Morning by Morning: Daily Devotional Readings

By Charles H. Spurgeon

Morning by Morning

Charles H. Spurgeon’s devotionals Morning by Morning and Evening by Evening have inspired, encouraged, and challenged Christians for generations. Spurgeon, with his masterful hand, carefully selected his text from throughout the Bible and covered a broad range of topics, in order to present a well-balanced and fruitful daily devotional for readers both young and old.

Now updated into more-modern English for today’s readers, and again separated into two volumes as originally published, with morning devotionals in one volume and evening devotionals in the second. We chose a 11-point font for the sake of legibility, and formatted the devotionals so each fits on a single page.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Aneko Press
• Release date: Feb 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781622453832

Charles H. Spurgeon

Charles H. Spurgeon (1834-1892), nació en Inglaterra, y fue un predicador bautista que se mantuvo muy influyente entre cristianos de diferentes denominaciones, los cuales todavía lo conocen como «El príncipe de los predicadores». El predicó su primer sermón en 1851 a los dieciséis años y paso a ser pastor de la iglesia en Waterbeach en 1852. Publicó más de 1.900 sermones y predicó a 10.000,000 de personas durante su vida. Además, Spurgeon fue autor prolífico de una variedad de obras, incluyendo una autobiografía, un comentario bíblico, libros acerca de la oración, un devocional, una revista, poesía, himnos y más. Muchos de sus sermones fueron escritos mientras él los predicaba y luego fueron traducidos a varios idiomas. Sin duda, ningún otro autor, cristiano o de otra clase, tiene más material impreso que C.H. Spurgeon.

Book preview

January

January 1

They ate some of the yield of the land of Canaan during that year. (Joshua 5:12)

Israel’s weary wanderings were over, and the promised rest was attained. There would be no more moving tents, fiery serpents, fierce Amalekites, and howling wildernesses. They came to the land that flowed with milk and honey, and they ate some of the produce of the land ( Joshua 5:11 ). Perhaps this year, beloved Christian reader, this may be your case or mine. The prospect is joyful, and if faith is active, it will yield absolute delight. To be with Jesus in the rest that remains for the people of God ( Hebrews 4:9 ) is an encouraging hope indeed, and to expect this glory so soon is a double delight.

Unbelief shudders at the Jordan River that still flows between us and the good land, but let us rest assured that we have already experienced more affliction than death at its worst can cause us. Let us dispel every fearful thought and rejoice with exceedingly great joy in the prospect that this year we will begin to be forever with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

A part of the multitude of saints will remain this year on earth to do service for their Lord. If we are in this group, there is no reason why the New Year’s text should not still be true. We who have believed enter that rest (Hebrews 4:3). The Holy Spirit is the pledge of our inheritance. He gives us glory begun below.¹ In heaven they are secure, and on earth we are preserved in Christ Jesus. There they triumph over their enemies, and we have victories too. Celestial spirits enjoy communion with their Lord, and this is not denied to us here on earth. There they rest in His love, and here we have perfect peace in Him. They sing His praise in heaven, and it is our privilege to do the same here. We will gather celestial fruits on earthly ground this year, where faith and hope have made the desert like the garden of the Lord. Man ate angels’ food long ago, and why can we not do so now?

O for grace to feed on Jesus and to eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan this year!

---

1 This phrase is from Isaac Watts’s hymn Come, We That Love the Lord.

January 2

Devote yourselves to prayer. (Colossians 4:2)

It is interesting to note how large a portion of Holy Scripture is taken up with the subject of prayer – in furnishing examples, enforcing precepts, or pronouncing promises. We scarcely open the Bible before we read, Then men began to call upon the name of the L ord ( Genesis 4:26 ). Just as we are about to close the volume, the amen of an earnest supplication meets our ear ( Revelation 22:21 ). Instances are plentiful. We find a wrestling Jacob, a Daniel who prayed three times a day, and a David who called upon his God with all his heart. We see Elijah on the mountain, and Paul and Silas in the dungeon. We have multitudes of commands and myriads of promises.

