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\ / Charles Spurgeon's MORNING & EVENING
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Wednesday, October 3, 2007
MORNING:
"Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister
for them who shall be heirs of salvation?"
-- Hebrews 1:14
Angels are the unseen attendants of the saints of God; they bear us up
in their hands, lest we dash our foot against a stone. Loyalty to their
Lord leads them to take a deep interest in the children of his love;
they rejoice over the return of the prodigal to his father's house
below, and they welcome the advent of the believer to the King's palace
above. In olden times the sons of God were favoured with their visible
appearance, and at this day, although unseen by us, heaven is still
opened, and the angels of God ascend and descend upon the Son of man,
that they may visit the heirs of salvation. Seraphim still fly with
live coals from off the altar to touch the lips of men greatly beloved.
If our eyes could be opened, we should see horses of fire and chariots
of fire about the servants of the Lord; for we have come to an
innumerable company of angels, who are all watchers and protectors of
the seed-royal. Spenser's line is no poetic fiction, where he sings-
"How oft do they with golden pinions cleave
The flitting skies, like flying pursuivant
Against foul fiends to aid us militant!"
To what dignity are the chosen elevated when the brilliant courtiers of
heaven become their willing servitors! Into what communion are we
raised since we have intercourse with spotless celestials! How well are
we defended since all the twenty- thousand chariots of God are armed
for our deliverance! To whom do we owe all this? Let the Lord Jesus
Christ be for ever endeared to us, for through him we are made to sit
in heavenly places far above principalities and powers. He it is whose
camp is round about them that fear him; he is the true Michael whose
foot is upon the dragon. All hail, Jesus! thou Angel of Jehovah's
presence, to thee this family offers its morning vows.
EVENING:
"He himself hath suffered being tempted."
-- Hebrews 2:18
It is a common-place thought, and yet it tastes like nectar to the
weary heart-Jesus was tempted as I am. You have heard that truth many
times: have you grasped it? He was tempted to the very same sins into
which we fall. Do not dissociate Jesus from our common manhood. It is a
dark room which you are going through, but Jesus went through it
before. It is a sharp fight which you are waging, but Jesus has stood
foot to foot with the same enemy. Let us be of good cheer, Christ has
borne the load before us, and the blood-stained footsteps of the King
of glory may be seen along the road which we traverse at this hour.
There is something sweeter yet-Jesus was tempted, but Jesus never
sinned. Then, my soul, it is not needful for thee to sin, for Jesus was
a man, and if one man endured these temptations and sinned not, then in
his power his members may also cease from sin. Some beginners in the
divine life think that they cannot be tempted without sinning, but they
mistake; there is no sin in being tempted, but there is sin in yielding
to temptation. Herein is comfort for the sorely tempted ones. There is
still more to encourage them if they reflect that the Lord Jesus,
though tempted, gloriously triumphed, and as he overcame, so surely
shall his followers also, for Jesus is the representative man for his
people; the Head has triumphed, and the members share in the victory.
Fears are needless, for Christ is with us, armed for our defence. Our
place of safety is the bosom of the Saviour. Perhaps we are tempted
just now, in order to drive us nearer to him. Blessed be any wind that
blows us into the port of our Saviour's love! Happy wounds, which make
us seek the beloved Physician. Ye tempted ones, come to your tempted
Saviour, for he can be touched with a feeling of your infirmities, and
will succour every tried and tempted one.
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Morning & Evening is the classic devotional by 19th-century writer
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