Below you will find Spurgeon’s morning thoughts followed by the hymn he cited as he closed those thoughts. The hymn is a video by Brian Cochran, he sings the song while playing guitar. I find it easy to sing along with his songs, it is like being in church and singing along with the congregation.
Lyrics are pasted in below his video.
Spurgeon’s evening thoughts follow those lyrics.
Links and other information are below Spurgeon’s evening thoughts.
June 28
Morning
“Looking unto Jesus.” — Heb_12:2
It is ever the Holy Spirit’s work to turn our eyes away from self to Jesus; but Satan’s work is just the opposite of this, for he is constantly trying to make us regard ourselves instead of Christ.
He insinuates, “Your sins are too great for pardon; you have no faith; you do not repent enough; you will never be able to continue to the end; you have not the joy of his children; you have such a wavering hold of Jesus.” All these are thoughts about self, and we shall never find comfort or assurance by looking within.
But the Holy Spirit turns our eyes entirely away from self: he tells us that we are nothing, but that “Christ is all in all.”
Remember, therefore,
- it is not thy hold of Christ that saves thee-it is Christ;
- it is not thy joy in Christ that saves thee-it is Christ;
- it is not even faith in Christ, though that be the instrument-it is Christ’s blood and merits;
- therefore, look not so much to thy hand with which thou art grasping Christ, as to Christ;
- look not to thy hope, but to Jesus, the source of thy hope;
- look not to thy faith, but to Jesus, the author and finisher of thy faith.
We shall never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our doings, or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul.
If we would at once overcome Satan and have peace with God, it must be by “looking unto Jesus.”
Keep thine eye simply on him; let his death, his sufferings, his merits, his glories, his intercession, be fresh upon thy mind; when thou wakest in the morning look to him; when thou liest down at night look to him. Oh! let not thy hopes or fears come between thee and Jesus; follow hard after him, and he will never fail thee.
“My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness:
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.”
#459 “My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less” – Trinity Psalter Hymnal
My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less
- My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ, the solid rock, I stand;
all other ground is sinking sand,
all other ground is sinking sand. - When darkness veils his lovely face,
I rest on his unchanging grace;
in ev’ry high and stormy gale,
my anchor holds within the veil.
On Christ, the solid rock, I stand;
all other ground is sinking sand,
all other ground is sinking sand. - His oath, his covenant, his blood
support me in the whelming flood;
when all around my soul gives way,
he then is all my hope and stay.
On Christ, the solid rock, I stand;
all other ground is sinking sand,
all other ground is sinking sand. - When he shall come with trumpet sound,
O may I then in him be found,
dressed in his righteousness alone,
faultless to stand before the throne.
On Christ, the solid rock, I stand;
all other ground is sinking sand,
all other ground is sinking sand.
Scripture Reference
1 Corinthians 3:11, Psalm 18:2, Isaiah 61:10, Matthew 7:24-27
SPURGEON’S EVENING THOUGHTS
Evening
“But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.” — Exo_7:12
This incident is an instructive emblem of the sure victory of the divine handiwork over all opposition.
Whenever a divine principle is cast into the heart, though the devil may fashion a counterfeit, and produce swarms of opponents, as sure as ever God is in the work, it will swallow up all its foes.
If God’s grace takes possession of a man, the world’s magicians may throw down all their rods; and every rod may be as cunning and poisonous as a serpent, but Aaron’s rod will swallow up their rods. The sweet attractions of the cross will woo and win the man’s heart, and he who lived only for this deceitful earth will now have an eye for the upper spheres, and a wing to mount into celestial heights.
When grace has won the day the worldling seeks the world to come.
The same fact is to be observed in the life of the believer. What multitudes of foes has our faith had to meet!
Our old sins-the devil threw them down before us, and they turned to serpents. What hosts of them! Ah, but the cross of Jesus destroys them all. Faith in Christ makes short work of all our sins.
Then the devil has launched forth another host of serpents in the form of worldly trials, temptations, unbelief; but faith in Jesus is more than a match for them, and overcomes them all.
The same absorbing principle shines in the faithful service of God! With an enthusiastic love for Jesus difficulties are surmounted, sacrifices become pleasures, sufferings are honours.
But if religion is thus a consuming passion in the heart, then it follows that there are many persons who profess religion but have it not; for what they have will not bear this test.
Examine yourself, my reader, on this point. Aaron’s rod proved its heaven-given power. Is your religion doing so? If Christ be anything he must be everything.
O rest not till love and faith in Jesus be the master passions of your soul!
LINKS AND OTHER DATA:
Video is from the YouTube site: Brian Cochran
221 views Apr 24, 2020
#459 “My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less” – Trinity Psalter Hymnal
https://www.trinitypsalterhymnal.org
Text: Edward Mote, 1834
Tune: SOLID ROCK, William B. Bradbury, 1863
Link to playlist of Brian Cochran’s hymns: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLj4t3TQnIodYNivfLks5qv_adirizPIJN
Link to playlist of Brian Cochran’s Psalms: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLj4t3TQnIodZhdjHEopFu7Q7mfXhNg4Tc
Link to Brian’s other playlists, holidays: https://www.youtube.com/@BrianCochran/playlists
LYRICS CAME FROM THE FOLLOWING SITE, WHICH ALSO HAS PIANO ACCOMPANIMENT FOR THOSE WHO WOULD PREFER TO SING ALONG WITH THAT:
https://www.trinitypsalterhymnal.org/hymns/my-hope-is-built-on-nothing-less/
Hymn information from Trinity:
Tune
SOLID ROCK
Meter
8.8.8.8.8.8.8.
Composer Information
Bradbury, William B. (1863)
Author: Mote, Edward (211)