This teaches us the sacred importance and necessity of prayer. We can be certain that whatever God has made prominent in His Word, He intended to be conspicuous in our lives. If He has said much about prayer, it is because He knows we have much need of it. So deep are our necessities that we must not cease to pray until our earthly life is over. Do you need nothing? Then I am afraid you do not know your poverty. Do you have no mercy to ask from God? Then may the Lord’s mercy show you your misery!

A prayerless soul is a Christless soul. Prayer is the chatter of the believing infant, the shout of the fighting believer, and the whispering of the dying saint falling asleep in Christ. It is the breath, the watchword, the comfort, the strength, and the honor of a Christian. If you are a child of God, you will seek your Father’s face and live in your Father’s love.

Pray that this year you will be holy, humble, zealous, and patient. Pray that you will have closer communion with Christ and enter more often into the banquet hall of His love (Song of Solomon 2:4). Pray that you will be an example and a blessing to others, and that you will live more to the glory of your Master.

The motto for this year must be: Devote yourselves to prayer.

January 3

I will keep You and give You for a covenant of the people. (Isaiah 49:8)

Jesus Christ is Himself the sum and substance of the covenant, and is one of its gifts. He is the property of every believer. Believer, can you estimate what you have gotten in Christ? In Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form ( Colossians 2:9 ). Consider that word God and its infinity, and then meditate upon perfect man and all his beauty; for all that Christ, as God and man, ever had, or can have, is yours – out of pure, free kindness, given over to you to be your guaranteed property forever.

Our blessed Jesus, as God, is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. Will it not comfort you to know that all these great and glorious attributes are completely yours? Does He have power? That power is yours to support and strengthen you, to overcome your enemies, and to preserve you even to the end. Does He have love? Well, there is not a drop of love in His heart that is not yours. You can dive into the immense ocean of His love, and you can say of it all, It is mine! Does He have justice? It might seem like a stern attribute, but even that is yours, for by His justice He will see to it that all that is promised to you in the covenant of grace will most certainly be secured for you.

All that He has as a perfect man is yours too. As a perfect man, the Father’s delight was upon Him. He stood accepted by the Most High. O believer, God’s acceptance of Christ is your acceptance. Do you not know that the love that the Father gave to a perfect Christ He gives to you now? All that Christ did is yours. That perfect righteousness that Jesus worked out, when through His stainless life He kept the law and made it honorable, is yours and is imputed to you. Christ is in the covenant.

My God, I am Thine, what a comfort divine,

What a blessing to know that my Jesus is mine!

In the heavenly Lamb thrice happy I am,

And my heart it doth dance at the sound of His name.²

---

2 From the Charles Wesley hymn My God, I Am Thine.

January 4

Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 3:18)

Grow in grace. Do not just grow in one grace, but in all grace.

Grow in that root grace of faith. Believe the promises more firmly than you have done before. Let faith increase in fullness, consistency, and simplicity.

Grow also in love. Ask that your love may be made larger, more intense, and more practical, influencing every thought, word, and deed.

Grow in humility. Seek to be humble and to know more of your own nothingness. As you grow downward in humility, seek also to grow upward – having nearer approaches to God in prayer and more intimate fellowship with Jesus.

May God the Holy Spirit enable you to grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior. He who does not grow in the knowledge of Jesus refuses to be blessed. To know Him is life eternal, and to advance in the knowledge of Him is to increase in happiness. He who does not desire to know more of Christ knows nothing of Him yet. Whoever has sipped this wine will thirst for more, for although Christ does satisfy, it is the type of satisfaction that does not overfill the appetite, but stimulates it. If you know the love of Jesus – as the deer pants for the water brooks (Psalm 42:1) – you will thirst to drink more deeply of His love. If you do not desire to know Him better, then you do not love Him at all, for love always cries, Nearer, nearer! Absence from Christ is hell, but the presence of Jesus is heaven.

