Evening, August 24

Charles Spurgeon · Morning and Evening: Daily Readings

"If fire break out, and catch in thorns, so that the stacks of corn, or
   the standing corn, or the field, be consumed therewith; he that kindled
   the fire shall surely make restitution."

  Exodus 22:6

   But what restitution can he make who casts abroad the fire-brands of
   error, or the coals of lasciviousness, and sets men's souls on a blaze
   with the fire of hell? The guilt is beyond estimate, and the result is
   irretrievable. If such an offender be forgiven, what grief it will
   cause him in the retrospect, since he cannot undo the mischief which he
   has done! An ill example may kindle a flame which years of amended
   character cannot quench. To burn the food of man is bad enough, but how
   much worse to destroy the soul! It may be useful to us to reflect how
   far we may have been guilty in the past, and to enquire whether, even
   in the present, there may not be evil in us which has a tendency to
   bring damage to the souls of our relatives, friends, or neighbours.

   The fire of strife is a terrible evil when it breaks out in a Christian
   church. Where converts were multiplied, and God was glorified, jealousy
   and envy do the devil's work most effectually. Where the golden grain
   was being housed, to reward the toil of the great Boaz, the fire of
   enmity comes in and leaves little else but smoke and a heap of
   blackness. Woe unto those by whom offences come. May they never come
   through us, for although we cannot make restitution, we shall certainly
   be the chief sufferers if we are the chief offenders. Those who feed
   the fire deserve just censure, but he who first kindles it is most to
   blame. Discord usually takes first hold upon the thorns; it is nurtured
   among the hypocrites and base professors in the church, and away it
   goes among the righteous, blown by the winds of hell, and no one knows
   where it may end. O thou Lord and giver of peace, make us peacemakers,
   and never let us aid and abet the men of strife, or even
   unintentionally cause the least division among thy people.