A Daily Devotional

[Soldier4Christ]

The Urgency of Salvation

“For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2)

Perhaps the most deadly sin of the unbeliever is that of procrastination. Satisfied with his current life, he neglects his spiritual need. Even if he understands the gospel and realizes his need of salvation, he still puts off a decision.

But it is always dangerous to count too strongly on tomorrow. “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away” (James 4:14). The sin of procrastination may easily become the sin of negligence, then of indifference, and finally the unforgivable sin of irrevocable rejection and unbelief. “My spirit shall not always strive with man” (Genesis 6:3). This warning was true in the antediluvian world and it is certainly as true today, when we have far more knowledge and evidence of God’s truth and His will than people did in the days of Noah.

“To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your heart” (Psalm 95:7-8). This warning of the psalmist was considered so important that the writer of Hebrews quoted it three times (Hebrews 3:7-8, 15; 4:7). Such an emphasis suggests there is indeed great danger in resisting God’s call to salvation. There may be another opportunity, but it is presumptuous and dangerous to impose too long on God’s patient mercy.

Today is the day of salvation. The accepted time is now! “Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?...It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:29, 31). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Shielded by the Word

“I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love. Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.” (Psalm 119:113-114)

The Bible is replete with military imagery. We are told to “wrestle” against the “spiritual wickedness in high places” and to be sure that we put on “the whole armour of God” (Ephesians 6:12-13). As the good soldiers of the King, we are told to “endure hardness” (2 Timothy 2:3) and expected, as His army, to be about the “pulling down of strong holds” (2 Corinthians 10:4).

David was a warrior king, and many of his psalms contain battle terms used both literally and figuratively to show the way God protects and provides for us in spiritual warfare. The “hiding place” David often mentioned was a secret retreat that provided shelter from the enemy (Psalm 32:7). The “shield” can refer to the same sort of retreat but is most often used to describe a soldier’s defensive buckler. Faith is our shield in spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6:16).

Thus, in this stanza (Psalm 119:113-120), the psalmist visualized God in the role of Protector and Captain. He looked to God for his life while being upheld “according unto thy word” (v. 116). Safety was no doubt prominent in his thoughts while affirming that he had continual respect for God’s statutes (v. 117).

The psalmist was also fearfully aware of God’s take-no-prisoners attitude toward those who are against Him (vv. 118-119). While our gracious Lord and King is patient toward all sinners, His ultimate plan is to “put down all rule and all authority and power” (1 Corinthians 15:24). Knowing this, the psalmist concluded: “My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments” (Psalm 119:120). Only a fool refuses to fear the Creator’s wrath. HMM III

[Soldier4Christ]

Cursed or Blessed

“Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.” (Jeremiah 17:5)

Jeremiah provides for us a striking contrast between the self-assured humanist and the one who has placed his trust in God. The man who looks to his own abilities or those of others to save him in time of trouble is “cursed.” His existence will be one of futility, just as is that of a parched desert plant (v. 6). Why? Because his “heart departeth from the LORD” (v. 5), the source of strength and salvation.

Jeremiah uses a play on words here. The words for “man” in our text are different: the first means “warrior” or “strong man,” and the second a “normal man.” The warrior who should be strong is cursed because he is trusting in one who is weak; in this case, any other man’s wisdom or might, or even his own strength, when overestimated. What sense is there in that?

In contrast, “blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD” (v. 7). “He shall be as a tree planted by the waters,...and shall not be careful [i.e., anxious] in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit” (v. 8). Why? Because his “hope the LORD is” (v. 7). We see the warrior—one who might be considered strong—trusting solely in the true “strong man,” the Lord.

It is a tragic fact that even many Christians fall into the mindset of the autonomous humanist and attempt to live their lives (even “the Christian life”) under their own power. Do we trust in our own feeble power or in the Lord? Every heart, whether humanist or Christian, “is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (v. 9). Make no mistake! “I the LORD search the heart” (v. 10); He knows our inner motives. Let us recommit ourselves to trust in the Lord and make Him our hope. JDM

[Soldier4Christ]

Fringe Issues

“And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient.” (2 Timothy 2:24)

One of the plagues of modern-day Christendom is that many take up side issues and deem them all-important— a point of separation between them and other Christians. Health foods, dress codes, and church constitutions are not unimportant, but Christians can hold different opinions and still be walking with God. Note the scriptural admonitions: “Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace [i.e., primary issues]; not with meats [i.e., fringe issues], which have not profited them that have been occupied therein” (Hebrews 13:9); “foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes” (2 Timothy 2:23).

