Daily Devotional Readings
This is God's 'Eureka!' In the person of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, he found a ransom for his chosen people. By the substitutionary sacrifice of his own well-beloved Son in the place of his people, the Lord God found a way to punish sin to the satisfaction of his divine justice and to be gracious in saving every believer. By this one mighty, all-sufficient, sin-atoning ransom, he would be perfectly just while at the same time justifying every believer.
This ransom was the invention of divine wisdom. Only the infinite mind of the eternal God could or would have devised such a gracious and just plan to save fallen man. Truly the cross of Christ displays most gloriously the manifold wisdom of God.
This ransom was the gift of divine love. 'For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.' 'God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.'The price of our ransom is the precious blood of Christ. Justice could demand no more and love could give no more than the precious blood of Christ.
This ransom has been fully paid. just before he breathed out his spirit, our Lord cried triumphantly, 'it is finished!' Those words simply mean, 'The ransom is paid, redemption is complete. 'By his mighty atoning sacrifice, our Lord Jesus Christ has satisfied the law of God, honoured the justice of God,' brought in everlasting righteousness and put away all the sins of all who will ever trust him. God neither requires, nor will he accept, anything from the sinner to complete the work. Christ has done it all!
And this ransom is gloriously effectual. Every soul that was purchased from the hands of divine justice by the blood of Christ must be saved by divine power. The very justice of God demands it. In the fulness of time the Lord will 'deliver him from going down to the pit', saying, 'I have found a ransom!'
1. The faith of Abraham leaves home at God's command (Gen. 12:1-4). God called Abraham out of his idolatrous, unbelieving family. If he believed God, he had to forsake his family. He had to forsake their religion, their customs, their principles, their wealth and their company. God said, 'Get thee out... So Abram departed.' God's call to Abraham was most gracious, but most demanding. It involved total surrender to the sovereign Lord.
2. The faith of Abraham denies self (Gen. 13:5-9,14-15). In giving Lot his way and his choice, Abraham found God's will and walked in God's way. True faith waits on God. Abraham did not seek after the goods of this world, but the glory of his God (Rom. 12:10; Phil. 2:2-7).
3. The faith of Abraham looks to the Lord alone for all things (Gen. 14:17-23). 'The just shall live by faith.' As Abraham refused to receive anything from the wicked king of Sodom, faith refuses to live by the principles of the world. God's people live upon faith (Matt. 6:23-34; Mark 4:18-19; 1 Tim. 6:6-10).
4. The faith of Abraham denies and excludes works (Gen 21:8-14). It was no easy thing for Abraham to throw Ishmael and Hagar out of his house. But God commanded it and it must be done. Ishmael represented the works of the flesh. Isaac represented the promise of God. Ishmael stood for the works of the law. Isaac stood for the grace of God. The two could not dwell together. Works and grace cannot be mixed. True faith says, 'Good-bye' to all fleshly works and clings to Christ alone.
5. The faith of Abraham lays the most precious possession on the altar and rests in the Lord (Gen. 22:1-14). God graciously taught Abraham the gospel of substitution, and thereby revealed the glory of his grace to him. And Abraham, in true faith towards God, submitted everything to the will of God. Because he believed God, he took his most precious possession, his son Isaac whom he dearly loved, and sacrificed him upon the altar to the Lord. When the trial was over, Abraham knew the Lord to be Jehovah-jireh, 'the Lord who provides'.
The Lord our God is absolutely sovereign. He saves his people altogether by grace, without any works of their own. No one believes or preaches that any more fully than I do. But there are some who conclude that since salvation is of the Lord, it is not necessary for men to hear the gospel, repent of sin and believe on Christ. Such reasoning is just as heretical as Arminianism. Our doctrine must rest upon the plain statements of Holy Scripture, not upon human logic and reason. Here are three facts, plainly revealed in the Word of God.
