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\ / Charles Spurgeon's MORNING & EVENING
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Saturday, July 5, 2008
MORNING:
"Called to be saints."
-- Romans 1:7
We are very apt to regard the apostolic saints as if they were "saints"
in a more especial manner than the other children of God. All are
"saints" whom God has called by His grace, and sanctified by His
Spirit; but we are apt to look upon the apostles as extraordinary
beings, scarcely subject to the same weaknesses and temptations as
ourselves. Yet in so doing we are forgetful of this truth, that the
nearer a man lives to God the more intensely has he to mourn over his
own evil heart; and the more his Master honours him in his service, the
more also doth the evil of the flesh vex and tease him day by day. The
fact is, if we had seen the apostle Paul, we should have thought him
remarkably like the rest of the chosen family: and if we had talked
with him, we should have said, "We find that his experience and ours
are much the same. He is more faithful, more holy, and more deeply
taught than we are, but he has the selfsame trials to endure. Nay, in
some respects he is more sorely tried than ourselves." Do not, then,
look upon the ancient saints as being exempt either from infirmities or
sins; and do not regard them with that mystic reverence which will
almost make us idolaters. Their holiness is attainable even by us. We
are "called to be saints" by that same voice which constrained them to
their high vocation. It is a Christian's duty to force his way into the
inner circle of saintship; and if these saints were superior to us in
their attainments, as they certainly were, let us follow them; let us
emulate their ardour and holiness. We have the same light that they
had, the same grace is accessible to us, and why should we rest
satisfied until we have equalled them in heavenly character? They lived
with Jesus, they lived for Jesus, therefore they grew like Jesus. Let
us live by the same Spirit as they did, "looking unto Jesus," and our
saintship will soon be apparent.
EVENING:
"Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is
everlasting strength."
-- Isaiah 26:4
Seeing that we have such a God to trust to, let us rest upon him with
all our weight; let us resolutely drive out all unbelief, and endeavour
to get rid of doubts and fears, which so much mar our comfort; since
there is no excuse for fear where God is the foundation of our trust. A
loving parent would be sorely grieved if his child could not trust him;
and how ungenerous, how unkind is our conduct when we put so little
confidence in our heavenly Father who has never failed us, and who
never will. It were well if doubting were banished from the household
of God; but it is to be feared that old Unbelief is as nimble nowadays
as when the psalmist asked, "Is his mercy clean gone for ever? Will he
be favourable no more?" David had not made any very lengthy trial of
the mighty sword of the giant Goliath, and yet he said, "There is none
like it." He had tried it once in the hour of his youthful victory, and
it had proved itself to be of the right metal, and therefore he praised
it ever afterwards; even so should we speak well of our God, there is
none like unto him in the heaven above or the earth beneath; "To whom
then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One." There
is no rock like unto the rock of Jacob, our enemies themselves being
judges. So far from suffering doubts to live in our hearts, we will
take the whole detestable crew, as Elijah did the prophets of Baal, and
slay them over the brook; and for a stream to kill them at, we will
select the sacred torrent which wells forth from our Saviour's wounded
side. We have been in many trials, but we have never yet been cast
where we could not find in our God all that we needed. Let us then be
encouraged to trust in the Lord for ever, assured that his ever lasting
strength will be, as it has been, our succour and stay.
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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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