Thirty-One Meditations on the Gospel

Robert Hawker (1753-1827)

Contents

1.       “The word is nigh thee”  Romans 10:8-10

2.       “The blood…cleanseth us from all sin”  1 John 1:7

3.       “Great is the mystery of godliness” 1 Timothy 3:16

4.      “God with us” Matthew 1:23

5.      “He is precious” 1 Peter 2:7

6.       “Christ…being made a curse for us” Galatians 3:13

7.       “I lay down my life” John 10:17

8.       “Jesus came…to save sinners” 1 Timothy 1:15

9.       “Shew the exceeding riches of his grace” Ephesians 2:7

10.       “While we were yet sinners” Romans 5:8

11.       “I will in no wise cast out”  John 6:37-40

12.      “Thou shalt call his name Jesus”  Matthew 1:21

13.      “Lest…your minds should be corrupted” 2 Corinthians 11:3

14.      “Who…gave himself for me” Galatians 2:20

15.      “Jesus Christ the same…for ever”  Hebrews 13:8

16.      “The Master…calleth for thee”  John 11:28

17.      “If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean”  Matthew 8:2-3

18.      “In his right mind”  Luke 8:35

19.      “Justified from  all things” Acts 13:39

20.      “Let us also walk in the Spirit”  Galatians 5:25

21.       “And yet there is room”  Luke 14:22

22.      “And such were some of you”  1 Corinthians 6:11

23.      “Such an high priest…who is holy”  Hebrews 7:26

24.      “Good news from a far country”  Proverbs 25:25

25.      “To day I must abide at thy house”  Luke 19:5

26.      “A just God and a Saviour”  Isaiah 45:21

27.      “He reasoned of righteousness” Acts 24-25

28.      “I have set before thee an open door”  Revelation 3:8

29.      “I…will  draw all men unto me”  John 12:32

30.      “The dead…that hear shall live”  John 5:25

31.      “The praise of all his saints”  Psalm 148:14

Other Devotional Literature

Chapel Library Resources

1. “The Word Is Nigh Thee”

“The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith…That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”—Romans 10:8-10

My soul, behold the tenderness of God the Holy Spirit to His people, in order to prevent the possibility of error in their knowledge and enjoyment of Jesus Christ the Lord.

It is not difficult to attain a clear understanding of whether a soul is in grace or not, for here the point is most plainly set forth: “The word is nigh[1] thee.” What word? The Word of faith: Christ in the Word, Christ in the promise, Christ Himself the salvation of the sinner.

When a poor sinner has been led to see Who Christ is and what He has done—what He has done for sinners and what He is to them—he sees the infinite glories of His Person, the infinite perfection and completeness of His work. He sees the infinite suitableness of the Lord Jesus Christ in every possible way that a poor sinner can need, by way of justification[2] before God and acceptance with God.

Then these blessed truths are so sweetly brought home to the heart and conscience of the enlightened sinner by God the Spirit, that he rests upon Christ as one perfectly satisfied with Christ. He neither seeks nor desires any other. So that by the living action of faith, the soul beholds Christ in the Word and in the promise, and takes Him with both the Word and the promise into his very soul, until Christ is fully formed there, “the hope of glory” (Col 1:27).

From this, both the outward confession of the mouth and the inward enjoyment of the heart have a beautiful correspondence.[3] The one speaks what the other feels, “for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh” (Luk 6:45). My soul, is not this faith? And if so, what can dispossess[4] you of it? What shall stop your joy or confidence in the Lord Jesus a single hour?

If Jesus Christ—the uncreated Word, the promised Word, the sum and substance of all the written Word—be nigh you, yea, in your mouth and in your heart, then not only your understanding knows Jesus, but your heart lives upon Jesus. Surely salvation is secure! Yea, heaven itself is begun in the soul; for “this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (Joh 17:3).

2. “The blood…Cleanseth Us from All Sin”

“The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”—1 John 1:7

My soul, sit down for a while by this crimson fountain, and duly ponder over this glorious property of your Redeemer’s blood.

Oh, the sovereign effectiveness of it! For it not only cleanses sin, but all sin; not only other’s sins, but our sins; not only the present evil of sin, but the everlasting evil of it; not only now, but forever. It cleanses from all sin.

Pause, my soul. Is there any other laver[5] to wash away sin? Can prayers, tears, repentance, ordinances, communions, duties, or alms? Oh, no! We must say of everything and of all things that are outside of the Lord Jesus Christ, and void of Christ, as Job did concerning his friends, “Miserable comforters are ye all...physicians of no value” (Job 16:4; 13:4). Here then, my soul, seek your cleansing, and here only.

And while to this Fountain you are daily brought by the Holy Ghost, look up and behold the whole assembly of the redeemed above, who are now standing around the throne, owing their bliss and their cleansing to the same source. Listen to their songs of joy, and catch the notes to sing even now the same song of rejoicing: “They...have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev 7:14). And because of this, and for no other cause, they are now before the throne, and serve the Lord in His temple day and night.

3. “Great Is the Mystery of Godliness”

“Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”—1 Timothy 3:16

My soul, sit down and listen to what the Holy Ghost here speaks, by His servant the Apostle Paul, concerning the mystery of godliness. Here are so many wonders branched out into so many chapters; they hang like a rich and full cluster upon the vine. Gather them one by one, mark their beauties, and taste their sweetness.

The first is, “God…manifest in the flesh.” Here is a meditation for you to live upon and to feast upon forever. Your God, your Lord Jesus, your Holy One, the Son of God, was made flesh!

Go on to the second: He was “justified in the Spirit,” a matter that would never have taken place had He not fully, by His righteousness and death, satisfied His Father’s Law and brought in an everlasting righteousness for His people.

Take down the third blessed character: He was “seen of angels.” Yes! They worshipped Him also: for angels, principalities, and powers were made subject unto Him.

Look, my soul, at your Lord under the fourth description that the Holy Ghost has here given of Him: He was “preached unto the Gentiles.” And this was as great a mystery to the Jewish church as any: that God “also to the Gentiles granted,” through Christ, “repentance unto life” (Act 11:18). And how dear this part of the Lord Jesus’ character should be to you, my soul, you need not to be told—you who were by nature a poor Gentile, an alien to the commonwealth[6] of Israel, “having no hope, and without God in the world” (Eph 2:12).

Mark the fifth particularity of your Lord Jesus Christ: He is said to be “believed on in the world.” How should this have been done, even in a single instance, but for the sovereignty of God’s grace? Surely this is no less a mystery also. Remark, my soul, how great, how very great a mystery this is in your case.

Lastly, the account closes: “Jesus was “received up into glory.” There, my soul, follow Him by faith, until the Lord comes to take you home with Him in absolute enjoyment, that “where I am, there ye may be also” (Joh 14:13). Amen!

4. “God with Us”

“And they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”—Matthew 1:23

My soul, have you never remarked what a peculiar beauty and sweetness there is in every name by which your God and Savior is made known to you in His holy Word? Surely, if nothing more had been intended by it than to identify and prove His sacred person, one name would have answered this purpose. Evidently, therefore, something of great importance is designed from His many names. And depend upon it, my soul, as much loveliness there is in every individual name of your Lord Jesus—at one time or other, in your walk of faith, so very much will you need the preciousness of every one—that you would not part with one of your Redeemer’s names. No, not for the world!

This “Emmanuel,” by which you are commanded to call Him, is a sweet name to endear Him to you. Had He not been Emmanuel, He could not have been Jesus, for none but God can save a sinner (Mat 1:21)—and therefore He is called Emmanuel, which signifies “God with us.” So, therefore, He is God. Put this down as a glorious truth in your esteem: God in our nature; God tabernacling[7] in our flesh; God in us; and God in our hearts, the hope of glory. It is the Godhead of your Lord Jesus that gives efficacy and value to every act of redemption.

As God, His righteousness is the righteousness of God to justify[8] you. Mark that! His sacrifice to atone;[9] His blood to cleanse; His grace to bless. All these blessed acts of your Lord Jesus effectively fulfil all their glorious purposes because they are the acts of God.

And remark, my soul, yet further, that all that yet remains to be fulfilled in what He has promised concerning salvation—in now pleading your cause and hereafter taking you to glory—these cannot fail, because He Who has promised is Emmanuel.

Go on, my soul, one step further, and remember that He Whom you are to call Emmanuel is also God in your nature. Hence, He is so very near and dear, in all tender alliances, as to be bone of your bone and flesh of your flesh. My soul, never, never lose sight of this most sweet and precious name of your Lord Jesus Christ. Call Him as you are commanded: call His name Emmanuel.

5. “He Is Precious”

“Unto you therefore which believe he is precious.”—1 Peter 2:7

My soul, are you anxious to know whether you are a true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ? Test it, then, by this mark that the Holy Ghost has given by His servant the apostle. Do you believe in Jesus for life and salvation? Yes? Truly then, He is precious to you.

Look at Him. Is Jesus precious in His person, precious in His work, precious in His offices,[10] precious in His relations,[11] precious in His whole character? Do you know Him so as to love Him, to live to Him, to rejoice in Him, and to cast your whole soul upon Him for life and salvation? Do you accept Him as the Father’s gift: the Sent, the Sealed, the Anointed, the Christ, of the Father? Is He so precious that there is nothing in Him but what you love, nothing that you would part with? Is His cross dear as well as His crown? Are afflictions with the Lord Jesus sweeter than prosperity without Him?

Pause over these questions. Recollect that there is nothing out of Jesus Christ that can be truly satisfying. Your dearest earthly friend, however sweet, has yet some tinge,[12] some alloy,[13] of what is not sweet. But there is no mixture in your Jesus; all is pure, lovely, and transcendently[14] glorious. He is, as one of old described Him, a sea of sweetness without a single drop of gall.[15]

And now, my soul, what do you say concerning the Lord Jesus? Is He precious to you under all these and a thousand more distinguishing excellencies? If Jesus were to be bought, would you not sell all you have to buy Him? Were He to be sold, would you not rather lose your life than part with Him? Surely, then, He must be precious to you. And, as such, you are a believer; for the apostle has commanded us to say that “unto you…which believe he is precious” (1Pe 2:7). Take comfort then, my soul: He Who is precious now will be so forever. Yes, precious Lord, there is none in heaven or earth I desire besides You (Psa 73:25)!

6. “Christ…Being Made a Curse for Us”

“Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.”—Galatians 3:13

Pause, my soul, and contemplate the unspeakable mercies contained in these precious words. However little you have regarded them, yet they contain in their bosom the whole blessing of the gospel.

It is to the Lord Jesus Christ in this one glorious act of his faith that the sinner should be continually looking. There, the believer should say, there hangs my hope, my joy, my confidence. Christ hath redeemed me from the curse of the Law, being made a curse for me.

Now, my soul, observe how Jesus Christ accomplished this great mercy for you. Whatever Christ redeemed the sinner from, He became that for him. In the act of redemption, by substituting Himself in the sinner’s place, He redeemed him from that place by standing there Himself. So, as the sinner stood before God, accursed by reason of sin, so Christ—by taking the sinner’s sin upon Himself, and standing in his stead to answer for it—was made a curse also.

If, therefore, Christ will come under the Law for sinners, that Law will have as much to demand of Him as of sinners. If Jesus, from His boundless love and mercy, will take the sinner’s curse upon Himself, the Law will speak as harshly to Him as to the sinner that is under the curse. And not only speak, but demand from Him all that could be demanded from the sinner.

Pause, my soul! And did Jesus, your Jesus, thus stand? Was He thus considered? And was He made a curse for you? Did He really, truly, suffer the cursed sinner’s punishment and die, “the just for the unjust, that he might bring [sinners] to God” (1Pe 3:18)? Look to it then, my soul; He has bought you out, paid the full ransom, and taken away both sin and the curse of sin—by the sacrifice of Himself. Shout, my soul, shout salvation to God and the Lamb! Say as Paul, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us”!

7. I Lay Down My Life

“Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.”—John 10:17

Mark, my soul, the precious cause that your Lord Jesus Christ here assigns for the love of His Father. God the Father not only loves God the Son as God—One with Him in nature and in all divine perfections—but He loves Him especially because He voluntarily undertook and accomplished by His death the salvation of His people.

Now then, my soul, make these two sweet applications from what Jesus has said here. First, think what must have been, and now is, the love of your God and Father to you and every poor sinner, when He truly loves His dear Son because He became the Savior of poor sinners. And, secondly, think what love Jesus has shown to poor sinners in thus manifesting His mercy in such a way, and how dear they must be to the heart of the Lord Jesus that have made Him dear in the sight of God.

My soul, never lose sight of this argument when you go to the Mercy Seat.[16] Tell your God and Father you have come to ask mercies in His name and for His righteousness’ sake, Whom the Father loves on this very account. And, oh, how very dear should Jesus Christ be to you for His blood and righteousness, Who is dear to the Father for the same cause!

8. “Jesus Came…To Save Sinners”

“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”—1 Timothy 1:15

Hearken, my soul, to the proclamation from heaven! Is this the faithful saying of a faithful God? Surely, then, you may well regard it, for it is for your life. And if it be worthy of all acceptance, it must be eminently so of your acceptance, for you have been a transgressor[17] from the womb.

But did the Lord Jesus indeed come to save sinners? Yes, so the proclamation runs. It concerns sinners, enemies to God. Jesus, it is said, “received gifts...for the rebellious...that the LORD God might dwell among them” (Psa 68:18); and with that tenderness which distinguished His character, He Himself said that He came not “to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Mat 9:13).

Well, then, my soul, upon the authority of the faithful Word of a faithful God, will you not so fully rely on this saying so as to believe unto salvation? If any inquiries arise contrary to this belief, let this be your answer: “Christ came…to save sinners”—that is enough for me, for I am one. God’s salvation is said to be for “enemies”; that is my name by nature. Jesus received gifts for the “rebellious”; to this character I also plead guilty. If men or devils would endeavor to work unbelief in my heart, this is my answer: “Christ came…to save sinners.”

Let those that never felt sin and consequently know not the need of a Savior, stay and argue the point as they may; my soul’s eternal welfare is concerned, and I will not lose a moment to accept the heavenly proposal. Lord Jesus, You wait to be gracious! The faithful saying of my God I accept on my bended knees. It is indeed worthy of all acceptation, and above all, of mine. Here while upon earth will I proclaim Your praise; and in heaven, the loudest of all voices must be mine, that “Christ came...to save sinners; of whom I am chief.”

9. “Shew the Exceeding Riches of His Grace”

“That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”—Ephesians 2:7

Pause, my soul, and gather in all the powers of arithmetic, and try to count what the exceeding riches of God’s grace amount to.

Think how great, how free, how sovereign, how inexhaustible, how everlasting! All that a poor sinner has in time, all that we can enjoy to all eternity, all is of grace.

And what a title has your God chosen to be known by among His people when, to make Himself known more fully in Jesus Christ, He styles Himself “the God of all grace” (1Pe 5:10)! All grace? Yes, all grace, and all sorts and degrees of grace: pardoning grace, renewing grace, quickening grace, strengthening grace, comforting grace; in short, all grace.

And is all this treasured up in the Lord Jesus? Oh, then, my soul, make sure that Jesus is yours, and all is yours. And mark this down as a sure, unerring rule: as grace has no source but in the Father’s love, so the exalting of that grace in Jesus Christ is the Father’s design in salvation. The brightest pearl in the Redeemer’s crown is that which shines with this inscription: “To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved” (Eph 1:6). Here, my soul, seek your daily grace more earnestly than your daily bread.

