November 25 - Morning"To preach deliverance to the captives." — Luke 4.18
None but Jesus can give deliverance to captives. Real liberty cometh from
Him only. It is a liberty righteously bestowed; for the Son, who is Heir of
all things, has a right to make men free. The saints honour the justice of
God, which now secures their salvation. It is a liberty which has been
dearly purchased. Christ speaks it by His power, but He bought it by His
blood. He makes thee free, but it is by His own bonds. Thou goest clear,
because He bare thy burden for thee: thou art set at liberty, because He has
suffered in thy stead. But, though dearly purchased, He freely gives it.
Jesus asks nothing of us as a preparation for this liberty. He finds us
sitting in sackcloth and ashes, and bids us put on the beautiful array of
freedom; He saves us just as we are, and all without our help or merit.
When Jesus sets free, the liberty is perpetually entailed; no chains can bind
again. Let the Master say to me, "Captive, I have delivered thee," and it is
done for ever. Satan may plot to enslave us, but if the Lord be on our side,
whom shall we fear? The world, with its temptations, may seek to ensnare
us, but mightier is He who is for us than all they who be against us.
The machinations of our own deceitful hearts may harass and annoy us, but He
who hath begun the good work in us will carry it on and perfect it to the
end. The foes of God and the enemies of man may gather their hosts
together, and come with concentrated fury against us, but if God
acquitteth, who is he that condemneth? Not more free is the eagle which
mounts to his rocky eyrie, and afterwards outsoars the clouds, than the
soul which Christ hath delivered. If we are no more under the law, but free
from its curse, let our liberty be practically exhibited in our serving God
with gratitude and delight. "I am Thy servant, and the son of thine
handmaid: Thou hast loosed my bonds." "Lord, what wilt Thou have me
to do?" November 25 - Evening"For He saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." — Romans 9:15
In these words the Lord in the plainest manner claims the right to give or
to withhold His mercy according to His own sovereign will. As the
prerogative of life and death is vested in the monarch, so the Judge of all
the earth has a right to spare or condemn the guilty, as may seem best in
His sight. Men by their sins have forfeited all claim upon God; they
deserve to perish for their sins — and if they all do so, they have no
ground for complaint. If the Lord steps in to save any, He may do so if the
ends of justice are not thwarted; but if He judges it best to leave the
condemned to suffer the righteous sentence, none may arraign Him at their
bar.
Foolish and impudent are all those discourses about the rights of men
to be all placed on the same footing; ignorant, if not worse, are those
contentions against discriminating grace, which are but the rebellions of
proud human nature against the crown and sceptre of Jehovah. When we
are brought to see our own utter ruin and ill desert, and the justice of the
divine verdict against sin, we no longer cavil at the truth that the Lord is
not bound to save us; we do not murmur if He chooses to save others, as
though He were doing us an injury, but feel that if He deigns to look upon
us, it will be His own free act of undeserved goodness, for which we shall
for ever bless His name.
How shall those who are the subjects of divine election sufficiently adore
the grace of God? They have no room for boasting, for sovereignty most
effectually excludes it. The Lord's will alone is glorified, and the very
notion of human merit is cast out to everlasting contempt. There is no
more humbling doctrine in Scripture than that of election, none more
promotive of gratitude, and, consequently, none more sanctifying.
Believers should not be afraid of it, but adoringly rejoice in it. November 25 |