yours now if you will have him. Lean on him; lean hard on him; and he is yours beyond all question. You are reconciled to God, your sins are blotted out, and you are the Lord’s.

January 24

He will guard the feet of his faithful ones.

1 Samuel 2:9

The way is slippery, and our feet are feeble. But the Lord will keep our feet. If we give ourselves up by obedient faith to be his holy ones, he will himself be our guardian. Not only will he charge his angels to keep us (Ps. 91:11), but he himself will preserve our ways (Ps. 121:8).

He will keep our feet from falling, so that we do not defile our garments, wound our souls, and cause the enemy to blaspheme.

He will keep our feet from wandering, so that we do not enter paths of error, or ways of folly, or routes of the world’s custom.

He will keep our feet from swelling through weariness, or blistering because of the roughness and length of the way.

He will keep our feet from wounding. Our shoes will be iron and brass, so that even though we tread on the edge of the sword, or on deadly serpents, we will not bleed or be poisoned.

He will also pluck our feet out of the net. We will not be entangled by the deceit of our malicious and crafty foes.

With such a promise as this, let us run without weariness and walk without fear. He who guards our feet will do so effectively.

January 25

He sings before men and says:

“I sinned and perverted what was right,

and it was not repaid to me.

He has redeemed my soul from going down into the pit,

and my life shall look upon the light.”

Job 33:27–28

This is a word of truth, gathered from the experience of a man of God, and it is tantamount to a promise. What the Lord has done and is doing, he will continue to do while the world stands. The Lord will receive to his heart all who come to him with a sincere confession of their sin. In fact, he is always on the lookout to discover any that are in trouble because of their faults.

Can we not endorse the language used here? Have we not sinned—sinned personally so as to say, “I have sinned”? Sinned willfully, having perverted that which is right? Sinned so as to discover that there is no profit in it, but an eternal loss? Let us, then, go to God with this honest acknowledgment. He asks no more. We can do no less.

Let us plead his promise in the name of Jesus. He will deliver us from the pit of hell even though it yawns open before us. He will grant us life and light. Why should we despair? Why should we even doubt? The Lord does not mock humble souls. He means what he says. The guilty can be forgiven. Those who deserve execution can receive free pardon.

Lord, we confess, and we ask you to forgive!

January 26

For there is no enchantment against Jacob,

no divination against Israel.

Numbers 23:23

How this should cut out—root and branch—all silly, superstitious fears! Even if there were any truth in witchcraft and omens, they could not affect the people of the Lord. Those whom God blesses, devils cannot curse.

Ungodly men, like Balaam, may cunningly plot the overthrow of the Lord’s Israel (Numbers 23). But despite all their secrecy and scheming, they are doomed to fail. Their powder is damp; the edge of their sword is blunted. They gather together, but since the Lord is not with them, they gather together in vain. We may sit still and let them weave their nets, for we will not be captured in them. Though they call in the aid of Satan and employ all his serpentlike craft, it will not profit them at all. Their spells will not work and their divination will deceive them. What a blessing this is! How it stills the heart! God’s “Jacobs” wrestle with God (Gen. 32:22–32), but none will wrestle with them and overcome. God’s “Israels” have power with God and overcome, but none will have power to overcome against them. We need not fear the fiend himself, nor any of those secret enemies whose words are full of deceit, and whose plans are deep and unfathomable. They cannot hurt those who trust in the living God. We defy the devil and all his legions!

January 27

And there you shall remember your ways and all your deeds with which you have defiled yourselves, and you shall loathe yourselves for all the evils that you have committed.

Ezekiel 20:43

When we are accepted by the Lord, and are standing in the place of favor and peace and safety, then we are led to repent of all our failures and wrongdoing toward our gracious God. So precious is repentance that we may call it a diamond of the highest quality. And repentance is sweetly promised to the people of God. It is one of the main ways their salvation results in their sanctification. The God who accepts repentance also gives repentance. And repentance is not bitter food. It is like “wafers made with honey” on which he feeds his people (Ex. 16:31).

A sense of blood-bought pardon and of undeserved mercy is the best means of dissolving a heart of stone. Are we feeling hard? Let us think of covenant love, and then we will leave sin, lament sin, and loathe sin. Yes, we will loathe ourselves for sinning against such infinite love. Let us come to God with this promise of penitence and ask him to help us to remember, repent, regret, and return. Oh, that we could enjoy the melting heat of holy sorrow! What a relief would a flood of tears be! Lord, smite the rock, or speak to the rock, and cause the waters to flow (Ex. 17:1–7)!

January 28

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

Revelation 21:4

Yes, we will come to this if we are believers. Sorrow will cease, and tears will be wiped away. This is the world of weeping, but it passes away. There will be a new heaven and a new earth, so says the first verse of this chapter. And therefore there will be nothing to weep over concerning humanity’s fall into sin and its consequent miseries. Read the second verse, and note how it speaks of the bride and her marriage. The Lamb’s wedding is a time for boundless pleasure, and tears would be out of place. The third verse says that God himself will dwell among men; and surely at his right hand there are pleasures forevermore, and tears can no longer flow (Ps. 16:11).

What will our state be when there is no more sorrow, no more crying, no more pain? It will be more glorious than we can as yet imagine. Eyes that are red with weeping, cease your scalding flow, for in a little while you will know no more tears! None can wipe tears away like the God of love, and he is coming to do it. “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning” (Ps. 30:5).

Come, Lord, and do not delay; for now both men and women must weep!

January 29

Be careful to obey all these words that I command you, that it may go well with you and with your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy 12:28

Though salvation is not by the works of the law, yet the blessings which are promised to obedience are not denied to the faithful servants of God. The curses our Lord took away when he was made a curse for us, but no clause promising blessing has been abolished.

We are to note and listen to the revealed will of the Lord, giving our attention not just to parts of it, but to “all these words.” There must be no picking and choosing, but an impartial respect to all that God has commanded. This is the road of blessing for parents and their children. The Lord’s blessing is on those he has chosen to the third and fourth generation. If they walk uprightly before him, he will make all men know that they are a seed which the Lord has blessed.

No blessing can come to us or ours through dishonesty or double dealing. The ways of worldly conformity and unholiness cannot bring good to us or ours. It will go well with us when we go well before God. If integrity does not make us prosper, cheating will not. That which gives pleasure to God will bring pleasure to us.

January 30

Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go.

Genesis 28:15

Do we need journeying mercies? Here are choice ones—God’s presence and preservation. In all places we need both of these, and in all places we will have them if we go at the call of duty and not merely according to our own fancy. Why should we regard moving to another country as a sorrowful necessity when it is laid on us by the divine will? In all lands the believer is equally a pilgrim and a stranger. And yet also in every region the Lord is his dwelling place, even as he has been to his saints in all generations. We may miss the protection of an earthly monarch, but when God says, “I will keep you,” we are in no real danger. This is a blessed passport for a traveler and a heavenly escort for an emigrant.

Jacob had never left his father’s house before. He had been a mother’s boy and not an adventurer like his brother. Yet he went abroad, and God went with him. He had little luggage and no attendants. Yet no prince ever journeyed with a nobler bodyguard. Even while he slept in the open field, angels watched over him, and the Lord God spoke to him. If the Lord sends us, let us say with our Lord Jesus, “Rise, let us go from here” (John 14:31).

January 31

My God will hear me.

Micah 7:7