Morning, September 29: Go To Evening Reading
“Behold, if the leprosy have covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce him clean that hath the plague.”
—Leviticus 13:13
Strange enough, this regulation appears, yet there was wisdom in it, for the throwing out of the disease proved that the constitution was sound. This morning, it may be well for us to see the typical teaching of so singular a rule. We, too, are lepers and may read the law of the leper as applicable to ourselves. When a man sees himself to be altogether lost and ruined, covered all over with the defilement of sin, and no part free from pollution; when he disclaims all righteousness of his own and pleads guilty before the Lord, then is he clean through the blood of Jesus and the grace of God. Hidden, unfelt, unconfessed iniquity is the true leprosy, but when sin is seen and felt, it has received its death blow, and the Lord looks with eyes of mercy upon the soul afflicted with it. Nothing is more deadly than self-righteousness or more hopeful than contrition. We must confess that we are “nothing else but sin,” for no confession short of this will be accurate. If the Holy Spirit is at work with us, convincing us of sin, it will be impossible to make such an acknowledgment—it will spring spontaneously from our lips. What comfort does the text afford those under a deep sense of sin! Sin mourned and confessed, however black and foul, shall never shut a man out from the Lord Jesus. Whosoever cometh unto him, he will in no wise cast out. Though dishonest as the thief, though unchaste as the woman who was a sinner, though fierce as Saul of Tarsus, though cruel as Manasseh, though rebellious as the prodigal, the great heart of love will look upon the man who feels himself to have no soundness in him, and will pronounce him clean, when he trusts in Jesus crucified. Come to him, then, poor heavy-laden sinner,
Come needy, come guilty, come loathsome and bare;
You can’t come too filthy—come just as you are.
Go To Morning Reading Evening, September 29
“I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him and would not let him go.”
—Song of Solomon 3:4
Does Christ receive us when we come to him, notwithstanding all our past sinfulness? Does he never chide us for having tried all other refuges first? And is there none on earth like him? Is he the best of all the good, the fairest of all the fair? Oh, then let us praise him! Daughters of Jerusalem, extol him with timbrel and harp! Down with your idols, up with the Lord Jesus. Now let the standards of pomp and pride be trampled underfoot, but let the cross of Jesus, which the world frowns and scoffs at, be lifted on high. O, for a throne of ivory for our King Solomon! Let him be set on high forever, and let my soul sit at his footstool, kiss his feet, and wash them with my tears.
Oh, how precious is Christ! How can it be that I have thought so little of him? How can I go abroad? Rt when he is so complete, rich, for joy or comfort satisfying? Fellow believer, make a covenant with thine heart that thou wilt never depart from him, and ask thy Lord to ratify it. Bid him set thee as a signet upon his finger and as a bracelet upon his arm. Ask him to bind thee about him, as the bride decketh herself with ornaments and as the bridegroom putteth on his jewels. I would live in Christ’s heart; in the clefts of that rock, my soul would eternally abide. The sparrow hath made a house, and the swallow a nest for herself where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God; and so too would I make my nest, my home, in thee, and never from thee may the soul of thy turtle dove go forth again, but may I nestle close to thee, O Jesus, my proper and only rest.
“When my precious Lord, I find,
All my ardent passions glow;
Him with cords of love I bind,
Hold and will not let him go.”
Spurgeon, C. H. Morning and Evening: Daily Readings. London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1896. Print.
September 29: Rebuilding Is Not Always Wise
Malachi 1:1–2:9; Acts 27:1–44; Job 31:9–22
Who can rebuild what Yahweh tears down? The prophets articulate this message again and again. Yahweh tears down evil things; evil people rebuild them; the prophets insist that He just tear them down again. God tolerates evil for a time, waiting for people to repent, but when His patience is up, it’s up.
“ ‘I have loved you,’ says Yahweh, but you say, ‘How have you loved us?’ ‘Is Esau, not Jacob’s brother?’ declares Yahweh. ‘I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated. I have made his mountain ranges a desolation and given his inheritance to the jackals of the desert.’ If Edom says, ‘We are shattered, but we will return and rebuild the ruins,’ Yahweh of hosts says this: ‘They may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called a territory of wickedness, and the people with whom Yahweh is angry forever.’ Your eyes will see this, and you will say, ‘Yahweh is great beyond Israel’s borders'” (Mal 1:2–5).
