A Daily Devotional

[Soldier4Christ]

Defending the Gospel
 
"But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel." (Philippians 1:17)
 
Many Christians today decry the use of apologetics or evidences in Christian witnessing, feeling it is somehow dishonoring to the Lord or to the Scriptures to try to defend them.
 
But as our text indicates, the apostle Paul did not agree with this. The gospel does need defending, and he was set for its defense against the attacks of its adversaries. He also told his disciples that "in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace" (Philippians 1:7).
 
The Greek word translated "defense" is apologia, from which we derive our English word "apologetics." It is a legal term, meaning the case made by a defense attorney on behalf of a defendant under attack by a prosecutor. Thus, the apostle is saying: "I am set to give an apologetic for the gospel--a logical, systematic [scientific, if necessary] defense of the gospel against all the attacks of its adversaries."
 
Since we are "partakers" with him in this defense, we also need to be set for its defense. We must "be ready always to give an answer [same word, apologia] to every man that asketh a reason of the hope that is in " (1 Peter 3:15). Any Christian who shares his faith with the unsaved has encountered many who cannot believe the simple plan of salvation until his questions are answered. We must be familiar with the "many infallible proofs" (Acts 1:3) of the deity of Christ and His power to save, both as omnipotent Creator and sin-bearing Savior. We must "search the scriptures daily" and also study the "witness" He has given in the creation (Acts 17:11; 14:17) if we are to do this effectively, bringing forth fruit that will "remain" (John 15:16) instead of fruit that has withered away, "because it had no root" (Mark 4:6). The gospel is under vicious attack today, so may God help us to be among its victorious defenders. HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

The Truth
 
"And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." (2 Timothy 4:4)
 
This is the last of eleven occurrences of "the truth" in Paul's two letters to Timothy. He was not writing about the importance of being truthful in general, but about a specific body of factual information concerning Jesus Christ and its vital importance. Thus "the truth" was a very important theme in both of Paul's letters to this young pastor--and, by implication, to all Godcalled pastors.
 
Paul first speaks of "the knowledge of the truth" as required for salvation (1 Timothy 2:4), then of his own teaching as "the truth in Christ" (1 Timothy 2:7), then of "the church of the living God" as "the pillar and ground of the truth" (1 Timothy 3:15), and of Christians as those who "believe and know the truth" (1 Timothy 4:3). He stresses the importance of studying the Bible as "the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15), and also that true repentance requires "the acknowledging of the truth" (2 Timothy 2:25).
 
Paul also warns of false and covetous teachers who are "destitute of the truth" (1 Timothy 6:5) and who therefore "concerning the truth have erred" (2 Timothy 2:18). There will even be false prophets who "resist the truth" and are "reprobate concerning the faith" (2 Timothy 3:8).
 
As a result of the teachings of these false teachers, there will be many so-called seekers of truth who are "ever learning" yet who seem "never able to come to the knowledge of the truth" (2 Timothy 3:7). The reason they never find the truth is because they "turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables" (2 Timothy 4:4).
 
The fact is that Jesus said: "I am . . . the truth" and also that "thy word is truth" (John 14:6; 17:17). For any who would say with Pilate, "What is truth?" (John 18:38), there is the definitive answer! HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

The Rain and the Word
 
"For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." (Isaiah 55:10-11)
 
In these familiar verses, there is a beautiful anticipation and spiritual application of the so-called "hydrologic cycle" of the science of hydrogeology. The rain and snow fall from the heavens and eventually return there (via the marvelous process of river and ground water run-off to the oceans), then later evaporation by solar radiation and translation inland high in the sky by the world's great wind circuits, finally to fall again as rain and snow on the thirsty land, beginning the cycle once more.
 
But they do not return until they first have accomplished their work of watering the earth, providing and renewing the world's water and food supplies to maintain its life.
 
