23 APRIL (1871)
Marah; or, the bitter waters sweetened
‘They could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: … and the LORD showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet.’ Exodus 15:23, 25
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Acts 4:1–12
I liken the world that lies in darkness to a thirsty caravan gathered around Marah’s well where the water is too bitter to drink. High are the Andes, lofty the Himalayas, but the woes of mankind are higher still. The Ganges, the Indus and other mighty streams pour their floods into the ocean; but what mighty deep could contain the torrents of human grief? A very deluge is the sorrow as well as the sin of man.
The heathen know nothing of the healing tree cut down of old, which still has power to sweeten mortal misery. You know it, you have your trials, and you surmount them by the appeals you make to your Lord and by the power of his consolations; but these sons of darkness have your griefs and more, but not your Comforter. For them the flood, but not the ark; the tempest, but not the refuge. And you have that which would cheer them: no doubt passes across your mind as to the gospel.
These are wavering times in which some professors and teachers almost believe that the gospel is only one theory of many and will have to stand its test and, in all probability, will fail as many human systems of thought have done. You think not so; you believe that God’s gospel is truth, a revelation of Jehovah. Heaven and earth may pass away, but not his word, his Christ, his decree, his covenant. You know that you have a tree that can heal the bitter fountains. No doubt comes across your mind as to that: what then?
By common humanity, much more by the tender movements of the grace of God upon your souls, I entreat you to present this remedy to those who need it so much. Will anything suffice as substitute for it? Is there anywhere on earth another healing tree beside that which fell beneath the axe at Calvary? Are there other leaves ‘for the healing of the nations’?
FOR MEDITATION: Read the missionary message in 1 Peter 2:24—Christ’s death on the tree for our sins can heal us spiritually. This message came first to Israel (Acts 5:30–31); their reluctance to accept it and be healed opened the way for Gentiles to hear it (Acts 28:27–28). Forgiveness of sins is for every one in every nation who trusts in Christ crucified (Acts 10:35, 39, 43).
C. H. Spurgeon and Terence Peter Crosby, 365 Days with Spurgeon (Volume 3), (Leominster, UK: Day One Publications, 2005), 121.
Marah; or, the bitter waters sweetened
‘They could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: … and the LORD showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet.’ Exodus 15:23, 25
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Acts 4:1–12
I liken the world that lies in darkness to a thirsty caravan gathered around Marah’s well where the water is too bitter to drink. High are the Andes, lofty the Himalayas, but the woes of mankind are higher still. The Ganges, the Indus and other mighty streams pour their floods into the ocean; but what mighty deep could contain the torrents of human grief? A very deluge is the sorrow as well as the sin of man.
The heathen know nothing of the healing tree cut down of old, which still has power to sweeten mortal misery. You know it, you have your trials, and you surmount them by the appeals you make to your Lord and by the power of his consolations; but these sons of darkness have your griefs and more, but not your Comforter. For them the flood, but not the ark; the tempest, but not the refuge. And you have that which would cheer them: no doubt passes across your mind as to the gospel.
These are wavering times in which some professors and teachers almost believe that the gospel is only one theory of many and will have to stand its test and, in all probability, will fail as many human systems of thought have done. You think not so; you believe that God’s gospel is truth, a revelation of Jehovah. Heaven and earth may pass away, but not his word, his Christ, his decree, his covenant. You know that you have a tree that can heal the bitter fountains. No doubt comes across your mind as to that: what then?
By common humanity, much more by the tender movements of the grace of God upon your souls, I entreat you to present this remedy to those who need it so much. Will anything suffice as substitute for it? Is there anywhere on earth another healing tree beside that which fell beneath the axe at Calvary? Are there other leaves ‘for the healing of the nations’?
FOR MEDITATION: Read the missionary message in 1 Peter 2:24—Christ’s death on the tree for our sins can heal us spiritually. This message came first to Israel (Acts 5:30–31); their reluctance to accept it and be healed opened the way for Gentiles to hear it (Acts 28:27–28). Forgiveness of sins is for every one in every nation who trusts in Christ crucified (Acts 10:35, 39, 43).
C. H. Spurgeon and Terence Peter Crosby, 365 Days with Spurgeon (Volume 3), (Leominster, UK: Day One Publications, 2005), 121.
23 APRIL (1871)
Marah; or, the bitter waters sweetened
‘They could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: … and the LORD showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet.’ Exodus 15:23, 25
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Acts 4:1–12
I liken the world that lies in darkness to a thirsty caravan gathered around Marah’s well where the water is too bitter to drink. High are the Andes, lofty the Himalayas, but the woes of mankind are higher still. The Ganges, the Indus and other mighty streams pour their floods into the ocean; but what mighty deep could contain the torrents of human grief? A very deluge is the sorrow as well as the sin of man.
The heathen know nothing of the healing tree cut down of old, which still has power to sweeten mortal misery. You know it, you have your trials, and you surmount them by the appeals you make to your Lord and by the power of his consolations; but these sons of darkness have your griefs and more, but not your Comforter. For them the flood, but not the ark; the tempest, but not the refuge. And you have that which would cheer them: no doubt passes across your mind as to the gospel.
These are wavering times in which some professors and teachers almost believe that the gospel is only one theory of many and will have to stand its test and, in all probability, will fail as many human systems of thought have done. You think not so; you believe that God’s gospel is truth, a revelation of Jehovah. Heaven and earth may pass away, but not his word, his Christ, his decree, his covenant. You know that you have a tree that can heal the bitter fountains. No doubt comes across your mind as to that: what then?
By common humanity, much more by the tender movements of the grace of God upon your souls, I entreat you to present this remedy to those who need it so much. Will anything suffice as substitute for it? Is there anywhere on earth another healing tree beside that which fell beneath the axe at Calvary? Are there other leaves ‘for the healing of the nations’?
FOR MEDITATION: Read the missionary message in 1 Peter 2:24—Christ’s death on the tree for our sins can heal us spiritually. This message came first to Israel (Acts 5:30–31); their reluctance to accept it and be healed opened the way for Gentiles to hear it (Acts 28:27–28). Forgiveness of sins is for every one in every nation who trusts in Christ crucified (Acts 10:35, 39, 43).
C. H. Spurgeon and Terence Peter Crosby, 365 Days with Spurgeon (Volume 3), (Leominster, UK: Day One Publications, 2005), 121.
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