Gems from February 2015

“Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.”
(Philippians 4:4)

Our joy to be solid must rest on something immovable.
Just as soon as we hang our happiness on circumstances or surroundings,
we go up or we go down with the tide.
The thermometer of our joy is at the mercy of outside circumstances.
(Comforted of God - A.J. Pollock)

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February 1

“For both He that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren.”
(Hebrews 2:11)

He is not ashamed to call you brethren; and will you be ashamed to confess Him as your Lord and Master in the face of all the world? Be not debating within yourselves when you shall avow yourselves; do it at once, decidedly. Make the plunge, and trust God for the consequence.

An open, bold confession of being Christ’s is more that half the struggle over . . . If a man, in the strength of the Lord, is just brought to say to his companions and friends, I am Christ’s, and I must act for Him - that he will not suffer what others must feel who are creeping on fearful and afraid to avow Him whom they desire to serve.
(J.N. Darby)

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February 2

“The greatest of these is love.” 
(1 Cor. 13:13)

Love is the conquering power in a world of hatred, strife, and selfishness.

It can do what no other virtue can do, and, in that sense, is the queen of the graces. Love repays abuse with kindness.  It prays for mercy for its executioners. It acts unselfishly when all around are clamouring for their rights. It gives until it can give no more.

Stanton hurled bitter invective at Lincoln, calling him a “low cunning clown” and “the original gorilla.”

He said that anyone would be foolish to go to Africa for a gorilla when there was one in Springfield. Lincoln turned the other cheek. In fact, he later appointed Stanton as War Minister, insisting he was the most qualified man for the job.

When Lincoln was shot, Stanton stood by his lifeless body, wept openly and said, “There lies the greatest ruler of men the world has ever seen.” Lincoln had conquered by turning the other cheek. Love is like that.

E. Stanley Jones wrote, “By turning the other cheek you disarm your enemy.  He hits you on the cheek and you, by your moral audacity, hit him on the heart by turning the other cheek. His enmity is dissolved. Your enemy is gone. You get rid of your enemy by getting rid of your enmity . . .   The world is at the feet of the Man who had power to strike back but who had power not to strike back. That is power­ - the ultimate power.”

Sometimes it may seem that more can be accomplished by speaking the harsh word, by repaying tit for tat and by standing up for one’s rights. These methods do have a certain amount of power.
But the balance of power is on the side of love, because, instead of deepening hostility, love changes enemies into friends.
(Adapted)

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February 3

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”  (Hebrews 12:2)

The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is the centre of human history. It is the sun around which the firmament circles; the key to all Scripture history and type; the fact which gives meaning and beauty to all other facts. To ignore the cross is to repeat  the error of the old philosophers; who thought that the earth, and not the sun, was the centre of our system, and to whom therefore the very heavens were in confusion. To know and love the cross - to stand beside it as the faithful women did when Jesus died - is to obtain a deep insight into the harmonies of all things in heaven and earth.
(F.B. Meyer)

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February 4

Joseph - His Separation

“Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men . . . He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”  (Philippians 2:5-8)

Service with his brethren, however, does not necessarily imply fellowship with their evil. As the obedient servant he is very near them; as a man of integrity he is entirely apart from them. His service brought him into the company of others, his character made him a man apart from others, his very presence exposing their wickedness, so that he can but bring to his father “their evil report.”   

Thus it was with Christ the perfect Saviour; His grace brought Him very near to us in all our need, His holiness kept Him entirely apart from all our sin.  Our desperate needs, and His infinite grace, made Him a Servant moving amidst the needy crowds, and yet our sin and His holiness made Him a lonely Stranger in the land. As the perfect Servant He was accessible to all, as a holy Man He was apart from all. His service of love took Him into many a needy home, His holiness left Him without a home.