On the other hand, there are many scriptural commands to hold “fast the faithful word” (Titus 1:9); to “keep that which is committed to thy trust” (1 Timothy 6:20). Many of these points of “sound doctrine” (Titus 1:9) are absolutely essential, such as the deity of Christ, the authority of Scripture, salvation by grace, the resurrection of Christ, and many others clearly and specifically taught in Scripture. Perhaps the rule might be, if it’s an essential doctrine, teach and defend it at all costs; if it’s a secondary doctrine, teach it in “meekness” and love (2 Timothy 2:25). But if it’s a fringe issue, avoid strife over it, allowing brothers to exercise their freedom.

Is creationism a fringe issue? No! Few doctrines are so clearly taught in Scripture. Is it crucial to salvation? No! But it is essential to adequately understand the great primary doctrines for it is foundational to them all. Furthermore, it is the subject of origins, which the enemy has identified as a major battleground, vowing to destroy Christianity over this issue. Here we must stand if we are to guard our faith. JDM

[Soldier4Christ]

Science—True and False

“And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” (Genesis 2:9)

It is significant that the first reference to “science” in the Bible is in connection with the tree of the “science” of good and evil. The English word “science” comes from the Latin scientia, meaning “knowledge.” In both Old and New Testaments, “science” and “knowledge” translate the same Greek and Hebrew words respectively. Science—properly speaking—is what we know, not naturalistic speculation (as in evolutionary “science”). Adam and Eve knew a great deal about God and His creation, and all of it was “very good” (Genesis 1:31); they did not need to have a knowledge of evil, and God warned them against it (2:17).

But they partook of the evil tree anyway, and therewith evil knowledge entered the hearts and minds of mankind. Throughout the long ages since, true science has been of great good in the world and false science has wrought great harm. The apostle Paul has warned us against it: “Keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called” (1 Timothy 6:20). In the context of the times, Paul was specifically warning against the evolutionary pantheism of the gnostic philosophers.

In contrast, the final climactic reference in the Bible to knowledge is Peter’s exhortation to “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7), and in Jesus Christ “are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). Therefore, let us resolve to eschew the knowledge of evil and grow in the knowledge of Christ! HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Keep Alive Thy Work

“O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.” (Habakkuk 3:2)

Habakkuk had long been grieved by the apostasy and injustice in Judah. A sensitive man who trusted God completely, he could not understand why God allowed such rampant sin to go unpunished. Knowing God must have a reason for His actions, he asked in faith the question “Why?” (1:3).

In love God honors Habakkuk’s sincere question, but the answer caused him even greater concern: “For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not their’s” (v. 6). God intended to use the vicious Babylonians to punish His chosen people (vv. 5-11).

This prompted the prophet’s second question, “How?” How could God use such an evil people to punish the Jews (1:12–2:1)? God patiently explained that Israel’s sins merited captivity, and furthermore that Babylon’s sins would eventually be punished also.

Once Habakkuk knew God’s plan, he did not dispute it. Rather, his concern turned to his people—soon to be in captivity. He was afraid they would lose all knowledge of God in a heathen culture, and he prayed, “O LORD, revive thy work” (3:2, literally “keep alive thy work”). This concern was answered by a majestic appearance of the pre-incarnate Christ (vv. 3-15), through which Habakkuk understood that God would indeed judge His enemies (v. 12) and deliver His people (v. 13).

Habakkuk’s final response? Total submission to God’s sovereign control over all things. He claims that in spite of these overwhelming problems (3:18), “yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” JDM

[Soldier4Christ]

Origin of the Races

“These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood.” (Genesis 10:32)

This is the concluding verse of the tenth chapter of Genesis, known as “The Table of Nations.” It tells us that all the original nations of the world were formed from the descendants of Noah. The basis of this worldwide division was their dispersion at Babel (Genesis 11:9), “every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations” (Genesis 10:5; see also 10:20 and 10:31). Lest anyone think this list of original nations is simply folklore, he should remember that William F. Albright, probably the greatest archaeologist of the 20th century, called it “an astonishingly accurate document.” Many ethnologists still speak of Japhetic, Hamitic, and Semitic peoples and languages.

But what about the origin of races? One searches the Bible in vain for this information, for neither the word nor the concept of “race” appears in the Bible at all! There is no such thing as a race—except the human race! Skin color and other supposed racial characteristics are mere recombinations of innate genetic factors, originally created in Adam and Eve to permit development of different family characteristics as the human race was commanded to multiply and fill the earth (Genesis 1:28; 9:1).

