Morning and Evening with Charles Spurgeon

“Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.” — Ephesians 3:8 The apostle Paul felt it a great privilege to be allowed to preach the gospel. He did not look upon his calling as a drudgery, […]

“But all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his share, and his coulter, and his ax, and his mattock.” — 1 Samuel 13:20 We are engaged in a great war with the Philistines of evil. Every weapon within our reach must be used. Preaching, teaching, praying, giving, all must be […]

“He is precious.” — 1 Peter 2:7 As all the rivers run into the sea, so all delights centre in our Beloved. The glances of His eyes outshine the sun: the beauties of His face are fairer than the choicest flowers: no fragrance is like the breath of His mouth. Gems of the mine, and […]

“Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out.” — Song of Solomon 4:16 Anything is better than the dead calm of indifference. Our souls may wisely desire the north wind of trouble if that alone can be sanctified to the drawing forth of the […]

“The barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which He spake by Elijah.” — 1 Kings 17:16 See the faithfulness of divine love. You observe that this woman had daily necessities. She had herself and her son to feed in a time of […]

“My expectation is from Him.” — Psalm 62:5 It is the believer's privilege to use this language. If he is looking for aught from the world, it is a poor “expectation” indeed. But if he looks to God for the supply of his wants, whether in temporal or spiritual blessings, his expectation” will not be […]

“Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” — Micah 5:2 The Lord Jesus had goings forth for His people as their representative before the throne, long before they appeared upon the stage of time. It was “from everlasting” that He signed the compact with His Father, that He would pay blood for […]

“Thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation.” — Psalm 91:9 The Israelites in the wilderness were continually exposed to change. Whenever the pillar stayed its motion, the tents were pitched; but tomorrow, ere the morning sun had risen, the trumpet sounded, the ark was in motion, and […]

“Behold, if the leprosy have covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce him clean that hath the plague.” — Leviticus 13:13 Strange enough this regulation appears, yet there was wisdom in it, for the throwing out of the disease proved that the constitution was sound. This evening it may be well for us to see […]

“Salvation is of the Lord.” — Jonah 2:9 Salvation is the work of God. It is He alone who quickens the soul “dead in trespasses and sins,” and it is He also who maintains the soul in its spiritual life. He is both “Alpha and Omega.” “Salvation is of the Lord.” If I am prayerful, […]

“But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa.” — Jonah 1:3 Instead of going to Nineveh to preach the Word, as God bade him, Jonah disliked the work, and went down to Joppa to escape from it. There are occasions when God's servants shrink […]

“The wrath to come.” — Matthew 3:7 It is pleasant to pass over a country after a storm has spent itself; to smell the freshness of the herbs after the rain has passed away, and to note the drops while they glisten like purest diamonds in the sunlight. That is the position of a Christian. […]

“O Lord of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy upon Jerusalem?… And the Lord answered the angel… with good words and comfortable words.” — Zechariah 1:12,13 What a sweet answer to an anxious enquiry! This night let us rejoice in it. O Zion, there are good things in store for thee; thy time […]

“I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.” — Ezekiel 34:26 Here is sovereign mercy — ”I will give them the shower in its season.” Is it not sovereign, divine mercy? — for who can say, “I will give them showers,” except God? There is only […]

“Take up the cross, and follow Me.” — Mark 10:21 You have not the making of your own cross, although unbelief is a master carpenter at cross-making; neither are you permitted to choose your own cross, although self-will would fain be Lord and master; but your cross is prepared and appointed for you by divine […]

“I will never leave thee.” — Hebrews 13:5 No promise is of private interpretation. Whatever God has said to any one saint, He has said to all. When He opens a well for one, it is that all may drink. When He openeth a granary-door to give out food, there may be some one starving […]

“The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power.” — Nahum 1:3 Jehovah “is slow to anger.” When mercy cometh into the world she driveth winged steeds; the axles of her chariot-wheels are red hot with speed; but when wrath goeth forth, it toileth on with tardy footsteps, for God taketh no pleasure in […]

“His bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob.” — Genesis 49:24 That strength which God gives to His Josephs is real strength; it is not a boasted valour, a fiction, a thing of which men talk, but which ends in […]