(Joseph - Hamilton Smith)

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February 5

”I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert." (Isaiah 43:19)

God will make a way where there seems to be no way
He works in ways we cannot see
He will make a way for me
He will be my guide Hold me closely to His side
With love and strength For each new day
He will make a way - He will make a way.
By a roadway in the wilderness He'll lead me
And rivers in the desert will I see Heaven and earth will fade
But His Word will still remain He will do something new today.
(Don Moen)

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February 6

“So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air.”
(1 Corinthians 14:9)

In this I think the apostle not only rebukes the vanity of ministers who delight to use the pulpit as a place to display their education and culture, but also the use of language that is far above the heads of the people to whom they are ministering.

Charles H. Spurgeon said: “I am afraid that many of my ministerial brethren must imagine that when Scripture tells them to "Feed My sheep” (John 21:16), it means ‘Feed My giraffes,’ for they put the food so high that people would have to be giraffes to reach it.”

Scripture says “Feed My sheep.”Always put the food down where the sheep can get it.
It should be the ambition of the preacher of the Word to use language so simple and so plain that everybody can understand.
(H.A. Ironside)

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February 7

“The soul of the diligent shall be made fat.” (Proverbs 8:4)
“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” 
(1 Thessalonians 5:21)
“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God.” (James 1:5).

Intelligence in divine things comes by conscience, not by the intellect.

The soul is the dwelling-place of the truth of God. The ear and the mind are but the gate and avenue; the soul is its home or dwelling-place.

The beauty and the joy of the truth may have unduly occupied the outposts, filled the avenues and crowded the gates, but it is only in the soul that its reality can be known. And it is by meditation that the truth takes its journey along the avenue to its proper dwelling-place.”
(The Remembrancer - Captain Alfred Trigge - 1912)

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February 8

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
(Romans 1:16) 

The gospel calls on sinners to breathe the atmosphere of salvation, to have communion with God in love, and to maintain it in liberty and assurance,

Satan interfered or meddled with the work of God, and ruined it in its creature-condition.  God at once interfered or meddled with Satan’s work, and eternally overthrew it, bringing meat out of the eater, and sweetness out of the strong.

The three earliest receivers of God’s gospel - Adam, Eve, and Abel - strikingly illustrate souls that apprehended the glory of the gospel in different features of it.

Adam was blessedly, wondrously emboldened by it, so that at the bidding of it he came forth at once from his guilty covert and entered the presence of God again, naked as he was.  And his boldness was warranted, for he was welcomed there.  Eve exulted in it.  She sang over it. “I have gotten a man from the Lord,” said she - in the joy of the promise that had been made her touching her Seed.

Abel offered the “fat” with the victim.  He entered with happiest, brightest intelligence into the promise, and saw that the Giver of it would find His own blessed delight in it; that the gospel, while it saved the sinner, was the joy as well as the glory of God.  The fat on the altar expressed this.

And such apprehensions of Christ as these - the faith that gives boldness, the faith that inspires with joy, the faith that penetrates the cross - are full of power in the soul.  (J.G. Bellett)

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February 9

“Now the Word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, ARISE, GO to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before Me.”

(Jonah 1:2)

“Arise.”  That is where a lot of the trouble is.

It takes energy to arise. 

We are so comfortably settled down! 

It is very hard to shake off the weights of home and business and comfort, and "arise.”  

“Arise, Go.”  Not only was Jonah to arise, but he had the very same orders that we have, “Go!”  You remember the Roman centurion who came to the Lord, and said to Him, “I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers; and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth.” (Luke 7:8)

This centurion thoroughly understood authority.

If he said “Go!” there was no question about it, the soldier went, but when the Lord said “Go!”  to Jonah, Jonah decided he would not go. The soldier did not dream of complaining that the way was too long, or too too rough, or too dangerous, or the time was not convenient; he did not suggest that he did not want to go, or that he was too busy with other work. No, the soldier understood authority, and went.

When the captain says, “Go!” he goeth. 

(Lessons From Jonah the Prophet - G.C. Willis)

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February 10

“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city . . .”
(Jonah 1:2)

How many there are of us to whom the Lord has said “GO!" and we have been like Jonah, and refused. It may be that we have been so busy with our own affairs, that we have hardly heard Him say ”GO,” or it may be that we know so little of authority, that we decide that there is no need to obey, but think we may choose our own will instead.

