July 12, 2020
Hymn of the Day
(tune: Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee, p.58)
Now gracious Lord Thine arm reveal, And make Thy glory known;
Now let us all Thy presence feel, And soften hearts of stone.
Help us to venture near Thy throne,
And plead a Savior's name;
For all that we can call our own,
Is vanity and shame.
From all the guilt of all our sin,
May mercy set us free,
Seal, now our hearts to Thee again,
Nor let us roam from Thee.
Send down Thy Spirit from above,
That saints may love Thee more,
And sinners now may learn to love,
Who never loved before.
And when before Thee we appear,
In our eternal home;
Lord, may our children worship here,
And praise Thee in our room.
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Today's Hymns: Sun of My Soul - #77, Holy, Holy, Holy – #70,
Lord, Dismiss Us with Thy Blessing - #80
Special Dates: Asher Vlastuin – 18 ~ Katelyn Sandbulte - 19
Aiden Koedam – 19 ~ Bonnie Terrell – 19 ~ Olivia Koedam - 20
Diane Scholten – 21
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For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. -Romans 3.23
Note that this Scripture does not say that we fall short of the law of God. We do, indeed, fall short of the Law of God, but that is not what this Scripture says. Paul shows us that the standard of acceptance by God is God, Himself. As one preacher put it, "We are not required to be as good as we can be; we are required to be as good as God can be." Once we understand that this is the standard, we are immediately led to despair of any hope in ourselves. I have met many who thought rather highly of themselves, but I never met any religious person who would claim to be as righteous as God.
But, we are not without hope, for Paul's next words are, "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus," (v.24). With the words of verse 24, Paul renders our sinfulness of no consequence in the matter of our salvation. We are justified, not by our works making us worthy of justification, but by God's grace providing satisfaction for our sin in the death of Jesu Christ. -Joe
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One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the Lord your God,
He it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you.
-Joshua 23:10
Why count heads? One man with God is a majority though there be a thousand on the other side. Sometimes our helpers may be too many for God to work with them, as was the case with Gideon, who could do nothing till he had increased his forces by thinning out their numbers. But the Lord's hosts are never too few. When God would found a nation, He called Abram alone and blessed him. When He would vanquish proud Pharaoh, He used no armies, but only Moses and Aaron. The "one-man ministry," as certain wise men call it, has been far more used of the Lord than trained bands with their officers. Did all the Israelites together slay so many as Samson alone? Saul and his hosts slew their thousands but David his tens of thousands.
The Lord can give the enemy long odds and yet vanquish him. If we have faith, we have God with us, and what are multitudes of men? One shepherd's dog can drive before him a flock of sheep. If the Lord sent thee, O my brother, His strength will accomplish His divine purpose. Wherefore, rely on the promise, and be very courageous. -C.H. Spurgeon
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Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him;
He hath put him to grief." -Isaiah 53:10
Not all the vials of judgment that have or shall be poured out upon the wicked world, nor the flaming furnace of a sinner's conscience, nor the irreversible sentence pronounced against the rebellious demons, nor the groans of the damned creatures-- give such a demonstration of God's hatred of sin, as the wrath of God let loose upon His Son!
Never did divine holiness appear more beautiful and lovely, than at the time our Savior's countenance was most marred in the midst of His dying groans--when God had turned His smiling face from Him, and thrust His sharp knife into His heart, which forced that terrible cry from Him, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me!" -Stephen Charnock
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You know, many of you, the story, in old Roman history, of the young man who had violated discipline, and was condemned to die. But his elder brother, a grand old soldier, who had often been to the front in the battles of his country, came and exposed his breast, and showed his many scars, and exhibited his body covered with the orders, and insignias, and honors of his victories, and he said, "I cannot ask life for my brother on account of anything that he has ever done for his count; he deserves to die, I know, but I set my scars and my wounds before you as the price of his life, and I ask you whether you will not spare him for his brother's sake;" and with acclamation, it was carried that for his brother's sake he should live. Sinner, this is what Christ, does for you. He points to his scars, he pleads before the throne of God, "I have suffered the vengeance due to sin; I have honored thy righteous law; for my sake have mercy upon that unworthy brother of mine!" In this way, and in no other way, is forgiveness of sins preached to you through this man Christ Jesus. -C.H. Spurgeon
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Will you also go away? -John 6.67
Our Lord had just finished a powerful and weighty lesson in truth which, in essence, focused all of salvation on Him. This was just too much for some of His disciples. No doubt some of His previous teachings had not set perfectly in their minds, but they had found a way to tolerate them so as to gain what they believed He was promising. But He had gone a step too far for them; they left and no longer followed Him. So, the Lord turned to the remaining disciples and asked them whether they were also going to leave. Peter answered for them and every other of the Lord's disciples, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."
It is safe to say that if a person has someone or something else to which they can go, they will eventually go. So long as Christ is one among several, a person will eventually choose someone else. The only ones who stay with Christ are those who have nowhere else to go. On this point every professing believer will be tried. -Joe