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\ / Charles Spurgeon's MORNING & EVENING
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Sunday, June 22, 2008
MORNING:
"He shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the
glory."
-- Zechariah 6:13
Christ himself is the builder of his spiritual temple, and he has built
it on the mountains of his unchangeable affection, his omnipotent
grace, and his infallible truthfulness. But as it was in Solomon's
temple, so in this; the materials need making ready. There are the
"Cedars of Lebanon," but they are not framed for the building; they are
not cut down, and shaped, and made into those planks of cedar, whose
odoriferous beauty shall make glad the courts of the Lord's house in
Paradise. There are also the rough stones still in the quarry, they
must be hewn thence, and squared. All this is Christ's own work. Each
individual believer is being prepared, and polished, and made ready for
his place in the temple; but Christ's own hand performs the
preparation-work. Afflictions cannot sanctify, excepting as they are
used by him to this end. Our prayers and efforts cannot make us ready
for heaven, apart from the hand of Jesus, who fashioneth our hearts
aright.
As in the building of Solomon's temple, "there was neither hammer, nor
axe, nor any tool of iron, heard in the house," because all was brought
perfectly ready for the exact spot it was to occupy-so is it with the
temple which Jesus builds; the making ready is all done on earth. When
we reach heaven, there will be no sanctifying us there, no squaring us
with affliction, no planing us with suffering. No, we must be made meet
here-all that Christ will do beforehand; and when he has done it, we
shall be ferried by a loving hand across the stream of death, and
brought to the heavenly Jerusalem, to abide as eternal pillars in the
temple of our Lord.
"Beneath his eye and care,
The edifice shall rise,
Majestic, strong, and fair,
And shine above the skies."
EVENING:
"That those things which cannot be shaken may remain."
-- Hebrews 12:27
We have many things in our possession at the present moment which can
be shaken, and it ill becomes a Christian man to set much store by
them, for there is nothing stable beneath these rolling skies; change
is written upon all things. Yet, we have certain "things which cannot
be shaken," and I invite you this evening to think of them, that if the
things which can be shaken should all be taken away, you may derive
real comfort from the things that cannot be shaken, which will remain.
Whatever your losses have been, or may be, you enjoy present salvation.
You are standing at the foot of his cross, trusting alone in the merit
of Jesus' precious blood, and no rise or fall of the markets can
interfere with your salvation in him; no breaking of banks, no failures
and bankruptcies can touch that. Then you are a child of God this
evening. God is your Father. No change of circumstances can ever rob
you of that. Although by losses brought to poverty, and stripped bare,
you can say, "He is my Father still. In my Father's house are many
mansions; therefore will I not be troubled." You have another permanent
blessing, namely, the love of Jesus Christ. He who is God and Man loves
you with all the strength of his affectionate nature-nothing can affect
that. The fig tree may not blossom, and the flocks may cease from the
field, it matters not to the man who can sing, "My Beloved is mine, and
I am his." Our best portion and richest heritage we cannot lose.
Whatever troubles come, let us play the man; let us show that we are
not such little children as to be cast down by what may happen in this
poor fleeting state of time. Our country is Immanuel's land, our hope
is above the sky, and therefore, calm as the summer's ocean; we will
see the wreck of everything earthborn, and yet rejoice in the God of
our salvation.
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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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