VIDEO Not Even One Spot

Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. Romans 5:9

Sometimes the richest devotions are from dusty books. Listen to what the British preacher William Romaine (1714-1795) said about the blood of Jesus: “Sins as red as scarlet, sins as numerous as the stars, or as the sands upon the sea-shore innumerable, and nature as black as hell, a heart as wicked as the devil, the divine and eternally precious blood of Jesus can so cleanse and purify, that not one spot shall remain; for he is Almighty.”

All of us look back with regrets at our imperfections, mistakes, moments of failure, and times when we said or did the wrong thing. But we shouldn’t! God has erased all those from the ledgers. When we look backward, we should say: “Praise the Lord! Everything sinful is gone, and everything is working out for good through the mercy and grace of our God.”

Our past is forgiven; our future is forever; today is for Him!

If I had been guilty of all the sins of Adam and Eve, and of all their descendants to this day, yet believing in him I should be safe, because his blood cleanseth from all sin. William Romaine

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The Divine Guarantee of an Eternal Salvation, Part 3 (Romans 5:9–11)

Who Are You?

You are like a lion among the nations; you are like a monster in the seas. Ezekiel 32:2

The leader of our video conference said, “Good morning!” I said “Hello” back, but I wasn’t looking at him. I was distracted by my own image on the screen. Do I look like this? I looked at the smiling faces of the others on the call. That looks like them. So yes, this must be me. I should lose some weight. And get a haircut.

In his mind, Pharaoh was pretty great. He was “a lion among the nations . . . a monster in the seas” (Ezekiel 32:2). But then he caught a glimpse of himself from God’s perspective. God said he was in trouble and that He would expose his carcass to wild animals, causing “many peoples to be appalled at you, and their kings [to] shudder with horror because of you” (v. 10). Pharaoh was much less impressive than he thought.

We may think we’re “spiritually handsome”—until we see our sin as God sees it. Compared to His holy standard, even “our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). But God also sees something else, something even more true: He sees Jesus, and He sees us in Jesus.

Feeling discouraged about how you are? Remember this is not who you are. If you have put your trust in Jesus, then you’re in Jesus, and His holiness drapes over you. You’re more beautiful than you imagine.

By:  Mike Wittmer

Reflect & Pray

What image do you have of yourself? How does that compare to the image God has of you?

Jesus, I cling to You. Your love and goodness beautifies me.

Read The Forgiveness of God at DiscoverySeries.org/Q0602.

God’s Amazing Promise

Luke 12:22-32

Many people deal with anxiety. News reports or circumstances at home often cause concern and fear about our future. But as believers, we’re encouraged not to worry (Luke 12:22). Instead, we’re to seek God’s kingdom and rely on Him to provide all our needs (Luke 12:31). This is the opposite of the world’s philosophy, which tells us to rely on ourselves or other people for security.

We can confidently depend on our eternal King because He Himself is truth (John 14:6), and His promises are true. According to Titus 1:2, God cannot lie and never makes a promise that He won’t keep. And He certainly has the power to keep His word, for “nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37).

The Lord is also mindful of all our needs. Looking at His excellent provision for birds and flowers, we can be confident of His even greater care for His beloved children. What a relief to know our heavenly Father is both intimately acquainted with our needs and eager to meet them.

Will you believe God, seek His kingdom, and rest in His peace that surpasses understanding (Phil. 4:7)? The promise is given, the fulfillment is certain, and now the choice is yours.

Esteem Others

“Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.” (Philippians 2:3)

In this verse, Paul challenged us to refrain from any “strife” or “vainglory”—words that seem a bit stern in the colloquial terms of our day.

Eritheia is the Greek word for “strife”—a contentious political maneuvering for greater power. “Vainglory” is similar. It comes from the Greek word kenodoxia, an empty pride or groundless glory. Both are rather unpleasant descriptions of the foolish and sinful human behavior that is seen all too often among God’s people: “Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another” (Galatians 5:26).

On the contrary, we are challenged to “esteem” the others in our fellowship as “better than” ourselves. The precise words in this instruction insist that we are to use deliberate and careful judgment in our evaluation of others in our relationships as being more “excellent” than what we have thought of ourselves.

Now, that goes against most of what we have been taught in our Western educational systems. Self-esteem is de rigueur in our schools, songs, movies, and television programs. In fact, “positive thinking” and “prosperity thinking” are very little more than self-esteem dressed up in religious terms.

In the biblical “body” analogy, we are told that “those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour…having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked” (1 Corinthians 12:23-24).

God thinks differently. We are told to think of each other like God thinks. HMM III

The Keys of Christ

Matthew 28:18; Rev. 1:18; Rev. 3:7

IN Matthew 28:18 the Lord Jesus Christ says, “All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth.” With all that authority back of Him, it is interesting to notice the keys which God’s Word says are His.

