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Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

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Morning   “So shall we ever be with the Lord.” / 1 Thessalonians 4:17

Even the sweetest visits from Christ, how short they are–and how transitory!

One moment our eyes see him, and we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of

glory, but again a little time and we do not see him, for our beloved

withdraws himself from us; like a roe or a young hart he leaps over the

mountains of division; he is gone to the land of spices, and feeds no more

among the lilies.

“If today he deigns to bless us

With a sense of pardoned sin,

He to-morrow may distress us,

Make us feel the plague within.”

Oh, how sweet the prospect of the time when we shall not behold him at a

distance, but see him face to face: when he shall not be as a wayfaring man

tarrying but for a night, but shall eternally enfold us in the bosom of his

glory. We shall not see him for a little season, but

“Millions of years our wondering eyes,

Shall o’er our Saviour’s beauties rove;

And myriad ages we’ll adore,

The wonders of his love.”

In heaven there shall be no interruptions from care or sin; no weeping shall

dim our eyes; no earthly business shall distract our happy thoughts; we shall

have nothing to hinder us from gazing forever on the Sun of Righteousness with

unwearied eyes. Oh, if it be so sweet to see him now and then, how sweet to

gaze on that blessed face for aye, and never have a cloud rolling between, and

never have to turn one’s eyes away to look on a world of weariness and woe!

Blest day, when wilt thou dawn? Rise, O unsetting sun! The joys of sense may

leave us as soon as they will, for this shall make glorious amends. If to die

is but to enter into uninterrupted communion with Jesus, then death is indeed

gain, and the black drop is swallowed up in a sea of victory.

 

Evening   “Whose heart the Lord opened.” / Acts 16:14

In Lydia’s conversion there are many points of interest. It was brought about

by providential circumstances. She was a seller of purple, of the city of

Thyatira, but just at the right time for hearing Paul we find her at Philippi;

providence, which is the handmaid of grace, led her to the right spot. Again,

grace was preparing her soul for the blessing–grace preparing for grace. She

did not know the Saviour, but as a Jewess, she knew many truths which were

excellent stepping-stones to a knowledge of Jesus. Her conversion took place

in the use of the means. On the Sabbath she went when prayer was wont to be

made, and there prayer was heard. Never neglect the means of grace; God may

bless us when we are not in his house, but we have the greater reason to hope

that he will when we are in communion with his saints. Observe the words,

“Whose heart the Lord opened.” She did not open her own heart. Her prayers did

not do it; Paul did not do it. The Lord himself must open the heart, to

receive the things which make for our peace. He alone can put the key into the

hole of the door and open it, and get admittance for himself. He is the

heart’s master as he is the heart’s maker. The first outward evidence of the

opened heart was obedience. As soon as Lydia had believed in Jesus, she was

baptized. It is a sweet sign of a humble and broken heart, when the child of

God is willing to obey a command which is not essential to his salvation,

which is not forced upon him by a selfish fear of condemnation, but is a

simple act of obedience and of communion with his Master. The next evidence

was love, manifesting itself in acts of grateful kindness to the apostles.

Love to the saints has ever been a mark of the true convert. Those who do

nothing for Christ or his church, give but sorry evidence of an “opened”

heart. Lord, evermore give me an opened heart.

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Principles for Effective Prayer – Charles Stanley

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Each of us has prayed about situations and for other people without seeing results. When that happens, it’s easy to become discouraged. Rather than give up, we should review our lives to see if we need to alter something.

1. Our prayers must flow from a heart that is in step with God. If we want our prayers to be effective, we must be open to His Spirit and be compassionate, forgiving, and sincere as we intercede. Therefore, pray that you will have His love and compassion for others and that you will forgive fully—just as He has forgiven you (Eph. 4:32).

2. Our prayers are a link between our needs and God’s inexhaustible resources. Ask the Lord to reveal your or your loved one’s true needs and His power to meet those needs so that you can intercede in faith.

3. Identify with the need of the other person. To be truly compassionate in our supplication, we must see others through Jesus’ eyes. When we realize that people are truly hurting on the inside, our mercy for them is released, and we can intercede for them with greater zeal, understanding, and emotion.

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Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

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Morning  “Therefore will the Lord wait that he may be gracious unto you.” / Isaiah

30:18

God often delays in answering prayer. We have several instances of this in

sacred Scripture. Jacob did not get the blessing from the angel until near the

dawn of day–he had to wrestle all night for it. The poor woman of

Syrophoenicia was answered not a word for a long while. Paul besought the Lord

thrice that “the thorn in the flesh” might be taken from him, and he received

no assurance that it should be taken away, but instead thereof a promise that

God’s grace should be sufficient for him. If thou hast been knocking at the

gate of mercy, and hast received no answer, shall I tell thee why the mighty

Maker hath not opened the door and let thee in? Our Father has reasons

peculiar to himself for thus keeping us waiting. Sometimes it is to show his

power and his sovereignty, that men may know that Jehovah has a right to give

or to withhold. More frequently the delay is for our profit. Thou art perhaps

kept waiting in order that thy desires may be more fervent. God knows that

delay will quicken and increase desire, and that if he keeps thee waiting thou

wilt see thy necessity more clearly, and wilt seek more earnestly; and that

thou wilt prize the mercy all the more for its long tarrying. There may also

be something wrong in thee which has need to be removed, before the joy of the

Lord is given. Perhaps thy views of the Gospel plan are confused, or thou

mayest be placing some little reliance on thyself, instead of trusting simply

and entirely to the Lord Jesus. Or, God makes thee tarry awhile that he may

the more fully display the riches of his grace to thee at last. Thy prayers

are all filed in heaven, and if not immediately answered they are certainly

not forgotten, but in a little while shall be fulfilled to thy delight and

satisfaction. Let not despair make thee silent, but continue instant in

earnest supplication.

 

Evening  “My people shall dwell in quiet resting places.” / Isaiah 32:18

Peace and rest belong not to the unregenerate, they are the peculiar

possession of the Lord’s people, and of them only. The God of Peace gives

perfect peace to those whose hearts are stayed upon him. When man was

unfallen, his God gave him the flowery bowers of Eden as his quiet resting

places; alas! how soon sin blighted the fair abode of innocence. In the day of

universal wrath when the flood swept away a guilty race, the chosen family

were quietly secured in the resting-place of the ark, which floated them from

the old condemned world into the new earth of the rainbow and the covenant,

herein typifying Jesus, the ark of our salvation. Israel rested safely beneath

the blood-besprinkled habitations of Egypt when the destroying angel smote the

first-born; and in the wilderness the shadow of the pillar of cloud, and the

flowing rock, gave the weary pilgrims sweet repose. At this hour we rest in

the promises of our faithful God, knowing that his words are full of truth and

power; we rest in the doctrines of his word, which are consolation itself; we

rest in the covenant of his grace, which is a haven of delight. More highly

favoured are we than David in Adullam, or Jonah beneath his gourd, for none

can invade or destroy our shelter. The person of Jesus is the quiet

resting-place of his people, and when we draw near to him in the breaking of

the bread, in the hearing of the word, the searching of the Scriptures,

prayer, or praise, we find any form of approach to him to be the return of

peace to our spirits.

