December 13 Daily Devotional

Bible Verse

" ... who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began" (2 Tim. 1:9).

Devotional

There is an external and an internal call of the Spirit.

The external call is thus alluded to: "I have called, and you refused to listen" (Prov. 1:24); "Many are called, but few are chosen" (Matt. 22:14).

This outward call of the Spirit is made in various ways: in the Word, in the glorious proclamation of the gospel, through the providences of God (those of mercy and those of judgment), in the warnings of ministers, in the admonitions of friends, and, no less powerfully, in the awakening of the natural conscience. By these means does the Holy Spirit "call sinners to repentance" (Luke 5:32).

In this sense, everyone who hears the gospel, everyone who is exposed to the means of grace, is called by the Spirit.

The existence of this call puts the sinner in an attitude of fearful responsibility. And the rejection of this call exposes him to a still more fearful doom.

God has never poured out his wrath upon man without first extending the olive-branch of peace. Mercy has invariably preceded judgment.

"I have called, and you have refused" (Prov. 1:24). "All day long I have held out my hands" (Isa. 65:2; Rom. 10:21). "Behold, I stand at the door and knock" (Rev. 3:20). He reasons, he argues, he expostulates with the sinner. "Come now, let us reason together" (Isa. 1:18), is his invitation.

He instructs, he warns, he invites. He puts before the mind the most solemn considerations, urged by duty and interest. He presses his own claims, and appeals to the individual interests of the soul.

But all seems ineffectual.

Oh, what a view this gives us of the patience of God toward the rebellious—that he should stretch out his hand to a sinner; that instead of wrath, there should be mercy; that instead of cursing, there should be blessing; that instead of instant punishment, there should be the patience and forbearance that invites, and allures, and reasons! Oh, who is a God like unto our God? "I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded" (Prov. 1:24).

But there is also the special, direct, and effectual call of the Spirit, in the elect of God, without which all other calling is in vain. God says, "I will put my Spirit within them" (Ezek. 36:27). Christ says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live" (John 5:25; cf. Eph. 2:1–10).

And in the following passages reference is made to the effectual operation of God the Spirit. "Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power" (Eph. 3:7). "The Word of God, which effectually works in you who believe" (1 Thess. 2:13). Thus, the Holy Spirit is represented as effectually working in the soul by the instrumentality of the Word.

When he called before, there was no inward, supernatural, secret power accompanying the call to the conscience. Now there is an energy put forth with the call, which awakens the conscience, breaks the heart, convinces the judgment, opens the eye of the soul, and pours a new and an alarming sound upon the hitherto deaf ear.

Note the blessed effects! The scales fall from the eyes, the veil is torn from the mind, the deep fountains of evil in the heart are broken up, the sinner sees himself lost and undone—without pardon, without a righteousness, without acceptance, without a God, without a Savior, without a hope! Awful condition! "What shall I do to be saved?" is his cry: "I am a wretch undone! I look within me, all is dark and vile; I look around me, everything seems but the image of my woe; I look above me, I see only an angry God: whichever way I look, is hell!—and were God now to send me there, just and right would he be."

But, blessed be God, no poor soul that ever uttered such language, prompted by such feelings, ever died in despair. That faithful Spirit who begins the good work, effectually carries it on, and completes it. Soon he leads him to the cross of Jesus and unveils to his eye of glimmering faith a suffering, wounded, bleeding, dying Savior—and yet a Savior with outstretched arms!

That Savior speaks—oh, did ever music sound so melodious?—"I do all this for you—this cross for you; these sufferings for you; this blood for you; these stretched-out arms for you. 'Come unto me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest' (Matt. 11:28). 'All who the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out' (John 6:37). 'Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth!' (Isa. 45:22). 'Only believe' (Mark 5:36). Are you lost? I can save you. Are you guilty? I can cleanse you. Are you poor? I can enrich you. Are you sunk down low? I can raise you. Are you naked? I can clothe you. Have you nothing to bring with you—no money, no goodness, no merit? I can and will take you to me, just as you are, poor, naked, penniless, worthless; for such I came to seek, such I came to call, for such I came to die."

"Lord, I believe," exclaims the poor convinced soul, "Help my unbelief" (Mark 9:24). You are just the Savior that I need. I need one who can and will save me with all my vileness, with all my rags, with all my poverty. I need one who will save me fully, save me freely, save me as an act of mere unmerited, undeserved grace. I have found him whom my soul loves. And will be his through time, and his through eternity."

Thus effectually does the blessed Spirit call a sinner, by his especial, direct, and supernatural power, out of darkness into marvelous light. "I work, and who can turn it back?" (Isa. 43:13).

We sing the glorious conquest
before Damascus gate,
when Saul, the church's spoiler,
came breathing threats and hate;
the rav'ning wolf rushed forward
full early to the prey;
but lo! the Shepherd met him,
and bound him fast today.

(John Ellerton, 1871)

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.