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  EMPTIED TO BE FILLED
  by C.H. Spurgeon
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Summary: To be used by God, we must first be emptied of our own strength
and abilities, and be left with a sense of our own insufficiency.

Topics: "Humility", "Divine Empowerment"
Scripture References: 2 Corinthians 12:9, Philippians 2:7

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DESCRIPTION
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C.H. Spurgeon emphasizes the necessity of being emptied of self before
God can fill us with His purpose and power. He illustrates that both
ministers and teachers must first recognize their inadequacy and
weakness, which prepares them for divine use. This process of emptying
is essential for receiving God's blessings and effectively serving
others. Spurgeon likens this transformation to a dish being cleaned and
set aside before being filled with heavenly nourishment. Ultimately, he
conveys that true effectiveness in ministry comes from a humble
acknowledgment of our limitations.

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CONTENT
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Before the minister shall preach the word to thousands, he must be
emptied and made to tremble under a sense of inability. Before the
Sunday-school teacher shall bring her girls to Christ, she shall be led
to see how weak and insufficient she is. I do believe that whenever the
Lord is about to use us in his household, he takes us like a dish and
wipes us right out and sets us on the shelf, and then afterwards he
takes us down and puts thereon his own heavenly meat, with which to fill
the souls of others. There must as a rule be an emptying, a turning
upside down, and a putting on one side, before the very greatest
blessing comes.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Manoah's Wife And Her
Excellent Argument."

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Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/ch-spurgeon/emptied-to-be-filled/
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