April 4

Morning

For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. — 2 Cor 5:21

Mourning Christian! why do you weep? Are you mourning over your own corruptions? Look to your perfect Lord, and remember, you are complete in Him; you are in God’s sight as perfect as if you had never sinned! Nay, more than that, the Lord our Righteousness has put a divine garment upon you, so that you have more than the righteousness of man—you have the righteousness of God.

O You who are mourning by reason of inbred sin and depravity, remember, none of your sins can condemn you. You have learned to hate sin; but you have learned also to know that sin is not yours—it was laid upon Christ’s head. Your standing is not in yourself—it is in Christ; your acceptance is not in yourself but in your Lord. You are as much accepted by God today, with all your sinfulness, as you will be when you stand before His throne, free from all corruption.

O, I beseech you, lay hold on this precious thought, perfection in Christ! For you are “complete in Him.” With your Savior’s garment on—you are holy as the Holy one. “Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, yes rather, who is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.” Christian, let your heart rejoice, for you are “accepted in the beloved” what have you to fear?

Let your face ever wear a smile; live near your Master; live in the suburbs of the Celestial City; for soon, when your time has come, you shall rise up where your Jesus sits, and reign at His right hand; and all this because the divine Lord “was made to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”

Evening

Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord. — Isa 2:3

It is exceedingly beneficial to our souls to mount above this present evil world to something nobler and better. The cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches are apt to choke everything good within us and we grow fretful, desponding, perhaps proud and carnal. It is well for us to cut down these thorns and briers—for heavenly seed sown among them is not likely to yield a harvest; and where shall we find a better sickle with which to cut them down than communion with God and the things of the kingdom?

In the valleys of Switzerland, many of the inhabitants are deformed, and all wear a sickly appearance, for the atmosphere is charged with the plague, and is closed and stagnant; but up yonder, on the mountain, you find a hardy race, who breathe the clear fresh air as it blows from the virgin snows of the Alpine summits. It would be well if the dwellers in the valley could frequently leave their abodes among the marshes and the fever mists and inhale the bracing element upon the hills.

It is to such an exploit of climbing—that I invite you this evening. May the Spirit of God assist us to leave the mists of fear, and the fevers of anxiety, and all the evils which gather in this valley of earth, and to ascend the mountains of anticipated joy and blessedness. May God the Holy Spirit cut the cords that keep us here below and assist us to mount!

We sit too often like chained eagles fastened to the rock, only that, unlike the eagle, we begin to love our chain, and would, perhaps, if it came really to the test, be loath to have it snapped. May God now grant us grace, if we cannot escape from the chain as to our flesh—yet to do so as to our spirits; and leaving the body, like a servant, at the foot of the hill, may our soul, like Abraham, attain the top of the mountain, there to indulge in communion with the Most High God!