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\ / Charles Spurgeon's MORNING & EVENING
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Tuesday, November 6, 2007
MORNING:
"I will pour water upon him that is thirsty."
-- Isaiah 44:3
When a believer has fallen into a low, sad state of feeling, he often
tries to lift himself out of it by chastening himself with dark and
doleful fears. Such is not the way to rise from the dust, but to
continue in it. As well chain the eagle's wing to make it mount, as
doubt in order to increase our grace. It is not the law, but the gospel
which saves the seeking soul at first; and it is not a legal bondage,
but gospel liberty which can restore the fainting believer afterwards.
Slavish fear brings not back the backslider to God, but the sweet
wooings of love allure him to Jesus' bosom. Are you this morning
thirsting for the living God, and unhappy because you cannot find him
to the delight of your heart? Have you lost the joy of religion, and is
this your prayer, "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation"? Are you
conscious also that you are barren, like the dry ground; that you are
not bringing forth the fruit unto God which he has a right to expect of
you; that you are not so useful in the Church, or in the world, as your
heart desires to be? Then here is exactly the promise which you need,
"I will pour water upon him that is thirsty." You shall receive the
grace you so much require, and you shall have it to the utmost reach of
your needs. Water refreshes the thirsty: you shall be refreshed; your
desires shall be gratified. Water quickens sleeping vegetable life:
your life shall be quickened by fresh grace. Water swells the buds and
makes the fruits ripen; you shall have fructifying grace: you shall be
made fruitful in the ways of God. Whatever good quality there is in
divine grace, you shall enjoy it to the full. All the riches of divine
grace you shall receive in plenty; you shall be as it were drenched
with it: and as sometimes the meadows become flooded by the bursting
rivers, and the fields are turned into pools, so shall you be-the
thirsty land shall be springs of water.
EVENING:
"Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath
enjoined unto you."
-- Hebrews 9:20
There is a strange power about the very name of blood, and the sight of
it is always affecting. A kind heart cannot bear to see a sparrow
bleed, and unless familiarized by use, turns away with horror at the
slaughter of a beast. As to the blood of men, it is a consecrated
thing: it is murder to shed it in wrath, it is a dreadful crime to
squander it in war. Is this solemnity occasioned by the fact that the
blood is the life, and the pouring of it forth the token of death? We
think so. When we rise to contemplate the blood of the Son of God, our
awe is yet more increased, and we shudder as we think of the guilt of
sin, and the terrible penalty which the Sin-bearer endured. Blood,
always precious, is priceless when it streams from Immanuel's side. The
blood of Jesus seals the covenant of grace, and makes it for ever sure.
Covenants of old were made by sacrifice, and the everlasting covenant
was ratified in the same manner. Oh, the delight of being saved upon
the sure foundation of divine engagements which cannot be dishonoured!
Salvation by the works of the law is a frail and broken vessel whose
shipwreck is sure; but the covenant vessel fears no storms, for the
blood ensures the whole. The blood of Jesus made his testament valid.
Wills are of no power unless the testators die. In this light the
soldier's spear is a blessed aid to faith, since it proved our Lord to
be really dead. Doubts upon that matter there can be none, and we may
boldly appropriate the legacies which he has left for his people. Happy
they who see their title to heavenly blessings assured to them by a
dying Saviour. But has this blood no voice to us? Does it not bid us
sanctify ourselves unto him by whom we have been redeemed? Does it not
call us to newness of life, and incite us to entire consecration to the
Lord? O that the power of the blood might be known, and felt in us this
night!
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MORNING & EVENING from HEARTLIGHT /\/\
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Morning & Evening is the classic devotional by 19th-century writer
and preacher Charles Spurgeon. It's part of HEARTLIGHT Magazine,
the leading Christian living e-zine on the Web. Visit HEARTLIGHT
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