From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] daily devotional
Evening ...
2 Samuel 1:26
Thy love to me was wonderful.
Come, dear readers, let each one of us speak for himself of the wonderful
love, not of Jonathan, but of Jesus. We will not relate what we have been told,
but the things which we have tasted and handled-of the love of Christ. Thy love
to me, O Jesus, was wonderful when I was a stranger wandering far from Thee,
fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. Thy love restrained me
from committing the sin which is unto death, and withheld me from
self-destruction. Thy love held back the axe when Justice said, "Cut it down!
why cumbereth it the ground?" Thy love drew me into the wilderness, stripped me
there, and made me feel the guilt of my sin, and the burden of mine iniquity.
Thy love spake thus comfortably to me when, I was sore dismayed-"Come unto Me,
and I will give thee rest." Oh, how matchless Thy love when, in a moment, Thou
didst wash my sins away, and make my polluted soul, which was crimson with the
blood of my nativity, and black with the grime of my transgressions, to be
white as the driven snow, and pure as the finest wool. How Thou didst commend
Thy love when Thou didst whisper in my ears, "I am thine and thou art Mine."
Kind were those accents when Thou saidst, "The Father Himself loveth you." And
sweet the moments, passing sweet, when Thou declaredst to me "the love of the
Spirit." Never shall my soul forget those chambers of fellowship where Thou has
unveiled Thyself to me. Had Moses his cleft in the rock, where he saw the
train, the back parts of his God? We, too, have had our clefts in the rock,
where we have seen the full splendours of the Godhead in the person of Christ.
Did David remember the tracks of the wild goat, the land of Jordan and the
Hermonites? We, too, can remember spots to memory dear, equal to these in
blessedness. Precious Lord Jesus, give us a fresh draught of Thy wondrous love
to begin the month with. Amen.
Morning ...
Hebrews 9:22
Without the shedding of blood is no remission.
This is the voice of unalterable truth. In none of the Jewish ceremonies were
sins, even typically, removed without blood-shedding. In no case, by no means
can sin be pardoned without atonement. It is clear, then, that there is no hope
for me out of Christ; for there is no other blood-shedding which is worth a
thought as an atonement for sin. Am I, then, believing in Him? Is the blood of
His atonement truly applied to my soul? All men are on a level as to their need
of Him. If we be never so moral, generous, amiable, or patriotic, the rule will
not be altered to make an exception for us. Sin will yield to nothing less
potent than the blood of Him whom God hath set forth as a propitiation. What a
blessing that there is the one way of pardon! Why should we seek another?
Persons of merely formal religion cannot understand how we can rejoice that all
our sins are forgiven us for Christ's sake. Their works, and prayers, and
ceremonies, give them very poor comfort; and well may they be uneasy, for they
are neglecting the one great salvation, and endeavouring to get remission
without blood. My soul, sit down, and behold the justice of God as bound to
punish sin; see that punishment all executed upon thy Lord Jesus, and fall down
in humble joy, and kiss the dear feet of Him whose blood has made atonement for
thee. It is in vain when conscience is aroused to fly to feelings and evidences
for comfort: this is a habit which we learned in the Egypt of our legal
bondage. The only restorative for a guilty conscience is a sight of Jesus
suffering on the cross. "The blood is the life thereof," says the Levitical
law, and let us rest assured that it is the life of faith and joy and every
other holy grace.
"Oh! how sweet to view the flowing Of my Saviour's precious blood;
With divine assurance knowing He has made my peace with God."
Revelation 19:10
(10) And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See
thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the
testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of
prophecy.
"Spirit" indicates the vital principle of, the essential nature of,
the heart and core of prophecy. In other words, the testimony of Jesus is the
heart and core of prophecy. We should not define prophecy too narrowly, because
prophecy means either "inspired speaking" (forth-telling) or "foretelling"
(predicting). The testimony of Jesus Christ is the heart and core of inspired
speaking and writing, as well as predictive speaking or writing.
Jesus' testimony consisted of two things: first, the example that He
set in the way that He lived His life and what He did, as well as, second, the
words that He spoke, His message. His message is the gospel—the good news of
the Kingdom of God, of God's purpose, of why we were born, of Christ dying for
our sins, of God reproducing Himself, of His creating us in His image and how
He is doing it—and that news is spirit. It is life.
"The testimony of Jesus is the spirit. . . ." The gospel is the
spirit, the heart and core, the essence, of the mind of God as it pertains to
man. It contains many facets, but what He said is central to everything else in
the Bible. Added to it is God's active participation in the actual creation of
each potential God-being, watching over His family, molding and shaping His
children into what He wants them to become.
John W. Ritenbaugh
From The Holy Spirit and the Trinity (Part 5)
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daily devotional
Evening ...
1 Chronicles 4:22
And these are ancient things.
