M&E Monday

Morning and Evening: Daily Readings
by C. H. Spurgeon
Monday Morning, August 1

Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn.

Ruth 2:2

Downcast and troubled Christian, come and glean to-day in the broad field of promise. Here are abundance of precious promises, which exactly meet thy wants. Take this one: He will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax. Doth not that suit thy case? A reed, helpless, insignificant, and weak, a bruised reed, out of which no music can come; weaker than weakness itself; a reed, and that reed bruised, yet, he will not break thee; but on the contrary, will restore and strengthen thee. Thou art like the smoking flax: no light, no warmth, can come from thee; but he will not quench thee; he will blow with his sweet breath of mercy till he fans thee to a flame. Wouldst thou glean another ear? Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. What soft words! Thy heart is tender, and the Master knows it, and therefore he speaketh so gently to thee. Wilt thou not obey him, and come to him even now? Take another ear of corn: Fear not, thou worm Jacob, I will help thee, saith the Lord and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. How canst thou fear with such a wonderful assurance as this? Thou mayest gather ten thousand such golden ears as these! I have blotted out thy sins like a cloud, and like a thick cloud thy transgressions. Or this, Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Or this, The Spirit and the Bride say, Come, and let him that is athirst come, and whosoever will let him take the water of life freely. Our Master's field is very rich; behold the handfuls. See, there they lie before thee, poor timid believer! Gather them up, make them thine own, for Jesus bids thee take them. Be not afraid, only believe! Grasp these sweet promises, thresh them out by meditation and feed on them with joy.

Evening, August 1

Thou crownest the year with thy goodness.

Psalm 65:11

All the year round, every hour of every day, God is richly blessing us; both when we sleep and when we wake his mercy waits upon us. The sun may leave us a legacy of darkness, but our God never ceases to shine upon his children with beams of love. Like a river, his lovingkindness is always flowing, with a fulness inexhaustible as his own nature. Like the atmosphere which constantly surrounds the earth, and is always ready to support the life of man, the benevolence of God surrounds all his creatures; in it, as in their element, they live, and move, and have their being. Yet as the sun on summer days gladdens us with beams more warm and bright than at other times, and as rivers are at certain seasons swollen by the rain, and as the atmosphere itself is sometimes fraught with more fresh, more bracing, or more balmy influences than heretofore, so is it with the mercy of God; it hath its golden hours; its days of overflow, when the Lord magnifieth his grace before the sons of men. Amongst the blessings of the nether springs, the joyous days of harvest are a special season of excessive favour. It is the glory of autumn that the ripe gifts of providence are then abundantly bestowed; it is the mellow season of realization, whereas all before was but hope and expectation. Great is the joy of harvest. Happy are the reapers who fill their arms with the liberality of heaven. The Psalmist tells us that the harvest is the crowning of the year. Surely these crowning mercies call for crowning thanksgiving! Let us render it by the inward emotions of gratitude. Let our hearts be warmed; let our spirits remember, meditate, and think upon this goodness of the Lord. Then let us praise him with our lips, and laud and magnify his name from whose bounty all this goodness flows. Let us glorify God by yielding our gifts to his cause. A practical proof of our gratitude is a special thank-offering to the Lord of the harvest.

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Days of Heaven Upon Earth by Rev. A. B. Simpson

"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done" (II Cor. v. 10).

It will not always be the day of toil and trial. Some day, we shall hear our names announced before the universe, and the record read of things that we had long forgotten. How our hearts will thrill, and our heads will bow, as we shall hear our own names called, and then the Master shall recount the triumph and the services which we had ourselves forgotten! And, perhaps, from the ranks of the saved He shall call forward the souls that we have won for Christ and the souls that they in turn had won, and as we see the issue of things that have, perhaps, seemed but trifling at the time, we shall fall before the throne, and say, "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory!"

Beloved, the pages are going up every day, for the record of our life. We are setting the type ourselves, by every moment's action. Hands unseen are stereotyping the plates, and soon the record will be registered, and read before the audience of the universe. and amid the issues of eternity.

