M&E Tuesday

Morning and Evening: Daily Readings
by C. H. Spurgeon
Tuesday Morning, January 3

I will give thee for a covenant of the people.

Isaiah 49:8

Jesus Christ is himself the sum and substance of the covenant, and as one of its gifts. He is the property of every believer. Believer, canst thou estimate what thou hast gotten in Christ? In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. Consider that word God and its infinity, and then meditate upon perfect man and all his beauty; for all that Christ, as God and man, ever had, or can have, is thine--out of pure free favour, passed over to thee to be thine entailed property forever. Our blessed Jesus, as God, is omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent. Will it not console you to know that all these great and glorious attributes are altogether yours? Has he power? That power is yours to support and strengthen you, to overcome your enemies, and to preserve you even to the end. Has he love? Well, there is not a drop of love in his heart which is not yours; you may dive into the immense ocean of his love, and you may say of it all, It is mine. Hath he justice? It may seem a stern attribute, but even that is yours, for he will by his justice see to it that all which is promised to you in the covenant of grace shall be most certainly secured to you. And all that he has as perfect man is yours. As a perfect man the Father's delight was upon him. He stood accepted by the Most High. O believer, God's acceptance of Christ is thine acceptance; for knowest thou not that the love which the Father set on a perfect Christ, he sets on thee now? For all that Christ did is thine. That perfect righteousness which Jesus wrought out, when through his stainless life he kept the law and made it honourable, is thine, and is imputed to thee. Christ is in the covenant.

My God, I am thine--what a comfort divine! What a blessing to know that the Saviour is mine! In the heavenly Lamb thrice happy I am, And my heart it doth dance at the sound of his name.

Evening, January 3

The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

Luke 3:4

The voice crying in the wilderness demanded a way for the Lord, a way prepared, and a way prepared in the wilderness. I would be attentive to the Master's proclamation, and give him a road into my heart, cast up by gracious operations, through the desert of my nature. The four directions in the text must have my serious attention.

Every valley must be exalted. Low and grovelling thoughts of God must be given up; doubting and despairing must be removed; and self-seeking and carnal delights must be forsaken. Across these deep valleys a glorious causeway of grace must be raised.

Every mountain and hill shall be laid low. Proud creature-sufficiency, and boastful self-righteousness, must be levelled, to make a highway for the King of kings. Divine fellowship is never vouchsafed to haughty, highminded sinners. The Lord hath respect unto the lowly, and visits the contrite in heart, but the lofty are an abomination unto him. My soul, beseech the Holy Spirit to set thee right in this respect.

The crooked shall be made straight. The wavering heart must have a straight path of decision for God and holiness marked out for it. Double-minded men are strangers to the God of truth. My soul, take heed that thou be in all things honest and true, as in the sight of the heart-searching God.

The rough places shall be made smooth. Stumbling-blocks of sin must be removed, and thorns and briers of rebellion must be uprooted. So great a visitor must not find miry ways and stony places when he comes to honour his favoured ones with his company. Oh that this evening the Lord may find in my heart a highway made ready by his grace, that he may make a triumphal progress through the utmost bounds of my soul, from the beginning of this year even to the end of it.

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Finding Help at the Throne of Grace

Author: James McAlister

Do you have a significant need that has not been met, or an urgent prayer that hasn't been answered? If so, I'm right there with you—and I bring good news. God has made provision for such times: "Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Heb. 4:16, NASB). And isn't that exactly what we need, help from the throne of grace, offered and granted by the omnipotent King upon that throne?

Since this throne of grace exists in heaven where we can't physically observe it, its provisions and operations are necessarily somewhat veiled. History is our friend, however, for the book of Esther affords us a remarkable glimpse at an actual throne, the desperate petition laid before it, and the king's gracious judgment.

The Persian king Ahasuerus occupied that throne, and Esther, of Jewish heritage, was his queen. When the king promoted Haman, this man of immense wickedness quickly initiated a plan to destroy all the Jewish people. Greatly distressed, Mordecai, Esther's cousin and guardian, urged her to employ her position to supplicate the king on behalf of the Jews (Est. 3-4). Thus she did with marvelous and providential success (Est. 5).

While this vignette beautifully illustrates God's provision and love for His people, we enjoy at least three undeniable advantages at our throne of grace that even a queen didn't have.

We have an invitation.

When Esther stood outside the king's throne room, she had not been invited in 30 days. And for all who dared appear uninvited, the king had but one law: death. Even Esther's position did not assure acceptance and admittance.

But such is not our case, for the throne of grace stands open day, night, weekends, and holidays. As heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, we are literally part of the family of the One upon the throne—invited to come with boldness and confidence to make our petitions (Heb. 4:16). What a privilege that Esther never knew!

We have advocates

Though queen, Esther had no friend at court to stand beside the king and whisper in his ear, "Oh, King! Esther has come uninvited, so her need must be urgent! Please show favor and hear her request!" And even when summoned into the royal presence, she stood alone before the king to make her appeal.

But we have advocates, two faithful friends at court. At the Father's right hand sits Jesus the Son, our great High Priest who has passed through the heavens. He ever lives to make intercession for us (Heb. 7:25), and like His Father, He never sleeps, never slumbers, and never grows weary or tired.

Life has often riddled my peace with situations that rendered me unable to arrange jumbled, disjointed thoughts into meaningful prayers. But in such circumstances that other Advocate, the Holy Spirit, intercedes for me with groanings which cannot be uttered, conforming and presenting my feeble petitions to align with the will of God (Rom. 8:26-27).

We have confidence

Esther's confession to Mordecai, "If I perish I perish," verbalized her intense uncertainty of life or death, favor or denial. Not so with us. We approach the throne of grace with boldness, confidence and expectation—for the express purpose of receiving mercy and finding grace to help in times of need (Heb. 416).

The word help in this verse is used in just one other place (Acts 27:17). Those aboard the ship transporting Paul to Rome ran helps (ropes and cables) under the vessel to keep it from being destroyed by the ferocity of the wind and waves relentlessly pounding it to pieces.

Isn't that comforting? When the storms of life pummel me with devastating blows, help from the throne of grace undergirds me and holds me together until I reach my destination. What inner confidence that inspires!

One final thought. Notice that Esther received far beyond what she had requested or could have even conceived! She sought deliverance for her people, but the king gave more: Haman's punishment, Mordecai's promotion and the establishment of the Feast of Purim, a celebration still observed 2,500 years later! And as a final expression of favor, the king asked her, "And what is your further request? It shall also be done" (Est. 9:12). When we go to the throne of grace, can't we expect our loving, compassionate, merciful King to likewise render unto us "exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think"? (Eph. 3:20).

And though I may long persist before the throne of grace without visible evidence of answer, I must remember: delay is not denial. My invitation, advocates and confidence all tell me that I will eventually reap if I do not grow weary and lose heart (Gal. 6:9).

Copyright © 2011 James McAlister.
Permission granted for reproduction in exact form. All other uses require written permission.
Find more free articles at www.BulletinInserts.org, a ministry of Christian Communicators Worldwide: www.CCWtoday.org

 

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