Evening and Morning
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
December 22
Morning
"I will
strengthen thee."—Isaiah 41:10.
God has a
strong reserve with which to discharge this engagement;
for He is able to do all things. Believer, till thou canst drain dry the ocean
of omnipotence, till thou canst break into pieces the towering mountains of almighty
strength, thou never needest to fear. Think not that
the strength of man shall ever be able to overcome the power of God. Whilst the
earth's huge pillars stand, thou hast enough reason to abide firm in thy faith.
The same God who directs the earth in its orbit, who feeds the burning furnace
of the sun, and trims the lamps of heaven, has promised to supply thee with
daily strength. While He is able to uphold the universe, dream not that He will
prove unable to fulfil His own promises. Remember
what He did in the days of old, in the former generations. Remember how He spake and it was done; how He commanded, and it stood fast.
Shall He that created the world grow weary? He hangeth
the world upon nothing; shall He who doth this be unable to support His
children? Shall He be unfaithful to His word for want of power? Who is it that
restrains the tempest? Doth not He ride upon the wings of the wind, and make
the clouds His chariots, and hold the ocean in the hollow of His hand? How can
He fail thee? When He has put such a faithful promise as this on record, wilt
thou for a moment indulge the thought that He has outpromised
Himself, and gone beyond His power to fulfil? Ah, no!
Thou canst doubt no longer.
O thou who art
my God and my strength, I can believe that this promise shall be fulfilled, for
the boundless reservoir of Thy grace can never be exhausted, and the
overflowing storehouse of Thy strength can never be emptied by Thy friends or
rifled by Thine enemies.
"Now let the feeble all be strong,
And make
Jehovah's arm their song."
Evening
"The
spot of His children."—Deuteronomy 32:5.
What is the secret spot which infallibly betokens the child of God? It were vain presumption to decide this upon our own judgment; but
God's word reveals it to us, and we may tread surely where we have revelation
to be our guide. Now, we are told concerning our Lord, "to as many as received
Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to as many as believed
on His name." Then, if I have received Christ Jesus into my heart, I am a
child of God. That reception is described in the same verse as believing on
the name of Jesus Christ. If, then, I believe on Jesus Christ's
name—that is, simply from my heart trust myself with the crucified, but
now exalted, Redeemer, I am a member of the family of the Most High. Whatever
else I may not have, if I have this, I have the privilege to become a child of
God. Our Lord Jesus puts it in another shape. "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me." Here is
the matter in a nutshell. Christ appears as a shepherd to His own sheep, not to
others. As soon as He appears, His own sheep perceive Him—they trust Him,
they are prepared to follow Him; He knows them, and they know Him—there
is a mutual knowledge—there is a constant connection between them. Thus
the one mark, the sure mark, the infallible mark of regeneration and adoption
is a hearty faith in the appointed Redeemer. Reader, are you in doubt, are you
uncertain whether you bear the secret mark of God's children? Then let not an
hour pass over your head till you have said, "Search me, O God, and know
my heart." Trifle not here, I adjure you! If you must trifle anywhere, let
it be about some secondary matter: your health, if you will, or the title deeds
of your estate; but about your soul, your never-dying soul and its eternal
destinies, I beseech you to be in earnest. Make sure work for eternity.