Analogously, God's Word goes forth from heaven via His revealed Scriptures and their distribution and proclamation by His disciples. It does not return void, for it accomplishes God's spiritual work on earth. But it does return, for it is "for ever . . . settled in heaven" (Psalm 119:89).
 
The fruitful spreading of God's Word is presented in many other Scriptures. For example: "Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. . . . In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good" (Ecclesiastes 11:1, 6).
 
Thus, as we sow and water the seed--which is the Word of God--we have God's divine promise that it will accomplish that which He pleases. HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Created
 
"Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him." (Isaiah 43:7)
 
There are three main verbs used to describe God's work of creation in Genesis. These are "create" (Hebrew, bara), "make" (asah), and "form" (yatsar). The three words are similar in meaning, but each with a slightly different emphasis. None of them, of course, can mean anything at all like "evolve," or "change," on their own accord.
 
All three are used in Genesis with reference to man. "And God said, Let us make man in our image. . . . So God created man in his own image. . . . And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground" (Genesis 1:26-27; 2:7).
 
Although the subject of creation is commonly associated with Genesis, it is mentioned even more frequently by the great prophet Isaiah. The words bara and yatsar are used twice as often in Isaiah as in any other Old Testament book and are applied uniquely to works of God. All three verbs are used together in Isaiah 45:18 in order to describe, adequately, God's purposeful work in preparing the earth for man: "For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else."
 
God created, formed, made, and established the earth, that it might be the home of men and women. But what was God's purpose for the people who would inhabit it? Our text answers this most fundamental of questions, and once again, all three key verbs are used: "I have created him . . . I have formed him, . . . I have made him . . . for my glory."
 
This biblical perspective alone provides the greatest of all possible incentives to live a godly and useful life. The reason we were created is to glorify God! HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Useless Prayers
 
"He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination." (Proverbs 28:9)
 
There are some prayers that God hates, strange as that may seem. In fact, our very prayers can even "become sin" (Psalm 109:7). When one who has deliberately "turned away his ear" from the Word of God (preferring his own way to God's revealed will as found in His Word) attempts to ask God for blessing or direction, his prayer becomes presumption. God hates such prayers, and those who pray them should not be surprised when He does not give them their request. "Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear" (Isaiah 59:1-2).
 
No Christian is sinless, of course. "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves" (1 John 1:8). The obvious remedy is to ask the Lord, through His Word, to "see if there be any wicked way in me" (Psalm 139:24), and then to confess and forsake any sin so revealed and known. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).
 
Then, having been cleansed from our unrighteousness, we are again made righteous, not only through Christ's imputed righteousness, but also in righteous, daily living. Then the gracious promises of answered prayer can again become wholly effective, for "the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (James 5:16).
 
How vital it is to know and obey the Word of God, and how dangerous it is to turn our ears away from it. God will not be mocked for long! "For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil" (1 Peter 3:12). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Prayers Answered
 
"If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." (Psalm 66:18)
 
There are many wonderful assurances in Scripture that our God is a prayer-answering God, as well as innumerable testimonies throughout history by multitudes of praying believers that He has answered prayer, often in amazing ways. On the other hand, there are many, many prayers that have not been answered, and the question is: "Why?"
 
In some cases, of course, it is just that the prayer has not been answered yet, in which case the believer needs merely to continue in prayer, for "men ought always to pray, and not to faint" (Luke 18:1). In some cases, it may be that the request was not in God’s perfect will, for, "if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us" (1 John 5:14). We should always pray as did Christ Himself: "Not my will, but thine, be done" (Luke 22:42), for His will is always best.
 
There are times, however, when God would desire to answer our prayers, but is hindered by our own actions and attitudes, since He will only act in consistency with His own holy nature and loving wisdom. Some are listed below:
 
Sin in the heart: "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me" (text verse).
 
Unforgiving attitude: "When ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any" (Mark 11:25).
 
Carnal motive: "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts" (James 4:3).
 
Selfish family relations: "Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered" (1 Peter 3:7).
 