Do not, then, rest content without an ever-increasing nearness to Jesus. Seek to know more of Him in His divine nature, in His human relationship, in His finished work, in His death, in His resurrection, in His present glorious intercession, and in His future royal return. Abide close by the cross, and search the mystery of His wounds. An increase of love for Jesus and a more perfect comprehension of His love for us is one of the best tests of growth in grace.

January 5

God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. (Genesis 1:4)

Light certainly should be good, since it sprang from that decree of goodness: Let there be light ( Genesis 1:3 ). We who enjoy it should be more grateful for it than we are, and we should see more of God in it and by it. Physical light is said by Solomon to be pleasant ( Ecclesiastes 11:7 ), but gospel light is infinitely more precious, for it reveals eternal things and ministers to our immortal natures.

When the Holy Spirit gives us spiritual light and opens our eyes to behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, we behold sin in its true colors and see ourselves in our real position. We see the Most Holy God as He reveals Himself, the plan of mercy as He presents it, and the world to come as the Word describes it.

Spiritual light has many beams and sparkling colors, but whether they are knowledge, joy, holiness, or life, they are all divinely good. If the light received is so good, what must the preeminent light be, and how glorious must the place be where God reveals Himself!

O Lord, since light is so good, give us more of it, and give us more of Yourself, the true Light.

No sooner is there a good thing in the world than a division is necessary. Light and darkness have no communion. God has separated them; let us not confuse them. Sons of light must not have fellowship with deeds, doctrines, or deceits of darkness. The children of the day must be sincere, honest, and bold in their Lord’s work, leaving the works of darkness to those who will dwell in darkness forever.

Our churches should divide the light from the darkness by discipline, and we should do the same by our distinct separation from the world. We must discern between the precious and the evil in judgment, in action, in hearing, in teaching, and in association, and we must maintain that great distinction between light and darkness that the Lord made upon the world’s first day. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men (John 1:4).

O Lord Jesus, be our light throughout this entire day, for Your light is the Light of men.

January 6

Casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7)

It is a happy way of soothing sorrow when we truly realize that He cares for me. Christian, do not dishonor the Christian religion by always wearing a brow of worry. Come and cast your burden upon your Lord. You are staggering beneath a weight that your Father would not feel. What seems to you to be a crushing burden would be to Him only as the small dust of the scale. Nothing is so sweet as to Lie passive in God’s hands, and know no will but His. ³

O child of suffering, be patient. God has not passed you over in His providence. He who feeds the sparrows will also provide you with what you need. Do not sit down in despair, but continue to hope, and always hope. Take up the arms of faith against a sea of trouble, and your distresses will end. There is One who cares for you! His eye is fixed on you! His heart beats with compassion for your affliction! His omnipotent hand will yet bring you the needed help! The darkest cloud will scatter itself in showers of mercy. The blackest gloom will give place to the morning.

If you are one of His family, He will bind up your wounds and heal your broken heart. Do not doubt His grace because of your troubles, but believe that He loves you just as much in seasons of distress as in times of happiness. What a peaceful and quiet life you would lead if you would leave providing to the God of providence!

With a little oil in the jar and a handful of flour in the barrel, Elijah outlived the famine, and you will do the same. If God cares for you, why do you need to be worried? Can you trust Him for your soul, but not for your body? He has never refused to bear your burdens. He has never fallen under their weight. Come, then; be done with anxious worry, and leave all your concerns in the hands of a gracious God!

---

3 This is from a hymn by Augustus Toplady based upon Psalm 104:34.

January 7

For to me, to live is Christ. (Philippians 1:21)

The believer did not always live for Christ. He began to do so when God the Holy Spirit convicted him of sin, and when by grace he was brought to see the dying Savior making an atoning sacrifice for his guilt. From the moment of the new and heavenly birth, a person begins to live for Christ. Jesus is to believers the one pearl of great price for whom we are willing to part with all that we have ( Matthew 13:46 ). He has so completely won our love that we live for Him alone. We live for His glory, and we are willing to die in defense of His gospel. He is the pattern of our life and the model after which we desire to shape our character.

