the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
The Poor Man's Morning and Evening Portions
December 21—Morning—Psalms 69:4
"Then I restored that which I took not away."—Psalms 69:4.
Whose words are these? They can be none but the words of Jesus; for none ever made restoration but he; and none but he could say, I took nothing away. And what was taken away? God’s glory was taken away by sin; and consequently, man’s happiness also. For when Adam sinned, he robbed God of his glory, and robbed himself and all his posterity of God’s image, and with it all happiness. Nay, my soul, thou hast done the same, in every renewed act of disobedience. And in breaking the divine law thou hast justly lost the divine favour. And hath Jesus, all precious Jesus, restored all these? Yes, blessings on his name, he hath! And what renders it ten-fold more gracious, he hath so done it as never to be lost any more. By his finished work of salvation he hath restored to God his glory. And by his obedience and death, as our Surety, he hath restored to man his happiness. The favour of God we lost by sin; Jesus hath restored it, by justifying us in his righteousness. The image of God we lost by rebellion; Jesus hath restored to us this image, in sanctifying us by his holiness. So that every way, and in all things, Jesus hath made up the breach; and the poor sinner who is led by grace to believe in Jesus, stands more complete and secure now; than before the fall. For if Adam had never sinned, nor his children in him, yet, after all, their righteousness before God would have been but the righteousness of creatures. Whereas now, in Jesus, the believer stands accepted and secured in the righteousness of the Creator. Hail, then, thou Almighty Restorer of our fallen nature! In thee, Lord, would my poor soul triumphantly say, "have I righteousness and strength; even to thee shall men come; and all that believe in thee shall never be ashamed nor confounded, world without end."
December 21—Evening—1 Corinthians 9:7
"Who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? Or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?"—1 Corinthians 9:7.
Surely Jesus will not! Is not Jesus’s church his vineyard? Did he not purchase it with his blood; and does he not water it every moment with the same? And will he not eat of the fruit of his own vine, of his own planting, and what cost him so dear? Or doth Jesus buy a flock; daily, hourly, feed his flock; carry the lambs in his arms, and cause them to lie down in his bosom; and will he not eat of the milk of his flock? Lord Jesus, when I contemplate thy love to our poor nature; when I behold all things, by thine ordination, ministering to our nature; when I see such a profusion of grace, and love, and mercy bestowed for our accommodation; all things prepared for man; both worlds engaged for him; yea, man himself as if a world in himself, and another prepared for him; the sacred word designed wholly for him; angels, ministering spirits sent forth to minister to the heirs of salvation; God, his Father; Jesus, his Brother, Surety, Redeemer; the Holy Ghost, his Comforter! When I look around, above, below, in every way, and in every direction, and behold man like some palace, built by thee, O Lord, the great architect! surely; I cry out, Jesus would never have prepared such a temple but for his own glory! O come then, Lord; come and inhabit what is thine own! Having created it, and by a new creation made it again thine; bought it, washed it with thy blood, and prepared it by thy Spirit; Oh come, and dwell in it, and take the full, the entire, the everlasting possession of it. Lord, whoever planted a vineyard, and did not eat of the fruit thereof? Who ever fed a flock, and did not eat of the milk of the flock? Surely not Jesus!
