Evening and Morning
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
February 25, 2013
Morning
"The
wrath to come."—Matthew 3:7.
It is pleasant to pass over
a country after a storm has spent itself; to smell the freshness of the herbs
after the rain has passed away, and to note the drops while they glisten like
purest diamonds in the sunlight. That is the position of a Christian. He is
going through a land where the storm has spent itself upon His Saviour's head, and if there be a few drops of sorrow
falling, they distil from clouds of mercy, and Jesus cheers him by the
assurance that they are not for his destruction. But how terrible is it to
witness the approach of a tempest: to note the forewarnings of the storm; to
mark the birds of heaven as they droop their wings; to see the cattle as they
lay their heads low in terror; to discern the face of the sky as it groweth black, and look to the sun which shineth not, and the heavens which are angry and frowning!
How terrible to await the dread advance of a hurricane—such as occurs,
sometimes, in the tropics—to wait in terrible apprehension till the wind
shall rush forth in fury, tearing up trees from their roots, forcing rocks from
their pedestals, and hurling down all the dwelling-places of man! And yet,
sinner, this is your present position. No hot drops have as yet fallen, but a
shower of fire is coming. No terrible winds howl around you, but God's tempest
is gathering its dread artillery. As yet the water-floods are dammed up by
mercy, but the flood-gates shall soon be opened: the
thunderbolts of God are yet in His storehouse, but lo! the
tempest hastens, and how awful shall that moment be when God, robed in
vengeance, shall march forth in fury! Where, where, where, O sinner, wilt thou
hide thy head, or whither wilt thou flee? O that the hand of mercy may now lead
you to Christ! He is freely set before you in the gospel: His riven side is the
rock of shelter. Thou knowest thy need of Him;
believe in Him, cast thyself upon Him, and then the fury shall be overpast for ever.
Evening
"But
Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence
of the Lord, and went down to Joppa."—Jonah 1:3.
Instead of going to Nineveh
to preach the Word, as God bade him, Jonah disliked the work, and went down to
Joppa to escape from it. There are occasions when God's servants shrink from
duty. But what is the consequence? What did Jonah lose by his conduct? He
lost the presence and comfortable enjoyment of God's love. When we serve
our Lord Jesus as believers should do, our God is with
us; and though we have the whole world against us, if we have God with us, what
does it matter? But the moment we start back, and seek our own inventions, we
are at sea without a pilot. Then may we bitterly lament and groan out, "O
my God, where hast Thou gone? How could I have been so foolish as to shun Thy
service, and in this way to lose all the bright shinings
of Thy face? This is a price too high. Let me return to my allegiance, that I
may rejoice in Thy presence." In the next place, Jonah lost all peace
of mind. Sin soon destroys a believer's comfort. It is the poisonous upas tree, from whose leaves distil deadly drops which destroy the life of joy and peace. Jonah lost
everything upon which he might have drawn for comfort in any other case. He
could not plead the promise of divine protection, for he was not in God's ways;
he could not say, "Lord, I meet with these difficulties in the discharge
of my duty, therefore help me through them." He was reaping his own deeds;
he was filled with his own ways. Christian, do not play the Jonah, unless you
wish to have all the waves and the billows rolling over your head. You will
find in the long run that it is far harder to shun the work and will of God
than to at once yield yourself to it. Jonah lost his time, for he had to
go to Tarshish after all. It is hard to contend with
God; let us yield ourselves at once.