Evening and Morning
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
September 20
Morning
"The
sword of the Lord, and of Gideon."—Judges 7:20.
Gideon ordered his men to
do two things: covering up a torch in an earthen pitcher, he bade them, at an
appointed signal, break the pitcher and let the light shine, and then sound
with the trumpet, crying, "The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon! the sword of the Lord, and of Gideon!" This is
precisely what all Christians must do. First, you must shine; break the
pitcher which conceals your light; throw aside the bushel which has been hiding
your candle, and shine. Let your light shine before men; let your good works be
such, that when men look upon you, they shall know that you have been with
Jesus. Then there must be the sound, the blowing of the trumpet. There
must be active exertions for the ingathering of sinners by proclaiming Christ
crucified. Take the gospel to them; carry it to their door; put it in their
way; do not suffer them to escape it; blow the trumpet right against their
ears. Remember that the true war-cry of the Church is
Gideon's watchword, "The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon!" God must do it, it is His own work.
But we are not to be idle; instrumentality is to be used—"The sword
of the Lord, and of Gideon!" If we only cry, "The sword of the
Lord!" we shall be guilty of an idle presumption; and if we shout,
"The sword of Gideon!" alone, we shall manifest idolatrous reliance
on an arm of flesh: we must blend the two in practical harmony, "The sword
of the Lord, and of Gideon!" We can do nothing of ourselves, but we can do
everything by the help of our God; let us, therefore, in His name determine to
go out personally and serve with our flaming torch of holy example, and with
our trumpet tones of earnest declaration and testimony, and God shall be with
us, and Midian shall be put to confusion, and the
Lord of hosts shall reign for ever and ever.
"In the
evening withhold not thy hand."—Ecclesiastes 11:6.
In the evening of the
day opportunities are plentiful: men return from their labour,
and the zealous soul-winner finds time to tell abroad the love of Jesus. Have I
no evening work for Jesus? If I have not, let me no longer withhold my hand
from a service which requires abundant labour.
Sinners are perishing for lack of knowledge; he who loiters may find his skirts
crimson with the blood of souls. Jesus gave both His hands to the nails, how
can I keep back one of mine from His blessed work? Night and day He toiled and
prayed for me, how can I give a single hour to the pampering of my flesh with
luxurious ease? Up, idle heart; stretch out thy hand to work, or uplift it to
pray; heaven and hell are in earnest, let me be so, and this evening sow good
seed for the Lord my God.
The evening of life has also its calls. Life is so short that a morning of manhood's vigour, and an evening of decay, make the whole of it. To some it seems long, but a four-pence is a great sum of money to a poor man. Life is so brief that no man can afford to lose a day. It has been well said that if a great king should bring us a great heap of gold, and bid us take as much as we could count in a day, we should make a long day of it; we should begin early in the morning, and in the evening we should not withhold our hand; but to win souls is far nobler work, how is it that we so soon withdraw from it? Some are spared to a long evening of green old age; if such be my case, let me use such talents as I still retain, and to the last hour serve my blessed and faithful Lord. By His grace I will die in harness, and lay down my charge only when I lay down my body. Age may instruct the young, cheer the faint, and encourage the desponding; if eventide has less of vigorous heat, it should have more of calm wisdom, therefore in the evening I will not withhold my hand.