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daily devotional
Evening ...
Joshua 6:26
Cursed be the man before the Lord, that riseth up and buildeth this city
Jericho.
Since he was cursed who rebuilt Jericho, I much more the man who labours to
restore Popery among us. In our fathers' days the gigantic walls of Popery fell
by the power of their faith, the perseverance of their efforts, and the blast
of their gospel trumpets; and now there are some who would rebuild that
accursed system upon its old foundation. O Lord, be pleased to thwart their
unrighteous endeavours, and pull down every stone which they build. It should
be a serious business with us to be thoroughly purged of every error which may
have a tendency to foster the spirit of Popery, and when we have made a clean
sweep at home we should seek in every way to oppose its all too rapid spread
abroad in the church and in the world. This last can be done in secret by
fervent prayer, and in public by decided testimony. We must warn with judicious
boldness those who are inclined towards the errors of Rome; we must instruct
the young in gospel truth, and tell them of th e black doings of Popery in the
olden times. We must aid in spreading the light more thoroughly through the
land, for priests, like owls, hate daylight. Are we doing all we can for Jesus
and the gospel? If not, our negligence plays into the hands of the priestcraft.
What are we doing to spread the Bible, which is the Pope's bane and poison? Are
we casting abroad good, sound gospel writings? Luther once said, "The devil
hates goose quills" and, doubtless, he has good reason, for ready writers, by
the Holy Spirit's blessing, have done his kingdom much damage. If the thousands
who will read this short word this night will do all they can to hinder the
rebuilding of this accursed Jericho, the Lord's glory shall speed among the
sons of men. Reader, what can you do? What
May 30
Morning ...
Song of Solomon 2:15
Take us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines.
A little thorn may cause much suffering. A little cloud may hide the sun.
Little foxes spoil the vines; and little sins do mischief to the tender heart.
These little sins burrow in the soul, and make it so full of that which is
hateful to Christ, that He will hold no comfortable fellowship and communion
with us. A great sin cannot destroy a Christian, but a little sin can make him
miserable. Jesus will not walk with His people unless they drive out every
known sin. He says, "If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love,
even as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love." Some
Christians very seldom enjoy their Saviour's presence. How is this? Surely it
must be an affliction for a tender child to be separated from his father. Art
thou a child of God, and yet satisfied to go on without seeing thy Father's
face? What! thou the spouse of Christ, and yet content without His company!
Surely, thou hast fallen into a sad state, for the cha ste spouse of Christ
mourns like a dove without her mate, when he has left her. Ask, then, the
question, what has driven Christ from thee? He hides His face behind the wall
of thy sins. That wall may be built up of little pebbles, as easily as of great
stones. The sea is made of drops; the rocks are made of grains: and the sea
which divides thee from Christ may be filled with the drops of thy little sins;
and the rock which has well nigh wrecked thy barque, may have been made by the
daily working of the coral insects of thy little sins. If thou wouldst live
with Christ, and walk with Christ, and see Christ, and have fellowship with
Christ, take heed of "the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have
tender grapes." Jesus invites you to go with Him and take them. He will surely,
like Samson, take the foxes at once and easily. Go with Him to the hunting.
Revelation 3:20
(20) Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice,
and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with
me.
The illustration at the end of the letter to Laodicea is striking. Our
Lord stands at the door knocking. Christ then says, "If anyone hears My voice
and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me."
But what does the passage indicate about the Laodicean at this point? Since he
cannot hear His Savior's voice, his mind must be focused on something else!
This is a common occurrence in our lives today. Concentrating deeply on
a job or a project, our minds can block out sounds and movement around us. Some
people never seem to hear someone calling them when their noses are stuck
between the pages of a book!
Just describing this ability another way, Jesus judges the Laodicean to
be blind. Paul uses a different metaphor in I Thessalonians 5:4-8, saying that
he is in the dark. Spiritually, blindness and living in darkness are much the
same. How good is one's judgment when he cannot see? Living in darkness is the
equivalent of being morally insensitive or unstable, that is, not knowing right
from wrong.
John W. Ritenbaugh
From The World, the Church and Laodiceanism
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From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
daily devotional
Evening ...
Hosea 11:4
I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love.
