A Daily Devotional

[Soldier4Christ]

Savor of Life or Death

“For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?” (2 Corinthians 2:15-16)

It’s remarkable how the very same testimony can have such dramatically opposite effects on its recipients. A lecture on the scientific evidences of creation, for example, or on the inspiration of the Bible will be received with great joy and understanding by some, provoke furious hostility in some, and generate utter indifference in others. This seems to be true of any message—written, or verbal, or simply demonstrated in behavior—that has any kind of biblically spiritual dimension to it. It’s like the pillar of cloud in the wilderness, which “came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night” (Exodus 14:20). A Christian testimony draws and wins the one, repels and condemns the other. Some there are who “loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19).

Thus, the wonderful message of the gospel yields two diametrically opposite results. “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36). Christ came to bring both unity and division. “Behold I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious....Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient....a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word” (1 Peter 2:6-8).

But the wonderful thing is this: Whether a true testimony generates life or condemns to death, it is still “unto God a sweet savor of Christ.” HMM

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Dividing Light from Darkness

“And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.” (Genesis 1:3-4)

Initially, the created cosmos was in darkness—a darkness that God Himself had to create (“I form the light, and create darkness”—Isaiah 45:7). But then the dark cosmos was energized by the Spirit’s moving, and God’s light appeared. The darkness was not dispelled, however, but only divided from the light, and the day/night sequence began, which has continued ever since.

This sequence of events in the physical creation is a beautiful type of the spiritual creation, “a new creature” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Each individual is born in spiritual darkness, but “God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). We are now “partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light,” because He “hath delivered us from the power of darkness” (Colossians 1:12-13).

However, the light in the primeval darkness resulted only in a division of night and day. The night still comes, but God has promised that in the coming Holy City, “there shall be no night there” (Revelation 22:5).

Just so, even though we have been given a new nature of light, the old nature of darkness is still striving within, and we have to be exhorted: “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8). Nevertheless, “the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day” (Proverbs 4:18). When we reach that city of everlasting light, all spiritual darkness will vanish as well, for “there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth” (Revelation 21:27), and we shall be like Christ. HMM

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Reaching Hardened Hearts

“Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day. For they are impudent children and stiffhearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD.” (Ezekiel 2:3-4)

Yahweh tasked Ezekiel with a very difficult assignment. His message was to be presented to a hostile audience. Instead of faithfully listening to and embracing the teaching of God’s word, the people Ezekiel preached to were rebellious and obstinate. It was like pastoring a problematic and difficult church.

“Rebellious” means defiance or insubordination to authority. It occurs nine times in Ezekiel 2 and 3, and is repeated another eight times in the rest of his book. “Stiffhearted” and “hardhearted” occur in Ezekiel 2:4 and 3:7, and convey the obstinance and disobedience of God’s people. Similar expressions appear another seven times in the Bible to indicate a self-imposed spiritual hardening of the heart (Exodus 32:9; 33:3, 5; 34:9; Deuteronomy 2:30; Isaiah 48:4; Romans 10:21).

Rather than listening to God’s messenger, Ezekiel’s “congregation” viewed their captivity as a temporary setback to be alleviated by God in time, but certainly not through repentance and contrite hearts on their part (Psalm 51:17; Jeremiah 44:10). Like many today, Israel refused to admit their sin, unwilling to submit to the lordship of Yahweh. Ezekiel’s task then was the same as ours is now—declaring God’s Word to whomever God places in our path.

Ambassadors of Christ have the mandate to lovingly declare the gospel. All of God’s revealed truth is written to point us toward making that all-important gospel decision, placing our hands on the plow, and pressing forward in service to our Lord (Luke 9:62). CM

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Saints and Sinners

“Then Job answered the LORD, and said, Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.” (Job 40:3-4)

It’s remarkable how the saintliest of men often confess to being the worst of sinners. The patriarch Job was said by God Himself to be “a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil” (Job 1:8). Yet, when Job saw God, he could only say, “Behold, I am vile.”

And consider Abraham, who is called “the father of all them that believe” (Romans 4:11). When he presumed to talk to God, however, Abraham said that he was “but dust and ashes” (Genesis 18:27).

David, “the sweet psalmist of Israel” (2 Samuel 23:1), and “a man after [God’s] own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14), said: “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:5). Isaiah, the greatest of the prophets, testified when he came into God’s presence: “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips” (Isaiah 6:5).