May the Lord give us each one to hear His voice, speaking with divine authority, authority we dare not question, saying to us, “ARISE! GO!” “ARISE, GO TO NINEVEH."
 
Not only did the Lord tell Jonah to “Arise, Go,“ but He told him just where he was to go. He did not say, “Arise, go anywhere you like”; but He told him just where to go. The Lord will tell us where to go.

It may be that the Lord will send us to someone in our own family, or to our neighbours, or it may be to those of a different nation, speech and language, at the other end of the earth.
(Lessons From Jonah the Prophet - G.C. Willis)

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February 11

Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)

 Flying from California to New York,
a well-to-do farmer was anxious to let everyone know
how successful he was and the vast amount of land he farmed.
We were fairly high off the ground when he turned to me and said,
"We are now flying over the 10,000 acres I own and farm.”
Then he said something very profound that surprised even him:
"It doesn't look so big when you see it from here.”
His perspective on life was from ground level.
God wants us to view life from HIS PERSPECTIVE.
(Adapted)

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February 12

“The Lord Himself shall descend . . . and we shall . . . meet the Lord in the air.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)

It is not for a sign we are watching - for wonders above and below,
The pouring of vials of judgment, the sounding of trumpets of woe;
It is not for a Day we are looking, not even the time yet to be
When the earth shall be filled with God’s glory as the waters cover the sea;
It is not for a King we are longing to make the world-kingdoms His own;
It is not for a Judge who shall summon the nations of earth to His throne.

Not for these, though we know they are coming; for they are but adjuncts of Him Before whom all glory is clouded, besides whom all splendour grows dim.
We wait for the Lord, our beloved, our Comforter, Master and Friend,
The substance of all that we hope for, beginning of faith and its end;
We watch for our Saviour and Bridegroom, who loved us and made us His own; For Him we are looking and longing: for Jesus, and Jesus alone.
(Annie Johnson Flint)

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February 13

“I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.”   
(John 4:38)

A Peruvian Prince owed nothing to inheritance from his predecessors.
"On the decease of an Inca, his palaces were abandoned; all his treasures, except what were employed in his obsequies (duties), and his furniture and apparel were suffered to remain as he left them;
and his mansions, save one, were closed up for ever.
The new sovereign was to provide himself with everything new for his royal state."

With grateful hearts we rejoice that not thus is it with the sons of God - the heavenly princes - when they come into their inheritance. For, just as in science, the accumulated experience of those who went before becomes the heritage of the later men, in order that they may not waste time on rudimentary experiments; so the treasures, sought out and and expounded for us by the men whom God set as teachers in the Church, are at our disposal today.
Other men have laboured, and we enter into their labours.
(The Wonderful Word - George Henderson)

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February 14

“The words of the wise are as goads."
(Ecclesiastes 12:11)

- Man’s words will not break thy bones.
- Cease to pray and thou wilt begin to sin.
- Prayer is not only a means to prevail for mercy, but also to prevent sin.
- Where God is on one side, you may be sure to find the devil on the other.
- He that shows any kindness to a saint, is sure to have God for his paymaster.
- The work of salvation cannot be done by the candlelight of a natural understanding,
but by the sunlight of a gospel revelation.
- God had Nero a closer prisoner than he had Paul.
- Error is but a day younger than truth.
(The Christian in Complete Armour - Willaim Gurnall - 1617-1679)

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February 15

“If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, 
go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, 
and feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents.”
(Song of Solomon 1:8) 

Oh for one bright gleam of the Holy Spirit’s light on the sacred page!
Then should I know, not the letter of scripture merely, 
but the thoughts and feelings of the mind from whence it flows.
We learn, then, that approval is never expressed in scripture,
save when consistent with truth and holiness.