1. No one will ever be saved who does not hear the gospel. God could have chosen to send angels to reveal his grace, or he could have chosen to take his people to heaven upon the merits of Christ's righteousness and shed blood, without ever sending a preacher to them. But he did not. In his infinite and wise sovereignty, God determined to make the preaching of the gospel an essential instrument in the salvation of his elect.
2. No one will ever be saved who does not repent of his sin. Our Lord said, 'Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish.' It is not possible for a man to enter into heaven who does not enter by the gate of repentance. Christ himself said so! Repentance is a change of mind, a change of masters and a change of motives. Men may argue and debate the subject, but the Word of God is unchanged. You have but two alternatives: you must either 'repent or perish'!
3. No one will ever be saved who does not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. It is written: 'He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.' Faith is indispensable to salvation. Faith in Christ is the sure token and evidence of God's electing grace. Whoever believes is elect. Whoever dies in unbelief is not elect. God's purpose of grace includes all the means as well as the ultimate end of eternal salvation.
Mark it down. Those who are chosen of God and redeemed by Christ will hear the gospel, repent of sin and believe on Christ.
'My times'. They change and vary from day to day, but they change only in accordance with his unchanging love. They vary, but only according to the purpose of him in whom there is no variableness or shadow of turning. 'My times', that is to say, my ups and my downs, my health and my sickness, my prosperity and my adversity, my wealth and my poverty, my happiness and my sorrow - all of these are in the hands of my Lord and Redeemer, who arranges and appoints the length of my days and the darkness of my nights according to his wise and holy will. My times of refreshing and my times of depressing are in the hands of my God and Saviour and I am glad that it is so.
'My times'- all of them, in the beginning of life, in the course of life and in the end of life, 'are in thy hand'. The close of my life is no more at the disposal of fate, or chance, or Satan than the beginning of my life. My life will not close until the hand of my Father's love closes it. I shall not die before my time and I shall not be forgotten and left on the stage of time too long. I want you to get the sense of this: not only are we in the hand of the Lord, but everything that surrounds us is in his hand. All the people, things and events which make up the environment of our existence are in, the hand of our God. Child of God, this should bring comfort and joy to your heart. We dwell in the palm of God's hand! We are absolutely at his disposal. And everything that concerns us is arranged by his hand.
May the Lord graciously enable us to enter into the peaceful realization of his good providence! 'Cast all your care upon him, for he careth for you.' It is written: 'Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.'
I rejoice in every aspect of divine revelation. Everything that I have read in the Bible and been taught by the Holy Spirit is delightful to my heart. Every doctrinal truth and every principle of Holy Scripture is wilfully accepted and submitted to by faith. Yet there are some truths which yield special comfort to my soul. Here are three blessed, soul-comforting truths of the gospel.
1. The Lord our God is absolutely sovereign. In creation, in providence and in salvation, God has his way and accomplishes his will. Nothing ever comes to pass in God's creation except that which my heavenly Father has purposed. He says, 'I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure' (Isa. 46:9-10). My heart can safely trust a sovereign God. - The God of heaven is a God who does what he will, has mercy on whom he will and graciously accomplishes the eternal salvation of his covenant people by his own right arm.
2. Redemption is accomplished by the finished work of Christ, the sinner's Substitute. When our Lord Jesus Christ cried, 'It is finished!' redemption's work was done. Nothing is left to be completed by us. Peace, pardon, justification, reconciliation, the forgiveness of sin, acceptance with God were all perfectly accomplished for God's people at Calvary. He did not leave so much as one thread for us to sew into the robe of righteousness, by which we are clothed. He did not leave so much as one ounce of suffering for us to pay to the offended justice of God. He did it all! Accomplished redemption is good news for hell-bound sinners!
3. 'Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.' There are no exceptions, no qualifications, no limitations. The invitation is as free as the salvation it proclaims. Anyone in the whole wide world who will call upon Christ as Lord will be saved, even you, even me! It is true, we will not call upon him until he calls us. But the fact that I call upon Christ the Lord in faith is proof positive that he has chosen me and redeemed me. Will you call upon him too?