“I hear the words of love, I gaze upon the blood,

I see the mighty sacrifice, and I have peace with God.

‘Tis everlasting peace, sure as Jehovah’s name,

‘Tis stable as his steadfast throne, for evermore the same:

The clouds may go and come, and storms may sweep my sky,

This blood-sealed friendship changes not, the cross is ever nigh.”

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Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

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Morning   “Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments;

and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.” / Revelation 3:4

We may understand this to refer to justification. “They shall walk in white;”

that is, they shall enjoy a constant sense of their own justification by

faith; they shall understand that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to

them, that they have all been washed and made whiter than the newly-fallen

snow.

Again, it refers to joy and gladness: for white robes were holiday dresses

among the Jews. They who have not defiled their garments shall have their

faces always bright; they shall understand what Solomon meant when he said “Go

thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart. Let

thy garments be always white, for God hath accepted thy works.” He who is

accepted of God shall wear white garments of joy and gladness, while he walks

in sweet communion with the Lord Jesus. Whence so many doubts, so much misery,

and mourning? It is because so many believers defile their garments with sin

and error, and hence they lose the joy of their salvation, and the comfortable

fellowship of the Lord Jesus, they do not here below walk in white.

The promise also refers to walking in white before the throne of God. Those

who have not defiled their garments here shall most certainly walk in white up

yonder, where the white-robed hosts sing perpetual hallelujahs to the Most

High. They shall possess joys inconceivable, happiness beyond a dream, bliss

which imagination knoweth not, blessedness which even the stretch of desire

hath not reached. The “undefiled in the way” shall have all this–not of

merit, nor of works, but of grace. They shall walk with Christ in white, for

he has made them “worthy.” In his sweet company they shall drink of the living

fountains of waters.

 

Evening   “Thou, O God, hast prepared of thy goodness for the poor.” / Psalm 68:10

All God’s gifts are prepared gifts laid up in store for wants foreseen. He

anticipates our needs; and out of the fulness which he has treasured up in

Christ Jesus, he provides of his goodness for the poor. You may trust him for

all the necessities that can occur, for he has infallibly foreknown every one

of them. He can say of us in all conditions, “I knew that thou wouldst be this

and that.” A man goes a journey across the desert, and when he has made a

day’s advance, and pitched his tent, he discovers that he wants many comforts

and necessaries which he has not brought in his baggage. “Ah!” says he, “I did

not foresee this: if I had this journey to go again, I should bring these

things with me, so necessary to my comfort.” But God has marked with prescient

eye all the requirements of his poor wandering children, and when those needs

occur, supplies are ready. It is goodness which he has prepared for the poor

in heart, goodness and goodness only. “My grace is sufficient for thee.” “As

thy days, so shall thy strength be.”

Reader, is your heart heavy this evening? God knew it would be; the comfort

which your heart wants is treasured in the sweet assurance of the text. You

are poor and needy, but he has thought upon you, and has the exact blessing

which you require in store for you. Plead the promise, believe it and obtain

its fulfilment. Do you feel that you never were so consciously vile as you are

now? Behold, the crimson fountain is open still, with all its former efficacy,

to wash your sin away. Never shall you come into such a position that Christ

cannot aid you. No pinch shall ever arrive in your spiritual affairs in which

Jesus Christ shall not be equal to the emergency, for your history has all

been foreknown and provided for in Jesus.

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It’s All About Him – Greg Laurie

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A little girl noticed that her mom was getting really stressed out around Christmas. Everything was bothering her mom, and she was very irritable.

Evening came and the mom bathed the little girl, got her ready for bed, put her under the covers, and had her say her prayers. She would usually pray the Lord’s Prayer, but on this particular evening, she amended it a little bit.

Her petition went something like this, “Father, forgive us our Christmases, as we forgive those who Christmas against us.”

That is what happens when we lose focus of the real meaning of Christmas, isn’t it? We get so caught up in the busyness of the season that sometimes we forget the wonder of it all: that deity took on humanity, that God became a man.

Scripture sums it up well in 2 Corinthians 8:9, which says, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich” (NKJV). Jesus literally went from the throne of heaven to a simple little cave or stable.

Can you imagine what must have gone through Mary’s mind that day when the angel Gabriel appeared to her and told her she would be the mother of the Messiah? Her head must have been swimming. “What about Joseph? What are people going to say?”

But God had it all put together, because the time was just right in every way.

There was one small detail: the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, as Scripture prophesied (see Micah 5:2). But Mary and her husband-to-be Joseph lived in Nazareth. So the Lord touched a little man who was big in his own mind.

His name was Caesar, and at this particular time in history, he was the most powerful man on Earth. One day, Caesar gave a decree that all of the world should be taxed.

In reality, he was nothing more than a pawn in the hand of God. The Lord needed Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem, so He moved events.

Mary and Joseph made the difficult journey to Bethlehem, which was especially perilous for a woman who was as far along in her pregnancy as Mary was. But they did make it, and there, the miraculous birth of Christ took place, just as Scripture said it would.

This little baby grew up quickly, and although we would love to know more about his boyhood, the Bible offers only a few details.

But we do read of one day in the synagogue in Nazareth when, as the custom was, the time had come for Jesus to read. He walked to the front of the synagogue, opened up the scroll, and began to read from Isaiah: ” ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord’ ” (Luke 4:18-19 NLT).

When He had finished, He sat down and said, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (verse 21). He had declared himself the Messiah. His public ministry had begun.

This One who was sent from God was always in perfect sync with the Father. While He spoke with the learned spiritual leaders, He always had time for the outcasts of society—people like the woman at the well and the tax collector, Zacchaeus. People like you. People like me.

His ministry on Earth was only a few years, and then He was crucified. You can be sure that as He hung there on the cross, where all of the sin of humanity was placed upon Him, that this was God’s most painful moment.

But then it was finished. He rose again from the dead, and after a time, ascended back into heaven, promising to come back to this earth. And we eagerly await that day.

This Jesus who was born in a manger, who walked this earth, who was crucified, and who rose again, is not some mere historical figure, although He was that. He is alive, and He is still in the business of changing lives.

