Gleanings among the Sheaves. C. H. Spurgeon
to the great mine of unsearchable riches, and cry unto the Holy Spirit to make thy heart rich unto salvation. So shall thy life and conversation be a boon to thy fellows; and when they see thee, thy visage shall shine, and thy face shall be as the angel of God.
"He hath Said."
The apostles, like their Master, were always very ready at quotations. As inspired men they could have always used fresh words, yet they preferred (and herein they are an example to us) to quote old words upon which the seal of divine authority has been set aforetime—"He hath said." Let us do the same, for, though the words of ministers may be sweet, the words of God are sweeter; and though original thoughts may have the charm of novelty, yet the ancient words of God have the ring, and the weight, and the value of old and precious coins, and they will never be found wanting in the day when we require to use them. "He hath said," not only chases away doubts and fears, but it also yields nourishment to all our graces. When the apostle would make us contented, he says, "Be content with such things as ye have: for He hath said;" and when he would make us bold and courageous, he puts it thus forcibly, "He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." So that we may boldly say, "The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me." When the apostle Paul would nourish faith, he does it by feeding us from Scripture with the examples of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob, of Moses, of Gideon, of Barak, and of Jephthah. When another apostle would calm us with a lesson of patience, he says, "Ye have heard of the patience of Job;" or if it be our prayerfulness that he wants to stir up, he says, "Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed and prevailed." "He hath said," is refreshing food for every grace, and a decisive death-blow for every sin. Here you have nourishment for that which is good, and poison for that which is evil. Search, then, the Scriptures, for so shall you grow healthy, strong, and vigorous in the divine life.
But besides searching them by reading, and treasuring them by memory, we should test them by experience, and so often as a promise is proven to be true, we should make a mark against it, and note that we also can say, as did one of old, "This is my comfort in my affliction; for Thy word hath quickened me." "Wait on the Lord," said Isaiah, and then he added, "Wait, I say, on the Lord," as if his own experience led him to echo the voice of God to his hearers. Test the promise; take God's bank-note to the counter, and mark if it be cashed. Grasp the lever which he ordains to lift your trials, and try if it possesses real power. Cast this divine tree into the bitter waters of your Marah, and learn how it will sweeten them. Take this salt, and throw it into the turbid waters, and witness if they be not made sweet, as were the waters of old by the prophet Elisha. "Taste and see that the Lord is good ... for there is no want to them that fear Him."
Safety in Conflict.
The way that God keeps His people in security is not by shutting out their enemies from attacking them, but by sustaining them while engaged in the conflict. It is not much to preserve ones' self behind a wall which cannot be scaled, but to stand where arrows are flying thick as hail, where lances are being pushed with fury, where the sword-cuts are falling on every part, and in the midst of all to prove invulnerable, invincible, immortal, this is to wear a divine life which cannot be conquered by human power. Such is the calling of the Christian. God will put us where we must be tried and tempted. If we are not tried, there is no honor to Him who preserves us; and if we are not tempted, there is no gratitude to His grace who delivers us out of temptations. The Lord does not put his plants into a hot-house, as some gardeners do; no, He sets them out in the open air, and if the frost is coming, He says, "Ah! but no frost can kill them, and they will be all the sturdier in the summer for the cold in the winter." He does not shelter them either from the heat of the sun, or from the chills of the night. In this world we must have tribulation, and we must have much of it too, for it is through much tribulation we inherit the kingdom. What God does for His people is this: He keeps them in tribulation, preserves them in temptation, and brings them joyfully out of all their trials. So, Christian, you may rejoice in your security; but you must not think that you are not to be attacked; you are like a stream from Lebanon, to be dashed down many a cascade, to be broken over many a rough rock, to be stopped up with many a huge stone, to be impeded by many a fallen tree; but you are to dash forward with the irresistible force of God, sweeping everything away, till you find at last the place of your perfect rest.
To-morrow.
If to-morrows are not to be boasted of, are they good for nothing? No, blessed be God. There are a great many things we may do with to-morrows. I will tell you what we may do with them if we are the children of God. We may always look forward to them with patience and confidence, that they will work together for our good. We may say of the to-morrows, "I do not boast of them, but I am not frightened at them; I would not glory in them, but I will not tremble about them." Yes, we may be very easy and very comfortable about to-morrow; we may remember that all our times are in His hands, that all events are at His command; and though we know not all the windings of the path of providence, yet He knows them all; they are all settled in His book, and our times are all ordered by His wisdom. And, therefore, we may look upon the to-morrows as we see them in the rough bullion of time, about to be minted into every-day's expenditure, and we may say of them all, "They shall all be gold; they shall all be stamped with the King's impress, and therefore, let them come; they will not make me worse—they will work together for my good."
Yea, more, a Christian may rightly look forward to his to-morrows, not simply with resignation, but also with joy. To-morrow to a Christian is a happy thing; it is one stage nearer glory. It is one step nearer heaven to a believer; it is just one knot more sailed across the dangerous sea of life, and he is so much the nearer to his eternal port.
To-morrow! the Christian may rejoice at it; he may say of to-day, "O day, thou mayst be dark, but I shall bid thee good by, for lo, I see the morrow coming, and I shall mount upon its wings, and shall flee away and leave thee and thy sorrows far behind me."
A Full Heart.
You have seen the great reservoirs provided by our water companies, in which water for the supply of thousands of houses is kept. Now, the heart is the reservoir of man, from which the streams of his life flow.
That life may flow through different pipes—the mouth, the hand, the eye; but still all the issues of hand, of eye, of lip, derive their source from the great fountain and central reservoir, the heart; and hence there is no difficulty in showing the great necessity that exists for keeping this reservoir in a proper state and condition, since otherwise that which flows through the pipes must be tainted and corrupt. Not only must the heart be kept pure, but it must also be kept full. However pure the water may be in the central reservoir, it will not be possible for us to have an abundant supply, unless the reservoir itself be full. An empty fountain will most assuredly beget empty pipes; let the machinery be never so accurate, let everything else be well ordered, yet if that reservoir be dry, we may wait in vain for water. See, then, the necessity of keeping the heart full; and let the necessity make