February 28 Daily Devotional

Bible Verse

"To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life freely" (Rev. 21:6).

Devotional

The grace that is in Christ Jesus must, from its very nature, be unpurchasable. It implies absolute poverty in the creature, and infinite wealth in God.

If it could, by any possibility, be purchased, then it would cease to be what it now is, the "grace of God."

Because it is so great, so rich, so infinite, God has made it as free as the sun, the light, and the air. Nothing can gain it. Tears cannot! Convictions cannot! Faith cannot! Obedience cannot! Prayer cannot! Yes, not even the most costly work of God's Spirit in the soul can procure a drop of this "living water." God gives it, and he gives it, as his Word implies, freely. This is its glory—it is an unpurchasable and a freely bestowed gift. It is granted upon no other terms.

Consequently, no condition of human character and no case of human guilt is excluded. The vilest of the vile, the poor bankrupt sinner, the needy, the wretched, the penniless—the voice of free grace welcomes all to the "living waters."

What has kept you so long from this Fountain? You have thirsted; you have panted; you have desired. But your soul still has not been replenished. Perhaps you have long been seeking the Lord, asking the way, and wanting salvation. Why have you not found him? You have borne the heavy burden of sin, month after month and year after year, knowing nothing of a sense of pardon, of acceptance, of adoption, of rest. And why? Because you have stumbled at the freeness of the gift. You have expected to receive it as a saint, not seeing that God will only give it to you as a sinner. But hear the Word of the Lord: "By grace are you saved;" "Redeemed without money;" "Nothing to pay;" "Whoever will, let him take of the water of life freely."

Oh! receive this truth into your heart and you will be happy. All creation will seem to smile upon you—the heavens will smile; the earth will smile; yes, God himself will smile. Dropping its chain, your emancipated soul will spring into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. What sovereignty, sweetness, and glory will now appear in the very act that forgives all, forgets all, and introduces you into a new world, fragrant with joy and delight!

Blow ye the trumpet, blow!
The gladly solemn sound
let all the nations know,
to earth's remotest bound;

(REFRAIN)
The year of jubilee is come;
Return, ye ransomed sinners, home;
Return, ye ransomed sinners, home.

Jesus, our great High Priest,
hath full atonement made;
ye weary spirits, rest;
ye mournful souls, be glad:
(REFRAIN)

Extol the Lamb of God;
the sacrificial Lamb;
redemption through his blood
throughout the world proclaim:
(REFRAIN)

Ye slaves of sin and hell,
your liberty receive;
and safe in Jesus dwell,
and blest in Jesus live:
(REFRAIN)

Ye who have sold for naught
your heritage above,
receive it back unbought,
the gift of Jesus' love:
(REFRAIN)

The gospel trumpet hear,
the news of heav'nly grace;
and, saved from earth, appear
before your Savior's face:
(REFRAIN)

(Charles Wesley, 1750)

FEBRUARY 29

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble" (Ps. 46:1).

It is one of the most blessed truths of the covenant of grace that the God

of the covenant is a very present help in every time of trouble. Loving his people as he does, dwelling in them by his Spirit, their people and circumstances continually before him in the person and intercession of his dear Son, how can he possibly lose sight of us for a single moment?

We may lose sight of him, and we often do. Alas, we do not always keep the Lord before our faces. We do not train and discipline ourselves to see him in every event, circumstance, and incident of life. We are not clear-sighted to recognize, nor prompt to acknowledge, him in every providence that darkens or lightens our way. If only we were more right-minded, then we would exclaim of every good and of every evil as it came, "The Lord is in this!" But we are never for an instant out of his heart, out of his thoughts, out of his hands, or out of his eye.

How near to us, too, is the Holy Spirit! Dwelling in and overshadowing us, he is ever with us to guide, to uphold, and to cheer; bringing to our memories a precious promise, or writing upon our hearts a vitalizing truth, or opening before our eyes an endearing glimpse of Jesus just at the very moment we need it. What a happy, what a favored people are the Lord's! "Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God" (Ps. 146:5). "Blessed are the people whose God is the LORD!" (Ps. 144:14).

A mighty fortress is our God,
a bulwark never failing;
our helper he amid the flood
of mortal ills prevailing.
For still our ancient foe
doth seek to work us woe;
his craft and power are great;
and armed with cruel hate,
on earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide,
our striving would be losing;
were not the right Man on our side,
the Man of God's own choosing.
Dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is he,
the LORD of Hosts his Name,
from age to age the same,
and he must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled,
should threaten to undo us,
we will not fear, for God hath willed
his truth to triumph through us.
The prince of darkness grim,
we tremble not for him;
his rage we can endure,
for lo! his doom is sure;
one little Word shall fell him.

That Word above all earthly powers—
no thanks to them!—abideth;
the Spirit and the gifts are ours
through him who with us sideth!;
Let goods and kindred go,
this mortal life also;
the body they may kill:
God's truth abideth still;
his kingdom is for ever.

(Martin Luther, 1529; tr. by Frederick H. Hedge, 1853)

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 2011.