That is the reason He came: to put us in touch with God, to forgive us of all of our sins, and to give our lives purpose and meaning.

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Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

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Morning  “Base things of the world hath God chosen.” / 1 Corinthians 1:28

Walk the streets by moonlight, if you dare, and you will see sinners then.

Watch when the night is dark, and the wind is howling, and the picklock is

grating in the door, and you will see sinners then. Go to yon jail, and walk

through the wards, and mark the men with heavy over-hanging brows, men whom

you would not like to meet at night, and there are sinners there. Go to the

Reformatories, and note those who have betrayed a rampant juvenile depravity,

and you will see sinners there. Go across the seas to the place where a man

will gnaw a bone upon which is reeking human flesh, and there is a sinner

there. Go where you will, you need not ransack earth to find sinners, for they

are common enough; you may find them in every lane and street of every city,

and town, and village, and hamlet. It is for such that Jesus died. If you will

select me the grossest specimen of humanity, if he be but born of woman, I

will have hope of him yet, because Jesus Christ is come to seek and to save

sinners. Electing love has selected some of the worst to be made the best.

Pebbles of the brook grace turns into jewels for the crown-royal. Worthless

dross he transforms into pure gold. Redeeming love has set apart many of the

worst of mankind to be the reward of the Saviour’s passion. Effectual grace

calls forth many of the vilest of the vile to sit at the table of mercy, and

therefore let none despair.

Reader, by that love looking out of Jesus’ tearful eyes, by that love

streaming from those bleeding wounds, by that faithful love, that strong love,

that pure, disinterested, and abiding love; by the heart and by the bowels of

the Saviour’s compassion, we conjure you turn not away as though it were

nothing to you; but believe on him and you shall be saved. Trust your soul

with him and he will bring you to his Father’s right hand in glory

everlasting.

 

Evening  “I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.” / 1

Corinthians 9:22

Paul’s great object was not merely to instruct and to improve, but to save.

Anything short of this would have disappointed him; he would have men renewed

in heart, forgiven, sanctified, in fact, saved. Have our Christian labours

been aimed at anything below this great point? Then let us amend our ways, for

of what avail will it be at the last great day to have taught and moralized

men if they appear before God unsaved? Blood-red will our skirts be if through

life we have sought inferior objects, and forgotten that men needed to be

saved. Paul knew the ruin of man’s natural state, and did not try to educate

him, but to save him; he saw men sinking to hell, and did not talk of refining

them, but of saving from the wrath to come. To compass their salvation, he

gave himself up with untiring zeal to telling abroad the gospel, to warning

and beseeching men to be reconciled to God. His prayers were importunate and

his labours incessant. To save souls was his consuming passion, his ambition,

his calling. He became a servant to all men, toiling for his race, feeling a

woe within him if he preached not the gospel. He laid aside his preferences to

prevent prejudice; he submitted his will in things indifferent, and if men

would but receive the gospel, he raised no questions about forms or

ceremonies: the gospel was the one all-important business with him. If he

might save some he would be content. This was the crown for which he strove,

the sole and sufficient reward of all his labours and self-denials. Dear

reader, have you and I lived to win souls at this noble rate? Are we possessed

with the same all-absorbing desire? If not, why not? Jesus died for sinners,

cannot we live for them? Where is our tenderness? Where our love to Christ, if

we seek not his honour in the salvation of men? O that the Lord would saturate

us through and through with an undying zeal for the souls of men.

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Discovering God’s Will – Charles Stanley

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Psalm 119:105-106

Life involves both small daily choices and large consequential ones. Including God in our decision-making is always the wisest course of action. The Scripture that we have memorized is something the Holy Spirit uses to help us discover God’s will.

The pattern I have found beneficial in making decisions can also help you with choices regarding relationships, finances, health, employment, or other important areas. The first step involves assessing the heart, mind, and will. To receive the Lord’s direction, we need a clean heart, a clear mind, and a surrendered will. Sinful habits can cloud thinking and keep us from understanding His plan. Confessing our sins and turning from them brings cleansing and clarity (1 John 1:9). A stubborn will that says, “I want my way” prevents us from heeding God’s instruction. Instead, we need to surrender our desires and commit ourselves to saying yes to His plan.

The second step is to wait patiently on the Lord for His answer. It takes courage to stand firm, especially when others are telling us what they think we should do. Our own emotions may be pushing us to act now, but we must resist moving ahead of God. To be patient means trusting the Lord while we wait to learn His answer and discover His timing.

Discerning God’s plan requires preparation of our heart, mind, and will. It also often requires patience. During our time of waiting, we are to follow His known will—to be a faithful servant in His kingdom, loving Him with our whole heart, and loving our neighbors as ourselves (Matt. 22:37-39).

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The Manner of Waiting – Ravi Zacharias

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Ravi Z

Waiting is never easy. In our day of high speed internet, instant messaging, and fast food, waiting for anything longer than ten minutes can seem like an eternity. I remember the days as a child, when the seemingly endless fall season turned the corner towards Christmas day, how difficult it was for me and my siblings to wait to open our presents. We had such a hard time waiting that we would often coax our parents into allowing us to open some, or all of our presents on Christmas Eve. We couldn’t wait any longer, and our parents couldn’t abide another day of our whining and begging!

For Christians, the season of Advent begins a season of waiting. It marks the beginning of the liturgical church year and asks for expectant waiting of those who anticipate the coming of Christ, the King. Each new Advent season stirs expectations as Christians wait. How will the coming Lord be experienced this Advent season? Yet, perhaps more importantly, the season asks those who wait to reflect on the manner of waiting. Waiting, by its very nature, is demanding and difficult for even the most patient person. Like children who clamor to open their presents because they cannot wait any longer, we often wait impatiently, or can fall into despair as the season of waiting seems to have no end in sight.

Waiting for God is difficult; the Hebrew Scriptures tells of a whole history of Israel in waiting; waiting in the wilderness to enter the Promised Land, waiting for a king, waiting in exile for return to the land of Israel, and waiting for God to deliver them from all their oppressors. The psalmists elaborate this cry and give voice to all who cry out waiting: “How long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself forever?”

Imagine, then, how their hearts stirred with expectation when a glimmer of promise arose. The prophet Isaiah cried out: “Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. Let every valley be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low…Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together” (Isaiah 40:3-5). Yet, generations came and went and the years ebbed and flowed with no sign of the promised one. Israel went into exile, and the voice of the prophets became silent. Would there be a way in the wilderness, and a smooth path cut through the desert? Or would God leave the people as exiles in the wastelands?

