Daily Devotionals

Mornings and Evenings with Jesus

Devotional: November 11th

And the fame of him went out into every place of the country round about. - Luke 4:37.

THE Saviour did not commonly encourage such expressions: generally he forbade it, because “his hour was not yet come,” and because he would teach his followers, to the end of time to be willing to do good without noise or show, and without seeking the honour that cometh from men. But he could not he hid; as the Sun of righteousness, he could no more be hid than the sun of nature can. We may hide ourselves very easily from the sun, but we can never hide the sun.

He said to those whom he had relieved and recovered, “Go your way, but hold your peace;” yet, instead of obeying him, they went forth and published it the more round about.” And there is a pleasure in contemplating the humility of the Giver and the thankfulness of the receiver. Who does not rejoice in the spread of his fame? Who does not wish his fame everywhere spread abroad? That which distresses Christians is, not so much that they are so little known, but that he is so little known. How lamentable it is to think that “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, yet the world knew him not”! that “He came unto his own,” (the Jews,) “and his own received him not”! and that he is now “despised and rejected of men”! But he is not so regarded in another world.

Oh, could we witness that world, we should find that there he attracts every eye, fills every heart, employs every tongue; and he will not thus be regarded always here, or long; for “every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain; and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” And already the number of those who are concerned in spreading his fame is increasing; and the Lord add to his people, how many soever they be, a hundredfold! But it becomes all Christians to be engaged in this work,-the work of making him known and spreading his fame. Justice requires them to be thus employed. Fame is not always desert.

There are many who are praised for qualities which they have not, at least in the measure and degree in which they are applauded. And then often when the actions are good, the motives that influence them, if they were known, would take away all the merit. There are some few of our fellow-creatures who deserve more fame than they have ever obtained; for there is much merit buried in obscurity in our world. But when we consider what he is, what he has done, and what he has suffered, who can avoid exclaiming,-

“Let him be crown’d with majesty

Who bow’d his head to death;

And be his honour sounded high

By all things that have breath”?

Gratitude requires us to be thus employed. How we feel a little kindness shown us by our fellow-creatures, when perhaps they have exercised no self-denial, made no sacrifice! But Jesus became incarnate; when rich, he became poor, and died that we might live: and shall not we be constrained to “show forth his praise”? Let us say, with the Psalmist, “What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits towards me?” Let us speak well of his name, and recommend him to all around us. For benevolence requires us to be thus employed. Many are perishing for lack of knowledge, and the knowledge of him; for to know him is eternal life, and

“None but Jesus, none but Jesus,

Can do helpless sinners good.”

How many want this knowledge around us,-how many millions abroad! Oh, when will the period arrive when his fame shall be universal, and when it shall be said without a figure, “Behold, the world is gone after him”? The Lord hasten it in his time!

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. - 2 Timothy 3:16.

WHAT a proof is this comprehensiveness, and adaptedness of Scripture, of the divinity of the Bible itself. What other book of the same size could bear, from age to age, to have thousands of persons always examining it, always discussing it, and yet always finding something fresh and suitable, and never exhausted. Then we may observe the diversity of the topics, and the comparative superiority and importance of some truths over others.

Every thing equally true is not equally important; there are essential truths, and there are circumstantial truths; and all these things are made plain in proportion as they are important. They are all available, and all “were written aforetime for our learning, that we, through faith and comfort of the Scripture, might have hope.” As therefore nothing is useless, the separation or concealment, or neglect of any part of it must be to hinder a benefit and a blessing.

Partial knowledge will sometimes be found to injure more than entire ignorance. Indeed, what in fact is all error but some truth pushed too far, or not far enough; some truth taken out of its place; or some truth taken alone, without other truths, which would qualify and explain it, and render it not only safe but useful. The Apostle therefore says to the Ephesians that the ministry of the word is intended for the “perfecting of the saints and the edifying of the body of Christ till we all come to the unity of the faith, and the knowledge of the son of God unto the perfect man” (that is in knowledge), “unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.” And then, as a consequence of it, he says, “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine;” or, as he tells the Hebrews, “with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace;” that is, with the truths of the gospel.

And as these partialities and preferences injure the gospel, so they mar its beauty. This arises from the connection and harmony of the whole. “As to cloth,” says Lord Bacon, “a small pattern may enable us to judge fairly and safely of the whole piece; but the Bible is like a fine arras tapestry, which, though a remnant, may assure us of the colours and the richness of the stuff; yet the hangings never appear to their true advantage but when displayed in their full dimensions, and seen together.” So, however mysterious to our reason, however mortifying to the pride of our hearts, however it may reprove or censure us, we should open our bosoms to the admission of the admonitions, reproofs, and instructions of the Holy Scriptures. And so in hearing the word preached.

We are not to hang down our heads, and go away dissatisfied, because we have not been comforted. Is comfort everything we want in the Divine life? We are not to say, I have had no new information. Is knowledge all we want? If the subject be not so adapted to our case, it may be the very subject another wants; if we are familiar with it, another in the assembly may never have heard it before. If we retain the truth, and repetition be irksome, we should remember there are others who are forgetful, and who need to have their minds stirred up by way of remembrance.

And we should therefore, instead of wishing to limit the preacher, encourage him to go through the land of revelation in the length and breadth of it; encourage him not only to plant, but water; not only to lay the foundation, but to build.