Daily Bible Notes: April, 19th
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
Behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.
Matthew 27:51
No mean miracle was wrought in the rending of so strong and thick a veil; but it was not intended merely as a display of power - many lessons were herein taught us. The old law of ordinances was put away, and like a worn-out vesture, rent and laid aside. When Jesus died, the sacrifices were all finished, because all fulfilled in Him, and therefore the place of their presentation was marked with an evident token of decay. That rent also revealed all the hidden things of the old dispensation : the mercy-seat could now be seen, and the glory of God gleamed forth above it. By the death of our Lord Jesus we have a clear revelation of God, for He was "not as Moses, who put a veil over his face." Life and immortality are now brought to light, and things which have been hidden since the foundation of the world are manifest in Him. The annual ceremony of atonement was thus abolished. The atoning blood which was once every year sprinkled within the veil, was now offered once for all by the great High Priest, and therefore the place of the symbolical rite was broken up. No blood of bullocks or of lambs is needed now, for Jesus has entered within the veil with his own blood. Hence access to God is now permitted , and is the privilege of every believer in Christ Jesus. There is no small space laid open through which we may peer at the mercy-seat, but the rent reaches from the top to the bottom. We may come with boldness to the throne of the heavenly grace. Shall we err if we say that the opening of the Holy of Holies in this marvellous manner by our Lord’s expiring cry was the type of the opening of the gates of paradise to all the saints by virtue of the Passion? Our bleeding Lord hath the key of heaven; He openeth and no man shutteth; let us enter in with Him into the heavenly places, and sit with Him there till our common enemies shall be made His footstool.
Evening
The Amen.
Revelation 3:14
The word AMEN solemnly confirms that which went before; and Jesus is the great Confirmer; immutable, for ever is "the Amen" in all His promises.
Sinner, I would comfort thee with this reflection. Jesus Christ said, "Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." If you come to Him, He will say "Amen" in your soul; His promise shall be true to you . He said in the days of His flesh, "The bruised reed I will not break." O thou poor, broken, bruised heart, if thou comest to Him, He will say "Amen" to thee, and that shall be true in thy soul as in hundreds of cases in bygone years. Christian , is not this very comforting to thee also, that there is not a word which has gone out of the Saviour’s lips which He has ever retracted? The words of Jesus shall stand when heaven and earth shall pass away. If thou gettest a hold of but half a promise, thou shalt find it true. Beware of him who is called "Clip-promise," who will destroy much of the comfort of God’s word.
Jesus is Yea and Amen in all His offices . He was a Priest to pardon and cleanse once, He is Amen as Priest still. He was a King to rule and reign for His people, and to defend them with His mighty arm, He is an Amen King, the same still. He was a Prophet of old, to foretell good things to come, His lips are most sweet, and drop with honey still - He is an Amen Prophet. He is Amen as to the merit of His blood; He is Amen as to His righteousness. That sacred robe shall remain most fair and glorious when nature shall decay. He is Amen in every single title which He bears; your Husband, never seeking a divorce; your Friend, sticking closer than a brother; your Shepherd, with you in death’s dark vale; your Help and your Deliverer; your Castle and your High Tower; the Horn of your strength, your confidence, your joy, your all in all, and your Yea and Amen in all.
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
1 Peter 3:8-17
8 Finally, all of you be like-minded, compassionate, loving as brothers, tenderhearted, courteous,
9 not rendering evil for evil, or insult for insult; but instead blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.
10 For, "He who would love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.
11 Let him turn away from evil and do good. Let him seek peace and pursue it.
12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears open to their prayer; but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."
13 Now who will harm you if you become imitators of that which is good?
14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you are blessed. "Don't fear what they fear, neither be troubled."
15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts. Always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, with humility and fear,
16 having a good conscience. Thus, while you are spoken against as evildoers, they may be disappointed who curse your good way of life in Christ.
17 For it is better, if it is God's will, that you suffer for doing well than for doing evil.
UNION IN HARMONY
"Be ye all of one mind"
But this is not unison: it is harmony. When an orchestra produces some great musical masterpiece, the instruments are all of one mind, but each makes its own individual contribution. There is variety with concordance: each one serves every other, and the result is glorious harmony. "By love serve one another." It is love that converts membership into fraternity: it is love that binds sons and daughters into a family.
Look at a field of wild-flowers. What a harmony of colour! And yet what a variety of colours! Nothing out of place, but no sameness! All drawing resource from the same soil, and breathing the vitalizing substance from the same air!
"And ye, being rooted and grounded in love," will grow up, a holy family in the Lord. If love be the common ground the varieties in God's family may be infinite!
And so the unity which the apostle seeks is a unity of mood and disposition. It is not a unity which repeats the exact syllables of a common creed, but a unity which is built of common trust, and love, and hope. It is not sameness upon the outer lips, but fellowship in the secret place.
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
April 19th.
My Father, give me the grace of fair-dealing. Enlarge my heart, that so I may have room for my brother. May I not crowd him
out of my thoughts! May I surround him with large and gracious sympathy!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, wiil both search my sheep, and seek them out.
Ezekiel 34:11
This he does at the first when his elect are like wandering sheep that know not the shepherd or the fold. How wonderfully doth the Lord find out his chosen! Jesus is great as a seeking shepherd as well as a saving shepherd. Though many of those his Father gave him have gone as near to hell-gate as they well can, yet the Lord by searching and seeking discovers them, and draws nigh to them in grace. He has sought out us: let us have good hope for those who are laid upon our hearts in prayer, for he will find them out also.
The Lord repeats this process when any of his flock stray from the pastures of truth and holiness. They may fall into gross error, sad sin, and grievous hardness; but yet the Lord, who has become a surety for them to his Father, will not suffer one of them to go so far as to perish. He will by providence and grace pursue them into foreign lands, into abodes of poverty, into dens of obscurity, into deeps of despair; he will not lose one of all that the Father has given him. It is a point of honour with Jesus to seek and to save all the flock, without a single exception. What a promise to plead, if at this hour I am compelled to cry, "I have gone astray like a lost sheep!"
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
But there is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty giveth them understanding.
Job 32:8, R.V.
All pure genius is inspired, not in the same degree as the Scriptures, because not for the same purpose, but by the same Person.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
I must also see Rome.
Acts 19:21
In these words Paul gave expression, not to a desire only, but also to a conviction. That it was in harmony with the will of his Lord, subsequent events proved; but it is probable that at the time he had little consciousness of how long it would be ere he reached Rome, or how difficult would be the pathway thither. These things we shall see as we proceed. Perhaps the chief interest in this conviction of Paul at the moment is that of its revelation once more, of how in the economy of the Holy Spirit the natural things of a man are taken hold of, and pressed into the service of the enterprise of Christ. As we have seen before, Paul was a freeborn Roman citizen. He would be very conscious of the power of Rome in all human affairs. He knew how from that City of the Seven Hills the highways radiated to all parts of the world. He knew then the importance of the Christian Church in that great city. It was already in existence, having been planted almost certainly by the "sojourners from Rome" who were in Jerusalem at Pentecost. It was this sense which caused him to write his letter to them, and now made him desire to see the city. Thus the true apostle of Christ Jesus is ever lifting his eyes to larger things than those of his immediate work. He is always planning for advance, rather than contemplating withdrawal.
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.