Daily Bible Notes: August, 24th
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
The breaker is come up before them.
Micah 2:13
Inasmuch as Jesus has gone before us, things remain not as they would have been had He never passed that way. He has conquered every foe that obstructed the way. Cheer up now thou faint-hearted warrior. Not only has Christ travelled the road, but He has slain thine enemies. Dost thou dread sin? He has nailed it to His cross. Dost thou fear death? He has been the death of Death. Art thou afraid of hell? He has barred it against the advent of any of His children; they shall never see the gulf of perdition.
Whatever foes may be before the Christian, they are all overcome. There are lions, but their teeth are broken; there are serpents, but their fangs are extracted; there are rivers, but they are bridged or fordable; there are flames, but we wear that matchless garment which renders us invulnerable to fire. The sword that has been forged against us is already blunted; the instruments of war which the enemy is preparing have already lost their point. God has taken away in the person of Christ all the power that anything can have to hurt us. Well then, the army may safely march on, and you may go joyously along your journey, for all your enemies are conquered beforehand. What shall you do but march on to take the prey?
They are beaten, they are vanquished; all you have to do is to divide the spoil. You shall, it is true, often engage in combat; but your fight shall be with a vanquished foe. His head is broken; he may attempt to injure you, but his strength shall not be sufficient for his malicious design. Your victory shall be easy, and your treasure shall be beyond all count. "Proclaim aloud the Saviour’s fame, Who bears the Breaker’s wond’rous name; Sweet name; and it becomes him well, Who breaks down earth, sin, death, and hell."
Evening
If fire break out, and catch in thorns, so that the stacks of corn, or the standing corn, or the field, be consumed therewith; he that kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.
Exodus 22:6
But what restitution can he make who casts abroad the fire-brands of error, or the coals of lasciviousness, and sets men’s souls on a blaze with the fire of hell? The guilt is beyond estimate, and the result is irretrievable. If such an offender be forgiven, what grief it will cause him in the retrospect, since he cannot undo the mischief which he has done! An ill example may kindle a flame which years of amended character cannot quench. To burn the food of man is bad enough, but how much worse to destroy the soul! It may be useful to us to reflect how far we may have been guilty in the past, and to enquire whether, even in the present, there may not be evil in us which has a tendency to bring damage to the souls of our relatives, friends, or neighbours.
The fire of strife is a terrible evil when it breaks out in a Christian church.
Where converts were multiplied, and God was glorified, jealousy and envy do the devil’s work most effectually. Where the golden grain was being housed, to reward the toil of the great Boaz, the fire of enmity comes in and leaves little else but smoke and a heap of blackness. Woe unto those by whom offences come. May they never come through us, for although we cannot make restitution, we shall certainly be the chief sufferers if we are the chief offenders. Those who feed the fire deserve just censure, but he who first kindles it is most to blame. Discord usually takes first hold upon the thorns; it is nurtured among the hypocrites and base professors in the church, and away it goes among the righteous, blown by the winds of hell, and no one knows where it may end. O Thou Lord and giver of peace, make us peacemakers, and never let us aid and abet the men of strife, or even unintentionally cause the least division among Thy people.
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
John 17:1-11
1 Jesus said these things, then lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may also glorify you;
2 even as you gave him authority over all flesh, so he will give eternal life to all whom you have given him.
3 This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
4 I glorified you on the earth. I have accomplished the work which you have given me to do.
5 Now, Father, glorify me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world existed.
6 I revealed your name to the people whom you have given me out of the world. They were yours, and you have given them to me. They have kept your word.
7 Now they have known that all things whatever you have given me are from you,
8 for the words which you have given me I have given to them, and they received them, and knew for sure that I came from you. They have believed that you sent me.
9 I pray for them. I don't pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.
10 All things that are mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.
11 I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them through your name which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are.
THE LORD'S BODY
"I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do."
This quiet confession is in itself a token of our Lord's divinity. The serenity in which He makes His claims is as stupendous as the claims themselves. "Finished," perfected in the utmost refinement, to the last, remotest detail! Nothing scamped, nothing overlooked, nothing forgotten! Everything which concerns thy redemption and my redemption has been accomplished. "It is finished!"
"And now ... I come to Thee." The visible Presence is withdrawn. There is no longer in our midst a Jesus whose body we can bruise and crucify. "But these are in the world." Yes, and His disciples are now His body. He becomes reincarnated in them. If they refuse Him a body, He has none! He looks through their eyes, listens through their ears, speaks through their lips, ministers through their hands, goes on sacred pilgrimages with their feet! "Know ye not that ye are the body?"
Does my discipleship offer my Lord a limb? Can He communicate with the world through me? Does my discipleship multiply His powers of expression? Has He more eyes, more ears, more hands because I am a member of His Church? Or----?
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
August 24th.
Lord of life, illumine my spirit to-day. Search out the dark places in my heart and make me a child of light.
Draw out my secret sins, and teach me to hate them. Transform my desires if I am yearning after that which is evil.
Make me pure in heart.
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
1 Corinthians 1:19
This verse is a threatening so far as the worldly-wise are concerned, but to the simple believer it is a promise. The professedly learned are for ever trying to bring to nothing the faith of the humble believer, but they fail in their attempts. Their arguments break down, their theories fall under their own weight, their deep-laid plots discover themselves before their purpose is accomplished. The old gospel is not extinct yet, nor will it be while the Lord liveth. If it could have been exterminated it would have perished from off the earth long ago.
We cannot destroy the wisdom of the wise, nor need we attempt it, for the work is in far better hands. The Lord himself says, "I will," and he never resolves in vain. Twice does he in this verse declare his purpose, and we may rest assured that he will not turn aside from it.
What clean work the Lord makes of philosophy and "modern thought" when he puts his hand to it! He brings the fine appearance down to nothing; he utterly destroys the wood, hay, and stubble. It is written that so it shall be, and so shall it be. Lord, make short work of it. Amen, and Amen.
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Godliness with contentment is great gain.
1 Timothy 6:6
The story of Lot is one which is full of the most solemn warning. There is manifest in him the growth of the world spirit. First, he chooses selfishly; then he pitches his tent toward Sodom; then he enters in; and, finally, he sits in the gate.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
These all ... received not the promise.
Hebrews 11:39
These words are full of encouragement for us in hours when we are tempted to discouragement because the victories of faith seem as though they never would be won. After the wonderful passage in which the writer reminded his readers of the heroes and heroines who had lived and suffered and died in faith, he declared that all of them died without seeing the full victory toward which they had been looking. It is an interesting study to follow this word promise through the Letter. It can easily be done by the aid of a good concordance, for the A.V. and R.V. uniformly render the Greek word by this word "promise." Such an examination will show that the word is always used with reference to declarations of God as to what He will do. These promises of God were what men heard and believed, and such belief was the sustaining power in all their service and suffering. In the course of the Letter it is said that Abraham "obtained the promise" (6:15); that through the mediation of our High Priest we "may receive the promise" (9:15); that we need patience that we "may receive the promise" (10:36) ; that the patriarchs "died in faith, not having received the promises" (11:13); that Abraham "had gladly received the promises" (11:17); that Samuel and the prophets "obtained promises" (11:33); and now that "these all ... received not the promise." This grouping shows a distinction between the receiving the promise as a promise, and receiving the fulfilment. Faith has received the promise, and acts accordingly.
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.