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Cultivating a Heavenly Perspective – John MacArthur

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“God…has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Eph. 1:3, emphasis added).

It’s been said that some Christians are so heavenly minded, they’re no earthly good. But usually the opposite is true. Many Christians are so enamored with this present world that they no longer look forward to heaven. They have everything they want right here. The health, wealth, and prosperity doctrine has convinced them that Christians can have it all, and they pursue “the good life” with a vengeance.

Despite the prevalence of such thinking, the old Negro spiritual well says, “This world is not my home. I’m just a passin’ through.”

Paul reminds us of that truth in Philippians 3:20: “Our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” That’s why we must set our minds on heavenly, not on earthly things (Col. 3:1- 2). Our deepest affections and highest aspirations should center there. Our actions and decisions should reflect heavenly priorities, not earthly indulgences.

Even though we live in a sin-stained world and must constantly fight against its corrupting influences, God hasn’t left us stranded. He extends to us all the rights and privileges of our heavenly citizenship. Let that assurance encourage you today to live to His glory and rely on His heavenly provisions. Take care not to let impure aspirations or trivial pursuits distract you from your heavenly priorities.

Suggestions for Prayer:      Tell Jesus how thankful and full of praise you are because of the place He is preparing for you in heaven (John 14:1-3).

Pray for a greater awareness of the fleeting value of this world and the surpassing value of the world to come (1 John 2:17).

For Further Study:  Read Revelation 4-5, 21

What primary activity are the inhabitants of heaven engaged in?

List some of heaven’s blessings.

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Personal Gethsemanes – Greg Laurie

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Prior to the cross, Jesus went to a garden called Gethsemane. There, as He faced the horrors of what was to come on the cross, He prayed, “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me.”

What was that cup that Jesus was recoiling from? I believe it was the cup of God’s wrath, which He would drink for all of us. The judgment of God that should have come upon me instead came on Him.

He then prayed, “Not My will, but Yours be done.”

We will all face our own “Gethsemanes” in life. By that I mean, a time…

When life is not making any sense.

When your problems seem too great to bear.

When you are seemingly overwhelmed.

When you feel like you just can’t go on another day.

There is a point where we have to say something that is very important to God. And that is the same thing Jesus said: “Not my will, but Yours be done.”

Much is said about the cross (and rightly so), but keep in mind, here in the Garden of Gethsemane we see the decision that took Him to the cross was agonizingly made!

It is interesting that sin began in a garden. And the commitment to bear that sin was also in a garden.

In Eden, Adam sinned. In Gethsemane, Jesus conquered.

In Eden, Adam hid himself. In Gethsemane, our Lord boldly presented Himself.

In Eden, the sword was drawn. In Gethsemane, it was sheathed.

Jesus did this all for us.

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The Power of Jesus’ Name – Charles Stanley

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John 14: 13

Praying in Jesus’ name states both our relationship with Christ and our right—through Him—to approach the Father directly. It also expresses our . . .

• Authority to petition God. The glorified Christ now sits at the right hand of God, where He intercedes for us and serves as our High Priest (Heb. 7:25). He has instructed us to come and ask for what we need. These words give us the authorization to enter the throne room of grace at any time and speak personally with the Father. To everyone who has received Jesus Christ as Savior, the Lord has granted the right to use His name.

• Agreement with God’s purposes. Based on our kinship with Jesus, we have access to the Father and can come with Christ’s authority to make requests. But to use the Savior’s name, we must also agree with God’s purposes. Praying in the name of Jesus means we’re asking in agreement with His character and will. As servants of God, we are to make it our priority to obey Him and His will, not our own. By allowing God’s Word to abide in us—to become part of our thinking and our standard for life—we will learn to pray in accordance with His plan.

• Assurance of an answer. “In Jesus’ name” is a phrase of confidence. It is a confession of certainty that our prayers will be heard and answered.

God doesn’t want prayer to become a rote exercise. So when praying “in Jesus’ name,” remember that those three words are not a formula. Instead, let them be powerful reminder of whose you are and the privilege of being involved in His work. Prayer is a mighty prerogative of the children of God.

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Journey of Arrivals – Ravi Zacharias

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“As for me,” said American writer E.B. White, “I en­joy liv­ing among ped­es­tri­ans who have an in­stinct­ive and ha­bitu­al real­iz­a­tion that there is more to a jour­ney than the mere fact of ar­rival.”(1)

Under typical circumstances, the beloved author of Charlotte’s Web would not have presented me with much pause here. The pause of agreement, yes, for his is the kind of thought with which I deeply resonate. Particularly in the segments of life where we are comfortable with our divided realms, we lamentably fail to see the great gift of the collective whole; end triumphs over means, destination over the journey, heaven is divided from earth, the spiritual from the physical, the present from the eternal. White’s words fit aptly upon any soapbox addressing the paradox of a kingdom that is both present and approaching, a kingdom found both along the way and in our final arrival—a mystery Jesus championed again and again, in his storytelling and in his own coming and going. In the kingdom he espoused, the journey toward it is not a matter of merely arriving one distant day at the gates of pearl, but rather finding the pearl of great price in our midst even now and seizing it for all eternity. Under typical circumstances, I would have enlisted E.B. White’s voice in one of my favorite sermons and kept moving.

