October 23 Daily Devotional

Bible Verse

"The righteous shall live by faith" (Gal. 3:11).

Devotional

The experience of every believer is, in a limited degree, the experience of the great apostle of the Gentiles—"the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God" (Gal. 2:20). "A faith of equal standing" (2 Pet. 1:1) with his dwells in the heart of each of the regenerate.

God has ordained that all his people should travel along this royal highway. It is the way their Lord traveled before them. It is the way they are to follow after him. The first step they take out of the path of sight is into the path of faith.

And what a mighty grace do they find it, as they journey on! Do they live? It is by faith, Hebrews 10:38. Do they stand? It is by faith, Romans 11:20. Do they walk? It is by faith, 2 Corinthians 5:7. Do they fight? It is by faith, 1 Timothy 6:12. Do they overcome? It is by faith, 1 John 5:4. Do they see what is invisible? It is by faith, Hebrews 6:27. Do they receive what is incredible? It is by faith, Romans 4:20. Do they achieve what is impossible? It is by faith, Mark 9:23. Glorious achievements of faith!

And, oh, how eminently is Jesus thus glorified in his saints! Was it no glory to Joseph, that, having the riches of Egypt in his hands, all the people were made, as it were, to live daily and hourly upon him? Was no fresh acquisition of glory brought to his exaltation, by every fresh acknowledgment of his authority, and every renewed application to his wealth?

And is not Jesus glorified in his exaltation and in his fullness, in his love and in his grace, by that faith, in the exercise of which "a people humble and lowly" (Zeph. 3:12), a needy and a tried church, are made to travel to, and live upon, him each moment? Ah, yes! every corruption taken to his sanctifying grace, every burden taken to his omnipotent arm, every sorrow taken to his sympathizing heart, every need taken to his overflowing fullness, every wound taken to his healing hand, every sin taken to his cleansing blood, and every deformity taken to his all-covering righteousness, swells the revenue of glory which each second of time ascends to our adorable Redeemer from his church.

You may have imagined—for I will now suppose myself addressing a seeking soul—that Christ has been more glorified by your hanging back from him. You have doubted the efficacy of his blood to cancel your guilt. You have doubted the power of his grace to mortify your corruption. You have doubted the sufficiency of his fullness to supply your need. You have doubted the sympathy of his nature to soothe your grief. You have doubted the loving willingness of his heart to receive and welcome you as you are, empty, vile, and worthless. You have little realized, on the contrary, how much he has been grieved and wounded, dishonored and robbed of his glory, by this doubting of his love and distrusting of his grace, after all the melting exhibitions of the one and convincing evidences of the other.

But is it the desire of your inmost soul that Christ should be glorified in you? Then do not forget the grand, luminous truth of the Bible, that he is the Savior of sinners, and of sinners as sinners. Remember that, in the great matter of the soul's salvation, he recognizes nothing of worthiness in the creature. Remember that whatever human merit is brought to him with a view of commending the case to his notice—whatever is appended to his finished work as a ground of acceptance with God, even if it is the incipient work of his own Spirit in the heart—is so much detraction from his glory as a Redeemer. Of nothing is he more jealous! Consequently, it places the soul at a greater remove from his grace.

But like Bartimaeus, casting the garment from you, be that garment what it may—pride of merit, pride of intellect, pride of learning, pride of family, pride of place, yes, whatever hinders your entering the narrow way, and prevents your receiving the kingdom of God as a little child, and coming to Jesus to be saved by him alone—brings more real glory to him than imagination can conceive, or words can describe.

Lord, I believe; thy pow'r I own,
thy Word I would obey;
I wander comfortless and lone
when from thy truth I stray.

(John R. Wreford, 1837)

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.