Daily Bible Notes: April, 6th
The following daily bible notes for every day of the year, are taken from six public domain sources:
- "Morning and Evening" by Charles H.Spurgeon
- "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by John H.Jowett
- "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
- "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by Charles H.Spurgeon
- "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan
- An Evening Meditation from "Searchlights from the Word" by G. Campbell Morgan
1. "Morning and Evening" by C.H.Spurgeon
Morning
Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp.
Hebrews 13:13
Jesus, bearing His cross, went forth to suffer without the gate. The Christian’s reason for leaving the camp of the world’s sin and religion is not because he loves to be singular, but because Jesus did so ; and the disciple must follow his Master. Christ was "not of the world:" His life and His testimony were a constant protest against conformity with the world. Never was such overflowing affection for men as you find in Him; but still He was separate from sinners. In like manner Christ’s people must "go forth unto Him." They must take their position "without the camp," as witness-bearers for the truth. They must be prepared to tread the straight and narrow path. They must have bold, unflinching, lion-like hearts, loving Christ first, and His truth next, and Christ and His truth beyond all the world. Jesus would have His people "go forth without the camp" for their own sanctification . You cannot grow in grace to any high degree while you are conformed to the world. The life of separation may be a path of sorrow, but it is the highway of safety; and though the separated life may cost you many pangs, and make every day a battle, yet it is a happy life after all. No joy can excel that of the soldier of Christ:
Jesus reveals Himself so graciously, and gives such sweet refreshment, that the warrior feels more calm and peace in his daily strife than others in their hours of rest. The highway of holiness is the highway of communion. It is thus we shall hope to win the crown if we are enabled by divine grace faithfully to follow Christ "without the camp." The crown of glory will follow the cross of separation. A moment’s shame will be well recompensed by eternal honour; a little while of witness-bearing will seem nothing when we are "for ever with the Lord."
Evening
In the name of the Lord I will destroy them.
Psalm 118:12
Our Lord Jesus, by His death, did not purchase a right to a part of us only, but to the entire man. He contemplated in His passion the sanctification of us wholly, spirit, soul, and body; that in this triple kingdom He Himself might reign supreme without a rival. It is the business of the newborn nature which God has given to the regenerate to assert the rights of the Lord Jesus Christ. My soul, so far as thou art a child of God, thou must conquer all the rest of thyself which yet remains unblest; thou must subdue all thy powers and passions to the silver sceptre of Jesus’ gracious reign, and thou must never be satisfied till He who is King by purchase becomes also King by gracious coronation, and reigns in thee supreme.
Seeing, then, that sin has no right to any part of us, we go about a good and lawful warfare when we seek, in the name of God, to drive it out. O my body, thou art a member of Christ: shall I tolerate thy subjection to the prince of darkness? O my soul, Christ has suffered for thy sins, and redeemed thee with His most precious blood: shall I suffer thy memory to become a storehouse of evil, or thy passions to be firebrands of iniquity?
Shall I surrender my judgment to be perverted by error, or my will to be led in fetters of iniquity? No, my soul, thou art Christ’s, and sin hath no right to thee.
Be courageous concerning this, O Christian! be not dispirited, as though your spiritual enemies could never be destroyed. You are able to overcome them - not in your own strength - the weakest of them would be too much for you in that; but you can and shall overcome them through the blood of the Lamb. Do not ask, "How shall I dispossess them, for they are greater and mightier than I?" but go to the strong for strength, wait humbly upon God, and the mighty God of Jacob will surely come to the rescue, and you shall sing of victory through His grace.
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
1 Now I declare to you, brothers, the Good News which I preached to you, which also you received, in which you also stand,
2 by which also you are saved, if you hold firmly the word which I preached to you-unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
6 Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers at once, most of whom remain until now, but some have also fallen asleep.
7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,
8 and last of all, as to the child born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also.
9 For I am the least of the apostles, who is not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the assembly of God.
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am. His grace which was given to me was not futile, but I worked more than all of them; yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
11 Whether then it is I or they, so we preach, and so you believed.
FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST
"Last of all He was seen of me also."
And by that vision Saul of Tarsus was transformed. And so, by the ministry of a risen Lord we have received the gift of a transfigured Paul. The resurrection glory fell upon him, and he was glorified. In that superlative light he discovered his sin, his error, his need, but he also found the dynamic of the immortal hope.
"Seen of me also!" Can I, too, calmly and confidently claim the experience? Or am I altogether depending upon another man's sight, and are my own eyes unillumined? In these realms the witness of "hear-says" counts for nothing; he only speaks with arresting power who has "seen for himself." "Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of Me?" That is the question which is asked, not only by the Master, but by all who hear us tell the story of the risen Lord. "Has He been seen of thee also?"
My Saviour, I humbly pray Thee to give me first-hand knowledge of Thee. Let me be a witness who can say, "I know that my Redeemer liveth!" Before all the doubts and hesitancies of man enable me to answer, "Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord?"
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
April 6th.
My Father, may I become more brotherly! Release me from the servitude of self. Give me the freedom of love. Let me find my
delights in the largeness of my fellowships. May I find Thee in the service of my brethren!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.
Zechariah 14:9
Blessed prospect! This is no dream of an enthusiast, but the declaration of the infallible Word. Jehovah shall be known among all people, and his gracious sway shall be acknowledged by every tribe of man. To-day, it is far from being so. Where do any bow before the Great King? How much there is of rebellion! What lords many, and gods many, there are on the earth! Even among professed Christians what diversities of ideas there are about him and his gospel! One day there shall be one King, one Jehovah, and one name for the living God. O Lord, hasten it! We daily cry. Thy kingdom come.
We will not discuss the question as to when this shall be, lest we lose the comfort of the certainty that it shall be. So surely as the Holy Ghost spake by his prophets, so surely shall the whole earth be filled with the glory of the Lord. Jesus did not die in vain. The Spirit of God worketh not in vain. The Father's eternal purposes shall not be frustrated. Here, where Satan triumphed, Jesus shall be crowned, and the Lord God Omnipotent shall reign. Let us go our way to our daily work and warfare made strong in faith.
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Whom not having seen ye love ... yet believing, ye rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable.
1 Peter 1:8
Submission to the King involves the finding of the mystic key that opens every avenue of pure delight, for in His will the powers which He in love created are no longer prostituted to ignoble purposes, but serve the purpose of that love creation.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Men of good report, full of the Spirit and of wisdom.
Acts 6:3
These were the qualifications for those who were to be set apart to serve tables, to look after the financial and business affairs of the Church. Note carefully the three things deemed essential for such service. First, they were to be "of good report" - that is, quite literally, "of good witness." They must be witnesses who had proved themselves as such, men in and through whom Christ had been made known. Second, it is said they were to be "full of the Spirit." That adds emphasis to the first requirement, for it is only men "full of the spirit" who are "of good witness." It also shows that the same witness to Christ must be borne in the work to which they were appointed. Finally, they were to be "of wisdom." That is the recognition of the necessity for natural ability for business affairs; and, in its relation to the fullness of the Spirit, shows how the natural ability must be under His control. What a condemnation all this is of the way in which the Church has too often appointed men to manage her business affairs! No man should be allowed to share in such work who is not himself a witness by the Spirit. It is equally true that no witness should be appointed to this work if he lack wisdom, for that is essential to all true serving of tables.
Note: To the best of our knowledge we are of the understanding that the above material, all published before 1926 and freely available elsewhere on the internet in various formats, is in the public domain.