Oh! how often we pray for what we have!
How often we ask for light and direction as to our path,
when the light of a cloudless sky shines on the way in which we should go.
Naturally, the sheep is the most wandering creature in the field.
(Meditations on the Song of Solomon - Andrew Miller)

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February 16

“As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: so the Lord alone did lead him.”
(Deuteronomy 32:11-12)

High up in the pines overlooking beautiful Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota sits a bald eagle’s nest, one of the few remaining in the U.S.A.  A few fortunate observers have seen the majestic inhabitants of that nest soaring high above the lake, or swooping downward to the prey.

Thousands of years ago, Moses saw similar sights as he tended sheep in the wilderness of Sinai.  In the verse quoted above, he compares the eagle’s method of training its young to the ways of the Lord in leading His people.

At just the right time, an eagle stirs its nest to push out the young eaglets that they might learn to fly.  Without this stirring, the lazy young birds would be content to rest in the nest and let their parent provide all their food.  Just like Christians!  Describing how the Lord “stirs the nest” of His people, one preacher remarked, “He knows how to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable".  

As the young eaglet plunges downward, struggling to flap its wings, the mother bird hovers above, watching.  And just in the nick of time she dives with sweeping motion beneath her falling offspring and bears it back up to the nest - no doubt, to the great relief of the eaglet.  This process is repeated until the young eagle learns to fly.

So the Lord leads His people.  He knows perfectly when to push us out of the nest and when to bear us up on on His powerful wings.  He will never let us perish, but will ever teach us in such a way that we will learn to “ . . . mount up with wings as eagles” (Isaiah 40:31).   (G.W. Steidl)

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February 17

“Know ye not that they which run in a a race run all, but one receiveth the prize?  So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things.  Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.  

I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: but I keep my body under, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” 
(1 Corinthians 9:24-27)   

There are two lines of truth running parallel through the Word of God;
SALVATION, which is by grace alone, and reward for devoted service.

Salvation, is not a reward for anything you or I may do,
nor is heaven a reward for a life of faithfulness here on earth.
Salvation is a free gift, eternal life is a free gift, heaven is the home of all the redeemed, open to every one who puts his or her trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
We cannot pay for a place in heaven; we cannot earn it by tears, by sacrifices, by our gifts or by anything that we can do.
(H.A. Ironside)

“Could my zeal no respite know, could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone; Thou must save, and Thou alone.

Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress, helpless, look to Thee for grace.”
(Augustus M. Toplady)

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February 18

“Labour not for the meat that perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you: for Him hath God the Father sealed.”

(John 6:27)

To feed 5000 men who had appetites sharpened by long fasting and the keen country air, was a problem beyond the power of the disciples.  Even if in that desert place they could have commanded the silver wherewith to buy the bread, where could the bakery be found that could produce enough for each to have a little.

But it was a simple matter to Jesus, for He was the Creator.  He had fed the multitudes of men that had lived since time began, and He feeds the multitudes still, for in Him we live, move, and have our being.   Five loaves and two small fishes thus sufficed, and when all were filled, twelve baskets of fragments remained.  

That satisfying meal appealed to the people, and they sought the Lord the next day also, because they “did eat of the loaves and were filled.” Beyond that they had no thought.  They worked for the food that perishes, without regard for that which endures unto eternal life. 

How terribly, how pathetically sad it is that this should be characteristic of the whole human race, that they should be governed alone by what is seen and felt and tasted: that food and clothing should be appreciated, but the God who gives these things ignored.

How sad, indeed, that the body and its needs and appetites should be supreme, and the spirit, endowed with an endless existence, should receive neither thought nor care.  How blind, how utterly insensible and dead to what is good and true and eternal, men have become under the power of sin!  So blind, so insensible, so dead, that when Emmanuel came among them they followed Him, but only for the bread that perishes!  (J.T. Mawson)

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February 19

“The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.”

(Psalm 24:1)

The richest landowner is but a tenant, for every inch of this planet belongs to the Lord. Man may temporarily possess control and improve it, but when his spirit goes to God which gave it, and his body back to dust, another tenant will hold it until death loosens his grip.Therefore God says,

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

(Matthew 6:19-21)

Surely the believer’s treasure and Treasurer is the Lord Jesus Christ, 

Who is now at God’s right hand in heaven, 

and that is where his heart should be.