10. “While We Were Yet Sinners”

“But God commendeth his love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”—Romans 5:8

It is a very blessed heightening of divine mercies when we behold them as not only given to those that deserved them not, but to those that deserved the reverse of them. It is not enough, in our account of God’s love, to say that God was gracious when we had done nothing to merit His favor, but that God was gracious when we had done everything to merit His displeasure.

This is among the sweet features of the gospel, and the reason is very plain. God Himself is an infinite Being, and therefore His love must be an infinite love. All the properties of it are infinite: it must be exercised to suit an infinite power; it must be such as fits with infinite wisdom; and its effects must be such as shall be suited to infinite goodness. So, therefore in the display of it, such manifestations must be given as shall set forth that the love of God, as an infinite Being, totally differs from the love of man, who is but a finite creature.

Our love is bounded, like ourselves, by circumstances of a finite, limited, perishing, dying nature, such as ourselves and all the creatures around us partake of. But in the love of God there are breadths and lengths, and depths and heights, that pass knowledge (Eph 3:18-19). Now God commends[18] His love towards us by those properties; that is, He bids us take notice of it by those special marks and characters. And when the Lord surprises the souls of His people by the same astonishing instance of His grace in those acts of goodness, He speaks as in these solemn words: “If it be marvelous[19] in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvelous in mine eyes? saith the LORD of hosts” (Zec 8:6).

How sweetly is this shown to us in the gift of His dear Son Jesus Christ! When was Christ given? When we were enemies! On what account was He given? Purely on account of God’s love. And to whom was He given? Not to His friends; not to those who had never offended Him; not to those who, by their affection or by their services, could make some return of acknowledgment for such blessings—but to poor, helpless, barren, unprofitable sinners. The love of God in Christ is particularly recommended, sent home, pressed upon our hearts by this rich display of it. To have blessed us or to have loved us, if we had never offended God, would have been a stream too shallow, too trifling, to show forth divine love. No! “God commendeth his love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Pause, my soul! Mark these properties. Admire divine goodness and learn how to put a proper value upon the unparalleled love of God in Jesus Christ. So God commended His love towards us!

11. “I Will in No Wise Cast Out”

“All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.”—John 6:37-40

My soul, commit this blessed portion to your memory; yea, beg of God the Holy Ghost to commit and to write all the gracious things contained in it on the inner tablets of your heart! It is in itself a gospel, yea, a full gospel. I wish I could have it proclaimed on the housetops and published, day by day, in every public place throughout the earth, until the saving truths were every one of them known, felt, and enjoyed by every poor, awakened, and needy sinner.

Now mark the immense blessings contained in these words according to the order in which they stand: “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me.” All—not one, or two, or ten, or a million only, but all. And observe why: they are the Father’s gift to the Lord Jesus, and therefore they must come. He says elsewhere that He would give eternal life to as many as the Father had given him (Joh 17:2). So, therefore, there is a blessed provision, a blessed security, that they shall come; for they are the Father’s gift to Christ as well as the purchase of Christ’s blood. And the promise is absolute in the charter of grace: “Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power” (Psa 110:3).

And, to give every possible encouragement to the poor coming sinner—whom God the Holy Ghost is leading by the hand to all-precious Jesus (however unconscious that poor soul is of the gracious influence under which he is coming)—the Lord Jesus adds, “And him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” Observe the tenderness of our Lord’s words. He had said, all shall come; but Jesus well knew the most humble are the most timid and the most apt to be discouraged; and therefore He makes each one’s case to be expressed by the word him: “him that cometh.” As if Jesus had said, Let that poor creature who is most afraid by reason of a conscious sense of his transgressions,[20] take comfort: if he comes, let him know that “I will in no wise cast [him] out.” And to confirm it still more, Jesus adds, For this is the very purpose for which I came down from heaven; not only because it was My full purpose to seek and save that which was lost, but it is the will of my Father also, Who sent me. And, as if to impress this grand truth upon every poor sinner’s heart, He repeats the gracious words: “And this is the will of him that sent me.” He says it twice so that there might be no mistake.

And yet further: if a poor sinner should say, “But how am I to come, and in what am I to come; what are the qualifications for coming?” “This,” says the all-gracious Redeemer, “is the Father’s will…the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life.” And what is it to see the Son, but so to behold Him by the eye of faith as to believe in Him to the salvation of the soul; to see Him as the Christ, the Sent, the Sealed, the Anointed of God, Whose blood cleanses from all sin, and Whose righteousness freely and fully justifies[21] every believing sinner?

Pause, my soul, and ponder well these precious, saving truths; and then take comfort in their blessed assurance. Rest in the Lord Jesus Christ by faith. His words are your security: “Of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing…I will raise him up at the last day.”

12. “Thou Shalt Call His Name Jesus”

“Thou shalt call his name Jesus.”—Matthew 1:21

This is one more of the Redeemer’s names, which is as ointment poured forth. It is as if the Holy Ghost had been graciously consulting the everlasting comfort and happiness of His people, and therefore commanded the church to know their Lord by so many different and endearing names. As if He had said, Are you kept back from approaching Him through fear? Oh no! Go to Him, for He is Emmanuel.[22] So great, as God, that He is able to save; so tender and near, as man, that He is more ready to bestow mercy than you are to ask it.

Are you kept back for lack of righteousness? Be not so, for He is “The Lord Our Righteousness” (Jer 23:6), and what you need He has for you. Or are you depressed by reason of sin? Let not this discourage you, for His name is purposely Jesus because He, and He alone, “shall save his people from their sins” (Mat 1:21).

My soul, what do you know practically and personally of this most blessed name of your Savior? It is one thing to have heard of Him as Jesus, and another to know Him to be Jesus. There are multitudes who rest satisfied with the name. The Jews knew Him, saw Him, conversed with Him; but they knew Him not as a savior. Nay, more than this, many have had, and still have, an historical knowledge and belief that Jesus is a savior, but yet no apprehension or concern for an interest in Him. Thus Balaam did, whose eyes were so far opened, but his heart never affected, as to have visions concerning Christ. But what an awful account did this impious creature give of himself: “I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh” (Num 24:17). What an awful state! O my soul, bless your God, your Jesus, that your knowledge is not of the head only, but of the heart. You have not simply heard of Jesus, but received Him as Jesus—to the salvation of your soul.

You have seen God in Christ: the Father’s Name, the Father’s authority in Him. You have come to Him in that Name, and by that authority, as a poor sinner, and found Jesus precious. And is not Jesus precious to you? Is not the very name of Jesus most precious? As one of old expressed it, so have you found it, that in this one name of your Lord, the whole of the gospel is folded up. It is the light, the food, the medicine, the very jubilee of the soul. Yes, blessed, holy, gracious Lord! Yes, Your name is indeed Jesus, for You are, You will be Jesus. “And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee” (Psa 9:10), for “he shall save his people from their sins” (Mat 5:21).

13. “Lest…Your Minds Should Be Corrupted”

“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”—2 Corinthians 11:3

And what is “the simplicity that is in Christ”? The apostle answers this question in another part of his writings, when he says, “Christ is all, and in all” (Col 3:11). Now nothing can be more simple than this: if “Christ is all,” then it would be folly to seek for happiness in anything but in Christ. And if “Christ is…in all,” then it would be equal folly to seek for happiness in anything but in Christ. So that if our minds are led away to seek a supply from anything short of Christ, this is the same temptation that the devil played off upon our first parent—and succeeded.

This indeed is the grand device of Satan; it is the masterpiece of his craftiness. This is what all carnal,[23] unawakened men fall into: to imagine something is left for us to do to qualify ourselves to be made partakers of grace, and to improve the talent which is given to us (Mat 25:14-16).[24] And as these things are very flattering to the pride of our nature, and exactly correspond to the state the devil left our first parents in when he had ruined them, so it becomes the very method which he still pursues with all their poor children, to lull them on to ruin. “Ye shall be as gods,” said the devil to our first mother, “knowing good and evil” (Gen 3:5). And in like manner—thus flattering the pride of our nature and shutting out Christ, with His blood and righteousness—does he deceive men now.