For over two-thousand years since that time, generations have seen Advent seasons come and go, each year igniting hope and expectation as Christians anticipate Christ’s return. Unfortunately, as can happen, human beings are apt to lose hope and heart in waiting. We grow tired and weary, and we like doubters and skeptics of old ask, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation” (2 Peter 3:4). The trial in the exile of waiting involves clinging to hope and not growing weary or faint, to hold on rather than to give up. For those who would wait upon the Lord will renew their strength.

The Advent season calls all who would watch and wait to expect the Lord’s return ultimately, but also to look for the ways in which his presence comes to strengthen and uphold all who traverse every season of Advent waiting.

Margaret Manning is a member of the speaking and writing team at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Seattle, Washington.

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Secure Saving Faith – Charles Stanley

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Charles Stanley

Those who believe salvation can be lost often ask an insightful question about the relationship between salvation and faith. The question goes something like this: If our salvation is gained through believing in Christ, doesn’t it make sense that salvation can be lost if we quit believing?

To answer this question, we must see what saves us. Paul tells us that we are saved by grace (Eph. 2:8–9). The instrument of salvation is grace. God came up with a plan and carried it out through Christ. We didn’t take part in it; we didn’t deserve any part of it. It was grace from start to finish. We are saved by grace through faith. “Through faith” is important, but often misunderstood. “Through” is translated from the Greek word dia, which carries the idea of “means” or “agency.” Faith was the agent whereby God was able to apply His grace to the life of the sinner.

Faith is simply the way we say yes to God’s free gift of eternal life. Faith and salvation are not one and the same any more than a gift and the hand that receives it are the same. Salvation stands independently of faith. Consequently, God does not require a constant attitude of faith in order to be saved—only an act of faith in Christ.

You and I are not saved because we have enduring faith. Faith is not a power we tap into or a button we push to prod God into action. Rather, faith is confidence that God will do what He has promised. We are saved because we’ve expressed trust that the Lord Jesus has really saved us.

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Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

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Morning  “Thou art all fair, my love.” / Song of Solomon 4:7

The Lord’s admiration of his Church is very wonderful, and his description of

her beauty is very glowing. She is not merely fair, but “all fair.” He views

her in himself, washed in his sin-atoning blood and clothed in his meritorious

righteousness, and he considers her to be full of comeliness and beauty. No

wonder that such is the case, since it is but his own perfect excellency that

he admires; for the holiness, glory, and perfection of his Church are his own

glorious garments on the back of his own well-beloved spouse. She is not

simply pure, or well-proportioned; she is positively lovely and fair! She has

actual merit! Her deformities of sin are removed; but more, she has through

her Lord obtained a meritorious righteousness by which an actual beauty is

conferred upon her. Believers have a positive righteousness given to them when

they become “accepted in the beloved” (Eph. 1:6). Nor is the Church barely

lovely, she is superlatively so. Her Lord styles her “Thou fairest among

women.” She has a real worth and excellence which cannot be rivalled by all

the nobility and royalty of the world. If Jesus could exchange his elect bride

for all the queens and empresses of earth, or even for the angels in heaven,

he would not, for he puts her first and foremost–“fairest among women.” Like

the moon she far outshines the stars. Nor is this an opinion which he is

ashamed of, for he invites all men to hear it. He sets a “behold” before it, a

special note of exclamation, inviting and arresting attention. “Behold, thou

art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair” (Song of Sol. 4:1). His opinion he

publishes abroad even now, and one day from the throne of his glory he will

avow the truth of it before the assembled universe. “Come, ye blessed of my

Father” (Matt. 25:34), will be his solemn affirmation of the loveliness of his

elect.

 

Evening  “Behold, all is vanity.” / Ecclesiastes 1:14

Nothing can satisfy the entire man but the Lord’s love and the Lord’s own

self. Saints have tried to anchor in other roadsteads, but they have been

driven out of such fatal refuges. Solomon, the wisest of men, was permitted to

make experiments for us all, and to do for us what we must not dare to do for

ourselves. Here is his testimony in his own words: “So I was great, and

increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom

remained with me. And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I

withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour:

and this was my portion of all my labour. Then I looked on all the works that

my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and,

behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under

the sun.” “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” What! the whole of it vanity? O

favoured monarch, is there nothing in all thy wealth? Nothing in that wide

dominion reaching from the river even to the sea? Nothing in Palmyra’s

glorious palaces? Nothing in the house of the forest of Lebanon? In all thy

music and dancing, and wine and luxury, is there nothing? “Nothing,” he says,

“but weariness of spirit.” This was his verdict when he had trodden the whole

round of pleasure. To embrace our Lord Jesus, to dwell in his love, and be

fully assured of union with him–this is all in all. Dear reader, you need not

try other forms of life in order to see whether they are better than the

Christian’s: if you roam the world around, you will see no sights like a sight

of the Saviour’s face; if you could have all the comforts of life, if you lost

your Saviour, you would be wretched; but if you win Christ, then should you

rot in a dungeon, you would find it a paradise; should you live in obscurity,

or die with famine, you will yet be satisfied with favour and full of the

goodness of the Lord.

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Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

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CharlesSpurgeon

Morning  “Thou hast made summer and winter.” / Psalm 74:17

My soul begin this wintry month with thy God. The cold snows and the piercing

winds all remind thee that he keeps his covenant with day and night, and tend

to assure thee that he will also keep that glorious covenant which he has made

with thee in the person of Christ Jesus. He who is true to his Word in the

revolutions of the seasons of this poor sin-polluted world, will not prove

unfaithful in his dealings with his own well-beloved Son.

Winter in the soul is by no means a comfortable season, and if it be upon thee

just now it will be very painful to thee: but there is this comfort, namely,

that the Lord makes it. He sends the sharp blasts of adversity to nip the buds

of expectation: he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes over the once verdant

meadows of our joy: he casteth forth his ice like morsels freezing the streams

of our delight. He does it all, he is the great Winter King, and rules in the

realms of frost, and therefore thou canst not murmur. Losses, crosses,

heaviness, sickness, poverty, and a thousand other ills, are of the Lord’s

sending, and come to us with wise design. Frosts kill noxious insects, and put

a bound to raging diseases; they break up the clods, and sweeten the soil. O

that such good results would always follow our winters of affliction!

How we prize the fire just now! how pleasant is its cheerful glow! Let us in

the same manner prize our Lord, who is the constant source of warmth and

comfort in every time of trouble. Let us draw nigh to him, and in him find joy

and peace in believing. Let us wrap ourselves in the warm garments of his

promises, and go forth to labours which befit the season, for it were ill to

be as the sluggard who will not plough by reason of the cold; for he shall beg

in summer and have nothing.

