the Fourth Week after Easter
Click here to join the effort!
Daily Devotionals
The Poor Man's Morning and Evening Portions
March 10—Morning—Isaiah 51:13
"And hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy; and where is the fury of the oppressor?"—Isaiah 51:13.
Pause, my soul, over those sweet expostulating words of thy God. Wherefore should the fear of man bring a snare? How much needless anxiety should I spare myself, could I but live, amidst all my changeable days and changeable circumstances, upon my unchangeable God. Now, mark what thy God saith of thy unreasonable and ill-grounded fears—"Where is the fury of the oppressor?" Can he take from thee thy Jesus? No! Shouldest thou lose all thy earthly comforts, Jesus ever liveth, and Jesus is thine. Can he afflict thee, if God saith no? That is impossible. Neither men nor devils can oppress without his permission. And sure enough thou art, thy God and Saviour will never allow any thing to thy hurt; for all things must work for good. And canst thou lessen the oppressor’s fury by anxious fears? Certainly not. Thou mayest, my soul, harrass thyself and waste thy spirits, but never lessen the fury of the enemy thereby. And wherefore, then, shouldest thou crowd the uncertain evils, and the may be’s of tomorrow, in the circumstances of this day’s warfare, when, by only waiting for the morrow, and casting all thy care upon Jesus, who careth for thee, his faithfulness is engaged to be thy shield and buckler? Peace then, my soul, thou shalt be carried through this oppression, as sure as thou hast been through every former; for Jesus is still Jesus, thy God, and will be thy guide even unto death.
March 10—Evening—1 Samuel 2:25
"If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him. But if a man sin against the Lord, who shall intreat for him?"—1 Samuel 2:25.
It is a very solemn thing to behold a trembling convicted malefactor, when standing before an earthly tribunal, although the judge is of the same nature with himself: for every thing is solemn, earnest, and impartial. But what is the awfulness of a court of human judicature, compared to that day, in which a wholeworld, all found guilty before God, shall stand before the judgment-seat of Christ? In this life, there is, for the most part, somewhat to mitigate, and to excite hope in the worst of cases: some tender-hearted friend, some kind neighbour, some feeling relation, will be found to arise, to soften, if not able to relieve, the guilty man’s distress. But at that tribunal, where none can plead, and where all hearts are open, what shall be found to stop the overwhelming horrors of the condemned?—Pause, my soul, over the view, for it is solemn. If one man sin against another, thus breaking the law, the judge shall Judge him; and who is the judge but Jesus? Here he that is the Judge, is also the Advocate of his people; yea, their surety, their law-fulfiller; so that, as the apostle was commissioned to tell the church, "If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the propitiation for our sins, "1 John 2:1-2. Precious thought! soul-supporting consolation! To all the sins and offences, both against God and man, the believer may plead the blood and righteousness of Jesus, as the law-fulfiller and ransom paid for sin. But if a man sin against the Lord himself, by rejecting this counsel of God against his own soul, who then shall entreat for him? For the only advocate, he slights; the only propitiation, he disclaims; and as there is salvation in no other, and there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin, to whom, in that awful day of God, will he look; or who but Jesus could take up his cause? Oh! ye that know not Christ, or ye that slight him, think, before it be too late, what paleness, dread, and horror, must arrest that soul, which, when weighed in the balances, shall be found wanting! Cherish, my soul, the blessedness of thy hope, which is founded wholly on the Mediator’s righteousness; and resteth on what can never fail of acceptance, because founded both on the merit of Christ, and God the Father’s own appointment; redemption in the blood of the Lamb, and being made accepted in the beloved.
