“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live;
yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.”
(Galatians 2:20)
According to the glorious economy of grace,
the same work which secures the complete remission of SINS has broken forever the power of SIN.
It is not only that the SINS OF THE LIFE are blotted out, but the SIN OF THE NATURE is condemned.
The believer is privileged to regard himself as dead to sin.
He can sing, with a glad heart:
“For me, Lord Jesus, Thou hast died,
And I have died in Thee;
Thou’rt risen, my bands are all untied,
And now Thou livest in me.
The Father’s face of radiant grace
Shines now in light on me.”
This is the proper breathing of a Christian.
“I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.”
This is Christianity. The old “I” crucified, and Christ living in me.
The Christian is a new creation. Old things are passed away.
The Death of Christ has closed for ever the history of the
old “I;” and hence, though sin dwells in the believer,
its power is broken and gone for ever.
Not only is its guilt cancelled, but its terrible dominion completely overthrown.
(C.H. Mackintosh)
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“But if ye forgive not men their trespasses,
neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” *** (Matthew 6:15)
neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” *** (Matthew 6:15)
Corrie ten Boom, in her book, “The Hiding Place,” tells of her astounding encounter in a small German church in Munich. She had come to tell the people of defeated Germany that God forgives. She spoke of the inhumane conditions and treatment, the bitterness and hate, the cruelty and beatings she experienced in the German concentration camps. Yet she maintained her unreserved faith in God.
Standing at the back of the small church, shaking hands with those who were leaving, she was greeted by the last person in line. The man was one of the cruel guards from her former prison. He thrust out his hand and and said, “A fine message, Fraulein! How good it is to know that, as you say, all our sins are at the bottom of the sea. You mentioned Ravensbruck in your talk. I was a guard there. But since that time I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well, Fraulein.”
He reached out to her as he asked, “Will you forgive me?"
It was a moment of truth! How real was her faith? How deep had God’s love penetrated her heart? This verse instantly came to her (Matthew 6:15).*** With those words burning within her heart, with tears in her eyes, and by the grace of God, she answered, “Yes, I forgive you, my brother, with all my heart.”
She later said, “For a long moment we grasped each other, the former guard and the former prisoner, and I have never known God’s love so intensely as I did at that moment.” (Selected)
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September 2
“Then spake Jesus . . . I am the light of the world: he that followeth
Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
(John 8:12)
Consider the event that happened before Jesus spoke these words.
A woman with many dark secrets was brought before the Light.
The story does not end with her wallowing in sin but walking away from sin.
How many of us hated the Light for fear of what darkness it would reveal in us?
And yet the light of God in Christ shines to dispel the darkness in us!
Where the Light shines, darkness dissipates.
For freedom from darkness, get in the Light.
(D. Lein)
“Visit, Lord, this soul of mine;
Pierce the gloom of sin and grief
Fill me, Radiancy Divine!
Scatter all my unbelief.
More and more Thyself display,
Shining to the perfect day."
(Charles Wesley)
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September 3
“A man that beareth false witness against his neighbour is a
maul (club), and a sword, and a sharp arrow.”
(Proverbs 25:18) .
Nothing is harder for a wounded spirit and a sensitive soul than to endure uncomplainingly untrue accusations.
Indignation against the false accuser, a determination to clear oneself at all costs, if impossible;
to avenge oneself on the evil-doer—how natural are all these things to the human heart!
But to go on, serenely looking to God for grace to so live that all shall see the falsity
of the charge; to commit the keeping of my reputation to Him who permitted
the trial for my humbling; to own the righteousness of His ways as I
reflect on the many occasions upon which I have dishonoured
His name, however innocent I may be now;—
these are healthful exercises indeed.
Thus I am kept from taking things into my own hand, and can count upon
God to act for me, as of old He did for Job, for David, for Daniel,
and a host of others who had learned to commit all to Him
whose love is unchanging, and who never permits a
trial unless He discerns in the state of soul a
“needs be” for the affliction which his
government permits.
(H.A. Ironside)
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September 4
September 5
September 6
September 7
“But that which ye have already hold fast till I come.”
(Revelation 2:25)
God’s call to each believer is to be obedient and faithful—not to seek a life of earthly success. Difficulties and defeats are a normal part of every Christian’s life. Our response to negative situations can either shatter us or they can intensify our perseverance and confidence in a sovereign God. It has been said that a mark of a champion athlete is not how he or she responds to victory, but how a difficult loss on a previous day has been met.
