"Let no enjoyment of worship, let no exalted fellowship we may have known, excuse us from the great duty of proving ourselves whether we are in the faith. Examine yourselves, then, in this matter, and do not rest satisfied until you can say, 'There is no "if" about it — I have tasted that the Lord is gracious.'"
The "to the point" Spurgeon — let's be real and examine yourself, test the spirits. Peter said the enemy is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Watch and pray, be sober and alert, and keep yourself in check.
If you fall, reach to Jesus — no one understands you better than He does. 🙏
✦ Heaven and Home
The road has turned north again — from the foot of Mont-Saint-Michel to the Normandy coast. And Spurgeon's title for today fits a pilgrim still between houses: Heaven and Home.
Three readings: a drop of dew, a searching question, and an inheritance. Consolation falls. The "if" is faced. And heaven is shown to be ours not by earning but by birth. 🙏
"Consolation is the dropping of a gentle dew from heaven on desert hearts below. It is one of the choicest gifts of divine mercy."
✦ Dew on the Desert
One sentence — and it continues what Spurgeon began on October 2: Comfort, yes, comfort My people. Dew does not roar like rain. It falls quietly in the night, and in the morning everything is wet with it. That is how consolation comes — not with thunder, but gently, and there it is when you wake. 🙏
"'If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious' (1 Peter 2:3). 'If' — then there is a possibility that some may not have tasted that the Lord is gracious... At the very summit of holy delight we meet the challenge of the sentinel 'if' — 'If then you were raised with Christ' (Colossians 3:1) — and at the very bottom of the hill, even at the gate of repentance itself, we are met with a warrant to examine ourselves."
"At the Lord's Table itself it is right for us to pray, 'Lord, is it I?'... And after the most intimate fellowship, Christ asked, 'Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?' (John 21:16)... Examine yourselves, then, in this matter, and do not rest satisfied until you can say, 'There is no "if" about it — I have tasted that the Lord is gracious.'"
"Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves."
"O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him."
✦ The Sentinel "If"
Spurgeon posts a guard at the top of the hill and at the bottom. No height of joy exempts us, and no depth of sorrow either. The "if" is not suspicion — it is love making sure the house is built on the Rock.
Even Jesus, after breakfast on the shore, asked Peter: do you love Me? Not to shame him — to let him answer. And Le has answered already, in her own words on October 2: I will obey because I love You.
A woman converted at midnight in Lubbock does not have to guess whether she has tasted. She remembers the taste. The examination does not end in fear — it ends in Spurgeon's own words: there is no "if" about it. 🙏
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist stedfast in the faith."
"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God."
"Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."
✦ Let's Be Real
Le calls him the "to the point" Spurgeon — and answers him in the same plain voice: let's be real and examine yourself. No hiding behind good worship or sweet fellowship. Test the spirits. Watch and pray. Be sober, be alert, keep yourself in check.
Peter knew the roaring lion from experience. He was the one who said I will never deny You — and then denied Him three times by a fire. Peter's warning is not theory. It is a scar. October 3, Spurgeon said it too: the little fox, the roaring lion, the charming appearance — armored hands, never the velvet glove.
And then Le gives the word that keeps the examination from turning into despair: if you fall, reach to Jesus — no one understands you better than He does. Peter fell — and Jesus came to him on the shore and asked, do you love Me? Three times, one for each denial. The One who examines is the One who restores. 🙏
"For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."
No one understands you better than He does. Hebrews says the same: He is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. Tempted in all points like us. The High Priest Le came to know on September 29 — wearing her name on His breastplate — is the One she reaches for when she stumbles. Not a judge waiting at a distance. A Savior close enough to catch the hand. 🙏
"'The inheritance of the saints.' So then, heaven, with all its glories, is an inheritance. Now, an inheritance is not a thing bought with money, earned by labor, or won by conquest. If anyone has an inheritance in the proper sense of that word, it came by birth... It will be given as a matter of most gracious right, because he has been 'born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead' (1 Peter 1:3)."
"They do not come there as servants — no servant has any right to the inheritance of his master... But because you are sons — sons by the Spirit's regeneration, sons by the Father's adoption — you become inheritors of eternal life and enter the many rooms of our Father's house above."
"In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you."
✦ A Home Not Bought
Every house Le and Roger have looked at this autumn has a price, a contract, a negotiation. Heaven has none of these. It is not bought, not earned, not won. It is inherited — and an inheritance comes by birth.
October 1 — the new heart, the old house demolished. Today Spurgeon finishes the thought: the new birth makes you an heir. Not a servant hoping for wages. A daughter receiving what is hers. September 27 — the birth was a gift, not a decision; the calling is from Heaven to Heaven. And now: the inheritance is from birth to glory.
The brick-house is still being found. The Father's house is already prepared — many rooms, and one with Le's name. 🙏
"Watch and pray, be sober and alert. If you fall, reach to Jesus — no one understands you better than He does."
Le · Grandcamp-Maisy · Normandy · No "if" about it · I have tasted that the Lord is graciousDew on the Desert
Consolation falls like gentle dew from heaven on desert hearts — quietly, and there it is in the morning. One of the choicest gifts of mercy.
The Sentinel "If"
At the summit and at the gate of repentance, the "if" stands guard. Examine yourself until you can say: no "if" about it — I have tasted.
Reach to Jesus
Watch and pray, be sober and alert — the lion prowls. And if you fall, reach to Jesus. No one understands you better than He does.
An Inheritance by Birth
Heaven is not bought, earned, or conquered. It is inherited — by sons and daughters born again. The Father's house has many rooms.
Heaven and Home on the road: A new coast, a new parking place, the house-search still open. And Spurgeon's heading is simply Heaven and Home. The Spirit's timing again.
The "if" is a friend: Spurgeon does not raise the question to unsettle the believer but to settle her. A house examined is a house that stands. And Le's answer has been on record for days: I will obey because I love You.
Le's plain word: Let's be real and examine yourself. Le meets the to-the-point Spurgeon with her own straight talk — test the spirits, watch and pray, keep yourself in check. And then the mercy: if you fall, reach to Jesus. Examination without Jesus ends in fear. Examination with Jesus ends at the throne of grace.
Heir, not hireling: Le spent a career reading contracts and negotiating terms. Heaven comes with no contract to negotiate. No wages, no purchase price — only birth. Le does not work for the inheritance; she was born into it at midnight in Lubbock. 🙏