July 10 Daily Devotional

Bible Verse

"Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him" (Heb. 7:25).

Devotional

What a witness this is to the power and readiness of Christ to save! And this is the testimony of the Holy Spirit to the blessed Son of God. But he does even more than this. He brings the record home with power to the soul. He writes the testimony on the heart. He converts the believing soul itself into a witness that "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" (1 Tim. 1:15).

And what a gospel this is for a poor sinner! It speaks of pardon. It speaks of acceptance. It speaks of peace. It speaks of full redemption here. It speaks unspeakable glory hereafter.

It proclaims a Savior to the lost. It proclaims a Redeemer to the captive. It proclaims a Surety to the bankrupt. It proclaims a Physician to the sick. It proclaims a Friend to the needy. It proclaims an Advocate to the criminal. All that a sinner needs, this "gospel of the glory of the blessed God" provides (1 Tim. 1:11).

To the self-ruined sinner, it reveals One who is his help and deliverer, Psalm 40:17. To the sin-accused, it reveals One who can take away all sin, 1 John 1:7. To the law-condemned, it reveals One who saves from all condemnation, Romans 8:1. To the justice-threatened, it reveals One who is a hiding-place from the wind, and a shelter from the storm, Isaiah 32:2. To the broken-hearted, it reveals One who binds up and heals, Isaiah 61:1. That One is Jesus! O Name ever dear, ever sweet, ever precious, ever fragrant, ever healing to the "poor in spirit" (Matt. 5:3)!

What a witness this is, then, that the Holy Spirit bears for Jesus! He assures the believer that all he can possibly need is treasured up in Christ. He assures the believer that he has no cross but Christ can bear it. He assures the believer no sorrow but Christ can alleviate it. He assures the believer no corruption but Christ can subdue it. He assures the believer no guilt but Christ can remove it. He assures the believer no sin but Christ can pardon it. He assures the believer no need but Christ can supply it.

Lift up your heads, you poor, you needy, you disconsolate! Lift up your heads and rejoice that Christ is all to you. Jesus is all you need in this valley of tears. He is all you need in the deepest sorrow. He is all you need under the heaviest affliction. He is all you need in sickness. He is all you will need in the hour of death and in the day of judgment.

Yes, and Christ is in all too. He is in all your salvation. He is in all your mercies. He is in all your trials. He is in all your consolations. He is in all your afflictions.

What more can you want? What more do you desire? You have Father who loves you as the apple of his eye. You have a full Savior to whom to go, moment by moment. And you have a blessed indwelling, sanctifying, comforting Spirit, to reveal all to you, and to give you himself, as the "the guarantee of our inheritance until [you] acquire possession of it" (Eph. 1:14).

"Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall! Blessed are the people whose God is the LORD!" (Ps. 144:15).

Jesus is all the world to me,
my life, my joy, my all;
he is my strength from day to day,
without him I would fall.
When I am sad, to him I go,
no other one can cheer me so;
when I am sad he makes me glad,
he's my Friend.

(Will L. Thompson, 1847–1909)

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.