Evening and Morning
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
December 11
Morning
"Faithful
is He that calleth you, who also will do
it."—1 Thessalonians 5:24.
Heaven is a place where we
shall never sin; where we shall cease our constant watch against an
indefatigable enemy, because there will be no tempter to ensnare our feet. There the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at
rest. Heaven is the "undefiled inheritance"; it is the land of
perfect holiness, and therefore of complete security. But do not the saints
even on earth sometimes taste the joys of blissful security? The doctrine of
God's word is, that all who are in union with the Lamb
are safe; that all the righteous shall hold on their way; that those who have
committed their souls to the keeping of Christ shall find Him a faithful and
immutable preserver. Sustained by such a doctrine we can enjoy security even on
earth; not that high and glorious security which renders us free from every
slip, but that holy security which arises from the sure promise of Jesus that
none who believe in Him shall ever perish, but shall be with Him where He is.
Believer, let us often reflect with joy on the doctrine of the perseverance of
the saints, and honour the faithfulness of our God by
a holy confidence in Him.
May our God bring home to
you a sense of your safety in Christ Jesus! May He assure you that your name is
graven on His hand; and whisper in your ear the promise, "Fear not, I am
with thee." Look upon Him, the great Surety of the covenant, as faithful
and true, and, therefore, bound and engaged to present you, the weakest of the
family, with all the chosen race, before the throne of God; and in such a sweet
contemplation you will drink the juice of the spiced wine of the Lord's
pomegranate, and taste the dainty fruits of Paradise. You will have an antepast of the enjoyments which ravish the souls of the
perfect saints above, if you can believe with unstaggering
faith that "faithful is He that calleth you, who
also will do it."
"Ye
serve the Lord Christ."—Colossians 3:24.
To what choice
order of officials was this word spoken? To kings who proudly boast a right
divine? Ah, no! too often do they serve themselves or
Satan, and forget the God whose sufferance permits them to wear their mimic
majesty for their little hour. Speaks then the apostle to those so-called
"right reverend fathers in God," the bishops, or "the venerable
the archdeacons"? No, indeed, Paul knew nothing of these mere inventions
of man. Not even to pastors and teachers, or to the wealthy and esteemed among
believers, was this word spoken, but to servants, ay, and to slaves. Among the
toiling multitudes, the journeymen, the day labourers,
the domestic servants, the drudges of the kitchen, the apostle found, as we
find still, some of the Lord's chosen, and to them he says, "Whatsoever ye
do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord
ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord
Christ." This saying ennobles the weary routine of earthly employments,
and sheds a halo around the most humble occupations. To wash feet may be
servile, but to wash His feet is royal work. To unloose the shoe-latchet is
poor employ, but to unloose the great Master's shoe is a princely privilege.
The shop, the barn, the scullery, and the smithy become temples when men and
women do all to the glory of God! Then "divine service" is not a
thing of a few hours and a few places, but all life becomes holiness unto the
Lord, and every place and thing, as consecrated as the tabernacle and its golden
candlestick.
"Teach
me, my God and King, in all things Thee to see;
And what I do
in anything to do it as to Thee.
All may of
Thee partake, nothing can be so mean,
Which with
this tincture, for Thy sake, will not grow bright
and clean.
A servant with this clause makes drudgery divine;
Who sweeps a
room, as for Thy laws, makes that and the action fine.