In 1865, Charles Spurgeon, one of England’s most popular preachers during the second half of the 19th century, published a morning devotional Morning by Morning and in 1868 an evening devotional Evening by Evening. Since that time, many Christians have begun and ended their days with these devotional classics. Alistair Begg has updated Spurgeon’s language to make it more readable without spoiling the splendor of Spurgeon’s language. I’ve been enjoying this devotional for the past few years. Here are 25 of my favorite quotes from the book:
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- We are here to glorify Christ in our daily life. We are here as workers for Him, and as workers together with Him. Let us see that our life fulfills this purpose.
- No man indulges an error of judgment without sooner or later tolerating an error in practice.
- The Christian is made strong and firmly rooted by all the trials and storms of life. Do not shrink then from the tempestuous winds of trial, but take comfort, believing that by their rough discipline God is fulfilling this benediction to you.
- He who is not angry at transgression becomes a partaker in it. Sin is a loathsome and hateful thing, and no renewed heart can patiently endure it.
- A jealous God will not be content with a divided heart; He must be loved first and best. He will withdraw the sunshine of His presence from a cold, wandering heart.
- It is, perhaps, one of the hardest struggles of the Christian life to learn this sentence— “Not to us, O LORD, not unto us, but to your name give glory.”1 It is a lesson that God is always teaching us, and teaching us sometimes by the most painful discipline.
- His mercy is so great that it forgives great sins to great sinners after great lengths of time and then gives great favors and great privileges and raises us up to great enjoyments in the great heaven of the great God.
- Only on the footing of free grace can the most experienced and most honored of the saints approach their God. The best of men are conscious above all others that they are men at best.
- In seasons of severe trial, the Christian has nothing on earth that he can trust, and so he is compelled to cast himself on God alone.
- The enemy is always watching for inconsistency in your conduct; therefore, be very holy. Remember that the eyes of all are on you, and that more is expected from you than from other men. Strive to give no occasion for blame. Let your goodness be the only fault they can discover in you.
- The Lord sometimes allows His people to be driven into a corner that they may learn how necessary He is to them.
- You will never find true faith unaccompanied by true godliness; on the other hand, you will never discover a truly holy life that does not have at its root a living faith relying upon the righteousness of Christ.
- We have permission to approach His throne at all times—in midnight’s darkest hour or in noontide’s most burning heat. Exercise your right, believer, and enjoy this privilege.
- It is blessed to know that the grace of God is free to us at all times, without preparation, without fitness, without money, and without price!
- Those who serve God must serve Him in His own way and in His strength, or He will never accept their service. Whatever a man does, unaided by divine strength, God can never own.
- Faith increases in quality, assurance, and intensity the more it is exercised with tribulation. Faith is precious, and its trial is precious too.
- Whatever you do for Christ, throw your whole soul into it. Do not give Christ a little halfhearted labor, done as a matter of course every now and then; but when you serve Him, do it with heart and soul and strength.
- Christians know that an ounce of contentment is more valuable than a ton of gold.
- Your prayers are all filed in heaven, and if not immediately answered they are certainly not forgotten, but in a little while they will be fulfilled to your delight and satisfaction. Do not allow despair to make you silent, but continue to present your requests to God.
- The shop, the barn, the kitchen, and the workbench become temples when men and women do all to the glory of God!
- It is one thing to love the ways of the Lord when all is fair, and quite another to hold to them in the face of discouragements and difficulties.
- Let me encourage you in His name to diligently search and solemnly test your spiritual state, for fear you should come short of the promised rest. This is what every wise man does, and what God Himself does with us all.
- You are meddling with Christ’s business and neglecting your own when you fret about your lot and circumstances. You have been trying to do the providing and forgetting to do the obeying. Be wise and pay attention to the obeying, and let Christ manage the providing.
- The eagle that flies to its rocky perch and afterwards soars above the clouds is no more free than the soul delivered by Christ.
- The primary qualification for serving God with any amount of success, and for doing God’s work well and triumphantly, is a sense of our own weakness.
