Words Like No Other
“No man spake like this Man.”
(John 7:46)
These words were spoken by officers of Jerusalem who were sent by the chief priests and Pharisees to arrest the Lord and bring Him before them. This was their only excuse for having failed in their duty, and for returning without their prisoner.
When those officers left the Sanhedrin, they were filled with blind prejudice against Christ. It seemed to them that all the holiest and the greatest men of the city took Jesus of Nazareth for a deceiver and a malefactor. Among the Pharisees He was listed as a blasphemer; He was called a Samaritan; He was accused of casting out demons through Beelzebub, the prince of demons.
There was no name too vile to give to Christ; there was no motive too base to ascribe to Him. This was the atmosphere in which these officers lived. These were the opinions they heard expressed about Jesus Christ day after day. The position of leadership the priests occupied, and the reputation for holiness and truth they possessed, made it practically impossible that these uninstructed officers should think anything different of Him.
The prejudiced minds of these commissioned servants of the temple caused them to feel they were going to arrest one who was guilty of scattering blasphemies among the people.
Why were these temple officers so powerless to take our Lord? What so completely changed their attitude that they dared return to those who sent them without the Man they were to arrest? How could they brave the scorn of the chief priest and Pharisees? What excuse did they have to give? It was the words of the Lord Jesus that had wrought the change; their only excuse was: “Never man spake like this Man.”
All the words those officers heard numbered thirty one. Just thirty one words and each of them a word so simple that a child could understand it.
“If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water”
(John 7:37-38).
(A Plant of Renown - Leonard Sheldrake)
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April 12
THE ETERNAL SECURITY OF THE SHEEP
“I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish” (John 10:28).
As sheep, our security is the responsibility of our Shepherd (1 Peter 2:25). Of each saved sheep it is written, “When He hath found it, He layeth it on His shoulders, rejoicing “ (Luke 15:5). The struggles of the sheep would not be to keep on the shepherd's shoulders, but to get off.
We are not saved by our "holding on", for sheep have no hands to hold on by. Now all the Lord’s sheep are borne along on the shoulders of the rejoicing Shepherd, and thus all are equally saved. The Shepherd will take care that not one shall slip off His shoulders.
When danger is past, the journey ended, and home reached, the Shepherd’s note of joy is this: “I have found My sheep which was lost” (Luke 15:6). Thus the eternal safety of every sheep is the blessed Lord’s own personal responsibility and care.
“My sheep” (John 10:27) whether they are white, black or brown, dirty or blemished, inclined at times to stray or to nibble at wrong food, yet they are His redeemed sheep having a nature which distinguishes them from goats, pigs and dogs. “They follow Me” (v.27); sometimes they follow “afar off” until He in His faithful grace restores them. The Shepherd says, “I know them.” The weaknesses, fears, and temptations of each one of the purchased flock are perfectly known to Him!
How can eternal life be anything else but eternal? It cannot be lost, forfeited, or sinned away, for “The gifts and calling of God are without repentance” (Romans 11:29). Eternal life once given is an everlasting gift. He who gave has pledged His word not to recall it. A Christian, when he sins, does not forfeit the life he has, but he mars the enjoyment of it. The life is God’s free gift; it is unfettered by conditions and never withdrawn.
(The Lord is Near - W. Scott)
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April 13
“For God so loved the world . . .”
(John 3:16)
“His father saw him and had compassion.”
(Luke 15:20)
The father in the story of the prodigal son is a beautiful picture of God the Father.
He loved his boy in spite of the young man’s selfishness and sin.
And when he returned, the father looked past all the boy’s shortcomings and gave him position,
authority, and a renewed relationship in his household.
When God so loved the world, it was you He loved. He looks past all your sins to Calvary
and is ready to forgive and to give you a place as a son of God.
Now this is love, is it not? Come to Him today.
(Charlie Tempest)
Oh love of God how rich and pure,
How measureless and strong,
It shall forever more endure,
The saints’ eternal song.
(F. M. Lehman)
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April 14
“I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for Whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.” (Philippians 3:8)
The word translated “suffered the loss of,” echoes the word “loss" used twice before. But it has also the meaning of a fine, or penalty imposed by a court. "I was fined all things I possessed.”
Paul thus expresses the utter confiscation of all that he had: his aristocratic position, his wealth, comforts, reputation (you remember the One Who ”made Himself of no reputation”), family, friends society, interests, prospects and ambitions; and still more, to such a man, all his religious advantages both by birth and training: hopes, standing, and confidences.
All were cast away in a moment, at the sight of the Lord of Glory. The God of Glory appeared also to Abraham, and he also left all.
Were our eyes fixed more steadfastly on the Lord of Glory,—“Looking off unto Jesus,” might not we too be more ready to cast away many of the things that now drag us down?
(G. Christopher Willis)
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April 15
INTIMACY WITH CHRIST
“I have called you friends.”
(John 15:15)
O Lord, Thou seest, Thou knowest,
That to none my heart can tell
The joy and the love and the sorrow,
The tale that my heart knows well.
But to Thee, O my God, I can tell it—
To Thee, and to Thee, Lord, alone;
For Thy heart my heart hath a language,
For other hearts it hath none.
In the wide world speechless and lonely,
For me is no heart but Thine;
Lord, since I must love Thee only,
Oh, reveal Thy heart to mine.
(H. Suso)
“Ye are My friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you” (John 15:14).
If you meditate upon these words you will never reach their profound depths,
nor shall we even in eternity. For who shall tell what friendship with Christ involves?
