Christian, are you weary of weeping? Do you long to be done with sorrows? For now, we weep with those who weep (Rom. 12:15), but remember, this world is passing away. Keep your eyes upon Jesus. For when we enter into His kingdom, "the Lamb in the center of the throne will be [our] shepherd, and will guide [us] to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from [our] eyes" (Rev. 7:17). Even in weeping, let us find joy, for when He returns, we shall have joy everlasting, and our "voice of weeping shall be no more heard" (Isa. 65.19).
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Spurgeon's Morning and Evening Devotions

Morning, August 23

"The voice of weeping shall be no more heard." Isaiah 65:19

The glorified weep no more, for all outward causes of grief are gone. There are no broken friendships, nor blighted prospects in heaven. Poverty, famine, peril, persecution, and slander, are unknown there. No pain distresses, no thought of death or bereavement saddens. They weep no more, for they are perfectly sanctified. No "evil heart of unbelief" prompts them to depart from the living God; they are without fault before His throne, and are fully conformed to His image. Well may they cease to mourn who have ceased to sin. They weep no more, because all fear of change is past. They know that they are eternally secure. Sin is shut out, and they are shut in. They dwell within a city which shall never be stormed; they bask in a sun which shall never set; they drink of a river which shall never dry; they pluck fruit from a tree which shall never wither. Countless cycles may revolve, but eternity shall not be exhausted, and while eternity endures, their immortality and blessedness shall co-exist with it. They are for ever with the Lord. They weep no more, because every desire is fulfilled. They cannot wish for anything which they have not in possession. Eye and ear, heart and hand, judgment, imagination, hope, desire, will, all the faculties, are completely satisfied; and imperfect as our present ideas are of the things which God hath prepared for them that love him, yet we know enough, by the revelation of the Spirit, that the saints above are supremely blessed. The joy of Christ, which is an infinite fulness of delight, is in them. They bathe themselves in the bottomless, shoreless sea of infinite beatitude. That same joyful rest remains for us. It may not be far distant. Ere long the weeping willow shall be exchanged for the palm-branch of victory, and sorrow's dewdrops will be transformed into the pearls of everlasting bliss. "Wherefore comfort one another with these words."

The New Testament speaks a lot of riches, and riches in this world often become the focus of false teachers. The riches of which the Scriptures speak with regard to Christ and His followers, however, are not the silver and gold to which so many cling and in which too many put their hope.

God's patience, tolerance, and kindness toward us are considered "riches" (Rom. 2:4). He has made known the riches of His glory to and through those who have been called (Rom. 9:23). Paul calls salvation itself "riches" (Rom. 10:12-13).

So many passages speak of the riches bestowed upon believers by God:
- the wisdom and knowledge of God (Rom. 11:33)
- His grace (Eph. 1:7)
- we are the riches of His inheritance (Eph. 1:18)
- His grace in kindness (Eph. 2:7)
- being strengthened by the power through His Spirit (Eph. 3:16)
- from His riches, He supplies all our needs (not wants) (Phil. 4:19)
- Christ in us, the hope of glory (Col. 1:27)

Christian, don't be deceived or derailed by the riches of this world. Do not fix your hope on them (1 Tim. 6:17), for you will "fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction" (1 Tim. 6:9).

God is rich toward us in Christ, and these are the riches we should seek after and long for.
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Spurgeon's Morning and Evening Devotions

Evening, August 22

"The unsearchable riches of Christ." Ephesians 3:8

My Master has riches beyond the count of arithmetic, the measurement of reason, the dream of imagination, or the eloquence of words. They are unsearchable! You may look, and study, and weigh, but Jesus is a greater Saviour than you think Him to be when your thoughts are at the greatest. My Lord is more ready to pardon than you to sin, more able to forgive than you to transgress. My Master is more willing to supply your wants than you are to confess them. Never tolerate low thoughts of my Lord Jesus. When you put the crown on His head, you will only crown Him with silver when He deserves gold. My Master has riches of happiness to bestow upon you now. He can make you to lie down in green pastures, and lead you beside still waters. There is no music like the music of His pipe, when He is the Shepherd and you are the sheep, and you lie down at His feet. There is no love like His, neither earth nor heaven can match it. To know Christ and to be found in Him- oh! this is life, this is joy, this is marrow and fatness, wine on the lees well refined. My Master does not treat His servants churlishly; He gives to them as a king giveth to a king; He gives them two heavens- a heaven below in serving Him here, and a heaven above in delighting in Him for ever. His unsearchable riches will be best known in eternity. He will give you on the way to heaven all you need; your place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks, your bread shall be given you, and your waters shall be sure; but it is there, THERE, where you shall hear the song of them that triumph, the shout of them that feast, and shall have a face-to-face view of the glorious and beloved One. The unsearchable riches of Christ! This is the tune for the minstrels of earth, and the song for the harpers of heaven. Lord, teach us more and more of Jesus, and we will tell out the good news to others.

