Absolute Surrender - Susannah Spurgeon

(Written after her husband's death.)

I am thine, and all that I have (1 Kings 20:4)

A LITTLE WHILE SINCE, dear Lord, you did permit me to sign a contract for the building of a House of Prayer to the honour of your Name. This morning, on the table of my heart there rests another covenant, one I would gladly renew with you, and to which I pray you to set your seal and signature. O my Lord, come near, I beg you; look down with your great love upon me as I write these solemn words, 'I AM THINE, AND ALL THAT I HAVE', and let my soul hear your tender response, 'I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.'

There is nothing on earth, O Lord, you know, that I desire so much as to be absolutely surrendered to you and to your service, I want to fullest spiritual blessing you can see fit to give me; and to obtain this, I do gladly yield up body, soul, and spirit - all I am and have - into your loving hands, that you may reign over, and rule within me as my absolute King and Master.

Do you ask me if I have counted the cost? Yes, Lord, it means, 'I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.' This is the cost, but your grace is sufficient to meet it, and to fill your child's heart with joy unspeakable at the thought that she is no longer her own, but 'bought with a price.'

'I am thine.' Who has so great a right to me as you have? Created by you, I belong of necessity to him who made me. Daily preserved by you, the life you maintain ought to be consecrated to your service. But the closest tie of all is that you have loved me, redeemed me from death, purchased me with the price of your own blood, and thus bound me to yourself for ever.

O love amazing and divine, why did you do all this for one so unlovely and unworthy? It is but another instance of 'Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight', and, since it has pleased you to be thus gracious, and you have made it possible for me to say, 'I am thine', it must naturally follow that I should add, 'and all that I have', laying every possession and power at your dear feet; for what have I, Lord, of anything good or excellent which is not your own gift to me?

I pray you to grant that my surrender may be real, practical, and complete; not in word only, but in deed and in truth, not simply a spiritual submission, which might be counted easy and pleasant, but that constant denial of self and its pleadings, that keeping under of the body, and bringing it into subjection, which I find so difficult to attain.

If you have given me but one talent, may that be so used as to bring the greatest interest of glory to you! My time must not be aimlessly frittered away, or employed for self-indulgence but every hour should bear on its fast flying wings the witness of something said, or done, or thought, for you, my Master, or your service. My money all belongs to you, and every coin of it should be spent, as in your sight, and with your approval. I pray that you would enable me in this matter to render a good account of my stewardship. Deliver me from the evil of looking on gold as a gift, to be used at my will and pleasure, instead of receiving it from you as a sacred loan or trust to be employed and expended only for your glory. Be it much or little which bestow on me, help me from my heart to say, 'All that I have is thine.'

O my pitiful Lord, you will remember that my dearest and most precious possession is already in your safe keeping, and that you have long since taught me, by a sorrowful experience, to measure earth's losses by heaven's gain!

Yes, Lord, I can bless you that you have but removed my treasure into your own treasury, and gathered my priceless jewel into your own regalia. 'Of Thine own have I given Thee' when resigning into your arms that most dearly beloved one who is now with you in the glory. Dear Lord, in taking him (her husband, Charles), you seem to have taken ALL THAT I HAVE, so that it is no longer a question of 'surrender', but only of quiet, happy submission, as your will daily unfolds itself, and directs my work and my way.

Lord, keep me ever thus in the secret hiding-place of your love, 'as having nothing, yet possessing all things'; it is safe a shelter for a weary, waiting soul, and so blessed a way of being made ready for the coming inheritance!

From Free Grace and Dying Love by Susannah Spurgeon

What incredible words...what an incredible spirit! Thank you so much for this post that the Lord meant for me to read this day, as I am trying to get to this point of surrender in an area very dear to me and which the Lord has taken away.

Is it just me, or does anyone else wonder at the depth of the Christian walk in so many of the people of previous centuries? And I don't just mean the wife of Charles Spurgeon. There are so many others.....Our society (and therefore myself) is SO shallow and superficial by comparison.

Profound.

Is it just me, or does anyone else wonder at the depth of the Christian walk in so many of the people of previous centuries? And I don't just mean the wife of Charles Spurgeon. There are so many others.....Our society (and therefore myself) is SO shallow and superficial by comparison.

Amen sister! I love Susannah Spurgeon. She is one of the most excellent in her writing abilities!

I agree, there is a shallowness amongst Christians, this is something the Lord showed me in myself many years ago too. :p

Love this verse!
Psa 92:5 O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep.

Water can only flow in deep places! And the more it flows (the working of the Spirit) the cleaner and deeper the riverbed gets and the more water is able to flow through to bless the plants and animals that drink out of it, like any other river.

Come Holy Spirit, I surrender.

John 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

Joh 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

I am not saying by ANY means that I "have arrived".....but I do long for holiness in myself and in the Church.....That is why this website and most of the thoughts posted here are so refreshing. It seems in the greater church in America today, most people are content that they are living godly lives if they are able to bite their tongue and not yell at their child, or if they are able to give up chocolate for a week as an act of self-denial. That is NOT Christianity. Any self-disciplined pagan can do that much! We are to be Christ-followers. We are to bear the image of CHRIST!!! So when I try to live the Christ-life (as should be expected I suppose), even in my own family I am accused of being legalistic, or too narrow, etc. You know all the arguments...And as I mentioned in my earlier post, EVERY time I read the writers of the 1800's and earlier, I hang my head in shame that what would seem a mountain-top experience to me, seems to just be normal, everyday living to them. I LOVE THE OLD WRITERS!!!

So when I try to live the Christ-life (as should be expected I suppose), even in my own family I am accused of being legalistic, or too narrow, etc.

This is nothing new under the sun. :p Even our Lord was persecuted much by His own family. I have also been accused as such. However some of the fault has been my own, some is not.

But let us examine ourselves before Him.

Zac Poonen says he takes every accusation before the Lord whether he thinks it is correct or not, some times our enemies tell us more about ourselves than those closest to us. It's better to be blameless before Him than right in our own eyes!

Hard? I know, but it's true. :)

Bless you sister in your walk with Him.

I love the old writers as well, very refreshing. I just got a new book today Dissertation of Pure Love by Fenelon with writings by Madame Guyon!

You are so right - nothing new under the sun.....and yes - wise words of Zac Poonen. I take them to heart. I was talking with another Christian friend though, and we have said that we think much of what is called "legalism" in our culture, would be called "holiness" in previous centuries. Maybe that is why I enjoy the older writers so much. I am not familiar with the book you mention. Have you read much of the Puritans? I am not at a place in my life right now where I have large amounts of time to digest them, but there are some books available of quotes....I can't remember the titles offhand, but I have one book called, "Spurgeon's Gold", and I know there are others such as that.....They are so very deep that you could meditate on just one little entry for days and weeks....

Thank you so much StarofGod for posting this. I love the Spurgeons. Please post more from our lovely sisters in the Lord. Amen and glory to God.

Such beautiful words! Thank you so much for posting these hymns. I was not familiar with either one. And yet very hard to live out....we need much grace moment by moment!

Thank you both mama27 and JiG for mentioning those books. I have read bits of each and was blessed already!

Alive to God. That IS a beautiful Hymn. Thank the Lord for the writers of all of these! They are truly a blessing to draw us nearer to Him.

Praise the Lord!