Now Paul was alarmed and distressed on this account. The serpent beguiled[25] Eve through his subtlety, says Paul (2Co 11:3), and I fear lest he should beguile you. How blessed, then, is the teaching of the Holy Ghost that strips the sinner, makes him all bare, leaves him nothing—but shows him his whole bankruptcy, emptiness, and poverty, so that he may make room for Jesus! And when He has thus made the sinner sensible of his nothingness, He makes him equally sensible of Christ’s fullness and all sufficiency—and that in bringing nothing to Christ, but living wholly upon Christ, and drawing all from Christ, in this simplicity that is in Christ, He teaches the poor sinner how to live and how to keep house by faith, wholly upon the fullness that is in Christ Jesus. This is the sweet instruction taught in the school of Jesus. “I fear,” says Paul, lest the serpent that beguiled Eve should have corrupted you by his subtlety “from [this] simplicity that is in Christ.”

14. “Who…Gave Himself for Me”

“Who loved me, and gave himself for me.”—Galatians 2:20

See, my soul, how Paul is forever using the Lord Jesus, and feasting forever upon Him. Oh, seek grace to do the same! He says Jesus loved him; Jesus, the Son of God, loved Paul. Now love from any object is valuable, but from the first, best, and greatest of all beings, what invaluable love is this? And who did Christ love? Why, me! says Paul, “who was before a blasphemer,[26] and a persecutor, and injurious” (1Ti 1:13).

And how do you know, Paul, that Jesus loved you? He “gave himself for me,” says Paul. Gave Himself? Yes, Himself, says Paul—not His gifts only, not His grace, not His mercies, though all creation is His. And whatever He gave, says Paul, must have been an undeserved mercy, for I merited hell when He bestowed upon me heaven. But even heaven, with all its glories, is nothing, says Paul, to what Jesus gave me; for He gave “himself for me.”

O my soul, will you not look up, will you not be encouraged to hope, to believe, to hang upon the Lord Jesus for the same. Oh, for faith to believe! Precious Jesus! Author and Finisher of faith, grant me this mercy! And while I read these sweet words concerning You, Who loved and Who gave Himself for poor lost sinners like Paul, cause me with the same assurance of faith to add “me”: Jesus “loved me, and gave himself for me.”

15. “Jesus Christ the Same…For Ever”

“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”—Hebrews 13:8

Precious truth to open the day with, and to keep constantly in view amidst all the fluctuating and changeable circumstances arising both within and without, and all around! My soul, meditate upon it: fold it up in your bosom to have access to it as may be required. Contemplate your Redeemer as He is here described. He is the Lord Jesus, your Jesus; a Savior, for “he shall save his people from their sins” (Mat 1:21). He is Christ also: God your Father’s Christ and your Christ—the Anointed, the Sent, the Sealed of Jehovah. He is the same in His glorious Person, the same in His great salvation “yesterday,” looking back to everlasting; “to day,” equally so through all the periods of time; and “for ever,” looking forward to the eternity to come. And, blessed thought, He is the same in His love, in the effectiveness of His redemption, in His blood to cleanse, in His righteousness to justify,[27] in His fullness to supply grace here and glory hereafter. And what sums up the precious thought? Amidst all your variableness, your moods, your fears, doubts, and unbelieving, He abides faithful. He is, He will be, He must be Jesus! Hallelujah!

16. “The Master…Calleth for Thee”

“The Master is come, and calleth for thee.”—John 11:28

My soul, mark how gracious the Lord is to His people in the special and distinguishing tokens[28] of His grace. The Lord Jesus Christ does not only send His gospel to the church, or house, or family; but He speaks by the soft but powerful whispers of His love to the individual soul. “To you is the word of this salvation sent” (Act 13:26). Hence the soul who feels the sovereignty of His Word in the irresistible attraction with which it is accompanied, cries out, I shall never forget Your Word, for by it You have quickened[29] me! (Psa 119:93).

But besides the calls of His grace in His house of prayer, in how many ways and by what a variety of methods is the Lord Jesus calling upon His people. My soul, I hope that you are always upon the lookout, and are getting to your watchtower (Isa 21:5-8) to hear what the Lord your God has to say to you—by His Word, by His providences,[30] by His chastisements in love, and in all the gracious manifestations of His favor. “Behold,” He says, “I stand at the door, and knock” (Rev 3:20). So the Lord Jesus calls, and so let my soul hear!

Now, Lord, you are calling me by your Word and providence in a way of grace; by and by I shall hear your voice in the hour of death and judgment. And who shall say how very powerful, sweet, and gracious that call is, when Jesus comes to take His people home to Himself, so that where He is, there they may be also? “I hear my Master’s voice,” said a highly favored servant of God in the moment of his departure. Perhaps it is a loud voice, a glorious distinguishable voice, to him that is called, when no bystander is at all conscious of the sound. Hence another said when he was dying, “I shall change my place, but not my company.” Jesus, Master, in that hour let it be my happiness to say, “Let me see thy countenance,[31] let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely[32]” (Song 2:14).

17. “If Thou Wilt, Thou Canst Make Me Clean”

“And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.”—Matthew 8:2-3

My soul, behold your own circumstances in the instance of this leper. What he was in body, such were you in soul. As his leprosy made him loathsome and offensive before men, so your polluted soul made you odious in the sight of God! The leper would not have sought a cure had he not been conscious of his need of it. Neither would you ever have looked to the Lord Jesus Christ, had He not convinced you of your helplessness and misery without Him. Moreover, the leper would not—though convinced how much he needed healing—have sought that mercy from Jesus, had he not been made sensible of Jesus’ ability to cure. Neither would you ever have come to Jesus Christ had you not been taught Who He is, and how fully competent He is to deliver you.

The poor leper did not doubt whether Jesus was able; he rather feared that Jesus’ ability might not be exercised towards him. His prayer was not, “If thou art able,” but “Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.” Now here, my soul, I hope your faith, through grace, exceeds the Jewish leper’s. Surely you know both Jesus’ power and Jesus’ disposition to save you. Unworthy and undeserving as you are, yet His grace is not restrained by your undeservings, any more than it was first constrained[33] by your merit—of which you have none!

His love, His own love, His free love, is the sole rule of His mercy towards His children; and not their claims—for they have none but in His free grace and the Father’s everlasting mercy. Cherish these thoughts, my soul, at all times, for they are most sweet and precious.

But are these all of the blessed things that arise out of the view of the poor leper’s case? Oh, no! The most delightful part still remains in the contemplation of the Lord Jesus’ mercy to the poor petitioner, and the very gracious manner the Son of God manifested in the bestowing of it. He not only healed him, and did it immediately, but with that tenderness which distinguished His character and His love to poor sinners. Jesus put forth His hand and touched him—touched a leper!

Even so, precious Lord, deal with me. Though I am polluted and unclean, yet condescend to put forth Your hand and touch me also. Put forth Your blessed Spirit. Come, Lord, and dwell in me, abide in me, and rule and reign over me. Be my God, my Jesus, my Holy One, and make me Yours forever.

18. “In His Right Mind”

“Sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind.”—Luke 8:35

Look at this man, my soul, and see if you can find any resemblance to yourself. Before he heard the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ, he was under the possession of the evil spirit. It is said of him that he wore no clothes. He dwelt in no house, but lived among the tombs. He was cutting himself with stones. No man could tame him; neither fetters nor chains could bind him. Poor miserable creature! And yet, my soul, was not this a true emblem of your state—and indeed, of every man’s state—by nature?

