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How to use this study
This Study Guide is a UECF.NET companion for individual or small-group Bible study. It is not part of Spurgeon’s 1871 sermon. The questions follow Chapel Library’s section headings and Spurgeon’s own points. They do not replace the sermon: read each section first, then return here.
Suggested pace: one session per sitting (about 30–45 minutes). Open with the Scripture below. Close by praying Jabez’s prayer in 1 Chronicles 4:10.
And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow. And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.
1 Chronicles 4:9–10 KJV
Session 1 — Introduction
- What does the name Jabez mean, and how does Spurgeon connect a sorrowful beginning with later honor? (See Psalm 30:5 and Genesis 35:18.)
- Why does Spurgeon say Jabez’s honor would not have been worth having if it had not been vigorously contested and equitably won?
- Spurgeon says the pith of the prayer lies in the word “indeed.” What difference does he draw between blessings in name, temporary blessings, and a blessing indeed?
- Why does he stress “Thou” — the God of Israel — rather than blessing in general?
Session 2 — God's Blessings vs. Men's Blessings
- How does Spurgeon contrast the blessings of parents, spiritual fathers, and the poor with the blessing of God?
- What does he say is wrong with judging a man by success, as the world does?
- At a trial, whose verdict actually matters? How does Spurgeon apply that picture to God’s “Well done” (Matthew 25:23)?
- What is his warning about flatterers, and what counsel does he quote from Proverbs 20:19?
Session 3 — Wealth, Fame, Health, and Home
- Spurgeon says we may accept temporal mercies with gratitude, but must not make them our idols. How does he tell us to pray both when we have them and when we lack them?
- Why are riches “rather apparently than really” a blessing? What happens to them in sickness and in death?
- If honor and fame come, what profit is it, Spurgeon asks, if God should spew our name out of His mouth?
- Why may even health fail as a ground of boasting (Psalm 147:10)? What does he want instead of a healthy body alone?
- How does he turn earthly father, mother, marriage, and brotherhood into prayers for the greater relationships we have in God? What word does he have for the widow and the fatherless (John 14:18)?
Session 4 — Imaginary Blessings
- The Pharisee thought he had the Lord’s blessing (Luke 18:11). Why does Spurgeon say he was not blessed indeed?
- What is the difference Spurgeon draws between presumption and full assurance?
- What tests does he give that a claim “I am saved” is more than words?
- Is an answer to prayer after our own mind always a blessing? What warning does he take from Israel’s quails and from the Puritan mother’s child?
- Why may great religious exhilaration, or an unruffled calm, not be a blessing indeed?
- What is Spurgeon’s caution about sudden, pretentious “revivals” and work that will not last (Psalm 90:17)?
Session 5 — God's True Spiritual Blessings
- By what marks shall we know blessings indeed, according to Spurgeon?
- Why may a work of the Spirit that humbles, strips, or even “kills” still be a blessing indeed (John 16:8)?
- What kinds of things, he says, we can carry across the river into eternity?
- How can sickness, poverty, or contempt be counted joy for Christ’s sake (James 1:2)?
Session 6 — Search, Weigh, Pray
Read the Practical Application
- What does Spurgeon mean by Search? What would it look like to test whether a supposed blessing is a token of God’s grace?
- What does he mean by Weigh? What scale does he use?
- How should “bless me indeed” mingle with all our prayers, in joy-time and in the night of sorrow?
- Why does he close with Exodus 33:15: “If Thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence”?
Close by praying, in your own words or in Jabez’s:
Oh that Thou wouldest bless me indeed!