The Works of God

I was reading through Spurgeon’s sermon, ‘The Anchor‘ that he delivered in 1876 and thought of the theme for the Children Desiring God conference: Holding Fast to the Word of Truth:

What is our anchor? It has two great blades or flukes to it, each of which acts as a holdfast. It is made of two Divine things. The one is God’s promise, a sure and stable thing, indeed! We are very ready to take a good man’s promise, but perhaps the good man may forget to fulfill it, or be unable to do so—neither of these things can occur with the Lord—He cannot forget and He cannot fail to do as He has said! Jehovah’s promise, what a certain thing it must be! If you had nothing but the Lord’s bare Word to trust to, surely your faith should never stagger. To this sure word is added another Divine thing, namely, God’s oath.

Beloved, I scarcely dare speak upon this sacred topic! God’s oath, His solemn assertion, His swearing by Himself! Conceive the majesty, the awe, the certainty of this! Here, then, are two Divine assurances, which, like the flukes of the anchor, hold us fast. Who dares doubt the promise of God? Who can have the audacity to distrust His oath? We have for our anchor two things, which, in addition to their being Divine, are expressly said to be Immutable—that is, two things which cannot change! When the Lord utters a promise, He never runs back from it—“the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” Has He said and shall He not do it? Has He promised and shall it not stand fast? He never changes and His promise abides from generation to generation!

Good men DO forget their promises, or find they cannot fulfill those promises.  But God ALWAYS fulfills his promises. What a great truth to teach to the next generation!  And what a great comfort for us living in the uncertainty of disability, disease, and suffering.

Personal note: I have a Kindle and access to the internet about anywhere I go.  But I discovered a small collection of Spurgeon’s sermons in the church library one Sunday between services. What a find! There is definitely still a place for church libraries.