Had not Satan full possession of your heart and affections, my soul, before you became savingly acquainted with the Lord Jesus Christ? Did he not lead you in the pursuit and gratification of your lusts and pleasure at his will? You truly might be said to wear no clothes; for so far from having on the garment of Jesus’ righteousness, in those days of your unregeneracy,[34] you were naked to your shame, in the filth of nature. You did not dwell in the house of God, nor even delight to go there. And, as this poor creature abode among the dead, so did you live and abide with characters like yourself, dead in trespasses and sins. And as this miserable man was wounding himself with stones, so were you; for your daily commission of sin was giving wounds to your soul infinitely more alarming than the wounds he gave his body. And could no chains or fetters be found strong enough to bind him? So neither did all the solemn commands and threatening judgments of God’s holy Law act with the least restraint upon your ungoverned passions.

Pause, my soul, over this picture, and acknowledge how just and striking the similarity. Then ask yourself, are you now sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in your right mind? Yes, it is so, if like this poor man you have heard the voice of the Lord Jesus, and felt the power of His grace in your heart. If one like the Son of God has set you free, brought you to His fold, opened your ear to discipline and your heart to grace, then are you free indeed.

What do you say, my soul, to these things? Is there this change, this blessed change, from dead works to serve the living and true God? Oh then, will not the language of your heart be like that of the Lord Jesus and His church of old? “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels” (Isa 61:10).

19. “Justified from All Things”

“And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.”—Acts 13:39

What can be more blessed to a poor conscious sinner—such, my soul, as you are—than the ministry of the Lord’s servant, the Apostle Paul, in these gracious words. Sit down and under his divine teaching ponder them duly over.

A poor guilty sinner needs a rich and holy Savior. That he cannot justify himself in the sight of God is most evident, for the least guilt left upon the conscience would condemn him forever. He cannot be justified by the deeds of the Law; for by the Law is the knowledge of sin (Rom 3:20), and in the Law we learn that we have all sinned and come short of God’s glory (v 23). He cannot be justified by the offerings and sacrifices made under the Law of Moses, for how can the blood of bulls and of goats take away sin (Heb 10:4)?

By what then, or by whom, my soul, can you be justified? Hear what this sweet Scripture says: “By him [the Lord Jesus Christ] all that believe are justified[35] from all things.” Oh, how blessed is the view! How completely satisfying to the conscience is the redemption by Christ Jesus, “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood” (Rom 3:25). And do not fail to observe the extensiveness of the blessing: it is to all that believe, yea, to every individual believer; for the blood of Christ cleanses from all sin. And the righteousness of Christ, in a way of justification, is to all and upon all that believe, for there is no difference (v 22).

And do not fail also to observe the equality of the mercy in justification—it is to all the same. So that though believers differ in the strength of their faith, yet concerning their interest in and union with Christ, the weakest, as well as the strongest, is equally justified and secure. And for this plain reason: because the object of faith, which is Jesus Christ, is one and the same [in all cases]; and justification is in and by Jesus Christ, and does not arise from the degree of understanding the believer has of it. Sweet thought to a poor timid believer! Hence the everlasting safety, both for acceptance in grace here and the enjoyment of glory hereafter, is to all the same.

The Lord, in His infinite wisdom, may think fit to appoint different paths for believers’ departures out of life. Some, like the apostles, shall be called to seal the testimony of their faith in Christ in blood, and wade through this Red Sea (if it may so be called) to join the multitude on the opposite shore, who are shouting the song of Moses and of the Lamb (Rev 15:3). Others sweetly fall asleep in Jesus on their beds, quiet and composed, amidst surrounding friends. Yet in the act of justification, all are alike. Jesus takes the lambs of His fold in His arms, and they shall lie in His bosom while He leads the strong.

In short, all that are in union with Christ do live in Christ and shall die in Christ, whether they be little children, young men, or fathers; for “by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which [they] could not be justified by the law of Moses.” Make sure, my soul, that you have this faith, which is by the work of the Spirit of God, and then rest with the composure of one that is in a state of justification with God, having “peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 5:1).

20. “Let Us Also Walk in the Spirit”

“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”—Galatians 5:25

My soul, take this sweet Scripture for your motto, not only this day, but every day; for every day’s walk should be the same with the Lord Jesus Christ: by the Spirit. And surely, my soul, if Jesus really, truly dwells in you, He will show that He is at home by ruling in you.

It is blessed, gracious, and edifying when “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Mat 12:34); and like the spouse, the “lips…drop as the honeycomb” (Song 4:11) sweetly of Jesus. But the life of Jesus in the soul consists not in talking only of Jesus, but walking in Him and with Him.

But, my soul, how will you accomplish these things, carrying about with you, as you do daily, a body of sin and death? There is but one plan, and that a simple plan—mortifying[36] indeed to the pride of human nature, but giving glory to Jesus. Are you truly content to be mortified, so that Jesus be glorified? This is the only way the apostle has marked. They, and they only, that live in the Spirit, will walk in the Spirit. The same grace that teaches you of Jesus, must give to you power in Jesus. As long as the Lord Jesus is in view, looked to, and lived upon, all the blessed effects of the grace from Jesus will follow—as sure as the rays of light diffuse their brightness when the sun is risen.

If, my soul, you go forth in a firm dependence upon Jesus’ strength, that strength will be assuredly perfected in your weakness. But if Jesus be lost sight of, and a fancied strength in yourself supply the place, this defect in faith will bring forth a defect in practice. My soul, learn to exercise an holy jealousy over yourself; for after Jesus is once truly known, all your danger begins at this place. The great secret is to live outside of self, upon His fulness; to do nothing but in His strength; to propose nothing but for His glory; and in every step you take in the whole walk of life, to make Jesus Christ everything, and depend upon Him in everything. This is the way to find both security and comfort.

Dear Lord, enable a poor worm thus to live, by living in You. And then I am sure I shall be happy by walking in You.

21. “And Yet There Is Room”

“And yet there is room.”—Luke 14:22

Room? Where, and for whom? Room in the gospel of salvation, and for poor, perishing sinners, in the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ. Room in the heart of God the Father; in the love, grace, mercy, and peace of God the Son; and in the teachings, influences, and fellowship of God the Holy Ghost. Room in the plentiful provisions of grace, the calls of the gospel, the ministration of the Word, and the ordinances[37] in the house of prayer.

“Whosoever will” is the gracious invitation—whosoever feels his heart made willing in the day of God’s power (Psa 110:3)—“let him take the water of life freely” (Rev 22:17). Lord, is there room for me? Thousands and tens of thousands have found room through Your grace inclining them to come; and yet the Scripture sweetly says again this day, “And yet there is room.”

Oh, give me grace to see that I am one of the invited, one of the happy number that has found room. From experiencing the blessed fullness, riches, grace, suitableness, and all-sufficiency in the blood and righteousness of Jesus for poor sinners, I may proclaim everywhere around that others may find the same: that yet there is room.

And, O Lord, grant that while yet there is room, multitudes that are ready to perish may come. And then all Your royal guests whom You bring to Your banquet, and who find room in all the mercies of Jehovah for redemption here below, will find room in the “house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2Co 5:1).

22. “And Such Were Some of You”

“And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”—1 Corinthians 6:11

It is profitable at times to see our mercies, and to trace them to their source, by considering what we once were in order to better appreciate what we now are. “Such,” the apostle says, when speaking of the vilest of the vile, “were some of you”: dead in trespasses and sins, hateful, and hating one another. But now, being washed from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, there is a justification[38] by Christ, and a sanctification[39] in Christ. And by the effective work of God the Spirit in the heart, the believer stands complete before God in the Name of the Lord Jesus.

