Daily Devotionals

The Poor Man's Morning and Evening Portions

Devotional: June 21st

June 21—Morning—Zechariah 3:8

"Men wondered at."—Zechariah 3:8.

Men wondered at indeed, and every redeemed soul may truly say, I am a wonder unto many, a wonder to myself. Oh thou whose name is Wonderful! both thou and the children the Lord hath given thee, are for signs and wonders. Behold, my soul, how it was fulfilled in him whose name was Wonderful, and then thine astonishment will be the less that it should be fulfilled in his followers. I would contemplate thy person, blessed Jesus, and behold thee, not barely wondered at, but despised and rejected of men. The world gazed at thee, but saw no beauty nor form of comeliness in thee to desire thee. In thine offices also, how did the multitude despise thee as a prophet; when blind-folding thee, and smiting thee on thy sacred head, they tauntingly cried out, "Prophecy, thou Christ, who is he that smote thee!’ As a priest, what blasphemy did they utter, when they saw enough to be convinced, and to confess, that thou didst save others, but thyself thou couldst not save. As a King, when having nailed thee to the tree, they demanded a proof of thy power in coming down from the cross. And wert thou not, blessed Jesus, wondered at in thy word, when they acknowledged, "never man spake like this man;" yet charged thy doctrines with blasphemy, and derided thee in them? Wert thou not the wonder and the hatred of the world, when thy miracles astonished them, but were ascribed to the agency of Beelzebub? Weft thou not, O thou spotless Lamb of God, weft thou not charged with immorality and called a wine-bibber, a sabbath-breaker, the friend of publicans and sinners? Did the world thus treat Jesus, and call the Master of the house Beelzebub? Oh then, my soul, well may they so treat them of his household! And must it not be so? Yes. The world knoweth them not, because it knew him not. They are made a spectacle, a gazing-stock, a reproach, a by-word. How unknown in their new birth from God, how little understood in their union with Jesus, how perfectly hidden from the world their life in the Spirit! What an everlasting opposition to carnal men are their pursuits, their pleasures, their happiness, their conversation, their desires—how wondered at their life of faith on the Son of God! They have meat to eat the world knoweth nothing of, for they feed upon the person, body, blood, grace, and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. My soul, hast thou this rarity of character. Hast thou this blessed singularity? Art thou wondered at because thou runnest not to the same excess of riot, but art blameless and harmless among the sons of God, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation? Oh blessed, for ever blessed, be his name, who hath called thee to this high, this glorious, this distinguishing honour, of being wondered at and reproached for Jesus’s sake! Yes, Lord, I will not regard the reproach of men, neither be afraid of their revilings, for "the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool; but thy righteousness shall be for ever, and thy salvation from generation to generation."

June 21—Evening—John 4:29

"Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?"—John 4:29.

Those are sweet and blessed views of the Lord Jesus, which he himself gives, when, by letting the poor sinner see himself, how wretched he is, and at the same time how glorious the Lord is, and how exactly suited to his wants and necessities, he makes the soul cry out, as this woman of Samaria did," Is not this the Christ?" For who but Christ can read the heart, and tell all that passeth there? And as she found it, so all taught of Jesus find the same, that every true discovery of Christ must end in condemning ourselves, and exalting the Redeemer. My soul! there are numberless instructions to be gathered from this scripture, and the history connected with it. Sit down, this evening, in the coolness of the shade, and look at a few of them. The Lord the Holy Ghost will open them to thy meditation. Jesus, we are told, "must needs go through Samaria." Yes; there was this poor sinner to be convinced of sin, and to be brought acquainted with her Saviour. Hence the opportunity soon offered; and Jesus as soon accomplished the purpose of his going thither. The Lord opened her heart to her own view, and gave her to see the vileness within. He opened, at the same time, her heart to the knowledge of himself, gave her to see his salvation; and the effects were as might have been expected: she hastened to the city, to tell other poor sinners, who also stood in need of a Saviour, that she had found "him of whom Moses and the prophets did write." Come, said she "see a man, which told me all things that ever I did; is not this the Christ?" My soul! hast thou so learned Christ? Hast thou "met with the Lord God of the Hebrews," and learned from him self-humbling thoughts, and a true conviction of sin? Hath he taught thee who he is, and what need thou hast of him? Hast thou seen him to be indeed the Christ of God; the man, whose name is Wonderful; who, in his divine nature, is "one with the Father over all, God blessed for ever;" and in his human nature, "the man, whose name is the Branch;" and by the union of both natures, the one glorious and true Messiah, "the Lord our righteousness?" And hath such a conviction of the infinite importance of knowing Christ been wrought thereby upon thy mind, that thou hast taken every method of recommending him to others? Surely, my soul, no truly regenerated sinner, who hath known, and seen, and felt that the Lord is gracious, but must be anxious that others should know, and see, and feel it also. And, therefore, like this poor woman, thou wilt be taking every proper opportunity of calling upon all, as far as thy sphere of usefulness can extend, to come and enjoy the same blessings, which the Lord hath imparted to thee. Precious Lord! I would not only invite every poor needy sinner to come to thee, but I would desire to accompany them. I would not say," Go to Jesus," as if I needed thee no more myself; but I would say, "Come to him," let us go together, for "he will shew us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths." And Oh! that multitudes may come, and find to their soul’s joy, as the Samaritans did, on the invitation of this poor woman, and be enabled to say, as they said, "Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world."