Daily Bible Notes: December, 16th
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
Come unto me.
Matthew 11:28
The cry of the Christian religion is the gentle word, "Come." The Jewish law harshly said, "Go, take heed unto thy steps as to the path in which thou shalt walk. Break the commandments, and thou shalt perish; keep them, and thou shalt live." The law was a dispensation of terror, which drove men before it as with a scourge; the gospel draws with bands of love.
Jesus is the good Shepherd going before His sheep, bidding them follow Him, and ever leading them onwards with the sweet word, "Come." The law repels, the gospel attracts. The law shows the distance which there is between God and man; the gospel bridges that awful chasm, and brings the sinner across it.
From the first moment of your spiritual life until you are ushered into glory, the language of Christ to you will be, "Come, come unto me." As a mother puts out her finger to her little child and woos it to walk by saying, "Come ," even so does Jesus. He will always be ahead of you, bidding you follow Him as the soldier follows his captain. He will always go before you to pave your way, and clear your path, and you shall hear His animating voice calling you after Him all through life; while in the solemn hour of death, His sweet words with which He shall usher you into the heavenly world shall be - "Come, ye blessed of my Father."
Nay, further, this is not only Christ’s cry to you, but, if you be a believer, this is your cry to Christ - "Come! come!" You will be longing for His second advent; you will be saying, "Come quickly, even so come Lord Jesus." You will be panting for nearer and closer communion with Him. As His voice to you is "Come," your response to Him will be, "Come, Lord, and abide with me. Come, and occupy alone the throne of my heart; reign there without a rival, and consecrate me entirely to Thy service."
Evening
Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened.
Isaiah 48:8
It is painful to remember that, in a certain degree, this accusation may be laid at the door of believers , who too often are in a measure spiritually insensible . We may well bewail ourselves that we do not hear the voice of God as we ought, "Yea, thou heardest not." There are gentle motions of the Holy Spirit in the soul which are unheeded by us: there are whisperings of divine command and of heavenly love which are alike unobserved by our leaden intellects. Alas! we have been carelessly ignorant - "Yea, thou knewest not." There are matters within which we ought to have seen, corruptions which have made headway unnoticed; sweet affections which are being blighted like flowers in the frost, untended by us; glimpses of the divine face which might be perceived if we did not wall up the windows of our soul. But we "have not known." As we think of it we are humbled in the deepest self-abasement. How must we adore the grace of God as we learn from the context that all this folly and ignorance, on our part, was foreknown by God , and, notwithstanding that foreknowledge, He yet has been pleased to deal with us in a way of mercy! Admire the marvellous sovereign grace which could have chosen us in the sight of all this! Wonder at the price that was paid for us when Christ knew what we should be! He who hung upon the cross foresaw us as unbelieving, backsliding, cold of heart, indifferent, careless, lax in prayer, and yet He said, "I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour... Since thou wast precious in My sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life"! O redemption, how wondrously resplendent dost thou shine when we think how black we are! O Holy Spirit, give us henceforth the hearing ear, the understanding heart!
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
Hebrews 11:30-40
30 By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down, after they had been encircled for seven days.
31 By faith, Rahab the prostitute didn't perish with those who were disobedient, having received the spies in peace.
32 What more shall I say? For the time would fail me if I told of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets,
33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked out righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, grew mighty in war, and caused foreign armies to flee.
35 Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, not accepting their deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.
36 Others were tried by mocking and scourging, yes, moreover by bonds and imprisonment.
37 They were stoned. They were sawn apart. They were tempted. They were slain with the sword. They went around in sheep skins and in goat skins; being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated-
38 of whom the world was not worthy-wandering in deserts, mountains, caves, and the holes of the earth.
39 These all, having had testimony given to them through their faith, didn't receive the promise,
40 God having provided some better thing concerning us, so that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
THE GREATEST WONDERS
The greatest wonders are not in Nature but in grace. A regenerated soul is a greater marvel than the marvel of the spring-time. A transfigured face is a deeper mystery than a sun-lit garden. To rear graces in a life once scorched and blasted by sin is more wonderful than to grow flowers on a cinder-heap. If we want to see the realm of surpassing wonders we must look into a soul that has been born again and is now in vital union with the living Christ. Even the angels watch the sight with ever-deepening awe and praise.
As the spiritual is the home of wonders, so also is it the field of brightest exploits. It is not what men have done by the sword that counts in the esteem of heaven - such deeds mean little or nothing; it is what they have done "by faith." Weak, frail men and women have put their faith in God, and have done the impossible! Faith unites the weakling with almightiness! Faith makes a lonely soul one with "the spirits of just men made perfect," and with them he shares "the power and the glory" of the eternal God.
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
December 16th.
Our Father, teach me to discern the tokens of Thy love and care. Give me a clear eye that I may read the messages
contained in Thy gifts. May I know how to interpret my daily bread! May the common life have its evangel! May everything be a revealer of Thee!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
Thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong.
Joshua 17:18
It is a great encouragement to valour to be assured of victory, for then a man goes forth to war in confidence, and ventures where else he had been afraid to go. Our warfare is with evil within us and around us, and we ought to be persuaded that we are able to get the victory, and that we shall do so in the name of the Lord Jesus. We are not riding for a fall, but to win; and win we shall. The grace of God in its omnipotence is put forth for the overthrow of evil in every form: hence the certainty of triumph.
Certain of our sins find chariots of iron in our constitution, our former habits, our associations, and our occupations. Nevertheless we must overcome them. They are very strong, and in reference to them we are very weak; yet in the name of God we must master them, and we will. If one sin has dominion of us we are not the Lord's free men. A man who is held by only one chain is still a captive. There is no going to heaven with one sin ruling within us, for of the saints it is said, "Sin shall not have dominion over you." Up, then, and slay every Canaanite, and break to shivers every chariot of iron! The Lord of hosts is with us, and who shall resist his sin-destroying power?
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Preach the gospel to every creature.
Mark 16:15
If we are truly waiting for Jesus, we shall not be careless of those for whom He died; and we shall not dare disobey His word which bids us preach the gospel to every creature. But, as far as individual life is concerned, the coming One should fill the heart's vision through all the days and moments.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
And the whole earth wondered after the beast.
Revelation 13:3
There was now given to the seer a vision of the method of Satan when thus cast down to the earth. It is that of a beast to whom power is given. It is certainly the portrayal of Antichrist, who is the counterfeit of Christ. He appears with all the signs and symbols of kingship. He, moreover, has supernatural signs, coming up out of the abyss, having a death wound which has been healed. He is characterized by great personal attractiveness, for the whole earth wonders at him. Moreover, he is followed by another beast, who makes men worship the first, and employs signs of fire and of occult wonders, and creates a fellowship of material things, in which men may buy and sell of each other if they have the mark of the beast. Upon the head of the first are "names of blasphemy"; and in this symbolic portraiture we see that the final method of evil will be that of attempting to seduce men by these false representations of the things of Christ and His Holy Spirit. Antichrist has surely not yet appeared in human history. Many tyrants, many despots, the world has had, but the last will surpass them all in subtlety, and in seductive influence. It is for us to remember that these are the true unveilings of godlessness, this is the true inwardness of evil. And further, it is for us to keep in mind most clearly the vision granted to us at the beginning, of the Throne, and the One, and the Lamb opening the seals. As we do so, we shall know that evil is being thus compelled to express itself by that Throne; and that, in order to its final overthrow. There is no moment in which that Throne is in danger.
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.