The angel recognized Daniel the prophet as “a man greatly beloved” by God (Daniel 10:11). Yet, when Daniel saw God, he fell on his face and said: “My comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength” (Daniel 10:8).

In the New Testament, the apostle Peter said: “I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Luke 5:8), and Paul called himself the chief of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). God dwells “in the light which no man can approach unto” (1 Timothy 6:16).

The closer one comes to the Lord, the more clearly one sees his own sinfulness and the more wonderful becomes God’s amazing grace. No one who is satisfied with his or her own state of holiness has yet come to know the Lord in His state of holiness! None dare face the Lord except by His grace through the mediator Jesus Christ. HMM

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Resisting the Devil

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.” (1 Peter 5:8-9)

The devil is far more powerful and intelligent (as well as subtle and seductive in his malignant purposes) than any combination of human enemies we could ever face, and we would be utterly unable to defeat him with our own human resources. Yet, God’s Word makes it plain that we are neither to yield to him nor flee from him. Instead, the admonition is: “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

But how can we resist such a mighty foe? As in our text, we must constantly maintain sobriety and vigilance against his enticements, and be careful to remain “steadfast in the faith.” Otherwise, the pseudo-intellectualism and social peer pressure to which we are subjected daily could quickly persuade us to compromise the faith, or even to depart from the faith.

We are commanded not to yield and not to compromise. Instead, we must “put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” We have “the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the [wicked one],” and also “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:11, 16-17).

This mighty sword with which we can make Satan flee from us is literally “the saying of God”—that is, an appropriate individual word from the complete Word of God. This was the instrument with which the Lord Jesus Himself resisted the devil, parrying each temptation with an incisive thrust of Scripture. The result then—as it will be now with us also—was that the devil “departed from him for a season” (Luke 4:13). HMM

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He Became Poor

“For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9)

The doctrine of Christ’s kenosis, or self-emptying, is one of the most amazing of all biblical truths. The extent to which He who was not only “in the form of God” but also “equal with God” condescended to “make himself of no reputation” (the translation of kenoo in Philippians 2:6-7) is utterly beyond human comprehension.

He who once sat on the throne of the universe came to Earth “lying in a manger” (Luke 2:12). Throughout His public ministry, He had “not where to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20). Because He had no money to pay the tax, He had to catch a fish with the necessary coin in its mouth (Matthew 17:27). In His agony at Gethsemane, none of His friends would pray with Him, and when He was arrested they all “forsook him and fled” (Matthew 26:40, 56). No one defended Him at His trial.

On the cross, the soldiers stripped away His only personal possessions—the clothes on His back—and then “parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take” (Mark 15:24). When He died, His body had to be buried in a tomb belonging to Joseph of Arimathea (Matthew 27:59-60). No home, no money, no possessions, no defenders, not even a tomb of His own in which to lie.

But He had a cross on which to die, and because He was obedient to the death of the cross, “God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name” (Philippians 2:9). Through His poverty we become rich, through His homelessness we have a mansion in heaven, and through His terrible death on Calvary we have everlasting life. Yes, we do know the grace of Christ! HMM

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Son of Man

“And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.” (Revelation 14:14)

This is the last of some 87 New Testament references (84 in the four gospels, one in Acts, none in the epistles, two in Revelation) to Christ as the Son of man. Here we see the Son of man coming on a white cloud from heaven (just as He had ascended into heaven after His resurrection) as the conquering King of all the earth.

What a contrast this is to the first New Testament reference to the Son of man. “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20). From humility and poverty on Earth to power and riches in heaven, and for all eternity—this was His journey when Christ left His heavenly glory to join the human family.

In between the poverty and the power lay the whole human experience, for He “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Finally, as Son of man He must die for man’s sin, for “the Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again” (Luke 24:7). Even in heaven He is still the Son of man, for Stephen saw Him thus: “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56).

There is, indeed, a great man in the glory! Christ called Himself “the Son of man” much more often than “the Son of God,” though He will eternally be both, the God/man. He delights to identify with those whom He has redeemed, for He “is not ashamed to call them brethren” (Hebrews 2:11). “Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?” asked Jesus. Then we say with Peter, “Thou art...the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:13, 16). HMM

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God's Well-Designed Creation

“I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.” (Psalm 139:14-18)
 
All of God’s creatures are fearfully and wonderfully made. Just look at the direct hand of God in the well-designed formation of a baby, as described in today’s passage.
 