 

Evening  “O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful

works to the children of men.” / Psalm 107:8

If we complained less, and praised more, we should be happier, and God would

be more glorified. Let us daily praise God for common mercies–common as we

frequently call them, and yet so priceless, that when deprived of them we are

ready to perish. Let us bless God for the eyes with which we behold the sun,

for the health and strength to walk abroad, for the bread we eat, for the

raiment we wear. Let us praise him that we are not cast out among the

hopeless, or confined amongst the guilty; let us thank him for liberty, for

friends, for family associations and comforts; let us praise him, in fact, for

everything which we receive from his bounteous hand, for we deserve little,

and yet are most plenteously endowed. But, beloved, the sweetest and the

loudest note in our songs of praise should be of redeeming love. God’s

redeeming acts towards his chosen are forever the favourite themes of their

praise. If we know what redemption means, let us not withhold our sonnets of

thanksgiving. We have been redeemed from the power of our corruptions,

uplifted from the depth of sin in which we were naturally plunged. We have

been led to the cross of Christ–our shackles of guilt have been broken off;

we are no longer slaves, but children of the living God, and can antedate the

period when we shall be presented before the throne without spot or wrinkle or

any such thing. Even now by faith we wave the palm-branch and wrap ourselves

about with the fair linen which is to be our everlasting array, and shall we

not unceasingly give thanks to the Lord our Redeemer? Child of God, canst thou

be silent? Awake, awake, ye inheritors of glory, and lead your captivity

captive, as ye cry with David, “Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is

within me, bless his holy name.” Let the new month begin with new songs.

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Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

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Morning  “Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people … Thou shalt

in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.” / Leviticus

19:16-17

Tale-bearing emits a threefold poison; for it injures the teller, the hearer,

and the person concerning whom the tale is told. Whether the report be true or

false, we are by this precept of God’s Word forbidden to spread it. The

reputations of the Lord’s people should be very precious in our sight, and we

should count it shame to help the devil to dishonour the Church and the name

of the Lord. Some tongues need a bridle rather than a spur. Many glory in

pulling down their brethren, as if thereby they raised themselves. Noah’s wise

sons cast a mantle over their father, and he who exposed him earned a fearful

curse. We may ourselves one of these dark days need forbearance and silence

from our brethren, let us render it cheerfully to those who require it now. Be

this our family rule, and our personal bond–Speak evil of no man.

The Holy Spirit, however, permits us to censure sin, and prescribes the way in

which we are to do it. It must be done by rebuking our brother to his face,

not by railing behind his back. This course is manly, brotherly, Christlike,

and under God’s blessing will be useful. Does the flesh shrink from it? Then

we must lay the greater stress upon our conscience, and keep ourselves to the

work, lest by suffering sin upon our friend we become ourselves partakers of

it. Hundreds have been saved from gross sins by the timely, wise, affectionate

warnings of faithful ministers and brethren. Our Lord Jesus has set us a

gracious example of how to deal with erring friends in his warning given to

Peter, the prayer with which he preceded it, and the gentle way in which he

bore with Peter’s boastful denial that he needed such a caution.

 

Evening   “Spices for anointing oil.” / Exodus 35:8

Much use was made of this anointing oil under the law, and that which it

represents is of primary importance under the gospel. The Holy Spirit, who

anoints us for all holy service, is indispensable to us if we would serve the

Lord acceptably. Without his aid our religious services are but a vain

oblation, and our inward experience is a dead thing. Whenever our ministry is

without unction, what miserable stuff it becomes! nor are the prayers,

praises, meditations, and efforts of private Christians one jot superior. A

holy anointing is the soul and life of piety, its absence the most grievous of

all calamities. To go before the Lord without anointing is as though some

common Levite had thrust himself into the priest’s office–his ministrations

would rather have been sins than services. May we never venture upon hallowed

exercises without sacred anointings. They drop upon us from our glorious Head;

from his anointing we who are as the skirts of his garments partake of a

plenteous unction. Choice spices were compounded with rarest art of the

apothecary to form the anointing oil, to show forth to us how rich are all the

influences of the Holy Spirit. All good things are found in the divine

Comforter. Matchless consolation, infallible instruction, immortal quickening,

spiritual energy, and divine sanctification all lie compounded with other

excellencies in that sacred eye-salve, the heavenly anointing oil of the Holy

Spirit. It imparts a delightful fragrance to the character and person of the

man upon whom it is poured. Nothing like it can be found in all the treasuries

of the rich, or the secrets of the wise. It is not to be imitated. It comes

alone from God, and it is freely given, through Jesus Christ, to every waiting

soul. Let us seek it, for we may have it, may have it this very evening. O

Lord, anoint thy servants.

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Morning “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.” / Ecclesiastes 9:10

“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do,” refers to works that are possible. There

are many things which our heart findeth to do which we never shall do. It is

well it is in our heart; but if we would be eminently useful, we must not be

content with forming schemes in our heart, and talking of them; we must

practically carry out “whatsoever our hand findeth to do.” One good deed is

more worth than a thousand brilliant theories. Let us not wait for large

opportunities, or for a different kind of work, but do just the things we

“find to do” day by day. We have no other time in which to live. The past is

gone; the future has not arrived; we never shall have any time but time

present. Then do not wait until your experience has ripened into maturity

before you attempt to serve God. Endeavour now to bring forth fruit. Serve God

now, but be careful as to the way in which you perform what you find to

do–“do it with thy might.” Do it promptly; do not fritter away your life in

thinking of what you intend to do to-morrow as if that could recompense for

the idleness of today. No man ever served God by doing things to-morrow. If we

honour Christ and are blessed, it is by the things which we do today. Whatever

you do for Christ throw your whole soul into it. Do not give Christ a little

slurred labour, done as a matter of course now and then; but when you do serve

him, do it with heart, and soul, and strength.

But where is the might of a Christian? It is not in himself, for he is perfect

weakness. His might lieth in the Lord of Hosts. Then let us seek his help; let

us proceed with prayer and faith, and when we have done what our “hand findeth

to do,” let us wait upon the Lord for his blessing. What we do thus will be

well done, and will not fail in its effect.

 

Evening “They shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel.” /

Zechariah 4:10

Small things marked the beginning of the work in the hand of Zerubbabel, but

none might despise it, for the Lord had raised up one who would persevere

until the headstone should be brought forth with shoutings. The plummet was in

good hands. Here is the comfort of every believer in the Lord Jesus; let the

work of grace be ever so small in its beginnings, the plummet is in good

hands, a master builder greater than Solomon has undertaken the raising of the

heavenly temple, and he will not fail nor be discouraged till the topmost

pinnacle shall be raised. If the plummet were in the hand of any merely human

being, we might fear for the building, but the pleasure of the Lord shall

prosper in Jesus’ hand. The works did not proceed irregularly, and without

care, for the master’s hand carried a good instrument. Had the walls been

hurriedly run up without due superintendence, they might have been out of the

perpendicular; but the plummet was used by the chosen overseer. Jesus is

evermore watching the erection of his spiritual temple, that it may be built

securely and well. We are for haste, but Jesus is for judgment. He will use

the plummet, and that which is out of line must come down, every stone of it.

