Thought for the Day

(Revelation 11:10) And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. The Book of Revelation is rich with intriguing figures that have profound spiritual significance. In the eleventh chapter are described two powerful witnesses of God whose testimony serves as a torment to men. There has been much speculation as to the identity of these two witnesses and some have suggested...

(Hebrews 9:13) For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: (Hebrews 9:14) How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? In the previous meditation we had seen that most of the ceremonial purifications of Moses' Law were with blood but not all (HEB 9:22). Per our text, in the case of the r...

Hebrews 9:13-14 (13) For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: (14) How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? The great theme of the Epistle to the Hebrews is the superiority of Jesus Christ to all things: angels, Moses, Joshua, Levi (spec. the O.T. Levitical priesthood), O.T. sacr...

Thanksgiving Day in America has a noble history of national pausing to give thanks to the Creator for His benefits. But the reverence and humility once associated with the custom has been considerably displaced by what is now truly important to our culture: pleasure (long weekend, football, feasting, shopping). Pleasure in and of itself is not evil, but when it becomes the summum bonum of a nation, watch out! The Governor of nations (PSA 22:28) still reigns on high. When warning imperi...

(1 Timothy 1:4) Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do. There are some issues which a man of God does well to not only not emphasize in his ministry but to not even give them the time of day, such as fables and endless genealogies: “Neither give heed to...” A fable is “a fictitious narrative or statement; a story not founded on fact.” The Christian religion is not based upon fables, not even “...c...

(Psalms 22:28) For the kingdom is the LORD'S: and he is the governor among the nations. (The following was written in response to a saint's inquiry) It is in the wisdom of God that men be ruled by other men. This wisdom has existed from the beginning of humanity: the authority of Adam over Eve was established before sin entered by virtue of the order of creation (1TI 2:11-14; 1CO 11:7-10). Scripture is replete with commands, precepts and examples of men governing other men, the just exercise and l...

The festive occasion known as Halloween is now taken for granted. It is a time of curious, rather morbid activities for children and adults alike when some of the darkest themes of a sin-burdened creation are exhumed from history's graveyard for public display and for the profit of carnal merchants who promote the entire affair. Yet how many people (especially Bible-believers) have given honest, serious consideration to the nature of this seasonal celebration? Following is a summary of the reasons why ou...

Numbers 6:22-27 (22) And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, (23) Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, (24) The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: (25) The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: (26) The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. (27) And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them. These verses immediately followed the detailed inst...

Numbers 6:6-9 (6) All the days that he separateth himself unto the LORD he shall come at no dead body. (7) He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die: because the consecration of his God is upon his head. (8) All the days of his separation he is holy unto the LORD. (9) And if any man die very suddenly by him, and he hath defiled the head of his consecration; then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing, on the se...

(1 Corinthians 8:3) But if any man love God, the same is known of him. I recently received an e-mail about a phrase in an old gospel song commonly taught to children: “Jesus loves me; this I know, For the Bible tells me so...” Another person who had received the same e-mail responded that his daughter has a plaque in her kitchen which reads, “Jesus knows me, this I love.” The beautiful simplicity of the children's gospel song is true: the scriptures declare God's love in Jesus Christ for sinners. B...

Matthew 26:36-40 (36) Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. (37) And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. (38) Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. (39) And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me:...

(1 Corinthians 15:12) Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? (1 Corinthians 15:29) Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead? Our texts today are from the chapter of the Bible which gives the greatest detail about the resurrection. The Corinthian church had heresies afoot (1CO 11:18-19) and one of the telltale marks of heresy is that it...

2 Samuel 23:14-17 (14) And David was then in an hold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. (15) And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate! (16) And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the LORD. (17) And he s...

Esther 3:5-7 (5) And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath. (6) And he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for they had shewed him the people of Mordecai: wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai. (7) In the first month, that is, the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and fr...

1 Samuel 13:8-14 (8) And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. (9) And Saul said, Bring hither a burnt offering to me, and peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering. (10) And it came to pass, that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might salute him. (11) And Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Sa...

Numbers 29:12-40 (12) And on the fifteenth day of the seventh month ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work, and ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: (13) And ye shall offer a burnt offering, a sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD; thirteen young bullocks, two rams, and fourteen lambs of the first year; they shall be without blemish: (14) And their meat offering shall be of flour mingled with oil, three tenth deals unto every bullock of the thirteen...

Judges 13:2-5 (2) And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not. (3) And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son. (4) Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing: (5) For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: f...

(Genesis 8:22) While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. My calendar tells me that April 22 is Earth Day, the genesis of which was in 1970 at a time when (according to Wikipedia's article on “Earth Day”) global cooling was the environmental “crisis du jour.” How things have changed (viewpoints, that is, not earth's fate)! There are legitimate concerns about the environment, not from the standpoint of humans violating a...

Matthew 23:37-39 (37) O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! (38) Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. (39) For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. In His final entrance to Jerusalem for His culminating trek to the cross, Jes...

(RUTH 1:16) And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Today's text takes us back to the days before Israel had a king, back to “...the days when the judges ruled...” (RUTH 1:1), a four hundred and fifty year period from Joshua's death to Samuel's life (ACT 13:19-20). In those days of which it was said that “...every man did that which was...

Galatians 5:15-18 (15) But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. (16) This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. (17) For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. (18) But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. The last verse of today's text was the basis of a previous medit...

The following essay is used by permission of Christ Life Ministries. Source: Christ Life Ministries (http://www.christlifemin.org/home/blog/articles/sentimental-religion/) At the outset it must be clearly stated that “feminine” is a beautiful quality, when found in women. However, the “Feminist Movement” is an entirely different story. There is nothing feminine about the “Feminist Movement!” “Radica...

(Ephesians 5:18) And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; In a previous meditation we considered what it means to be led of the Spirit: it is to be led by the Scripture which is given by the Spirit. A similar line of reasoning applies to today's text which speaks of being filled with the Spirit. This being filled with the Spirit is not referring to the time when the institution of the New Testament church was filled with the Hol...