Spurgeon: September AM
* 09/05/AM
"Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents
of Kedar."
--Psalm 120:5
As a Christian you have to live in the midst of an ungodly
world, and it is of little use for you to cry "Woe is me." Jesus
did not pray O that you should be taken out of the world, and
what He did not pray for you need not desire. Better far in the
Lord's strength to meet the difficulty, and glorify Him in it.
The enemy is ever on the watch to detect inconsistency in your
conduct; be therefore very holy . Remember that the eyes of all
are upon you, and that more is expected from you than from other
men. Strive to give no occasion for blame. Let your goodness be
the only fault they can discover in you. Like Daniel, compel
them to say of you, "We shall not find any occasion against this
Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his
God." Seek to be useful as well as consistent. Perhaps you
think, "If I were in a more favourable position I might serve
the Lord's cause, but I cannot do any good where I am"; but the
worse the people are among whom you live, the more need have
they of your exertions; if they be crooked, the more necessity
that you should set them straight; and if they be perverse, the
more need have you to turn their proud hearts to the truth.
Where should the physician be but where there are many sick?
Where is honour to be won by the soldier but in the hottest fire
of the battle? And when weary of the strife and sin that meets
you on every hand, consider that all the saints have endured the
same trial. They were not carried on beds of down to heaven, and
you must not expect to travel more easily than they. They had to
hazard their lives unto the death in the high places of the
field, and you will not be crowned till you also have endured
hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Therefore, "stand
fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong."