Charles H. Spurgeon's Leap Year Morning and Evening Devotional

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February 29 comes once almost every four years, right? I decided to open the Spurgeon Devotional on my mobile phone (which automatically moves with the time set) for today. What I didn't really put into my mind and heart is that he also wrote a leap-year devotional. 

The devotions written by Spurgeon are as follows:
Morning Devotion
"With lovingkindness have I drawn thee." 
Jeremiah 31:3 
The thunders of the law and the terrors of judgment are all used to bring us to Christ; but the final victory is effected by lovingkindness. The prodigal set out to his father's house from a sense of need; but his father saw him a great way off, and ran to meet him; so that the last steps he took towards his father's house were with the kiss still warm upon his cheek, and the welcome still musical in his ears. 
"Law and terrors do but harden
All the while they work alone;
But a sense of blood-bought pardon
Will dissolve a heart of stone." 
The Master came one night to the door, and knocked with the iron hand of the law; the door shook and trembled upon its hinges; but the man piled every piece of furniture which he could find against the door, for He said, "I will not admit the man." The Master turned away, but by-and-bye he came back, and with his own soft hand, using most that part where the nail had penetrated, he knocked again - oh, so softly and tenderly. This time the door did not shake, but, strange to say, it opened, and there upon His knees the once unwilling host was found rejoicing to receive His guest. "Come in, come in; thou hast so knocked that my bowels are moved for thee. I could not think of thy pierced hand leaving its blood-mark on my door, and of thy going away houseless, Thy head filled with dew, and thy locks with the drops of the night.' I yield, I yield, thy love has won my heart." So in every case: lovingkindness wins the day. What Moses with the tablets of stone could never do, Christ does with his pierced hand. Such is the doctrine of effectual calling. Do I understand it experimentally? Can I say, "He drew me, and I followed on, glad to confess the voice divine?" If so, may he continue to draw me, till at last I shall sit down at the marriage supper of the Lamb.
Evening Devotion
 "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.

As the month ends with a February 29 - we can consider the lessons of Spurgeon's devotional. 

The morning lesson focuses on Law and lovingkindness. I remembered many times I thought of the purpose of the Law is to teach you right and wrong. What I tend to fail to miss is that the law does more than that - I wouldn't see myself a sinner if it wasn't for the Law written by God. The Law is there to keep things in order because we're in a fallen world. If the world wasn't fallen then there's no need for rules. 1 Timothy 1:9-10 says that the law was made for sinners and not for righteous men. If it wasn't for rules then I won't see I don't measure up to God's standards. Many times, I thought I could still save myself until I saw myself a sinner dead in sin. It was God's Law that was the terror that led. Yet in the end - it's grace and not the Law that prevailed. While the Law is indeed important - it is grace that saves and now not the Law! Laws point us to right and wrong while it can only condemn. The very Law that condemns says, "You need God's grace because you can't keep all of it!" (James 2:10-11) and you need to do that! The Law can only condemn but not save from sin. It was, however, that condemnation by the Law that led to what prevails - that's God's grace. Romans 3:10-10 shows that we're all condemned by the Law. James 2:10-11 says keeping the whole Law is required for salvation - something we can't do!

The evening lesson focuses on the Holy Spirit as a Teacher. Jesus' earthly ministry had Him as a teacher. The Holy Spirit as revealed in John 14:26 that the Holy Spirit will teach all things. I could think of how often I get annoyed at people who can't understand the Scripture. How can they understand it if they aren't saved? 1 Corinthians 2:14 has it that the things of God are spiritually discerned. How often do cults take the Scriptures straight out of its context to justify their existence and their doctrines? A good example is Matthew 16:18-19 is used to justify the heresy of the papacy. The Holy Spirit gives Christians one privilege the world doesn't have - to fully understand the Scriptures in their context. Although expositors can get wrong about something (and I don't fully agree with Spurgeon's commentaries either) they do acknowledge the Holy Spirit's role in helping one understand Scripture. Though errors in human preachers happen because they aren't infallible and the God the Holy Spirit is infallible. If I can understand the Scripture more - I should dare not credit myself for it. Rather, it's the work of the Holy Spirit. If I made mistakes in understanding the Scripture - it's my flesh since the Holy Spirit makes no mistakes. Also, it should be a lesson to grieve not the Spirit (Ephesians 4:30) but how often are Christians guilty? The grieving Spirit leads them to repentance and no true Christian can ever find joy in grieving the Spirit.

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