Unbelief: "But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. . . . For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord" (James 1:6-7). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

The Two Ways
 
"For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish." (Psalm 1:6)
 
This verse outlines the inescapable truth that there are only two roads and two destinations to which they lead in eternity. The word "way" (Hebrew, derek) means "road." There is only one way leading to heaven--the way of the righteous; and one way leading to hell--the way of the ungodly.
 
This is a very common word in Scripture, but it is significant that its first occurrence is in Genesis 3:24, referring to "the way of the tree of life." Once expelled from the garden of Eden because of their rebellion, Adam and Eve no longer could travel that "way" of life, and began to die.
 
The equivalent Greek word in the New Testament is hodos, also meaning "road," and it, too, occurs quite frequently. Its literal meaning--that of an actual roadway--lends itself very easily to the figure of a style of life whose practice leads inevitably to a certain destiny. Since there are only two basic ways of looking at life--the God-centered viewpoint and the man-centered viewpoint--there are only two ways of life, the way of the godly and the way of the ungodly. The one leads to life; the other to death. There is no other way.
 
The Lord Jesus taught: "Enter ye in at the strait |i.e., 'narrow'| gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it" (Matthew 7:13-14).
 
"There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death" (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25). But what is the way of the righteous, that leads to life? "I am the way," said the Lord Jesus: "no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). "This is the way, walk ye in it" (Isaiah 30:21). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

The Christian's Cleansing
 
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)
 
This familiar promise is often quoted as a sort of pat formula for dealing with sin in a believer's life. Simply identify and acknowledge the sin, and all is forgiven.
 
This is gloriously true, so far as it goes, but the last part of the verse is also vitally important. The Lord wants His people to be cleansed from all unrighteousness. "If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, . . . the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).
 
In these and other verses, the verb translated "cleanse" is the Greek katharizo, from which we get such English words as "cathartic." It is a strong word, sometimes translated as "purify" and even "purge." The sin not only is to be confessed, it must be purged!
 
The Lord Jesus Christ "by himself purged our sins" (Hebrews 1:3), so that God can be perfectly "faithful and just to forgive us our sins" on the basis of His cleansing blood and sanctifying Word. But this is far more than an academic formula, for this cleansing, purifying, and purging must become a real experience in one's life, and the Lord will do whatever is necessary to make it so. He "gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify |same word as 'cleanse'| unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works" (Titus 2:14).
 
We must learn to "walk in the light" and to be "zealous of good works," as He "purgeth us from all unrighteousness" when we "confess our sins." It is necessary that we be constrained to become more "like him," for "when he shall appear, . . . we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure" (1 John 3:2-3). Thus, His forgiveness of our sins is inevitably accompanied by a purging of our lives. HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Signs of the Times
 
"When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?" (Matthew 16:2-3)
 
This sharp rebuke by the Lord Jesus was well deserved, for His critics were challenging Him to prove His right to be heard by performing a miracle. But they had already been confronted with a tremendous body of evidence, both in their Scriptures and in the very life and teachings of Jesus (as well as in the miracles already wrought by Him) that He was their Messiah. They paid great attention to weather forecasting and other mundane matters, while ignoring or rejecting the evidence that God Himself, in Christ, was in their midst.
 
Today we are more occupied with daily weather even than they were, with all sorts of forecasting devices in operation. There is also a growing army of doomsday forecasters, loudly concerned about a predicted nuclear winter, overpopulation, pollution, alien invasions from outer space, and a host of other foreboding secular "signs of the times."
 
Yet they ignore the overwhelming evidences, both in science and Scripture, that our great Creator/Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, is still in control and is coming again soon to fulfill His great purposes in creation and redemption. A mere listing of the many real signs of God’s times would take many pages. One such sign, of course, is this very proliferation of science and technology. At "the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased" (Daniel 12:4). Another is the great following achieved by these false teachers, as multitudes "turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables" (2 Timothy 4:4). "Hypocrites," Jesus said, are concerned with secular trends, but spiritual discerners can recognize the true signs. HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Profit and Loss
 
"For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Matthew 16:26)
 
In these materialistic days, many people have become abnormally occupied with investments and returns, capital gains and losses, balance sheets and cash flows. This is nothing new, of course. The prevalence of covetousness is so universal, in one form or another, that God had to place a prohibition on it in the Ten Commandments.
 