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Shake Off Laodicean Slumber!
  By A. A. Ronshausen

    The great sin of these end-time days is Laodicean lukewarmness, being neither hot nor cold (Rev. 3:14-15). Sinful and godless as the world is, the real battle of today is not the battle of the world, but the battle of the church.

    Laodiceanism is spiritual paralysis. It is a surrender of first love, cooling from fervency to lukewarmness; profession and no possession, the subtlest sin of hell. Laodiceanism is mediocre service, indifferent praying, contentment in spiritual barrenness, complacency in idleness. It is grudging giving, reluctant sacrificing, no martyr or witnessing spirit. Laodiceanism is burdenless, passionless, spiritless – a deceived people doomed to judgment instead of rewards.

    All of this evil fruit stems from Laodiceanism. Like all the devil's illusions, it is a great deception, and herein lies its greatest peril. It does not destroy orthodoxy or respectability. The victim knows not his true state. He is content to remain as he is. He feels no need. He prides himself on his religion, not knowing that in his Lord's sight, he is wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked. He is religious. But it is a religion our Lord hates and will spue out of His mouth.

Is There a Remedy?

    Yes, there is a remedy. Jesus reveals it in Revelation 3:18. He counsels, "Buy of Me gold tried in the fire." Gold is always a symbol of genuineness. If they will accept His loving rebuke and chastening, there is hope. He stands at the door and knocks. Notice, He is not within. If any will hear (obey) His voice, He will come in and sup with him, fellowship with him (Rev. 3:20).

    Hear His counsel to the Laodicean church. Be zealous; abandon lukewarmness. Repent. Return to your first love. Get back to Pentecostal fervency, purity and power. Humble yourself in true penitence.

    Many Bible scholars agree that Christendom is now in the Laodicean stage of the church. Therefore, this is Christ's latest, timely message to us. Will we heed?

    Only a God-sent revival stands between us and extinction. Storm clouds are rising fast on the horizon of time!

    Is this a time to slumber, to be at ease in Zion, to be passionless, burdenless, prayerless, faithless, savourless? Have we lost our throne rights of holy intercession? Must we capitulate to the enemy, lay down our weapons and cease praying in faith that God will answer as He answered Savonarola, Knox and others?

    What promises of God are obsolete? Must we limit God? Must we limit our faith? Does the law of faith and prayer still operate? Can believers still do the works of Jesus? Does the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent Holy Spirit energize and empower Spirit-filled disciples today?

    Is it not time enough for the saints to cease from warfare when the Holy Ghost snatches the Bride away? Did not Jesus command, "Occupy till I come"? (Luke 19:13). What would happen if the church would leave feasting and go to fasting, leave the supper room and retreat to the upper room? Cease from doubt and fears and go to praying and believing? Is not the problem of this age the problem of a prayerless, faithless church? If the church obeyed Jesus, would the gates of hell prevail? Will we talk and do nothing?

Do We Want a Revival Before Jesus Returns?

    What price is too great? What sacrifice too much? Would God disappoint a burdened, soul-agonizing church on its knees? What would happen if the church would be swept with a great passion for souls and put travail, tears and soul sweat into its prayers?

    Can you not discern that humanity hovers over the vortex of revolution, anarchy and chaos? Can we afford to slumber while the world passes through its greatest crisis? Will it not quickly be too late to do anything? Dare we delay in Laodicean apathy? If we fail to pray, is there any other way out?

    What is the source, the cause of the pessimism that robs us of faith, hope and courage to pray through for a genuine Holy Ghost revival? Is it of God or Satan? Should we yield to it? Whence the source of this fatalistic attitude and conception in our thinking that, like a poison virus, paralyzes the church to Laodicean lukewarmness and immobility and unbelief?

    "When the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8). Pray, Christian, pray! "Lord, keep me on the firing line!"

 

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