Evening and Morning
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
March 21
MORNING
ÒYe shall be
scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone.Ó — John
16:32
Few had fellowship with the sorrows of Gethsemane. The
majority of the disciples were not sufficiently advanced in grace to be
admitted to behold the mysteries of Òthe agony.Ó Occupied with the passover feast at their own
houses, they represent the many who live upon the letter, but are mere babes as
to the spirit of the gospel. To twelve, nay, to eleven only was the privilege
given to enter Gethsemane and see Òthis great sight.Ó Out of the eleven, eight
were left at a distance; they had fellowship, but not of
that intimate sort to which men greatly beloved are admitted. Only three highly
favoured ones could approach the veil of our LordÕs
mysterious sorrow: within that veil even these must not intrude; a stoneÕs-cast
distance must be left between. He must tread the wine-press
alone, and of the people there must be none with Him. Peter and the two sons of
Zebedee, represent the few eminent, experienced saints, who may be written down
as ÒFathers;Ó these having done business on great waters, can in some degree
measure the huge Atlantic waves of their RedeemerÕs passion. To some selected
spirits it is given, for the good of others, and to strengthen them for future,
special, and tremendous conflict, to enter the inner circle and hear the
pleadings of the suffering High Priest; they have fellowship with Him in His
sufferings, and are made conformable unto His death. Yet even these cannot
penetrate the secret places of the SaviourÕs woe. ÒThine unknown sufferingsÓ is the remarkable expression of
the Greek liturgy: there was an inner chamber in our MasterÕs grief, shut out
from human knowledge and fellowship. There Jesus is
Òleft alone.Ó Here Jesus was more than ever an ÒUnspeakable gift!Ó Is not Watts
right when he sings —
ÒAnd all the
unknown joys he gives,
Were bought with agonies unknown.Ó
EVENING
ÒCanst thou bind the sweet influences of
Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?Ó
— Job 38:31
If inclined to boast of our abilities, the grandeur of
nature may soon show us how puny we are. We cannot move the least of all the
twinkling stars, or quench so much as one of the beams of the morning. We speak
of power, but the heavens laugh us to scorn. When the Pleiades shine forth in
spring with vernal joy we cannot restrain their influences, and when Orion
reigns aloft, and the year is bound in winterÕs fetters, we cannot relax the
icy bands. The seasons revolve according to the divine appointment,
neither can the whole race of men effect a change therein. Lord, what is man?
In the spiritual, as in the natural world, manÕs power is limited on all hands.
When the Holy Spirit sheds abroad His delights in the soul, none can disturb;
all the cunning and malice of men are ineffectual to stay the genial quickening
power of the Comforter. When He deigns to visit a church and revive it, the most
inveterate enemies cannot resist the good work; they may ridicule it, but they
can no more restrain it than they can push back the spring when the Pleiades
rule the hour. God wills it, and so it must be. On the other hand, if the Lord
in sovereignty, or in justice, bind up a man so that
he is in soul bondage, who can give him liberty? He alone can remove the winter
of spiritual death from an individual or a people. He looses the bands of
Orion, and none but He. What a blessing it is that He can do
it. O that He would perform the wonder to-night.
Lord, end my winter, and let my spring begin. I cannot with all my longings
raise my soul out of her death and dulness, but all
things are possible with Thee. I need celestial influences, the clear shinings of Thy love, the beams of Thy grace, the light of
Thy countenance, these are the Pleiades to me. I
suffer much from sin and temptation, these are my
wintry signs, my terrible Orion. Lord, work wonders in me, and for me.
Amen.