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Daily Devotionals
The Poor Man's Morning and Evening Portions
Devotional: February 7th

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February 7—Morning—John 1:36

"Behold the Lamb of God!"—John 1:36.

Who is it calls upon thee, my soul, to this most gratifying and enriching of all employments? Is it not God the Holy Ghost, by the ministry of his servant John? And doth not God thy Father do the same by the ministry of his servant Isaiah, when be bids thee behold him in whom his soul delighteth? And is not Jesus himself calling, again and again, in the ministry of his word and ordinances upon thy poor forgetful heart, when he saith, "Behold me! behold me! look unto me, and be ye saved!" And wilt thou not obey the sweet and gracious calls, on which all thy present peace and everlasting happiness depend? Precious, precious Jesus! Yes, my Lord! I would, methinks, so look unto thee, and so behold thee, until my whole heart, and all its affections, followed my eyes, and left not a thought behind for a single object besides thee. I would eye thee, thou dear Redeemer, as the Lamb of God; both where thou once wast, and where thou now art, and follow thee whithersoever thou goest. I would behold thee, as the Lamb of God, set up in the decrees of eternity, from everlasting; for thou art "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." I would behold thee, set forth in all the representations of thy redeeming blood, in the innumerable sacrifices of the law, and in the lamb of the morning, and the lamb of the evening, through the intermediate ages, to thy coming. I would behold thee, Oh thou unequalled pattern of excelling meekness! when, in the days of thy flesh, thou walkedst through the streets of Jerusalem; and when, as a lamb, thou wast led to the slaughter. I would eye thee, Oh thou Lamb of God, until my eye-strings could hold no longer, when as the Lamb of God, and my soul’s surety, thou didst hang upon the tree, putting away sin, and satisfying divine justice by, the sacrifice of thyself. And never would I take off my eyes from thy cross, until called by thee to behold thee as a Lamb in the midst of the throne, where thou art feeding thy church above, and dispensing blessings to all thy church below. Yes, yes, blessed triumphant Lamb of God, thou art the Lamb still. Change of place hath made no change in thy nature, or thy love, or the efficacy of thy redemption. Thou still appearest as a Lamb that hath been slain. And still thou bearest on thy glorified body, the marks of my redemption. Shall I not behold thee, then, dearest Jesus? Shall I not unceasingly behold thee, thus called upon by the Father, Son, and Spirit, and thus finding every thing that can satisfy my most unbounded desires for time and for eternity? Help me, blessed Jesus, so to look, and so to live upon thee; and Oh, do thou behold me, and bid me live, and make me thine for ever."

February 7—Evening—Genesis 37:32-33

"And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, this have we found; know now, whether it be thy son’s coat, or no. And he knew it, and said, it is my son’s coat."—Genesis 37:32-33.

The life of the patriarch Joseph is very beautiful and interesting, as an history only; and the several incidents arising out of it are such as cannot but more or less affect every heart. But when we have gone through the whole relation, in the mere letter of the word, we are constrained to believe, that in the spiritual sense and meaning of it, almost every thing in the life of Joseph was typical of Jesus! I would not strain scripture upon any account. Neither would I to myself any thing fanciful of Jesus and his frame blessed offices; so as to see him where he is not. Yet I cannot but think, that since in so many instances, as is universally allowed, Joseph is a lively type of Christ, the Holy Ghost, in his glorifying the Lord Jesus, was, in many cases, pleased to shadow forth, somewhat of the Redeemer, where he is not at first so immediately discovered. Whether in the passage I have just read, for the present evening’s meditation, there be any thing typical of Jesus, I know not; but to those who, like Philip, have "found him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth;" the coat of the patriarch, dipped in the blood of the kid, may minister in leading the heart to the contemplation of Jesus, who appeareth unceasingly in his priestly garments, in the presence of God our Father, for us. And may not a believer humbly take up the language of faith, when drawing nigh to our God and Father in Christ Jesus; and when we enter, as it were, into his retirings, with earnest prayer, and earnest pleadings, seeking favour in and through Jesus; may we not, in the arms of our faith, bring the vesture of Jesus dipped in blood, and say, this have we found; know now, whether it be Jesus’s, thy dear and ever beloved Son’s vesture, or no? Oh! for faith to behold Christ, as the Father beheld him, when he set him forth to the church, and to love him as God our Father loved him. And how surely will God confirm his own gracious testimony concerning him, and say with the patriarch, or in words to the same effect; "This is my beloved Sons in whom I am well pleased!"

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