Gems from my reading

Now the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always by all means. - 2 Thessalonians 3:16

As we read the lovely words, we can hear the voice of the Saviour on that most awful night, the night in which He was betrayed, in the midst of the onslaught such as demons and men had never mounted before. As hell itself had already prepared for the conflict, as the vile heart of man was now exposed in unspeakable treachery, and even as the sword of God's holy justice lay bare, in absolute calmness of soul, and looking upon that little band of perplexed and anxious men, with eyes full of tender compassion, the Lord of peace Himself had breathed those words of comfort which came with undiminished sweetness down the centuries, "My peace I give unto you."

- T. W. Smith (What the Bible Teaches - 2 Thessalonians)

Meditations on the Saviour

The Birth He Fulfilled - Is. 7.14; Matt 1.23: John 1.14; Gal. 4.4.

The Business He Undertook - Luke 2.49: John 4.34; 6.38;8.29.

The Baptism He Obeyed - Matt. 3.13-17.

The Book He Read - Luke 4.17; Ps. 40.8.

The Behaviour He Practised - Acts 10.38; Mark 7.37.

The Benevolence He Showed - John 11.5; Luke 7.13.

The Banquet He Instituted - Luke 22.19; 1 Cor. 11.23; Matt. 26.26.

The Bread He Brake - Luke 22.19; 1 Cor. 11.24;

The Body He Gave - Heb. 10.5,10; Jn. 10.17; 1 Cor. 11.24.

The Blood He Shed - Luke 22.20;Matt. 26.28;1 Cor.11.26;1 John 1.7.

The Buffetting He Suffered - Matt. 26.67; Mark 14.65;1 Pet. 2.20.

The Bruising He Endured - Isa. 53.7,10; John 19.1-5;Matt. 27.29-30.

The Burden He Bare - John 1.29; 19.17; 1 Peter 2.24;Isa. 53.12.

The Battle He Fought - Heb. 2.14; Job 41.8; Matt. 12.29;

The Blessings He Bestows - Eph. 1.3, Prov. 10.22; Num.6.24.

The Brethren He Loves - Heb. 2.11-13; John 20.17; 21.23;Ps. 22.22.

Nelson McDonald

The Church in Ephesians

The Church as:
* The Body (Eph 1:23) - living relationship
* The Building (Eph 2:21) - lasting relationship
* The Bride (Eph 5:32) - loving relationship

- J.J. Stubbs

I said to the man that stood at the gate of the year, "Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown." And he said to me, "Go forth into the darkness and put your hand in the hand of God; And it shall be to you better than a light and safer than a known way."

Minnie Louise Haskins

If I gained the world, but lost the Saviour,
Were my life worth living for a day?
Could my yearning heart find rest and comfort
In the things that soon must pass away?

If I gained the world, but had no Saviour,
Would my gain be worth the life-long strife?
Are all earthly pleasures worth comparing,
For a moment with a Christ-filled life?

Anna Olander

Gems from my reading

Every circumstance in Genesis 18 speaks of a righteous man's open communion with God. The Lord and the two angels drew near Abraham in human form. They readily accepted Abraham's service, speech, and friendship. In the realm of divine fellowship, Genesis 18 is in striking contrast to God's disposition towards Lot in Genesis 19. In chapter 19, God does not personally visit carnal Lot, nor do the angels appear as men any longer, but as "angels." Even the angels are standoffish and initially refuse Lot's company and provisions. God is not mocked - our carnality necessitates distance and reduced familiarity with Him.

Warren Henderson in Seeds of Destiny (A Genesis Devotional)

Adaptation of William Hinley's 'Invictus'

I have no fear though strait the gate,
He cleared from punishment the scroll;
Christ is the Master of my fate,
Christ is the Captain of my soul.

Author unknown

A note to an evolutionist

It is absurd for the evolutionist to complain that it is unthinkable for an admittedly unthinkable God to make everything out of nothing, and then pretend that it is more thinkable that nothing should turn itself into everything.

G.K. Chesterton

Gems from my reading

Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures: and that He was seen... - 1 Corinthians 15:3-5

One Efficacious Factor
Christ (the majesty of His Person)
died (the mystery of His Passion)
for our sins (the marvel of His Provision)

Two Essential Factors
* Christ died according to the Scriptures
* Christ was raised according to the Scriptures

Two Establishing Factors
* Christ was buried signifying that He died
* Christ was seen signifying that He was raised

Post taken from http://scriptureoutlines.blogspot.com/

...creeping thing...

[Peter] saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel decending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean. And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. - Acts 10:11-15

H. A. Ironside mentioned that when his father was dying, this passage was running through his mind and he kept repeating, “A great sheet and wild beasts, and—and—and…” He could not seem to remember the next word but went back and started over, and once more came to that same place. A friend bent over and whispered, “John, it says, “creeping things.’” “Oh, yes,” he said, “that is how I got in. Just a poor good-for-nothing creeping thing, but I got in—saved by grace.”