But I happened to read this quote as I watched live coverage of 33 Chilean miners emerging from a two-month journey of being trapped beneath the earth. For them, the journey was indeed astounding, but the arrival was everything.

Over seventy years ago from a pulpit in London, Dietrich Bonhoeffer described the image of a man trapped after a mining disaster: Deep in the earth, dark as night, the man is cut off and alone. The supply of oxygen is limited. Food, water, and options are scarce; silence and fear are not. He knows his situation, and he can do nothing but wait. Writes Bonhoeffer, “He knows that up there, the people are moving about, the women and children are crying—but the way to them is blocked. There is no hope.”(2) But what if just then, in the distance, the sounds of tapping are heard—the sound of knocking, the sound of friends, the sounds of drills, rescue capsules, and deliverance? This, said Bonhoeffer in December of 1933, is the hope of Christian Advent: the coming of a deliverer, the drawing near of God to humankind, the arrival of Christ our rescuer. Like the Chilean miners, elated at the arrival of Manuel Gonzalez, the rescuer sent 2,040 feet underground to coordinate the procedure, Christ’s arrival into our dark world matters most profoundly. His descent assures our ascent.

But his arrival is not the end of our waiting. The journey continues. “Can and should there be anything else more important for us than the hammers and blows of Jesus Christ coming into our lives?” asks Bonhoeffer.(3) Indeed, no. Yet even with the hope of Christ in our midst, Advent teaches us how to wait and to watch, how to experience the journey expectantly, though we remain in the dark, though we find ourselves impatient pedestrians anxious for new scenery. We learn to be pedestrians bent on arrival, but alert on the journey nonetheless: “When these things begin to take place,” instructs Christ, “stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28).

The world is of course still dark and lonely. But in it every day and each new year is the startling hope of a rescuer in our midst. “There are actually 34 of us,” wrote Jimmy Sanchez from underground, who at 19 years old was the youngest trapped miner, “because God has never left us down here.”(4) The signs and sounds of this hope are all around:  sounds of God’s reign in unexpected places; signs of Christ in fellow pedestrians; the sounds of saints who have gone before us, and now stand on the solid surface of our hope.

The story of Advent is a journey of arrivals. The word itself, from the Latin adventus, means arrival, approach, coming. And it is this storied mystery we are invited to proclaim: Christ has arrived. Christ walks among us. Christ assures our own arrival is near.

Jill Carattini is managing editor of A Slice of Infinity at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.

(1) E.B. White, One Man’s Meat (Gardiner, Maine: Tilbury House Publishers, 1997), 108.

(2) Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Christmas Sermons (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005), 89.

(3) Ibid., 96.

(4) Tim Padgett, “Chile’s Mine Rescue: Media Circus and Religious Revival,” Time Online, October 12, 2010, http://www.time.com/, accessed October 19, 2010.

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Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

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Morning  “Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” /

2 Peter 3:18

“Grow in grace”–not in one grace only, but in all grace. Grow in that

root-grace, faith. Believe the promises more firmly than you have done. Let

faith increase in fulness, constancy, simplicity. Grow also in love. Ask that

your love may become extended, more intense, more practical, influencing every

thought, word, and deed. Grow likewise in humility. Seek to lie very low, and

know more of your own nothingness. As you grow downward in humility, seek also

to grow upward–having nearer approaches to God in prayer and more intimate

fellowship with Jesus. May God the Holy Spirit enable you to “grow in the

knowledge of our Lord and Saviour.” He who grows not in the knowledge of

Jesus, refuses to be blessed. To know him is “life eternal,” and to advance in

the knowledge of him is to increase in happiness. He who does not long to know

more of Christ, knows nothing of him yet. Whoever hath sipped this wine will

thirst for more, for although Christ doth satisfy, yet it is such a

satisfaction, that the appetite is not cloyed, but whetted. If you know the

love of Jesus–as the hart panteth for the water-brooks, so will you pant

after deeper draughts of his love. If you do not desire to know him better,

then you love him not, for love always cries, “Nearer, nearer.” Absence from

Christ is hell; but the presence of Jesus is heaven. Rest not then content

without an increasing acquaintance with Jesus. Seek to know more of him in his

divine nature, in his human relationship, in his finished work, in his death,

in his resurrection, in his present glorious intercession, and in his future

royal advent. Abide hard by the Cross, and search the mystery of his wounds.

An increase of love to Jesus, and a more perfect apprehension of his love to

us is one of the best tests of growth in grace.

 

Evening  “And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.” / Genesis 42:8

This morning our desires went forth for growth in our acquaintance with the

Lord Jesus; it may be well tonight to consider a kindred topic, namely, our

heavenly Joseph’s knowledge of us. This was most blessedly perfect long before

we had the slightest knowledge of him. “His eyes beheld our substance, yet

being imperfect, and in his book all our members were written, when as yet

there was none of them.” Before we had a being in the world we had a being in

his heart. When we were enemies to him, he knew us, our misery, our madness,

and our wickedness. When we wept bitterly in despairing repentance, and viewed

him only as a judge and a ruler, he viewed us as his brethren well beloved,

and his bowels yearned towards us. He never mistook his chosen, but always

beheld them as objects of his infinite affection. “The Lord knoweth them that

are his,” is as true of the prodigals who are feeding swine as of the children

who sit at the table.

