My witness is, that those who are honoured of their Lord in public, have usually to endure a secret chastening, or to carry a peculiar cross, lest by any means they exalt themselves, and fall into the snare of the devil.
Interpretation
Those who are publicly honored often face private struggles to remain humble and avoid temptation.
This quote by Charles Spurgeon highlights the idea that public recognition or honor can come with significant personal challenges. It suggests that those who are celebrated in public may be tested privately in their character and faith. The 'peculiar cross' signifies the individual burdens one must bear, serving as a reminder of the importance of humility and the dangers of pride, which can lead one astray. In essence, Spurgeon warns against the pitfalls of self-exaltation that fame and recognition can bring.
In practice
In a sermon discussing the challenges of leadership, this quote emphasizes the need for humility.
Amusement should be used to do us good “like a medicine”: it must never be used as the food of the man...Many have had all holy thoughts and gracious resolutions stamped out by perpetual trifling. Pleasure so called is the murderer of thought. This is the age of excessive amusement: everybody craves for it, like a babe for its rattle.
When you see no present advantage, walk by faith and not by sight. Do God the honor to trust Him when it comes to matters of loss for the sake of principle.
It is far easier to fight with sin in public than to pray against it in private.
You will never glory in God till first of all God has killed your glorying in yourself.
After faith comes repentance, or, rather, repentance is faith's twin brother and is born at the same time.
["All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant."] The original Hebrew word that has been translated "paths" means "well-worn roads' or "wheel tracks," such ruts as wagons make when they go down our green roads in wet weather and sink in up to the axles. God's ways are at times like heavy wagon tracks that cut deep into our souls, yet all of them are merciful.
The wise man makes an island of himself that no flood can overwhelm.
Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy, will be fresh for the fight; whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battle will arrive exhausted.
Seeker, empty the boat, lighten the load, be free of craving and judgment and hatred, and feel the joy of the way.
Meditation practice isn’t about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. It’s about befriending who we are already. The ground of practice is you or me or whoever we are right now, just as we are. That’s the ground, that’s what we study, that’s what we come to know with tremendous curiosity and interest.
Nothing is more damaging to the truth than an old error.
The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger. It is his glory to overlook an offense.
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