The Lord Jesus made a heart-searching comparison one day, when He posed a surprising question relative to divine bookkeeping. Not even the riches of all the world could purchase one human soul, yet men often seem willing to sacrifice their souls in pursuit of riches. Is such an exchange really a sound investment? Merely to ask the question is to answer it.
 
Earning wealth is good, if it is acquired honorably and by the will of God, but coveting wealth and hoarding wealth are foolish sins. Here is another of many divine profit-and-loss statements: "There is |he| that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is |he| that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches" (Proverbs 13:7). The true measure of profit and loss is the balance sheet kept in heaven. One must first glean an account there, however, and this means coming to God emptyhanded, on the basis of Christ's free gift of His own riches. "Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9). He died for us, that we might live through Him.
 
Then, once our heavenly account is established, here is real investment counseling: "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth . . . But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, . . . For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Matthew 6:19-21). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Light for Every Man
 
"That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." (John 1:9)
 
The Bible clearly teaches that faith in the person and saving work of Jesus Christ is essential for salvation. Jesus Himself said: "I am the way . . . no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
 
This means that there is no salvation whatsoever in Islam or Buddhism, and certainly not in evolutionary humanism--or anything other than faith in Christ!
 
But what about the millions over the ages who have lived and died without ever hearing about Christ? Paul answers: "But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world" (Romans 10:18). That is, they have heard! Our text reminds us that Jesus Christ is the true Light that has been sent to every man in the world. Paul was referring to the familiar 19th Psalm, which reminds us that God's glory is declared by the heavens themselves.
 
Paul also stressed that even God's "eternal power and Godhead" are "clearly seen" "from the creation of the world," so that those who don't see are "without excuse" (Romans 1:20). Thus, as Peter said "in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him" (Acts 10:35). Although Christ has provided at least some light for "every man," the tragedy is that "men loved darkness rather than light" (John 3:19). But for those like Cornelius (to whom Peter was sent with the gospel--Acts 10) who act on whatever light they have (in nature or conscience or any possible remnants of primeval truth in their native religi on), God will send more light, for "he that doeth truth cometh to the light" (John 3:21). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Songs in the Night
 
"Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the day time, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life." (Psalm 42:7-8)
 
There are times in the life of a believer when he seems about to sink under great avalanches of trouble and sorrow. But then "I call to remembrance my song in the night" (Psalm 77:6), and God answers once again. In the book of Psalms, the theme of conflict and suffering is prominent, but always there is also the note of hope and ultimate triumph.
 
The very first psalm, for example, notes the conflict of the righteous with the ungodly, but promises that "the way of the ungodly shall perish" (v. 6). The second psalm foretells the final rebellion of the heathen against God and His anointed, but assures us that God will "vex them in his sore displeasure" (vv. 2, 5). In Psalm 3, the believer says: "Many are they that rise up against me." But then he remembers that "salvation belongeth unto the LORD" (vv. 1, 8). He cries in Psalm 4: "Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer" (v. 1).
 
In Psalm 5, immediately after the first imprecation in the psalms ("cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions") occurs the first specific mention of singing in the book of Psalms: "Let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout [literally 'sing'] for joy, because thou defendest them" (vv. 10-11).
 
The Lord Jesus and His disciples sang a psalm, even as they went out into the night of His betrayal and condemnation (Mark 14:26). This is His gracious promise: "Ye shall have a song, as in the night. . . . And the LORD shall cause his glorious voice to be heard" (Isaiah 30:29-30). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

The Powers of God
 
"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." (Revelation 1:8)
 
In these days of rampant humanism, blatant materialism, and effete religionism, the very concept of an all-powerful God who created, controls, and judges all things seems anachronistic, but God is still there and is still the Almighty.
 
