From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Daily devotions for 07-06-2005:
Devotion: Morning and Evening
Morning Title: Called to Be Saints
Evening Title: Sin of Fear
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Morning: Called to Be Saints
"Called to be saints." --Romans 1:7
We are very apt to regard the apostolic saints as if they were "saints" in a
more especial manner than the other children of God. All are "saints" whom God
has called by His grace, and sanctified by His Spirit; but we are apt to look
upon the apostles as extraordinary beings, scarcely subject to the same
weaknesses and temptations as ourselves. Yet in so doing we are forgetful of
this truth, that the nearer a man lives to God
the more intensely has he to mourn over his own evil heart; and the more his
Master honours him in His service, the more also doth the evil of the flesh vex
and tease him day by day.
The fact is, if we had seen the apostle Paul, we should have thought him
remarkably like the rest of the chosen family: and if we had talked with him,
we should have said, "We find that his experience and ours are much the same.
He is more faithful, more holy, and more deeply taught than we are, but he has
the selfsame trials to endure.
Nay, in some respects he is more sorely tried than ourselves." Do not, then,
look upon the ancient saints as being exempt either from infirmities or sins;
and do not regard them with that mystic reverence which will almost make us
idolators. Their holiness is attainable even by us. We are "called to be
saints" by that same voice which constrained them to their high vocation.
It is a Christian's duty to force his way into the inner circle of saintship;
and if these
saints were superior to us in their attainments, as they certainly were, let us
follow them; let us emulate their ardour and holiness. We have the same light
that they had, the same grace is accessible to us, and why should we rest
satisfied until we have equalled them in heavenly character? They lived with
Jesus, they lived for Jesus, therefore they grew like Jesus. Let us live by the
same Spirit as they did, "looking unto Jesus," and our saintship will soon be
apparent.
Evening: Sin of Fear
"Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting
strength."
--Isaiah 26:4
Seeing that we have such a God to trust to, let us rest upon Him with all our
weight; let us resolutely drive out all unbelief, and endeavour to get rid of
doubts and fears, which so much mar our comfort; since there is no excuse for
fear where God is the foundation of our trust.
A loving parent would be sorely grieved if his child could not trust him; and
how ungenerous, how unkind is our conduct when we put so little confidence in
our heavenly Father who has never failed us, and who never will. It were well
if doubting were banished from the household of God; but it is to be feared
that old Unbelief is as nimble nowadays as when the psalmist asked, "Is His
mercy clean gone for ever? Will He be favourable no more?" David had not made
any very lengthy trial of the mighty sword of the giant
Goliath, and yet he said, "There is none like it." He had tried it once in the
hour of his
youthful victory, and it had proved itself to be of the right metal, and
therefore he praised it
ever afterwards; even so should we speak well of our God, there is none like
unto Him in the heaven above or the earth beneath; "To whom then will ye liken
Me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One." There is no rock like unto the
rock of Jacob, our enemies themselves being judges.
So far from suffering doubts to live in our hearts, we will take the whole
detestable crew, as Elijah did the prophets of Baal, and slay them over the
brook; and for a stream to kill them at, we will select the sacred torrent
which wells forth from our Saviour's wounded side. We have been in many trials,
but we have never yet been cast where we could not find in our God all that we
needed. Let us then be encouraged to trust in the Lord for ever, assured that
His ever lasting strength will be, as it has been, our succour and stay.
==============================================
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Daily devotions for 07-07-2005:
Devotion: Morning and Evening
Morning Title: God's People Are Safe
Evening Title: The Guilt of the Righteous
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Morning: God's People Are Safe
"Whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of
evil."
--Proverbs 1:33
Divine love is rendered conspicuous when it I shines in the midst of judgments.
Fair is that lone star which smiles through the rifts of the thunder clouds;
bright is the oasis which blooms in the wilderness of sand; so fair and so
bright is love in the midst of wrath. When the Israelites provoked the Most
High by their continued idolatry, He punished them by withholding both dew and
rain, so that their land was visited by a sore famine; but while He did this,
He took care that His own chosen ones should be secure.
If all other brooks are dry, yet shall there be one reserved for Elijah; and
when that fails, God shall still preserve for him a place of sustenance; nay,
not only so, the Lord had not simply one "Elijah," but He had a remnant
according to the election of grace, who were
hidden by fifties in a cave, and though the whole land was subject to famine,
yet these fifties in the cave were fed, and fed from Ahab's table too by His
faithful, God-fearing steward, Obadiah.
Let us from this draw the inference, that come what may, God's people are safe.
Let convulsions shake the solid earth, let the skies themselves be rent in
twain, yet amid the wreck of worlds the believer shall be as secure as in the
calmest hour of rest.
If God cannot save His people under heaven, He will save them in heaven. If the
world becomes too hot to hold them, then heaven shall be the place of their
reception and their safety. Be ye then confident, when ye hear of wars, and
rumours of wars. Let no agitation distress you, but be quiet from fear of evil.
Whatsoever cometh upon the earth, you, beneath the broad wings of Jehovah,
shall be secure. Stay yourself upon His promise; rest in His faithfulness, and
bid defiance to the blackest future, for there is nothing in it direful for
you. Your sole concern should be to show forth to the world the
blessedness of hearkening to the voice of wisdom.
Evening: The Guilt of the Righteous
"How many are mine iniquities and sins?" --Job 13:23
Have you ever really weighed and considered how great the sin of God's people
is? Think how heinous is your own transgression, and you will find that not
only does a sin here and there tower up like an alp, but that your iniquities
are heaped upon each other, as in the old fable of the giants who piled Pelian
upon Ossa, mountain upon mountain.
What an aggregate of sin there is in the life of one of the most sanctified of
God's children!
Attempt to multiply this, the sin of one only, by the multitude of the
redeemed, "a number which no man can number," and you will have some conception
of the great mass of the guilt of the people for whom Jesus shed His blood.
But we arrive at a more adequate idea of the magnitude of sin by the greatness
of the remedy provided. It is the blood of Jesus Christ, God's only and
well-beloved Son. God's Son! Angels cast their crowns before Him! All the
choral symphonies of heaven surround His glorious throne. "God over all,
blessed for ever. Amen."
And yet He takes upon Himself the form of a servant, and is scourged and
pierced, bruised and torn, and at last slain; since nothing but the blood of
the incarnate Son of God could make atonement for our offences.
No human mind can adequately estimate the infinite value of the divine
sacrifice, for great
as is the sin of God's people, the atonement which takes it away is
immeasurably greater.
Therefore, the believer, even when sin rolls like a black flood, and the
remembrance of the past is bitter, can yet stand before the blazing throne of
the great and holy God, and cry, "Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that
died; yea rather, that hath risen again." While the recollection of his sin
fills him with shame and sorrow, he at the same time makes it a foil to show
the brightness of mercy--guilt is the dark night in which the fair star of
divine love shines with serene splendour.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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