Our heavenly Father often draws us with the cords of love; but ah! how
backward we are to run towards Him! How slowly do we respond to His gentle
impulses! He draws us to exercise a more simple faith in Him; but we have not
yet attained to Abraham's confidence; we do not leave our worldly cares with
God, but, like Martha, we cumber ourselves with much serving. Our meagre faith
brings leanness into our souls; we do not open our mouths wide, though God has
promised to fill them. Does He not this evening draw us to trust Him? Can we
not hear Him say, "Come, My child, and trust Me. The veil is rent; enter into
My presence, and approach boldly to the throne of My grace. I am worthy of thy
fullest confidence, cast thy cares on Me. Shake thyself from the dust of thy
cares, and put on thy beautiful garments of joy." But, alas! though called with
tones of love to the blessed exercise of this comforting grace, we will not
come. At another time He draws us to closer communion with Himself. We have
been sitting on the doorstep of God's house, and He bids us advance into the
banqueting hall and sup with Him, but we decline the honour. There are secret
rooms not yet opened to us; Jesus invites us to enter them, but we hold back.
Shame on our cold hearts! We are but poor lovers of our sweet Lord Jesus, not
fit to be His servants, much less to be His brides, and yet He hath exalted us
to be bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh, married to Him by a glorious
marriage-covenant. Herein is love! But it is love which takes no denial. If we
obey not the gentle drawings of His love, He will send affliction to drive us
into closer intimacy with Himself. Have us nearer He will. What foolish
children we are to refuse those bands of love, and so bring upon our backs that
scourge of small cords, which Jesus knows how to use!
Morning ...
1 Peter 2:3
If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
"If" - then, this is not a matter to be taken for granted concerning every
one of the human race. "If" - then there is a possibility and a probability
that some may not have tasted that the Lord is gracious. "If" - then this is
not a general but a special mercy; and it is needful to enquire whether we know
the grace of God by inward experience. There is no spiritual favour which may
not be a matter for heart-searching. But while this should be a matter of
earnest and prayerful inquiry, no one ought to be content whilst there is any
such thing as an "if" about his having tasted that the Lord is gracious. A
jealous and holy distrust of self may give rise to the question even in the
believer's heart, but the continuance of such a doubt would be an evil indeed.
We must not rest without a desperate struggle to clasp the Saviour in the arms
of faith, and say, "I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is
able to keep that which I have committed unto him." Do not rest, O believer,
till thou hast a full assurance of thine interest in Jesus. Let nothing satisfy
thee till, by the infallible witness of the Holy Spirit bearing witness with
thy spirit, thou art certified that thou art a child of God. Oh, trifle not
here; let no "perhaps" and "peradventure" and "if" and "maybe" satisfy thy
soul. Build on eternal verities, and verily build upon them. Get the sure
mercies of David, and surely get them. Let thine anchor be cast into that which
is within the veil, and see to it that thy soul be linked to the anchor by a
cable that will not break. Advance beyond these dreary "ifs;" abide no more in
the wilderness of doubts and fears; cross the Jordan of distrust, and enter the
Canaan of peace, where the Canaanite still lingers, but where the land ceaseth
not to flow with milk and honey.
Leviticus 18:24-25
(24) Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all
these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you: (25) And the land is
defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself
vomiteth out her inhabitants.
Go to this verse on Bible Tools
This brings together two factors: Sin and God's sovereignty.
Because the earth requires maintenance and therefore dominion, and because God
gave dominion to mankind, the rest of creation shares in the way mankind lives.
Thus, when mankind sins, nature will be affected and react to some extent. In
verse 25, God personifies the land as a living creature that violently rejects
what it dislikes.
The context shows the iniquity to be spiritual and that God is
personally involved in what happens when mankind sins. This confronts us again
with whether God actively governs this world. Has He, as it appears in
Leviticus 18, set limits on the evil mankind can do?
Suppose man is totally free to choose as he pleases, and it is
impossible to compel or coerce him without destroying this freedom. If so, it
follows that man is sovereign, doing as he pleases-the designer and architect
of his destiny. Given man's history, we can have no assurance whatsoever that
morality will not gradually disappear, and that anarchy, barbarism, and
eventual genocide will not arise in its absence. It is absolutely imperative
that God be sovereign to govern the antics of the very creatures He created!
His reaction in the Flood and at the Tower of Babel is strong evidence of this.
John W. Ritenbaugh
From The Sovereignty of God: Part Four
