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\ / Charles Spurgeon's MORNING & EVENING
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Thursday, March 13, 2008
MORNING:
"Why sit we here until we die?"
-- 2 Kings 7:3
Dear reader, this little book was mainly intended for the edification
of believers, but if you are yet unsaved, our heart yearns over you:
and we would fain say a word which may be blessed to you. Open your
Bible, and read the story of the lepers, and mark their position, which
was much the same as yours. If you remain where you are you must
perish; if you go to Jesus you can but die. "Nothing venture, nothing
win," is the old proverb, and in your case the venture is no great one.
If you sit still in sullen despair, no one can pity you when your ruin
comes; but if you die with mercy sought, if such a thing were possible,
you would be the object of universal sympathy. None escape who refuse
to look to Jesus; but you know that, at any rate, some are saved who
believe in him, for certain of your own acquaintances have received
mercy: then why not you? The Ninevites said, "Who can tell?" Act upon
the same hope, and try the Lord's mercy. To perish is so awful, that if
there were but a straw to catch at, the instinct of self-preservation
should lead you to stretch out your hand. We have thus been talking to
you on your own unbelieving ground, we would now assure you, as from
the Lord, that if you seek him he will be found of you. Jesus casts out
none who come unto him. You shall not perish if you trust him; on the
contrary, you shall find treasure far richer than the poor lepers
gathered in Syria's deserted camp. May the Holy Spirit embolden you to
go at once, and you shall not believe in vain. When you are saved
yourself, publish the good news to others. Hold not your peace; tell
the King's household first, and unite with them in fellowship; let the
porter of the city, the minister, be informed of your discovery, and
then proclaim the good news in every place. The Lord save thee ere the
sun goes down this day.
EVENING:
"Then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in
unto him into the ark."
-- Genesis 8:9
Wearied out with her wanderings, the dove returns at length to the ark
as her only resting place. How heavily she flies-she will drop-she will
never reach the ark! But she struggles on. Noah has been looking out
for his dove all day long, and is ready to receive her. She has just
strength to reach the edge of the ark, she can hardly alight upon it,
and is ready to drop, when Noah puts forth his hand and pulls her in
unto him. Mark that: "pulled her in unto him." She did not fly right in
herself, but was too fearful, or too weary to do so. She flew as far as
she could, and then he put forth his hand and pulled her in unto him.
This act of mercy was shown to the wandering dove, and she was not
chidden for her wanderings. Just as she was she was pulled into the
ark. So you, seeking sinner, with all your sin, will be received. "Only
return"-those are God's two gracious words-"only return." What! nothing
else? No, "only return." She had no olive branch in her mouth this
time, nothing at all but just herself and her wanderings; but it is
"only return," and she does return, and Noah pulls her in. Fly, thou
wanderer; fly thou fainting one, dove as thou art, though thou thinkest
thyself to be black as the raven with the mire of sin, back, back to
the Saviour. Every moment thou waitest does but increase thy misery;
thine attempts to plume thyself and make thyself fit for Jesus are all
vanity. Come thou to him just as thou art. "Return, thou backsliding
Israel." He does not say, "Return, thou repenting Israel" (there is
such an invitation doubtless), but "thou backsliding one," as a
backslider with all thy backslidings about thee, Return, return,
return! Jesus is waiting for thee! He will stretch forth his hand and
"pull thee in"-in to himself, thy heart's true home.
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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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