Paul’s words mean more than most people think. Many people imply that the purpose and goal of his life was Christ, but no – his life itself was Jesus Christ. In the words of an ancient saint, he did eat, drink, and sleep Christ. Jesus was his very breath, the soul of his soul, the heart of his heart, and the life of his life. Can you say, as a professing Christian, that you live this way? Can you honestly say that for you to live is Christ?

Your business, your work, your career – are you doing it for Christ? Are you not doing it for worldly success and for the prosperity of your family? Do you ask, Is that an evil reason? For the Christian it is. If you profess to live for Christ, how can you live for any other person or purpose without committing spiritual adultery?

There are many people who carry out this principle in part, but who is there who can dare say that he has lived wholly for Christ as the apostle Paul did? Jesus alone is the true life of a Christian. He alone is its source, its sustenance, its example, its purpose, and its goal – all gathered up in one word.

Lord, accept me; I here present myself, praying to live only in You and to You. Let me be as the bullock that stands between the plow and the altar, to work or to be sacrificed; and let my motto be: Ready for either.

January 8

The iniquity of the holy things. (Exodus 28:38)

What a veil is lifted up by these words! What a disclosure is made! It will be humbling and profitable for us to pause awhile and see this sad sight. What a full measure of iniquities we have in our public worship – its hypocrisy, formality, lukewarmness, irreverence, wandering of heart, and forgetfulness of God! What a mass of defilement is found in the iniquities of our work for the Lord – its ambition, selfishness, carelessness, slackness, and unbelief! What a mountain of dead earth is seen in our private devotions – their carelessness, coldness, neglect, sleepiness, and emptiness! If we looked more carefully, we would find this iniquity of the holy things to be far greater than it appears at first sight.

Edward Payson, writing to his brother, said,

My parish, as well as my heart, very much resembles the garden of the sluggard; and what is worse, I find that very many of my desires for the improvement of both proceed either from pride, vanity, or laziness. I look at the weeds that overspread my garden, and I breathe out an earnest wish that they were eradicated. But why? What prompts the wish? It may be that I may walk out and say to myself, How nice is my garden kept! This is pride. Or, it may be that my neighbors may look over the wall and say, How nicely your garden flourishes! This is vanity. Or I may wish for the destruction of the weeds, because I am weary of pulling them up. This is laziness.⁴

Even our desires after holiness can be polluted by wrong motives. Worms hide themselves under the greenest grass; we do not need to look long to discover them.

How cheering is the thought that when the high priest bore the iniquity of the holy things, he wore upon his brow the words, Holy to the Lord (Exodus 28:36). In the same way, while Jesus bears our sin, He does not present our unholiness before His Father’s face, but He presents His own holiness. Oh, for grace to view our Great High Priest with the eye of faith!

---

4 This is from Volume 1 of Memoir, Select Thoughts and Sermons of the Late Rev. Edward Payson, D.D., compiled by Reverend Asa Cummings.

January 9

I will be their God. (Jeremiah 31:33)

Christian, this is all you need. To make you happy, you need something that will satisfy you, and is this not enough? If you can pour this promise into your cup, you will say with David, "I have more than my heart could wish! My cup overflows ( Psalm 23:5 ). When this is fulfilled – I am your God" – do you not possess all things?

Desire is as unquenchable as death, but He who fills all in all can fill it. No one can measure the capacity of our desires, but the immeasurable wealth of God can more than overflow it. Are you not complete when God is yours? Do you need anything but God? Is not His all-sufficiency enough to satisfy you, even if all else should fail?