He goes on to say, no matter how low, vile or utterly useless and corrupt or unclean, the soul that trusts Jesus is in the sheet let down from Heaven and will have a place in glory by and by.

The story brought tears to my eyes thinking of how I've been saved by grace, amazing grace!

Comfort in a Cloud

"Mary," said I, "you must have very dark days; they must be overcome with clouds sometimes." "Yes," said the dear old saint, "but then I often find there's comfort in a cloud." "Comfort in a cloud, Mary?" "Yes. When I am very low and dark I go to the window, and if I see a heavy cloud I think of those precious words, 'A cloud received Him out of their sight' (Acts 1:9), and I look up and see the cloud sure enough, and then I think: 'Well, that may be the cloud behind which my Saviour is found,' so you see there is comfort in a cloud."

- taken from One Thousand Tales Worth Telling by Henry Pickering

Where Jesus is, that's Heaven

A poor little man lay dying in the garret. Another man who came to see him, said,"Suppose, sonny, you went to Heaven, and Christ weren't there, what would ye do then?" "Go and look for Him," was the quick response. "But suppose," and here the atheist's voice sank to a tragic whisper,"suppose He was gone to Hell, what then?" The little chap turned a beaming and triumphant countenance, and looking on the man's lowering face, cried,"Ah, I see ye don't understand; cos where Jesus is, that's Heaven."

Excerpt from "One Day at a Time"

New Year's resolutions are good but fragile, that is, easily broken. New Year's prayers are better; they ascend to the throne of God and set answering wheels in motion. As we come to the beginning of another year, we would do well to make the following prayer requests our own:

Lord Jesus, I rededicate myself afresh to You today. I want You to take my life this coming year and use it for Your glory.

I pray that You will keep me from sin, from anything that will bring dishonor to Your Name.

Keep me teachable by the Holy Spirit. I want to move forward for You. Don't let me settle in a rut.

May my motto this year be, "He must increase; I must decrease." The glory must all be Yours. Help me not to touch it.

Teach me to make every decision a matter of prayer. I dread the thought of leaning on my own understanding. "O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps" (Jer. 10:23).

May I die to the world and even to the approval or blame of loved ones or friends. Give me a single, pure desire to do the things that please Your heart.

Keep me from gossip and criticism of others. Rather, help me to speak what is edifying and profitable.

Lead me to needy souls. May I become a friend of sinners, as You are. Give me tears of compassion for the perishing.

Lord Jesus, keep me from becoming cold, bitter, or cynical in spite of anything that may happen to me in the Christian life.

Guide me in my stewardship of money. Help me to be a good steward of everything You have entrusted to me.

Help me to remember moment by moment that my body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. May this tremendous truth influence all my behavior.

And, Lord Jesus, I pray that this may be the year of Your return. I long to see Your face and to fall at Your feet in worship. During the coming year, may the blessed hope stay fresh in my heart, disengaging me from anything that would hold me here and keeping me on the tiptoes of expectancy. "Even so, come, Lord Jesus!"

William MacDonald (Jan 7 1917 - Dec 25 2007)

An excerpt from "The Cradle and the Cross"

In Romans 1:1-4 we see Paul's approach. He refers to "the gospel of God, (which he [God] had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures)." Christianity is not a first-century invention. It is, in fact, the fulfillment of that which, with one voice, the Hebrew prophets consistently foretold for centuries.

There are more than 300 Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament. Why? So Israel could identify Him, when in the fullness of time God would send forth his Son (Galatians 4:4). The third chapter in the Bible contains the first prophecy of the Messiah's coming, His virgin birth ("the seed of the woman") and His destruction of Satan (Genesis 3:15). The prophets declared that He must be of the "lineage of David" (Jeremiah 23:5; 2 Samuel 7:10-16; Psalms 89:3-4) and rule upon David's throne. To prove that Jesus met this criteria, Matthew and Luke begin with the genealogy of Joseph and Mary.

Having rejected Jesus, the Jews still hope for their Messiah to come-but they hope in vain. Jesus Christ fulfilled Malachi 3:1 ("the Lord [Messiah], whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple") when He cast out the money changers and merchants (Mark 11:15). The destruction of the temple 38 years later in A.D. 70 made it impossible during the last 1,923 years for any would-be Messiah to fulfil that scripture. Moreover, all genealogic records were lost in the destruction of the temple, so a future "Messiah" would not be able to prove the necessary descent from David.

Yes, the temple will soon be rebuilt. Instead of cleansing it, however, as Christ did, Antichrist will defile it with his image and force the world to worship him as God: "he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God" (2 Thessalonians 2:4).

