April 16 Daily Devotional

Bible Verse

"The law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith" (Galatians 3:24, NIV).

Devotional

In the school of the law, the first and grand lesson that the sinner learns is his sin, his curse, and his condemnation. There he is convinced of his vileness and convicted of his guilt. There he learns of his poverty, helplessness, and hell-deserving. All the fond conceit of his own worthiness, strength, and fitness vanishes like a vapor. He sees himself in the power, under the curse, and exposed to the tremendous condemnation of God's righteous, broken, avenging law. Thus convicted in the very act of his rebellion against God, he is brought, like a felon, into the presence of Jesus. There he stands, pale and trembling, the witnesses against him many and loud, while his own awakened conscience pleads guilty to the charge.

Are you that soul, dear reader? Has the law arrested and brought you into Christ's court? Oh, you were never in such a position before—so new, so strange, so blessed! It may be that you never felt yourself so near hell as now, under the sentence of God's law. But you never were so near heaven as now, in the presence of Jesus.

You are now in that court where justice to the fullest is honored, and where mercy to its utmost is extended. You are in Christ's court, at Christ's bar—awaiting the sentence of him who was made under that law, fulfilled its precepts, and endured its penalty to the uttermost. You are in the presence of him who came to deliver sinners from its curse and woe, and to raise them far above the reach of all condemnation.

You were never so aware of your guilt and ruin as now, yet you were never so near the fountain that cleanses from all sin, or so close to him who was pierced to shelter the vilest of the vile. Your judge is your Savior. He who sits upon that throne is he who hung upon the cross. You are arraigned in the presence and are thrown upon the mercy of him, the delight of whose heart, and the glory of whose character, it is to save sinners; whose love for them induced him to conceal his glory and to appear in humiliation—to suffer, bleed, and die. You are in the presence of him who, though he has ascended on high and is now glorified with the glory that he had with the Father before the world existed (John 17:5), is yet engaged in securing the precious fruits of his soul's anguish.

Look up, poor soul! for "your redemption is drawing near" (Luke 21:28). Never yet did he allow a sin-accused, self-condemned sinner to go out of this court unblessed, unsaved.

Jesus, Lover of my soul,
let me to thy bosom fly,
while the nearer waters roll,
while the tempest still is high:
hide me, O my Savior, hide,
till the storm of life is past;
safe into the haven guide,
O receive my soul at last!

Other refuge have I none,
hangs my helpless soul on thee;
leave, ah! leave me not alone,
still support and comfort me!
All my trust on thee is stayed,
all my help from thee I bring;
cover my defenseless head
with the shadow of thy wing.

Thou, O Christ, art all I want;
more than all in thee I find:
raise the fallen, cheer the faint,
heal the sick, and lead the blind.
Just and holy is thy Name;
I am all unrighteousness;
false and full of sin I am,
thou art full of truth and grace.

Plenteous grace with thee is found,
grace to cover all my sin;
let the healing streams abound;
make and keep me pure within:
thou of life the Fountain art,
freely let me take of thee;
spring thou up within my heart,
rise to all eternity.

(Charles Wesley, 1740)

Be sure to read the Preface by Octavius Winslow and A Note from the Editor by Larry E. Wilson.

Larry Wilson is an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. In addition to having served as the General Secretary of the Committee on Christian Education of the OPC (2000–2004) and having written a number of articles and booklets (such as God's Words for Worship and Why Does the OPC Baptize Infants) for New Horizons and elsewhere, he has pastored OPC churches in Minnesota, Indiana, and Ohio. We are grateful to him for his editing of Morning Thoughts, the OPC Daily Devotional for 2025.