NO. 2788 INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S‐DAY, JULY 20TH, 1902, DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, JUNE 20TH, 1878.
“Cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary.”‐Daniel 9:17.
A TRUE‐HEARTED believer does not live for himself. Where there is abundance of grace, and great strength of mind in the service of God, there is sure to be a spirit of unselfishness. It was so with Daniel, who was a model man in the matter of decision of character, and a holy, believing walk before the Lord. That “man greatly beloved was, in all respects, faithful to his convictions. No lions den could silence his courageous prayer. No presence of mighty monarch or of his festive guests could turn him aside from delivering his fateful message. Yet Daniel was not satisfied. Whatever might be his own condition, he remembered what Jerusalem was, and what the people to whom he belonged were; and, in the depths of his soul, he sorrowed notwithstanding all that God's grace had wrought within himself. I firmly believe that, the better a man's own character becomes, and the more joy in the Lord he has in his own heart, the more capable is he of sympathetic sorrow; and, probably, the more of it he will have. If thou hast room in thy soul for sacred joy, thou hast equal room for holy grief; and, depend upon it, thou wilt have both of these emotions if the Lord has perfectly consecrated thee, and purposes to use thee for his glory. Daniel was also a man of many visions. |