Daily Devotionals

Spiritual Treasury For The Children of God

Devotional: September 25th

I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.- Jeremiah 32:40.

I WILL and they SHALL. Such is God’s gracious way of saving his people: while proud legal hearts and self-righteous spirits, puffed up with notions of free-will, are ever contending for terms and conditions to be performed by dead sinners in order to be saved; or by creatures, insufficient of themselves to think a good thought, to secure and make effectual salvation to their own souls. But this fear of God is a blessing of the covenant of grace. Naturally the fear of God is not in our hearts. It is one black mark of an unregenerate person, "he has no fear of God before his eyes." How awful! how deplorable is this! Yet, naturally we fear not the power of the Lord, nor dread his wrath: nor are we at all sensible of our danger. What wonder of love! What matter of thankfulness, that the Lord hath put his fear in thy heart, O Christian! The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It is perfectly consistent with the strongest faith, the most inflamed love, and the highest spiritual joy. Though by faith in Jesus we are delivered from a servile, slavish fear of God, which fills us with legal terrors; yet we are possessed of a filial, loving fear towards him, as to a tender and affectionate father.

This fear shall dwell in the hearts of saints all their days. This fear keeps souls from sinning against the God of love. The blessed effect of it is, "that they shall NEVER depart from me," saith the Lord. Thy soul, believer, being rooted and grounded in the truth as it is in Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, expecting life and salvation, through faith in him, shall NEVER DEPART from this good old way of the Lord, into bypaths of human errors and destructive ways of total apostacy and final unbelief. The Lord’s fear shall preserve thee in thy Lord’s truth. Though thine enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil, should surprise thee into sin against thy Lord; should draw thee from sweet communion with him; yet shalt thou fear to "lie down in thy shame, while confusion covers thee." Thou shalt remember, Jesus ever lives to save to the uttermost all sinners who come unto God by him. Thou shalt fear to seek to any other object but him; so shalt thou return by faith and repentance to him. "Happy is the man that feareth always."- Proverbs 28:14.

Salvation is for ever nigh

The souls that fear and trust the Lord;

And grace descending from on high,

Fresh hopes of glory shall afford.

Christ’s righteousness is gone before,

To give us free access to God;

Our wand’ring feet shall stray no more.

But mark his steps and keep the road.

For when I am weak, then am I strong. 2 Corinthians 12:10.

We have read of St. Paul’s revelations, exaltings, buffetings, and his praying: now of his humbling sight of himself. He is brought down to his right place, low in self; and to his right feelings, weak in self. Hence we see the true nature and blessed end of Christian experience. It keeps the soul from being puft up with pride, lest it fall into the condemnation of the devil. It sinks it low in humility: under a sense of weakness; and it leads out of self, to look for all its strength in Christ. Here the strength of faith is opposed to the weakness of sense. When I am sensibly weak, then I am believingly strong. This, though a difficult lesson, yet is a precious one. (1st.) Do we see ourselves weak? Christ is held forth to us as our strength, and he calls upon us to be strong in him. “Trust in the Lord for ever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength,” (Isaiah 26:4.) But surely, folly is bound up in the heart of the weak. For instead of obeying, and trusting in him, how many are saying, I am the weakest of the weak? I have no might, no power? You are the very person here addressed. You can get no strength but from the Lord. By trusting in the Lord, you will say, though weak, I am strong: I have everlasting strength. Again, (2d.) To encourage to this, the Lord commands, “let the weak say, I am strong,” (Joel 3:10.) Let them believe it in their hearts, and confess it with their lips. What! if they find no strength in themselves? Yes; it is a command to the weak: yea, to the weakest of the weak. Then this exactly suits you and me. Here again, (3d.) “hast thou not known, hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, giveth power to the faint, and to them who have no might, he increaseth strength,” (Isaiah 40:28-29.) Here we are rebuked and reproved. Faint, and have no might: this is our state. Have you never heard, nor known, how the Lord dealeth with such! O look up to him. Though not sufficient of yourself to do any thing as of yourself, know your sufficiency is of the Lord. Though we can do nothing of ourselves, yet we can do all things through Christ, who strengtheneth us, (Philippians 4:13.) How do we obtain strength from Christ? By believing his promises: going to him in the faith of them, pleading them before him, and praying him to fulfil them in us. Thus we put our cause upon the strength of Christ’s truth. He is faithful. He cannot deny us. He will say, “According to your faith, be it unto you.” Matthew 9:29.

When frames are warm & comforts strong,

O then we’re mighty great!

Self is the hero of our song,

Our weakness we forget.

Then Jesus sends some humbling stroke,

In love, to mar our pride;

That we may glory of his work,

And trust in nought beside.