Evening and Morning
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
October 27
Morning
"It is a
faithful saying."—2 Timothy 2:11.
Paul has four of these "faithful
sayings." The first occurs in 1 Timothy 1:15,
"This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners." The next is in 1 Timothy 4:6,
"Godliness is profitable unto all things, having the promise of the life
that now is, and of that which is to come. This is a faithful saying, and
worthy of all acceptation." The third is in 2 Timothy 2:12, "It is a
faithful saying—If we suffer with Him we shall also reign with Him";
and the fourth is in Titus 3:3, "This is a faithful saying, that they
which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works." We
may trace a connection between these faithful sayings. The first one lays the
foundation of our eternal salvation in the free grace of God, as shown to us in
the mission of the great Redeemer. The next affirms the double blessedness which we obtain through this salvation—the
blessings of the upper and nether springs—of time and of eternity. The
third shows one of the duties to which the chosen people are called; we are
ordained to suffer for Christ with the promise that "if we suffer, we
shall also reign with Him." The last sets forth the active form of
Christian service, bidding us diligently to maintain good works. Thus we have
the root of salvation in free grace; next, the privileges of that salvation in
the life which now is, and in that which is to come; and we have also the two
great branches of suffering with Christ and serving with Christ, loaded with
the fruits of the Spirit. Treasure up these faithful sayings. Let them be the
guides of our life, our comfort, and our instruction. The apostle of the
Gentiles proved them to be faithful, they are faithful still, not one word
shall fall to the ground; they are worthy of all acceptation, let us accept
them now, and prove their faithfulness. Let these four faithful sayings be
written on the four corners of My house.
Evening
"We are
all as an unclean thing."—Isaiah 64:6.
The believer is a new
creature, he belongs to a holy generation and a peculiar people—the
Spirit of God is in him, and in all respects he is far removed from the natural
man; but for all that the Christian is a sinner still. He is so from the imperfection
of his nature, and will continue so to the end of his earthly life. The black
fingers of sin leave smuts upon our fairest robes. Sin mars our repentance, ere
the great Potter has finished it, upon the wheel. Selfishness defiles our
tears, and unbelief tampers with our faith. The best thing we ever did apart
from the merit of Jesus only swelled the number of our sins; for when we have
been most pure in our own sight, yet, like the heavens, we are not pure in
God's sight; and as He charged His angels with folly, much more must He charge
us with it, even in our most angelic frames of mind. The song
which thrills to heaven, and seeks to emulate seraphic strains, hath
human discords in it. The prayer which moves the arm of God
is still a bruised and battered prayer, and only moves that arm because the
sinless One, the great Mediator, has stepped in to take away the sin of our
supplication. The most golden faith or the purest degree of sanctification to
which a Christian ever attained on earth, has still so much alloy in it as to
be only worthy of the flames, in itself considered. Every night we look in the
glass we see a sinner, and had need confess, "We are all as an unclean
thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy
rags." Oh, how precious the blood of Christ to such hearts as ours! How
priceless a gift is His perfect righteousness! And how bright the hope of
perfect holiness hereafter! Even now, though sin dwells in us, its power is
broken. It has no dominion; it is a broken-backed snake; we are in bitter
conflict with it, but it is with a vanquished foe that we have to deal. Yet a
little while and we shall enter victoriously into the city where nothing defileth.