This is a blessed testimony to the soul of the poor sinner, whom the Holy Ghost has convinced of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment (John 16:8-11). For God the Father gave the promise, in the Old Testament Scripture, that He would sprinkle clean water upon the people, and they would be clean. And here, in the New Testament period, the fountain is opened by which it is to be accomplished, and they are said to be clean; yea, both “washed” and “sanctified,” and “justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” So that all the Persons of the Godhead are engaged in this glorious act, to render it secure and certain to the believing soul.

See to it then, my soul, that this be your privilege, and that from long-tried and approved experience you can take home this sweet Scripture to yourself, as both washed, justified, and sanctified, and testify that God is true. Oh, for grace to live in the daily exercise of faith upon it, until faith be swallowed up and lost in sight,[40] and amidst the throng of the redeemed in glory, you shall live at the Fountainhead of enjoyment with those that have “washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev 7:14).

23. “Such an High Priest…Who Is Holy”

“For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens.”—Hebrews 7:26

What a sweet thought! Surely, as a poor sinner, I need a High Priest to act for me. I cannot, I dare not, approach God myself without one—with my poor polluted offerings. But He that intercedes for me must be Himself holy, free from sin: His sacrifice holy, His obedience holy, and in all points suited to His office and my necessities.

Cherish, then, the thought, my soul: He that is your High Priest is all this, and infinitely more—so holy in Himself that not the shadow of sin was in Him. So harmless that in His mouth was found no guile. So undefiled that though He took all the sins of His people upon Him, yet in Himself He was free from all sin. So separate from sinners that, though He took the nature of man, yet He is wholly underived from man (Luk 1:34-35; Gal 4:4). And so much higher than the heavens that His own personal holiness infinitely transcended[41] the holiness of angels; for while they are said to be charged with folly, the Lord Jesus Christ is the Holy One in Whom the Father declared Himself “well pleased” (Mat 3:17).

Meditate, my soul, on these precious features in your Jesus at all times and upon all occasions; and more especially when you draw near the Throne of Grace in and through this glorious Mediator.[42] And moreover, for your further comfort and encouragement to come boldly to the Mercy Seat, forget not to recollect the still further blessed thought, that this holiness of Jesus is the righteousness of all His people, “for he hath made him to be sin for us, [when He] knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2Co 5:21).

And as if this was not enough, Christ glorified not Himself to be made your High Priest, but was called to it, as was Aaron (Heb 5:4-5). Go then, my soul, go to the precious, the holy, the harmless, the undefiled High Priest, Christ Jesus, in Whom—and in Whose righteousness and atoning blood—you may always have boldness to draw near, to find “mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb 4:16).

24. “Good News from a Far Country”

“Good news from a far country.”—Proverbs 25:25

From a far country, indeed, for it is no less distance than from heaven to earth, and from beings as opposite as holiness and sin could make: even from God to man, from a rich Savior to poor sinners! And so remote that had not this good news been sent, heaven must have remained at an eternal distance as an inaccessible region!

And what is the good news itself? The angels, who were first sent to proclaim it, called it glad tidings of good things, of great joy to all people. And indeed, such glad tidings it contains as language fails to describe. It is pardon, mercy, and peace to poor rebels. It holds forth joy, happiness, and everlasting felicity to poor sinners, enemies, and the fallen race of men. God revealed, sin atoned, Satan conquered, death destroyed, hell vanquished, heaven opened! And these are not all.

This good news informs also of the stupendous way by which the blessings are given and everlasting happiness secured: Jesus, the Son of God, the author, the finisher; the source, cause, sum, substance, beginning, end, and portion of all His people. These, among an infinite and endless volume of mercies, are contained in the good news from a far country. But we must enter upon that country—to which indeed we are invited by the proclamation of the gospel—before we can fully know, or even conceive, the thousandth part of what “God hath prepared for them that love him” (1Co 2:9).

My soul, have you heard this good news? Do you know the joyful sound? Are you truly alive to the blessed things contained in it and anxious to take part in them? Oh, then, meditate upon them; give yourself wholly to them. And while men of the world are seeking their chief good from the world and asking one another, What news? turn a deaf ear to every other relation of a dying world (from which you are dying daily), and let your meditation be all the day and night to dwell upon this good news, and this only, which comes from a far country.

25. “To Day I Must Abide at Thine House”

“And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.”—Luke 19:5

Precious Lord Jesus, what an instance is here of the freeness, fullness, and sovereignty of Your grace! And was there a “needs be,”[43] O Lord, that You should go to the place where this publican[44] was? A “needs be” to look up and see him? A “needs be” to call him? And a “needs be” to abide at his house? Is this your manner, O Lord, in calling sinners?

So then it was not Zacchaeus seeking Jesus, but Jesus seeking Zacchaeus. His curiosity, as he thought, led him there; but it was the prevenient grace[45] of Jesus Christ in the poor man’s heart that first awakened that curiosity in him. And did Jesus seek Zacchaeus, call Zacchaeus, incline Zacchaeus to receive Him, and bring salvation to his heart and house that blessed day? Oh, then for grace to see and enjoy Jesus in all! Yea, I see, Lord, now plain enough that all is Yours, and of Your own; all we give is from You.

When first my heart felt inclined to seek the Lord Jesus Christ, it was Jesus Who inclined my heart to this Christ-seeking. Never should I have looked on You, nor felt an inclination to see You, had You not first looked on me and given me that desire. And what it was first, so is it now in all the following enjoyments of seeing You and of Your presence. If I am at any time looking for You, I may cry out with Abraham’s handmaid, “Thou God seest me” (Gen 16:13) and are looking after me. For never, even after all my knowledge of You, should I look to You with an eye of desire, except the eye of Jesus glances on me, as it did on Peter, in quickening and awakening grace (Luk 22:61).

Oh, then, dear Lord, let me daily, hourly, hear Your voice calling me down from all earthly concerns and confidences, to receive my Lord. Be compelled by Your love to come, not as a visitor, to tarry but for the night, but to abide, and dwell, and never more depart from me. Be my God, and make me Your servant forever.

26. “A Just God and a Saviour”

“A just God and a Saviour.”—Isaiah 45:21

My soul, have you learned from the teaching of God the Holy Ghost to contemplate Him with Whom you have to do, under these blessed united characters? If you have, you have found it a blessed and an approved way of opening communion with God, and maintaining that communion alive in the soul.

You know, then, that God, as a just God, can allow no pardon to sin but upon the footing of a complete satisfaction. For without this, His truth and justice would still be violated by unatoned sin.[46] But if you behold God in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, and have been taught by the Spirit that Christ has redeemed you from the curse of the Law, being made a curse for you—if you have been taught that, as your Surety[47] and your Representative, He has paid your debt and restored that which He took not away (Psa 69:4)—then here you behold indeed “a just God, and a Saviour.” You have learned that precious, blessed truth: how God can be just, and the Justifier of every poor sinner that believeth in the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 3:21-28).

See to it then, my soul, that you keep this precious thought always in view. Always blend together, in all your approaches to the mercy seat, that you are approaching “a just God, and a Saviour.” Never lose sight of the high demands of God’s righteous Law; nor the perfect worth and effectiveness of Jesus in His blood and righteousness. Connect always with this blessed view your own personal benefit from that obedience, by your union with Him. Then will you as much delight in God’s justice as His mercy; and His holiness will be as dear to you as His love. Then will you understand that blessed truth and agree with it in every part: “Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength…[I] shall not be ashamed nor confounded, world without end” (Isa 45:24, 17).

27. “He Reasoned of Righteousness”

“And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled.”—Acts 24-25

And why did Felix tremble? Did Paul, who was then preaching to him, charge him with any particular sins? It does not appear that he did. Neither is it probable that a poor prisoner would have been permitted so to have done. But the truth is, God’s holy Word, by Paul’s preaching and the man’s own guilty conscience, which Felix himself applied, so met together that the conscious sinner could not refrain from trembling. The very thought of a future judgment and a day of account crossing the mind of a guilty conscience, will be enough to damp the mirth of the scorner in the midst of his jollity.