But you want more than quiet satisfaction; you desire exhilarating delight. Come. In your portion is music fit for heaven, for God is the maker of heaven. All the music blown from sweet instruments or drawn from living strings cannot produce such melody as this sweet promise: I will be their God. This is a deep sea of bliss, a shoreless ocean of delight; come – bathe your spirit in it. Swim for a lifetime, and you will find no shore. Dive throughout eternity, and you will find no bottom.

I will be their God. If this does not make your eyes sparkle and your heart beat excitedly with joy, then certainly your soul is not in a healthy state.

However, you need more than present delights. You crave something concerning which you may have hope. What more can you hope for than the fulfillment of the great promise, I will be their God? This is the masterpiece of all the promises. Its enjoyment makes a heaven below and will make a heaven above. Dwell in the light of your Lord, and let your soul be always delighted with His love. Get out the marrow and fatness that this portion yields you (Psalm 63:5). Live up to your privileges, and rejoice with unspeakable joy.

January 10

There is laid up for me the crown of righteousness. (2 Timothy 4:8)

Oh, doubting one, you have often said, I am afraid that I will never enter heaven. Fear not! All the people of God will enter in. I love the pleasant words of the dying man who exclaimed, I have no fear of going home. I have sent everything on before me. God’s finger is on the latch of my door, and I am ready for Him to enter.

But, someone asked him, aren’t you afraid that you might miss your inheritance?

No, he said, not at all; there is one crown in heaven that the angel Gabriel could not wear. It will not fit any head except mine. There is one throne in heaven that the apostle Paul could not fill. It was made for me, and I will have it.

O Christian, what a joyous thought! Your inheritance is secure. There remains a rest for the people of God (Hebrews 4:9). Do you ask if you can lose it? No, for it is certain. If I am a child of God, I will not lose it. It is mine as certainly as if I were there!

Come with me, believer, and let us sit upon the top of Mount Nebo and view the good land, even Canaan (Deuteronomy 3:25; 34:1). See that little river of death glistening in the sunlight? Look across it. Do you see the pinnacles of the eternal city? Do you observe the pleasant country and all its joyous inhabitants? Know, then, that if you could fly across that river, you would see written upon one of its many dwelling places, This place is kept for him (your name) only. He will be caught up to dwell forever with God (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

Poor doubting one, see the lovely inheritance. It is yours! If you believe in the Lord Jesus, if you have repented of sin, if you have been renewed in heart, then you are one of the Lord’s people. There is a place reserved for you, a crown laid up for you, and a harp specially provided for you. No one else will have your inheritance. It is reserved in heaven for you, and you will have it before long, for there will be no vacant thrones in glory when all the chosen are gathered in.

January 11

These have no firm root. (Luke 8:13)

Examine yourself this morning by the light of this text. You have received the Word with joy. Your feelings have been stirred and a lively impression has been made. Remember, though, that to receive the Word in the ear is one thing, but to receive Jesus into your very soul is quite another. Superficial feeling is often joined to inward hardness of heart, and a lively impression of the Word is not always a lasting one.

In the parable of the seed and the sower, in one case the seed fell upon ground having a rocky bottom, covered over with a thin layer of soil. When the seed began to take root, its downward growth was hindered by the hard stone. It used all its strength to push its green shoot into the air as high as it could, but having no inward moisture derived from root nourishment, it withered away.

Is this how it is with me? Have I been making a good show in the flesh without having a corresponding inner life? Good growth takes place upward and downward at the same time. Am I rooted in sincere faithfulness and love for Jesus? If my heart remains unsoftened and unfertilized by grace, the good seed may germinate for a short while, but it will ultimately wither, for it cannot flourish in a rocky, unbroken, and unsanctified heart.

Let me fear the kind of godliness that is as rapid in growth and as lacking in endurance as Jonah’s plant (Jonah 4:6-7). Let me count the cost of being a follower of Jesus (Luke 14:28). Above all, let me feel the energy of His Holy Spirit, and then I will possess an abiding and enduring seed in my soul. If my mind remains as stubborn as it was by nature, the sun of trial will scorch, and my hard heart will help to cast the heat more fiercely upon the poorly covered seed. My religion will soon die, and my despair will be terrible.

