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\ / Charles Spurgeon's MORNING & EVENING http://www.heartlight.org/
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Thursday, December 25, 2008
MORNING:
"Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall
call his name Immanuel."
-- Isaiah 7:14
Let us to-day go down to Bethlehem, and in company with wondering
shepherds and adoring Magi, let us see him who was born King of the
Jews, for we by faith can claim an interest in him, and can sing, "Unto
us a child is born, unto us a son is given." Jesus is Jehovah
incarnate, our Lord and our God, and yet our brother and friend; let us
adore and admire. Let us notice at the very first glance his miraculous
conception. It was a thing unheard of before, and unparalleled since,
that a virgin should conceive and bear a Son. The first promise ran
thus, "The seed of the woman," not the offspring of the man. Since
venturous woman led the way in the sin which brought forth Paradise
lost, she, and she alone, ushers in the Regainer of Paradise. Our
Saviour, although truly man, was as to his human nature the Holy One of
God. Let us reverently bow before the holy Child whose innocence
restores to manhood its ancient glory; and let us pray that he may be
formed in us, the hope of glory. Fail not to note his humble parentage.
His mother has been described simply as "a virgin," not a princess, or
prophetess, nor a matron of large estate. True the blood of kings ran
in her veins; nor was her mind a weak and untaught one, for she could
sing most sweetly a song of praise; but yet how humble her position,
how poor the man to whom she stood affianced, and how miserable the
accommodation afforded to the new-born King!
Immanuel, God with us in our nature, in our sorrow, in our lifework, in
our punishment, in our grave, and now with us, or rather we with him,
in resurrection, ascension, triumph, and Second Advent splendour.
EVENING:
"And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone
about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in
the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the
number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have
sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job
continually."
-- Job 1:5
What the patriarch did early in the morning, after the family
festivities, it will be well for the believer to do for himself ere he
rests tonight. Amid the cheerfulness of household gatherings it is easy
to slide into sinful levities, and to forget our avowed character as
Christians. It ought not to be so, but so it is, that our days of
feasting are very seldom days of sanctified enjoyment, but too
frequently degenerate into unhallowed mirth. There is a way of joy as
pure and sanctifying as though one bathed in the rivers of Eden: holy
gratitude should be quite as purifying an element as grief. Alas! for
our poor hearts, that facts prove that the house of mourning is better
than the house of feasting. Come, believer, in what have you sinned
to-day? Have you been forgetful of your high calling? Have you been
even as others in idle words and loose speeches? Then confess the sin,
and fly to the sacrifice. The sacrifice sanctifies. The precious blood
of the Lamb slain removes the guilt, and purges away the defilement of
our sins of ignorance and carelessness. This is the best ending of a
Christmas-day-to wash anew in the cleansing fountain. Believer, come to
this sacrifice continually; if it be so good to-night, it is good every
night. To live at the altar is the privilege of the royal priesthood;
to them sin, great as it is, is nevertheless no cause for despair,
since they draw near yet again to the sin-atoning victim, and their
conscience is purged from dead works.
Gladly I close this festive day,
Grasping the altar's hallow'd horn;
My slips and faults are washed away,
The Lamb has all my trespass borne.
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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,
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