Charles Spurgeon's Faith's Checkbook

"Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart." Psalms 97:11

Righteousness is often costly to the man who keeps to it at all hazards, but in the end it will bear its own expenses and return an infinite profit. A holy life is like sowing seed: much is going out, and apparently it is buried in the soil, never to be gathered up again. We are mistaken when we look for an immediate harvest; but the error is...

"Thou, O LORD God, hast spoken it: and with Thy blessing let the house of Thy servant be blessed for ever." 2 Samuel 7:29

This is a promise pleaded, and so it yields double instruction to us. Anything which the LORD God has spoken we should receive as surely true and then plead it at the throne.

Oh, how sweet to quote what our own God has spoken! How precious to use a "therefore," which the promise suggests, as David does in...

"A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the LORD will hasten it in his time." Isaiah 60:22

Works for the LORD often begin on a small scale, and they are none the worse for this. Feebleness educates faith, brings God near, and wins glory for His name. Prize promises of increase! Mustard seed is the smallest among seeds, and yet it becomes a treelike plant, with branches which lodge the birds of...

"He shall save His people from their sins." Matthew 1:21

LORD, save me from my sins. By the name of Jesus I am encouraged thus to pray. Save me from my past sins, that the habit of them may not hold me captive. [Save me from the sin which doth so easily beset me, that I may not become a reproach to Thy Holy Name. Save me from an undue familiarity with sin and sinning, that I may not lose my horror of them.] Save me from sudden and...

"I will correct thee in measure." Jeremiah 30:11

To be left uncorrected would be a fatal sign: it would prove that the LORD had said, "He is given unto idols, let him alone." God grant that such may never be our portion! Uninterrupted prosperity is a thing to cause fear and trembling. As many as God tenderly loves He rebukes and chastens: those for whom He has no esteem He allows to fatten themselves without fear, like bullocks...

"They that sow in tears shall reap in joy." Psalms 126:5

Weeping times are suitable for sowing: we do not want the ground to be too dry. Seed steeped in the tears of earnest anxiety will come up all the sooner. The salt of prayerful tears will give the good seed a flavor which will preserve it from the worm: truth spoken in awful earnestness has a double life about it. Instead of stopping our sowing because of our weeping, let us...

"He that feareth the Commandment shall be rewarded." Proverbs 13:13

Holy awe of God's Word is at a great discount. Men think themselves wiser than the Word of the LORD and sit in judgment upon it. "So did not I, because of the fear of God." We accept the inspired Book as infallible and prove our esteem by our obedience. We have no terror of the Word, but we have a filial awe of it. We are not in fear of its penalties because we...

"Because I live, ye shall live also." John 14:19

Jesus has made the life of believers in Him as certain as His own. As sure as the Head lives the members live also. If Jesus has not risen from the dead, then are we dead in our sins; but since He has risen, all believers are risen in Him. His death has put away our transgressions and loosed the bonds which held us under the death sentence. His resurrection proves our...

"As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me." John 6:57

We live by virtue of our union with the Son of God. As God-man Mediator, the LORD Jesus lives by the self-existent Father who has sent Him, and in the same manner we live by the Savior who has quickened us. He who is the source of our life is also the sustenance of it. Living is sustained by feeding. We must...

"Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in Heaven." Matthew 10:32

Gracious promise! It is a great joy to me to confess my LORD. Whatever my faults may be, I am not ashamed of Jesus, nor do I fear to declare the doctrines of His cross. O LORD, I have not hid Thy righteousness within my heart.

Sweet is the prospect which the text sets before me! Friends forsake and...

"If My people, which are called by My Name, shall humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14

Called by the name of the LORD, we are nevertheless erring men and women. What a mercy it is that our God is ready to forgive! Whenever we sin let us hasten to the mercy seat of our God, seeking...

"And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul that thou mayest live." Deuteronomy 30:6

Here we read of the true circumcision. Note the author of it: "The LORD thy God." He alone can deal effectually with our heart and take away its carnality and pollution. To make us love God with all our heart and soul is a miracle of grace which only...

"And I will strengthen them in the LORD: and they shall walk up and down in His Name, saith the LORD." Zechariah 10:12

A solace for sick saints. They have grown faint, and they fear that they shall never rise from the bed of doubt and fear; but the Great Physician can both remove the disease and take away the weakness which has come of it. He will strengthen the feeble. This He will do in the best possible way, for it shall be...

"I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it." Revelation 3:8

Saints who remain faithful to the truth of God have an open door before them. My soul, thou hast resolved to live and die by that which the LORD has revealed in His Word, and therefore before thee stands this open door.

I will enter in by the open door of communion with God. Who shall say me nay? Jesus has removed my sin and given me His...