Daily Bible Notes: December, 25th
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, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Isaiah 7:14
Let us to-day go down to Bethlehem, and in company with wondering shepherds and adoring Magi, let us see Him who was born King of the Jews, for we by faith can claim an interest in Him, and can sing, "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given." Jesus is Jehovah incarnate, our Lord and our God, and yet our brother and friend; let us adore and admire. Let us notice at the very first glance His miraculous conception . It was a thing unheard of before, and unparalleled since, that a virgin should conceive and bear a Son. The first promise ran thus, "The seed of the woman ," not the offspring of the man. Since venturous woman led the way in the sin which brought forth Paradise lost, she, and she alone, ushers in the Regainer of Paradise. Our Saviour, although truly man, was as to His human nature the Holy One of God. Let us reverently bow before the holy Child whose innocence restores to manhood its ancient glory; and let us pray that He may be formed in us, the hope of glory. Fail not to note His humble parentage . His mother has been described simply as "a virgin," not a princess, or prophetess, nor a matron of large estate. True the blood of kings ran in her veins; nor was her mind a weak and untaught one, for she could sing most sweetly a song of praise; but yet how humble her position, how poor the man to whom she stood affianced, and how miserable the accommodation afforded to the new-born King! Immanuel , God with us in our nature, in our sorrow, in our lifework, in our punishment, in our grave, and now with us, or rather we with Him, in resurrection, ascension, triumph, and Second Advent splendour.
Evening
And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.
Job 1:5
What the patriarch did early in the morning, after the family festivities, it will be well for the believer to do for himself ere he rests tonight. Amid the cheerfulness of household gatherings it is easy to slide into sinful levities, and to forget our avowed character as Christians. It ought not to be so, but so it is, that our days of feasting are very seldom days of sanctified enjoyment, but too frequently degenerate into unhallowed mirth. There is a way of joy as pure and sanctifying as though one bathed in the rivers of Eden: holy gratitude should be quite as purifying an element as grief. Alas! for our poor hearts, that facts prove that the house of mourning is better than the house of feasting. Come, believer, in what have you sinned to-day? Have you been forgetful of your high calling? Have you been even as others in idle words and loose speeches? Then confess the sin, and fly to the sacrifice. The sacrifice sanctifies. The precious blood of the Lamb slain removes the guilt, and purges away the defilement of our sins of ignorance and carelessness. This is the best ending of a Christmas-day - to wash anew in the cleansing fountain. Believer, come to this sacrifice continually; if it be so good to-night, it is good every night. To live at the altar is the privilege of the royal priesthood; to them sin, great as it is, is nevertheless no cause for despair, since they draw near yet again to the sin-atoning victim, and their conscience is purged from dead works.
Gladly I close this festive day, Grasping the altar’s hallow’d horn; My slips and faults are washed away, The Lamb has all my trespass borne.
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
Luke 2:8-20
8 There were shepherds in the same country staying in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock.
9 Behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.
10 The angel said to them, "Don't be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be to all the people.
11 For there is born to you today, in David's city, a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.
12 This is the sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth, lying in a feeding trough."
13 Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army praising God, and saying,
14 "Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will towards men."
15 When the angels went away from them into the sky, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem, now, and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us."
16 They came with haste, and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby was lying in the feeding trough.
17 When they saw it, they publicised widely the saying which was spoken to them about this child.
18 All who heard it wondered at the things which were spoken to them by the shepherds.
19 But Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart.
20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, just as it was told them.
CHRISTMAS CHEER
"Good will toward men!"
The heavens are not filled with hostility. The sky does not express a frown. When I look up I do not contemplate a face of brass, but the face of infinite good will. Yet when I was a child, many a picture has made me think of God as suspicious, inhumanly watchful, always looking round the corner to catch me at the fall. That "eye," placed in the sky of many a picture, and placed there to represent God, filled my heart with a chilling fear. That God was to me a magnified policeman, watching for wrong-doers, and ever ready for the infliction of punishment. It was all a frightful perversion of the gracious teaching of Jesus.
Heaven overflows with good will toward men! Our God not only wishes good, He wills it! "He gave His only begotten Son," as the sacred expression of His infinite good will. He has good will toward thee and me, and mine and thine. Let that holy thought make our Christmas cheer.
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
December 25th.
Lord of all mercy, help me to see Thy footprints everywhere. In all the love of human kind may I see Thy gift!
In all sweet fellowships and beautiful intimacies and all lovely wedlocks may I see the tokens of Thy tender mercy!May Thine earth reveal Thine Heaven!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
Acts 1:11
Many are celebrating our Lord's first coming this day; let us turn our thoughts to the promise of his second coming. This is as sure as the first advent, and derives a great measure of its certainty from it. He who came as a lowly man to serve will assuredly come to take the reward of his service. He who came to suffer will not be slow in coming to reign.
This is our glorious hope, for we shall share his joy. To-day we are in our concealment and humiliation, even as he was while here below; but when he cometh it will be our manifestation, even as it will be his revelation. Dead saints shall live at his appearing. The slandered and despised shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Then shall the saints appear as kings and priests, and the days of their mourning shall be ended. The long rest and inconceivable splendour of the Millennial reign will be an abundant recompense for the ages of witnessing and warring.
Oh that the Lord would come! He is coming! He is on the road and travelling quickly. The sound of his approach should be as music to our hearts! Ring out, ye bells of hope!
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
There is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.
Luke 2:11, R.V.
Faith, Hope and Love never stand closer, or sing in sweeter unison than over the new-born ... Christ came into the midst of sorrow and sighing, and at once angels and men began the carol of a great joy ... Through His advent in weakness and strength, in innocence and knowledge, faith becomes possible to men again, hope begins its new song, and love enters upon its new enterprises.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
He which testifieth these things saith, Yea, I come quickly. Amen; come, Lord Jesus.
Revelation 22:20
These are the last words before the benediction. They are the words of the Lord Jesus; and the words of those who bear His name, and wear His sign. The words of the Lord Jesus are the words of His confidence, and of His strength. To that glorious consummation He is coming, and that all the time. The word "quickly" must be interpreted, not by our finite lives, and our small almanacs, but by His age-abiding life, and our age-abiding life in Him. By our reckoning of the years, well nigh two millenniums have gone since John heard these words, and certainly another millennium will pass ere the City of God shall come: But to Him to Whom a thousand years are but as a day, surely He cometh quickly. The haste of God may seem slow to men if they measure by the small span of an earthly sojourning. To them also it will be great haste, if they measure it by the eternal life. The one sure thing is that He cometh! Through patience, through wrath! through all the processes, He cometh! Nothing can prevent His coming. That very assurance gives urgency to the answering cry of His own: "Amen; come Lord Jesus!" That coming is the only hope of the world, and there is no desire so pure, so strong, so influential in all highest ways, as that He should come indeed.
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.