Daily Devotionals

Mornings and Evenings with Jesus

Devotional: March 18th

That day. - 2 Timothy 1:12.

WE have here presented to our notice an awful period. It is not mentioned by name, but the apostle only calls it “that day.” What day? “The day of death, when the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it”? Or the day of judgment? Doubtless the day of judgment. This is often in the Scriptures called “that day,” in order to show us that it is a very important, a very remarkable, a very distinguished day. Therefore it is called “the last day,” because it is to terminate the present system, and the angel will then “swear, by Him that liveth forever and ever, that there shall be time no longer.” Hence also it is called “the great day,” to signify that the magnitude of its proceedings is inexpressible, and because it is the day of final decision.

It is a very solemn thing for a man to appear in an earthly court to be judged, and to stand before a human tribunal with his property, or his reputation, or his liberty, or his life, at stake; but here every thing is at stake, and forever. “All that are in their graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth.” “The heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burnt up.” “We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ.” “Before him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats; and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left: then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; and then shall he say also unto them on his left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: and these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal.” And are these things so?

Surely such a period demands the most serious attention. The first Christians knew that, and they thought much of it. It was not necessary in addressing them to mention the period by name; they were looking for it, they were loving it, they were waiting for it, they were hastening towards it. In the scales of that day they weighed every interest; they made it the test by which they tried their riches, their honours, their treasures, and their anxieties too. Hence their temperance in all their worldly possessions and enjoyments:-“Let your moderation be known unto all men; the Lord is at hand.” Hence their diligence in duty:-“The end of all things is at hand; be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.” Hence their freedom from envy and ill will:-“Grudge not one against another, brethren: behold, the judge standeth before the door.” Hence the little impression made upon them by their trials: the “light affliction which was but for a moment was working for them a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,” while they “looked not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

In a word, “They walked by faith, not by sight;” that is, they could not see the day, but they believed it, and it influenced them just as if they could. The world that now is has an intimate and inseparable connection with that which is to come. It does not depend on us whether the present shall have this relation to the future. God has determined it, and it arises from the very nature of the case; it is the relation between a way and an end,-between “seed-time and harvest;” and “whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”

Let us ever think of this. “I paint for eternity,” said the artist, to justify his attention and his accuracy. We too are all acting “for eternity;” and not a fictitious eternity, but a real one. We are reading, and hearing, and talking, and training, against “that day.” Have we made provision for it? Alas! how many provide for a temporal who disregard an eternal futurity! They provide for a futurity that only may occur, and then overlook a futurity that WILL occur, and that MUST occur!

The grand question is, What have we done against “that day,” the certainty of which cannot be denied, the importance of which cannot be disputed, the approach of which no one can hinder, and in which we are to be not only spectators, but parties concerned? Is it our chief concern “to find mercy of the Lord in that day”-to be safe in “that day” -to be happy in “that day”-to be inheritors in “that day” of a new heaven and a new earth, “wherein dwelleth righteousness”?

So will I save you, and ye shall he a blessing. - Zechariah 8:13.

CHRISTIANS do not go to heaven alone. The subjects of divine grace, as they wish to be useful, and endeavour to be useful, so they are honoured in being made useful. They are made useful by their prayers, by their example, by their influence, and by their exertions. Thus it was with David. “Restore unto me,” said he, “the joys of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free Spirit, then will I teach transgressors thy ways and sinners shall be converted unto thee.” But he was a musician, a poet, a monarch; he had large resources, he could serve his generation according to the will of God. And so too can all who are willing and disposed.

There is no situation, however inconsiderable and obscure, but contains in it efficiencies, if we will but employ them. A brother may bring a brother to Christ, as Andrew brought Peter. A friend may bring a friend to Christ, as Philip brought Nathaniel. A neighbour may bring a neighbour to Christ, as the woman Sychar did the Samaritan. Masters and mistresses may instruct their servants. Many a servant has said, “Blessed be God that ever I entered such a family; I was then ignorant as a heathen; then my feet were turned into the paths of peace.” And what a revolution was produced in the family of Naaman, and in all Syria, by a little girl that was taken captive in war, who availed herself of a favourable opportunity, while dressing her mistress’s hair, to talk about the prophet of God in Israel.

Thus we see how and why some are blessed-that they may be blessings to others.