Morning “And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish.”

John 10:28

 The Christian should never think or speak lightly of unbelief. For a child of

God to mistrust his love, his truth, his faithfulness, must be greatly

displeasing to him. How can we ever grieve him by doubting his upholding grace?

Christian! it is contrary to every promise of God’s precious Word that thou

shouldst ever be forgotten or left to perish. If it could be so, how could he be

true who has said, “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not

have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I never

forget thee.” What were the value of that promise–“The mountains shall depart,

and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee,

 neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath

mercy on thee.” Where were the truth of Christ’s words–“I give unto my sheep

eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out

of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is

able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” Where were the doctrines of grace?

They would be all disproved if one child of God should perish. Where were the

veracity of God, his honour, his power, his grace, his covenant, his oath, if

any of those for whom Christ has died, and who have put their trust in him,

should nevertheless be cast away? Banish those unbelieving fears which so

 dishonour God. Arise, shake thyself from the dust, and put on thy beautiful

garments. Remember it is sinful to doubt his Word wherein he has promised thee

that thou shalt never perish. Let the eternal life within thee express itself in

confident rejoicing.

  “The gospel bears my spirit up:

 A faithful and unchanging God

 Lays the foundation for my hope,

 In oaths, and promises, and blood.”

 

Evening “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the

strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” Psalm 27:1

 “The Lord is my light and my salvation.” Here is personal interest, “my light,”

“my salvation;” the soul is assured of it, and therefore declares it boldly.

Into the soul at the new birth divine light is poured as the precursor of

salvation; where there is not enough light to reveal our own darkness and to

make us long for the Lord Jesus, there is no evidence of salvation. After

conversion our God is our joy, comfort, guide, teacher, and in every sense our

light: he is light within, light around, light reflected from us, and light to

be revealed to us. Note, it is not said merely that the Lord gives light, but

that he is light; nor that he gives salvation, but that he is salvation; he,

 then, who by faith has laid hold upon God, has all covenant blessings in his

possession. This being made sure as a fact, the argument drawn from it is put in

the form of a question, “Whom shall I fear?” A question which is its own answer.

The powers of darkness are not to be feared, for the Lord, our light, destroys

them; and the damnation of hell is not to be dreaded by us, for the Lord is our

salvation. This is a very different challenge from that of boastful Goliath, for

it rests, not upon the conceited vigour of an arm of flesh, but upon the real

power of the omnipotent I AM. “The Lord is the strength of my life.” Here is a

third glowing epithet, to show that the writer’s hope was

 fastened with a threefold cord which could not be broken. We may well

accumulate terms of praise where the Lord lavishes deeds of grace. Our life

derives all its strength from God; and if he deigns to make us strong, we cannot

be weakened by all the machinations of the adversary. “Of whom shall I be

afraid?” The bold question looks into the future as well as the present. “If God

be for us,” who can be against us, either now or in time to come?