Evening and Morning
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
March 19
MORNING
ÒStrong in faith.Ó
— Romans 4:20
Christian, take good care of thy faith; for recollect
faith is the only way whereby thou canst obtain blessings. If we want blessings
from God, nothing can fetch them down but faith. Prayer cannot draw down
answers from GodÕs throne except it be the earnest prayer of the man who
believes. Faith is the angelic messenger between the soul and the Lord Jesus in
glory. Let that angel be withdrawn, we can neither send up prayer, nor receive
the answers. Faith is the telegraphic wire which links earth and heaven —
on which GodÕs messages of love fly so fast, that before we call He answers,
and while we are yet speaking He hears us. But if that telegraphic wire of
faith be snapped, how can we receive the promise? Am I
in trouble? — I can obtain help for trouble by faith. Am
I beaten about by the enemy? — my soul on
her dear Refuge leans by faith. But take faith away — in vain I call to
God. There is no road betwixt my soul and heaven. In the deepest wintertime
faith is a road on which the horses of prayer may travel — ay, and all the better for the biting frost; but blockade the road,
and how can we communicate with the Great King? Faith links me with divinity.
Faith clothes me with the power of God. Faith engages on my side the
omnipotence of Jehovah. Faith ensures every attribute of God in my defence. It helps me to defy the hosts of hell. It makes me
march triumphant over the necks of my enemies. But without faith how can I
receive anything of the Lord? Let not him that wavereth
— who is like a wave of the Sea — expect that he will receive
anything of God! O, then, Christian, watch well thy faith; for with it thou
canst win all things, however poor thou art, but without it thou canst obtain
nothing. ÒIf thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that
believeth.Ó
EVENING
ÒAnd she did
eat, and was sufficed, and left.Ó — Ruth 2:14
Whenever we are privileged to eat of the bread which Jesus gives, we are, like Ruth, satisfied with
the full and sweet repast. When Jesus is the host no guest goes empty from the
table. Our head is satisfied with the precious truth which
Christ reveals; our heart is content with Jesus, as the altogether lovely
object of affection; our hope is satisfied, for whom have we in heaven but
Jesus? and our desire is satiated, for what can we
wish for more than Òto know Christ and to be found in HimÓ? Jesus fills our
conscience till it is at perfect peace; our judgment with persuasion of the
certainty of His teachings; our memory with recollections of what He has done,
and our imagination with the prospects of what He is yet to do. As Ruth was
Òsufficed, and left,Ó so is it with us. We have had deep draughts; we have
thought that we could take in all of Christ; but when we have done our best we
have had to leave a vast remainder. We have sat at the table of the LordÕs
love, and said, ÒNothing but the infinite can ever satisfy me; I am such a
great sinner that I must have infinite merit to wash my sin away;Ó but we have
had our sin removed, and found that there was merit to spare; we have had our
hunger relieved at the feast of sacred love, and found that there was a redundance of spiritual meat remaining. There are certain
sweet things in the Word of God which we have not enjoyed yet, and which we are
obliged to leave for awhile; for we are like the
disciples to whom Jesus said, ÒI have yet many things to say unto you, but ye
cannot bear them now.Ó Yes, there are graces to which we have not attained;
places of fellowship nearer to Christ which we have not reached; and heights of
communion which our feet have not climbed. At every banquet of love there are
many baskets of fragments left. Let us magnify the liberality of our glorious
Boaz.