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\ / Charles Spurgeon's MORNING & EVENING
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Wednesday, May 21, 2008
MORNING:
"If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious."
-- 1 Peter 2:3
If:-then, this is not a matter to be taken for granted concerning every
one of the human race. "If:"-then there is a possibility and a
probability that some may not have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
"If:"-then this is not a general but a special mercy; and it is needful
to enquire whether we know the grace of God by inward experience. There
is no spiritual favour which may not be a matter for heart-searching.
But while this should be a matter of earnest and prayerful inquiry, no
one ought to be content whilst there is any such thing as an "if" about
his having tasted that the Lord is gracious. A jealous and holy
distrust of self may give rise to the question even in the believer's
heart, but the continuance of such a doubt would be an evil indeed. We
must not rest without a desperate struggle to clasp the Saviour in the
arms of faith, and say, "I know whom I have believed, and I am
persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto
him." Do not rest, O believer, till thou hast a full assurance of thine
interest in Jesus. Let nothing satisfy thee till, by the infallible
witness of the Holy Spirit bearing witness with thy spirit, thou art
certified that thou art a child of God. Oh, trifle not here; let no
"perhaps" and "peradventure" and "if" and "maybe" satisfy thy soul.
Build on eternal verities, and verily build upon them. Get the sure
mercies of David, and surely get them. Let thine anchor be cast into
that which is within the veil, and see to it that thy soul be linked to
the anchor by a cable that will not break. Advance beyond these dreary
"ifs;" abide no more in the wilderness of doubts and fears; cross the
Jordan of distrust, and enter the Canaan of peace, where the Canaanite
still lingers, but where the land ceaseth not to flow with milk and
honey.
EVENING:
"There is corn in Egypt."
-- Genesis 42:2
Famine pinched all the nations, and it seemed inevitable that Jacob and
his family should suffer great want; but the God of providence, who
never forgets the objects of electing love, had stored a granary for
his people by giving the Egyptians warning of the scarcity, and leading
them to treasure up the grain of the years of plenty. Little did Jacob
expect deliverance from Egypt, but there was the corn in store for him.
Believer, though all things are apparently against thee, rest assured
that God has made a reservation on thy behalf; in the roll of thy
griefs there is a saving clause. Somehow he will deliver thee, and
somewhere he will provide for thee. The quarter from which thy rescue
shall arise may be a very unexpected one, but help will assuredly come
in thine extremity, and thou shalt magnify the name of the Lord. If men
do not feed thee, ravens shall; and if earth yield not wheat, heaven
shall drop with manna. Therefore be of good courage, and rest quietly
in the Lord. God can make the sun rise in the west if he pleases, and
make the source of distress the channel of delight. The corn in Egypt
was all in the hands of the beloved Joseph; he opened or closed the
granaries at will. And so the riches of providence are all in the
absolute power of our Lord Jesus, who will dispense them liberally to
his people. Joseph was abundantly ready to succour his own family; and
Jesus is unceasing in his faithful care for his brethren. Our business
is to go after the help which is provided for us: we must not sit still
in despondency, but bestir ourselves. Prayer will bear us soon into the
presence of our royal Brother: once before his throne we have only to
ask and have: his stores are not exhausted; there is corn still: his
heart is not hard, he will give the corn to us. Lord, forgive our
unbelief, and this evening constrain us to draw largely from thy
fulness and receive grace for grace.
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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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