Spurgeon: January AM
* 01/14/AM
"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!