Morning, January 14

Charles Spurgeon · Morning and Evening: Daily Readings

"Mighty to save."

  Isaiah 63:1

   By the words "to save" we understand the whole of the great work of
   salvation, from the first holy desire onward to complete
   sanctification. The words are multum in parro: indeed, here is all
   mercy in one word. Christ is not only "mighty to save" those who
   repent, but he is able to make men repent. He will carry those to
   heaven who believe; but he is, moreover, mighty to give men new hearts
   and to work faith in them. He is mighty to make the man who hates
   holiness love it, and to constrain the despiser of his name to bend the
   knee before him. Nay, this is not all the meaning, for the divine power
   is equally seen in the after-work. The life of a believer is a series
   of miracles wrought by "the Mighty God." The bush burns, but is not
   consumed. He is mighty to keep his people holy after he has made them
   so, and to preserve them in his fear and love until he consummates
   their spiritual existence in heaven. Christ's might doth not lie in
   making a believer and then leaving him to shift for himself; but he who
   begins the good work carries it on; he who imparts the first germ of
   life in the dead soul, prolongs the divine existence, and strengthens
   it until it bursts asunder every bond of sin, and the soul leaps from
   earth, perfected in glory. Believer, here is encouragement. Art thou
   praying for some beloved one? Oh, give not up thy prayers, for Christ
   is "mighty to save." You are powerless to reclaim the rebel, but your
   Lord is Almighty. Lay hold on that mighty arm, and rouse it to put
   forth its strength. Does your own case trouble you? Fear not, for his
   strength is sufficient for you. Whether to begin with others, or to
   carry on the work in you, Jesus is "mighty to save;" the best proof of
   which lies in the fact that he has saved you. What a thousand mercies
   that you have not found him mighty to destroy!