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\ / Charles Spurgeon's MORNING & EVENING
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Sunday, June 1, 2008
MORNING:
"The evening and the morning were the first day."
-- Genesis 1:5
Was it so even in the beginning? Did light and darkness divide the
realm of time in the first day? Then little wonder is it if I have also
changes in my circumstances from the sunshine of prosperity to the
midnight of adversity. It will not always be the blaze of noon even in
my soul concerns, I must expect at seasons to mourn the absence of my
former joys, and seek my Beloved in the night. Nor am I alone in this,
for all the Lord's beloved ones have had to sing the mingled song of
judgment and of mercy, of trial and deliverance, of mourning and of
delight. It is one of the arrangements of Divine providence that day
and night shall not cease either in the spiritual or natural creation
till we reach the land of which it is written, "there is no night
there." What our heavenly Father ordains is wise and good.
What, then, my soul, is it best for thee to do? Learn first to be
content with this divine order, and be willing, with Job, to receive
evil from the hand of the Lord as well as good. Study next, to make the
outgoings of the morning and the evening to rejoice. Praise the Lord
for the sun of joy when it rises, and for the gloom of evening as it
falls. There is beauty both in sunrise and sunset, sing of it, and
glorify the Lord. Like the nightingale, pour forth thy notes at all
hours. Believe that the night is as useful as the day. The dews of
grace fall heavily in the night of sorrow. The stars of promise shine
forth gloriously amid the darkness of grief. Continue thy service under
all changes. If in the day thy watchword be labour, at night exchange
it for watch. Every hour has its duty, do thou continue in thy calling
as the Lord's servant until he shall suddenly appear in his glory. My
soul, thine evening of old age and death is drawing near, dread it not,
for it is part of the day; and the Lord has said, "I will cover him all
the day long."
EVENING:
"He will make her wilderness like Eden."
-- Isaiah 51:3
Methinks, I see in vision a howling wilderness, a great and terrible
desert, like to the Sahara. I perceive nothing in it to relieve the
eye, all around I am wearied with a vision of hot and arid sand, strewn
with ten thousand bleaching skeletons of wretched men who have expired
in anguish, having lost their way in the pitiless waste. What an
appalling sight! How horrible! a sea of sand without a bound, and
without an oasis, a cheerless graveyard for a race forlorn! But behold
and wonder! Upon a sudden, upspringing from the scorching sand I see a
plant of renown; and as it grows it buds, the bud expands-it is a rose,
and at its side a lily bows its modest head; and, miracle of miracles!
as the fragrance of those flowers is diffused the wilderness is
transformed into a fruitful field, and all around it blossoms
exceedingly, the glory of Lebanon is given unto it, the excellency of
Carmel and Sharon. Call it not Sahara, call it Paradise. Speak not of
it any longer as the valley of deathshade, for where the skeletons lay
bleaching in the sun, behold a resurrection is proclaimed, and up
spring the dead, a mighty army, full of life immortal. Jesus is that
plant of renown, and his presence makes all things new. Nor is the
wonder less in each individual's salvation. Yonder I behold you, dear
reader, cast out, an infant, unswathed, unwashed, defiled with your own
blood, left to be food for beasts of prey. But lo, a jewel has been
thrown into your bosom by a divine hand, and for its sake you have been
pitied and tended by divine providence, you are washed and cleansed
from your defilement, you are adopted into heaven's family, the fair
seal of love is upon your forehead, and the ring of faithfulness is on
your hand-you are now a prince unto God, though once an orphan, cast
away. O prize exceedingly the matchless power and grace which changes
deserts into gardens, and makes the barren heart to sing for joy.
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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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