Evening and Morning
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
September 23
Morning
"Accepted
in the beloved."—Ephesians 1:6.
What a state of privilege!
It includes our justification before God, but the term acceptance"
in the Greek means more than that. It signifies that we are the objects of divine
complacence, nay, even of divine delight. How marvellous
that we, worms, mortals, sinners, should be the objects of divine love! But it
is only "in the beloved." Some Christians seem to be accepted
in their own experience, at least, that is their
apprehension. When their spirit is lively, and their hopes bright, they think
God accepts them, for they feel so high, so heavenly-minded, so drawn above the
earth! But when their souls cleave to the dust, they are the victims of the
fear that they are no longer accepted. If they could but see that all their
high joys do not exalt them, and all their low despondencies do not really
depress them in their Father's sight, but that they stand accepted in One who
never alters, in One who is always the beloved of God, always perfect, always
without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, how much happier they would be, and
how much more they would honour the Saviour! Rejoice then, believer, in this: thou art accepted
"in the beloved." Thou lookest within, and
thou sayest, "There is nothing acceptable here!"
But look at Christ, and see if there is not everything acceptable there.
Thy sins trouble thee; but God has cast thy sins behind His back, and thou art
accepted in the Righteous One. Thou hast to fight with corruption, and to
wrestle with temptation, but thou art already accepted in Him who has overcome
the powers of evil. The devil tempts thee; be of good cheer, he cannot destroy
thee, for thou art accepted in Him who has broken Satan's head. Know by full
assurance thy glorious standing. Even glorified souls are not more accepted
than thou art. They are only accepted in heaven "in the beloved," and
thou art even now accepted in Christ after the same manner.
Evening
"Jesus
said unto him, If thou canst believe."—Mark 9:23.
A certain man had a
demoniac son, who was afflicted with a dumb spirit. The father, having seen the
futility of the endeavours of the disciples to heal
his child, had little or no faith in Christ, and therefore, when he was bidden
to bring his son to Him, he said to Jesus, "If Thou cast do anything, have
compassion on us, and help us." Now there was an "if" in the
question, but the poor trembling father had put the "if" in the wrong
place: Jesus Christ, therefore, without commanding him to retract the
"if," kindly puts it in its legitimate position. "Nay,
verily," He seemed to say, "there should be no 'if' about My power, nor concerning My willingness, the 'if' lies
somewhere else." "If thou canst believe, all things are
possible to him that believeth." The man's trust was strengthened, he
offered a humble prayer for an increase of faith, and instantly Jesus spoke the
word, and the devil was cast out, with an injunction never to return. There is
a lesson here which we need to learn. We, like this
man, often see that there is an "if" somewhere, but we are
perpetually blundering by putting it in the wrong place. "If"
Jesus can help me—"if" He can give me grace to overcome
temptation—"if" He can give me pardon—"if"
He can make me successful? Nay, "if" you can believe, He both
can and will. You have misplaced your "if." If you can confidently
trust, even as all things are possible to Christ, so shall all things be
possible to you. Faith standeth in God's power, and
is robed in God's majesty; it weareth the royal
apparel, and rideth on the King's horse, for it is
the grace which the King delighteth
to honour. Girding itself with the glorious might of
the all-working Spirit, it becomes, in the omnipotence of God, mighty to do, to
dare, and to suffer. All things, without limit, are possible to him that
believeth. My soul, canst thou believe thy Lord to-night?