But, alas! we knew not our royal Brother, and out of this ignorance grew a

host of sins. We withheld our hearts from him, and allowed him no entrance to

our love. We mistrusted him, and gave no credit to his words. We rebelled

against him, and paid him no loving homage. The Sun of Righteousness shone

forth, and we could not see him. Heaven came down to earth, and earth

perceived it not. Let God be praised, those days are over with us; yet even

now it is but little that we know of Jesus compared with what he knows of us.

We have but begun to study him, but he knoweth us altogether. It is a blessed

circumstance that the ignorance is not on his side, for then it would be a

hopeless case for us. He will not say to us, “I never knew you,” but he will

confess our names in the day of his appearing, and meanwhile will manifest

himself to us as he doth not unto the world.

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Not Over Yet – Greg Laurie

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Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both — Ecclesiastes 11:6

Saul, later to become the apostle Paul, was doing the work of the kingdom before he was even in it. Had he not persecuted the church, I think the first-century Christians probably would have been content to stay in their little holy huddle in Jerusalem and never leave town. It was great, God had blessed, and there were believers all around. So who wanted to leave Jerusalem? But with Saul’s persecution, the Christians were forced to spread out, and in the process, they took the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.

I think the person who probably had the greatest influence in bringing about the conversion of Saul was Stephen, the church’s first martyr. I believe it was Stephen’s bold testimony that actually threw fuel on Saul’s fire, because Saul was under the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Stephen didn’t have a long ministry. He never wrote a book of the New Testament. But if his only convert was Saul of Tarsus, then he was one whopper of a convert.

You may not reach millions. You may not reach thousands. You may not reach hundreds. But you may be the person whom God uses to reach someone who will, in turn, change the world. Or, it may be a child whom you raised in the way of the Lord who reaches someone else who talks to someone else and eventually shares the gospel with someone like Saul. So here is what you need to realize: It’s not over till it’s over.

We need to be faithful in sowing the seed of the Word of God, because we don’t know where that seed will go . . . in this life . . . or in the next generation . . . or in the next one.

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Praying in Jesus’ Name – Charles Stanley

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John 16:19-33

Shortly before the crucifixion, Jesus told His followers to pray in His name—in other words, to make requests according to His will. He pointed out that power is attached to prayer offered this way: “The Father will give you whatever you ask in My name” (John 15:16 niv). Supplication in Christ’s name means we’re declaring our . . .

• Association with the Savior. What makes it possible for us to approach God through prayer is our relationship with Jesus. At salvation, we went from being foreigners and aliens to being children of God. (Eph. 2:19) Our Creator has become our heavenly Father. He hears our requests because we have been made family through the redemptive work of His Son. The presence of Christ’s Spirit within us proves we are one of His own.

• Access to the Father. Jesus’ death opened the way for us to have immediate, unhindered admittance to the Father’s presence. When Jesus finished His work in making the final priestly sacrifice (Heb. 7:28), the veil in the temple, which closed off the Holy of Holies from man, was torn in two. (Mark 15:38) This symbolized the spiritual truth that access to God was now open to all who believe. Through the Holy Spirit, we have the right to talk to God directly without a human intermediary (Eph. 2:18).

Jesus Christ fully paid the penalty for our sins by dying on the cross. Accepting His atoning death on our behalf means we are in a new family relationship and we have unhindered access to the Father. Let’s stop right now and give thanks to God for the incredible privilege of prayer!

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Which Virgin Birth? – Ravi Zacharias

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A while back I received an email from a friend of mine, a retired Princeton University professor, in which he detailed some of his objections to Christianity, and in his last line—as if to trump all other considerations—he wrote, “Nor can I believe in a virgin birth.” No further argument. As if to say, it would be crazy to believe in such a thing.

It did make me think, why is it so often the virgin birth that we have the hardest time accepting? Why not Jesus walking on water? Why not him multiplying the loaves?

Maybe it’s because we’re happy for God to do what he wants with his own body, and we’re happy for him to give us gifts, but we get offended at the thought of a miracle that inconveniences us, that has a claim on our lives, that requires us to respond “I am the Lord’s servant,” as Mary did (Luke 1:38).

I thought to write back to my friend with reasons why perhaps he could believe in a virgin birth. But then I realized, he already does. In fact, every person is committed to a virgin birth, whether they realize it or not.

We find one virgin birth in Chapter 1 of Luke’s Gospel:

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:38).

Admittedly, this is out of the realm of the ordinary. But what exactly is the alternative?

My colleague John Lennox recently debated another Princeton professor—Peter Singer—who is one of the world’s most influential atheists. John challenged him to answer this question: why are we here? And here’s how Peter responded:

“We can assume that somehow in the primeval soup we got collections of molecules that became self-replicating; and I don’t think we need any miraculous or mysterious .”(1)

And I remember thinking, How does us somehow getting self-replicating molecules in the primeval soup not count as a mysterious explanation? That sounds a lot like a virgin birth to me.

Or take the brilliant Cambridge physicist Stephen Hawking’s latest attempt to propose an atheistic explanation for our universe: “. . . the universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist.”(2)

Is that any less miraculous of a birth than the account from Luke Chapter 1?

We live in a miraculous world. Regardless of whether you are a theist, an atheist, or an agnostic, there’s no getting around that fact. It’s not a matter of whether we believe in a virgin birth, it’s just a matter of which virgin birth we choose to accept.

