From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] daily devotional
Evening...
Habakkuk 1:8 Evening wolves.
While preparing the present volume, this particular expression recurred to me
so frequently, that in order to be rid of its constant importunity I determined
to give a page to it. The evening wolf, infuriated by a day of hunger, was
fiercer and more ravenous than he would have been in the morning. May not the
furious creature represent our doubts and fears after a day of distraction of
mind, losses in business, and perhaps ungenerous tauntings from our fellow men?
How our thoughts howl in our ears, "Where is now thy God?" How voracious and
greedy they are, swallowing up all suggestions of comfort, and remaining as
hungry as before. Great Shepherd, slay these evening wolves, and bid Thy sheep
lie down in green pastures, undisturbed by insatiable unbelief. How like are
the fiends of hell to evening wolves, for when the flock of Christ are in a
cloudy and dark day, and their sun seems going down, they hasten to tear and to
devour. They will scarcely attack the Christian in the daylight of faith, but
in the gloom of soul conflict they fall upon him. O Thou who hast laid down Thy
life for the sheep, preserve them from the fangs of the wolf. False teachers
who craftily and industriously hunt for the precious life, devouring men by
their false-hoods, are as dangerous and detestable as evening wolves. Darkness
is their element, deceit is their character, destruction is their end. We are
most in danger from them when they wear the sheep's skin. Blessed is he who is
kept from them, for thousands are made the prey of grievous wolves that enter
within the fold of the church. What a wonder of grace it is when fierce
persecutors are converted, for then the wolf dwells with the lamb, and men of
cruel ungovernable dispositions become gentle and teachable. O Lord, convert
many such: for such we will pray to-night.
Morning...
2 Corinthians 6:17 Be ye separate.
The Christian, while in the world, is not to be of the world. He should be
distinguished from it in the great object of his life. To him, "to live,"
should be "Christ." Whether he eats, or drinks, or whatever he does, he should
do all to God's glory. You may lay up treasure; but lay it up in heaven, where
neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, where thieves break not through nor steal.
You may strive to be rich; but be it your ambition to be "rich in faith," and
good works. You may have pleasure; but when you are merry, sing psalms and make
melody in your hearts to the Lord. In your spirit, as well as in your aim, you
should differ from the world. Waiting humbly before God, always conscious of
His presence, delighting in communion with Him, and seeking to know His will,
you will prove that you are of heavenly race. And you should be separate from
the world in your actions. If a thing be right, though you lose by it, it must
be done; if it be wrong, though you would gain by it, you must scorn the sin
for your Master's sake. You must have no fellowship with the unfruitful works
of darkness, but rather reprove them. Walk worthy of your high calling and
dignity. Remember, O Christian, that thou art a son of the King of kings.
Therefore, keep thyself unspotted from the world. Soil not the fingers which
are soon to sweep celestial strings; let not these eyes become the windows of
lust which are soon to see the King in His beauty-let not those feet be defiled
in miry places, which are soon to walk the golden streets-let not those hearts
be filled with pride and bitterness which are ere long to be filled with
heaven, and to overflow with ecstatic joy.
Then rise my soul! and soar away,
Above the thoughtless crowd;
Above the pleasures of the gay,
And splendours of the proud;
Up where eternal beauties bloom,
And pleasures all divine;
Where wealth, that never can consume,
And endless glories shine.
Genesis 3:16
(16) Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy
conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be
to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
The first curse includes the whole processes of childbearing, from
conception to birth. The Hebrew word rendered "conception" in the New King
James version (NKJV) includes the entire pregnancy, while "bring forth" can
mean both the beginning or end of the birth process. The Revised Standard
Version translates these clauses as, "I will greatly multiply your pain in
childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children."
A human female is unique among mammalian creatures in this respect.
Animal females generally bear their young without pain and rarely sicken and
die during or from the experience. Women, on the other hand, always experience
pain and grief throughout their pregnancies—from morning sickness to
contractions—and have historically had a very high mortality rate from
childbirth. Better nutrition and hygiene have cut the numbers of deaths
dramatically, but the pain and grief remain.
Fortunately, God is a God of mercy. He put within the human female the
ability to "forget" her pains in childbirth soon thereafter. Jesus Himself
mentions this in John 16:21:
A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come;
but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the
anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.
This curse on Eve has a direct relationship with the end of the curse on
the serpent, which involves the woman's "seed," both general and specific
(Genesis 3:15). We can infer that God intends us to understand that, because of
sin, producing "seed" to fight Satan and his seed will be made more difficult.
In a spiritual sense, the church, "the mother of us all," endures great
hardship in producing children of God.
