Your weekly dose of Spurgeon
Oh, well do I remember when the stronger than Satan overcame in my soul. Five years was there a conflict, more or less. Sometimes my proud heart would not yield to sovereign grace; at another time a wilful spirit would go astray after vanity; but at last, when Jesus showed his wounds and said unto me, “Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth,” I could hold out no longer, and the evil spirit could resist no more, the wounds of Christ had wounded the old dragon, and the death of the Saviour became the death of sin.
Oh! there are many of us who know what it is to be conquered, to be subdued by a power other than our own, and in every case there must be this experience, or there is no real life. Dear hearer, if your religion grew in your own garden it is a weed and good for nothing; if your grace springs as the result of your own willing, your own acting, and your own seeking, it is good for nothing; Christ must seek you, it must be a power far above you, mightier than you, far stronger than you and the devil put together, which must deliver you from your sins.
As soon as ever the stronger man has conquered the enemy, what does he do? He takes his sword of rebellion, snaps it across his knee, and pulls the armour from the back of the unclean spirit. Prejudice, ignorance, hard heartedness, all these are pulled off the old enemy. I think I see him—I think I see the Saviour stripping him to his shame and ejecting him from the heart with abhorrence. There, let him go among the dry places and again seek rest and find none.
Happy day! happy day for the palace which he once defiled when he is cast out, and cast out for ever! Christ Jesus then proceeds to divide the spoil. “There is the man’s heart, I will take that,” says he, “that shall be a jewel in my crown. The man’s love I will set as a jewel upon my arm for ever. His memory, his judgment, his power of thought, utterance, and working,—these are all mine,” says Christ. He begins to divide the spoil, he puts the broad arrow of the king upon every room in the house, upon every piece of furniture.
The garnishing he pulls out, “I will adorn it far better than this,” saith he. “There shall be no pictures of faith, but faith; there shall be no ornament in yonder grate except the ornament of the glowing fire of fervid zeal; there shall be no borrowed flowers, but I will train round this window the sweet roses and jessamine of love, and peace of mind; I will wash what was only swept, with my blood I will make it white, and sweet, and clean; and I will strike the lintel and the two side posts with the hyssop, and with the blood mark, and then the destroying angel when he sweeps by shall sheathe his sword, and the black fiend when he would enter shall see the mark there, and go back trembling to his accursed den.”
This is conversion, the other was only conviction; this is change of heart, the other was only change of life. I do trust, if you have been content with the former, you will now bestir yourselves, and never be satisfied without the latter.
The PyroManiacs devote some space each weekend to highlights from the lifetime of works from the Prince of Preachers, Charles Haddon Spurgeon. The following excerpt is from The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, volume 11, sermon number 613, "The strong one driven out by a stronger one.""The might of Satan would crush thee to thy ruin if it were not that the almightiness of Christ comes in to the rescue."
Oh! there are many of us who know what it is to be conquered, to be subdued by a power other than our own, and in every case there must be this experience, or there is no real life. Dear hearer, if your religion grew in your own garden it is a weed and good for nothing; if your grace springs as the result of your own willing, your own acting, and your own seeking, it is good for nothing; Christ must seek you, it must be a power far above you, mightier than you, far stronger than you and the devil put together, which must deliver you from your sins.
As soon as ever the stronger man has conquered the enemy, what does he do? He takes his sword of rebellion, snaps it across his knee, and pulls the armour from the back of the unclean spirit. Prejudice, ignorance, hard heartedness, all these are pulled off the old enemy. I think I see him—I think I see the Saviour stripping him to his shame and ejecting him from the heart with abhorrence. There, let him go among the dry places and again seek rest and find none.
Happy day! happy day for the palace which he once defiled when he is cast out, and cast out for ever! Christ Jesus then proceeds to divide the spoil. “There is the man’s heart, I will take that,” says he, “that shall be a jewel in my crown. The man’s love I will set as a jewel upon my arm for ever. His memory, his judgment, his power of thought, utterance, and working,—these are all mine,” says Christ. He begins to divide the spoil, he puts the broad arrow of the king upon every room in the house, upon every piece of furniture.
The garnishing he pulls out, “I will adorn it far better than this,” saith he. “There shall be no pictures of faith, but faith; there shall be no ornament in yonder grate except the ornament of the glowing fire of fervid zeal; there shall be no borrowed flowers, but I will train round this window the sweet roses and jessamine of love, and peace of mind; I will wash what was only swept, with my blood I will make it white, and sweet, and clean; and I will strike the lintel and the two side posts with the hyssop, and with the blood mark, and then the destroying angel when he sweeps by shall sheathe his sword, and the black fiend when he would enter shall see the mark there, and go back trembling to his accursed den.”
This is conversion, the other was only conviction; this is change of heart, the other was only change of life. I do trust, if you have been content with the former, you will now bestir yourselves, and never be satisfied without the latter.
1 comment:
Truth like this is so real for me. Seems Satan has asked to "sift" me like wheat as of late. And my flesh has become extremely weak, but my spirit has life, and a small portion of joy, which helps me be willing in my sorrows.
And, I know Jesus prays for me, and He is my intercessor to the Father.
And I know the father loves me, becuase I love Jesus, and keep His words (Or try with a fervant heart to keep His words.)
Thanks for the post, it is always, always good to "glean" brother Charles Haddon.
Lord bless.
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