Evening and Morning
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
December 6
Morning
"As is
the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly."—1 Corinthians 15:48.
The head and members are of
one nature, and not like that monstrous image which
Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream. The head was of fine gold, but the belly and
thighs were of brass, the legs of iron, and the feet, part of iron and part of
clay. Christ's mystical body is no absurd combination of opposites; the members
were mortal, and therefore Jesus died; the glorified head is immortal, and
therefore the body is immortal too, for thus the record stands, "Because I
live, ye shall live also." As is our loving Head, such is the body, and
every member in particular. A chosen Head and chosen members; an accepted Head,
and accepted members; a living Head, and living members. If the head be pure gold, all the parts of the body are of pure gold
also. Thus is there a double union of nature as a basis for the closest
communion. Pause here, devout reader, and see if thou canst without ecstatic
amazement, contemplate the infinite condescension of the Son of God in thus
exalting thy wretchedness into blessed union with His glory. Thou art so mean
that in remembrance of thy mortality, thou mayest say
to corruption, "Thou art my father," and to the worm, "Thou art
my sister"; and yet in Christ thou art so honoured
that thou canst say to the Almighty, "Abba, Father," and to the
Incarnate God, "Thou art my brother and my husband." Surely if relationships to ancient and noble families make men
think highly of themselves, we have whereof to glory over the heads of them
all. Let the poorest and most despised believer lay hold upon this
privilege; let not a senseless indolence make him negligent to trace his
pedigree, and let him suffer no foolish attachment to present vanities to
occupy his thoughts to the exclusion of this glorious, this heavenly honour of union with Christ.
Evening
"Girt
about the paps with a golden girdle."—Revelation 1:13.
One like unto the Son of
Man" appeared to John in Patmos, and the beloved disciple marked that He
wore a girdle of gold. A girdle, for Jesus never was ungirt
while upon earth, but stood always ready for service, and now before the
eternal throne He stays not is holy ministry, but as a priest is girt about
with "the curious girdle of the ephod." Well it is for us that He has
not ceased to fulfil His offices of love for us,
since this is one of our choicest safeguards that He ever liveth
to make intercession for us. Jesus is never an idler; His garments are never
loose as though His offices were ended; He diligently carries on the cause of
His people. A golden girdle, to manifest the superiority of His service,
the royalty of His person, the dignity of His state, the glory of His reward.
No longer does He cry out of the dust, but He pleads with authority, a King as
well as a Priest. Safe enough is our cause in the hands of our enthroned Melchisedek.
Our Lord presents all His
people with an example. We must never unbind our girdles. This is not the time
for lying down at ease, it is the season of service
and warfare. We need to bind the girdle of truth more and more tightly around
our loins. It is a golden girdle, and so will be our richest ornament, and we
greatly need it, for a heart that is not well braced up with the truth as it is
in Jesus, and with the fidelity which is wrought of the Spirit, will be easily
entangled with the things of this life, and tripped up by the snares of
temptation. It is in vain that we possess the Scriptures unless we bind them
around us like a girdle, surrounding our entire nature, keeping each part of
our character in order, and giving compactness to our whole man. If in heaven
Jesus unbinds not the girdle, much less may we upon earth. Stand, therefore,
having your loins girt about with truth.