We can believe in the virgin birth of an atheistic universe that is indifferent to us—a universe where “there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind pitiless indifference.”(3) Or we can believe in the virgin birth of a God who loves us so deeply that he came to be born among us and to live beside us, to call us “family” (Hebrews 2:11) and “friends” (John 15:15), and to give himself the name “God with us” (Matthew 1:23; Isaiah 7:14).

There is a depth of relationship that is only possible between people who have been through the worst together— those who have been there in each other’s suffering, those who have fought through disaster side by side, those who have sat beside one another in devastation with nothing left to say other than “I know exactly what you’ve been through, and I still love you and I still believe in you.” Because of Jesus, that depth of relationship is possible with God. That is what we celebrate at Christmas.

Growing up near New York City, one of my most vivid memories of Christmas is of homeless people begging on the street corners. And I would give some change if I had some. Imagine someone who offers to trade his home for a cold street corner, who instead of giving a few coins sat down on the street corner himself and handed over the key to his home.

At Christmas, Jesus literally comes and lives in our home—with all of its suffering, sin, and shame—and he shows us the home it will be, the home he is preparing—an eternal home where “[God] will wipe every tear from [our] eyes,” where there will be “no more death or mourning or crying or pain” (Revelation 21:4).

The way we accept this gift is with simple words: I’m sorry. Thank you.

I’m sorry for the times I’ve hid from you. I’m sorry for the times I’ve run from you. I’m thankful that you didn’t give up on me, but were willing to make even the greatest sacrifice in order to be with me. I want to be with you too, wherever that leads, not only this Christmas but always.

Vince Vitale is a member of the speaking team with Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Oxford, England.

(1) “Is There a God,” Melbourne, Australia. 21 July 2011.

(2) Stephen Hawking, The Grand Design (New York: Bantam, 2010), 180.

(3) Richard Dawkins, A River Out of Eden (New York: Perseus, 1995), 133.

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Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

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Morning  “I will give thee for a covenant of the people.” / Isaiah 49:8

Jesus Christ is himself the sum and substance of the covenant, and as one of

its gifts. He is the property of every believer. Believer, canst thou estimate

what thou hast gotten in Christ? “In him dwelleth all the fulness of the

Godhead bodily.” Consider that word “God” and its infinity, and then meditate

upon “perfect man” and all his beauty; for all that Christ, as God and man,

ever had, or can have, is thine–out of pure free favour, passed over to thee

to be thine entailed property forever. Our blessed Jesus, as God, is

omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent. Will it not console you to know that all

these great and glorious attributes are altogether yours? Has he power? That

power is yours to support and strengthen you, to overcome your enemies, and to

preserve you even to the end. Has he love? Well, there is not a drop of love

in his heart which is not yours; you may dive into the immense ocean of his

love, and you may say of it all, “It is mine.” Hath he justice? It may seem a

stern attribute, but even that is yours, for he will by his justice see to it

that all which is promised to you in the covenant of grace shall be most

certainly secured to you. And all that he has as perfect man is yours. As a

perfect man the Father’s delight was upon him. He stood accepted by the Most

High. O believer, God’s acceptance of Christ is thine acceptance; for knowest

thou not that the love which the Father set on a perfect Christ, he sets on

thee now? For all that Christ did is thine. That perfect righteousness which

Jesus wrought out, when through his stainless life he kept the law and made it

honourable, is thine, and is imputed to thee. Christ is in the covenant.

“My God, I am thine–what a comfort divine!

What a blessing to know that the Saviour is mine!

In the heavenly Lamb thrice happy I am,

And my heart it doth dance at the sound of his name.”

 

Evening   “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight.” / Luke 3:4

The voice crying in the wilderness demanded a way for the Lord, a way

prepared, and a way prepared in the wilderness. I would be attentive to the

Master’s proclamation, and give him a road into my heart, cast up by gracious

operations, through the desert of my nature. The four directions in the text

must have my serious attention.

Every valley must be exalted. Low and grovelling thoughts of God must be given

up; doubting and despairing must be removed; and self-seeking and carnal

delights must be forsaken. Across these deep valleys a glorious causeway of

grace must be raised.

Every mountain and hill shall be laid low. Proud creature-sufficiency, and

boastful self-righteousness, must be levelled, to make a highway for the King

of kings. Divine fellowship is never vouchsafed to haughty, highminded

sinners. The Lord hath respect unto the lowly, and visits the contrite in

heart, but the lofty are an abomination unto him. My soul, beseech the Holy

Spirit to set thee right in this respect.

The crooked shall be made straight. The wavering heart must have a straight

path of decision for God and holiness marked out for it. Double-minded men are

strangers to the God of truth. My soul, take heed that thou be in all things

honest and true, as in the sight of the heart-searching God.

The rough places shall be made smooth. Stumbling-blocks of sin must be

removed, and thorns and briers of rebellion must be uprooted. So great a

visitor must not find miry ways and stony places when he comes to honour his

favoured ones with his company. Oh that this evening the Lord may find in my

heart a highway made ready by his grace, that he may make a triumphal progress

through the utmost bounds of my soul, from the beginning of this year even to

the end of it.

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Blessing the God of Blessings – John MacArthur

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“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us” (Eph. 1:3).

Paul’s brief doxology identifies God the Father as the ultimate recipient and source of blessing–the One to whom blessing is ascribed and the One who bestows blessings on those who love Him.

