DAILY, WEEKEND, AND HOLIDAY INTERNET EVANGELIZE TO THE WORLD MINISTRY

  Morning, December 31 Go To Evening Reading “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 prays 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 to his Holy Spirit. The 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...

  Morning, December 30 Go To Evening Reading “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof.” —Ecclesiastes 7:8 Look at David’s Lord and Master; see his beginning. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Would you know the end? He sits at his Father’s right hand, expecting his enemies to be made his footstool. “As he is, so are we also in this world.” You must bear the cross, or you shall never wear the crown; you must wade through the mire, or you shall never walk the golden pavement. Cheer up, then, poor Christian. “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof.” See that creeping worm, how contemptible its appearance! It is the beginning of a thing. Mark that insect with gorgeous wings, playing in the sunbeams, sipping at the flower bells, full of happiness and life; that is the end. That caterpillar is yourself until you are wrapped up in the chrysalis of death, but when Christ appears, you shall be like him, f...

  Morning, December 29 Go To Evening Reading “Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.” —1 Samuel 7:12 The word “hitherto” seems like a hand pointing toward the past . Twenty years or seventy, yet, “hitherto the Lord hath helped!” Through poverty, through wealth, through sickness, through health, at home, abroad, on the land, on the sea, in honor, in dishonor, in perplexity, in joy, in the trial, in triumph, in prayer, in temptation, “hitherto hath the Lord helped us!” We delight in looking down a long avenue of trees. It is delightful to gaze from end to end of the long vista, a sort of verdant temple, with its branching pillars and its arches of leaves; even so, look down the long aisles of your years at the green boughs of mercy overhead and the strong posts of lovingkindness and faithfulness which bear up your joys. Are there no birds in yonder branches singing? Surely there must be many, and they all sing of mercy received “hitherto.” But the word also points forward . When ...

  Morning, December 28 Go To Evening Reading “The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God.” —Galatians 2:20 When the Lord in mercy passed by and saw us in our blood, he, first of all, said, “Live,”; and this he did first  because life is one of the absolutely essential things in spiritual matters, and until it is bestowed, we are incapable of partaking in the things of the kingdom. Now the life that grace confers upon the saints at the moment of their quickening is none other than the life of Christ, which, like the sap from the stem, runs into us, the branches, and establishes a living connection between our souls and Jesus. Faith is the grace that perceives this union, having proceeded from it as its first fruit. It is the neck that joins the body of the Church to its all-glorious Head. “Oh, Faith! thou bond of union with the Lord, Is not this office thine? and thy fit name, In the economy of gospel types, And symbols apposite—th...

  Morning, December 27 Go To Evening Reading “Can the rush grow up without mire?” —Job 8:11 The rush is spongy and hollow, and even so, he is a hypocrite; he has no substance or stability. It is shaken to and fro in every wind just as formalists yield to every influence; for this reason, the rush is not broken by the tempest, and neither are hypocrites troubled with persecution. I would not willingly be a deceiver or be deceived; the text for this day may help me to decide whether I will be a hypocrite. The rush, by nature, lives in water and owes its very existence to the mire and moisture wherein it has taken root; let the mud dry, and the rush withers very quickly. Its greenness depends upon circumstances, a present abundance of water makes it flourish, and a drought destroys it at once. Is this my case? Do I serve God only when I am in good company, or is religion profitable and respectable? Do I love the Lord only when temporal comforts are received from his hands? If s...

  Morning, December 26 Go To Evening Reading “The last Adam.” —1 Corinthians 15:45 Jesus is the federal head of his elect. As in Adam, every heir of flesh and blood has a personal interest because he is the covenant head and representative of the race as considered under the law of works; so under the direction of grace, every redeemed soul is one with the Lord from heaven, since he is the Second Adam, the Sponsor, and Substitute of the elect in the new covenant of love. The apostle Paul declares that Levi was in the loins of Abraham when Melchizedek met him: it is an inevitable truth that the believer was in the loins of Jesus Christ, the Mediator, when in old eternity the covenant settlements of grace were decreed, ratified, and made sure forever. Thus, whatever Christ hath done, he hath wrought for the whole body of his Church. We were crucified in him and buried with him (read Col. 2:10–13), and to make it still more remarkable, we are risen with him and even ascended wi...