Daily devotionals - October 10th

[AY Angel Bot]

Morning Meditation

"Faultless before the presence of his glory."
Jude 24

Revolve in your mind thatwondrous word, "faultless!" We are far off from it now; but as our Lordnever stops short of perfection in his work of love, we shall reach itone day. The Saviour who will keep his people to the end, will alsopresent them at last to himself, as "a glorious church, not havingspot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, but holy and without blemish." Allthe jewels in the Saviour's crown are of the first water and without asingle flaw. All the maids of honour who attend the Lamb's wife arepure virgins without spot or stain. But how will Jesus make usfaultless? He will wash us from our sins in his own blood until we arewhite and fair as God's purest angel; and we shall be clothed in hisrighteousness, that righteousness which makes the saint who wears itpositively faultless; yea, perfect in the sight of God. We shall beunblameable and unreproveable even in his eyes. His law will not onlyhave no charge against us, but it will be magnified in us. Moreover,the work of the Holy Spirit within us will be altogether complete. Hewill make us so perfectly holy, that we shall have no lingeringtendency to sin. Judgment, memory, will-every power and passion shallbe emancipated from the thraldom of evil. We shall be holy even as Godis holy, and in his presence we shall dwell for ever. Saints will notbe out of place in heaven, their beauty will be as great as that of theplace prepared for them. Oh the rapture of that hour when theeverlasting doors shall be lifted up, and we, being made meet for theinheritance, shall dwell with the saints in light. Sin gone, Satan shutout, temptation past for ever, and ourselves "faultless" before God,this will be heaven indeed! Let us be joyful now as we rehearse thesong of eternal praise so soon to roll forth in full chorus from allthe blood-washed host; let us copy David's exultings before the ark asa prelude to our ecstasies before the throne.
Evening Meditation

"And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible."
Jeremiah 15:21

Note the gloriouspersonality of the promise. I will, I will. The Lord Jehovah himselfinterposes to deliver and redeem his people. He pledges himselfpersonally to rescue them. His own arm shall do it, that he may havethe glory. Here is not a word said of any effort of our own which maybe needed to assist the Lord. Neither our strength nor our weakness istaken into the account, but the lone I, like the sun in the heavens,shines out resplendent in all-sufficience. Why then do we calculate ourforces, and consult with flesh and blood to our grievous wounding?Jehovah has power enough without borrowing from our puny arm. Peace, yeunbelieving thoughts, be still, and know that the Lord reigneth. Nor isthere a hint concerning secondary means and causes. The Lord saysnothing of friends and helpers: he undertakes the work alone, and feelsno need of human arms to aid him. Vain are all our lookings around tocompanions and relatives; they are broken reeds if we lean uponthem-often unwilling when able, and unable when they are willing. Sincethe promise comes alone from God, it would be well to wait only uponhim; and when we do so, our expectation never fails us. Who are thewicked that we should fear them? The Lord will utterly consume them;they are to be pitied rather than feared. As for terrible ones, theyare only terrors to those who have no God to fly to, for when the Lordis on our side, whom shall we fear? If we run into sin to please thewicked, we have cause to be alarmed, but if we hold fast our integrity,the rage of tyrants shall be overruled for our good. When the fishswallowed Jonah, he found him a morsel which he could not digest; andwhen the world devours the church, it is glad to be rid of it again. Inall times of fiery trial, in patience let us possess our souls.


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