“Blessed” translates the Greek word euloge[ma]o, from which we get eulogy. To bless or eulogize God is to praise Him for His mighty works and holy character.

That should be the response of your heart just as it has been the response of believers throughout the ages. The psalmist said “Blessed be God, who has not turned away my prayer” (Ps. 66:20); and “blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who alone works wonders” (Ps. 72:18). Peter said, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Pet. 1:3).

When the situation is reversed and God blesses us, it isn’t with praise, for apart from Him there is nothing praiseworthy about us. Instead, He gives us undeserved benefits through His many deeds of kindness. Scripture identifies Him as the source of every good thing (James 1:17), who works all things together for our good and His glory (Rom. 8:28).

That is but a sampling of the many blessings He lavishes on us in His Son, Christ Jesus. It’s a marvelous cycle: God blesses us with deeds of kindness; we bless Him with words of praise.

Beware of the sin of thanklessness. Recognize God’s blessings in your life and let them fill your heart and lips

Suggestions for Prayer:   Identify ten specific blessings that God has granted to you in recent days and praise Him for each one.   Ask Him to make you more aware of and thankful for His goodness in your life.  Always be ready to seek forgiveness when you take His blessings for granted.

 

For Further Study:  Read Psalm 103 What blessings does David mention?   How do they apply to your life?

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Missing the Point – Greg Laurie

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And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. —1 Timothy 1:12–13

Saul, who later became the apostle Paul, had a ravenous hunger for knowledge and wanted to be as devout as possible. As a Pharisee, he worked his way up the ranks and became a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin, which was like the Supreme Court of that day. With this honor, he would have enjoyed great fame and influence.

However, it could be said that Saul was both famous and, ultimately, infamous. He felt that the followers of the Nazarene known as Jesus were dangerous. He thought they needed to be wiped off the face of the earth. So he made it his mission in life to hunt them down. But he didn’t stop with the Christians who were in his area or jurisdiction. He got extradition papers from the high priest and actually set out for Damascus, which was 140 miles from Jerusalem.

Although it was an arduous and difficult journey, Saul was so filled with hatred that he would go anywhere to find Christians and stop them. He later wrote that he did this ignorantly in unbelief (see 1 Timothy 1:13).

It is hard to understand how a religious person can also be a hateful person. But sometimes people who claim to be devout can be very mean and actually use their religion as a means to destroy. That certainly was a description of Saul.

It can be very frustrating to have to deal with fellow Christians who try to undermine us or hinder us sometimes. But as Vance Havner pointed out, “If we are too busy using our sickles on one another, we’re going to miss the harvest.”

When we are so busy with infighting and arguing over minor points, we can miss the big picture of a lost world that needs to hear the gospel.

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Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

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Morning  “Continue in prayer.” / Colossians 4:2

It is interesting to remark how large a portion of Sacred Writ is occupied

with the subject of prayer, either in furnishing examples, enforcing precepts,

or pronouncing promises. We scarcely open the Bible before we read, “Then

began men to call upon the name of the Lord;” and just as we are about to

close the volume, the “Amen” of an earnest supplication meets our ear.

Instances are plentiful. Here we find a wrestling Jacob–there a Daniel who

prayed three times a day–and a David who with all his heart called upon his

God. On the mountain we see Elias; in the dungeon Paul and Silas. We have

multitudes of commands, and myriads of promises. What does this teach us, but

the sacred importance and necessity of prayer? We may be certain that whatever

God has made prominent in his Word, he intended to be conspicuous in our

lives. If he has said much about prayer, it is because he knows we have much

need of it. So deep are our necessities, that until we are in heaven we must

not cease to pray. Dost thou want nothing? Then, I fear thou dost not know thy

poverty. Hast thou no mercy to ask of God? Then, may the Lord’s mercy show

thee thy misery! A prayerless soul is a Christless soul. Prayer is the lisping

of the believing infant, the shout of the fighting believer, the requiem of

the dying saint falling asleep in Jesus. It is the breath, the watchword, the

comfort, the strength, the honour of a Christian. If thou be a child of God,

thou wilt seek thy Father’s face, and live in thy Father’s love. Pray that

this year thou mayst be holy, humble, zealous, and patient; have closer

communion with Christ, and enter oftener into the banqueting-house of his

love. Pray that thou mayst be an example and a blessing unto others, and that

thou mayst live more to the glory of thy Master. The motto for this year must

be, “Continue in prayer.”

 

Evening  “Let the people renew their strength.” / Isaiah 41:1

All things on earth need to be renewed. No created thing continueth by itself.

