Morning & Evening Devotional Reading–

October 15– Morning

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

“But who can hold up in the day of his coming?” 

—Malachi 3:2

Jesus’ first coming was without external pageantry or display of power, and yet there were few who could hold up under its testing might. Herod and all Jerusalem with him were stirred at the news of the wondrous birth. Those who supposed themselves to be waiting for him showed the fallacy of their professions by rejecting him when he came. His life on earth was a harvesting fan that blew away the chaff of religious profession and revealed that very few grains of wheat could withstand the process.

But what will his second coming be like? What sinner can endure to think of it? The Bible says, “He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.” In the Garden of Gethsemane, when the soldiers came to take him away, all he said to them was, “I am he,” and they fell backward; what kind of terror will his enemies endure when he comes to reveal himself as the Great “I Am?” His death shook earth and darkened heaven, so what will the splendor of that dreadful day be like when the living Savior will summon both the living and the dead to stand before him?

O that the terrors of the Lord would persuade men to forsake their sins and kiss the Son unless he be angry! Although he is a lamb, he is still the Lion of the tribe of Judah, tearing the prey in pieces; and, though he doesn’t break the bruised reed, he will break his enemies with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. None of his enemies will survive the storm of his wrath or hide themselves from the sweeping hail of his indignation, but his dearly loved, blood-washed people will look for his appearing with joy and hope to experience it without fear. To them he sits as a refiner even now, and, when he has tried them, they shall come forth as gold.

Let us search ourselves today and verify the genuine quality of our calling and election, so that the coming of the Lord may cause no dark fears in our mind. O for grace to cast away all hypocrisy and to be found in him sincere and without a reason to be scolded by him when he appears. [M&E]