Hence the failure of many a flattering work, the overthrow of many a

glittering profession. It is not for us to judge the Lord’s church, since

Jesus has a steady hand, and a true eye, and can use the plummet well. Do we

not rejoice to see judgment left to him?

 

The plummet was in active use–it was in the builder’s hand; a sure indication

that he meant to push on the work to completion. O Lord Jesus, how would we

indeed be glad if we could see thee at thy great work. O Zion, the beautiful,

thy walls are still in ruins! Rise, thou glorious Builder, and make her

desolations to rejoice at thy coming.

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Seek the Lord

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Psalm 27:4-8

My life was radically influenced by the example of my grandfather, who wholeheartedly sought the Lord. I wanted the same kind of relationship that he had with God, and I knew the only way this would happen was if I, too, earnestly sought Him. All these years later, I can truthfully say that the most exciting aspect of my life is getting on my face before God in intimate fellowship.

This kind of relationship won’t happen accidentally. It requires a deliberate decision to reset your priorities in order to make room for the pursuit of God. Intimacy with Him is not something that can be achieved in an inspiring weekend conference, nor can it be accomplished by reading a chapter or two in the Bible and praying for ten minutes a day. Seeking God is a persevering lifetime commitment–day by day, decade by decade.

Too many believers are satisfied to have a shallow relationship with the Lord. They’ll seek answers to prayer or relief in times of suffering but are unwilling to sit quietly for an extended period of time just getting to know Him through prayer and His Word. Yet the most important pursuit in a believer’s life is building a relationship with God. To forfeit this great blessing is a tragedy.

God doesn’t need anything from you, but He desires your loving devotion and intimate fellowship. Is that what you want too? If so, are you willing to make the necessary commitment? Seeking the Lord cannot be hurried. It will cost you time and effort, but the rewards are worth any sacrifice.

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Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

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Morning   “The glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams.” /

Isaiah 33:21

Broad rivers and streams produce fertility, and abundance in the land. Places

near broad rivers are remarkable for the variety of their plants and their

plentiful harvests. God is all this to his Church. Having God she has

abundance. What can she ask for that he will not give her? What want can she

mention which he will not supply? “In this mountain shall the Lord of Hosts

make unto all people a feast of fat things.” Want ye the bread of life? It

drops like manna from the sky. Want ye refreshing streams? The rock follows

you, and that Rock is Christ. If you suffer any want it is your own fault; if

you are straitened you are not straitened in him, but in your own bowels.

Broad rivers and streams also point to commerce. Our glorious Lord is to us a

place of heavenly merchandise. Through our Redeemer we have commerce with the

past; the wealth of Calvary, the treasures of the covenant, the riches of the

ancient days of election, the stores of eternity, all come to us down the

broad stream of our gracious Lord. We have commerce, too, with the future.

What galleys, laden to the water’s edge, come to us from the millennium! What

visions we have of the days of heaven upon earth! Through our glorious Lord we

have commerce with angels; communion with the bright spirits washed in blood,

who sing before the throne; nay, better still, we have fellowship with the

Infinite One. Broad rivers and streams are specially intended to set forth the

idea of security. Rivers were of old a defence. Oh! beloved, what a defence is

God to his Church! The devil cannot cross this broad river of God. How he

wishes he could turn the current, but fear not, for God abideth immutably the

same. Satan may worry, but he cannot destroy us; no galley with oars shall

invade our river, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.

 

Evening   “Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:

so shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed

man.” / Proverbs 24:33-34

The worst of sluggards only ask for a little slumber; they would be indignant

if they were accused of thorough idleness. A little folding of the hands to

sleep is all they crave, and they have a crowd of reasons to show that this

indulgence is a very proper one. Yet by these littles the day ebbs out, and

the time for labour is all gone, and the field is grown over with thorns. It

is by little procrastinations that men ruin their souls. They have no

intention to delay for years–a few months will bring the more convenient

season–to-morrow if you will, they will attend to serious things; but the

present hour is so occupied and altogether so unsuitable, that they beg to be

excused. Like sands from an hour-glass, time passes, life is wasted by

driblets, and seasons of grace lost by little slumbers. Oh, to be wise, to

catch the flying hour, to use the moments on the wing! May the Lord teach us

this sacred wisdom, for otherwise a poverty of the worst sort awaits us,

eternal poverty which shall want even a drop of water, and beg for it in vain.

Like a traveller steadily pursuing his journey, poverty overtakes the

slothful, and ruin overthrows the undecided: each hour brings the dreaded

pursuer nearer; he pauses not by the way, for he is on his master’s business

and must not tarry. As an armed man enters with authority and power, so shall

want come to the idle, and death to the impenitent, and there will be no

escape. O that men were wise be-times, and would seek diligently unto the Lord

Jesus, or ere the solemn day shall dawn when it will be too late to plough and

to sow, too late to repent and believe. In harvest, it is vain to lament that

the seed time was neglected. As yet, faith and holy decision are timely. May

we obtain them this night.

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Acknowledging God’s Sovereingty

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“By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel, and gave orders concerning his bones” (Heb. 11:22).

God uses your present circumstances to accomplish His future purposes.

Like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Joseph was an heir to the covenant promises of God. His hope was firmly fixed on God, and he knew that some day his people would be at home in the Promised Land.

Although he spent all his adult life in Egypt, never seeing the Promised Land for himself, Joseph’s faith never wavered. At the end of his life, he instructed his brothers to remove his bones from Egypt and bury them in their future homeland (Gen. 50:25). That request was fulfilled in the Exodus (Ex. 13:19).

But Joseph’s faith wasn’t in the promises of future events only, for his life was marked by exceptional trust in God and personal integrity. His understanding of God’s sovereignty was unique among the patriarchs. Even though he suffered greatly at the hands of evildoers (including his own brothers, who sold him into slavery), Joseph recognized God’s hand in every event of his life and submitted to His will.

Joseph said to his brothers, “Do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life . . . and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God” (Gen. 45:5, 7-8). Later, after their father’s death, he reassured them again: “Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place? And as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to . . . preserve many people alive” (Gen. 50:19- 20).