Lamentably, Darwin’s Pandora’s box of death-based, anti-design, hit-and-miss ideology is alive and well in many origins teachings, conflicting with the theology that’s celebrated in this psalm. Regrettably, many believers are “evolutionized” in their thinking. They hold on to the vestiges of natural selection, which treats the chaos, mutations, and death that sin thrust into God’s originally “very good” creation as though they are the building blocks God used to create! Many have sold out to anti-design theory, evolution’s “center of gravity” for Darwinian ideology. In fact, natural selection’s broken randomness is counter to God’s “wonderfully made” design as depicted in Psalm 139.
 
We see the reverse of randomness as we view the marvelous Designer’s works. We must turn from past compromises and examine God’s ordered creation through the lens of Scripture, praising Yahweh’s wisdom, power, and genius, and proclaiming, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork” (Psalm 19:1). CM

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Knowing Jesus Christ

“I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.” (Mark 1:24)

Today’s verse records the response of a demonic host just before Christ cast it out. In Mark 1:34, we are told that Jesus “suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him.”

One thing we can learn from this is the uselessness of a mere intellectual knowledge of Jesus Christ. Playing off this idea, James 2:19 says, “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” The problem is that the demons knew who Christ was—as did many of the scribes, Pharisees, and other Jews of the day who witnessed His miracles and teachings firsthand—but this knowledge was not unto salvation.

A mere knowledge of the truths and doctrines of Christianity will never save one’s soul. This type of intellectual acknowledgement is no better than the belief of the devils who knew that Jesus is Christ. Clearly, our faith in Jesus needs to be of the heart as well as the head. Our knowledge, faith, and love of Christ should also have a sanctifying effect on our affections and our lives.

Let us not only believe that Jesus is God’s Son and the Savior of the world but rejoice in Him and cleave to Him with purpose of heart. Let us not merely be acquainted with Him by head knowledge but by daily prayer imploring His mercy and grace. “The life of Christianity,” said the reformer Martin Luther, “consists in possessive pronouns.” It’s one thing to say “Christ is a Savior” but quite another to say “He is my Savior and my Lord.” True Christianity is one of daily relationship and dependency on the Lord Jesus Christ. JPT

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The First Love

“Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17:24)

This is the very heart of the moving prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ in the upper room before His arrest and crucifixion. As we hear Him pray, we are translated back in time, before time began, and there we encounter the indescribable love within the counsels of the triune Godhead—Father, and Son, and Spirit—three persons, yet one God.

Then, after speaking of this love, Jesus prayed—in the final words of His sure-to-be-answered prayer—“that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them” (v. 26).

This love—the love within the Trinity—was the primeval love and, therefore, is the spring from which flows every other form of true love—marital love, mother love, brotherly love, love of country, love of friends, love for the lost, or any other genuine love.

It’s appropriate that the first mention of love in the Old Testament refers to the love of a father (Abraham) for his son Isaac (Genesis 22:2), and then that the first reference to love in the New Testament (Matthew 3:17) speaks of the heavenly love of God the Father for God the Son. In both cases, the son is called “beloved,” yet in both cases the father and son are prepared to go to the altar of sacrifice, that the will of God might be done and a way of salvation be provided for lost sinners.

“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). One day—as He prayed—we shall be with Him, see His glory, and even experience His own eternal love in our hearts. HMM

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Thine, O Lord

“Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.” (1 Chronicles 29:11)

This is one of the great doxologies of Scripture, originally a part of King David’s prayer at the time of Solomon’s coronation as his successor. Although David and Solomon were the greatest kings of Israel, and two of the greatest kings in the world of their age, David rightly acknowledged that the Lord Himself was the true King, not only of Israel, but of all heaven and Earth. He is head, the supreme ruler, over all.

This is the first occurrence in Scripture of the great testimony of worship: “Thine is the kingdom.” In the modern world, however, there are relatively few who acknowledge Him as King of creation. Except for a small minority, most people believe that the universe has evolved and man is king.

But David’s prayer will be echoed again in the great prayer of the cherubim: “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created” (Revelation 4:11). Then, soon afterward, “the four and twenty elders” utter their prayer: “We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty...because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned” (Revelation 11:16-17).

Someday, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess Him as King of kings and Lord of lords. “Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion....Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth....Blessed are all they that put their trust in him” (Psalm 2:6, 10, 12). In that day, “there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him” (Revelation 22:3). HMM

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They That Wait upon the Lord

“But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)

This is one of the best-loved promises of the Bible, for it is easy to grow weary and faint in our mortal bodies, even when doing the work of the Lord. The answer, we are told, is to “wait upon the LORD.”

