the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
The Poor Man's Morning and Evening Portions
September 9—Morning—Jeremiah 50:20
"In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found; for I will pardon them whom I reserve."—Jeremiah 50:20.
What those days and that time refer to is very plain; namely, the day when the great trumpet shall be blown, and when they shall come which were ready to perish; the glorious day of gospel grace by Jesus. For God the Father, having appointed and accepted a Surety for poor sinners, in the blood and righteousness of his dear Son, beholds no iniquity in Jacob, nor perverseness in Israel. Blessed thought to comfort a poor soul—that, seen in Christ, and accepted in the beloved, "there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit!" Pause, my soul, over this precious scripture, and take to thyself the comfort of it. If thou art in Christ, thou art beheld righteous in his righteousness; and, as thy Surety, what he wrought, and what he suffered, was for thee. So that, in this sense, thou art, as Christ tells the church, all fair, and there is no spot in thee. So that, amidst all thy groans for the remains of indwelling sin, (and groan thou dost daily,) and as thou sometimes art prompted to think, there is growing imperfection in thee; yet, in Jesus, as thou art found and beheld in him, sin is pardoned, and thy person accepted, and thou art in a state of justification before God in the righteousness of God thy Saviour. And, as this is so essential to be known and enjoyed, see to it, my soul, that thou livest upon it. Go in the strength of Christ’s righteousness every day to the throne, pleading that righteousness, and that only. And, under a perfect conviction that not a single sin of thine was left out when Jesus bore the sins of his people on the tree, beg for grace to exercise faith, and to know that in Jesus thou art justified before God, and that God hath cast all thy sins into the depths of the sea. "Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and goodness of God!" What shall separate from the love of Christ?—surely not sin. For Jesus hath put away sin by the sacrifice of himself! The law of God cannot: for that law, Jesus, as the sinner’s Surety, hath satisfied. And justice, so far from condemning, now approves. God is just to his dear Son, as our Surety, who hath answered all the demands of sin, and therefore hath forgiven sin, and cleansed from all unrighteousness. Blessed thought! in this day sin is pardoned in Christ: and in that day, when God shall arise to judgment, the sin of Judah, and the iniquity of Israel cannot be found.
September 9—Evening—Galatians 5:11
"Then is the offence of the cross ceased."—Galatians 5:11.
The cross of Jesus was, of old, the great offence both to Jews and Greeks; and, in the present day, we may add, it is so to every one, who, by a perversion of language, calls himself christian, but yet denies the Godhead of him whom he presumes to call Maker. And if the believer would but relinquish this distinguishing feature in his Lord’s person and atonement for his sins by the blood of his cross, then indeed would the offence of the cross cease. But, my soul, ask thyself, whether the offence of the cross be ceased in thy view? Yea, rather, whether, like Paul, not only the reproach of the cross is taken away for ever; but thou art crying out with an holy indignation against all rejoicings but in Jesus and his cross? Say, is it not thy daily, hourly song: "God forbid that r should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world?" Galatians 6:14. Is all thy glory in him, whom, in reproach, the world called" The man hanged upon the tree?" Art thou for ever looking on him there, and for ever rejoicing in the view? There, sayest thou, there hangs all my confidence, all my joy, my security, my victories, my triumphs! Offence, do they say? Witness for me, I would say, all ye angels of light, that "this is all my salvation, and all my desire!" My soul utterly renounceth, utterly despiseth every idea of any other Saviour, but my Lord Jesus, and him crucified. Lead me, thou blessed Holy Spirit, lead me to the continued celebration of my Lord’s cross, in my Lord’s supper. There let Jesus Christ be evidently set forth crucified for me; and there may I receive the bread and wine, the representations of his body and blood, in token that I seek redemption in no other, but am heartily, fully, completely satisfied and convinced, that "there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."