It is true, preachers are just men. Like all other men, they sin, they make mistakes, they are subject to error and they are apt to offend people sooner or later. But if a man is truly a gospel preacher, called and sent of God, he has upon him a divine authority. He is God's spokesman to men! This authority does not make the Lord's servant proud and tyrannical, rather it causes him to tremble with reverence. And this fact will cause wise men to listen attentively and obediently to that man who comes with a message from God.
If God ever speaks to you it will be through a preacher, The days are over in which God spoke to men by angels, or in dreams. Paul said, 'Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God... and how shall they hear without a preacher?' If the Lord sends one of his servants your way, you would be wise to hear him every time you have opportunity. God might have something to say to you.
The greatest blessing God can ever bestow upon a people is to send them a faithful gospel preacher. 'How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation, that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!' The preacher may or may not be learned, eloquent, polite, or handsome, but if he is God's messenger it will be your greatest earthly blessing to have him in your midst and your greatest curse in this world to lose him.
Whatever you do to the King's ambassador is done to the King himself. To hear him is to hear the King. To obey him is to obey the King. To honour him is to honour the King. To reject him is to reject the King.
God's people will esteem God's servants very highly in love for their work's sake. Any man who brings you a message from God, who labours in the study of the Word that he may feed your soul with the precious truths of the gospel ought, for that reason, to be loved and honoured by you. You should promote him, support him, defend him, love him, obey him and follow him.
Death is a terrible picture of our natural condition before God, but it is by no means an exaggeration. The whole world lies before us as a valley of dry bones, according to Ezekiel's vision; and if ever these dry bones are to live, it will not be through. some innate energy in the bones themselves, or through the influence of the most zealous prophet. Education cannot develop life out of death. Persuasion cannot excite a dead man to life. And reason cannot instill life in a corpse. The arm of the Lord must be revealed, or the case is beyond hope. Let men do all they can: weep, plead, preach and prophesy - all will be vain. Unless the Lord himself breathes life, the dry bones cannot live.
No, Ezekiel could not make the dry bones live, but he could prophesy to them. God commanded him to do so and God gave him the ability to do so. Therefore Ezekiel was responsible to prophesy unto the dry bones. Spurgeon said, 'We cannot turn the dry bones into living men, but we can prophesy upon them, and, blessed be God, we can also prophesy to the four winds, and by our means the dead may live.' Even so, we cannot give dead sinners life. Eternal life and faith in Christ are gifts of divine grace created in the hearts of men by the sovereign power of God. But there are some things we can and must do for the souls of men. We can preach the gospel of Christ unto men. We can make known the way of life unto men. We can instruct men in gospel truth. And that which we can do, we must do. 'Necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel.' If I know that a man is perishing under the wrath of God and I know the way of eternal life by faith in the blood and righteousness of Christ, and if God gives me the ability and the opportunity to preach the gospel Lo that perishing sinner, it becomes my responsibility to do it. I preach the gospel because I love Christ, I love his gospel and I love the souls of men. I do it willingly and cheerfully. Yet I am under constraint to fulfil my responsibility. God says, 'His blood will I require at thine hand!'
We all have to deal with depression. You and I are not alone in our troubles. All of God's people face the same troubles, heartaches, pains and sorrows that you face. And at times we all become emotionally, mentally and spiritually depressed. The only difference is that some are able to cope with depression, while others feed it. Like you, I sometimes have fits of morbid depression. But I have found that there are some things which always help me to overcome my sinful depression. Yes, I said, 'sinful'. Depression is both a foolish and sinful thing. When you get to the essence of it, you are sure to find that it amounts to nothing but pride and self-pity. Here are some things which help me to overcome this evil.
