Urls of Bible studies have changed. The links on the left navigation menu are correct and updated. Please update your links and bookmarks to these new urls. Thank you.
Charles Spurgeon's Daily DevotionalThis morning devotional prepared for December, 16th.
"Come unto me."--Matthew 11:28
The cry of the Christian religion is the gentle word, "Come."
The Jewish law harshly said, "Go, take heed unto thy steps as to
the path in which thou shalt walk. Break the commandments, and
thou shalt perish; keep them, and thou shalt live." The law was
a dispensation of terror, which drove men before it as with a
scourge; the gospel draws with bands of love. Jesus is the good
Shepherd going before His sheep, bidding them follow Him, and
ever leading them onwards with the sweet word, "Come." The law
repels, the gospel attracts. The law shows the distance which
there is between God and man; the gospel bridges that awful
chasm, and brings the sinner across it.
From the first moment of your spiritual life until you are
ushered into glory, the language of Christ to you will be,
"_Come, come_ unto me." As a mother puts out her finger to her
little child and woos it to walk by saying, "_Come_," even so
does Jesus. He will always be ahead of you, bidding you follow
Him as the soldier follows his captain. He will always go before
you to pave your way, and clear your path, and you shall hear
His animating voice calling you after Him all through life;
while in the solemn hour of death, His sweet words with which He
shall usher you into the heavenly world shall be--"Come, ye
blessed of my Father."
Nay, further, this is not only Christ's cry to you, but, if
you be a believer, this is your cry to Christ--"Come! come!"
You will be longing for His second advent; you will be saying,
"Come quickly, even so come Lord Jesus." You will be panting for
nearer and closer communion with Him. As His voice to you is
"Come," your response to Him will be, "Come, Lord, and abide
with me. Come, and occupy alone the throne of my heart; reign
there without a rival, and consecrate me entirely to Thy
service."
This afternoon devotional prepared for December, 16th.
"Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that
time that thine ear was not opened."--Isaiah 48:8
It is painful to remember that, in a certain degree, this
accusation may be laid at the door of _believers_, who too often
are in a measure _spiritually insensible_. We may well bewail
ourselves that _we_ do not hear the voice of God as we ought,
"Yea, thou heardest not." There are gentle motions of the Holy
Spirit in the soul which are unheeded by us: there are
whisperings of divine command and of heavenly love which are
alike unobserved by our leaden intellects. Alas! we have been
_carelessly ignorant_--"Yea, thou knewest not." There are
matters within which we ought to have seen, corruptions which
have made headway unnoticed; sweet affections which are being
blighted like flowers in the frost, untended by us; glimpses of
the divine face which might be perceived if we did not wall up
the windows of our soul. But we "have not known." As we think of
it we are humbled in the deepest self-abasement. How must we
adore the grace of God as we learn from the context that all
this folly and ignorance, on our part, _was foreknown by God_,
and, notwithstanding that foreknowledge, He yet has been pleased
to deal with us in a way of mercy! Admire the marvellous
sovereign grace which could have chosen us in the sight of all
this! Wonder at the price that was paid for us when Christ knew
what we should be! He who hung upon the cross foresaw us as
unbelieving, backsliding, cold of heart, indifferent, careless,
lax in prayer, and yet He said, "I am the Lord thy God, the Holy
One of Israel, thy Saviour . . . Since thou wast precious in My
sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee:
therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life"! O
redemption, how wondrously resplendent dost thou shine when we
think how black we are! O Holy Spirit, give us henceforth the
hearing ear, the understanding heart!
Subscribe to the C Zine and get a devotional in your email every week!(it's FREE)
Study Again?
|
|