Evening and Morning
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
February 12
Morning
"For as
the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ."—2 Corinthians 1:5.
There is a blessed
proportion. The Ruler of Providence bears a pair of scales—in this side
He puts His people's trials, and in that He puts their consolations. When the
scale of trial is nearly empty, you will always find the scale of consolation
in nearly the same condition; and when the scale of trials is full, you will
find the scale of consolation just as heavy. When the black clouds gather most,
the light is the more brightly revealed to us. When the night lowers and the
tempest is coming on, the Heavenly Captain is always closest to His crew. It is
a blessed thing, that when we are most cast down, then it is that we are most
lifted up by the consolations of the Spirit. One reason is, because trials
make more room for consolation. Great hearts can only be made by great
troubles. The spade of trouble digs the reservoir of comfort deeper, and makes
more room for consolation. God comes into our heart—He finds it
full—He begins to break our comforts and to make it empty; then there is
more room for grace. The humbler a man lies, the more comfort he will always
have, because he will be more fitted to receive it. Another reason why we are
often most happy in our troubles, is this—then we have the closest
dealings with God. When the barn is full, man can live without God: when
the purse is bursting with gold, we try to do without so much prayer. But once
take our gourds away, and we want our God; once cleanse the idols
out of the house, then we are compelled to honour
Jehovah. "Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord." There is no cry so good as that which comes from the
bottom of the mountains; no prayer half so hearty as that which comes up from
the depths of the soul, through deep trials and afflictions. Hence they bring
us to God, and we are happier; for nearness to God is happiness. Come, troubled
believer, fret not over your heavy troubles, for they
are the heralds of weighty mercies.
Evening
"He
shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for
ever."—John 14:16.
Great Father revealed
Himself to believers of old before the coming of His Son, and was known to
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as the God Almighty. Then Jesus came, and the
ever-blessed Son in His own proper person, was the delight of His people's
eyes. At the time of the Redeemer's ascension, the Holy Spirit became the head
of the present dispensation, and His power was gloriously manifested in and
after Pentecost. He remains at this hour the present Immanuel—God with
us, dwelling in and with His people, quickening, guiding, and ruling in their
midst. Is His presence recognized as it ought to be?
We cannot control His working; He is most sovereign in all His operations, but are
we sufficiently anxious to obtain His help, or sufficiently watchful lest we
provoke Him to withdraw His aid? Without Him we can do nothing, but by His
almighty energy the most extraordinary results can be produced: everything
depends upon his manifesting or concealing His power. Do we always look up to
Him both for our inner life and our outward service with the respectful dependence which is fitting? Do we not too often run before
His call and act independently of His aid? Let us humble ourselves this evening
for past neglects, and now entreat the heavenly dew to rest upon us, the sacred
oil to anoint us, the celestial flame to burn within us. The
Holy Ghost is no temporary gift, He abides with the
saints. We have but to seek Him aright, and He will be found of us. He
is jealous, but He is pitiful; if He leaves in anger, He returns in mercy.
Condescending and tender, He does not weary of us, but awaits to be gracious
still.
Sin has been hammering my
heart Unto a hardness, void of love, Let supplying
grace to cross his art Drop from above.