October 27 - Morning"It is a faithful saying." — 2 Timothy 2:11
Paul has four of these "faithful sayings." The first occurs in 1 Timothy
1:15, "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners." The next is in 1 Timothy 4:6,
"Godliness is profitable unto all things, having the promise of the life that
now is, and of that which is to come. This is a faithful saying, and worthy
of all acceptation." The third is in 2 Timothy 2:12, "It is a faithful saying
— If we suffer with Him we shall also reign with Him"; and the fourth is
in Titus 3:3, "This is a faithful saying, that they which have believed in
God might be careful to maintain good works."
We may trace a connection
between these faithful sayings. The first one lays the foundation of our
eternal salvation in the free grace of God, as shown to us in the mission of
the great Redeemer. The next affirms the double blessedness which we
obtain through this salvation — the blessings of the upper and nether
springs — of time and of eternity. The third shows one of the duties to
which the chosen people are called; we are ordained to suffer for Christ
with the promise that "if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him." The last
sets forth the active form of Christian service, bidding us diligently to
maintain good works.
Thus we have the root of salvation in free grace;
next, the privileges of that salvation in the life which now is, and in that
which is to come; and we have also the two great branches of suffering
with Christ and serving with Christ, loaded with the fruits of the Spirit.
Treasure up these faithful sayings. Let them be the guides of our life, our
comfort, and our instruction. The apostle of the Gentiles proved them to
be faithful, they are faithful still, not one word shall fall to the ground;
they are worthy of all acceptation, let us accept them now, and prove their
faithfulness. Let these four faithful sayings be written on the four corners
of My house. October 27 - Evening"We are all as an unclean thing." — Isaiah 64:6
The believer is a new creature, he belongs to a holy generation and a
peculiar people — the Spirit of God is in him, and in all respects he is far
removed from the natural man; but for all that the Christian is a sinner still.
He is so from the imperfection of his nature, and will continue so to the
end of his earthly life. The black fingers of sin leave smuts upon our fairest
robes. Sin mars our repentance, ere the great Potter has finished it, upon
the wheel. Selfishness defiles our tears, and unbelief tampers with our
faith.
The best thing we ever did apart from the merit of Jesus only
swelled the number of our sins; for when we have been most pure in our
own sight, yet, like the heavens, we are not pure in God's sight; and as He
charged His angels with folly, much more must He charge us with it, even
in our most angelic frames of mind. The song which thrills to heaven, and
seeks to emulate seraphic strains, hath human discords in it. The prayer
which moves the arm of God is still a bruised and battered prayer, and
only moves that arm because the sinless One, the great Mediator, has
stepped in to take away the sin of our supplication. The most golden faith
or the purest degree of sanctification to which a Christian ever attained on
earth, has still so much alloy in it as to be only worthy of the flames, in
itself considered.
Every night we look in the glass we see a sinner, and had
need confess, "We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags." Oh, how precious the blood of Christ to such hearts as
ours! How priceless a gift is His perfect righteousness! And how bright
the hope of perfect holiness hereafter! Even now, though sin dwells in us,
its power is broken. It has no dominion; it is a broken-backed snake; we are
in bitter conflict with it, but it is with a vanquished foe that we have to
deal. Yet a little while and we shall enter victoriously into the city where
nothing defileth. October 27 |