Therefore, O heavenly Sower, plow me first, and then cast the truth into me. Let me yield for You a bountiful harvest.

January 12

You belong to Christ. (1 Corinthians 3:23)

You belong to Christ. You are His by donation, for the Father gave you to the Son. You are His by His bloody purchase, for He paid the price for your redemption. You are His by dedication, for you have consecrated yourself to Him. You are His by relation, for you are named by His name, and have been made one of His brethren and a joint heir.

Labor in a practical way to show the world that you are the servant, the friend, and the bride of Jesus. When you are tempted to sin, reply, I cannot do this great wickedness, for I am Christ’s! Immortal principles forbid the friend of Christ to sin. When you are tempted to gain wealth through sin, say, I am Christ’s! and do not touch it. Are you exposed to difficulties and dangers? Stand fast in the evil day, remembering that you are Christ’s. Are you placed where others are sitting down idly, doing nothing? Rise to the work with all your strength, and when the sweat stands upon your brow and you are tempted to stop, cry, No, I cannot stop, for I am Christ’s, and I cannot fall behind.

When worldly pleasure tries to tempt you from the path of what is right, reply, You cannot captivate me, for I am Christ’s. When the cause of God invites you to do so, give your goods and yourself away, for you are Christ’s. Never live contrary to your profession of faith in Christ Jesus. Always be one of those whose behavior is Christian, whose speech is like the Nazarene’s, and whose conduct and conversation are so suggestive of heaven that all who see you will know that you are the Savior’s, recognizing in you His features of love and His countenance of holiness.

I am a Roman! was of old a reason for integrity; far more, then, let it be your argument for holiness that I am Christ’s!

January 13

Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold, but they did not go for the ships were broken at Ezion-geber. (1 Kings 22:48)

Solomon’s ships had returned in safety, but Jehoshaphat’s vessels never reached the land of gold. Providence prospers one and frustrates the desires of another, in the same business and at the same place, yet the Great Ruler is as good and wise at one time as at another. May we have grace today, in the remembrance of this text, to bless the Lord for ships broken at Ezion-geber, as well as for vessels loaded with temporal blessings. Let us not envy those who are more successful, nor complain about our losses as though we were singled out and especially tested. Like Jehoshaphat, we may be precious in the Lord’s sight, although our plans end in disappointment.

The secret cause of Jehoshaphat’s loss is well worthy of notice, for it is the root of much of the suffering of the Lord’s people. The cause of Jehoshaphat’s loss was his alliance with a sinful family – his fellowship with sinners. In 2 Chronicles 20:37, we are told that the Lord sent a prophet to declare, Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, the Lord has destroyed your works. This was a fatherly chastisement that appears to have been blessed to him, for in the verse that follows our text, we find him refusing to allow his servants to sail in the same vessels with those of the wicked king. Then Ahaziah the son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, Let my servants go with your servants in the ships. But Jehoshaphat was not willing (1 Kings 22:49).

May Jehoshaphat’s experience be a warning to the rest of the Lord’s people to avoid being unequally yoked together with unbelievers (2 Corinthians 6:14)! A life of misery is usually the result of those who are united in marriage, or in any other way, with those of the world. Oh, for such love for Jesus that, like Him, we may be holy, innocent, undefiled, [and] separated from sinners (Hebrews 7:26); for if it is not so with us, we can expect to hear it often said, The Lord has destroyed your works.

January 14

Mighty to save. (Isaiah 63:1)

The words to save refer to the entirety of the great work of salvation, from the first holy desire onward to complete sanctification. Indeed, all mercy is found in these words. Christ is not only mighty to save those who repent, but He is also able to make people repent. He will carry those to heaven who believe, but He is also mighty to give people new hearts and to work faith in them. He is mighty to make the person love holiness who now hates it, and to compel the one who despises His name to bend the knee before Him.