“Thou renewest the face of the year,” was the Psalmist’s utterance. Even the

trees, which wear not themselves with care, nor shorten their lives with

labour, must drink of the rain of heaven and suck from the hidden treasures of

the soil. The cedars of Lebanon, which God has planted, only live because day

by day they are full of sap fresh drawn from the earth. Neither can man’s life

be sustained without renewal from God. As it is necessary to repair the waste

of the body by the frequent meal, so we must repair the waste of the soul by

feeding upon the Book of God, or by listening to the preached Word, or by the

soul-fattening table of the ordinances. How depressed are our graces when

means are neglected! What poor starvelings some saints are who live without

the diligent use of the Word of God and secret prayer! If our piety can live

without God it is not of divine creating; it is but a dream; for if God had

begotten it, it would wait upon him as the flowers wait upon the dew. Without

constant restoration we are not ready for the perpetual assaults of hell, or

the stern afflictions of heaven, or even for the strifes within. When the

whirlwind shall be loosed, woe to the tree that hath not sucked up fresh sap,

and grasped the rock with many intertwisted roots. When tempests arise, woe to

the mariners that have not strengthened their mast, nor cast their anchor, nor

sought the haven. If we suffer the good to grow weaker, the evil will surely

gather strength and struggle desperately for the mastery over us; and so,

perhaps, a painful desolation, and a lamentable disgrace may follow. Let us

draw near to the footstool of divine mercy in humble entreaty, and we shall

realize the fulfilment of the promise, “They that wait on the Lord shall renew

their strength.”

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Experiencing God’s Peace – John MacArthur

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“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 1:2)

Throughout history mankind has sought peace through military alliances, balances of power, and leagues of nations. Yet lasting peace still remains an elusive dream. Even during times of relative peace, nations struggle with internal strife and crime.

The Bible says that man on his own cannot know peace because he is alienated from its source. But we need not despair. True peace is immediately available from God our Father (the God of peace–Rom. 15:33), and the Lord Jesus Christ (the Prince of Peace–Isa. 9:6). It’s a gift of God’s grace to those who love and obey Jesus Christ.

The New Testament so clearly teaches the inextricable link between God’s grace and peace that “Grace to you and peace” became a common greeting in the early church. Grace is God’s great kindness toward those who are undeserving of His favor but who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ. It is the fountain and peace is the stream. As recipients of His grace, we have peace with God (Rom. 5:1)–we are reconciled to Him through faith in His Son and we will never experience His wrath. We also have the peace of God (Phil. 4:7)–the Spirit’s way of assuring us that God is in control even in the midst of difficult circumstances. That’s why Paul calls it the peace that surpasses all comprehension (Phil. 4:7).

The world’s peace is relative and fleeting because it is grounded in circumstances. God’s peace is absolute and eternal because it is grounded in His grace. Does God’s peace reign in your heart, or have you allowed sin or difficult circumstances to diminish your devotion to Christ?

Suggestions for Prayer:      Thank God that you have peace with Him through faith in Jesus Christ. Ask the Spirit to reveal any sin that might be hindering God’s peace from ruling in your heart. Be prepared to respond in confession and repentance. Ask for opportunities to demonstrate God’s peace to others today.

For Further Study:  Read Philippians 4:6-7    What is God’s antidote for anxiety?    How does God’s peace affect a believer’s heart and mind?

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Closer Than You Think – Greg Laurie

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“I used to believe that I ought to do everything I could to oppose the very name of Jesus the Nazarene.”

— Acts 26:9

Does it ever seem impossible to you that God could save certain people? Is there someone you know right now who is not a believer and, in fact, seems far from becoming one? Maybe it is almost laughable to envision this person carrying a Bible around and saying something like, “Praise the Lord!”

In the book of Acts we find the story of one of the most amazing conversions of all time—a conversion so unexpected that even the Christians at the time didn’t think it was possible. I am speaking of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, later to become the great apostle Paul. The interesting thing about Saul’s conversion is that he was one of the most radical antagonists of the early church. It was Saul who presided over the death of Stephen, the first martyr of the church who courageously stood up for his faith.

It was Saul who went out of his way to literally hunt down Christians, imprison them, and even destroy them. This man was bent on the eradication of the Christian faith.

If you know an antagonistic person, someone who seems to go out of his or her way to make your life miserable, someone who is always trying to stump you with a hard question, it just may be they are closer to the kingdom of God than you realize.

Sometimes the people who attack the most, the people who are the greatest mockers and antagonists, are those who are actually under the conviction of the Holy Spirit. And that is why they do what they do. The person who is the most opposed to the things of God may be actually closer than you think.

Remember, no one is beyond the reach of God—no one. So start praying for them by name.

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The Measure of True Success – John MacArthur

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“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus, and who are faithful in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 1:1).

Our society is success oriented. We love success stories. We even have television programs that exalt the lifestyles of the rich and famous. But God’s standard for success is quite different. Unimpressed by our status or wealth, He looks instead for faithfulness to His will.

Paul understood that principle and diligently pursued his calling as an apostle–one of those unique men who were foundational to the church and recipients, teachers, and writers of the New Testament.

That was a high calling, yet judging from Paul’s lifestyle most people would hardly call him successful– having suffered imprisonments, beatings, death threats, shipwrecks, robberies, hatred from his theological enemies, sleepless nights, hunger, thirst, and exposure to the elements (2 Cor. 11:23-27). But none of those things deterred him from obeying God’s will. His final testimony was, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7). That’s true success! Although we’re not apostles, we’re to follow Paul’s example of faithfulness (1 Cor. 11:1). That’s possible because, like the Ephesian believers, we are “saints [holy ones] . . . who are faithful in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 1:1). By God’s grace we’ve trusted in Christ as our Lord and Savior (Eph. 2:8-9) and received His righteousness (Phil. 3:9), Spirit (Eph. 3:16), and every spiritual resource necessary for faithful, victorious Christian living (Eph. 1:3).

