Gems worth pondering
June 3
"Neither give place to the devil."
(Ephesians 4:27)
We must realize that temptation is not sin. Christ Himself was tempted, yet He did not sin. So temptations will be our lot, but they do not make us sin. It is the yielding to temptation that is sin.
Was it not Luther who said: "I cannot keep the birds from flying around my head, but by the grace of God I can keep them from making their nests in my hair?" We are told that we are not to give place to the devil (Ephesians 4:27). So Satan will attack us, but God has made provision for our defense.
We have seen the nature of temptation when it is sent to the unbeliever. It is anything that will keep him from the cross of Jesus Christ. What about the temptations that come to a believer? For the fact that we have accepted Christ as our Saviour does not mean that our old nature has been removed. The Christian is just as subject to temptation after he has been born again as he was before. In fact he will find that temptation is much greater after he has believed, but that the temptation takes on new and different aspects.
A Christian is not a person from whom the possibility of sin has been removed but a person from whom the penalty of sin has been removed. This is a judicial act on the part of God and of this the Christian is the object. At the same moment that the penalty of sin is removed judicially, there is credited to the account of the believer a righteousness that is perfect - God's own righteousness. Now the struggle in the life of the Christian really begins. In Simon God has planted the Apostle Peter; with Jacob the swindler comes to dwell Israel, prince with God. The Apostle Paul must live with Saul. Two natures, utterly foreign to each other from source to destiny, are together in the same body until our life becomes a battlefield. The fleshly nature of man, which, we have seen to be Satan's enemy in the unsaved, becomes Satan's ally in the Christian. (Donald Grey Barnhouse - Happy Though Poor)
"But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ"
(1 Corinthians 15:57)
N.J. Hiebert # 3724
June 4
"Sir, we would see Jesus." (John 12:21)
I have six honest serving men; they taught me all I know,
Their names are what and where and when; and how and why and who.
WHAT: "What must I do to be saved?" (Acts 16:30)
WHERE: "Where are you?" (Genesis 3:9)
WHEN: "Now is the accepted time: behold now is the day of salvation." (2 Corinthians 6:2)
HOW: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." (Acts 16:31)
WHY: "The wicked shall be turned into hell." (Psalm 9:17)
WHO: "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." (Revelation 22:17)
(Submitted by a reader, T.R.)
N.J. Hiebert # 3725
June 5
A GIFT TO BE RECEIVED
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
(John 3:16)
The great Scottish minister W.G. Scroggie once said that the heart of the Bible is the New Testament, the book of John its center, and the third chapter its vital pulse. "In other words," concluded Scroggie, "John 3:16 is the heart of the heart of the heart of the gospel." Peter Mackenzie, a preacher of a generation ago said, "There are two striking things about this text: When God loves, He loves a world. When He gives, He gives the best that heaven has - His Son." What remains, therefore, is for sinful man to receive Jesus Christ as his Saviour, the greatest of all gifts.
Dr. Walter L. Wilson told of using John 3:16 to lead a boy to the Lord. Quoting the verse, he stressed the word "gave," and explained that the Lord was offering him salvation, full and free. Then he asked him pointedly, "Does the giving of the gift make it yours?" "Well, no. I suppose you must take it." "Exactly," said Wilson. "Look at it this way. I'm not your doctor, am I?" "No," said the boy. "Why not?" asked Wilson. "Because I didn't ask you to be." "That's right! The same thing is true of Christ. He is not your Saviour unless you ask Him to be. Wouldn't you like to do that right now?" Bowing his head, the boy invited the Lord Jesus into his heart. Dr. Wilson then opened the Scriptures, and explaining several passages, he led him to the full assurance of salvation.
The Bible says that "the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord." But to make it yours, you must personally receive the wonderful redemption God offers. Have you done this? If not, do it now! (H.G.B.)
I do receive, I will believe
That Jesus died for me!
That on the cross He shed His blood,
From sin to set me free.
(Anon.)
Although salvation is free, you must still ask for it.
N.J. Hiebert # 3726
Our daily Bread, RBC Ministries, Copyright (1979), Grand Rapids, Michigan - Reprinted permission