1. The Word of God is a source of great consolation and encouragement. The next time you feel depression coming, take your Bible down and read it. Meditate upon the promises of God, the redemption of Christ, the grace of God upon you, the providence of God for you and the home awaiting you.
2. Personal worship, communion and fellowship with Christ will soon drive away your dark depression. Go to the Lord in prayer. Pour out your soul to him. Worship and praise him in private. Spend much time with the Man of sorrows, and your sorrows will soon become very insignificant.
3. The fellowship of God's people does much to defeat depression. Usually, when you are greatly depressed, you want to be alone. Nothing could be worse for you than that. Seek out some child of God and chat with him about God's abundant mercy in Christ, not about your mutual woes! And be sure that you meet together with God's elect in the house of worship. Many suffer with depression far longer than they need, simply because they neglect the assembly of the saints and the ministry of the Word.
4. Cast all your care upon the Lord - he does care for you! His shoulders are broad enough and strong enough to carry your load. There is no need for you to carry it. Faith in Christ is the best cure for every form of depression.
This statement from God's prophet should raise a universal shout of 'Hallelujah' from the fallen sons of Adam. The God whom we have offended, the God whom we have blasphemed, the God whose law we have broken delights in mercy!
Wisdom and power, justice and truth, holiness and infinity are all attributes of God. I am sure he delights in them all. But here one attribute, as singled out by inspiration, gives delight to the eternal God - mercy! God delights to show mercy. It is both pleasant and essential to his being. He can no more cease to be merciful than he can cease to be just and holy.
This mercy which God delights to show unto men is in Christ. Read Micah's prophecy again. In the midst of great trial, Micah's heart was fixed upon Christ. As he anticipated the coming of Christ, he was comforted with this precious truth: 'He delighteth in mercy!' Micah looked for the mercy of God in Christ. And, if you hope to find mercy, you must seek it in Christ. Since Jesus Christ has suffered and died in the place of sinners, satisfying God's holy law and justice, God is both able and willing to be merciful to sinners! That is the good news of the gospel.
There is only one way to obtain this mercy. You must come to Christ by faith. Bow down at his feet, acknowledging his sovereign lordship. Confess your sin. Sue for mercy, saying, 'God be merciful to me, a sinner.' And believe his Word. 'He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.'
Indeed he can and will for Christ's sake, because, 'he delighteth in mercy'.
We know that every true believer's salvation is safe and secure in Christ, because the work of grace which God has begun he will carry on to perfection. The apostle Paul assures us of this: 'Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ' (Phil. 1:6). It will never be said of our God that he began a work which he was not able to complete. Every man considers it his shame to undertake a work, and be compelled to give it up before completion, because he lacked the ability, the skill, the wisdom, the power, or the dedication necessary to get the job done. But it is not possible for the Lord God to be confronted with such shame. He has never known failure and he never will. He began with us in eternal election. Though thousands of years rolled by, his purpose never changed. According to his wise and holy will, in the fulness of time, he redeemed us by the substitutionary atonement of his own Son. And though we went astray from him as soon as we were born and spent our days and nights in rebellion, yet he stood by his purpose of grace. He graciously preserved us until the time appointed when he would save us. Then, at the appointed time, in the time of his love, he gave us life in Christ. Since that day, our sins have been many. Our faithfulness at best has been feeble. Our service has been insignificant. But he who called us has been faithful. He has kept us by the power of his grace. He has never failed us yet; and he never will. He will not give up that work to which he has been faithful for so long. Our God will perform that which he has begun, until he brings us safe into eternal glory. He is willing to complete his work in us. He is wise enough to complete his work in us. And he is powerful enough to complete his work in us. Many ask, 'Can a saved man ever be lost?' I reply, 'Not until God ceases to be God!'
I know that if God has saved me, and if God has saved you, by his matchless grace: 'It shall be for ever!'
