Daily Devotionals

Mornings and Evenings with Jesus

Devotional: October 5th

Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us. - Ephesians 5:1-2.

AS God, the supreme Being, is the perfection and the Source of divine excellence, the greatest honour we can ever possess is to be like him. Accordingly, we were originally made after his own image, and when we are new-made we are “renewed after the image of him who created us in righteousness and true holiness;” and when we are sanctified we are said to be “partakers of the divine nature.” Oh to be like God! to resemble him in his moral perfections,’-to be holy, patient, tender, loving, like God! There are two things especially in which we are enjoined to resemble God: these are, giving and forgiving.

Now, in forgiving, our Saviour teaches us, when we pray, to say, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us.” Now, all who use this prayer, and are implacable, ask God not to forgive them; for, says the Saviour, “If ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you your trespasses.” And what are the petty offences of our fellow-creatures compared with the number and aggravation of our offences against God? and yet “there is forgiveness with him, that he may be feared;” yet “he is ready to forgive, and plenteous in mercy to all that call upon him.” Can a Christian, therefore, rise from his knees in malice, or retire in malevolence? Hence, said the apostle, “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil-speaking, be put away from you, with all malice; and be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ’s sake, hath forgiven you.”

The other is in giving. Therefore, says the Saviour, “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you, that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven. For he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” To be followers of God,-that is, to exercise impartial and benevolent conduct,-we must not say to the distressed, “Go in peace, be ye warmed, and be ye filled, while we give them not such things as are needful for them.” That is not the way God deals with us. Does he not give us all things richly to enjoy? Are not his mercies new every morning, and are we not daily loaded with his benefits? He spared not even his own Son, but gave him up for us all. “Will he not, therefore, with him freely give us all things?” “As we have opportunity, therefore, we are to do good unto all men, especially to them who are of the household of faith.”

All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. - Romans 3:23.

HERE is a twofold description of the condition of men. Observe, first, “All have sinned.” The Apostle here immediately refers to Jews and Gentiles. There was a grand distinction between them, and there seemed an immense difference between them, and, as to dispensation, indeed there was. As to dispensation, the one is spoken of as “nigh,” the other as being “far off.” The Jews were distinguished by miracles and ordinances, and a thousand peculiar privileges; but these did not prevent them equalling the Gentiles in guilt. Hence says the Apostle: “What then? are we better than they? No, in nowise; for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;” “that every mouth might be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” “All we,” and this includes all men, wherever they live and whatever their external condition, not that all transgress in the same way-“All we like sheep have gone astray,” says Isaiah, but we have turned every one to his own way.

The very same evil may be diversified by a thousand causes and in a thousand instances. Not that all sins are equal in their heinousness. Our Saviour calls some “beams,” some “motes.” Some will be beaten with “few stripes,” and some with “many stripes.” Not that all are actually guilty in the same degree before God. But “all have sinned” in their head and representative, Adam; for “as in Adam all die,” so in Adam all sinned. Not only are men mortal, but they are also depraved. “All have sinned” in their own persons, in actions, in words, in thoughts, and in imaginations. Omissions of duties are sins: for he who forbids also commands. Ingratitude is a sin, as also a want of love to God, and of love to our neighbour. If covetousness be idolatry, anger murder, surely all have sinned; all are transgressors, and as such, all are under the curse. “As it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things written in the book of the law to do them.”

Observe, secondly, That “all have come short of the glory of god.” God designed his own glory by man’s creation, but all have come short of this glory. All have come short of the glory of his law in not obeying it; of his image in not resembling it; of his favour in not desiring it; of his presence in not seeking after it. All are in the same state, because all stand in need of the same remedy, and the very same remedy is applied to all. If all need the Physician, all are sick; if all need to be cleansed, all are polluted; if all need to be renewed, all are depraved; if all need to be pardoned, all are guilty; if all need to be redeemed, all are in bondage. Yes, and all Christians, whatever be their present condition, will be ready to acknowledge that they were “foolish, disobedient., deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice, and envy, hateful and hating one another.” Such is the state of all men.

The existence of sin and misery in our world is undeniable. The Deist can no more deny it than the Christian. But while Deism leaves us without explanation and without remedy, Christianity comes to us and says: “O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself, but in me is thy help found.” “Look unto me, and be ye saved: For I am God, and besides me there is no Saviour.” It is our wisdom to attend to this.

Persons often reason where reason can be of no avail, while submission and prayer would avail everything. Suppose an individual passing along a meadow, and heard the cry of a fellow-creature in a pit. He approaches the spot, and sees the poor creature sinking deeper and deeper in the mire. And he says to him, Here, take my hand, I will endeavour to raise you up. Instead, however, of his laying hold of the aid extended to him, he begins questioning and cavilling how the pit came to be left there, why it was not fenced round to prevent persons from falling in; how shameful was the owner of it. But the individual says to him, My friend, you are perishing; this is not the place nor the time for inquiry or complaint; give me your hand, here is deliverance; let me draw you forth, and after your deliverance you will be able to abide the result of the inquiry; when you have found that the evil can not only be remedied, but that it has been remedied in your case.