Daily Bible Notes: July, 30th
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
And when he thought thereon, he wept.
Mark 14:72
It has been thought by some that as long as Peter lived, the fountain of his tears began to flow whenever he remembered his denying his Lord. It is not unlikely that it was so, (for his sin was very great, and grace in him had afterwards a perfect work. This same experience is common to all the redeemed family according to the degree in which the Spirit of God has removed the natural heart of stone. We, like Peter, remember our boastful promise : "Though all men shall forsake Thee, yet will not I." We eat our own words with the bitter herbs of repentance. When we think of what we vowed we would be, and of what we have been, we may weep whole showers of grief. He thought on his denying his Lord . The place in which he did it, the little cause which led him into such heinous sin, the oaths and blasphemies with which he sought to confirm his falsehood, and the dreadful hardness of heart which drove him to do so again and yet again.
Can we, when we are reminded of our sins, and their exceeding sinfulness, remain stolid and stubborn? Will we not make our house a Bochim, and cry unto the Lord for renewed assurances of pardoning love? May we never take a dry-eyed look at sin, lest ere long we have a tongue parched in the flames of hell. Peter also thought upon his Master’s look of love . The Lord followed up the cock’s warning voice with an admonitory look of sorrow, pity, and love. That glance was never out of Peter’s mind so long as he lived. It was far more effectual than ten thousand sermons would have been without the Spirit. The penitent apostle would be sure to weep when he recollected the Saviour’s full forgiveness , which restored him to his former place. To think that we have offended so kind and good a Lord is more than sufficient reason for being constant weepers. Lord, smite our rocky hearts, and make the waters flow.
Evening
Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.
John 6:37
No limit is set to the duration of this promise. It does not merely say, "I will not cast out a sinner at his first coming," but, "I will in no wise cast out." The original reads, "I will not, not cast out," or "I will never, never cast out." The text means, that Christ will not at first reject a believer; and that as He will not do it at first, so He will not to the last.
But suppose the believer sins after coming? "If any man sin we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." But suppose that believers backslide? "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for Mine anger is turned away from him." But believers may fall under temptation! "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." But the believer may fall into sin as David did! Yes, but He will "Purge them with hyssop, and they shall be clean; He will wash them and they shall be whiter than snow"; "From all their iniquities will I cleanse them." "Once in Christ, in Christ for ever, Nothing from His love can sever." "I give unto My sheep," saith He, "eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand." What sayest thou to this, O trembling feeble mind? Is not this a precious mercy, that coming to Christ, thou dost not come to One who will treat thee well for a little while, and then send thee about thy business, but He will receive thee and make thee His bride, and thou shalt be His for ever? Receive no longer the spirit of bondage again to fear, but the spirit of adoption whereby thou shalt cry, Abba, Father! Oh! the grace of these words: "I will in no wise cast out."
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
Numbers 21:4-9
4 They travelled from Mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. The soul of the people was very discouraged because of the journey.
5 The people spoke against God and against Moses: "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, there is no water, and our soul loathes this disgusting food!"
6 The LORD sent venomous snakes amongst the people, and they bit the people. Many people of Israel died.
7 The people came to Moses, and said, "We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us." Moses prayed for the people.
8 The LORD said to Moses, "Make a venomous snake, and set it on a pole. It shall happen that everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live."
9 Moses made a serpent of bronze, and set it on the pole. If a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked at the serpent of bronze, he lived.
SIN AS POISON
And this is the familiar teaching, that sin is a serpent. It possesses a deadly poison. We may give it pleasant names, but we are only ornamenting death. A chemist might put a poison into a chaste and elegant flask, but he has in no wise changed its nature. And when we name sin by philosophic euphemisms, and by less exacting terminologies - such as "cleverness," "smartness," or "fault," or "misfortune," we are only changing the flask, and the diabolical essence remains the same.
And, then, sin is a serpent because it is so subtle. It creeps into my presence almost before I know it. Its approaches are so insidious, its expedients so full of guile. "Therefore, I say unto all, Watch!"
But in Christ the old serpent is dead! Christ "became sin," and in Him sin was crucified. The thing that bit is bitten, and its nefarious power destroyed. But out of Christ the serpent is still busy and malicious, claiming what he presumes to call his own.
Let me, then, dwell in Christ, where sin "has no more dominion." "Whosoever believeth shall not perish but have life."
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
July 30th.
Holy God, teach us how to deal with sin. Give our leaders wisdom that they may know how to contend with great and vested
wrongs. May they not be afraid because of the majestic power of vice! May they confront it with holy courage!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice.
John 16:22
Surely he will come a second time, and then, when he sees us, and we see him, there will be rejoicings indeed. Oh for that joyous return!
But this promise is being daily fulfilled in another sense. Our gracious Lord has many "agains" in his dealings with us. He gave us pardon, and he sees us again, and repeats the absolving word as fresh sins cause us grief. He has revealed to us our acceptance before God, and when our faith in that blessing grows a little dim, he comes to us again and again, and says, "Peace be unto you"; and our hearts are glad.
Beloved, all our past mercies are tokens of future mercies. If Jesus has been with us, he will see us again. Look upon no former favour as a dead and buried thing, to be mourned over; but regard it as a seed sown, which will grow, and push its head up from the dust, and cry, "I will see you again." Are the times dark because Jesus is not with us as he used to be? Let us pluck up courage; for he will not be long away. His feet are as those of a roe or young hart, and they will soon bring him to us. Wherefore let us begin to be joyous, since he saith to us even now, "I will see you again."
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Each man hath his own gift from God.
1 Corinthians 7:7, R.V.
Every man is a new starting-point for good or for bad in the history of the human race. I am the heir of all the ages past. I am also a starting-point for ages to come.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
For we also are weak in Him.
2 Corinthians 13:4
This is a startling statement, taken thus away from that which immediately follows it. Finally to isolate these words would be to wrong the teaching of the Apostle, which is intended to emphasize his power, and that of all those called to the ministry of the Word. Nevertheless it is good to get fast hold of the truth they declare. The sense in which we are weak in Christ is revealed in the statement concerning the Lord with which this verse opens: "He was crucified through weakness." It is with that statement that we are to link these words: "we also are weak in Him." All that the Cross meant of weakness to Christ, we share in fellowship with Him. In what sense was He crucified in weakness? In one sense only - He was unable to deliver Himself from the Cross, if He were to be able to deliver men from sin. He Who could have asked for twelve legions of angels to scatter His foes, could not do so if He were to make possible the saving of those very men. Thus, in that sacred love-compelled inability, He was crucified. This then is our weakness. In proportion as we are identified with Him, we are for ever unable to spare ourselves. What comfort this brings in every hour in which our strength is expended, exhausted in His service! We might conserve it by parting company with Him. When we refuse to do so, and are weakened by the way, "we ... are weak in Him." That is ever the condition for the operation of the power of God. It was so in Him. It is so in us.
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.