What remains is to cultivate greater love for Christ and more consistent obedience to His Word. Those are the hallmarks of a true disciple and God’s measure of success. Make it your goal that your life today warrants the Lord’s commendation, “Well done, good and faithful [servant]” (Matt. 25:21).

Suggestions for Prayer:  Praise God for His wonderful grace, by which He granted you salvation and all the spiritual resources you need.

Thank Him for His Word, where you learn the principles of godly living.

Ask Him for opportunities today to encourage the faithfulness of others.

 

For Further Study:  Read Ephesians 1:3-4; 2:10; Titus 2:11-12

What is the goal of your salvation?

Are you living each day in light of that goal?

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The Essential Gospel – Greg Laurie

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Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him.

— Acts 8:35

Every now and again, stories have appeared in the news about people who pose as physicians but actually are not licensed to practice medicine. Their actions can even sometimes prove fatal for the people they are supposed to be “treating.”

In the same way, I believe there are some preachers today who are guilty of spiritual malpractice. They are not accurately presenting the gospel message.

If a presentation of the gospel does not contain the message of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, then it is insufficient. Every effective gospel presentation, whether it is a sermon given from a pulpit or part of a private conversation, needs to ultimately come down to this: Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died on the cross for our sin. He paid the price for every wrong thing we have ever done. And then He rose again from the dead.

That is the essence of the gospel. That is the message we need to bring to people.

If you want to be effective in sharing your faith, your message also should be centered on Scripture. That is why the Bible says, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

When we commit Scripture to memory, when we know the Word of God, we have a well to draw from when someone asks us a question. And as we prepare to respond, we pray that the Holy Spirit will bring the right passages to mind.

When Philip shared the gospel with the man from Ethiopia, Acts 8:35 tells us that “Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him.” Philip knew Scripture. And he was able to present the gospel accurately.

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Getting to Know Christ Intimately – Charles Stanley

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Philippians 3:12-21

No matter where you are in your walk with Christ, it’s never too late to begin pursuing a deeper relationship with Him. Whether you’re already passionate about Jesus or know Him only on a surface level, everyone is welcome to join Paul and “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14). To get started, follow these six steps:

Study Scripture. No one can know God apart from His Word since He speaks to us through it, revealing who He is and what He does.

Be willing to spend time alone with the Lord in prayer, meditation, and worship. One of the biggest reasons Christians don’t have a close relationship with Jesus is that they’re unwilling to invest the time needed to get to know Him intimately.

Trust the Lord. The depth of any relationship depends on the level of trust.

Obey Him. As we take each step of obedience, God reveals more of Himself.

Observe how Christ works in your life. By paying attention to how the Lord operates, you’ll become familiar with His ways and goals.

Make Jesus your top priority. Be willing to lay aside anything that competes with your loyalty and devotion to Him.

Knowing Christ intimately is an attainable goal. The key is persistence, so forget past failures and press on. Find an example to follow. My grandfather’s relationship with Jesus was the inspiration for my journey of intimacy with Christ. I knew if he had that kind of relationship with Jesus, so could I.

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Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

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Morning   “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying,

if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.” / John 7:37

Patience had her perfect work in the Lord Jesus, and until the last day of the

feast he pleaded with the Jews, even as on this last day of the year he pleads

with us, and waits to be gracious to us. Admirable indeed is the longsuffering

of the Saviour in bearing with some of us year after year, notwithstanding our

provocations, rebellions, and resistance of his Holy Spirit. Wonder of wonders

that we are still in the land of mercy!

Pity expressed herself most plainly, for Jesus cried, which implies not only

the loudness of his voice, but the tenderness of his tones. He entreats us to

be reconciled. “We pray you,” says the Apostle, “as though God did beseech you

by us.” What earnest, pathetic terms are these! How deep must be the love

which makes the Lord weep over sinners, and like a mother woo his children to

his bosom! Surely at the call of such a cry our willing hearts will come.

Provision is made most plenteously; all is provided that man can need to

quench his soul’s thirst. To his conscience the atonement brings peace; to his

understanding the gospel brings the richest instruction; to his heart the

person of Jesus is the noblest object of affection; to the whole man the truth

as it is in Jesus supplies the purest nutriment. Thirst is terrible, but Jesus

can remove it. Though the soul were utterly famished, Jesus could restore it.

Proclamation is made most freely, that every thirsty one is welcome. No other

distinction is made but that of thirst. Whether it be the thirst of avarice,

ambition, pleasure, knowledge, or rest, he who suffers from it is invited. The

thirst may be bad in itself, and be no sign of grace, but rather a mark of

inordinate sin longing to be gratified with deeper draughts of lust; but it is

not goodness in the creature which brings him the invitation, the Lord Jesus

sends it freely, and without respect of persons.

Personality is declared most fully. The sinner must come to Jesus, not to

works, ordinances, or doctrines, but to a personal Redeemer, who his own self

bare our sins in his own body on the tree. The bleeding, dying, rising

Saviour, is the only star of hope to a sinner. Oh for grace to come now and

drink, ere the sun sets upon the year’s last day!

