by A.B. Simpson
To him that overcometh, will I give—Revelation 2:17
A precious secret of Christian life is to have Jesus dwelling within the heart and conquering things that we never could overcome. it is the only secret of power in our lives. Men cannot understand it nor will the world believe it, but it is true that God will come to dwell within us and be the power, the purity, the victory and the joy of our lives. Our attitudes will no longer be, "What is the best that I can do?" but we will ask, "What is the best that Christ can do?" it enables us to say with Paul in that beautiful passage in Philippians,
I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to stiffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me (4:12-13).
With this knowledge I go forth to meet my testings, and this knowledge enables me to stand. I could never keep myself, but because Christ has met the adversary and defeated him for me I am kept pure and clean. Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (I Corinthians 15:57).
by A.B. Simpson
by Oswald Chambers
It came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven —Luke 24:51
We have no experiences in our lives that correspond to the events in our Lord’s life after the transfiguration. From that moment forward His life was altogether substitutionary. Up to the time of the transfiguration, He had exhibited the normal, perfect life of a man. But from the transfiguration forward— Gethsemane, the Cross, the resurrection— everything is unfamiliar to us. His Cross is the door by which every member of the human race can enter into the life of God; by His resurrection He has the right to give eternal life to anyone, and by His ascension our Lord entered heaven, keeping the door open for humanity.
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by Oswald Chambers
. . . that you may know what is the hope of His calling . . . —Ephesians 1:18
Remember that you have been saved so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in your body (see 2 Corinthians 4:10). Direct the total energy of your powers so that you may achieve everything your election as a child of God provides; rise every time to whatever occasion may come your way.
You did not do anything to achieve your salvation, but you must do something to exhibit it. You must “work out your own salvation” which God has worked in you already (Philippians 2:12). Are your speech, your thinking, and your emotions evidence that you are working it “out”? If you are still the same miserable, grouchy person, set on having your own way, then it is a lie to say that God has saved and sanctified you.
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by Vance Havner
The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. 1 Corinthians 1:18
It was foolishness to the world then and it still is. Religion is very popular today and some are misled by that fact. A scared and desperate generation, having tried all else, is considering religion. But they do not want the preaching of the cross. Jesus the Example and Teacher maybe, Christianity as a lovely philosophy, but not a crucified Saviour. That is still “foolishness” to this age and ever will be.
And to most church members the counterpart of Christ’s death for our sin, our death with Him and resurrection to walk with Him in newness of life, is just as unpopular. Call upon the average congregation to live out Romans 6, with its “reckon,” “yield,” and “obey,” and you will hear few “amens.”
The preaching of the cross in its meaning for sinner and saint is still “foolishness” to sinners and distasteful to not a few saints.
by Vance Havner
by Michael Mickey
In Giles County, Virginia, as a result of an ACLU lawsuit against the school system for having a copy of the Ten Commandments displayed on school property, a federal judge has suggested that the display be permitted to remain at the school if (keyword: if) the first four Commandments are removed from it. Those Commandments are:
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Thou shalt have no other gods before me. (Exodus 20:3)
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Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. (Exodus 20:4-6)
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Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. (Exodus 20:7)
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Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. (Exodus 20:8)
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by A.W. Tozer
If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23
Our Lord called men to follow Him but He never made the way look easy. Indeed one gets the distinct impression that He made it appear extremely hard. Sometimes He said things to disciples or prospective disciples that we today discreetly avoid repeating when we are trying to win men to Him. What present-day evangelist would have the courage to tell an inquirer,
"If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it" (Matt. 16:24-25)?
And do not we do some tall explaining when someone asks us what Jesus meant when He said,
"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law" (Matt. 10:34-35)?
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by Vance Havner
Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. John 12:24
This was a momentous occasion. Some Greeks wanted to see Jesus. Philip and Andrew reported it to the Master. There is no record that He received these Greeks. Maybe they came out of curiosity, anxious to hear a great teacher or see Him perform a miracle. Anyway, Jesus made it clear that His was the way of death and a cross, not earthly popularity, and that we must die to live.
Today we are in danger of being misled by some Greeks who would see Jesus. Many would be glad to have the joy and peace that He gives, would copy Him as a teacher and leader. But they do not want the cross. They resent Calvary, nor do they want to deny self, take up their cross, and lose their lives to find them. Jesus receives no Greeks except by the way which was, and is, to them “foolishness.”
by Vance Havner
by A.B. Simpson