Seeking God is never a vain pursuit. He told Israel, "You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13). Regarding our needs, food, drink, clothing, Jesus said, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" (Matthew 6:33). God will not turn away those who seek Him wholeheartedly. If we truly seek Him, we will find Him, and He will change our hearts and meet our needs.
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Spurgeon's Morning and Evening Devotions

Evening, August 21

"I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye Me in vain." Isaiah 45:19

We may gain much solace by considering what God has not said. What He has said is inexpressibly full of comfort and delight; what He has not said is scarcely less rich in consolation. It was one of these "said nots" which preserved the kingdom of Israel in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, for "the Lord said not that He would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven." 2 Kings 14:27. In our text we have an assurance that God will answer prayer, because He hath "not said unto the seed of Israel, Seek ye Me in vain." You who write bitter things against yourselves should remember that, let your doubts and fears say what they will, if God has not cut you off from mercy, there is no room for despair: even the voice of conscience is of little weight if it be not seconded by the voice of God. What God has said, tremble at! But suffer not your vain imaginings to overwhelm you with despondency and sinful despair. Many timid persons have been vexed by the suspicion that there may be something in God's decree which shuts them out from hope, but here is a complete refutation to that troublesome fear, for no true seeker can be decreed to wrath. "I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth; I have not said," even in the secret of my unsearchable decree, "Seek ye Me in vain." God has clearly revealed that He will hear the prayer of those who call upon Him, and that declaration cannot be contravened. He has so firmly, so truthfully, so righteously spoken, that there can be no room for doubt. He does not reveal His mind in unintelligible words, but He speaks plainly and positively, "Ask, and ye shall receive." Believe, O trembler, this sure truth- that prayer must and shall be heard, and that never, even in the secrets of eternity, has the Lord said unto any living soul, "Seek ye Me in vain."

At one time or another in our lives, most of us have experienced what it is like to be lovesick, to long for the one with whom we wish to draw close. Believer, does your heart long for Jesus in this manner? Do you seek after him? Do you recruit others in your search? Brethren, let us not leave our first love, as did the Church at Ephesus (Rev. 2). Let us seek Him with all our hearts, for then we shall find Him (Deut. 4:29; Jer. 29:13).
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Spurgeon's Morning and Evening Devotions

Morning, August 22

"I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love." Song of Solomon 5:8

Such is the language of the believer panting after present fellowship with Jesus, he is sick for his Lord. Gracious souls are never perfectly at ease except they are in a state of nearness to Christ; for when they are away from Him they lose their peace. The nearer to Him, the nearer to the perfect calm of heaven; the nearer to Him, the fuller the heart is, not only of peace, but of life, and vigour, and joy, for these all depend on constant intercourse with Jesus. What the sun is to the day, what the moon is to the night, what the dew is to the flower, such is Jesus Christ to us. What bread is to the hungry, clothing to the naked, the shadow of a great rock to the traveller in a weary land, such is Jesus Christ to us; and, therefore, if we are not consciously one with Him, little marvel if our spirit cries in the words of the Song, "I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, tell Him that I am sick of love. "This earnest longing after Jesus has a blessing attending it: "Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness"; and therefore, supremely blessed are they who thirst after the Righteous One. Blessed is that hunger, since it comes from God: if I may not have the full-blown blessedness of being filled, I would seek the same blessedness in its sweet bud-pining in emptiness and eagerness till I am filled with Christ. If I may not feed on Jesus, it shall be next door to heaven to hunger and thirst after Him. There is a hallowedness about that hunger, since it sparkles among the beatitudes of our Lord. But the blessing involves a promise. Such hungry ones "shall be filled" with what they are desiring. If Christ thus causes us to long after Himself, He will certainly satisfy those longings; and when He does come to us, as come He will, oh, how sweet it will be!

Are you planting the seed of God's word? Are you watering? Do you feel that you're lacking what is necessary to perform these tasks? Do not lose hope; let your countenance not fall. We each have our job to do, as Paul wrote:

"I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor." - 1 Corinthians 3:6-8

God provides seed for the sower (2 Corinthians 9:10), and the one who waters will be watered (Proverbs 11:25).

