Evening, February 29
Charles Spurgeon · Morning and Evening: Daily Readings
1 Corinthians 2:12
"Now we have received ... the spirit which is of God; that we might
know the things that are freely given to us of God."
1 Corinthians 2:12
Dear reader, have you received the spirit which is of God, wrought by
the Holy Ghost in your soul? The necessity of the work of the Holy
Spirit in the heart may be clearly seen from this fact, that all which
has been done by God the Father, and by God the Son, must be
ineffectual to us, unless the Spirit shall reveal these things to our
souls. What effect does the doctrine of election have upon any man
until the Spirit of God enters into him? Election is a dead letter in
my consciousness until the Spirit of God calls me out of darkness into
marvellous light. Then through my calling, I see my election, and
knowing myself to be called of God, I know myself to have been chosen
in the eternal purpose. A covenant was made with the Lord Jesus Christ,
by his Father; but what avails that covenant to us until the Holy
Spirit brings us its blessings, and opens our hearts to receive them?
There hang the blessings on the nail--Christ Jesus; but being short of
stature, we cannot reach them; the Spirit of God takes them down and
hands them to us, and thus they become actually ours. Covenant
blessings in themselves are like the manna in the skies, far out of
mortal reach, but the Spirit of God opens the windows of heaven and
scatters the living bread around the camp of the spiritual Israel.
Christ's finished work is like wine stored in the wine-vat; through
unbelief we can neither draw nor drink. The Holy Spirit dips our vessel
into this precious wine, and then we drink; but without the Spirit we
are as truly dead in sin as though the Father never had elected, and
though the Son had never bought us with his blood. The Holy Spirit is
absolutely necessary to our well-being. Let us walk lovingly towards
him and tremble at the thought of grieving him.