Many have passed the rocks of
gross sins, who have suffered shipwreck upon the sands of self-righteousness. It was the saying of one that
he would swim through a sea of brimstone if he might but arrive
safely at heaven. Ah, how would natural men soar
to heaven upon the pinions of their own merit? The sunbeams
of divine justice will soon melt such weak and wax wings. He who has no better righteousness
than what is of his own providing shall meet with no higher happiness
than what is of his own deserving. They disregarded the righteousness
from God and attempted to establish their own righteousness. They
are determined to sail in their own ship, though they sink in
the ocean. We are so far from paying the
utmost farthing, that at our utmost, we have not even a farthing
to pay, that man will be a miserable spectacle of vanity, who stands
upon the lame feet of his own ability. Duties are but dry pits,
though ever so meticulously wrought, until Christ fills them. Reader, I would neither have
you be idle in duties, nor make an idol of duties. What are duties without Christ,
but like a fine cabinet without a jewel, or a golden cup without
a cordial? The most diligent saint has been
the most self-distrusting saint. that I may gain Christ, and be
found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the
law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness
that comes from God, and is by faith. If you are found in your
own righteousness, you will be lost by your own righteousness. That garment which was worn to
shreds on Adam's back will never make a complete covering for
you. Duties may be good crutches to
go upon, but they are bad Christs to lean upon. It is the greatest
disparagement that professors can offer to Christ to put their
services in the scale with his sufferings. The beggarly rags
of the first Adam must never be put on with the princely robe
of the second Adam. Man is a creature too much inclined
to warm himself by the sparks of his own fire, though he lies
down in eternal flames for kindling them. Though Noah's dove made
use of her wings, yet she found no rest but in the ark. Duties can never have too much
of our diligence or too little of our confidence. A believer
does not perform good works to live, but he lives to perform
good works. He shall have hell as his debt,
who will not take heaven as a gift. We boasted Christ Jesus and do
not put confidence in the flesh. A true Christian stands at as
great distance from trusting in the best of his services as
in the worst of his sins. He knows that the greatest part
of his holiness will not make the least part of his justifying
righteousness. He has unreservedly subscribed
to that sentiment that when we have done all, we are only unprofitable
servants. When we have kept all the commandments,
there is one commandment above all to be kept, that is, all
our righteous acts are like filthy rags. In most of our works, we
are abominable sinners, and in the best of our works, we are
unprofitable servants. O Sovereign Lord, I will proclaim
Your righteousness, Yours alone, You see, beloved, the righteousness
of Christ is to be magnified when the righteousness of a Christian
is not to be mentioned. It is hard for us to be nothing
in ourselves amidst all our works, and to be all things in Christ
amidst all our weakness. To undertake every duty, and
yet to overlook every duty, is a lesson which none can learn
but Christ's scholars. Our obedience, at best, is like
good wine, which relishes of a bad cask. The law of God will
not accept ninety-nine for a hundred. It will not accept the coin of
our obedience, either short in quantity or base in quality. The duty it exacts is as impossible
to be performed in this, our fallen state, as the penalty
it inflicts is intolerable to be endured in our eternal state. We do not sail to glory in the
salt sea of our own tears, but in the red sea of the Redeemer's
blood. The cross of Christ is the only
key of paradise. We owe the life of our souls
to the death of our Savior. It was His going into the fiery
furnace which keeps us from going into the devouring flames. Man
lives by death. His natural life is preserved
by the death of the creature and his spiritual life is gained
by the death of the Redeemer. Those who carry their vessel
of hope to the puddle of their own merit will never draw the
water of comfort from the fountain of God's mercy. This Puritan devotional has been
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