Every man, more or less, must have thoughts now and then of a hereafter. Man, by nature, is a creature compelled to look forward. He is forever imagining what may arise in the future. So men of the world are sending out into the highways and lanes of the city, to invite men like themselves to kill time and to party away the passing hour. And while they can do this, to fill up the moment and drown thought, it is all very well. But when the idea of a judgment to come rises within—and the realization startles them that things will not always be as they now are—the alarm, like the handwriting upon the wall of the impious monarch, instantly takes effect, and a trembling follows (Dan 5:5).

My soul, learn hence—and if well learned, it will be a blessed improvement of your meditation. Learn that outward circumstances, be what they may, go but a little way to give inward comfort. It matters not what men possess if those possessions have not the sanctifying[48] blessing of the Lord upon them. Where the Lord Jesus Christ is not, there can be no real enjoyment. All the world of creature comforts are not sufficient to afford real happiness. Hence Felix, a governor, trembled; while Paul, a prisoner, rejoiced. Hence, you see many an aching heart in a noble house.

Shall not such views endear Jesus to you, my soul, still more? Shall they not make you very cheery over your comforts; and make you truly jealous[49] that you will not allow yourself one enjoyment where the Lord Jesus is not first seen in that enjoyment, and where He does not sweeten and form the whole of it? Make Him the sum and substance of all blessedness, and then you will find that godliness indeed is profitable to all things—“having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come” (1Ti 4:8)!

28. “I Have Set Before Thee an Open Door”

“I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it.”—Revelation 3:8

Blessed Lord Jesus, You have indeed done all this, and more. You are Yourself the door into Your fold here below and to Your courts above. You have said that whosoever enters in “shall go in and out, and find pasture” (Joh 10:9). And it is You that has opened a new and living way by Your blood (Heb 10:20). You are the only possible way of access to the Father. And because You have opened it, “no man can shut it”; for You ever live to keep the way that You once opened, still open, by Your all-prevailing intercession.

Yes, heavenly Lord, the gate is never shut, day or night, in the preaching of Your everlasting gospel. All the ends of the earth shall see this salvation of our God. And, as You have graciously said, all that come to God by You shall never be shut out. The Word, the authority, the warrant of Jehovah, is gone forth to this purpose. Your blood and righteousness secure it. The Spirit sets His seal to it. You will receive; You will bless; You will cause all that the Father has given to You to come to You; and You will keep the door always open for all comers.

Oh, heavenly way! Oh, precious, endless salvation! My soul, see to it that you are entered in, and abiding securely there. O my fellow sinners! You who are yet outside, rouse up from your carnal security[50] and laziness, before the Master of the house has arisen and shut the door—and you then, too late, cry out, “Lord, Lord, open to us” (Mat 25:11). “Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2Co 6:2).

29. “I…Will Draw All Men unto Me”

“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.”—John 12:32

My soul, it is blessed and refreshing to the faith of God’s children to behold in their almighty Redeemer the same properties as are attributed to the Father and the Spirit, and more especially in the points which concern their personal salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ told the Jews that none could come to Him except the Father, Who had sent Him, should draw them (Joh 6:44). And in the same chapter, He ascribes unto the Holy Spirit “the quickening[51] power” which draws to Christ (v 63).

But that His own sovereign power and Godhead is also included in this act of grace, He here teaches us by describing Whose love and grace it is that sinners are drawn by! Precious Lord Jesus, let my eyes be ever unto You for the quickening, reviving, restoring, comforting, and all healing graces that You now are exalted—as a Prince and a Savior—to give unto Your people.

And dearest Lord, I beseech You, let my views of You and my meditation of You, in this most endearing character, be sweet in the consideration also that You, as the Head of Your church and people, must be the Head of all spiritual, life-giving influences. Surely, blessed Jesus, the head cannot be happy if the members be not made blessed; the source and fountain of all goodness must send forth streams to impart of its overflowing fullness.

And is it not for this very purpose that, as the God-man Mediator,[52] the Father has given You power over all flesh, so that You should give eternal life to as many as the Father has given You (Joh 17:2)? And will not Jesus delight to dispense all blessings to His people—to His chosen who are the purchase of His blood, the gift of His Father, and the conquests of His grace? I feel my soul warmed with the very thought! I say to myself, “Did my Lord and Savior say, when upon earth, that He was anointed to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the broken in heart, and to give out of His fullness grace for grace (Luk 4:18; Joh 1:16-17)?

And did my Lord say, moreover, that when He was lifted up, He would draw all men unto Him? And shall I not feel the drawing, the compelling graces of His Spirit, bringing my whole heart, soul, and spirit into an unceasing desire after Him, unceasing longing for Him, and everlasting enjoyment of Him? Precious, blessed Lord Jesus, let the morning, noon-day, and evening cry of my heart be in the language of the church[53] of old, and let the cry be awakened by Your grace, and answered in Your mercy: “Draw me, we will run after thee...we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love” (Song 1:4).

30. “The Dead…That Hear Shall Live”

“The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.”—John 5:25

What a promise is here; and what an encouragement for every dead sinner to hope and for every living saint, who is concerned for dead sinners, not to despair! Observe, my soul, the extensiveness of the mercy: it is to the dead. Why, all are dead in trespasses and sins; is there not hope then for all? “And they that hear shall live.” Then every sinner should ask his heart: Do I hear?

But, my soul, mark how this is done. It is by the voice of the Son of God. Yes, there is salvation in no other. He says Himself, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth, and believeth in me shall never die” (Joh 11:25-26).

My soul, while taking comfort from this blessed passage as it concerns poor dead sinners, ask your own heart whether you have been the happy partaker of it yourself. Have you heard the voice of the Son of God? Yes, if you live in Him and upon Him, and walk with Him. The Lord Jesus Christ’s voice is a quickening voice, a life-giving voice, a soul-feeding, soul-strengthening, heart-warming, heartbreaking, heart-melting voice!

What do you say, my soul, to these examinations? Oh, if Jesus’ voice ever has been heard by you, you will be desiring the renewal of it from day to day, and you will be saying, in the earnest language of the church: “Let me see thy countenance,[54] let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely[55]” (Song 2:14).

31. The Praise of All His Saints”

“The praise of all his saints.”—Psalm 148:14

And Who is this, my soul, but the Lord Jesus Christ? Is He not indeed both the praise and the glory, the delight and the joy, the portion and the happiness of all His people? “His saints,” does it say? Yes, saints, made so by His righteousness and salvation when taken from among sinners. And when they were yet sinners, He has washed them in His blood, clothed them with His garment of salvation, and granted them an inheritance among the saints in light. And is He not their praise? Indeed, is there any other the object of their praise, to whom they look up, in whom they delight, but Him—the Beloved in Whom God their Father has made them accepted?

Say then, my soul, is He not your praise this day. And will He not be your everlasting, unceasing praise, every day, and all the day, and through the endless day of eternity? Who shall be your praise but Jesus—His beauty, His glory, His excellency—in Whom all divine perfections center? Who shall be your praise but Jesus, the Mediator, the Christ of God—Whose glory it is to redeem poor sinners and make them saints; to give out of His fullness, and grace for grace? Who shall be your praise, but He that has made your peace, in the blood of His cross, and ever lives to make intercession for you?

O fair and lovely One, the chiefest among ten thousand, You are my praise, my glory, my song, my rejoicing! Every day will I praise you. Morning by morning will I hail your name, and night by night testify to your faithfulness. Here, while upon earth, will I unceasingly speak of your praise. And ere long I shall join the happy multitude above in that song, “Unto him that hath loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood” (Rev 1:5)—O You Who are the praise of all the saints!

