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\ / Charles Spurgeon's MORNING & EVENING http://www.heartlight.org/
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Saturday, May 30, 2009
MORNING:
"Take us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines."
-- Song of Solomon 2:15
A little thorn may cause much suffering. A little cloud may hide the
sun. Little foxes spoil the vines; and little sins do mischief to the
tender heart. These little sins burrow in the soul, and make it so full
of that which is hateful to Christ, that he will hold no comfortable
fellowship and communion with us. A great sin cannot destroy a
Christian, but a little sin can make him miserable. Jesus will not walk
with his people unless they drive out every known sin. He says, "If ye
keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my
Father's commandments and abide in his love." Some Christians very
seldom enjoy their Saviour's presence. How is this? Surely it must be
an affliction for a tender child to be separated from his father. Art
thou a child of God, and yet satisfied to go on without seeing thy
Father's face? What! thou the spouse of Christ, and yet content without
his company! Surely, thou hast fallen into a sad state, for the chaste
spouse of Christ mourns like a dove without her mate, when he has left
her. Ask, then, the question, what has driven Christ from thee? He
hides his face behind the wall of thy sins. That wall may be built up
of little pebbles, as easily as of great stones. The sea is made of
drops; the rocks are made of grains: and the sea which divides thee
from Christ may be filled with the drops of thy little sins; and the
rock which has well nigh wrecked thy barque, may have been made by the
daily working of the coral insects of thy little sins. If thou wouldst
live with Christ, and walk with Christ, and see Christ, and have
fellowship with Christ, take heed of "the little foxes that spoil the
vines, for our vines have tender grapes." Jesus invites you to go with
him and take them. He will surely, like Samson, take the foxes at once
and easily. Go with him to the hunting.
EVENING:
"That henceforth we should not serve sin."
-- Romans 6:6
Christian, what hast thou to do with sin? Hath it not cost thee enough
already? Burnt child, wilt thou play with the fire? What! when thou
hast already been between the jaws of the lion, wilt thou step a second
time into his den? Hast thou not had enough of the old serpent? Did he
not poison all thy veins once, and wilt thou play upon the hole of the
asp, and put thy hand upon the cockatrice's den a second time? Oh, be
not so mad! so foolish! Did sin ever yield thee real pleasure? Didst
thou find solid satisfaction in it? If so, go back to thine old
drudgery, and wear the chain again, if it delight thee. But inasmuch as
sin did never give thee what it promised to bestow, but deluded thee
with lies, be not a second time snared by the old fowler- be free, and
let the remembrance of thy ancient bondage forbid thee to enter the net
again! It is contrary to the designs of eternal love, which all have an
eye to thy purity and holiness; therefore run not counter to the
purposes of thy Lord. Another thought should restrain thee from sin.
Christians can never sin cheaply; they pay a heavy price for iniquity.
Transgression destroys peace of mind, obscures fellowship with Jesus,
hinders prayer, brings darkness over the soul; therefore be not the
serf and bondman of sin. There is yet a higher argument: each time you
"serve sin" you have "Crucified the Lord afresh, and put him to an open
shame." Can you bear that thought? Oh! if you have fallen into any
special sin during this day, it may be my Master has sent this
admonition this evening, to bring you back before you have backslidden
very far. Turn thee to Jesus anew; he has not forgotten his love to
thee; his grace is still the same. With weeping and repentance, come
thou to his footstool, and thou shalt be once more received into his
heart; thou shalt be set upon a rock again, and thy goings shall be
established.
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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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