"O
Christian men and women, be thorough in what you do, and know, and teach! Hold
truth as with an iron grip; let your families be trained in the fear of God,
and be yourselves 'holiness unto the Lord'; so shall you stand like rocks amid
the surging waves of error and ungodliness which rage about you.
We
want, also, more and more, a revival of vigorous consecrated strength. I have
pleaded for true piety; I now beg for one of the highest results of it. We need
saints, it may be that not all cannot attain unto 'the first three'; but we cannot
do without champions. We need gracious minds trained to a high form of
spiritual life by much converse with God in solitude. These are the
standard-bearers of the army: each one is a king's son. There is an air about
them, humble as they are, as men who breathe a purer atmosphere. Such was
Abraham, who, by his communion with God, acquired a more than royal bearing.
The king of Sodom shrinks into insignificance in the presence of the
high-minded sheik who will not take of his lawful spoils from a thread to a
shoe-latchet, lest the heathen king should say, 'I have made Abraham rich.'
Saints acquire nobility from their constant resort to the place where the Lord
meets with them. There, also, they acquire that power in prayer which we so
greatly need. Oh, that we had more men like John Knox, whose prayers were more
terrible to Queen Mary than ten thousand men! Oh, that we had more Elijah's, by
whose faith the windows of heaven should be shut or opened! This power comes
not by a sudden effort; it is the outcome of a life devoted to the God of
Israel. If our life is all in public, it will be frothy, vapory, ineffectual
existence; but if we hold high converse with God in secret, we shall be mighty
for good. The Puritans were abundant in meditation and prayer; and there were
giants on earth in those days. He that is a prince with God will take high rank
with men, after the true measure of nobility."
-C.H.
Spurgeon from Only A Prayer Meeting Published by Christian Focus
Scotland 2006.
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