(J.C. O’Hair (1876-1958)

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February 20

“Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”

(James 4:3)

God has all power, nothing is impossible to Him, and it is His special glory to give, for He is both almighty and love.  But He is also light. His gifts are rich and great, for therein He displays the greatness of His power and His love, but they are also of such a character as to manifest the purity and holiness of His nature.

He cannot give in such a way as would show indulgence towards the sins of His people. We cannot ask in faith that God give us that which pampers our sinful lusts or selfish purposes. God’s love for us would not allow Him to hear such a prayer, nor would it be to our good if He did. 

Many of our prayers are denied us because in His infinite wisdom God sees that it would not contribute to our good to have what we asked for. How blessed for us that it is so, and how sweet the peace that comes in resigning all to His will - to pray in the spirit of the Lord’s words:  

“Not my will but Thine be done.”

(E.C. Hadley)

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February 21

At His Word 

“The man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him” (John 4:50)

How simple; how direct.

He took Jesus at His word.

Have you ever said in your heart, or even out loud, “Show me and I will believe?” Nowadays, when a man’s word is not what it once was, it is even more difficult to trust what someone says.

But Jesus is different! He is the embodiment of truth; He said, “I am the way, the truth and the life…” (John 14:6). 

We can put total confidence in what He says. So when He says, "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me.” (John 14:1).  

He means it. You can count on it.

When He says the following, we can stake our all on His words; "Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out." (John 6:37). "And this is the will of Him that sent Me, that everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:40).

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on Me hath everlasting life” (John 6:47). I am the light of the world: He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12). Jesus’ word is totally trustworthy – He is God, He cannot lie.

Will you take Him at His word?

(LIFELines)

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February 22

“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” 

(Isaiah 41:10)

“Everything you ever wanted is on the other side of fear.”

(George Adair - S.L.)

“…Be not afraid, only believe.” 

(Mark 5:36)

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February 23

OUR SUFFICIENCY IS OF GOD

"Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God.” (2 Corinthians 3:5)

As long as we are self-sufficient, we need not ask God for anything. God will not impose His will or way on us. This must be our choice. He has given us a "free will" to either obey Him or disobey Him. However, our choice will determine the consequences we will experience. 

It is true that God has given us ability, gifts, talents, and discernment, but these virtues must be surrendered to His control and authority. Otherwise, we plod through life making our own decisions, doing our thing, and living on the perimeter of all God wants to do in and through us. God wants us to be in the center of His will and be the sufficiency for ALL OF OUR LIFE. 

Complete dependence on God and obedience to Him will always be the prerequisites for the Spirit of God to manifest His power and sufficiency in us. 

Paul sought God three times to remove his "thorn in the flesh." Paul thought if God would remove it, he could minister more effectively and fruitfully. God's answer was, "MY GRACE IS SUFFICIENT for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.  Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: For when I am weak, then am I strong" (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). Paul's infirmity became the stepping stone to his source of sufficiency--Jesus Christ. 

This is a spiritual paradox, but so true. It is only when we recognize our "weakness and independence" that we "learn to lean" and trust God to be our sufficiency. What Paul is saying, characterized his whole life. "Who is sufficient for these things?" Here Paul ascribes all his sufficiency to GOD ALONE! Whatever the occasion, Paul trusted in the sufficiency of God to be his strength and power. All of his virtues were committed without reservation to God, and to His providential work in his life. (Daily Devotions)

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February 24

“Then one said unto Him, 'behold, Thy mother and Thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with Thee. ' But He stretched forth His hand towards His disciples, and said, 'Behold My mother and My brethren! ' For whosoever shall do the will of My Father which is in heaven, the same is My brother, and sister, and mother.” 

(Matthew 12:49, 50) 

I feel increasingly that the bond which knits our hearts together 

is in destructible because it is Christ. 

Human affection is beautiful in its place,

 and the heart gets at times very hungry for it,

but Christ alone can satisfy.

