From
the evening reading of 20th August
in Spurgeon's "Morning and Evening"
"And
they fortified
Jerusalem
unto the broad wall" (Nehemiah
3:8).
CITIES well fortified have broad walls,
and so had
Jerusalem in
her glory. The New Jerusalem must, in like manner, be surrounded and
preserved by a broad wall of nonconformity to the world, and separation
from its customs and spirit. The tendency of these days is to break down the
holy barrier, and make the distinction between the church and the world
merely nominal. Professors are no longer strict and Puritanical,
questionable literature is read on all hands, frivolous pastimes are
currently indulged, and a general laxity threatens to deprive the Lord's
peculiar people of those sacred singularities which separate them from
sinners. It will be an ill day for the church and the world when the
proposed amalgamation shall be complete, and the sons of God and the
daughters of men shall be as one: then shall another deluge of wrath be
ushered in. Beloved reader, be it your aim in heart, in word, in dress, in
action to maintain the broad wall, remembering that the friendship of this
world is enmity against God.
The broad wall afforded a pleasant place
of resort for the inhabitants of
Jerusalem,
from which they could command prospects of the surrounding country. This
reminds us of the Lord's exceeding broad commandments, in which we walk at
liberty in communion with Jesus, overlooking the scenes of earth, and
looking out towards the glories of heaven. Separated from the world, and
denying ourselves all ungodliness and fleshly lusts, we are nevertheless not
in prison, nor restricted within narrow bounds; nay, we walk at liberty,
because we keep His precepts. Come, reader, this evening walk with God in
His statutes. As friend met friend upon the city wall, so meet thou thy God
in the way of holy prayer and meditation. The bulwarks of salvation thou
hast a right to traverse, for thou art a freeman of the royal burgh, a
citizen of the metropolis of the universe.
Reference
“Morning
and Evening: Daily Readings by C. H. Spurgeon”, Marshall, Morgan and Scott, 1953. p
467.
