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\ / Charles Spurgeon's MORNING & EVENING http://www.heartlight.org/
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Thursday, February 5, 2009
MORNING:
"The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world."
-- 1 John 4:14
It is a sweet thought that Jesus Christ did not come forth without his
Father's permission, authority, consent, and assistance. He was sent of
the Father, that he might be the Saviour of men. We are too apt to
forget that, while there are distinctions as to the persons in the
Trinity, there are no distinctions of honour. We too frequently ascribe
the honour of our salvation, or at least the depths of its benevolence,
more to Jesus Christ than we do the Father. This is a very great
mistake. What if Jesus came? Did not his Father send him? If he spake
wondrously, did not his Father pour grace into his lips, that he might
be an able minister of the new covenant? He who knoweth the Father, and
the Son, and the Holy Ghost as he should know them, never setteth one
before another in his love; he sees them at Bethlehem, at Gethsemane,
and on Calvary, all equally engaged in the work of salvation. O
Christian, hast thou put thy confidence in the Man Christ Jesus? Hast
thou placed thy reliance solely on him? And art thou united with him?
Then believe that thou art united unto the God of heaven. Since to the
Man Christ Jesus thou art brother, and holdest closest fellowship, thou
art linked thereby with God the Eternal, and "the Ancient of days" is
thy Father and thy friend. Didst thou ever consider the depth of love
in the heart of Jehovah, when God the Father equipped his Son for the
great enterprise of mercy? If not, be this thy day's meditation. The
Father sent him! Contemplate that subject. Think how Jesus works what
the Father wills. In the wounds of the dying Saviour see the love of
the great I AM. Let every thought of Jesus be also connected with the
Eternal, ever-blessed God, for "It pleased the Lord to bruise him; he
hath put him to grief."
EVENING:
"At that time Jesus answered."
-- Matthew 11:25
This is a singular way in which to commence a verse-"At that time Jesus
answered." If you will look at the context you will not perceive that
any person had asked him a question, or that he was in conversation
with any human being. Yet it is written, "Jesus answered and said, I
thank thee, O Father." When a man answers, he answers a person who has
been speaking to him. Who, then, had spoken to Christ? his Father. Yet
there is no record of it; and this should teach us that Jesus had
constant fellowship with his Father, and that God spake into his heart
so often, so continually, that it was not a circumstance singular
enough to be recorded. It was the habit and life of Jesus to talk with
God. Even as Jesus was, in this world, so are we; let us therefore
learn the lesson which this simple statement concerning him teaches us.
May we likewise have silent fellowship with the Father, so that often
we may answer him, and though the world wotteth not to whom we speak,
may we be responding to that secret voice unheard of any other ear,
which our own ear, opened by the Spirit of God, recognizes with joy.
God has spoken to us, let us speak to God-either to set our seal that
God is true and faithful to his promise, or to confess the sin of which
the Spirit of God has convinced us, or to acknowledge the mercy which
God's providence has given, or to express assent to the great truths
which God the Holy Ghost has opened to our understanding. What a
privilege is intimate communion with the Father of our spirits! It is a
secret hidden from the world, a joy with which even the nearest friend
intermeddleth not. If we would hear the whispers of God's love, our ear
must be purged and fitted to listen to his voice. This very evening may
our hearts be in such a state, that when God speaks to us, we, like
Jesus, may be prepared at once to answer him.
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=========================== FEATURED PRODUCT =========================
JUST LIKE JESUS: LEARNING TO HAVE A HEART LIKE HIS, by Max Lucado
In his best-selling book Just Like Jesus, Max Lucado explains that God
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MORNING & EVENING from HEARTLIGHT /\/\
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