The genius of Joseph’s faith was understanding the role that present circumstances play in fulfilling future promises. He accepted blessing and adversity alike because he knew God would use both to accomplish greater things in the future.

Joseph is the classic Old Testament example of the truth that God works all things together for good to those who love Him (Rom. 8:28). That’s a promise you can rely on too.

Suggestions for Prayer:   Reaffirm your trust in God’s sovereign work in your life.

For Further Study:  Read of Joseph’s life in Genesis 37-50.

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Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

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Morning “Fellowship with him.” / 1 John 1:6

When we were united by faith to Christ, we were brought into such complete

fellowship with him, that we were made one with him, and his interests and

ours became mutual and identical. We have fellowship with Christ in his love.

What he loves we love. He loves the saints–so do we. He loves sinners–so do

we. He loves the poor perishing race of man, and pants to see earth’s deserts

transformed into the garden of the Lord–so do we. We have fellowship with him

in his desires. He desires the glory of God–we also labour for the same. He

desires that the saints may be with him where he is–we desire to be with him

there too. He desires to drive out sin–behold we fight under his banner. He

desires that his Father’s name may be loved and adored by all his

creatures–we pray daily, “Let thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth,

even as it is in heaven.” We have fellowship with Christ in his sufferings. We

are not nailed to the cross, nor do we die a cruel death, but when he is

reproached, we are reproached; and a very sweet thing it is to be blamed for

his sake, to be despised for following the Master, to have the world against

us. The disciple should not be above his Lord. In our measure we commune with

him in his labours, ministering to men by the word of truth and by deeds of

love. Our meat and our drink, like his, is to do the will of him who hath sent

us and to finish his work. We have also fellowship with Christ in his joys. We

are happy in his happiness, we rejoice in his exaltation. Have you ever tasted

that joy, believer? There is no purer or more thrilling delight to be known

this side heaven than that of having Christ’s joy fulfilled in us, that our

joy may be full. His glory awaits us to complete our fellowship, for his

Church shall sit with him upon his throne, as his well-beloved bride and

queen.

 

Evening “Get thee up into the high mountain.” / Isaiah 40:9

Each believer should be thirsting for God, for the living God, and longing to

climb the hill of the Lord, and see him face to face. We ought not to rest

content in the mists of the valley when the summit of Tabor awaits us. My soul

thirsteth to drink deep of the cup which is reserved for those who reach the

mountain’s brow, and bathe their brows in heaven. How pure are the dews of the

hills, how fresh is the mountain air, how rich the fare of the dwellers aloft,

whose windows look into the New Jerusalem! Many saints are content to live

like men in coal mines, who see not the sun; they eat dust like the serpent

when they might taste the ambrosial meat of angels; they are content to wear

the miner’s garb when they might put on king’s robes; tears mar their faces

when they might anoint them with celestial oil. Satisfied I am that many a

believer pines in a dungeon when he might walk on the palace roof, and view

the goodly land and Lebanon. Rouse thee, O believer, from thy low condition!

Cast away thy sloth, thy lethargy, thy coldness, or whatever interferes with

thy chaste and pure love to Christ, thy soul’s Husband. Make him the source,

the centre, and the circumference of all thy soul’s range of delight. What

enchants thee into such folly as to remain in a pit when thou mayst sit on a

throne? Live not in the lowlands of bondage now that mountain liberty is

conferred upon thee. Rest no longer satisfied with thy dwarfish attainments,

but press forward to things more sublime and heavenly. Aspire to a higher, a

nobler, a fuller life. Upward to heaven! Nearer to God!

“When wilt thou come unto me, Lord?

Oh come, my Lord most dear!

Come near, come nearer, nearer still,

I’m blest when thou art near.”

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Morning “Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep.” / Hosea 12:12

Jacob, while expostulating with Laban, thus describes his own toil, “This

twenty years have I been with thee. That which was torn of beasts I brought

not unto thee: I bare the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it,

whether stolen by day, or stolen by night. Thus I was; in the day the drought

consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes.”

Even more toilsome than this was the life of our Saviour here below. He

watched over all his sheep till he gave in as his last account, “Of all those

whom thou hast given me I have lost none.” His hair was wet with dew, and his

locks with the drops of the night. Sleep departed from his eyes, for all night

he was in prayer wrestling for his people. One night Peter must be pleaded

for; anon, another claims his tearful intercession. No shepherd sitting

beneath the cold skies, looking up to the stars, could ever utter such

complaints because of the hardness of his toil as Jesus Christ might have

brought, if he had chosen to do so, because of the sternness of his service in

order to procure his spouse–

“Cold mountains and the midnight air,

Witnessed the fervour of his prayer;

The desert his temptations knew,

His conflict and his victory too.”

It is sweet to dwell upon the spiritual parallel of Laban having required all

the sheep at Jacob’s hand. If they were torn of beasts, Jacob must make it

good; if any of them died, he must stand as surety for the whole. Was not the

toil of Jesus for his Church the toil of one who was under suretiship

obligations to bring every believing one safe to the hand of him who had

committed them to his charge? Look upon toiling Jacob, and you see a

representation of him of whom we read, “He shall feed his flock like a

shepherd.”

 

Evening  “The power of his resurrection.” / Philippians 3:10

The doctrine of a risen Saviour is exceedingly precious. The resurrection is

the corner-stone of the entire building of Christianity. It is the key-stone

of the arch of our salvation. It would take a volume to set forth all the

streams of living water which flow from this one sacred source, the

resurrection of our dear Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; but to know that he

has risen, and to have fellowship with him as such–communing with the risen

Saviour by possessing a risen life–seeing him leave the tomb by leaving the

tomb of worldliness ourselves, this is even still more precious. The doctrine

is the basis of the experience, but as the flower is more lovely than the

root, so is the experience of fellowship with the risen Saviour more lovely

than the doctrine itself. I would have you believe that Christ rose from the

dead so as to sing of it, and derive all the consolation which it is possible

for you to extract from this well-ascertained and well-witnessed fact; but I

beseech you, rest not contented even there. Though you cannot, like the

disciples, see him visibly, yet I bid you aspire to see Christ Jesus by the

eye of faith; and though, like Mary Magdalene, you may not “touch” him, yet

may you be privileged to converse with him, and to know that he is risen, you

yourselves being risen in him to newness of life. To know a crucified Saviour

as having crucified all my sins, is a high degree of knowledge; but to know a

risen Saviour as having justified me, and to realize that he has bestowed upon

me new life, having given me to be a new creature through his own newness of

life, this is a noble style of experience: short of it, none ought to rest

satisfied. May you both “know him, and the power of his resurrection.” Why

should souls who are quickened with Jesus, wear the grave-clothes of

worldliness and unbelief? Rise, for the Lord is risen.