Yet not so ancient as those precious things which are the delight of our
souls. Let us for a moment recount them, telling them over as misers count
their gold. The sovereign choice of the Father, by which He elected us unto
eternal life, or ever the earth was, is a matter of vast antiquity, since no
date can be conceived for it by the mind of man. We were chosen from before the
foundations of the world. Everlasting love went with the choice, for it was not
a bare act of divine will by which we were set apart, but the divine affections
were concerned. The Father loved us in and from the beginning. Here is a theme
for daily contemplation. The eternal purpose to redeem us from our foreseen
ruin, to cleanse and sanctify us, and at last to glorify us, was of infinite
antiquity, and runs side by side with immutable love and absolute sovereignty.
The covenant is always described as being everlasting, and Jesus, the second
party in it, had His goings forth! of old; He struck hands in sacred suretyship
long ere the first of the stars began to shine, and it was in Him that the
elect were ordained unto eternal life. Thus in the divine purpose a most
blessed covenant union was established between the Son of God and His elect
people, which will remain as the foundation of their safety when time shall be
no more. Is it not well to be conversant with these ancient things? Is it not
shameful that they should be so much neglected and even rejected by the bulk of
professors? If they knew more of their own sin, would they not be more ready to
adore distinguishing grace? Let us both admire and adore tonight, as we sing-
"A monument of grace,
A sinner saved by blood;
The streams of love I trace
Up to the Fountain, God;
And in His sacred bosom see
Eternal thoughts of Love to me."
Morning ...
Romans 8:12
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors.
As God's creatures, we are all debtors to Him: to obey Him with all our
body, and soul, and strength. Having broken His commandments, as we all have,
we are debtors to His justice, and we owe to Him a vast amount which we are not
able to pay. But of the Christian it can be said that he does not owe God's
justice anything, for Christ has paid the debt His people owed; for this reason
the believer owes the more to love. I am a debtor to God's grace and forgiving
mercy; but I am no debtor to His justice, for He will never accuse me of a debt
already paid. Christ said, "It is finished!" and by that He meant, that
whatever His people owed was wiped away for ever from the book of remembrance.
Christ, to the uttermost, has satisfied divine justice; the account is settled;
the handwriting is nailed to the cross; the receipt is given, and we are
debtors to God's justice no longer. But then, because we are not debtors to our
Lord in that sense, we become ten! times more debtors to God than we should
have been otherwise. Christian, pause and ponder for a moment. What a debtor
thou art to divine sovereignty! How much thou owest to His disinterested love,
for He gave His own Son that He might die for thee. Consider how much you owe
to His forgiving grace, that after ten thousand affronts He loves you as
infinitely as ever. Consider what you owe to His power; how He has raised you
from your death in sin; how He has preserved your spiritual life; how He has
kept you from falling; and how, though a thousand enemies have beset your path,
you have been able to hold on your way. Consider what you owe to His
immutability. Though you have changed a thousand times, He has not changed
once. Thou art as deep in debt as thou canst be to every attribute of God. To
God thou owest thyself, and all thou hast-yield thyself as a living sacrifice,
it is but thy reasonable service.
Mark 1:25-28
(25) And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of
him. (26) And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud
voice, he came out of him. (27) And they were all amazed, insomuch that they
questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine is
this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do
obey him. (28) And immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all the region
round about Galilee.
Luke 4:35-37
(35) And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of
him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and
hurt him not. (36) And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves,
saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the
unclean spirits, and they come out. (37) And the fame of him went out into
every place of the country round about.
Jesus commands the demon to leave, giving it a short, direct order
backed by God's authority. He does not rebuke the man, because the unclean
spirit had possessed him, yet each of us must resist the influence of demons (I
Peter 5:8-9). Jesus tells the demon, "Hold your peace," which actually means
"be gagged or muzzled," a phrase He also uses to calm the storm in Mark 4:39.
The unclean spirit does not speak again, but obeys in rage and anguish.
By his own power or authority, no man can cast out demons. Even the
archangel Michael, not daring to revile Satan, called on the power and
authority of God to rebuke him (Jude 9), setting a right example for us.
Similarly, in rebuking the "spirit of divination" at Philippi, Paul says, "I
command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her" (Acts 16:18).
Because of Christ's authority in performing this miracle, the people
in the synagogue are "amazed," a word meaning "to stupefy" and "to dumbfound or
flabbergast." They express their astonishment in questions: "What is this? What
new doctrine is this?" (Mark 1:27), as well as by immediately rushing away to
tell everyone they can. The word translated "amazed" also can mean "to terrify"
and "to be frightened." The people are not only astounded but also fearful of
God's power through Jesus.
The focus of the testimony is on how Jesus exorcises the demon:
simply by His command, which shows the power of God's Word. Contemporary Jewish
doctrine for casting out demons was much different, as exorcists among them
sometimes appeared to cast out demons by prayers or chants. Christ, however,
does not cajole or request demons to leave, but authoritatively commands them
to come out. The world has its weak and useless methods to appease evil and
entice it to surrender, but Christ commands its defeat.
Martin G. Collins
From The Miracles of Jesus Christ: Exorcism in the Synagogue
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