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\ / Charles Spurgeon's MORNING & EVENING http://www.heartlight.org/
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Thursday, August 14, 2008
MORNING:
"Thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work."
-- Psalms 92:4
Do you believe that your sins are forgiven, and that Christ has made a
full atonement for them? Then what a joyful Christian you ought to be!
How you should live above the common trials and troubles of the world!
Since sin is forgiven, can it matter what happens to you now? Luther
said, "Smite, Lord, smite, for my sin is forgiven; if thou hast but
forgiven me, smite as hard as thou wilt"; and in a similar spirit you
may say, "Send sickness, poverty, losses, crosses, persecution, what
thou wilt, thou hast forgiven me, and my soul is glad." Christian, if
thou art thus saved, whilst thou art glad, be grateful and loving.
Cling to that cross which took thy sin away; serve thou him who served
thee. "I beseech you therefore, by the mercies of God, that ye present
your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is
your reasonable service." Let not your zeal evaporate in some little
ebullition of song. Show your love in expressive tokens. Love the
brethren of him who loved you. If there be a Mephibosheth anywhere who
is lame or halt, help him for Jonathan's sake. If there be a poor tried
believer, weep with him, and bear his cross for the sake of him who
wept for thee and carried thy sins. Since thou art thus forgiven freely
for Christ's sake, go and tell to others the joyful news of pardoning
mercy. Be not contented with this unspeakable blessing for thyself
alone, but publish abroad the story of the cross. Holy gladness and
holy boldness will make you a good preacher, and all the world will be
a pulpit for you to preach in. Cheerful holiness is the most forcible
of sermons, but the Lord must give it you. Seek it this morning before
you go into the world. When it is the Lord's work in which we rejoice,
we need not be afraid of being too glad.
EVENING:
"I know their sorrows."
-- Exodus 3:7
The child is cheered as he sings, "This my father knows"; and shall not
we be comforted as we discern that our dear Friend and tender
soul-husband knows all about us?
1. He is the Physician, and if he knows all, there is no need that the
patient should know. Hush, thou silly, fluttering heart, prying,
peeping, and suspecting! What thou knowest not now, thou shalt know
hereafter, and meanwhile Jesus, the beloved Physician, knows thy soul
in adversities. Why need the patient analyze all the medicine, or
estimate all the symptoms? This is the Physician's work, not mine; it
is my business to trust, and his to prescribe. If he shall write his
prescription in uncouth characters which I cannot read, I will not be
uneasy on that account, but rely upon his unfailing skill to make all
plain in the result, however mysterious in the working.
2. He is the Master, and his knowledge is to serve us instead of our
own; we are to obey, not to judge: "The servant knoweth not what his
lord doeth." Shall the architect explain his plans to every hodman on
the works? If he knows his own intent, is it not enough? The vessel on
the wheel cannot guess to what pattern it shall be conformed, but if
the potter understands his art, what matters the ignorance of the clay?
My Lord must not be cross-questioned any more by one so ignorant as I
am.
3. He is the Head. All understanding centres there. What judgment has
the arm? What comprehension has the foot? All the power to know lies in
the head. Why should the member have a brain of its own when the head
fulfils for it every intellectual office? Here, then, must the believer
rest his comfort in sickness, not that he himself can see the end, but
that Jesus knows all. Sweet Lord, be thou for ever eye, and soul, and
head for us, and let us be content to know only what thou choosest to
reveal.
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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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