Morning & Evening Devotional Reading–

April 26– Evening

by C. H. Spurgeon, revised and edited by W. C. Neff

“Blessed is the one who stays alert.” 

—Revelation 16:15

The Apostle Paul said, “We die daily.” This was the life of the early Christians; they went everywhere with their lives in their hands. Most Christians in this day are not called to pass through the same fearful persecutions. If, or when, those times come, the Lord will give us grace to bear that test. But the Christian’s test in most times and places— though it may not seem so outwardly terrible— is even more likely to overcome us than the testing of a fiery age.

To bear the sneers of the world is a trial, but to bear its flatteries, its soft words, its oily speeches, its fawning, its hypocrisy, are far worse. The danger is that we grow rich and become proud— that we give ourselves up to the fashions of this present evil world and lose our faith. And, if it’s not the trial of wealth, other earthly cares can be just as dangerous. One may not be in danger of being torn to pieces by a lion but of being hugged to death by a bear. The devil doesn’t care which it is so long as he destroys our love for Christ and our confidence in him. The Christian church is far more likely to lose her integrity in soft and silken days than in rougher times. That’s why we must remain alert.

Many in these days of easy profession are likely to prove themselves to be tares— destructive plants that look like wheat but are actually weeds. They are hypocrites with beautiful masks on their faces but not the true-born children of the living God. Christian, this is no time to stop being alert or to lessen your holy passion. You need these things now more than ever!

May God the eternal Spirit display his full power in you so that you may be able to say in both soft and rough times, “We are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” [M&E]