This is not all the meaning, for the divine power is equally seen in the work after salvation. The life of a believer is a series of miracles worked by the mighty God. The bush burns, but it is not consumed (Exodus 3:2). God is mighty to keep His people holy after He has made them so. He is mighty to preserve His people in His fear and love until He brings them to heaven. Christ’s might does not lie in making a believer and then leaving him to fend for himself, but He who begins the good work continues it until it is complete (Philippians 1:6). He who imparts the first seed of life in the dead soul also prolongs the divine existence and strengthens it – until it bursts asunder every bond of sin and the soul leaps from earth, perfected in glory.

Believer, here is encouragement. Are you praying for some loved one? Oh, do not give up your prayers, 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 prompt it to put forth its strength.

Does your own situation trouble you? Fear not, for His strength is sufficient for you. Whether He is beginning the work in others or carrying on the work in you, Jesus is mighty to save. The best proof of this lies in the fact that He has saved you. What a thousand mercies that you have not found Him mighty to destroy!

January 15

Do as You have spoken. (2 Samuel 7:25)

God’s promises were never meant to be thrown aside as wastepaper. God intended them to be used. God’s gold is not miser’s money, but is minted to be traded with. Nothing pleases our Lord more than to see His promises put in circulation. He loves to see His children bring them up to Him and say, Lord, do as You have said.

We glorify God when we plead His promises. Do you think that God will be any poorer for giving you the riches He has promised? Do you think that He will be less holy for giving holiness to you? Do you imagine He will be less pure for washing you from your sins? Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord, Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool (Isaiah 1:18). Faith lays hold upon the promise of pardon, and it does not delay. Faith does not say, This is a precious promise; I wonder if it is true, but faith goes straight to the throne with it and pleads, Lord, here is the promise. Do as You have said!

Our Lord replies, It shall be done to you according to your faith (Matthew 9:29). When a Christian grasps a promise, he dishonors God if he does not take it to Him. However, when he hastens to the throne of grace and cries, Lord, I have nothing to recommend me but this: You have said it, then his desire will be granted. Our heavenly Banker delights to cash His own checks.

Never let the promise rust. Draw the word of promise out of its sheath and use it with holy violence. Do not think that God will be troubled by your persistently reminding Him of His promises. He loves to hear the loud outcries of needy souls. It is His delight to bestow favors. He is more ready to hear than you are to ask. The sun is not weary of shining, nor the fountain of flowing. It is God’s nature to keep His promises. Therefore, go at once to the throne and pray, Father, do as You have said.

January 16

Do not fear; . . . I will help you, declares the Lord, and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 41:14)

This morning, let us hear the Lord Jesus speak to each one of us:

I will help you. It is only a small thing for Me, your God, to help you. Consider what I have done already. What! Will I not help you? I bought you with My blood. Will I not help you? I have died for you! If I have done the greater, will I not do the lesser? Help you! It is the least thing I will ever do for you. I have done more, and will do more. I chose you before the world began. I made the covenant for you. I laid aside My glory and became a man for you. I gave up My life for you. If I did all this, I will surely help you now. In helping you, I am giving you what I have bought for you already. If you had need of a thousand times as much help, I would give it to you. You require little compared with what I am ready to give. It is much for you to need, but it is nothing for Me to give. Will I not help you? Fear not! If there were an ant at the door of your granary asking for help, it would not ruin you to give him a handful of your wheat! Just so, you are nothing but a tiny insect at the door of My all-sufficiency. I will help you.

O my soul, is not this enough? Do you need more strength than the omnipotence of God? Do you need more wisdom than exists in the Father? Do you need more love than displays itself in the Son? Do you need more power than is manifest in the influences of the Spirit? Bring your empty pitcher here! Surely this well will fill it. Hurry and gather up your needs and bring them here. Bring your emptiness, your woes, and your troubles. Behold, this river of God is full for your supply. What more can you desire? Go forth, my soul, in this your might. The eternal God is your helper!