Beloved, we sustained a great loss by the Fall in this matter of righteousness. We suffered the loss of a righteous nature and the loss of all legal righteousness in the sight of God. Man sinned; he was therefore no longer innocent of the transgression. Man did not keep the commandment; he was therefore guilty of the sin of omission. In that which he committed, and in that which he omitted, man's original character of uprightness was completely wrecked. Jesus Christ came to undo the mischief of the Fall for his people.
Christ Jesus, by his one sacrifice, has satisfied the penalty of sin in his flesh. 'He, his own self, bare our sins in his own body on the tree.' But it is not enough for us to be pardoned. It is required of man that he keep the whole law. God requires of man a perfect obedience. He must continue in all things written in the book of the law to do them. Man must have a perfect righteousness, or God will not accept him. Man must have a perfect obedience, or God will not reward him. God cannot accept anything less than perfection.
How is this necessity supplied? There is no righteousness in us. Even the work of the Holy Spirit in sanctification is imperfect in this life. If we would be righteous, we must have the righteousness of another. Christ alone is our righteousness. We are accepted in the Beloved. The righteousness by which the saints are clothed, through which we are accepted and with which we are made meet to inherit eternal life, is the work of Christ. The perfect life of Christ as our Representative constitutes the righteousness of his people. By his death Christ washed away our sins. His life covers us from head to foot. His death was his sacrifice to God. His life is his gift to man, by which we satisfied the demands of the law. In his life, Christ rendered a perfect obedience to the law as our Representative. In his death, he satisfied the claims of the law as our Substitute. Christ is 'the Lord our Righteousness'.
After Philip had plainly preached the gospel to the Ethiopian eunuch, they came to a place having a large body of water and the eunuch desired that Philip would baptize him. Upon the eunuch's request, Philip set before him one essential prerequisite for baptism: 'If thou believest with all thine heart thou mayest.' This issue has great importance in our day. There are many brethren who soundly believe the gospel of God's free grace, who are doing a great harm by the practice of infant baptism. They preach nothing but free grace in their pulpits, but they turn around and 'baptize' a baby. Regardless of what the theologians say, in the minds of those who sit in the pews such a ritual must have some merit before God. If baptism has no merit and no saving efficacy, why would anyone baptize an infant? And if you do not baptize infants, there is no need to pervert baptism into sprinkling. Infant baptism and sprinkling are merely popish furniture in the house of Protestantism, which should have been cast out with indulgences.
Your baptism is very important. By it you either profess the gospel of Christ or you pervert the gospel of Christ. Only by immersion can you properly confess the gospel in this ordinance. Baptism is the answer of a good conscience towards God. Let us see to it, then, that our baptism is in accordance with the Scriptures.
According to the New Testament, there is but one thing essential to baptism. The person being baptized must have a personal heart faith in Jesus Christ. The essence of baptism is not in the person or church performing it, but in the heart obedience of the person being baptized. You must have a personal faith in the person, work and power of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. To be baptized without faith in Christ is as dangerous as partaking of the Lord's Table without faith. In both cases the unbeliever fails to discern the Lord's body. If the Holy Spirit enables you to trust Christ alone for your complete salvation, you should be baptized, publicly 'calling on the name of the Lord'.
We are living in a world where all things are temporary. Everything here is perishing. And we are going to a world where all things are eternal. If we are wise we shall live in this world of time with our hearts fixed on eternity. And when we look at all things in this world with an eye to eternity there is one striking fact that we cannot avoid.
The time of your life is short. 'What is your life? It is even a vapour that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.' 'My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle. 'My friend, your days are numbered. Soon you will have taken your last breath. Be warned! The time for salvation is short. Today is the day of salvation. This is the accepted time. Today you must come to Christ, laying hold of his righteousness and shed blood as the only grounds of your acceptance before God. For you who are the children of God, the time for service is short. 'The hour cometh when no man can work.' Let us give ourselves to the service of our Redeemer while the time remains. And, blessed be God, the time for suffering is short. Let us not faint, nor grow weary, 'For our light affliction which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.'