We need only trust in, and rely on, God. God's harvest does not depend on us - we are merely workers in the field. Knowing this is why Paul was able to write that:

"when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God." - 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

Do not shrink from doing the Lord's work. He will provide what is necessary, and He will water the seed within you as well so that you too will grow.
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Spurgeon's Morning and Evening Devotions

Morning, August 21

"He that watereth shall be watered also himself." Proverbs 11:25

We are here taught the great lesson, that to get, we must give; that to accumulate, we must scatter; that to make ourselves happy, we must make others happy; and that in order to become spiritually vigorous, we must seek the spiritual good of others. In watering others, we are ourselves watered. How? Our efforts to be useful, bring out our powers for usefulness. We have latent talents and dormant faculties, which are brought to light by exercise. Our strength for labour is hidden even from ourselves, until we venture forth to fight the Lord's battles, or to climb the mountains of difficulty. We do not know what tender sympathies we possess until we try to dry the widow's tears, and soothe the orphan's grief. We often find in attempting to teach others, that we gain instruction for ourselves. Oh, what gracious lessons some of us have learned at sick beds! We went to teach the Scriptures, we came away blushing that we knew so little of them. In our converse with poor saints, we are taught the way of God more perfectly for ourselves and get a deeper insight into divine truth. So that watering others makes us humble. We discover how much grace there is where we had not looked for it; and how much the poor saint may outstrip us in knowledge. Our own comfort is also increased by our working for others. We endeavour to cheer them, and the consolation gladdens our own heart. Like the two men in the snow; one chafed the other's limbs to keep him from dying, and in so doing kept his own blood in circulation, and saved his own life. The poor widow of Sarepta gave from her scanty store a supply for the prophet's wants, and from that day she never again knew what want was. Give then, and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, and running over.

Jesus is the good Shepherd, and the good Shepherd cares for and feeds His sheep by God’s strength. He offers us never-ending nourishment if we but feed from His hand. Would you rather dine on the world’s fare of junk food that, while it may taste good and satisfy for a time, leaves you longing for more and losing your health? Or will you instead feed on the true bread of life, that which the Shepherd offers and which satisfies permanently and results in eternal well-being? Be not burdened and bloated by the cares of this world, but receive your sustenance from He who gave Himself up for you, and take heart in that nourishment so you may say with the Apostle Paul, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” (Phil. 4:13)

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Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening Devotions

Morning, August 19

"He shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord." Micah 5:4

Christ's reign in His Church is that of a shepherd-king. He has supremacy, but it is the superiority of a wise and tender shepherd over his needy and loving flock; He commands and receives obedience, but it is the willing obedience of the well-cared-for sheep, rendered joyfully to their beloved Shepherd, whose voice they know so well. He rules by the force of love and the energy of goodness.

His reign is practical in its character. It is said, "He shall stand and feed." The great Head of the Church is actively engaged in providing for His people. He does not sit down upon the throne in empty state, or hold a sceptre without wielding it in government. No, He stands and feeds. The expression "feed," in the original, is like an analogous one in the Greek, which means to shepherdize, to do everything expected of a shepherd: to guide, to watch, to preserve, to restore, to tend, as well as to feed.

His reign is continual in its duration. It is said, "He shall stand and feed"; not "He shall feed now and then, and leave His position"; not, "He shall one day grant a revival, and then next day leave His Church to barrenness." His eyes never slumber, and His hands never rest; His heart never ceases to beat with love, and His shoulders are never weary of carrying His people's burdens.

His reign is effectually powerful in its action"; "He shall feed in the strength of Jehovah." Wherever Christ is, there is God; and whatever Christ does is the act of the Most High. Oh! it is a joyful truth to consider that He who stands today representing the interests of His people is very God of very God, to whom every knee shall bow. Happy are we who belong to such a shepherd, whose humanity communes with us, and whose divinity protects us. Let us worship and bow down before Him as the people of His pasture.