“Understandest thou what thou readest?” — Acts 8:30 We should be abler teachers of others, and less liable to be carried about by every wind of doctrine, if we sought to have a more intelligent understanding of the Word of God. As the Holy Ghost, the Author of the Scriptures is He who alone can […]

“He hath said.” — Hebrews 13:5 If we can only grasp these words by faith, we have an all-conquering weapon in our hand. What doubt will not be slain by this two-edged sword? What fear is there which shall not fall smitten with a deadly wound before this arrow from the bow of God's covenant? […]

“Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.” — Matthew 4:1 A Holy character does not avert temptation — Jesus was tempted. When Satan tempts us, his sparks fall upon tinder; but in Christ's case, it was like striking sparks on water; yet the enemy continued […]

“God, that comforteth those that are cast down.” — 2 Corinthians 7:6 And who comforteth like Him? Go to some poor, melancholy, distressed child of God; tell him sweet promises, and whisper in his ear choice words of comfort; he is like the deaf adder, he listens not to the voice of the charmer, charm […]

“He first findeth his own brother Simon.” — John 1:41 This case is an excellent pattern of all cases where spiritual life is vigorous. As soon as a man has found Christ, he begins to find others. I will not believe that thou hast tasted of the honey of the gospel if thou canst eat […]

“Thus saith the Lord God; I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them.” — Ezekiel 36:37 Prayer is the forerunner of mercy. Turn to sacred history, and you will find that scarcely ever did a great mercy come to this world unheralded by supplication. You […]

“Father, I have sinned.” — Luke 15:18 It is quite certain that those whom Christ has washed in His precious blood need not make a confession of sin, as culprits or criminals, before God the Judge, for Christ has for ever taken away all their sins in a legal sense, so that they no longer […]

“Shew me wherefore thou contendest with me.” — Job 10:2 Perhaps, O tried soul, the Lord is doing this to develop thy graces. There are some of thy graces which would never be discovered if it were not for thy trials. Dost thou not know that thy faith never looks so grand in summer weather […]

“Whereas the Lord was there.” — Ezekiel 35:10 Edom's princes saw the whole country left desolate, and counted upon its easy conquest; but there was one great difficulty in their way — quite unknown to them — ”The Lord was there”; and in His presence lay the special security of the chosen land. Whatever may […]

“Isaac dwelt by the well Lahai-roi.” — Genesis 25:11 Hagar had once found deliverance there and Ishmael had drank from the water so graciously revealed by the God who liveth and seeth the sons of men; but this was a merely casual visit, such as worldlings pay to the Lord in times of need, when […]

“Thy good Spirit.” — Nehemiah 9:20 Common, too common is the sin of forgetting the Holy Spirit. This is folly and ingratitude. He deserves well at our hands, for He is good, supremely good. As God, He is good essentially. He shares in the threefold ascription of Holy, holy, holy, which ascends to the Triune […]

“I have learned, in whatever state I am, therewith to be content.” — Philippians 4:11 These words show us that contentment is not a natural propensity of man. “Ill weeds grow apace.” Covetousness, discontent, and murmuring are as natural to man as thorns are to the soil. We need not sow thistles and brambles; they […]

“Whereby they have made Thee glad.” — Psalm 45:8 And who are thus privileged to make the Saviour glad? His church — His people. But is it possible? He makes us glad, but how can

“To Him be glory both now and forever.” — 2 Peter 3:18 Heaven will be full of the ceaseless praises of Jesus. Eternity! thine unnumbered years shall speed their everlasting course, but forever and for ever, “to Him be glory.” Is He not a “Priest I for ever after the order of Melchisedek”? “To Him […]

“She was healed immediately.” — Luke 8:47 One of the most touching and teaching of the Saviour's miracles is before us to-night. The woman was very ignorant. She imagined that virtue came out of Christ by a law of necessity, without His knowledge or direct will. Moreover, she was a stranger to the generosity of […]

