Spurgeon: February AM
* 02/07/AM
"Arise, and depart."
--Micah 2:10
The hour is approaching when the message will come to us, as
it comes to all--"Arise, and go forth from the home in which
thou hast dwelt, from the city in which thou hast done thy
business, from thy family, from thy friends. Arise, and take thy
last journey." And what know we of the journey? And what know we
of the country to which we are bound? A little we have read
thereof, and somewhat has been revealed to us by the Spirit; but
how little do we know of the realms of the future! We know that
there is a black and stormy river called "Death." God bids us
cross it, promising to be with us. And, after death, what
cometh? What wonder-world will open upon our astonished sight?
What scene of glory will be unfolded to our view? No traveller
has ever returned to tell. But we know enough of the heavenly
land to make us welcome our summons thither with joy and
gladness. The journey of death may be dark, but we may go forth
on it fearlessly, knowing that God is with us as we walk through
the gloomy valley, and therefore we need fear no evil. We shall
be departing from all we have known and loved here, but we shall
be going to our Father's house--to our Father's home, where
Jesus is--to that royal "city which hath foundations, whose
builder and maker is God." This shall be our last removal, to
dwell for ever with Him we love, in the midst of His people, in
the presence of God. Christian, meditate much on heaven, it will
help thee to press on, and to forget the toil of the way. This
vale of tears is but the pathway to the better country: this
world of woe is but the stepping-stone to a world of bliss.
"Prepare us, Lord, by grace divine,
For Thy bright courts on high;
Then bid our spirits rise, and join
The chorus of the sky."