Other Devotional Titles

31 Meditations on Christ      Robert Hawker (1753-1827)

Proverbs      Charles Bridges (1794-1869)

Daily Scripture Devotions      31 days (Scripture portions)

Looking unto Jesus      Theodore Monod (1836-1921)

John Ploughman’s Talk      Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)

John Ploughman’s Pictures      Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)

Spurgeon Gems*      Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)

Treasures of Bonar*      Horatius Bonar (1808-1889)

London Baptist Confession of Faith*     (1689)

Attributes of God*      A. W. Pink (1886-1952)

Fellowship with the Trinity      Erroll Hulse

Meditation*                  Free Grace Broadcaster 245

(Swinnock, Owen, Pink, Watson, Edwards, Spurgeon)

Communion with God*            Free Grace Broadcaster 248

(Spurgeon, Keach, Owen, Flavel, Brooks)

Worldwide, download these freely from www.ChapelLibrary.org. In North America, email chapel@mountzion.org to request a printed copy. The Free Grace Broadcaster is a quarterly digest of six to ten messages from prior centuries, all on one theme, with a different theme each issue. It is available for free download worldwide, and in print by subscription in countries with distributors.

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* Not designed for devotional readings, but have shorter sections that may be used devotionally.

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Selections from The Poor Man’s Morning and Evening Portions, a 365 day devotional with separate passages for morning and evening. Original text is in the public domain.

© Copyright 2020 Chapel Library: annotations, compilation. Printed in the USA. All Scripture quotations are from the King James Version. In this edition, punctuation is modernized and Elizabethan pronouns and verb endings are changed to modern equivalents. Some words have been added for clarification. Some difficult words have been footnoted at each occurrence since each section may be read individually.

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Notes

[←1]

nigh – near.

[←2]

justification – an act of God’s free grace in which He pardons all our sins, and accepts us as righteous in His sight, because of the righteousness of Christ being imputed (ascribed) to us, received by faith alone.

[←3]

correspondence – agreement.

[←4]

dispossess – deprive.

[←5]

laver – basin for washing; the laver of the Old Testament tabernacle was a symbol of inward cleansing (Exo 30:18).

[←6]

commonwealth – benefit of being God’s covenant people.

[←7]

tabernacling – dwelling, as in a tent.

[←8]

justify – declare righteous, not guilty, in the sight of God.

[←9]

atone – reconcile to God by appeasing His wrath.

[←10]

offices – official roles; the offices of Jesus Christ are Prophet, Priest, and King.

[←11]

relations – communications, dealings with others.

[←12]

tinge – small part or portion.

[←13]

alloy – mixture.

[←14]

transcendently – surpassing all others.

[←15]

gall – exceedingly bitter substance.

[←16]

go to the Mercy Seat – go to God in prayer. This metaphor refers to the Mercy Seat in the Old Testament Tabernacle, placed on the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies where God dwelt among His people, made of a plate of solid gold and situated between two cherubim (Exo 25:17-18).

[←17]

transgressor – law-breaker.

[←18]

commends – shows.

[←19]

marvelous – strange; exciting wonder or some degree of surprise.

[←20]

transgressions – sins.

[←21]

justifies – declares as righteous, forgiven of all sins, on the basis of faith in the life and death of the Lord Jesus Christ as the only way of salvation.

[←22]

Emmanuel – “God with us.”

[←23]

carnal – sinfully following the flesh; opposed to spiritual.

[←24]

The author is warning against “improving the talent” in order to earn salvation. Christ’s parable in Matthew 25:14-30 teaches us to use our abilities in sanctification after we are saved (Phi 2:12; 2Ti 3:16), not in justification, where Christ’s saving work on the cross alone can make us right with God (Joh 19:30).

[←25]

beguiled – deceived.

[←26]

blasphemer – one who speaks irreverently of God.

[←27]

justify – to forgive and declare righteous by an act of God’s free grace on the basis of the righteousness of Christ imputed to (put on the account of) the sinner, who receives this by faith alone.

[←28]

tokens – signs.

[←29]

quickened – made spiritually alive.

[←30]

providences – God’s work of preserving and governing His creatures and all their actions.

[←31]

countenance – face.

[←32]

comely – beautiful.

[←33]

constrained – drawn.

[←34]

unregeneracy – state of being unsaved, not regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit.

[←35]

justified – forgiven and declared righteous by an act of God’s free grace on the basis of the righteousness of Christ imputed to (put on the account of) the sinner, who receives this by faith alone.

[←36]

mortifying – putting to death.

[←37]

ordinances – means that God has appointed to help believers grow in the knowledge and experience of the grace in the gospel, such as baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and preaching the Word.

[←38]

justification – forgiveness and declaration of righteousness by an act of God’s free grace on the basis of the righteousness of Christ imputed to (put on the account of) the sinner, who receives this by faith alone.

[←39]

sanctification – work of God’s free grace, whereby we are renewed in our whole being after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness.

[←40]

in sight – in the presence of the Lord where He may be visibly seen.

[←41]

transcended – surpassed in excellence.

[←42]

Mediator – go-between; one who intervenes between two hostile parties for the purpose of restoring them to a relationship of harmony and unity.

[←43]

needs be – necessity.

[←44]

publican – Jewish tax collector who served the Roman government in occupied Israel.

[←45]

prevenient grace – grace God gives to draw the unsaved to Himself.

[←46]

unatoned sin – sin for which no amendment or reparation has been made.

[←47]

Surety – one who enters into a bond to undertake the responsibilities or debt of another.

[←48]

sanctifying – purifying; setting apart.

[←49]

jealous – carefully protective.

[←50]

carnal security – false peace or assurance of salvation.

[←51]

quickening – life-giving.

[←52]

Mediator – go-between; one who intervenes between two hostile parties for the purpose of restoring them to a relationship of harmony and unity.

[←53]

church – In the passage quoted from Song of Solomon it is the Shulamite (Solomon’s bride) who is speaking; the author considers the Shulamite in Song of Solomon to represent the church as Christ’s people and the beloved (Solomon) to represent Christ.

[←54]

countenance – face.

[←55]

comely – lovely.

Table of Contents

Contents

1.       “The word is nigh thee” Romans 10:8-10

2.       “The blood…cleanseth us from all sin” 1 John 1:7

3.       “Great is the mystery of godliness” 1 Timothy 3:16

4.      “God with us” Matthew 1:23

5.      “He is precious” 1 Peter 2:7

6.       “Christ…being made a curse for us” Galatians 3:13

7.       “I lay down my life” John 10:17

8.       “Jesus came…to save sinners” 1 Timothy 1:15

9.       “Shew the exceeding riches of his grace” Ephesians 2:7

10.       “While we were yet sinners” Romans 5:8

11.       “I will in no wise cast out” John 6:37-40

12.      “Thou shalt call his name Jesus” Matthew 1:21

13.      “Lest…your minds should be corrupted” 2 Corinthians 11:3

14.      “Who…gave himself for me” Galatians 2:20

15.      “Jesus Christ the same…for ever” Hebrews 13:8

16.      “The Master…calleth for thee” John 11:28

17.      “If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean” Matthew 8:2-3

18.      “In his right mind” Luke 8:35

19.      “Justified from all things” Acts 13:39

20.      “Let us also walk in the Spirit” Galatians 5:25

21.       “And yet there is room” Luke 14:22

22.      “And such were some of you” 1 Corinthians 6:11

23.      “Such an high priest…who is holy” Hebrews 7:26

24.      “Good news from a far country” Proverbs 25:25

25.      “To day I must abide at thy house” Luke 19:5

26.      “A just God and a Saviour” Isaiah 45:21

27.      “He reasoned of righteousness” Acts 24-25

28.      “I have set before thee an open door” Revelation 3:8

29.      “I…will draw all men unto me” John 12:32

30.      “The dead…that hear shall live” John 5:25

31.      “The praise of all his saints” Psalm 148:14

Other Devotional Titles

Chapel Library Resources