March 12th Morning

0:00You are listening to Morning and Evening, a daily devotional work by Reverend Charles Spurgeon. This reading is brought to you by Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Spurgeon College, where you can pursue a gospel-centered degree both on campus or online. Learn more at mbts.edu-apply Good morning. Today is March the 12th. Thou shalt love thy neighbor, Matthew 5 verse 43. Love thy neighbor, perhaps he rolls in riches and are poor, and living in thy little cot side by side with his lordly mansion, thou seest every day his estates, his fine linen

1:05and his sumptuous banquets. God has given him these gifts, covet not his wealth, and think no hard thoughts concerning him. Be content with iron own lot if thou canst not better it, but do not look upon thy neighbor and wish that he were as thyself. Love him, and then thou wilt not envy him. May have, on the other hand, thou art rich and near thee reside the poor. Do not scorn to call them neighbor, own that thou art bound to love them. The world calls them thy inferiors, in what are they inferior? They are far more thine equals than thine inferiors. For God hath made one blood, all people that dwell upon the face of the earth. It is thy coat which is better than theirs, but thou art by no means better than they. They are men, and what are thou more than that? Take heed that thou love thy neighbor, even though he be in rags, or sunken in the depths

2:08of poverty. But perhaps you say, I cannot love my neighbors, because for all I do, they return in gratitude and contempt. So much the more room for the heroism of love, which thou be a featherbed warrior, instead of bearing the rough fight of love. He who dares the most shall win the most, and if rough be thy path of love, tread it boldly, still loving thy neighbors through thick and thin. Heap coals of fire on their heads, and if they be hard to please, seek not to please them, but to please thy master, and remember if they spurn thy love, thy master has not spurned it, and thy deed is as acceptable to him as if it had been acceptable to them. Love thy neighbor, for in so doing, thou art following the footsteps of Christ. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust

3:12in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit today.