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Daily Devotionals
The Poor Man's Morning and Evening Portions
Devotional: May 25th

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May 25—Morning—Isaiah 33:24

"And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity."—Isaiah 33:24.

What is this? What happy climate is there where any of its inhabitants are exempt from sickness? Where is that salubrious air, that is not impregnated with disease? Surely, no where but in heaven. But if the cause of sickness be removed; if the envenomed dart of sin be taken out, and hath lost its poison, the inhabitant no longer complains, for both the evil and the pain are gone. My soul, hast thou found this happy spot? Hath Jesus manifested such views of his pardoning grace in the all-sufficiency of his blood and righteousness, that thou not only art fully convinced and satisfied that his blood cleanseth from all sin; but that thou as fully believest and resteth in it for thy salvation; and art of the happy number of those who believe to the salvation of the soul. Hath Jesus said to thee, as to the poor man in the gospel, "Son, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee?" Surely, then, thou art the inhabitant the prophet pointed at, and art no longer, sick, but dwelling in the faith, and forgiven thine iniquity. Blessed Physician! I am no longer sick of that dreadful sickness which is unto death, in an unrenewed, unpardoned, unregenerated state. But I am sick indeed, and fainting for the fresh manifestations of thy grace. I am languishing, thou dearest Lord, for the renewed visits of thy love, the enjoyment of thy person, the larger, fuller, more constant discoveries of thyself and thy glory. When wilt thou come unto me? When will the day of everlasting light break in upon my soul? When shall I behold thee among the inhabitants of the upper, brighter world? Oh ye spirits of just men made perfect; ye who now dwell for ever under the perpetual smiles of Jesus’s face; ye who once knew what it was to live in the unceasing desire of his renewed visits, and how precious all his love tokens are—tell him what longings my soul now hath, and what faintings I feel for his manifestation. Tell him, I charge you, Oh ye daughters of the new Jerusalem, ye that everlastingly behold my beloved, tell him that I am sick of love.

May 25—Evening—Colossians 1:18

"And he is the head of the body, the church."—Colossians 1:18.

Sweet view of Jesus! Ponder well the subject, my soul, and behold thy Lord in this endearing character, and thine own personal union with him. Jesus is indeed, in every point of view, "the head of his body, the church." He is so by the Father’s own appointment, as our glorious Surety: in which character he stood up at the call of God the Father, from everlasting; for when, at that call, he put himself in our stead, in our law-room and place, he undertook, as the church’s representative, to do all, and to suffer all for her; and what he did and suffered, they, as his body, might truly be said to do and suffer in him. Sweet thought! When Jesus obeyed the whole law, then was Jesus their law-fulfiller. When he suffered the death of the cross, they in him were crucified. When he arose from the dead, in that resurrection they partook of the triumph, and, as members of his body, arose with him. And when he ascended up on high, and sat down on the seat of the Conqueror, they ascended virtually by their union with him, and may be said" to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." But, my soul! glorious as are these views of Jesus, thine husband and thine head, yet are they not all. He is the head of his body, the church, by his assumption of our nature. There is an union also of soul, a oneness, a connection as close and intimate as the natural head of the body with its several members; for as the head of the body is the source of life, which gives energy and action to all the parts of the body, so Christ is to his church and people" the fulness of him that filleth all in all." Here is another sweet thought! When Jesus took thy nature, my soul, in his sinless portion of it, he partook of all that could be said to constitute human nature. "Forasmuch (saith the apostle) as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same," Hebrews 2:14. hence he must have a tenderness, an affection, a fellow-feeling (if I may be allowed so to say) for his own nature, in the several members of his body, the church. This is the very argument the Holy Ghost, by the apostle, urgeth with poor exercised believers, to convince them of their safety and assured comfort in him: "We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we arc, yet without sin," Hebrews 4:15. And as this becomes a source of never-failing comfort, to support the several members of Christ’s body with consolation under all their exercises, (for what can any part feel which the head shall be unconscious of, and not participate in?) so doth it equally afford delight in the recollection, that all the wants of the body must be known and felt by the glorious head, and be by him supplied. Sweet thought again to the believer! Jesus hath a fulness corresponding to all our necessities. "It pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell. And of this fulness do we all receive, and grace for grace." Look up, my soul, and contemplate the infinite, inexhaustible, unsearchable riches of thy Christ! All awakening, justifying, sanctifying grace; all life, strength, nourishment, support, are poured upon the members of the church, from this glorious head: and what sums up the account, and endears it to the heart, is, that these blessings are everlasting, unchangeable, and eternal. He hath said, "Because I live, ye shall live also!" Pause, my soul! And is this Jesus thine? Is he indeed thine head? Art thou a member of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones?—Witness for me, ye angels of light! I renounce all other lords, all other alliances, all other husbands! It is to Jesus alone that I bend the knee of love, adoration, and obedience; for he is my Lord God, and I am his for ever.

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