As was true of so many of the gospel songs by Philip P. Bliss, this stirring hymn was inspired by an illustration used by Major Whittle, an officer in the American Civil War, while addressing a YMCA meeting on the text from Revelation 2:25. Major Whittle’s illustration was about a small Northern force of soldiers in charge of guarding a a great quantity of supplies.
They were being hard pressed by greatly superior Confederate forces. Finally, the Confederate general, General French, commanded the Federal troops to surrender. At that moment the troops saw a signal from their leader, General Sherman, on a hill some miles away, which said, “HOLD THE FORT, I AM COMING. SHERMAN.”
The story so captivated Bliss’s interest that he could not retire that evening until he had completed both the text and the music for this rousing gospel song. It later became a great favourite in the Moody-Sankey campaigns both in Great Britain and in the United States.
We too have a commander now in heaven who has promised to return for us. Victory is certain! Our responsibility is to faithfully “hold the fort” and to “Occupy till He comes” (Luke 19:13).
Ho, my comrades, see the signal waving in the sky!
Reinforcements now appearing, victory is nigh.
See the mighty host advancing, Satan leading on;
mighty men around us falling, courage almost gone!
See the glorious banner waving! Hear the trumpet blow!
In our Leader’s name we triumph over ev’ry foe.
Fierce and long the battle rages, but our help is near;
onward comes our great Commander—cheer, my comrades, cheer!
Chorus: "Hold the fort, for I am coming,“ Jesus signals still;
wave the answer back to heaven, “By Thy grace we will.”
(Philip P. Bliss - 1838—1876)
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September 5
“He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust.”
(Psalm 103:14)
“He knoweth the way that I take: when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”
(Job 23:10)
Perhaps those words, HE KNOWETH,
are meant for you today because God has allowed you some special trial of faith.
The love of God is very brave.
He does not hold trial off lest we should be overwhelmed.
He lets it come and then gloriously strengthens us to meet it.
At the end, I shall come forth as gold.
(Francis Ridley Havergal)
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September 6
“But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.”
(Galatians 6:14)
The world won’t follow Christ as the crucified One.
At the death of Christ, the whole orderly system down here got
stamped by God as under judgment, and responsible for the death of Christ.
By the cross, the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.
Nothing is so important as for Christians to take the place they
ought to be in, of entire separation from what God,
in the scripture, calls “the world.”
As to our bodies, we are to take care of them
in order to serve the Lord more;
but there is such a thing as the lust of the flesh and of the mind,
to be watched against.
(G.V. Wigram)
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September 7
Faith’s Education
“A desert place” (Matthew 14:15).
“A mountain apart . . . alone” (Matthew 14:23).
“The sea, tossed with waves” (Matthew 14:24).
The desert place, the mountains lone, the trouble sea,
These are Thy schools, there I may learn of Thee.
The broken Bread, the Prayer on high, the outstretched Hand;
The hungry fed, the sinking saved, the ship at land;
The baskets filled, the waves subdued, the tempest past;
The plan, the power, the grace from first to last;
I con my lesson o’er, and still spell out -
‘O thou of little faith, why dost thou doubt?’
(James M.S. Tait)
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September 8
“And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest;
September 8
“And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest;
as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.”
(Isaiah 32:2)
To the weary traveller in a hot,
dry country there can be no greater comfort that the refreshing shade of a cool and towering rock.
Our text suggests a long journey, with trying winds, a tempest, a dry parched land.
It is the hot mid-afternoon.
There are miles ahead to be covered.
Perhaps even in our hurried days, we can at least imagine the slow plodding journey,
on foot or by animal, through the hot, dry valleys in a rainless summer.
Then the towering rock and its sheltering shade.
Quite naturally this came to tell of the protection of God.
“The Lord is my rock and my fortress.” (Psalm 18:2)
How true it is that we need God’s shelter along the journey of life.
His shadow and shelter are close at hand.
Then, strength, renewed, we can press on again with His help.
We must not count the shadow of the rock as the end of the journey.
It should merely be a resting place, so that with renewed strength we may finish what we have begun.
(Traveling Toward Sunrise)
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