Morning, June 27

Charles Spurgeon · Morning and Evening: Daily Readings

"Only ye shall not go very far away."

  Exodus 8:28

   This is a crafty word from the lip of the arch-tyrant Pharaoh. If the
   poor bondaged Israelites must needs go out of Egypt, then he bargains
   with them that it shall not be very far away; not too far for them to
   escape the terror of his arms, and the observation of his spies. After
   the same fashion, the world loves not the non-conformity of
   nonconformity, or the dissidence of dissent; it would have us be more
   charitable and not carry matters with too severe a hand. Death to the
   world, and burial with Christ, are experiences which carnal minds treat
   with ridicule, and hence the ordinance which sets them forth is almost
   universally neglected, and even condemned. Worldly wisdom recommends
   the path of compromise, and talks of "moderation." According to this
   carnal policy, purity is admitted to be very desirable, but we are
   warned against being too precise; truth is of course to be followed,
   but error is not to be severely denounced. "Yes," says the world, "be
   spiritually minded by all means, but do not deny yourself a little gay
   society, an occasional ball, and a Christmas visit to a theatre. What's
   the good of crying down a thing when it is so fashionable, and
   everybody does it?" Multitudes of professors yield to this cunning
   advice, to their own eternal ruin. If we would follow the Lord wholly,
   we must go right away into the wilderness of separation, and leave the
   Egypt of the carnal world behind us. We must leave its maxims, its
   pleasures, and its religion too, and go far away to the place where the
   Lord calls his sanctified ones. When the town is on fire, our house
   cannot be too far from the flames. When the plague is abroad, a man
   cannot be too far from its haunts. The further from a viper the better,
   and the further from worldly conformity the better. To all true
   believers let the trumpet-call be sounded, "Come ye out from among
   them, be ye separate."