No waiting or preparation is so much as hinted at. Drinking represents a

reception for which no fitness is required. A fool, a thief, a harlot can

drink; and so sinfulness of character is no bar to the invitation to believe

in Jesus. We want no golden cup, no bejewelled chalice, in which to convey the

water to the thirsty; the mouth of poverty is welcome to stoop down and quaff

the flowing flood. Blistered, leprous, filthy lips may touch the stream of

divine love; they cannot pollute it, but shall themselves be purified. Jesus

is the fount of hope. Dear reader, hear the dear Redeemer’s loving voice as he

cries to each of us,

 

“IF ANY MAN THIRST, LET HIM COME UNTO ME AND DRINK.”

 

Evening “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” / Jeremiah

8:20

Not saved! Dear reader, is this your mournful plight? Warned of the judgment

to come, bidden to escape for your life, and yet at this moment not saved! You

know the way of salvation, you read it in the Bible, you hear it from the

pulpit, it is explained to you by friends, and yet you neglect it, and

therefore you are not saved. You will be without excuse when the Lord shall

judge the quick and dead. The Holy Spirit has given more or less of blessing

upon the word which has been preached in your hearing, and times of refreshing

have come from the divine presence, and yet you are without Christ. All these

hopeful seasons have come and gone–your summer and your harvest have

past–and yet you are not saved. Years have followed one another into

eternity, and your last year will soon be here: youth has gone, manhood is

going, and yet you are not saved. Let me ask you–will you ever be saved? Is

there any likelihood of it? Already the most propitious seasons have left you

unsaved; will other occasions alter your condition? Means have failed with

you–the best of means, used perseveringly and with the utmost affection–what

more can be done for you? Affliction and prosperity have alike failed to

impress you; tears and prayers and sermons have been wasted on your barren

heart. Are not the probabilities dead against your ever being saved? Is it not

more than likely that you will abide as you are till death forever bars the

door of hope? Do you recoil from the supposition? Yet it is a most reasonable

one: he who is not washed in so many waters will in all probability go filthy

to his end. The convenient time never has come, why should it ever come? It is

logical to fear that it never will arrive, and that Felix like, you will find

no convenient season till you are in hell. O bethink you of what that hell is,

and of the dread probability that you will soon be cast into it!

Reader, suppose you should die unsaved, your doom no words can picture. Write

out your dread estate in tears and blood, talk of it with groans and gnashing

of teeth: you will be punished with everlasting destruction from the glory of

the Lord, and from the glory of his power. A brother’s voice would fain

startle you into earnestness. O be wise, be wise in time, and ere another year

begins, believe in Jesus, who is able to save to the uttermost. Consecrate

these last hours to lonely thought, and if deep repentance be bred in you, it

will be well; and if it lead to a humble faith in Jesus, it will be best of

all. O see to it that this year pass not away, and you an unforgiven spirit.

Let not the new year’s midnight peals sound upon a joyless spirit! Now, now,

NOW believe, and live.

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Our Sympathetic High Priest – John MacArthur

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“Assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted” (Heb. 2:16-18).

In his letters to Timothy, Paul counseled and encouraged his young associate about many things–his health, his critics, his moral and spiritual warfare. His counsel is well summed up in these words: “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David” (2 Tim. 2:8).

Like Timothy, we need to be reminded of Christ’s humanity, especially when life becomes particularly tough. Then we can pray, “Lord, You know what You endured while You were here. I’m going through it now.” We can be sure He knows and will encourage us.

Jesus came not only to save us but also to sympathize with us. He experienced what we experience so He could be a “merciful and faithful high priest.” After all, “we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15).

Jesus felt everything we will ever feel–and more. Most of us will never know the full degree of any given temptation because we usually succumb long before we reach it. But since Jesus never sinned, He took the full measure of every temptation.

Ours is not a cosmic God, powerful and holy, but indifferent. He knows when we hurt, where we are weak, and how we are tempted. Jesus is not just our Savior, but our loving Lord who sympathizes with us. Rejoice in the greatness of His love for us.

Suggestion for Prayer:  Ask God to remind you of your need of Him at all times, not just when times are tough.

For Future Study:  Memorize 1 Corinthians 10:13 for quick recall whenever you are faced with any trial.

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Build a Bridge – Greg Laurie

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So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.—Acts 26:30–31

When Philip shared the gospel with the Ethiopian dignitary, he demonstrated something that is often lacking in evangelism, and that is tact. Many Christians just fire away with everything they have. They don’t engage the people they speak with. They don’t establish a dialogue. They don’t build a bridge. They just present all their arguments and all of their statements, and they feel so impressed with themselves. Meanwhile, people are looking forward to their shutting up and going away.

Later, the Christian thinks, Boy, I really blew them out of the water when they said this and that. Wasn’t that great? No, it wasn’t great. In reality, it was quite stupid, because our job is not to win the argument; it’s to win the soul.

If we want to effectively share the gospel with people, then we need to engage them. What did the master evangelist Jesus do as He talked with the woman at the well in Samaria? He engaged her in conversation. It was give-and-take. He spoke . . . He listened. She shared her heart with Him . . . He revealed truth to her.

When we share the gospel with people, it is a dialogue—not a monologue. It is not just talking; it is also listening. It is offering the appropriate passages from Scripture and statements from a heart filled with love so that person can come to believe in Jesus Christ.

No one ever will be argued into the kingdom of God. They are going to believe because the Holy Spirit convicted them of their sin. Our job is to simply bring them the essential gospel message.

When the apostle Paul addressed the Greeks on Mars Hill, he took stock of the situation and presented his message accordingly. He used tact—and so should we.