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\ / Charles Spurgeon's MORNING & EVENING http://www.heartlight.org/
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Sunday, March 29, 2009
MORNING:
"Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things
which he suffered."
-- Hebrews 5:8
We are told that the Captain of our salvation was made perfect through
suffering, therefore we who are sinful, and who are far from being
perfect, must not wonder if we are called to pass through suffering
too. Shall the head be crowned with thorns, and shall the other members
of the body be rocked upon the dainty lap of ease? Must Christ pass
through seas of his own blood to win the crown, and are we to walk to
heaven dryshod in silver slippers? No, our Master's experience teaches
us that suffering is necessary, and the true-born child of God must
not, would not, escape it if he might. But there is one very comforting
thought in the fact of Christ's "being made perfect through
suffering"-it is, that he can have complete sympathy with us. "He is
not an high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our
infirmities." In this sympathy of Christ we find a sustaining power.
One of the early martyrs said, "I can bear it all, for Jesus suffered,
and he suffers in me now; he sympathizes with me, and this makes me
strong." Believer, lay hold of this thought in all times of agony. Let
the thought of Jesus strengthen you as you follow in his steps. Find a
sweet support in his sympathy; and remember that, to suffer is an
honourable thing-to suffer for Christ is glory. The apostles rejoiced
that they were counted worthy to do this. Just so far as the Lord shall
give us grace to suffer for Christ, to suffer with Christ, just so far
does he honour us. The jewels of a Christian are his afflictions. The
regalia of the kings whom God hath anointed are their troubles, their
sorrows, and their griefs. Let us not, therefore, shun being honoured.
Let us not turn aside from being exalted. Griefs exalt us, and troubles
lift us up. "If we suffer, we shall also reign with him."
EVENING:
"I called him, but he gave me no answer."
-- Song of Solomon 5:6
Prayer sometimes tarrieth, like a petitioner at the gate, until the
King cometh forth to fill her bosom with the blessings which she
seeketh. The Lord, when he hath given great faith, has been known to
try it by long delayings. He has suffered his servants' voices to echo
in their ears as from a brazen sky. They have knocked at the golden
gate, but it has remained immovable, as though it were rusted upon its
hinges. Like Jeremiah, they have cried, "Thou hast covered thyself with
a cloud, that our prayer should not pass through." Thus have true
saints continued long in patient waiting without reply, not because
their prayers were not vehement, nor because they were unaccepted, but
because it so pleased him who is a Sovereign, and who gives according
to his own pleasure. If it pleases him to bid our patience exercise
itself, shall he not do as he wills with his own! Beggars must not be
choosers either as to time, place, or form. But we must be careful not
to take delays in prayer for denials: God's long-dated bills will be
punctually honoured; we must not suffer Satan to shake our confidence
in the God of truth by pointing to our unanswered prayers. Unanswered
petitions are not unheard. God keeps a file for our prayers-they are
not blown away by the wind, they are treasured in the King's archives.
This is a registry in the court of heaven wherein every prayer is
recorded. Tried believer, thy Lord hath a tear-bottle in which the
costly drops of sacred grief are put away, and a book in which thy holy
groanings are numbered. By-and-by, thy suit shall prevail. Canst thou
not be content to wait a little? Will not thy Lord's time be better
than thy time? By-and-by he will comfortably appear, to thy soul's joy,
and make thee put away the sackcloth and ashes of long waiting, and put
on the scarlet and fine linen of full fruition.
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MORNING & EVENING from HEARTLIGHT /\/\
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Morning & Evening is the classic devotional by 19th-century writer
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