(Edward Dennett)

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February 25

“He that believeth shall not make haste.” 

(Isaiah 28:16)

In an age of supersonic travel and high-speed communications, in a culture where hurry is the watchword, it brings us up short to learn that haste is seldom used of God in a good sense in the Bible. Seldom, I say, because there is the instance where the father runs to meet the returning prodigal, suggesting that God hastens to forgive. 

But generally speaking, God is not in a hurry.

When David said, "The king’s business required haste” (1 Sam. 21:8), he was guilty of subterfuge, and we should not use his words to justify our frenetic rushing back and forth.  The plain truth is, as our text states, if we are really trusting the Lord, we don’t have to be in a hurry. 

The urgency of our task can be better served by a quiet walk 

in the Spirit than by a frenzy of carnal activity.

(Truths to Live By Day by Day - D.H.)

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February 26

The Work of Christ as the Only Resting-Place for the Conscience

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

(Isaiah 53:6)

“For Christ also hath once suffered for sins; the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.” (1 Peter 3:18)

Two things claim our attention; first, what Christ has done for us;

Secondly, what He is doing for us.

In the former, we have atonement; in the latter, advocacy.

He died for us on the Cross: 

He lives for us on the throne.

By His precious atoning death He has met our entire condition as sinners.

He has borne our sins, and put them away for ever.

He stood charged with all our sins - the sins of all who believe in His Name.

(C.H. Mackintosh -  The All-Sufficiency of Christ)

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February 27

LOGICALLY NECESSARY  (DEI)

“And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the Book of life, and out of the holy city and from the things which are written in this book.” (Revelation 22:19)

I knew a very clever medical doctor: a man who had had a thorough, scientific training.  This man did not believe there is a hell.  When I pressed him for his reasons for his unbelief, the only reason he could ever give was this, - “Its not logical.”

I pointed out that it was not many years since we would have said that it was not logical for a person on the other side of the earth to claim he could sit and listen to a speech being made in London; and that without any wires.  But the doctor merely repeated, - “Hell is not logical.”

The little Greek word dei has the fundamental meaning of “logical necessity” or of what is “right and proper.”  How striking, then, to find this little word is used eight times in Revelation; and three times we get the expression: ha dei ginesthai,- ‘ (things) which it is logically necessary to occur.’  (Revelation 1:1; 4:1; 22:6). 

“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, to show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass.” 

The word translated ‘must’ is in Greek dei: so the real meaning is “things which are logically necessary to come to pass.” The very first verse of this Book tells us that the terrible judgments that are coming on this poor wicked world are ‘logically necessary:’ are ‘right and proper.’

Let us remember that it is this Book which tells us of the Great White Throne of Judgment, and of Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heavens fled away.  It is this Book which tells us of the “Lake of Fire,” of the “Second Death.”

Of torment “day and night for ever and ever.”  And God Himself tells us as an introduction to these things, that they are logically necessary.

It is logically necessary that heaven should make merry and be glad, when the son who was lost, comes home. Luke 15:32.  Yes, if the weeping and wailing of hell are a logical necessity: even so the music and gladness of Heaven are also a logical necessity.

Let the man who wishes to deny this truth ponder deeply Revelation 22:19.
(Hid Treasures Found in the Greek New Testament - G.C. Willis)

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” 

(John 3:16)

N.J. Hiebert - 5811

February 28

TEMPTATION DEFEATED

“Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation."

(Matthew 26:41)

None of His commands clash with or supersede one another.  Trusting does not supersede watching; it does but complete and effectuate it. Unwatchful trust is a delusion, and untrustingful watching is in vain.

Therefore let us not either wilfully or carelessly enter into temptation, whether of place, or person, or topic,

which has any tendency to endanger the keeping of our lips for Jesus.

Let us pray that grace may be more and more poured into our lips as it was into His, so that our speech may be alway with grace. May they be pure, and sweet, and lovely, even as - 

“His lips, like lilies, dropping sweet-smelling myrrh.” 

(Opened Treasures - Francis Ridley Havergal)

N.J. Hiebert - 5812