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\ / Charles Spurgeon's MORNING & EVENING http://www.heartlight.org/
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Wednesday, January 14, 2009
MORNING:
"Mighty to save."
-- Isaiah 63:1
By the words "to save" we understand the whole of the great work of
salvation, from the first holy desire onward to complete
sanctification. The words are multum in parro: indeed, here is all
mercy in one word. Christ is not only "mighty to save" those who
repent, but he is able to make men repent. He will carry those to
heaven who believe; but he is, moreover, mighty to give men new hearts
and to work faith in them. He is mighty to make the man who hates
holiness love it, and to constrain the despiser of his name to bend the
knee before him. Nay, this is not all the meaning, for the divine power
is equally seen in the after-work. The life of a believer is a series
of miracles wrought by "the Mighty God." The bush burns, but is not
consumed. He is mighty to keep his people holy after he has made them
so, and to preserve them in his fear and love until he consummates
their spiritual existence in heaven. Christ's might doth not lie in
making a believer and then leaving him to shift for himself; but he who
begins the good work carries it on; he who imparts the first germ of
life in the dead soul, prolongs the divine existence, and strengthens
it until it bursts asunder every bond of sin, and the soul leaps from
earth, perfected in glory. Believer, here is encouragement. Art thou
praying for some beloved one? Oh, give not up thy prayers, for Christ
is "mighty to save." You are powerless to reclaim the rebel, but your
Lord is Almighty. Lay hold on that mighty arm, and rouse it to put
forth its strength. Does your own case trouble you? Fear not, for his
strength is sufficient for you. Whether to begin with others, or to
carry on the work in you, Jesus is "mighty to save;" the best proof of
which lies in the fact that he has saved you. What a thousand mercies
that you have not found him mighty to destroy!
EVENING:
"Beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me."
-- Matthew 14:30
Sinking times are praying times with the Lord's servants. Peter
neglected prayer at starting upon his venturous journey, but when he
began to sink his danger made him a suppliant, and his cry though late
was not too late. In our hours of bodily pain and mental anguish, we
find ourselves as naturally driven to prayer as the wreck is driven
upon the shore by the waves. The fox hies to its hole for protection;
the bird flies to the wood for shelter; and even so the tried believer
hastens to the mercy seat for safety. Heaven's great harbour of refuge
is All-prayer; thousands of weather-beaten vessels have found a haven
there, and the moment a storm comes on, it is wise for us to make for
it with all sail.
Short prayers are long enough. There were but three words in the
petition which Peter gasped out, but they were sufficient for his
purpose. Not length but strength is desirable. A sense of need is a
mighty teacher of brevity. If our prayers had less of the tail feathers
of pride and more wing they would be all the better. Verbiage is to
devotion as chaff to the wheat. Precious things lie in small compass,
and all that is real prayer in many a long address might have been
uttered in a petition as short as that of Peter.
Our extremities are the Lord's opportunities. Immediately a keen sense
of danger forces an anxious cry from us the ear of Jesus hears, and
with him ear and heart go together, and the hand does not long linger.
At the last moment we appeal to our Master, but his swift hand makes up
for our delays by instant and effectual action. Are we nearly engulfed
by the boisterous waters of affliction? Let us then lift up our souls
unto our Saviour, and we may rest assured that he will not suffer us to
perish. When we can do nothing Jesus can do all things; let us enlist
his powerful aid upon our side, and all will be well.
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REIMAGINING CHURCH, by Frank Viola
Should a house of worship be a home? Viola suggests a return to the
early Christian model of organic house churches.
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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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