Evening and Morning
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
August 3
Morning
"The
Lamb is the light thereof."—Revelation 21:23.
Quietly contemplate the
Lamb as the light of heaven. Light in Scripture is the emblem of joy.
The joy of the saints in heaven is comprised in this: Jesus chose us,
loved us, bought us, cleansed us, robed us, kept us, glorified
us: we are here entirely through the Lord Jesus. Each one of these thoughts
shall be to them like a cluster of the grapes of Eshcol.
Light is also the cause of beauty. Nought of
beauty is left when light is gone. Without light no radiance flashes from the
sapphire, no peaceful ray proceedeth from the pearl;
and thus all the beauty of the saints above comes from Jesus. As planets, they
reflect the light of the Sun of Righteousness; they live as beams proceeding
from the central orb. If He withdrew, they must die; if His glory were veiled,
their glory must expire. Light is also the emblem of knowledge. In
heaven our knowledge will be perfect, but the Lord Jesus Himself will be the
fountain of it. Dark providences, never understood before, will then be clearly
seen, and all that puzzles us now will become plain to us in the light of the
Lamb. Oh! what unfoldings
there will be and what glorifying of the God of love! Light
also means manifestation. Light manifests. In this world it doth
not yet appear what we shall be. God's people are a hidden people, but when
Christ receives His people into heaven, He will touch them with the wand of His
own love, and change them into the image of His manifested glory. They were
poor and wretched, but what a transformation! They were stained with sin, but
one touch of His finger, and they are bright as the sun, and clear as crystal.
Oh! what a manifestation! All this proceeds from the
exalted Lamb. Whatever there may be of effulgent splendour,
Jesus shall be the centre and soul of it all. Oh! to be present and to see Him in His own light, the King of
kings, and Lord of lords!
Evening
"But as
He went."—Luke 8:42.
Jesus is passing through
the throng to the house of Jairus, to raise the
ruler's dead daughter; but He is so profuse in goodness that He works another
miracle while upon the road. While yet this rod of Aaron bears the blossom of
an unaccomplished wonder, it yields the ripe almonds of a perfect work of
mercy. It is enough for us, if we have some one purpose, straightway to go and
accomplish it; it were imprudent to expend our
energies by the way. Hastening to the rescue of a drowning friend, we cannot
afford to exhaust our strength upon another in like danger. It is enough for a
tree to yield one sort of fruit, and for a man to fulfil
his own peculiar calling. But our Master knows no limit of power or boundary of
mission. He is so prolific of grace, that like the sun which
shines as it rolls onward in its orbit, His path is radiant with lovingkindness. He is a swift arrow of love, which not only
reaches its ordained target, but perfumes the air
through which it flies. Virtue is evermore going out of Jesus, as sweet odours exhale from flowers; and it always will be emanating
from Him, as water from a sparkling fountain. What delightful encouragement
this truth affords us! If our Lord is so ready to heal the sick and bless the
needy, then, my soul, be not thou slow to put thyself in His way,
that He may smile on thee. Be not slack in asking, if He be so abundant in bestowing. Give earnest heed to His word
now, and at all times, that Jesus may speak through it to thy heart. Where He
is to be found there make thy resort, that thou mayst
obtain His blessing. When He is present to heal, may He not heal thee? But
surely He is present even now, for He always comes to hearts
which need Him. And dost not thou need Him? Ah, He knows how
much! Thou Son of David, turn Thine eye and look upon
the distress which is now before Thee, and make Thy suppliant whole.