From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] daily devotional
Morning ...
Job 19:25
I know that my Redeemer liveth.
The marrow of Job's comfort lies in that little word "My"-"My Redeemer," and
in the fact that the Redeemer lives. Oh! to get hold of a living Christ. We
must get a property in Him before we can enjoy Him. What is gold in the mine to
me? Men are beggars in Peru, and beg their bread in California. It is gold in
my purse which will satisfy my necessities, by purchasing the bread I need. So
a Redeemer who does not redeem me, an avenger who will never stand up for my
blood, of what avail were such? Rest not content until by faith you can say
"Yes, I cast myself upon my living Lord; and He is mine." It may be you hold
Him with a feeble hand; you half think it presumption to say, "He lives as my
Redeemer;" yet, remember if you have but faith as a grain of mustard seed, that
little faith entitles you to say it. But there is also another word here,
expressive of Job's strong confidence, "I know." To say, "I hope so, I trust
so" is comfortable; and there are thousands in the fold of Jesus who hardly
ever get much further. But to reach the essence of consolation you must say, "I
know." Ifs, buts, and perhapses, are sure murderers of peace and comfort.
Doubts are dreary things in times of sorrow. Like wasps they sting the soul! If
I have any suspicion that Christ is not mine, then there is vinegar mingled
with the gall of death; but if I know that Jesus lives for me, then darkness is
not dark: even the night is light about me. Surely if Job, in those ages before
the coming and advent of Christ, could say, "I know," we should not speak less
positively. God forbid that our positiveness should be presumption. Let us see
that our evidences are right, lest we build upon an ungrounded hope; and then
let us not be satisfied with the mere foundation, for it is from the upper
rooms that we get the widest prospect. A living Redeemer, truly mine, is joy
unspeakable.
Romans 8:29-30
(29) For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to
the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. (30)
Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called,
them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
Paul actually left one step out here; he could have added sanctified.
Sanctification is the period between justification and glorification during
which we become holy, when the growth takes place-between begettal and birth
(even as it is with a child).
Everything in regard to this issue exposes a process. We are to consider
ourselves pilgrims heading toward the Kingdom of God, gradually being
transformed into the image of God along the way. The qualities of character,
whether human or godly, are not produced instantaneously but through the
everyday gathering of information, weighing it, making the necessary choices,
setting our wills, and watching to see the results.
Even as Israel had to walk out of Egypt and across the wilderness to the
Promised Land-or there never would have been a change in their situation-so
must we live this process to grow to become like God and be in His Kingdom. The
laws of God are written on our hearts ( Hebrews 8:10; Jeremiah 31:33) by life's
experiences while we have a relationship with God. Like everything else in
life, it is a process that has a beginning and end.
Like every educational system, it moves from simple to complex. It moves
from that which is clearly stated in the letter of the law to what is less
apparent and depends upon a background of instruction, experience, and results.
It depends on faith in and love for God and love for man that have grown in a
person to aid him in properly understanding, applying, and practicing the
spirit of the law.
John W. Ritenbaugh
From The Covenants, Grace and Law (Part 19)
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From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
daily devotional
Morning ...
Hebrews 2:14
That through death He might destroy him that had the power of death.
O child of God, death hath lost its sting, because the devil's power over it
is destroyed. Then cease to fear dying. Ask grace from God the Holy Ghost, that
by an intimate knowledge and a firm belief of thy Redeemer's death, thou mayst
be strengthened for that dread hour. Living near the cross of Calvary thou
mayst think of death with pleasure, and welcome it when it comes with intense
delight. It is sweet to die in the Lord: it is a covenant-blessing to sleep in
Jesus. Death is no longer banishment, it is a return from exile, a going home
to the many mansions where the loved ones already dwell. The distance between
glorified spirits in heaven and militant saints on earth seems great; but it is
not so. We are not far from home-a moment will bring us there. The sail is
spread; the soul is launched upon the deep. How long will be its voyage? How
many wearying winds must beat upon the sail ere it shall be reefed in the port
of peace? How long shall that soul b e tossed upon the waves before it comes to
that sea which knows no storm? Listen to the answer, "Absent from the body,
present with the Lord." Yon ship has just departed, but it is already at its
haven. It did but spread its sail and it was there. Like that ship of old, upon
the Lake of Galilee, a storm had tossed it, but Jesus said, "Peace, be still,"
and immediately it came to land. Think not that a long period intervenes
between the instant of death and the eternity of glory. When the eyes close on
earth they open in heaven. The horses of fire are not an instant on the road.
Then, O child of God, what is there for thee to fear in death, seeing that
through the death of thy Lord its curse and sting are destroyed? and now it is
but a Jacob's ladder whose foot is in the dark grave, but its top reaches to
glory everlasting.
Exodus 7:1-2
(1) And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh:
and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet. (2) Thou shalt speak all that I
command thee: and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the
children of Israel out of his land.
Aaron was Moses' prophet, and Moses was God's prophet. The prophet is a
message carrier from one of greater authority. In this case, Moses was in the
position of God to Aaron, as well as to Pharaoh. By combining Exodus 4:10-16
with Exodus 7:1-2, the biblical usage of a prophet has a good foundation. A
prophet is one who expresses the will of God in words and sometimes with signs
given to confirm what is said.
Through Moses, the function of a prophet begins to be established: to cry
aloud and show men their sins ( Isaiah 58:1). It does not stop there, though,
because they were also pastors and ministerial monitors of the peoples' conduct
and attitudes. Their function differed from that of priests in that the priest
approached God by means of sacrifice on behalf of the people. The prophets, by
contrast, approached men as ambassadors of God, beseeching them to turn from
their evil ways and live ( Ezekiel 33:11).
The difference between a prophet and a priest is a matter of direction,
in that one goes from God to man (the prophet), and the other goes from men to
God (the priest). It is also a matter of directness. The priest is indirect,
while the prophet is direct. We have things going in opposite directions here,
yet both working to accomplish essentially the same thing, which is to bring
man and God into a relationship with one another. This has direct application
to us under the New Covenant ( II Corinthians 5:20-21).
John W. Ritenbaugh
From Prophets and Prophecy (Part 1)
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