Jacob prophesied, "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah...until Shiloh [Messiah] come..." (Genesis 49:10). Shortly after the birth of Jesus, about A.D. 7, the sceptre departed when the Jews lost the right to enforce the death penalty. Thereafter, it was forever too late for Messiah to come. By God's grace, however, He had already come; and He will come again to rescue at Armageddon those who rejected Him the first time. They will know Him by the marks of Calvary ("they shall look upon me whom they pierced"; Zechariah 12:10). The sceptre having departed from Judah, Christ, instead of being stoned by the Jews, was executed by the Romans, whose supreme penalty was crucifixion. Thus was fulfilled yet another prophecy: "...they pierced my hands and my feet" (Psalms 22:16)!

But back to the cradle. Caesar Augustus had no inkling of the momentous effect of his decree "that all the world should [return to the city of one's birth to] be taxed" (Luke 2:1). That decree brought Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem in time for the birth of her "firstborn son" (so she had other children) in fulfillment of Micah 5:2: "But thou, Bethlehem...out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel...."

What depth of meaning there is in the simple statement, "when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his Son" (Galatians 4:4)! His birth had to occur before the sceptre departed from Judah; His death, after. His birthplace was determined by a Roman decree; His death and its method of execution, by the Roman occupation of Israel. He had to come before the temple was destroyed and with it the genealogic records.

The "fullness of time" has passed. No one else can meet the Messianic criteria laid down by the Hebrew prophets! That simple phrase, however, carries a much deeper meaning than we have seen above. If the timing of His birth causes us to marvel, the timing of Christ's death is even more precise and full of meaning...

Dave Hunt

Gems from my reading

Well, it will be strange to find myself in heaven; but it won't be a strange Christ - one I have known these many years. How little I know of Him! I am glad He knows me. - J. N. Darby contemplating his death (11th April 1882, 18 days before his death)

I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. - the Lord Jesus Christ (John 10:14)

Song of songs

The form of words in the title of the Song is a Hebrew way of expressing its superlative excellence. It is the Song of Songs. It is the best, the sweetest, the greatest of all songs. The same form of words is used in other places and always helps to exalt the Savior. In His deity He is "God of gods" (Dan 2:47). He is greater than the "Heaven of heavens," which cannot contain Him (2 Chron 2:6; 6:18). In wondrous grace He became a "Servant of servants" (Gen 9:25), the greatest of all Jehovah’s servants. Those who know Him and love Him have found Him to be the answer to earth’s "Vanity of vanities" (Eccl 1:2; 12:8). He is the grand antitype of that place of glory which we call the "Holy of Holies" (Exod 26:33). One day His true greatness will be universally recognized when He appears as "King of Kings and Lord of Lords" (Rev 19:16). It is a "Song of Songs" indeed, that sings of such a One as He! - Jim Flanigan, Truth and Tidings

More from Choice Gleanings

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. - Isaiah 1:18

The infinite LORD of Glory requests to communicate with sinful man. “Deity stoops to speak to dust.” Look again at Calvary and see our Saviour, bearing in our stead, the “consuming fire” of judgment that we deserved. Now the scarlet sins have been forgiven and God sees us as white as snow. Listen now to the Saviour, “Be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee” (Matt. 9:2). —Milton Haack

Heaven came down and glory filled my soul,
When at the cross the Saviour made me whole;
My sins were washed away, and my night was turned to day,
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul. —John Peterson

Borrowed from Choice Gleanings

Then shall the man bring...an offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance. - Numbers 5:15
But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. - Hebrews 10:3
Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. - Hebrews 10:17

The memory of past failures can haunt us. It is good for us to remember that although we are failures because of Christ we can leave those sins at the cross—under the blood. May God give us grace to enjoy the fact that our sins are gone.—William H. Gustafson

Gone, gone, gone, gone, yes, my sins are gone.
Now my soul is free and in my heart’s a song.
Buried in the deepest sea, yes, that’s good enough for me;
I shall live eternally—praise God, my sins are G-O-N-E. —Helen Griggs

More gems from my reading

And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. - Genesis 3:4-5

Scripture tells us that we "...are not ignorant of satan's devices." In this passage we see...the enemy's great tactics. Incredibly, they work to this very day...He flat out denies that God's word is true. God told Adam that in the day that he would eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he would surely die. Here, while speaking to Eve, satan tells her, "... ye shall not surely die." Jesus told the Pharisees that the devil was a liar from the beginning. Here is the lie; whereas God said Adam would surely die, satan says he would NOT surely die. There certainly is a big difference.

The reason that this worked is that God often speaks of matters from His own perspective, and always tells the truth. Satan, perhaps knowing God's perspective, tells only enough of the truth to make us think he is right. For, it is true that in the day that Adam and Eve ate from the tree they did not collapse to the ground, and breath their last. But the more important perspective in this matter, the thing about which God was speaking, was spiritual death. From that day forward Adam and Eve ran from God: spiritually dead, not desiring Him or His ways. This desire to run from God and ignore His ways has been passed on to all of their descendants, the whole human race. Physical death is the result of spiritual death. Had Adam and Eve remained spiritually alive, they would also have remained physically alive.

Herm Klingenberger

Blessed are those who give without remembering and receive without forgetting.