But what does this mean? The Hebrew word (gavah) does not mean “serve” but rather to “wait for” or “look for.” It is translated “waited for” the second time it is used in the Bible, when the dying patriarch Jacob cried out: “I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD” (Genesis 49:18).

The first time it is used, surprisingly, is in connection with the third day of creation, when God said: “Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place” (Genesis 1:9). That is, the all-pervasive waters of the original creation, divided on the second day of creation, now are told to wait patiently, as it were, while God formed the geosphere, the biosphere, and the astrosphere, before dealing again with the waters.

Perhaps the clearest insight into its meaning is its use in the picture of Christ foreshadowed in the 40th Psalm. “I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry” (Psalm 40:1).

“The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary” (Isaiah 40:28), and His gracious promise is that we can “renew our strength” (literally, “exchange our strength,” our weakness for His strength!) by “waiting upon [Him].” We wait patiently for Him, we gather together unto Him, we look for Him, we cry unto Him, we trust Him, and He renews our strength! HMM

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Fellowship with the Father

“...and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.” (1 John 1:3)
 
One marvelous reason for which God has adopted us (Ephesians 1:5), indeed part of the very “calling” to become God’s children, is to fellowship with the great God of creation (1 Corinthians 1:9)!

Jesus prayed in John 17 that His chosen disciples might have the same kind of relationship with the heavenly Father that Jesus Himself had throughout eternity. Our minds may not totally grasp that wonder down here—except as we try to understand something of the key of walking “in the light” (1 John 1:7).

The nature of light in our universe gives us clues.
     Light is unchangeable; one cannot make light dark.
     Light exposes everything (reveals and brings clarity).
     Light is the sustainer of all life as we know it.

The nature of darkness is also very instructive.
     Darkness is driven away by the smallest spark.
     Darkness covers everything (hides and obscures).
     Darkness will kill all life as we know it.

“The path of the just is as the shining light....The way of the wicked is as darkness” (Proverbs 4:18-19). The promise of fellowship with God is that He “will lead them in paths that they have not known” and that He “will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight” (Isaiah 42:16).

Therefore, “let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation” (1 Thessalonians 5:8). Since we were “sometimes darkness” (Ephesians 5:8) but have been delivered from “the power of darkness” (Colossians 1:13), we should no longer “fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” (Ephesians 5:11). HMM III

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Why Did Christ Die?

“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)

This passage is often considered the defining passage of the gospel, stating the great truth that Christ died for our sins, then was buried (thus stressing that His resurrection was a physical resurrection, not just spiritual), and then rose again. As such, it’s interesting that verse 1 that introduces it (“I declare unto you the gospel”) contains the central mention of the more than 100 times the Greek word for “gospel” occurs in the New Testament.

However, it does not say why Christ died for our sins. It was not just to pay for our salvation and make us happy. There are, in fact, numerous references to His substitutionary death that do give us further insight into just why Christ died for us and our salvation.

For example, “he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:15). And consider Galatians 1:4, in which Paul tells us that Christ “gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world.”

Peter’s testimony and explanation was that the Lord Jesus “his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24). John said: “[God] loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another” (1 John 4:10-11).

There are many other verses to the same affect. Christ did not die merely to save our souls but to empower us to live in a way that would glorify God right here on Earth. HMM

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A Still, Small Voice

“And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.”
(1 Kings 19:12)

Elijah was in hiding for his life, even though God had spectacularly answered his prayer with fire from heaven. Jezebel, however, had not been intimidated by Elijah’s victory and swore she would kill him. He fell into such depression that he wanted to die. If Jezebel could not be impressed with fire from heaven, how could Elijah ever hope to defeat her and her armies? Not even an angel could remove his doubts.

But then was sent “a great and strong wind,” and “after the wind an earthquake” (1 Kings 19:11). But the Lord was not in the wind or the earthquake or the fire. God finally reached Elijah with “a still small voice,” and that voice assured him that God was well in control of all circumstances. Similarly, Moses told the children of Israel, as they faced the Red Sea: “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD” (Exodus 14:13).

It was prophesied of the Lord Jesus that “he shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.” Nevertheless, it was also promised “he shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth” (Isaiah 42:2, 4; see also Matthew 12:19-20).

In our human impatience, we think God should always move immediately in great strength. Unless there are large numbers of converts and displays of power, we grow discouraged, like Elijah. But God more often speaks in a still, small voice and works in a quiet way. “And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you,...And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left” (Isaiah 30:18, 21). HMM