On His way to the cross, Christ needed no wine. He had a cup to drink that was unpleasant, but He intended to drink that cup which the Father offered Him. He was to offer Himself up for us, a ransom for our sin (Mt. 20:28), and to set an example of self-sacrifice and suffering that we are to follow (1 Pet. 2:19-24). Dear Christian, are you daily taking up your cross and following Jesus? (Mt. 16:24)
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Spurgeon's Morning and Evening Devotions

Evening, August 18

"And they gave Him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but He received it not." Mark 15:23

A golden truth is couched in the fact that the Saviour put the myrrhed wine-cup from His lips. On the heights of heaven the Son of God stood of old, and as He looked down upon our globe He measured the long descent to the utmost depths of human misery; He cast up the sum total of all the agonies which expiation would require, and abated not a jot. He solemnly determined that to offer a sufficient atoning sacrifice He must go the whole way, from the highest to the lowest, from the throne of highest glory to the cross of deepest woe. This myrrhed cup, with its soporific influence, would have stayed Him within a little of the utmost limit of misery, therefore He refused it. He would not stop short of all He had undertaken to suffer for His people. Ah, how many of us have pined after reliefs to our grief which would have been injurious to us! Reader, did you never pray for a discharge from hard service or suffering with a petulant and wilful eagerness? Providence has taken from you the desire of your eyes with a stroke. Say, Christian, if it had been said, "If you so desire it, that loved one of yours shall live, but God will be dishonoured," could you have put away the temptation, and said, "Thy will be done"? Oh, it is sweet to be able to say, "My Lord, if for other reasons I need not suffer, yet if I can honour Thee more by suffering, and if the loss of my earthly all will bring Thee glory, then so let it be. I refuse the comfort, if it comes in the way of Thine honour." O that we thus walked more in the footsteps of our Lord, cheerfully enduring trial for His sake, promptly and willingly putting away the thought of self and comfort when it would interfere with our finishing the work which He has given us to do. Great grace is needed, but great grace is provided.

Christian, do you feel compelled to "invite your unbelieving friend to 'church'?" Why so? Does darkness have fellowship with the light? (2 Cor. 6:14) Does an unbeliever have spiritual gifts with which to edify the body? (1 Cor. 12:7) Can one who dines at tables of demons also feast upon the Lord's supper? (1 Cor. 10:21)

When we gather as the Church (we are the Church, we don't go to church), we come together to separate from the world for a time, to refresh, to fellowship, to edify one another. Why then intentionally ask those who are not of Christ into our midst? This is not how the Church operated in the time of the apostles. (Acts 5:13)

Yes, they may end up there by happenstance, but it is not for us to ask them nor to accomodate them. (1 Cor. 14:23-25) Focus instead on serving the body as you have been called, using your gifts to edify the body, growing in fellowship with God and one another, and go out and take the gospel to the lost. Then when the lost receive Christ, let them indeed join our fellowship. (Acts 5:14)

This is the way the apostles worked and taught. This is the example we should follow.
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Spurgeon's Morning and Evening Devotions

Morning, August 18

"Strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the Lord's house." Jeremiah 51:51

In this account the faces of the Lord's people were covered with shame, for it was a terrible thing that men should intrude into the Holy Place reserved for the priests alone. Everywhere about us we see like cause for sorrow. How many ungodly men are now educating with the view of entering into the ministry! What a crying sin is that solemn lie by which our whole population is nominally comprehended in a National Church! How fearful it is that ordinances should be pressed upon the unconverted, and that among the more enlightened churches of our land there should be such laxity of discipline. If the thousands who will read this portion shall all take this matter before the Lord Jesus this day, He will interfere and avert the evil which else will come upon His Church. To adulterate the Church is to pollute a well, to pour water upon fire, to sow a fertile field with stones. May we all have grace to maintain in our own proper way the purity of the Church, as being an assembly of believers, and not a nation, an unsaved community of unconverted men.

Our zeal must, however, begin at home. Let us examine ourselves as to our right to eat at the Lord's table. Let us see to it that we have on our wedding garment, lest we ourselves be intruders in the Lord's sanctuaries. Many are called, but few are chosen; the way is narrow, and the gate is strait. O for grace to come to Jesus aright, with the faith of God's elect. He who smote Uzzah for touching the ark is very jealous of His two ordinances; as a true believer I may approach them freely, as an alien I must not touch them lest I die. Heartsearching is the duty of all who are baptized or come to the Lord's table. "Search me, O God, and know my way, try me and know my heart."

