The Prayer Collect will follow at the close of this devotion.
6 Jesus
saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the
Father, but by me. John
14:6 (KJV)
Hopefully, all who read this devotion will have lost their way, and in losing
THEIR way, I pray that they have found HIS WAY! His way can never be OUR way,
but, if we trust fully in Him, our way can become His Way.
The text of our lesson includes some of the last words of comfort Jesus shared
with His disciples; and they are words that He shares with us as well. He
desires that we know these three important truths:
1) He is the Way, the ONLY Way;
2) He is the Truth, the only Truth;
3) He is the LIFE, the ONLY
Life!
THE WAY: There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but
the end thereof are the ways of death. (Prov 14:12) With a man’s soul,
there are only two ways possible: DOWN to the grave, or up to God. The true Way
may seem unattainable to us, not because it is complex, but because we prefer
not to go a way that is inconsistent with our sinful natures. His Way is simple
and, surely, easy to follow. 28 Come
unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for
I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
(Matt 11:28-30) Here is our rallying call; here stands the Ensign of our battle
lines; here is the heavenly invitation, not to drudging labors, but to Sabbath
rest (for He has become our Rest and Sabbath).
Jesus
gives His assurance of the Way we should go even after the Last supper that He
has just served the disciples, knowing of the coming anguish and suffering He
is to bear for them, and for you and me. That Supper of which we partake
at the Communion Table, is it not the Supper of the Lord? Is He not present at
His own Table? Do the elements of the single Cup and unleavened Bread not
symbolize His Body and Blood given for us? Do we all take the Lord’s with
reverence and with a heart broken for our Lord, or is the Supper simply, as
with Judas, a sop at the Table? Jesus answered, He
it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he
had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.
(John 13:26) The Way of Christ is the Way of Light, but the way of man is the
way that Judas chose, darkness! He then having received the sop went
immediately out: and it was night. (John 13:30) It was not any ordinary
night into which Judas departed. It was an eternal night of darkness for the
wretched soul.
If we would know the Way, we must consult One who KNOWS the Way; One who has
actually been the Way we should go; One who is lovely beyond measure and cares
for our souls with a tender love surpassing even that of our mothers. Jesus not
only KNOWS the way, but He IS the Way. If we know Him, then we certainly know
the Way. All of the counsel and direction He has imparted to us, we must follow
on the Way. If you are looking in our day for a Christ-centered Church, perhaps
you should not seek out the Church with thousands of ¡®people’ clinging to the
church rolls. Great numbers do not follow Christ. It is the chosen few that you
will find gathered at His feet. The way of Christ is narrow and sparsely
populated, but the way of the world is broad and downhill: Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the
gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction,
and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate,
and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few
there be that find it. (Matt 7:13-14) My mother used to warn
me, “Jerry, while you are away at school, you best stick with the ¡®straight
and narrow.’” Regardless of what endeavor we undertake, if we remain on the
straight and narrow Way, the result will be pleasing to God.
THE TRUTH: The beauty of the truth is that it does not require a
good memory to cover itself. The simple Truth is always the same and unchanging,
just like the very Author of Truth, the Lord Jesus Christ. Every good
gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of
lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
(James 1:17) Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
(Heb 13:8) Even God’s laws of nature do not remain as steadfastly unchanging as
does Truth in Christ. The great John Milton wrote: “Truth is as impossible
to be soiled by any outward touch of a sunbeam.” And Cudworth tells us: “The
golden beams of truth and the silken cords of love, twisted together, will draw
men on with a sweet violence whether they will or not.” I sometimes wonder
if we shall not learn that Truth and Love are somehow one and the same? One of
the very reasons of Christ’s having to leave us was that He must send the
Comforter to propagate truth and good counsel. The Holy Ghost is present at all
places and, therefore, spreads truth as the spring showers on dry land.
THE LIFE: I am so very satisfied in my heart that Jesus is our
Passover. We acknowledge the same in our Holy Communion, but we must also
acknowledge the same in our salvation. Just as on that dark and cloudy night
when the Angel of Death passed over the Children of God whose doorposts and
lintels were covered with the blood of an innocent lamb, so has the Angel of
Death passed over our hearts and dwellings that are covered with that precious
blood of the Lamb of God when He comes to gather His Jewels. And they
shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels;
and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
(Mal 3:17) Jesus is the Giver and Purchaser of Life to those who love Him.
There is no Light of the World in death, but there is the Light of the World in
Life! Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the
world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the
light of life. (John 8:12) In him was life; and the life was the
light of men. (John 1:4) Christ gives more than the temporary,
mortal life of the world. He gives an abundance, an eternity, of life: I am come that they might have life, and that they might
have it more abundantly. (John 10:10) Like a good Captain of
Battle, Christ counsels with His soldiers before leading them into the jaws of
death¡¦..and wonderfully beyond. He came to be the firstfruits of the dead who
fell asleep in the Promised Seed, Jesus Christ! But now is Christ risen
from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by
man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam
all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his
own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his
coming. (1 Cor 15:20-23)
Give deep thought to your soul during this Lenten Season, Friend. Are you the
fruit for which Christ bled, suffered, and died; or not?
The Third Sunday in Lent.
The
Collect.
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W
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E beseech
thee, Almighty God, look upon the hearty desires of thy humble servants, and
stretch forth the right hand of thy Majesty, to be our defence against all our
enemies; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The first day of Lent, commonly called
Ash Wednesday.
Ash Wednesday.
The
Collect.
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A
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LMIGHTY and
everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dost forgive the
sins of all those who are penitent; Create and make in us new and contrite
hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our
wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and
forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
¶ This Collect is to be said every day in Lent, after the
Collect appointed for the day, until Palm Sunday.