Since the time is short, we must be detached from the things of this world. We must hold the dearest objects of this life with a loose hand and cling only to Christ. Take your dearest earthly possessions -your money, your lands, your friends, your family and place this brand upon them - perishing! Christ alone and the riches of his grace are eternal.
What then must we do with the time that we have? We must redeem the time. Buy up every opportunity to worship and serve Christ. Buy up every opportunity to point men and women to Christ, the Way, the Truth and the Life. Much time is gone already, the days are evil and the time that remains is short. Therefore I say, redeem the time.
Never was there a name so wonderful as the name of our Saviour. He is the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord - our Master, our King, our Sovereign, our God. Jesus - our Saviour, our Redeemer, our Deliverer. Christ - Anointed One. He was anointed by God as the Prophet, Priest and King of his people. This is the one whom the Father deemed able to save us and worthy of all glory. He is wonderful in the estimation of the Father, of the heavenly angels and of all his people.
1. He is wonderful in his covenant. In covenant mercy, the Son of God a reed to become our Saviour and to accomplish for us a perfect salvation.
2. He is wonderful in his compassion. Behold how he loves us! He has loved us with an eternal, sovereign, distinguishing, personal, perfect and infinite love.
3. He is wonderful in his condescension. In a gigantic step downwards, he took upon himself our nature. Poverty, pain and persecution followed the Man of sorrows all his days. As great as the humiliation of the incarnation was, it was nothing in comparison with that humiliation he endured upon the cross as our Substitute! He bore shame, scourging, scoffing and spitting for us. At last he was made to be sin for us! Being slain in our place, he was buried in a borrowed tomb.
4. He is wonderful in his crowning. After three days in the grave, the Son of God came forth triumphant over the grave. Forty days later he ascended to the throne of glory as our Mediator King. The God-man is crowned with glory and honour, never to be humbled again. All the universe is under his sovereign rule.
5. He is wonderful in his care. The Son of God rules all people and all events, working all things together for the good of/his people. The Lord of glory is our Protector, Provider and Preserver.
6. He is wonderful in his coming. 'Behold, he cometh! 'Yes, he is coming again! He is coming now! Soon the Son of God, our Saviour, will again be upon the earth. All things will be put under his feet!
Nowhere do I find in the New Testament that Christian men are commanded to tithe. Such a commandment would be contrary to the gospel of grace and the spirit of the new covenant. Legal commandments are good enough for children of bondage, like Ishmael. But the children of promise are motivated from a better principle. For them it is enough to say, 'Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.' We do not divide out our tenth, like religious misers. We give ourselves and all that we have to Christ. Cheerfully we give all that we can for the cause of Christ and the support of the gospel ministry. Why? Because we know his grace.
'Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor.' Brethren, the wealth of God, the treasures of the infinite, the riches of eternity are the possession of our blessed Saviour. From the highest throne of glory to the lowest pit in hell, Jesus owns it all. It is true Christ is the lowly man of Nazareth. But he is more. He is the eternal God, possessing all the riches of divine wisdom, power and glory.
Yet he became poor (Phil. 2:5-8). The eternal Son of God took manhood into union with himself. The God of glory robed himself in human flesh. Behold the depths of his poverty at Calvary! He was betrayed, mocked and beaten. He was crucified. God made his Son to be sin for us! There he was robbed of all the joy of heaven and the comfort of his Father's presence. His dying bed was a malefactor's cross. His resting place was a borrowed tomb. What was the reason for such humiliation?
'That ye through his poverty might be rich.' What riches are ours through the mediation of Christ! In him we have all and abound. The riches of grace and redemption, time and eternity are ours. Do men who know such grace need the threat of the law to make them tithe? No! The love of Christ constrains us. And in everything grace produces more than the law. Let us then give cheerfully and bountifully.
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