1. “The gospel of your salvation”
Eph 1:13 (Sep 4 MORNING)

“Neither is there salvation in any other.” Our salvation is of the Lord. Our deliverance from sin, the curse, and the wrath of God was impossible by man; but God sent His only begotten Son in our nature but without sin, to save us freely, fully and eternally. The gospel is the “good news of our salvation.” It is sent to inform us that God is love; that grace reigns; that heaven is opened; that provision is made for our guilt, our frailty and our fears; that God waits to receive us, bless us, and glorify us with Himself for ever. It sets before us all that Christ has done, all that He possesses, and invites us to come and receive, to use, and be happy. It requires nothing of us to merit it, it offers all and gives all freely to the poor, the halt, the maimed, and the blind. It has all our misery requires, all our wants demand; we cannot wish for more: it is full of grace and glory. Precious gospel! Glorious news! May we receive it, act upon it daily, and rejoice! It is intended to fill us with joy and peace in believing, to lead us to hope abounding, and to make us more than conquerors through Him who loved us and gave Himself for us.

For you the crimson fountain flowed,
Forgiveness from His bleeding side;
Wounded for you th’eternal God;
For you the Prince of glory died;
Believe, and all your sins forgiv’n;
Believe, and all is yours in heav’n.

2. “By grace ye are saved”
Eph 2:5 (Feb 16 EVENING)

we were once dead in trespasses and sins. We were without help, without hope, until God in pity reached down to us. What a mercy to be saved, saved by mere favour! But our salvation from first to last is of grace. It originated in the mind of God before time began; and it will be completed before the throne of God, when time shall be no more. We are chosen to salvation, chosen in Christ, and this choice was eternal, sovereign, and immutable. Election gave us a name in God’s book, an interest in the Saviour’s merit, and a part in the saints’ inheritance. We are redeemed from among men: this is favour undeserved. In redemption, a price is paid for us, by Him who came to pay the debt He did not owe, for us who owed the debt we could not pay. By Him we are called to God’s kingdom and glory, a favour inestimable, unspeakable. That calling gives us a new life, and an interest in covenant blessings. We are kept by the power of God, prevented from being overcome by foes, from being crushed by dangers, and from the apostasy of the age, for we are appointed unto salvation. O to grace how great a debtor, daily I’m constrained to be!

Salvation is a favour God bestows,
Through Jesus’ blood on enemies and foes;
By sovereign grace to make His glory known,
He raises sinners to surround His throne.

3. “Jesus was born in Bethlehem”
Matt 2:1 (Dec 25 EVENING)

“And thou Bethlehem … out of thee shall come a governor.” This fulfilled the prophecy of Micah. When was Jesus born? We do not exactly know, for God has concealed it; but that He was born is most plainly revealed. We know also where He was born, and why He was born. He had eternally existed as God. He was one with and equal to the Father. But He came to be man. He was conceived in Mary’s womb, born in Bethlehem, a weak and helpless infant, and yet at the same time the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Deity and humanity united in His person. He took on our nature to take away our sins. He became a man in order to be the Saviour of man. He came for just one purpose, to save sinners. This was His object. For this He lived, and laboured, and suffered, and died. He came to be our substitute. He was born once, that we might be born twice. He died once, that we might not experience the second death, but live forever. His birth was the greatest display of condescension which heaven or earth ever witnessed. It was introductory to His obedient life, meritorious death, victorious resurrection, triumphant ascension, and glorious second advent. That first coming in Bethlehem was in weakness and poverty; the second coming will be in Jerusalem with power and great glory.

God is in our flesh revealed,
Heaven and earth in Jesus join,
Mortal with immortal filled,
And human with divine.

4. “Christ died for the ungodly”
Rom 5:6 (Nov 24 EVENING)

“I am come to call sinners to repentance.” Our Lord came to give His life a ransom for many: not merely for the weak, but for the wicked, for those who were totally depraved and entirely unworthy of His notice, who had the image of God badly marred, alienated from the life of God, and were enemies to God. What wondrous grace is this! Had He died only for the moral, or the amiable, or those who had something to commend them to Him, we would have given way to despair, and have concluded that He could not have died for us: but our Lord died for the ungodly such as we are. Actually, He died for us, we who have believed in Him knows. He died in our stead, as our substitute, that we might never die. So says the scripture: He was made sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Let us then draw comfort from God’s recorded word, that Jesus died in order that sinners might live forevermore. He bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we being dead to sins might live unto righteousness. We therefore, as believers in Jesus, shall never die. Our sins have been atoned for, and full expiation made: we have passed from death unto life. For Jesus said, “Verily, verily I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”

Was it for crimes that I have done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!

God bless you, dear readers.