In Revelation 3:7 we read: “These things saith He that is holy, He that is true, He that hath the key of David, He that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth.” The reference to the key of David carries us back to Isaiah 22:22 where the Lord declares through Isaiah that Shebna, an unworthy court favorite and treasurer, shall be displaced by God’s servant Eliakim, who shall bear the key of the house of David upon his shoulder. The prophecy is prophetic of Christ, who is the true heir to the house of David and will one day reign over a redeemed and restored Israel. Isaiah 9:6 tells us that the government shall be upon His shoulder.

The Lord Jesus Christ also, in this connection, carries the keys to the storehouse of Divine truth. “All things are delivered unto Me of My Father” (Matt. 11:27). God’s riches in glory are by Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:19), and only through Christ can we lay hold upon them.

Our Lord also carries the key to doors of Christian service. Paul spoke of opportunities for service as open doors (1 Cor. 16:9; 2 Cor. 2:12). When Christ opens a door and calls us to go in, no man can shut that door, no one can prevent us. Men discouraged D. L. Moody, but God had set before him an open door, and he went in. Conversely, we must be careful not to try to open doors God has shut and force ourselves where He does not direct. Paul knew the experience of shut doors also, as in Acts 16:7.

In Matthew 16:19 the Lord Jesus Christ tells Peter: “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt lose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Not the keys to the church, nor the keys to eternity, but the privilege of opening the door of the kingdom to the world is here meant. Peter exercised this privilege by opening the door to the Jews at Pentecost and to the Gentiles in the house of Cornelius. The “binding and loosing” in this passage, combined with Matthew 18:15-19, is simply the delegation to the disciples of the powers of church discipline and does not mean authority to decide upon any soul’s salvation. See also John 20:23.

In Revelation 1:18 our Lord declares that He has the keys of hell and death. He has conquered death and will eventually destroy it (1 Cor. 15:26). Death and hell ultimately are to be cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:14). The lake of fire is the final hell for sinners, the Gehenna of Jesus’ messages (Matt. 11:23, etc.).

Hell in Revelation 1:18 refers to Hades, the place where the spirits of the dead go. Hades is not to be identified with the final hell, for then Christ would have been in that hell before His resurrection (Acts 2:25-31). Death is the condition of the body without the spirit. Hades is the condition of the spirit without the body. The keys of both are with Him. He has the power to join body and spirit for their final destiny, which He will exercise in the resurrection of the righteous (1 Thess. 4:13-18) and at the judgment of the Great White Throne (Rev. 20:11-15).
Reflections on the Gospels.

Our Code Is a Character

I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another.—John 13:34

What other teacher has taken the Ten Commandments and had the right to add another commandment to them? But this is precisely what Jesus did, as we see from our text today. “I give you a new commandment,” He says. “Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another.”

The Old Testament and other religious writings enjoined loving one another. What was new was this: “As I have loved you.” Our Lord’s conduct—”as I have loved you”—produced a new code for the human race. Paul, writing to the Philippians, catches the spirit of it when he says: “Treat one another with the same spirit as you experience in Christ Jesus” (Php 2:5, Moffatt). Here morality reaches its high-water mark. From the moment Jesus uttered the words that are occupying our attention, there came into human life something more than a code—there came a Character. Now, therefore, our code is a Character—the Character of Jesus.

When someone asks me if I believe in the Ten Commandments, I say: “Yes, and very much more besides. I believe in Jesus.” The Ten Commandments are an injunction—and a God-given one. But Jesus is an injunction plus an inspiration. To follow an injunction is to obey imposed morality, but to follow a Person and do the things He does is an inspired morality. One is legalism, the other love. One binds you, the other frees you. One makes you feel trammeled, the other relaxed and spontaneous. Our code is not a commandment but a Character. One greater than the commandments is here.

Prayer

O Christ, Your law lays upon me an injunction, but Your life entering into my life inspires me to live up to that injunction. It is this that makes Your yoke so easy. I am deeply, deeply grateful. Amen.

Further Study

Jn 15:1-17; Jms 2:8; Mt 7:12

What was the basis of Christ’s love?

What is the basis of our being able to fulfill the Royal Law?

On Father’s Day

Psalm 103:13

Last night I saw some lovely cards displayed,

And stopped to look, with others who would choose;

I paused, but soon I moved along the aisle;

The cards were not the kind that I could use.

I always sent them for this day in June

To say the things I seldom voiced aloud.

My father loved to read them; then he’d smile

And hold them as he sat with white head bowed.

I’m sure he thought of ice cream cones and toys,

Of lazy days on beaches, of games, and walks,

Of Easter clothes, of streetcar rides, parades,

Of family prayers, of light, and also deeper, talks.

I’m sure I know the reason for his smile:

He saw again the baby God had sent;

And then the searching child, the baffled teen,

Rebellious, questing, with such a selfish bent.

He would recall the day his heart was warmed—

The time I talked to him about God’s call.

I still remember what he said to me,

“This means you’ll never be your own again—at all!”

I’m glad I said my “thank you’s” while I could,

And sent the cards that seemed the ones to choose.

Last night I left the lovely cards displayed:

The kind of cards I can no longer use

Mina Russell, It’s Beautiful!