“Race” is strictly an evolutionary concept used by Darwin, Huxley, Haeckel, and the other 19th-century evolutionists to rationalize their white racism. But from the beginning it was not so! “God that made the world and all things therein;... hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth” (Acts 17:24, 26). “Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother?” (Malachi 2:10). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Mind Control

“This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart.” (Ephesians 4:17-18)

A question that troubles many Christians is why most highly educated leaders in science and other fields—even theologians—seem to find it so difficult to believe the Bible and the gospel of Christ. The answer is in the words of our text: They are “alienated from the life of God” because of self-induced ignorance. It is not that they can’t understand, but that they won’t understand! They “walk, in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened...because of the blindness of their heart.” They don’t want to believe in their hearts, therefore they seek an excuse not to believe in their minds. They are “men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith” (2 Timothy 3:8).

The sad truth is that Satan himself controls their minds. They may be ever so intelligent in secular matters, but the gospel, with all its comprehensive and beautiful simplicity, remains hidden to them. “If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4).

Is there a remedy? Yes. “(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5). In this verse, the word “thought” is the same as “mind.” The weapons of truth, of prayer, of love, and of the Spirit can capture even such minds as these! HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

God with Us

“And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.” (Genesis 4:1)

Here is Eve’s testimony concerning the first child born to the human race. To understand it, we need to recall God’s first promise: “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; [He] shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15). These words, addressed to Satan, promised that the woman’s “seed” would destroy Satan. Thus, that seed would have to be a man, but the only one capable of destroying Satan is God Himself. Eve mistakenly thought that Cain would fulfill this promise, and when he was born, she testified: “I have gotten a man—even the LORD” (literal rendering).

Over three millennia later, essentially the same promise was renewed to the “house of David,” when the Lord said: “Behold, [the] virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:13-14). The definite article reflects the primeval promise that the divine/human Savior, when He comes, would be born uniquely as the woman’s seed, not of the father’s seed like all other men. His very name, Immanuel, means “God with us” (Matthew 1:23). He is “the Word...made flesh” (John 1:14).

While questions have been raised about the precise meaning of almah (Hebrew word translated “virgin”), there is no question in the New Testament: “Behold, [the] virgin [Greek parthenos, meaning virgin and nothing else] shall be with child” (Matthew 1:23). “When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman” (Galatians 4:4). “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Mary and the Grace of God

“And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.” (Luke 1:30)

This announcement by the angel Gabriel to the virgin Mary, that she had been chosen as the mother of the coming Savior, contains the first mention in the New Testament of the Greek word for grace (charis). Mary was chosen, not for anything she had done, but because she had “found grace.”

In a remarkable parallel, certainly implying divine inspiration, the first mention of grace in the Old Testament is also associated with the coming of a new dispensation in God’s dealings with men. “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD” (Genesis 6:8).

Just as Mary found grace, so Noah had found grace. Grace is not something one earns or purchases; grace is a treasure that is found! When a person finally realizes that salvation is only by the grace of God, received through faith in the saving work of Christ, he or she has made the greatest discovery that could ever be made, for it brings eternal life.

But there is an even greater dimension to the grace of God. When we do “find” grace, it is actually because God in His infinitely precious grace has found us and revealed to us the Savior of our souls. Just as God found Moses in the desert and found Paul on the road to Damascus, then saved and called them to His service, so He finds us, and then we also find His saving grace.

Mary’s discovery of God’s grace in salvation, through the coming of the “seed of the woman” into the world, is revealed in her Magnificat: “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour” (Luke 1:46-47). This could well have also been the testimony of Noah long ago, and it surely should be the testimony of each of us who has found grace today. HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

God Gave Himself

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

It is singularly appropriate that we look at this greatest of all verses on Christmas Day, for it records the greatest of all gifts. The theme of giving is very prominent in the Bible, with such words as “give,” “gift,” “gave,” etc., occurring more than 2,100 times. The first is Genesis 1:16-17 when God created the sun, moon, and stars “to give light upon the earth,” and the last is Revelation 22:12 when Christ will return with His rewards to “give every man according as his work shall be.” “He...gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons,” as well as “life, and breath, and all things” (Acts 14:17; 17:25).

But the greatest gift, clearly, was when God gave Himself for a lost and undeserving world. It was the greatest gift because it met the greatest need, revealed the greatest love, and had the greatest scope and purpose of any gift that could ever be conceived in the heart of an omniscient Creator.

That was not the end of His giving, of course. “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32). “Trust...in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy” (1 Timothy 6:17).

This great gift of God is abundantly sufficient to provide salvation and everlasting life for the whole world. But a gift only becomes a gift when it is accepted, and the greatest of all tragedies is that this greatest of all gifts has been spurned and even ridiculed, or—worst of all—simply ignored by multitudes who need it so much. When they brazenly refuse God’s free gift of everlasting life, they can only perish in everlasting death. God did all He could do when He gave His Son; for when He gave His Son, He gave Himself. HMM

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The Trinity in Ephesians

“There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” (Ephesians 4:4-6)

Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus is surely one of the most profoundly doctrinal—yet intensely practical—books of the Bible, and it is not surprising that the doctrine of the triune God breaks into his message so frequently. For example, note Ephesians 2:18: “For through [Christ] we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.”

