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\ / Charles Spurgeon's MORNING & EVENING
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Thursday, March 27, 2008
MORNING:
"Then all the disciples forsook him and fled."
-- Matthew 26:56
He never deserted them, but they in cowardly fear of their lives, fled
from him in the very beginning of his sufferings. This is but one
instructive instance of the frailty of all believers if left to
themselves; they are but sheep at the best, and they flee when the wolf
cometh. They had all been warned of the danger, and had promised to die
rather than leave their Master; and yet they were seized with sudden
panic, and took to their heels. It may be, that I, at the opening of
this day, have braced up my mind to bear a trial for the Lord's sake,
and I imagine myself to be certain to exhibit perfect fidelity; but let
me be very jealous of myself, lest having the same evil heart of
unbelief, I should depart from my Lord as the apostles did. It is one
thing to promise, and quite another to perform. It would have been to
their eternal honour to have stood at Jesus' side right manfully; they
fled from honour; may I be kept from imitating them! Where else could
they have been so safe as near their Master, who could presently call
for twelve legions of angels? They fled from their true safety. O God,
let me not play the fool also. Divine grace can make the coward brave.
The smoking flax can flame forth like fire on the altar when the Lord
wills it. These very apostles who were timid as hares, grew to be bold
as lions after the Spirit had descended upon them, and even so the Holy
Spirit can make my recreant spirit brave to confess my Lord and witness
for his truth.
What anguish must have filled the Saviour as he saw his friends so
faithless! This was one bitter ingredient in his cup; but that cup is
drained dry; let me not put another drop in it. If I forsake my Lord, I
shall crucify him afresh, and put him to an open shame. Keep me, O
blessed Spirit, from an end so shameful.
EVENING:
"And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs
which fall from their master's table."
-- Matthew 15:27
This woman gained comfort in her misery by thinking GREAT THOUGHTS OF
CHRIST. The Master had talked about the children's bread: "Now," argued
she, "since thou art the Master of the table of grace, I know that thou
art a generous housekeeper, and there is sure to be abundance of bread
on thy table; there will be such an abundance for the children that
there will be crumbs to throw on the floor for the dogs, and the
children will fare none the worse because the dogs are fed." She
thought him one who kept so good a table that all that she needed would
only be a crumb in comparison; yet remember, what she wanted was to
have the devil cast out of her daughter. It was a very great thing to
her, but she had such a high esteem of Christ, that she said, "It is
nothing to him, it is but a crumb for Christ to give." This is the
royal road to comfort. Great thoughts of your sin alone will drive you
to despair; but great thoughts of Christ will pilot you into the haven
of peace. "My sins are many, but oh! it is nothing to Jesus to take
them all away. The weight of my guilt presses me down as a giant's foot
would crush a worm, but it is no more than a grain of dust to him,
because he has already borne its curse in his own body on the tree. It
will be but a small thing for him to give me full remission, although
it will be an infinite blessing for me to receive it." The woman opens
her soul's mouth very wide, expecting great things of Jesus, and he
fills it with his love. Dear reader, do the same. She confessed what
Christ laid at her door, but she laid fast hold upon him, and drew
arguments even out of his hard words; she believed great things of him,
and she thus overcame him. SHE WON THE VICTORY BY BELIEVING IN HIM. Her
case is an instance of prevailing faith; and if we would conquer like
her, we must imitate her tactics.
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Morning & Evening is the classic devotional by 19th-century writer
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