Evening and Morning
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
April 5
Morning
"On Him they laid the cross, that He might
bear it after Jesus."—Luke 23:26.
We see in Simon's carrying
the cross a picture of the work of the Church throughout all generations; she
is the cross-bearer after Jesus. Mark then, Christian, Jesus does not suffer so
as to exclude your suffering. He bears a cross, not that you may escape it, but
that you may endure it. Christ exempts you from sin, but not from sorrow.
Remember that, and expect to suffer.
But let us comfort
ourselves with this thought, that in our case, as in Simon's, it is not our
cross, but Christ's cross, which we carry. When you are molested for your
piety; when your religion brings the trial of cruel mockings
upon you, then remember it is not your cross, it is Christ's cross; and
how delightful is it to carry the cross of our Lord Jesus!
You carry the cross after
Him. You
have blessed company; your path is marked with the footprints of your Lord. The
mark of His blood-red shoulder is upon that heavy burden. 'Tis
His cross, and He goes before you as a shepherd goes before his sheep.
Take up your cross daily, and follow Him.
Do not forget, also, that
you bear this cross in partnership. It is the opinion of some that Simon
only carried one end of the cross, and not the whole of it. That is very
possible; Christ may have carried the heavier part, against the transverse
beam, and Simon may have borne the lighter end. Certainly it is so with you;
you do but carry the light end of the cross, Christ bore the heavier end.
And remember, though
Simon had to bear the cross for a very little while, it gave him lasting honour. Even so the cross we carry is only for a little
while at most, and then we shall receive the crown, the glory. Surely we should
love the cross, and, instead of shrinking from it, count it very dear,
when it works out for us "a far more exceeding and eternal weight of
glory."
Evening
"Before honour is
humility."—Proverbs 15:33.
Humiliation of soul always brings
a positive blessing with it. If we empty our hearts of self God will fill
them with His love. He who desires close communion with Christ should remember the
word of the Lord, "To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and
of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at My word."
Stoop if you would climb to heaven. Do we not say of Jesus, "He descended
that He might ascend"? so must you. You must grow
downwards, that you may grow upwards; for the sweetest
fellowship with heaven is to be had by humble souls, and by them alone. God
will deny no blessing to a thoroughly humbled spirit. "Blessed are the
poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven," with all its riches
and treasures. The whole exchequer of God shall be made over by deed of gift to
the soul which is humble enough to be able to receive
it without growing proud because of it. God blesses us all up to the full
measure and extremity of what it is safe for Him to do. If you do not get a
blessing, it is because it is not safe for you to have one. If our heavenly
Father were to let your unhumbled spirit win a
victory in His holy war, you would pilfer the crown for yourself, and meeting
with a fresh enemy you would fall a victim; so that you are kept low for your
own safety. When a man is sincerely humble, and never ventures to touch so much
as a grain of the praise, there is scarcely any limit to what God will do for
him. Humility makes us ready to be blessed by the God of all grace, and fits us
to deal efficiently with our fellow men. True humility is a flower
which will adorn any garden. This is a sauce with which you may season
every dish of life, and you will find an improvement in every case. Whether it be prayer or praise, whether it be work or suffering, the
genuine salt of humility cannot be used in excess.