Oh saint, let us ever remember the mercies of God, the mercies without which no one would be saved. He tells us that "He did not save us on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but because of His mercy" (Titus 3:5). While we put behind us what is in the past, and press forward toward the goal, let us never forget His tender mercies by which we sinners were made saints and citizens of His kingdom. Let us think on and thank Him for the mercies he bestows on us daily and ever say with the Psalmist:

"The LORD is gracious and merciful;
Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.
The LORD is good to all,
And His mercies are over all His works."
- Psalm 145:8-9
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Spurgeon's Morning and Evening Devotions

Morning, August 17

"The mercy of God." Psalm 52:8

Meditate a little on this mercy of the Lord. It is tender mercy. With gentle, loving touch, He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. He is as gracious in the manner of His mercy as in the matter of it. It is great mercy. There is nothing little in God; His mercy is like Himself- it is infinite. You cannot measure it. His mercy is so great that it forgives great sins to great sinners, after great lengths of time, and then gives great favours and great privileges, and raises us up to great enjoyments in the great heaven of the great God. It is undeserved mercy, as indeed all true mercy must be, for deserved mercy is only a misnomer for justice. There was no right on the sinner's part to the kind consideration of the Most High; had the rebel been doomed at once to eternal fire he would have richly merited the doom, and if delivered from wrath, sovereign love alone has found a cause, for there was none in the sinner himself. It is rich mercy. Some things are great, but have little efficacy in them, but this mercy is a cordial to your drooping spirits; a golden ointment to your bleeding wounds; a heavenly bandage to your broken bones; a royal chariot for your weary feet; a bosom of love for your trembling heart. It is manifold mercy. As Bunyan says, "All the flowers in God's garden are double." There is no single mercy. You may think you have but one mercy, but you shall find it to be a whole cluster of mercies. It is abounding mercy. Millions have received it, yet far from its being exhausted; it is as fresh, as full, and as free as ever. It is unfailing mercy. It will never leave thee. If mercy be thy friend, mercy will be with thee in temptation to keep thee from yielding; with thee in trouble to prevent thee from sinking; with thee living to be the light and life of thy countenance; and with thee dying to be the joy of thy soul when earthly comfort is ebbing fast.

Believer, are you suffering through some type of physical ailment? Know that, as mentioned this morning God shows mercy. Though we all eventually get there, not all illness ends in death. Unfortunately, illness is part and parcel of living in a fallen world, and though we may ask, God does not always take it from us; physical healing is not, as many teach, promised nor guaranteed in this life, and failure to receive healing does not imply a lack of faith.

Timothy, who was like a son to Paul, suffered stomach issues and "frequent ailments." Yet instead of miraculously healing him or telling Timothy to claim His healing, Paul instructed him to stop drinking only water and drink some wine (1 Timothy 5:23).

Paul himself struggled with an "thorn in his side" (some say spiritual, but there is indication in context and elsewhere that he suffered physically), and though He asked God three times to take it from him, God told Paul that His grace was sufficient. Paul recognized this as God allowing his suffering to keep him humble (2 Cor. 12:7-10). He understood that our continued faith, despite our physical weakness, shows forth God's strength and glory.

Illness (and even death) can also be the result of sharing in the Lord's supper in "an unworthy manner," forgetting to sit in judgement over ourselves so that we will not face greater judgement (1 Cor. 11:23-32).

Whatever the case, whatever the illness, whatever the cause, whether healed or not, if we are true to the faith, the end result will be God's glory.

Will you, like Paul, stand firm in your faith and glorify God in your weakness?
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Spurgeon's Morning and Evening Devotions

Evening, August 17

"This sickness is not unto death." John 11:4

From our Lord's words we learn that there is a limit to sickness. Here is an "unto" within which its ultimate end is restrained, and beyond which it cannot go. Lazarus might pass through death, but death was not to be the ultimatum of his sickness. In all sickness, the Lord saith to the waves of pain, "Hitherto shall ye go, but no further." His fixed purpose is not the destruction, but the instruction of His people. Wisdom hangs up the thermometer at the furnace mouth, and regulates the heat.

1. The limit is encouragingly comprehensive. The God of providence has limited the time, manner, intensity, repetition, and effects of all our sicknesses; each throb is decreed, each sleepless hour predestinated, each relapse ordained, each depression of spirit foreknown, and each sanctifying result eternally purposed. Nothing great or small escapes the ordaining hand of Him who numbers the hairs of our head.

2. This limit is wisely adjusted to our strength, to the end designed, and to the grace apportioned. Affliction comes not at haphazard- the weight of every stroke of the rod is accurately measured. He who made no mistakes in balancing the clouds and meting out the heavens, commits no errors in measuring out the ingredients which compose the medicine of souls. We cannot suffer too much nor be relieved too late.

3. The limit is tenderly appointed. The knife of the heavenly Surgeon never cuts deeper than is absolutely necessary. "He doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men." A mother's heart cries, "Spare my child"; but no mother is more compassionate than our gracious God. When we consider how hard-mouthed we are, it is a wonder that we are not driven with a sharper bit. The thought is full of consolation, that He who has fixed the bounds of our habitation, has also fixed the bounds of our tribulation.