More often, however, it appears not in a succinct formula like this but rather in interconnected references to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, always implying that each is deity, but never that they are three different “gods.” Paul prayed that “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him” (Ephesians 1:17).

He also prayed “unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,...That he would grant you,...to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith” (Ephesians 3:14, 16-17). Thus, the believer is “filled with all the fulness of God” (v. 19).

We are exhorted to “grieve not the holy Spirit of God,...even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:30, 32). And “be filled with the Spirit;...Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:18, 20).

There are others, but note especially our text, speaking of our unity in Him and His triunity in us. “There is...one Spirit...One Lord,...One God and Father of all, who is above all [i.e., the Father], and through all [the Son], and in you all [the Spirit].” All this is a magnificent mystery, but a wonderful reality! HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Judgment from the Word

“I have done judgment and justice: leave me not to mine oppressors.” (Psalm 119:121)

The Hebrew word mishpat is one of the eight terms used in Psalm 119 to identify the Word of God. The psalmist used mishpat in the opening of this stanza (Psalm 119:121-128) to declare obedience to God’s “judgments”—especially regarding those who oppress the Lord’s people.

Sometimes the Lord seems to delay action against those who rebel against truth. The prophet Habakkuk lived during such a time:

O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!...for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention. Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth. (Habakkuk 1:2-4)

During such times, we need “surety” (Psalm 119:122) from God to strengthen our minds. Paul warned Timothy of “perilous times” (2 Timothy 3:1) ahead but also reminded him of God’s pledge: “They shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as their’s also was” (2 Timothy 3:9).

After pleading his case, the psalmist stated: “It is time for thee, LORD, to work: for they have made void thy law” (Psalm 119:126). He expressed his love for the commandments—exceeding his desire for wealth—and concluded: “Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way” (Psalm 119:128). May our hearts be as resolute and as strong amid our opposition. Make it so, Lord Jesus. HMM III

[Soldier4Christ]

Keeping and Avoiding

“O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called.” (1 Timothy 6:20)

Note that there are contained here both positive and negative charges. Timothy, Paul’s son in the faith, is instructed to keep certain things and avoid others. The word “keep” is a military word that might better be translated “guard.” The word “avoid” implies more than merely refraining from contact. It has to do, instead, with actively and deliberately turning away from something.

Timothy is to guard that which has been committed into his care—by inference, something quite valuable—the complete gospel of Jesus Christ. “Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost” (2 Timothy 1:13-14).

Paul knew, however, that in order to guard the truth, Timothy must actively avoid the false, and lists three specific potential pitfalls. The first is profane babbling, i.e., any of those conversations and arguments that are of a worldly, ungodly, unclean nature. Next, he is to avoid vain, empty, hollow arguments. Elsewhere, Paul teaches “shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness” (2 Timothy 2:16).

Lastly, he is to avoid the opposing arguments of false science, or knowledge. Human wisdom found to be contrary to the wisdom of God may be called knowledge by some, but if so, it is “falsely so called.” Even “some professing [Christians] have erred concerning the faith” (1 Timothy 6:21).

Paul closes with the benediction “Grace be with thee.” May we all enjoy God’s grace as we attempt to keep the true, avoid the false, and discern the difference. JDM

[Soldier4Christ]

True Education

“For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.” (Genesis 18:19)

This is a very important verse comprising the first direct reference in the Bible to what we today would call education, and it is given in connection with God’s approving testimony concerning Abraham. Note that nothing is said concerning degrees or diplomas, the sciences or humanities, school buildings or textbooks.

It does tell us that God’s highest priority in the training of the young is that they learn to “keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment.” Such instruction is the responsibility of the home—not of the government or some educational association. It is to be given in the context of God’s promises and plans (thus in the context of divine revelation) and is to be framed in terms of “commands.”

This is also the teaching of the New Testament: “Fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4).

The Bible never refers to “education,” but there are many references to teaching, learning, and instruction. There are no references to teaching under the sponsorship of the government, however. As far as biblical precepts and examples are concerned, teaching the young is strictly a function of the home and the church (this could no doubt include several homes and churches cooperating in the provision of advanced or specialized instruction). Most importantly, all instruction, in every subject, should be governed by biblical criteria, for “all Scripture...is profitable...for instruction....That the man of God may be perfect [i.e., ‘fully prepared’]” (2 Timothy 3:16-17) for the work God wants him to do. HMM