4 September
Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.—Hos. 6:3.
THUS some are called by grace earlier in life, and some later; but the seeming difference will be lost and vanish when the great day of eternity comes on. There is a time, the Lord’s best appointed time, when he will arise and shine upon many a soul that now sits ‘in darkness, and in the region of the shadow of death.’
I have been thinking of the Lord’s conference with Nicodemus; it is a copious subject, and affords room, in one part or other, for the whole round of doctrinal and experimental topics. Nicodemus is an encouraging example to those who are seeking the Lord’s salvation: he had received some favourable impressions of Jesus; but he was very ignorant, and much under the fear of man. He durst only come by night, and at first, though he heard, he understood not; but he, who opens the eyes of the blind, brought him surely, though gently, forward. The next time we hear of him, he durst put in a word in behalf of Christ, even in the midst of his enemies, John 7; and at last, he had the courage openly and publicly to assist in preparing the body of his Master for its funeral, at a time when our Lord’s more avowed followers had all forsook him and fled. So true is that, ‘Then ye shall know, if ye follow on to know the Lord;’ and again, ‘He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might, he increaseth strength.’
Hope then, my soul, against hope; though thy graces are faint and languid, he who planted them will water his own work, and not suffer them wholly to die. He can make a little one as a thousand; at his presence mountains sink into plains, streams gush out of the flinty rock, and the wilderness blossoms as the rose. He can pull down what sin builds up, and build up what sin pulls down; that which was impossible to us, is easy to him; and he has bid us expect seasons of refreshment from his presence. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
On the Gradual Increase of Gospel Illumination [1:320]; 1:225
This week’s devotionals are from Jewels From John Newton
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