“And his allowance was a continual allowance given him of the king, a daily rate for every day, all the days of his life.” — 2 Kings 25:30 Jehoiachin was not sent away from the king's palace with a store to last him for months, but his provision was given him as a daily pension. […]

“There is therefore now no condemnation.” — Romans 8:1 Come, my soul, think thou of this. Believing in Jesus, thou art actually and effectually cleared from guilt; thou art led out of thy prison. Thou art no more in fetters as a bond-slave; thou art delivered now from the bondage of the law; thou art […]

“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God.” — 1 John 3:1,2 “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us. Consider […]

“He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever.” — John 14:16 Great Father revealed Himself to believers of old before the coming of His Son, and was known to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as the God Almighty. Then Jesus came, and the ever-blessed Son in His own proper person, […]

“For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.” — 2 Corinthians 1:5 There is a blessed proportion. The Ruler of Providence bears a pair of scales — in this side He puts His people's trials, and in that He puts their consolations. When the scale of trial […]

“Thou hast left thy first love.” — Revelation 2:4 Ever to be remembered is that best and brightest of hours, when first we saw the Lord, lost our burden, received the roll of promise, rejoiced in full salvation, and went on our way in peace. It was spring time in the soul; the winter was […]

“And they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.” — Acts 4:13 A Christian should be a striking likeness of Jesus Christ. You have read lives of Christ, beautifully and eloquently written, but the best life of Christ is His living biography, written out in the words and actions of His people. […]

“I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto Me; for I have redeemed thee.” — Isaiah 44:22 Attentively observe THE INSTRUCTIVE SIMILITUDE: our sins are like a cloud. As clouds are of many shapes and shades, so are our transgressions. As clouds obscure the light […]

“I know how to abound.” — Philippians 4:12 There are many who know “how to be abased” who have not learned “how to abound.” When they are set upon the top of a pinnacle their heads grow dizzy, and they are ready to fall. The Christian far oftener disgraces his profession in prosperity than in […]

“Lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil [or, the evil one].” — Luke 11:4 What we are taught to seek or shun in prayer, we should equally pursue or avoid in action. Very earnestly, therefore, should we avoid temptation, seeking to walk so guardedly in the path of obedience, that we may […]

“And David enquired of the Lord.” — 2 Samuel 5:23 When David made this enquiry he had just fought the Philistines, and gained a signal victory. The Philistines came up in great hosts, but, by the help of God, David had easily put them to flight. Note, however, that when they came a second time, […]

“He shall save His people from their sins.” — Matthew 1:21 Many persons, if they are asked what they understand by salvation, will reply, “Being saved from hell and taken to heaven.” This is one result of salvation, but it is not one tithe of what is contained in that boon. It is true our […]

“Thou shalt call his name Jesus.” — Matthew 1:21 When a person is dear, everything connected with him becomes dear for his sake. Thus, so precious is the person of the Lord Jesus in the estimation of all true believers, that everything about Him they consider to be inestimable beyond all price. “All Thy garments […]

“And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither.” — Revelation 11:12 Without considering these words in their prophetical connection, let us regard them D as the invitation of our great Forerunner to His sanctified people. In due time there shall be heard “a great voice from heaven” to every […]

“Arise, and depart.” — Micah 2:10 The hour is approaching when the message will come to us, as it comes to all — ”Arise, and go forth from the home in which thou hast dwelt, from the city in which thou hast done thy business, from thy family, from thy friends. Arise, and take thy […]

“Pray one for another.” — James 5:16 As an encouragement cheerfully to offer intercessory prayer, remember that such prayer is the sweetest God ever hears, for the prayer of Christ is of this character. In all the incense which our Great High Priest now puts into the golden censer, there is not a single grain […]

“Praying always.” — Ephesians 6:18 What multitudes of prayers we have put up from the first moment when we learned to pray. Our first prayer was a prayer for ourselves; we asked that God would have mercy upon us, and blot out our sin. He heard us. But when He had blotted out our sins […]

“At that time Jesus answered.” — Matthew 11:25 This is a singular way in which to commence a verse — ”At that time Jesus answered.” If you will look at the context you will not perceive that any person had asked Him a question, or that He was in conversation with any human being. Yet […]