Three Greek words are translated "power" in Scripture--exousia ("authority"), dunamis ("ability"), and kratos ("strength"). Each is attributed in unlimited extent to God the Creator as incarnate in Christ the Redeemer. "All power ['authority'] is given unto me in heaven and in earth" (Matthew 28:18). "For thine is the kingdom, and the power ['ability'], and the glory, for ever" (Matthew 6:13). "That ye may know . . . the exceeding greatness of his power ['ability'] to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power ['strength'], Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power ['authority'], and might, and dominion" (Ephesians 1:18-21).
 
He is the "Almighty God" of Abraham (Genesis 17:1), "the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth" (Isaiah 40:28). "Our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased" (Psalm 115:3).
 
God can do whatever He pleases, except anything contrary to His nature. He "cannot lie" (Titus 1:2), for He is "the truth" (John 14:6). His inspired word is inerrant--"the scripture of truth" (Daniel 10:21). We can be certain that He did not "create" the world by evolution, for that would be contradicted both by His infallible Word and by His omnipotence. Being all-powerful, God would surely not create by such a cruel, inefficient process as evolution. HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

The Law of Liberty
 
"So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty." (James 2:12)
 
On Independence Day, Americans should give thanks to the Author of liberty that we have been privileged to live in this "sweet land of liberty," where we can worship God freely, in accord with His Word. Liberty is not license, however, and the essence of the American system is liberty under law. Fundamentally, that law is "the law of nature and of nature's God"--the natural laws of God's world and the revealed laws of God's Word. Within that framework we do have liberty--but not liberty to defy either the physical law of gravity or the spiritual "law of liberty." The latter is formulated in Scripture and has been applied over the centuries, in the English common law and later in our system of constitutional law, both of which are based on Scripture.
 
Some today, seeking license rather than liberty, might recoil at the very idea of "the law of liberty," calling it an "oxymoron," or contradiction in terms. But Jesus said that only "the truth shall make you free!" (John 8:32). "Sin is the transgression of the law" (1 John 3:4), and "sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death" (James 1:15), not freedom!
 
No one can be saved by the law, but those who are saved--by grace through faith in Christ--will love God's law, for it is "holy, and just, and good" (Romans 7:12). We should say with the psalmist: "So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever. And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts" (Psalm 119:44-45).
 
There is, indeed, a law of liberty, and whoever will walk in real liberty will find it only in God's law of life, through His revealed Word. For "whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed" (James 1:25). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Meditation
 
"Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works." (Psalm 119:27)
 
The remarkable 119th Psalm, with its 22 eight-verse stanzas, is the unique "song of the word," containing 176 testimonies or prayers concerning God's Word--one for each verse. Eight times the word "meditate" or "meditation" is used, indicating the importance of this practice in relation to the Scriptures. In our text, this word is translated "talk," but its basic thrust is to exhort us to meditate on the wonderful works of God, once we understand the way of His precepts.
 
The other seven references to meditation in this psalm are as follows: "I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways" (v. 15). "Princes also did sit and speak against me: but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes" (v. 23). "My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes" (v. 48). "Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt perversely with me without a cause: but I will meditate in thy precepts" (v. 78). "O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day" (v. 97). "I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation" (v. 99). "Mine eyes prevent |i.e., anticipate| the night watches, that I might meditate in thy word" (v. 148).
 
There is, of course, a counterfeit form of meditation (e.g., the so-called transcendental meditation and other forms of mysticism), not to mention useless daydreaming. These forms of meditation involve clearing one's mind of all subjects, and allowing the mind to wander. In contrast, true meditation involves pondering with awe and thankfulness God's wonderful Word, His ways, and His works--in connection with prayer and the study of the Holy Scriptures. An exercise of the mind as well as of the spirit, it is an exercise of great blessing, and is most pleasing to God. HMM