Spurgeon: August PM
* 08/20/PM
"And they fortified Jerusalem unto the broad wall."
--Nehemiah 3:8
Cities well fortified have broad walls, and so had Jerusalem
in her glory. The New Jerusalem must, in like manner, be
surrounded and preserved by a broad wall of nonconformity to the
world, and separation from its customs and spirit. The
tendency of these days break down the holy barrier, and make the
distinction between the church and the world merely nominal.
Professors are no longer strict and Puritanical, questionable
literature is read on all hands, frivolous pastimes are
currently indulged, and a general laxity threatens to deprive
the Lord's peculiar people of those sacred singularities which
separate them from sinners. It will be an ill day for the church
and the world when the proposed amalgamation shall be complete,
and the sons of God and the daughters of men shall be as one: then shall another deluge of wrath be ushered in. Beloved
reader, be it your aim in heart, in word, in dress, in action to
maintain the broad wall, remembering that the friendship of this
world is enmity against God.
The broad wall afforded a pleasant place of resort for the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, from which they could command
prospects of the surrounding country. This reminds us of the
Lord's exceeding broad commandments, in which we walk at liberty
in communion with Jesus, overlooking the scenes of earth, and
looking out towards the glories of heaven. Separated from the
world, and denying ourselves all ungodliness and fleshly lusts,
we are nevertheless not in prison, nor restricted within narrow
bounds; nay, we walk at liberty, because we keep His precepts.
Come, reader, this evening walk with God in His statutes. As
friend met friend upon the city wall, so meet thou thy God in
the way of holy prayer and meditation. The bulwarks of salvation
thou hast a right to traverse, for thou art a freeman of the
royal burgh, a citizen of the metropolis of the universe.