DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)
Editor’s Note: This prayer for God’s truth to be proclaimed clearly is a great one to pray while leading into Easter weekend, when many non-believers will be present in our churches. Oh, may they hear the good news of Christ and believe!
O Jesus, Son of the Highest, we know that the truth is powerful, because you are the soul of it—the very essence of it. Put your life into it, we pray. May the Eternal Spirit go with every word which God-sent ministers shall proclaim this Easter weekend, and may the Lord grant that as the mists fly before the sun, and the clouds before the wind, so error and superstition may be driven away by the rising of the Sun of Righteousness in all the glory of his brightness.
Amen.
VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)
“But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and playfully jump like calves from the stall.” (Malachi 4:2)
This promise has also had a practical fulfillment in the deathbed experiences of God’s people. Tortured with disease, they have been lying in the darkness and gloom of death. But suddenly a wondrous light has surprised them—their dying bed has become a throne of glory. They have found themselves arrayed in royal garments as though it were their coronation rather than their departure out of this world.
Though the body has been bound fast with cords, the soul has mounted up as on the wings of eagles, in sacred rapture and holy bliss. The sun of righteousness has risen upon them. Before their earthly sun went down, the heavenly sun lit up their sky with a sacred high, eternal noon. And unto you who fear the name of the Lord, whatever gloom may surround your departure from the earth, the sun of righteousness will arise with healing in his wings, and one day you will find him rise even upon your mortal bodies.
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE
What does it mean to take up your cross and follow Jesus?
Christ calls his people to an amazing, grace-fueled life of self-denial. It’s an exciting life, but what does it actually look like to lay down your life and take up your cross?
A great and short book on this topic is A Little Book on the Christian Life by John Calvin. It describes, in a beautifully biblical way, Christ’s call to deny yourself. This book is a stunning invitation to lay down your life in order to start really living.
A warning: If you grab a copy of this book today, get ready. This book is not for the faint of heart. It will expose sin and challenge you to live righteously. It is a challenging read (in the best way), but it is full of treasure!