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Morning     “O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul.” / Lamentations 3:58

Observe how positively the prophet speaks. He doth not say, “I hope, I trust,

I sometimes think, that God hath pleaded the causes of my soul;” but he speaks

of it as a matter of fact not to be disputed. “Thou hast pleaded the causes of

my soul.” Let us, by the aid of the gracious Comforter, shake off those doubts

and fears which so much mar our peace and comfort. Be this our prayer, that we

may have done with the harsh croaking voice of surmise and suspicion, and may

be able to speak with the clear, melodious voice of full assurance. Notice how

gratefully the prophet speaks, ascribing all the glory to God alone! You

perceive there is not a word concerning himself or his own pleadings. He doth

not ascribe his deliverance in any measure to any man, much less to his own

merit; but it is “thou”–“O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul;

thou hast redeemed my life.” A grateful spirit should ever be cultivated by

the Christian; and especially after deliverances we should prepare a song for

our God. Earth should be a temple filled with the songs of grateful saints,

and every day should be a censor smoking with the sweet incense of

thanksgiving. How joyful Jeremiah seems to be while he records the Lord’s

mercy. How triumphantly he lifts up the strain! He has been in the low

dungeon, and is even now no other than the weeping prophet; and yet in the

very book which is called “Lamentations,” clear as the song of Miriam when she

dashed her fingers against the tabor, shrill as the note of Deborah when she

met Barak with shouts of victory, we hear the voice of Jeremy going up to

heaven–“Thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life.”

O children of God, seek after a vital experience of the Lord’s lovingkindness,

and when you have it, speak positively of it; sing gratefully; shout

triumphantly.

 

Evening  “The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks.” /

Proverbs 30:26

Conscious of their own natural defencelessness, the conies resort to burrows

in the rocks, and are secure from their enemies. My heart, be willing to

gather a lesson from these feeble folk. Thou art as weak and as exposed to

peril as the timid cony; be as wise to seek a shelter. My best security is

within the munitions of an immutable Jehovah, where his unalterable promises

stand like giant walls of rock. It will be well with thee, my heart, if thou

canst always hide thyself in the bulwarks of his glorious attributes, all of

which are guarantees of safety for those who put their trust in him. Blessed

be the name of the Lord, I have so done, and have found myself like David in

Adullam, safe from the cruelty of my enemy; I have not now to find out the

blessedness of the man who puts his trust in the Lord, for long ago, when

Satan and my sins pursued me, I fled to the cleft of the rock Christ Jesus,

and in his riven side I found a delightful resting-place. My heart, run to him

anew tonight, whatever thy present grief may be; Jesus feels for thee; Jesus

consoles thee; Jesus will help thee. No monarch in his impregnable fortress is

more secure than the cony in his rocky burrow. The master of ten thousand

chariots is not one whit better protected than the little dweller in the

mountain’s cleft. In Jesus the weak are strong, and the defenceless safe; they

could not be more strong if they were giants, or more safe if they were in

heaven. Faith gives to men on earth the protection of the God of heaven. More

they cannot need, and need not wish. The conies cannot build a castle, but

they avail themselves of what is there already: I cannot make myself a refuge,

but Jesus has provided it, his Father has given it, his Spirit has revealed

it, and lo, again tonight I enter it, and am safe from every foe.

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Morning   “Avoid foolish questions.” / Titus 3:9

Our days are few, and are far better spent in doing good, than in disputing

over matters which are, at best, of minor importance. The old schoolmen did a

world of mischief by their incessant discussion of subjects of no practical

importance; and our Churches suffer much from petty wars over abstruse points

and unimportant questions. After everything has been said that can be said,

neither party is any the wiser, and therefore the discussion no more promotes

knowledge than love, and it is foolish to sow in so barren a field. Questions

upon points wherein Scripture is silent; upon mysteries which belong to God

alone; upon prophecies of doubtful interpretation; and upon mere modes of

observing human ceremonials, are all foolish, and wise men avoid them. Our

business is neither to ask nor answer foolish questions, but to avoid them

altogether; and if we observe the apostle’s precept (Titus 3:8) to be careful

to maintain good works, we shall find ourselves far too much occupied with

profitable business to take much interest in unworthy, contentious, and

needless strivings.

There are, however, some questions which are the reverse of foolish, which we

must not avoid, but fairly and honestly meet, such as these: Do I believe in

the Lord Jesus Christ? Am I renewed in the spirit of my mind? Am I walking not

after the flesh, but after the Spirit? Am I growing in grace? Does my

conversation adorn the doctrine of God my Saviour? Am I looking for the coming

of the Lord, and watching as a servant should do who expects his master? What

more can I do for Jesus? Such enquiries as these urgently demand our

attention; and if we have been at all given to cavilling, let us now turn our

critical abilities to a service so much more profitable. Let us be

peace-makers, and endeavour to lead others both by our precept and example, to

“avoid foolish questions.”

 

Evening  “O that I knew where I might find him!” / Job 23:3

In Job’s uttermost extremity he cried after the Lord. The longing desire of an

afflicted child of God is once more to see his Father’s face. His first prayer

is not “O that I might be healed of the disease which now festers in every

part of my body!” nor even “O that I might see my children restored from the

jaws of the grave, and my property once more brought from the hand of the

spoiler!” but the first and uppermost cry is, “O that I knew where I might

find Him, who is my God! that I might come even to his seat!” God’s children

run home when the storm comes on. It is the heaven-born instinct of a gracious

soul to seek shelter from all ills beneath the wings of Jehovah. “He that hath

made his refuge God,” might serve as the title of a true believer. A

hypocrite, when afflicted by God, resents the infliction, and, like a slave,

would run from the Master who has scourged him; but not so the true heir of

heaven, he kisses the hand which smote him, and seeks shelter from the rod in

the bosom of the God who frowned upon him. Job’s desire to commune with God

was intensified by the failure of all other sources of consolation. The

patriarch turned away from his sorry friends, and looked up to the celestial

throne, just as a traveller turns from his empty skin bottle, and betakes

himself with all speed to the well. He bids farewell to earth-born hopes, and

cries, “O that I knew where I might find my God!” Nothing teaches us so much

the preciousness of the Creator, as when we learn the emptiness of all

besides. Turning away with bitter scorn from earth’s hives, where we find no

honey, but many sharp stings, we rejoice in him whose faithful word is sweeter

than honey or the honeycomb. In every trouble we should first seek to realize

God’s presence with us. Only let us enjoy his smile, and we can bear our daily

cross with a willing heart for his dear sake.