Morning, August 18, edited from Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

“ For aliens have entered the holy places of the Lord’s house.” — Jeremiah 51:51

In this account the faces of the Lord’s people were covered with embarrassment, for it was a terrible thing that men should intrude into the Holy Place reserved for the priests alone. Everywhere about us we see similar cause for sorrow. How many ungodly men are now going through education with the view of entering into the ministry! What a dreadful sin is that sincere lie in which nearly our whole population is nominally considered to be Christian! How appalling it is that the unconverted should have rules pressed upon them rather than conversion, and that among the more enlightened churches of our land there should be such negligence of training. If the thousands who will read this portion shall all take this matter before the Lord Jesus this day, he will intercede and avert the evil which otherwise will come upon his Church. To adulterate the Church is to pollute a well, to pour water upon fire, to sow a fertile field with stones. May we all have grace to maintain in our own proper way the purity of the Church, as being an assembly of believers, and not a nation, an unsaved community of unconverted men.

Our zeal must, however, begin at home. Let us examine ourselves as to our right to eat at the Lord’s table. Let us see to it that we have on our wedding garment, lest we ourselves be intruders in the Lord’s sanctuaries. Many are called, but few are chosen; the way is narrow, and the gate is small. Oh, for grace to come to Jesus properly, with the faith of God’s elect. He who struck Uzzah for touching the ark is very jealous of these two regulations; as a true believer I may approach them freely, as an alien I must not touch them lest I die. Heart searching is the duty of all who are baptized or come to the Lord’s table. “Search me, O God, and know my way, try me and know my heart.”