Fri.-Sabbath, 11/21-23/25 Devotion

Praise God—it is almost Sunday! We get to go back to church. In order to help us prepare for the Sabbath Worship Services, here are good and sweet words from the great Jonathan Edwards. This comes from his, “The History of the Work of Redemption” book. . . .

“What has been said may show us how great a Person Jesus Christ is and how great an errand He came into the world upon, seeing that there was so much done to prepare the way for His coming. God had been doing nothing else but prepare the way for His coming, and doing the work which He had to do in the world, through all ages of the world from the very beginning. . . .

“How great a Person then must He be, for whose coming into the world the great God of heaven and earth, and Governor of all things, spent four thou-sand years in preparing the way, going about it soon after the world was cre-ated, and from age to age doing great things, bringing mighty events to pass, accomplishing wonders without number, often overturning the world in order to it, and causing every thing in the state of mankind, and all revolutions and changes in the habitable world from generation to generation, to be subser-vient to this great design? Surely this must be some great and extraordinary Person indeed, and a great work indeed it must needs be that He is coming about."

Thurs., 11/20/25 Devotion (Lk. 4:29)

Today's encouragement comes from Luke 4:29, where we read these words:

“And [the people of Nazareth] rose up and drove [Jesus] out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff.” (ESV)

This is a singular event in the four Gospel accounts. Imagine trying to throw the One through whom the town’s hill was made, over its cliff?! Earlier, in v. 9, the devil had tempted the Messiah to “throw [Himself] down." God’s enemies, be they Satan and/or religious hypocrites, always seek to “throw down” the Christ, and all God’s true children.

. . . But, what did Jesus do? According to v. 30, He simply “[passed] through their midst [and] went away.” Let us imitate our Redeemer's afflictions and His triumphs, by faith, today.

[Puritan quote of the day: "Christ is called grace. He is the grace of God cloth-ed with man's nature.” —Richard Sibbes, in, "Glorious Freedom"]

Wed., 11/19/25 Devotion (Jas. 1:4b)

Today's encouragement comes from James 1:4b, where we read these words:

“ . . . that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (ESV)

Steadfastness in faith, proved by trials, leads to “perfection,” “completeness,” and total satisfaction. Who would not desire such things? This “golden chain” leads us back to our Lord Jesus Christ Himself (v. 1a).

The more we are “consumed” with Jesus, as His church, in the beauty and grace of His gospel, the more “perfect,” “complete,” and thoroughly supplied we are. As we deviate from Christ in anyway whatsoever, to this exact extent we deplete ourselves of all good things.

[Edwards quote of the day: “God has sent forth His messengers, and appoint-ed ministers in His church, to be subordinate lights, to shine with the com-munications of His light, and to reflect the beams of His glory on the souls of men.” —Jonathan Edwards, from his sermon, "The True Excellency of a Gos-pel Minister"]

Tues., 11/18/25 Devotion (Heb. 13:9)

Today's encouragement comes from Hebrews 13:9, where we read these words:

“Do not be led astray by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them." (ESV)

The heart of a regenerate Christian can *only* be “strengthened by grace”—and this grace is all in Jesus and His gospel of mercy. *Everything* else in re-ligion has the exact *opposite* effect—it leads us “astray.”

The true child of God only hears the Good Shepherd’s (Jesus’) voice. The false believers—even those who pretend an allegiance to YHWH—hearken to “diverse and strange teachings” that have no place in the New Covenant life of a Christian.

[Edwards quote of the day: "Such a high degree of courtesy in so great a per-son as this apostle [Paul] reproves all those professing Christians who, though far below Paul, are not courteous and respectful in their behavior to their neighbors, and especially to their superiors.” —Jonathan Edwards, in his sermon, "The Character of Paul an Example To Christians"]

Mon., 11/17/25 Devotion (Heb. 12:2:a, c)

Today's encouragement comes from Hebrews 12:2a & c, where we read these words:

" . . . looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith who . . . is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." (ESV)

When a regenerated Christian church member “looks to Jesus” today, he or she is beholding the blessed Savior as He is “seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” This means that we, by faith, are seeing with the eyes of our hearts the God/Man as He is in His exalted and respondent state of glory.

. . . Interestingly, we do not need to squint to see Him, nor use a theological telescope to behold Him—because we, as the redeemed church, are seated right next to Him (according to Eph. 2:6). We simply need to “turn,” to look to Him.

[Puritan quote of the day: "The Holy Ghost is content to dwell in smoky, offen-sive souls.” —Richard Sibbes, in, "The Bruised Reed"]

Fri.-Sabbath, 11/14-16/25 Devotion

Praise God—it is almost Sunday! In order to help get us ready for church, here is Thomas Watson, from his excellent book, "A Body of Divinity.” . . .

"See in this, as in a transparent glass, the love of Christ to the elect. He came to redeem them; and [He] died intentionally for them. Would it not be great love for a king's son to pay a great sum of money to redeem a captive? [If the king’s son] should be content to be a prisoner in his [the prisoner’s] stead, and die for his ransom—this would be a matter of won-der. Jesus Christ has done all this, He has written His love in characters of blood. [If it would have been a lot] for Christ to speak a good word to His Father for us, [nonetheless] He [Christ] knew that [this] was not enough to redeem us. Though a word [being spoken] made a world, yet it would not redeem a sinner. 'Without [the] shedding of blood there is no re-mission [of sins],' (Heb 9:22)."

Thurs., 11/13/25 Devotion (Heb. 8:6)

Today's encouragement comes from Hebrews 8:6, which says this:

“But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on bet-ter promises.” (ESV)

As the true church’s crowned High Priest seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven (v. 1), our Lord Jesus Christ performs mini-stry that is infinitely better than the old, administers a (New) covenant that is infinitely better than the old, and fulfills promises that are infinitely better than the old.

The regenerate saints’ assurance is all tied-up with this heavenly High Priest (Jesus). The Holy Spirit confirms the truth of the gospel to our hearts, encour-aging us with the words of the Sacred Scriptures, which all point to Christ.

[Puritan quote of the day: "If once you come to receive the mercy of God in and through Christ Jesus, then that mercy will be the greatest opposer of your lusts and sin as anything can be in the world.” —Jeremiah Burroughs, from, "Gospel Remission"]