Morning and Evening: Daily Readings
by C. H. Spurgeon
Tuesday Morning, October 4
At evening time it shall be light.
Zechariah 14:7
Oftentimes we look forward with forebodings to the time of old age, forgetful that at eventide it shall be light. To many saints, old age is the choicest season in their lives. A balmier air fans the mariner's cheek as he nears the shore of immortality, fewer waves ruffle his sea, quiet reigns, deep, still and solemn. From the altar of age the flashes of the fire of youth are gone, but the more real flame of earnest feeling remains. The pilgrims have reached the land Beulah, that happy country, whose days are as the days of heaven upon earth. Angels visit it, celestial gales blow over it, flowers of paradise grow in it, and the air is filled with seraphic music. Some dwell here for years, and others come to it but a few hours before their departure, but it is an Eden on earth. We may well long for the time when we shall recline in its shady groves and be satisfied with hope until the time of fruition comes. The setting sun seems larger than when aloft in the sky, and a splendour of glory tinges all the clouds which surround his going down. Pain breaks not the calm of the sweet twilight of age, for strength made perfect in weakness bears up with patience under it all. Ripe fruits of choice experience are gathered as the rare repast of life's evening, and the soul prepares itself for rest.
The Lord's people shall also enjoy light in the hour of death. Unbelief laments; the shadows fall, the night is coming, existence is ending. Ah
no, crieth faith, the night is far spent, the true day is at hand. Light is come, the light of immortality, the light of a Father's countenance. Gather up thy feet in the bed, see the waiting bands of spirits! Angels waft thee away. Farewell, beloved one, thou art gone, thou wavest thine hand. Ah, now it is light. The pearly gates are open, the golden streets shine in the jasper light. We cover our eyes, but thou beholdest the unseen; adieu, brother, thou hast light at even-tide, such as we have not yet.
Evening, October 4
If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
1 John 2:1
If any man sin, we have an advocate. Yes, though we sin, we have him still. John does not say, If any man sin he has forfeited his advocate, but we have an advocate, sinners though we are. All the sin that a believer ever did, or can be allowed to commit, cannot destroy his interest in the Lord Jesus Christ, as his advocate. The name here given to our Lord is suggestive. Jesus. Ah! then he is an advocate such as we need, for Jesus is the name of one whose business and delight it is to save. They shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. His sweetest name implies his success. Next, it is Jesus Christ--Christos, the anointed. This shows his authority to plead. The Christ has a right to plead, for he is the Father's own appointed advocate and elected priest. If he were of our choosing he might fail, but if God hath laid help upon one that is mighty, we may safely lay our trouble where God has laid his help. He is Christ, and therefore authorized; he is Christ, and therefore qualified, for the anointing has fully fitted him for his work. He can plead so as to move the heart of God and prevail. What words of tenderness, what sentences of persuasion will the anointed use when he stands up to plead for me! One more letter of his name remains, Jesus Christ the righteous. This is not only his character but his plea. It is his character, and if the Righteous One be my advocate, then my cause is good, or he would not have espoused it. It is his plea, for he meets the charge of unrighteousness against me by the plea that he is righteous. He declares himself my substitute and puts his obedience to my account. My soul, thou hast a friend well fitted to be thine advocate, he cannot but succeed; leave thyself entirely in his hands.
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http://www.ccel.org/newsletter/6/10#d
I Have Decided to Follow Jesus
"I Have Decided to Follow Jesus" is sung to a traditional folk tune from India (ASSAM), and it is named after the northeastern Indian state once home to tribes known as "head-hunters" due to their custom of collecting heads and hanging them on their walls. In his book Why, God, Why?, Dr. P. Job reports that 150 years ago a Welsh missionary converted a man, his wife, and his children to Christianity. After the village chief demanded that the man renounce his faith, he spontaneously sang the now-famous words, "I have decided to follow Jesus." Reportedly, the chief ordered his archers to kill the man's two children, threatening to kill his wife as well; but the man sang, "Though no one joins me, still I will follow." The archers shot his wife, but still the man refused to deny Christ, and he was executed while singing: "The cross before me, the world behind me." Allegedly, the chief was so moved that he declared, "I too belong to Jesus Christ!" and the entire village converted.
Indian Christians still sing this hymn to proclaim their commitment to Christ. In America, it has been popularized by composer and hymn editor William Jensen Reynolds' arrangement, which first appeared in the 1959 Assembly Songbook. This version was frequently used at Billy Graham's crusade meetings.
Read more about Hymnary
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