Charles Haddon Spurgeon's Evening Devotional For Saturday August 24, 2019 |
Evening Time: 5:28 PM PST
"If fire break out, and catch in thorns, so that the stacks of corn, or the
standing corn, or the field, be consumed therewith; he that kindled the fire
shall surely make restitution." --Exodus 22:6
But what restitution can he make who casts abroad the fire-brands of error,
or the coals of lasciviousness, and sets men's souls on a blaze with the fire of
hell? The guilt is beyond estimate, and the result is irretrievable. If such an
offender be forgiven, what grief it will cause him in the retrospect, since he
cannot undo the mischief which he has done! An ill example may kindle a flame
which years of amended character cannot quench. To burn the food of man is bad
enough, but how much worse to destroy the soul! It may be useful to us to
reflect how far we may have been guilty in the past, and to enquire whether,
even in the present, there may not be evil in us which has a tendency to bring
damage to the souls of our relatives, friends, or neighbours.
The fire of strife is a terrible evil when it breaks out in a Christian
church. Where converts were multiplied, and God was glorified, jealousy and envy
do the devil's work most effectually. Where the golden grain was being housed,
to reward the toil of the great Boaz, the fire of enmity comes in and leaves
little else but smoke and a heap of blackness. Woe unto those by whom offences
come. May they never come through us, for although we cannot make restitution,
we shall certainly be the chief sufferers if we are the chief offenders. Those
who feed the fire deserve just censure, but he who first kindles it is most to
blame. Discord usually takes first hold upon the thorns; it is nurtured among
the hypocrites and base professors in the church, and away it goes among the
righteous, blown by the winds of hell, and no one knows where it may end. O Thou
Lord and giver of peace, make us peacemakers, and never let us aid and abet the
men of strife, or even unintentionally cause the least division among Thy
people.
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