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March 29 Today’s Reading: — 1 Samuel 18-20

“Seemeth it to you a light thing?”

1 Samuel 18:23

“David said, Seemeth it to you a light thing to be a king’s son in law, seeing that I am a poor man, and lightly esteemed?” — David considered it his high honor to be allied to the family of King Saul, an earthly king. What then must be the dignity to which believers are called as the sons of God? Being the sons and daughters of God, we have been made heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, by his almighty, free grace.

The apostle John was utterly lost in the contemplation of this unspeakable mercy. He cried out with holy rapture, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God!” And am I begotten to this immense privilege? Amazing love! Amazing grace!

Sons we are through God’s election,

Who in Jesus Christ believe;

By eternal destination

Sovereign grace we have received!

Our Rich Inheritance

Ponder well the vast inheritance we have bestowed on us by divine predestination and God’s sovereign, distinguishing grace in Christ as “the sons of God.” This is not a barren title or an empty name. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God!” This relationship brings with it a rich revenue of all temporal, spiritual, and eternal blessings. Believers are born to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fades not away. We have the Spirit of adoption and of grace. “Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.”

Though they may be poor in outward circumstances, bread shall be given and water shall be sure. And your defence shall be the munitions of rocks. God’s sons and daughters may be afflicted in body or in mind, their back shall be made as strong as the burden their heavenly Father lays upon it, and as their days demand so shall their strength be. Every child shall have his own portion, and the Father’s blessing sanctifying all. Even death itself is a part of the inheritance of God’s dear children, for by that means the Lord God brings his chosen home to himself.

Our Greatest Privilege

It is the greatest privilege of grace heaven can bestow upon sinners here below. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God!” “This is a privilege,” wrote John Gill, “that exceeds all others. It is better to be a son than to be a saint. Angels are saints, but not sons. They are servants. It is better to be a child of God than to be redeemed, pardoned, and justified. It is great grace to redeem from slavery, to pardon criminals, and justify the ungodly; but it is another and a higher act of grace to make them sons; and which makes them infinitely more honorable, than to be the sons and daughters of the greatest potentate upon earth; yea, gives them an honor which Adam had not in innocence, nor the angels in heaven, who though sons by creation, yet not by adoption.”

To be called a son of God is the most noble title in heaven or earth. If we are sons, we should not live like slaves in bondage, under the terror of the law. Let every sinner who believes on the Son of God constantly enjoy all the privileges of full-grown sons in the family of God. Soon, we shall know fully and perfectly what Paul meant when he spoke of “the glorious liberty of the children of God.”

What shall we say regarding these things? “I am,” as David, “a poor man and lightly esteemed...”

But I’ve been adopted, my name’s written down,

An heir to a mansion, a robe, and a crown!

March 30 Today’s Reading: — 1 Samuel 21-24

David’s Men

1 Samuel 22:2

“And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them.” — These were David’s men, those who gathered themselves to David, those over whom David was captain. In this, too, we see David as a great type of our dear Savior, the Lord Jesus, David’s son and David’s Lord.

My Experience

I see myself in these men. When first I came to the Lord Jesus by the sweet, irresistible force of his grace, I was a poor, guilty sinner, in distress, in debt, and discontented, bitter in soul, in the pain of great poverty and need of soul, pressed sore and heavy laden, disconsolate and troubled. Misery filled my heart. My soul was empty. And “no man cared for my soul.”

Oh, what a precious thought it was that God the Holy Spirit put in my heart. — “Go to Christ.” And when I came to him, I found him able and willing to save to the uttermost! He graciously condescended to be my Captain, my mighty Savior. My insolvency he took away. Coming to him, I discovered that he had fully paid all my debt. Trusting him, I found that all the demands of God’s holy law and infinite justice had been fully satisfied for this poor sinner. For me he had already magnified the law and made it honourable! All my distress under the apprehension of divine justice he removed. My quaking, screaming conscience was immediately silent and at ease; for God’s justice, by Christ, is not only satisfied, but glorified! All that once disquieted my soul is now forever gone. My soul shall never again be discontent; for in Christ, my God richly supplies all my needs “according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus!” All grace is mine here and all glory hereafter!

All praise, honor, and glory to Christ, the great and glorious Captain of my salvation! In him I see that Leader and Commander which Jehovah, the Father, promised to give to the people. He is that Holy One commissioned by the Father to this very purpose, that every one that is in soul distress by reason of sin, and are debtors to the broken law of God, may come to him, bow to him, and find in him their Captain.

Christ’s men, his army, like David’s, is composed of none but distressed souls. None will ever take him for their Captain whose spiritual circumstances are not desperate. None but those whose hearts are distressed by reason of sin, and are sinking under the heavy load of guilt will come under his banner.

Condescending Grace

Oh, but what condescending mercy, love, and grace there is in Christ. He condescends to receive such sinners and be gracious to them. Indeed, they are the very people he has chosen as the objects of his grace. Only to these poor, impoverished, empty, needy souls can he be all. But to such, he is all, all our Wisdom, all our Righteousness, all our Sanctification, and all our Redemption (1 Corinthians 1:26-30). I say to every poor sinner, to every insolvent debtor, to every needy soul who feels and knows the plague of his heart, come to Christ, the Captain of my salvation. He is the Near Kinsman, able to redeem and recover all you have lost. He is Jehovah the Healer, able to recover you from all your sorrow. Go to him, my brother, as I have done. He will take away your distress by taking away your sin. He will liberate you from all your debt, having paid it himself. He will banish all discontent from the mind, giving you peace with God by his blood.

Captain Over

And this Almighty Captain, the Lord Jesus, is Captain over his people, as well as Captain to his people. He is Lord of all and over all in the hearts of his own. By the sword of his Spirit, which is the Word of God, he works conviction in our hearts, makes all our enemies fall under him, leads all his people on to victory, and makes us more than conquerors by his omnipotent grace! Christ’s men shall be triumphant! Blessed Captain of my soul, put the military garments of salvation on my soul, the whole armour of God, that under your banner I may be found in life, in death, and for evermore!

March 31 Today’s Reading: — 1 Samuel 25-27

Don Fortner

Pastor Fortner’s