Evening devotional

Hear this evening's devotional [Prepared by Jonathan Bagster (1813-1872)]

12.22 Evening:

Where is the promise of His coming?

Enoch . . ., the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment upon all.―Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him.

The Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the Voice of the Archangel, and with the Trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that Blessed Hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.

2Pe 3:4 Jude 1:14-15 Re 1:7 1Th 4:16,17 Tit 2:11-13

Here it is again with the full verses and references

12.22 Evening:

(II Peter 3:4)And saying, Where is the promise of His coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

(Jude 1:14,15)And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.--(Revelation 1:7)Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen.

(I Thessalonians 4:16,17)For the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the Voice of the Archangel, and with the Trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

(Titus 2:11-13)For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that Blessed Hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

2Pe 3:4 Jude 1:14-15 Re 1:7 1Th 4:16,17 Tit 2:11-13




--
Romans 16:27 To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.
I Peter 5:11 To Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Parables (22)

Hear this, all ye people;
give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world:
Both low and high, rich and poor, together.
My mouth shall speak of Wisdom;
and the meditation of My heart shall be of Understanding.
I will incline Mine ear to a parable ["proverb"]:
I will open My dark saying upon the harp.
Psalm 49:1-4


All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables;
and without a parable spake He not unto them:
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying,
I will open My mouth in parables;
I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.
Matthew 13:34,35



Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have Eternal Life:
and they are they which testify of Me.
John 5:39

Proverbs 22

A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold. The rich and poor meet together: the Lord is the maker of them all. A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished. By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honour, and life. Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward: he that doth keep his soul shall be far from them. Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail. He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor. Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease. He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend. The eyes of the Lord preserve knowledge, and he overthroweth the words of the transgressor. The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets. The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the Lord shall fall therein. Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him. He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, shall surely come to want.

Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge. For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips. That thy trust may be in the Lord, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee. Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge, That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?

Rob not the poor, because he is poor: neither oppress the afflicted in the gate: for the Lord will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them.

Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go: lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.

Be not thou one of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts. If thou hast nothing to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under thee? Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set. Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.



--
Romans 16:27 To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.
I Peter 5:11 To Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

The LORD is gracious

For all flesh is as grass,
and all the glory of man as the flower of grass.
The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
but the Word of the Lord endureth for ever.
And this is the Word which by the Gospel is preached unto you.
Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes,
desire the sincere milk of the Word,
that ye may grow thereby:
if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
(I Peter 1:24-2:3)

The Word for the YEAR--
Romans 8:35-39 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For Thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.


The Word for the month--
Psalm 29:11 The Lord will give Strength unto His people; the Lord will bless His people with Peace.


The Word for the day--
Psalm 21:13 Be Thou exalted, Lord, in Thine Own Strength: so will we sing and praise Thy Power.

Compare Spiritual with Spiritual (1 Corinthians 2:12-14; John 5:39)--

"Be Thou exalted, Lord, in Thine Own Strength: so will we sing and praise Thy Power."

Psalm 24:7,8 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle [cp. Isa 63:1-6; Col 2:10-15].

Psalm 89:6-8 For who in the heaven can be compared unto the Lord? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord? God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about Him. O Lord God of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto Thee? or to Thy faithfulness round about Thee?

John 10:14-18 I am the good Shepherd, and know My sheep, and am known of Mine. As the Father knoweth Me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down My Life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear My Voice [cp. Ps 29]; and there shall be one fold, and one Shepherd. Therefore doth My Father love Me, because I lay down My Life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have Power to lay it down, and I have Power to take it again. This commandment have I received of My Father.

Ephesians 1:19-23 And what is the exceeding greatness of His Power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of His Mighty Power, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His Own right hand in the Heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all.

Philippians 3:7-11 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and 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, and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the Law, but that which is through the Faith of Christ, the Righteousness which is of God by Faith: that I may know Him, and the Power of His Resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death; if by any means I might attain unto the Resurrection of the dead.

II Corinthians 12:9 And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My Strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the Power of Christ may rest upon me.

II Timothy 2:1 Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the Power of His might.


Again, the Word for the day--Psalm 21:13 Be Thou exalted, Lord, in Thine Own Strength: so will we sing and praise Thy Power.



Hear this morning's devotional [Prepared by Jonathan Bagster (1813-1872)]

12.22 Morning:

Your work of Faith.

This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him Whom He hath sent.

Faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.―Faith which worketh by Love.―He that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap Life Everlasting.―We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.―Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your Faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth. . . Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of His goodness, and the work of Faith with Power.―It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.

1Th 1:3 Joh 6:29 Jas 2:17 Ga 5:6 6:8 Eph 2:10 Tit 2:14 2Th 1:3,11 Php 2:13

Here it is again with the full verses and references

12.22 Morning:

(I Thessalonians 1:3)Remembering without ceasing your work of Faith, and labour of Love, and patience of Hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;

(John 6:29)Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him Whom He hath sent.

(James 2:17)Even so Faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.--(Galatians 5:6)For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but Faith which worketh by Love.--(Galatians 6:8)For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap Life Everlasting.--(Ephesians 2:10)For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.--(Titus 2:14)Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

(II Thessalonians 1:3)We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth; . . .(II Thessalonians 1:11)Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of His goodness, and the work of Faith with Power:--(Philippians 2:13)For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.

1Th 1:3 Joh 6:29 Jas 2:17 Ga 5:6 6:8 Eph 2:10 Tit 2:14 2Th 1:3,11 Php 2:13


I Timothy 4:15,16 Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.



Psalm 72:17-19 His Name shall endure for ever: His Name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in Him: all nations shall call Him blessed. Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, Who only doeth wondrous things. And blessed be His Glorious Name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with His glory; Amen, and Amen.


II Timothy 2:1 Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.



--
Romans 16:27 To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.
I Peter 5:11 To Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.