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\ / Charles Spurgeon's MORNING & EVENING
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Tuesday, December 11, 2007
MORNING:
"Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it."
-- 1 Thessalonians 5:24
Heaven is a place where we shall never sin; where we shall cease our
constant watch against an indefatigable enemy, because there will be no
tempter to ensnare our feet. There the wicked cease from troubling, and
the weary are at rest. Heaven is the "undefiled inheritance"; it is the
land of perfect holiness, and therefore of complete security. But do
not the saints even on earth sometimes taste the joys of blissful
security? The doctrine of God's word is, that all who are in union with
the Lamb are safe; that all the righteous shall hold on their way; that
those who have committed their souls to the keeping of Christ shall
find him a faithful and immutable preserver. Sustained by such a
doctrine we can enjoy security even on earth; not that high and
glorious security which renders us free from every slip, but that holy
security which arises from the sure promise of Jesus that none who
believe in him shall ever perish, but shall be with him where he is.
Believer, let us often reflect with joy on the doctrine of the
perseverance of the saints, and honour the faithfulness of our God by a
holy confidence in him.
May our God bring home to you a sense of your safety in Christ Jesus!
May he assure you that your name is graven on his hand; and whisper in
your ear the promise, "Fear not, I am with thee." Look upon him, the
great Surety of the covenant, as faithful and true, and, therefore,
bound and engaged to present you, the weakest of the family, with all
the chosen race, before the throne of God; and in such a sweet
contemplation you will drink the juice of the spiced wine of the Lord's
pomegranate, and taste the dainty fruits of Paradise. You will have an
antepast of the enjoyments which ravish the souls of the perfect saints
above, if you can believe with unstaggering faith that "faithful is he
that calleth you, who also will do it."
EVENING:
"Ye serve the Lord Christ."
-- Colossians 3:24
To what choice order of officials was this word spoken? To kings who
proudly boast a right divine? Ah, no! too often do they serve
themselves or Satan, and forget the God whose sufferance permits them
to wear their mimic majesty for their little hour. Speaks then the
apostle to those so-called "right reverend fathers in God," the
bishops, or "the venerable the archdeacons"? No, indeed, Paul knew
nothing of these mere inventions of man. Not even to pastors and
teachers, or to the wealthy and esteemed among believers, was this word
spoken, but to servants, aye, and to slaves. Among the toiling
multitudes, the journeymen, the day labourers, the domestic servants,
the drudges of the kitchen, the apostle found, as we find still, some
of the Lord's chosen, and to them he says, "Whatsoever ye do, do it
heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye
shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord
Christ." This saying ennobles the weary routine of earthly employments,
and sheds a halo around the most humble occupations. To wash feet may
be servile, but to wash his feet is royal work. To unloose the
shoe-latchet is poor employ, but to unloose the great Master's shoe is
a princely privilege. The shop, the barn, the scullery, and the smithy
become temples when men and women do all to the glory of God! Then
"divine service" is not a thing of a few hours and a few places, but
all life becomes holiness unto the Lord, and every place and thing, as
consecrated as the tabernacle and its golden candlestick.
"Teach me, my God and King, in all things thee to see;
And what I do in anything to do it as to thee.
All may of thee partake, nothing can be so mean,
Which with this tincture, for thy sake, will not grow bright and clean.
A servant with this clause makes drudgery divine;
Who sweeps a room, as for thy laws, makes that and the action fine."
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Morning & Evening is the classic devotional by 19th-century writer
and preacher Charles Spurgeon. It's part of HEARTLIGHT Magazine,
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