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\ / Charles Spurgeon's MORNING & EVENING
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Sunday, October 7, 2007
MORNING:
"Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant?"
-- Numbers 11:11
Our heavenly Father sends us frequent troubles to try our faith. If our
faith be worth anything, it will stand the test. Gilt is afraid of
fire, but gold is not: the paste gem dreads to be touched by the
diamond, but the true jewel fears no test. It is a poor faith which can
only trust God when friends are true, the body full of health, and the
business profitable; but that is true faith which holds by the Lord's
faithfulness when friends are gone, when the body is sick, when spirits
are depressed, and the light of our Father's countenance is hidden. A
faith which can say, in the direst trouble, "Though he slay me, yet
will I trust in him," is heaven-born faith. The Lord afflicts his
servants to glorify himself, for he is greatly glorified in the graces
of his people, which are his own handiwork. When "tribulation worketh
patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope," the Lord is
honoured by these growing virtues. We should never know the music of
the harp if the strings were left untouched; nor enjoy the juice of the
grape if it were not trodden in the winepress; nor discover the sweet
perfume of cinnamon if it were not pressed and beaten; nor feel the
warmth of fire if the coals were not utterly consumed. The wisdom and
power of the great Workman are discovered by the trials through which
his vessels of mercy are permitted to pass. Present afflictions tend
also to heighten future joy. There must be shades in the picture to
bring out the beauty of the lights. Could we be so supremely blessed in
heaven, if we had not known the curse of sin and the sorrow of earth?
Will not peace be sweeter after conflict, and rest more welcome after
toil? Will not the recollection of past sufferings enhance the bliss of
the glorified? There are many other comfortable answers to the question
with which we opened our brief meditation, let us muse upon it all day
long.
EVENING:
"Now on whom dost thou trust?"
-- Isaiah 36:5
Reader, this is an important question. Listen to the Christian's
answer, and see if it is yours. "On whom dost thou trust?" "I trust,"
says the Christian, "in a triune God. I trust the Father, believing
that he has chosen me from before the foundations of the world; I trust
him to provide for me in providence, to teach me, to guide me, to
correct me if need be, and to bring me home to his own house where the
many mansions are. I trust the Son. Very God of very God is he-the man
Christ Jesus. I trust in him to take away all my sins by his own
sacrifice, and to adorn me with his perfect righteousness. I trust him
to be my Intercessor, to present my prayers and desires before his
Father's throne, and I trust him to be my Advocate at the last great
day, to plead my cause, and to justify me. I trust him for what he is,
for what he has done, and for what he has promised yet to do. And I
trust the Holy Spirit-he has begun to save me from my inbred sins; I
trust him to drive them all out; I trust him to curb my temper, to
subdue my will, to enlighten my understanding, to check my passions, to
comfort my despondency, to help my weakness, to illuminate my darkness;
I trust him to dwell in me as my life, to reign in me as my King, to
sanctify me wholly, spirit, soul, and body, and then to take me up to
dwell with the saints in light for ever."
Oh, blessed trust! To trust him whose power will never be exhausted,
whose love will never wane, whose kindness will never change, whose
faithfulness will never fail, whose wisdom will never be nonplussed,
and whose perfect goodness can never know a diminution! Happy art thou,
reader, if this trust is thine! So trusting, thou shalt enjoy sweet
peace now, and glory hereafter, and the foundation of thy trust shall
never be removed.
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Morning & Evening is the classic devotional by 19th-century writer
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