Tuesday 14 July 2009

Another Gem From Spurgeon's Pen


I have been posting from time to time on this blog short comments on Scripture from Charles Spurgeon's book 'Morning and Evening' which is a set of daily readings published in the 1800's.Those that I post I have personally found beneficial and hope that those who read them here will equally be blessed. AK
1 Peter 5:10
And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

You have seen the arch of heaven as it spans the plain: glorious are its colours, and rare its hues. It is beautiful, but, alas, it passes away, and lo, it is not. The fair colours give way to the fleecy clouds, and the sky is no longer brilliant with the tints of heaven. It is not established. How can it be? A glorious show made up of transitory sun-beams and passing rain-drops, how can it abide?

The graces of the Christian character must not resemble the rainbow in its transitory beauty, but, on the contrary, must be stablished, settled, abiding. Seek, O believer, that every good thing you have may be an abiding thing. May your character not be a writing upon the sand, but an inscription upon the rock! May your faith be no "baseless fabric of a vision," but may it be built of material able to endure that awful fire which shall consume the wood, hay, and stubble of the hypocrite. May you be rooted and grounded in love. May your convictions be deep, your love real, your desires earnest. May your whole life be so settled and established, that all the blasts of hell, and all the storms of earth shall never be able to remove you.

But notice how this blessing of being "established in the faith" is gained. The apostle's words point us to suffering as the means employed-"After you have suffered a little while." It is of no use to hope that we shall be well rooted if no rough winds pass over us. Those old knots on the root of the oak tree, and those strange twistings of the branches, all tell of the many storms that have swept over it, and they are also indicators of the depth into which the roots have forced their way. So the Christian is made strong, and firmly rooted by all the trials and storms of life. Shrink not then from the tempestuous winds of trial, but take comfort, believing that by their rough discipline God is fulfilling this benediction to you.

1 comment:

Ρωμανός ~ Romanós said...

Thanks, brother, for posting these testimonies of the saints of bygone days. In the timeline of history, they may have lived in the past, but they lived then, and continue to live at this moment, in the eternity of God, where the likes of us may join them, if we choose to follow Jesus as they do.

They wrote not for money or to make a name for themselves, since they knew, as holy apostle Paul saith, "the Gospel is not for sale," and they wrote not just to entice with beautiful words, but only with the truth.

I thank God for you too, brother, and for them, every day.