Fear not, I am with thee,

O be not dismayed,

For I am thy God,

and will still give thee aid.⁵

---

5 From the hymn How Firm a Foundation.

January 17

I looked, and behold, the Lamb. (Revelation 14:1)

The apostle John was privileged to look within the gates of heaven. In describing what he saw, he begins by saying, I looked, and behold, the Lamb. This teaches us that the main object of contemplation in the heavenly state is the Lamb of God. Nothing else attracted the apostle’s attention as much as that divine Being who has redeemed us by His blood. He is the theme of the songs of all glorified spirits and holy angels.

Christian, here is joy for you: you have looked, and you have seen the Lamb. Through your tears, your eyes have seen the Lamb of God taking away your sins. Rejoice, then. In a little while, when tears will have been wiped from your eyes (Revelation 21:4), you will see the same Lamb exalted on His throne (Isaiah 6:1)! It is the joy of your heart to hold daily fellowship with Jesus. You will have the same joy to a higher degree in heaven. You will enjoy the constant vision of His presence. You will dwell with Him forever! I looked, and behold, the Lamb.

Why, that Lamb is heaven itself, for as Samuel Rutherford daid, Heaven and Christ are the same thing! To be with Christ is to be in heaven, and to be in heaven is to be with Christ. Rutherford, that prisoner of the Lord, very sweetly wrote in one of his glowing letters, O my Lord Jesus Christ, if I could be in heaven without You – it would be a hell; and if I could be in hell and have You still – it would be a heaven to me, for You are all the heaven I want. It is true, is it not, Christian? Does not your soul say so?

Not all the harps above

Can make a heavenly place,

If God His residence remove,

Or but conceal His face.⁶

All you need to make you blessed, supremely blessed, is to be with Christ (Philippians 1:23).

---

6 From Isaac Watts’s hymn My God, My Life, My Love.

January 18

There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. (Hebrews 4:9)

How different will be the state of the believer in heaven from what it is here! Here he is born to toil and suffer weariness, but in the land of the immortal, fatigue is never known. Anxious to serve his Master, he now finds his strength unequal to his zeal. His constant cry is, Help me to serve You, O my God. If he is thoroughly active, he will have much labor – not too much for his desire, but more than enough for his power, so that he will cry out, "I am not wearied of the labor – but I am wearied in it!"

Ah, Christian, the hot day of weariness does not last forever. The sun is nearing the horizon. It will rise again with a brighter day than you have ever seen, upon a land where they serve God day and night, and yet rest from their labors. Here, rest is only partial, but there it is perfect. Here, the Christian is always unsettled; he feels that he has not yet attained. There, all are at rest. They have attained the summit of the mountain and have ascended to the arms of their God. They cannot go any higher!

Ah, toil-worn laborer, just think of when you will rest forever! Can you conceive it? It is an eternal rest – a rest that remains. Here, my greatest joys are only temporary. My fair flowers fade. My delicate cups are drained to the sediment. My sweetest birds fall before death’s arrows. My most pleasant days are shadowed into nights. The flood tides of my bliss subside into ebbs of sorrow. But there, everything is immortal. The harp abides unrusted, the crown unwithered, the eye undimmed, the voice unfaltering, and the heart unwavering. The immortal being is wholly absorbed in infinite delight. It will be a happy day when mortality will be swallowed up in life, and the eternal rest will begin!

January 19

I sought him but did not find him. (Song of Solomon 3:1)

Tell me where you lost the company of Christ, and I will tell you the most likely place to find Him. Have you lost Christ in the closet by neglecting prayer? Then it is there that you must seek and find Him. Did you lose Christ by sin? You will find Christ in no other way than by giving up the sin and seeking by the Holy Spirit to destroy the element in

Reviews for Morning by Morning

[Rob Vance · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Spurgeon’s high view of God and Scriptures makes this devotion more than a book of daily pragmatic practices; it moved my soul to worship God daily.