No one can or ever will gauge the possible intimacy which it holds out to us.
nor shall we even in eternity. For who shall tell what friendship with Christ involves?
No one can or ever will gauge the possible intimacy which it holds out to us.
(Edward Dennett)
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April 16
“I am not eloquent . . .” (Exodus 4:10).
Nothing is more dishonouring to God, or more dangerous for us, than a mock humility. When we refuse to occupy a position which the grace of God assigns us, because of our not possessing certain virtues and qualifications, this is not humility, for if we could but satisfy our own consciences in reference to such virtues and qualifications, we should then deem ourselves entitled to assume the position.
If, for instance, Moses had possessed such a measure of eloquence as he deemed needful, we may suppose he would have been ready to go.
Now, the question is, how much eloquence would he have needed to furnish him for his mission? The answer is, without God no amount of human eloquence would have availed; but with God the merest stammerer would have proved an efficient minister.
This is a great practical truth.
(Mountain Trailways for Youth)
Unbelief is not humility, but thorough pride.
It refuses to believe God because it does not find in self a reason for believing.
This is the very height of presumption.
This is the very height of presumption.
(C. H. Mackintosh)
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April 17
“The holy scriptures . . . are able to make thee
wise unto salvation.”
(2 Timothy 3:15)
I am a spirit come from God, and returning to God . . . I want to know one thing, the way to heaven . . . God Himself has condescended to teach me the way . . . He hath written it down in a book.
O give me that book! At any price give me the book of God! I have it; here is knowledge enough for me. Let me be “homo unius libri” (a man of one book). Here then I am, far from busy ways of men. I sit down alone; only God is here. In His presence I open, I read His book; for this end, to find the way to heaven.
(J. Wesley)
The Bible tells us Jesus died, a sacrifice for sin;
The gates of heaven to open wide that we may enter in.
The Bible tells us Jesus rose, and left the silent grave,
Triumphant over all His foes, the mighty One to save,
The Bible tells us all may come, and drink at mercy’s stream;
That Jesus soon will share His home with all who trust in Him.
(From the archives of Tom Dear)
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April 18
“Base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen.”
(1 Corinthians 1:28)
The nearer we get to God, the more conscious are we of our own unworthiness; just as the higher a bird flies in mid-heaven, the deeper will be the reflection of its snowy pinions in the placid mere beneath.
Let the glow-worm vie with the meridian sun; let the dewdrop boast itself against the fulness of the ocean bed; led the babe vaunt its knowledge with the intelligence of a seraph—before the man who lives in touch with God shall think of taking any other position than that of the lowliest humiliation and prostration in His presence.
Before Him angels veil their faces, and "the heavens are not clean in His sight" (Job 15:15). And is it not remarkable that our sense of weakness is one of our strongest claims and arguments with God. “He forgetteth not the cry of the humble.”
(Psalm 9:12)
(F. B. Meyer)
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April 19
Pray — Go — Give
“PRAY without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
“GO ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15).
“. . . freely ye have received, freely GIVE ” (Matthew 10:8)
Three things the Master hath to do, and we who serve Him here below
And long to see His Kingdom come may Pray or Give or Go.
He needs them all—the Open Hand, the Willing Feet, the Praying Heart—
to work together and to weave a three-fold cord that shall not part.
Nor shall the giver count his gift as greater than the worker’s deed,
Nor he in turn his service boast above the prayers that voice the need.
Not all can Go; not all can Give to speed the message on its way,
But young or old, or rich or poor, or strong or weak—we all can Pray—
Pray that the gold-filled hands may Give to arm the others for the fray;
That those who hear the call may Go, and pray—that other hearts may Pray!
(Flint’s Best-Loved Poems)
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April 20
“She goeth unto the grave to weep there."
(John 11:31)
"The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice.”
(John 5:28)
“Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.”
(John 11:25)
If we could know beyond today as God does know,
Why dearest treasures pass away and tears must flow;
And why the darkness leads to light,
Why dreary paths will soon grow bright;
Someday life’s wrongs will be made right:
Faith tells us so.
(Norman J. Clayton 1903-1992)
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April 21
“Watch ye therefore, and pray always,
that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these
things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”
(Luke 21:36)
There is a great battle going on in the invisible world. The enemy will try with all his might to alienate us from God, to destroy our faith in Jesus Christ, and to make us rebellious against God.
We can shut our eyes to the danger and not see where the course
of world history will lead us.
But Jesus says, “Watch ye therefore, and pray always . . ." Luke 21:36).
(This Day is the Lord’s - Corrie Ten Boom)
N.J. Hiebert - 7429
April 22
A LOOK THAT TRANSFORMS
“Behold your God! . . . Behold the Man!
(Isaiah 40:9 John 19:5)
Look away from all “other things,” look at the Crucified One, and, as you gaze, remember that He says, “Come unto Me” (Matthew 11:28).
“Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto My sorrow, which is done unto Me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted Me in the day of His fierce anger.” (Lamentations 1:12).
Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by, that both from the depth of sorrow and from the height of glory this royal invitation comes to you? For it is the call not only of Jesus the crucified, but of Jesus reigning, and Jesus coming.
“See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh,” (Hebrews 12:25), for He is coming to judge the quick and the dead. He is reigning now, and there are no neutrals in His kingdom.
All are either willing and loyal subjects, or actual rebels—those who have obeyed the King’s call, and come, and those who have “made light of it,” and not come. Which are you?
(Frances Ridley Havergal)
N.J. Hiebert - 7430
April 23
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