Thus, the Bible testifies, "the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and
the violent take it by force" (Matthew 11:12), "We must through many
tribulations enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22), and "all who desire to
live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution" (II Timothy 3:12). Even the
sinless Christ, the promised Seed, was "a Man of sorrows and acquainted with
grief" (Isaiah 53:3), forced by sin—yet willing—to bear the agonies of human
life and death to become the Son of God, the Firstborn among many brethren.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
From The First Prophecy (Part Two)
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daily devotional
Evening...
Revelation 4:4
And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw
four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment.
These representatives of the saints in heaven are said to be around the
throne. In the passage in Canticles, where Solomon sings of the King sitting at
his table, some render it "a round table." From this, some expositors, I think,
without straining the text, have said, "There is an equality among the saints."
That idea is conveyed by the equal nearness of the four and twenty elders. The
condition of glorified spirits in heaven is that of nearness to Christ, clear
vision of His glory, constant access to His court, and familiar fellowship with
His person: nor is there any difference in this respect between one saint and
another, but all the people of God, apostles, martyrs, ministers, or private
and obscure Christians, shall all be seated near the throne, where they shall
for ever gaze upon their exalted Lord, and be satisfied with His love. They
shall all be near to Christ, all ravished with His love, all eating and
drinking at the same table with Him, all equally beloved as His favourites and
friends even if not all equally rewarded as servants. Let believers on earth
imitate the saints in heaven in their nearness to Christ. Let us on earth be as
the elders are in heaven, sitting around the throne. May Christ be the object
of our thoughts, the centre of our lives. How can we endure to live at such a
distance from our Beloved? Lord Jesus, draw us nearer to Thyself. Say unto us,
"Abide in Me, and I in you"; and permit us to sing, "His left hand is under my
head, and His right hand doth embrace me."
O lift me higher, nearer Thee,
And as I rise more pure and meet,
O let my soul's humility
Make me lie lower at Thy feet;
Less trusting self, the more I prove
The blessed comfort of Thy love.
Morning...
Mark 3:13 And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would:
and they came unto him.
Here was sovereignty. Impatient spirits may fret and fume, because they are
not called to the highest places in the ministry; but reader be it thine to
rejoice that Jesus calleth whom He wills. If He shall leave me to be a
doorkeeper in His house, I will cheerfully bless Him for His grace in
permitting me to do anything in His service. The call of Christ's servants
comes from above. Jesus stands on the mountain, evermore above the world in
holiness, earnestness, love and power. Those whom He calls must go up the
mountain to Him, they must seek to rise to His level by living in constant
communion with Him. They may not be able to mount to classic honours, or attain
scholastic eminence, but they must like Moses go up into the mount of God and
have familiar intercourse with the unseen God, or they will never be fitted to
proclaim the gospel of peace. Jesus went apart to hold high fellowship with the
Father, and we must enter into the same divine companionship if we would bless
our fellowmen. No wonder that theapostles were clothed with power when they
came down fresh from the mountain where Jesus was. This morning we must
endeavour to ascend the mount of communion, that there we may be ordained to
the lifework for which we are set apart. Let us not see the face of man to-day
till we have seen Jesus. Time spent with Him is laid out at blessed interest.
We too shall cast out devils and work wonders if we go down into the world
girded with that divine energy which Christ alone can give. It is of no use
going to the Lord's battle till we are armed with heavenly weapons. We must see
Jesus, this is essential. At the mercy-seat we will linger till He shall
manifest Himself unto us as He doth not unto the world, and until we can
truthfully say, "We were with Him in the Holy Mount."
Hebrews 9:8-10
(8) The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all
was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: (9)
Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts
and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as
pertaining to the conscience; (10) Which stood only in meats and drinks, and
divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of
reformation.
The subject involves food and drink offerings and various washings
imposed until the time of reformation—not the entirety of God's law. In His
mind's eye, whenever He gave them these rituals, there was a grandfather
clause. A grandfather clause is stipulation attached to a law that causes it to
expire either under certain conditions or at a certain time. These rituals were
imposed until the time of reformation. This is the grandfather clause. These
requirements, legally forced on the Israelites, were to last only for a certain
period of time.
Jeremiah 7:22-24 says that when these people made the covenant with God,
He did not speak about sacrifices. He only said, "Obey My voice." However,
because they transgressed, something was added—imposed on them. It was as
though these rituals were a penalty because they transgressed God's voice, yet
it was to last only for a certain period of time.
This is similar in concept to what we have today when a convicted person
is required to check in with a parole officer for a given number of years,
sentenced to perform a certain number of hours of community service, or ordered
to attend certain classes and to refrain from engaging in particular privileges
for a stipulated period.
John W. Ritenbaugh
From The Covenants, Grace and Law (Part 18
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