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\ / Charles Spurgeon's MORNING & EVENING
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Friday, December 28, 2007
MORNING:
"The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith
of the Son of God."
-- Galatians 2:20
When the Lord in mercy passed by and saw us in our blood, he first of
all said, "Live"; and this he did first, because life is one of the
absolutely essential things in spiritual matters, and until it be
bestowed we are incapable of partaking in the things of the kingdom.
Now the life which grace confers upon the saints at the moment of their
quickening is none other than the life of Christ, which, like the sap
from the stem, runs into us, the branches, and establishes a living
connection between our souls and Jesus. Faith is the grace which
perceives this union, having proceeded from it as its firstfruit. It is
the neck which joins the body of the Church to its all-glorious Head.
"Oh Faith! thou bond of union with the Lord,
Is not this office thine? and thy fit name,
In the economy of gospel types,
And symbols apposite-the Church's neck;
Identifying her in will and work
With him ascended?"
Faith lays hold upon the Lord Jesus with a firm and determined grasp.
She knows his excellence and worth, and no temptation can induce her to
repose her trust elsewhere; and Christ Jesus is so delighted with this
heavenly grace, that he never ceases to strengthen and sustain her by
the loving embrace and all-sufficient support of his eternal arms.
Here, then, is established a living, sensible, and delightful union
which casts forth streams of love, confidence, sympathy, complacency,
and joy, whereof both the bride and bridegroom love to drink. When the
soul can evidently perceive this oneness between itself and Christ, the
pulse may be felt as beating for both, and the one blood as flowing
through the veins of each. Then is the heart as near heaven as it can
be on earth, and is prepared for the enjoyment of the most sublime and
spiritual kind of fellowship.
EVENING:
"I came not to send peace on earth, but a sword."
-- Matthew 10:34
The Christian will be sure to make enemies. It will be one of his
objects to make none; but if to do the right, and to believe the true,
should cause him to lose every earthly friend, he will count it but a
small loss, since his great Friend in heaven will be yet more friendly,
and reveal himself to him more graciously than ever. O ye who have
taken up his cross, know ye not what your Master said? "I am come to
set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her
mother; and a man's foes shall be they of his own household." Christ is
the great Peacemaker; but before peace, he brings war. Where the light
cometh, the darkness must retire. Where truth is, the lie must flee;
or, if it abideth, there must be a stern conflict, for the truth cannot
and will not lower its standard, and the lie must be trodden under
foot. If you follow Christ, you shall have all the dogs of the world
yelping at your heels. If you would live so as to stand the test of the
last tribunal, depend upon it the world will not speak well of you. He
who has the friendship of the world is an enemy to God; but if you are
true and faithful to the Most High, men will resent your unflinching
fidelity, since it is a testimony against their iniquities. Fearless of
all consequences, you must do the right. You will need the courage of a
lion unhesitatingly to pursue a course which shall turn your best
friend into your fiercest foe; but for the love of Jesus you must thus
be courageous. For the truth's sake to hazard reputation and affection,
is such a deed that to do it constantly you will need a degree of moral
principle which only the Spirit of God can work in you; yet turn not
your back like a coward, but play the man. Follow right manfully in
your Master's steps, for he has traversed this rough way before you.
Better a brief warfare and eternal rest, than false peace and
everlasting torment.
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Morning & Evening is the classic devotional by 19th-century writer
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