This scene seems brutal upon first reading. If you’re on Jacob’s side, you’re fine—Yahweh loves you even though you don’t acknowledge it. But if you’re on Esau’s (Edom’s) side, you’re left wondering why God hates you so much—unless you know the backstory: Edom ravaged the lands of God’s people and committed atrocities against them in their most fantastic time of need. When foreign nations invaded Israel, Edom preyed on its brothers instead of defending them. This is the reason for Yahweh’s anger—and why He will tear down whatever Edom builds.
How often do we try to excuse ourselves as Edom did—to defend our behavior as justifiable retribution for previous offenses? What does God think about the state of our hearts and the actions we take against others as a result?
How must your plan of action change today in light of God’s will and His standard?
John D. Barry
Barry, John D., and Rebecca Kruyswijk. Connect the Testaments: A One-Year Daily Devotional with Bible Reading Plan. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012. Print.
September 29th
The consciousness of the call
For necessity is laid upon me: yea, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel! 1 Cor. 9:16.
We are apt to forget the mystical, supernatural touch of God. If you can tell where you got the call of God and all about it, I question whether you have ever had a call. The call of God does not come like that; it is much more supernatural. The realization of it in a man’s life may come with a sudden thunderclap or a gradual dawning, but in whatever way it comes, it comes with the undercurrent of the supernatural, something that cannot be put into words; it is always accompanied by a glow. At any moment, there may break the sudden consciousness of this incalculable, supernatural, surprising call that has taken hold of your life—“I have chosen you.” The call of God has nothing to do with salvation and sanctification. It is not because you are sanctified that you are called to preach the gospel; the call to preach the gospel is infinitely different. Paul describes it as a necessity laid upon him.
If you have been obliterating the tremendous supernatural call of God in your life, review your circumstances and see where God has not been first, but your ideas of service or your temperamental abilities. Paul said—“Woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel!” He had realized the call of God, and there was no competitor for his strength.
If a man or woman is called by God, it does not matter how untoward circumstances are; every force that has been at work will tell for God’s purpose. If you agree with God’s purpose, He will bring your conscious life and all the deeper regions of your life that you cannot get into harmony.
Chambers, Oswald. My Utmost for His Highest: Selections for the Year. Grand Rapids, MI: Oswald Chambers Publications; Marshall Pickering, 1986. Print.
September 29
This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith
1 John 5:4
The world conquers me when it succeeds in hindering me from seeing, loving, holding communion with, and serving my Father, God. I beat it when I lay my hand upon it and force it to help me to get nearer Him, to get more like Him, to think oftener of Him, to do His will more gladly and more constantly. The one victory over the world is to bend it to serve me in the highest things—the attainment of a clearer vision of the divine nature, a more profound love for God Himself, and a more glad consecration and service to Him. That is the victory—when you can make the world a ladder to lift you to God. When the world comes between you and God as an obscuring screen, it has conquered you. When the world comes between you and God as a transparent medium, you have destroyed it. To win victory is to get it beneath your feet, stand upon it, and reach up to God.
Alexander Maclaren
Hardman, Samuel G., and Dwight Lyman Moody. Thoughts for the Quiet Hour. Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997. Print.
September 29
This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith
1 John 5:4
The world conquers me when it succeeds in hindering me from seeing, loving, holding communion with, and serving my Father, God. I beat it when I lay my hand upon it and force it to help me to get nearer Him, to get more like Him, to think oftener of Him, to do His will more gladly and more constantly. The one victory over the world is to bend it to serve me in the highest things—the attainment of a clearer vision of the divine nature, a more profound love of God Himself, and a more glad consecration and service to Him. That is the victory—when you can make the world a ladder to lift you to God. When the world comes between you and God as an obscuring screen, it has conquered you. When the world comes between you and God as a transparent medium, you have destroyed it. To win victory is to get it beneath your feet, stand upon it, and reach up to God.
Alexander Maclaren
Hardman, Samuel G., and Dwight Lyman Moody. Thoughts for the Quiet Hour. Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997. Print.
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