Wednesday, June 04, 2008

the disease of soul-dejection

Wow, I cannot say how perfect the timing was for me to find this sermon tonight:

Sweet Stimulants for the Fainting Soul by Charles Spurgeon

Often, when I call to see a troubled Christian, do you know what he is almost sure to say? "Oh, sir, I do not feel this, — and I do fear that, — and I cannot help thinking the other!" That great I is the root of all our sorrows, what I feel, or what I do not feel; that is enough to make anyone miserable. It is a wise plan to say to such an one, "Oh, yes! I know that all you say about yourself is only too true; but, now, let me hear what you have to say about Christ. For the next twenty-four hours at least, leave off thinking about yourself, and think only of Christ." O my dear friends, what a change would come over our spirits if we were all to act thus! For, when we have done with self, and cast all our care upon Christ, there remains no reason for us to care, or trouble, or fret. That saying of Jack the Huckster, which I have often repeated, — "I’m a poor sinner, and nothing at all, but Jesus Christ is my All-in-all;" — describes the highest experience, though it is also the lowest. It is so simple, and yet so safe, to live day by day by faith upon the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me; to be a little child — not a strong man, but a little child, who cannot fight his own battles, but who gets Jesus to fight them for him; to be a little weak one, who cannot run alone, but who must be carried in the arms of the good Shepherd. We are never so strong as when we are weak, as Paul wrote, "When I am weak, then am I strong;" and we are never so weak as when we are strong, never so foolish as when we are wise in our own conceit, and never so dark as when we think we are full of light. We are generally best when we think we are worst; when we are empty, we are full; when we are full, we are empty; when we have nothing, we have all things; but when we fancy that we are "rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing," we are like the Laodiceans, and know not that we are "wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." Oh, for grace to solve these riddles, and so to live, day by day, out of self, and upon the Lord Jesus Christ!

2 comments:

danay said...

I love how God uses our weaknesses and trials to build us and others up. Spurgeon probably would not have had such insight on doubt and "melancholy" if he had not so often experienced it. I really appreciate his rain analogy; we don't want rain all the time, but when it does come, it spurs growth. I suppose the trick is to not store up the "rain" and wallow in our sorrows, but to cherish and chronicle the growth that God brings out of it. And yet, we can only do that by His grace. Wow, thanks for all the food for thought today!

Anonymous said...

Thank you Emily! That is just what I needed to hear. I so often wallow in selfishness. I think only of how I feel.........my feelings. I am going to try that experiment.....think of Christ in the next 24 hours and see what a difference it makes!