Evening and Morning
By Charles
Haddon Spurgeon
April 22
Morning
"Him hath God exalted."—Acts 5:31
Jesus, our Lord, once
crucified, dead and buried, now sits upon the throne of glory. The highest
place that heaven affords is His by undisputed right. It is sweet to remember
that the exaltation of Christ in heaven is a representative exaltation.
He is exalted at the Father's right hand, and though as Jehovah He had eminent
glories, in which finite creatures cannot share, yet as the Mediator, the honours which
Jesus wears in heaven are the heritage of all the saints. It is
delightful to reflect how close is Christ's union with His people. We are
actually one with Him; we are members of His body; and His exaltation is our
exaltation. He will give us to sit upon His throne, even as He has overcome,
and is set down with His Father on His throne; He has a crown, and He gives us
crowns too; He has a throne, but He is not content with having a throne to
Himself, on His right hand there must be His queen, arrayed in "gold of Ophir." He cannot be glorified without His bride. Look
up, believer, to Jesus now; let the eye of your faith behold Him with many
crowns upon His head; and remember that you will one day be like Him, when you
shall see Him as He is; you shall not be so great as He is, you shall not be so
divine, but still you shall, in a measure, share the same honours,
and enjoy the same happiness and the same dignity which He possesses. Be
content to live unknown for a little while, and to walk your weary way through
the fields of poverty, or up the hills of affliction; for by-and-by you shall
reign with Christ, for He has "made us kings and priests unto God, and we
shall reign for ever and ever." Oh!, wonderful
thought for the children of God! We have Christ for our glorious representative
in heaven's courts now, and soon He will come and receive us to Himself,
to be with Him there, to behold His glory, and to share His joy.
Evening
"Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by
night."—Psalm 91:5.
What is this
terror? It may be the cry of fire, or the noise of thieves, or fancied
appearances, or the shriek of sudden sickness or death. We live in the world of
death and sorrow, we may therefore look for ills as
well in the night-watches as beneath the glare of he broiling sun. Nor should
this alarm us, for be the terror what it may, the promise is that the believer
shall not be afraid. Why should he? Let us put it more
closely, why should we? God our Father is here, and will be here all
through the lonely hours; He is an almighty Watcher, a sleepless Guardian, a faithful Friend. Nothing can happen without His direction,
for even hell itself is under His control. Darkness is not dark to Him. He has
promised to be a wall of fire around His people—and who can break through
such a barrier? Worldlings may well be afraid, for
they have an angry God above them, a guilty conscience within them, and a
yawning hell beneath them; but we who rest in Jesus are saved from all these
through rich mercy. If we give way to foolish fear we shall dishonour
our profession, and lead others to doubt the reality of godliness. We ought to
be afraid of being afraid, lest we should vex the Holy Spirit by foolish
distrust. Down, then, ye dismal forebodings and groundless apprehensions, God
has not forgotten to be gracious, nor shut up His tender mercies, it may be
night in the soul, but there need be no terror, for the God of love changes
not. Children of light may walk in darkness, but they are not therefore cast
away, nay, they are now enabled to prove their adoption by trusting in their
heavenly Father as hypocrites cannot do.
"Though the night be dark and dreary,
Darkness cannot hide from Thee;
Thou art He, who, never weary,
Watchest where Thy people be."