Evening Prayer December 26

Father in Heaven,
 
Holy are you, Lord God Almighty, for you alone are worthy of all glory, honor and praise.
 
Our place and status in this world can be confusing at best. We understand that we are a spirit learning to live in a natural world. We understand we have a soul and live in a physical body. We understand that we are in the world, but we are not of the world. Sanctify us, Lord, and keep our whole spirit, soul, and body blameless before You and until that glorious day when our Lord Jesus comes again. Thank You, Lord, for being available for us to depend on. Thank You, Lord, for guiding us into all truth.
 
To you who sits on the throne, be blessing, and honor, and glory, and power forever and ever.
 
Amen

Evening Devotion December 26

Evening Devotion by C.H. Spurgeon
 
"Lo, I am with you alway." — Mat_28:20
 
The Lord Jesus is in the midst of his church; he walketh among the golden candlesticks; his promise is, "Lo, I am with you alway." He is as surely with us now as he was with the disciples at the lake, when they saw coals of fire, and fish laid thereon and bread. Not carnally, but still in real truth, Jesus is with us. And a blessed truth it is, for where Jesus is, love becomes inflamed. Of all the things in the world that can set the heart burning, there is nothing like the presence of Jesus! A glimpse of him so overcomes us, that we are ready to say, "Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me." Even the smell of the aloes, and the myrrh, and the cassia, which drop from his perfumed garments, causes the sick and the faint to grow strong. Let there be but a moment's leaning of the head upon that gracious bosom, and a reception of his divine love into our poor cold hearts, and we are cold no longer, but glow like seraphs, equal to every labour, and capable of every suffering. If we know that Jesus is with us, every power will be developed, and every grace will be strengthened, and we shall cast ourselves into the Lord's service with heart, and soul, and strength; therefore is the presence of Christ to be desired above all things. His presence will be most realized by those who are most like him. If you desire to see Christ, you must grow in conformity to him. Bring yourself, by the power of the Spirit, into union with Christ's desires, and motives, and plans of action, and you are likely to be favoured with his company. Remember his presence may be had. His promise is as true as ever. He delights to be with us. If he doth not come, it is because we hinder him by our indifference. He will reveal himself to our earnest prayers, and graciously suffer himself to be detained by our entreaties, and by our tears, for these are the golden chains which bind Jesus to his people.
 

Daniel 1:2

 

The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God, and he carried them into the land of Shinar to the house of his god. And he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god.
Daniel 1:2 Modern English Version (MEV)
 
**************
 
The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand,.... And the city of Jerusalem too, or he could not have took the king, and so the Syriac version renders it,
 
and the Lord delivered it into his hands, and Jehoiakim, &c.: this was from the Lord, because of his sins, and the sins of his ancestors, and of his people; or otherwise the king of Babylon could not have taken the city, nor him, because of the great power of the Jews, as Jacchiades observes:
 
with part of the vessels of the house of God; not all of them; for some, as Saadliah says, were hid by Josiah and Jeremiah, which is not to be depended on; however, certain it is that all were not carried away, because we read of some of the vessels of the temple being carried away afterwards, in Jeconiah's time, 2Ki_24:13, and still there were some left, as the pillars, sea, bases, and other vessels, which were to be carried away, and were carried away by the king of Babylon, in Zedekiah's time, Jer_27:19,
 
which he carried into the land of Shinar, to the house of his god; which Jarchi understands both of the men that were carried captive, and the vessels that were taken out of the temple; but the latter seem only to be intended, since of men Jehoiakim is only spoken of before; and it does not appear he was ever carried into Babylon; but it is certain the vessels of the temple were carried thither; which is meant by the land of Shinar, where Babylon stood, and where the tower of Babel was built, Gen_10:2, the same, as Grotius thinks, with the Singara of Pliny (s) and Ptolemy (t). So the Targum of Onkelos, on Gen_10:10, interprets the land of Shinar the land of Babylon; likewise the Jerusalem Targum on Gen_10:10, and the Targum of Jonathan on Gen_11:2, Zec_5:11, only on Gen_10:10, he paraphrases it the land of Pontus. So Hestiaeus (u) an ancient Phoenician writer, calls Shinar Sennaar of Babylonia. It seems to have its name from נער, which signifies to "shake out"; because from hence the men of the flood, as Saadiah says, or the builders of Babel, were shook out by the Lord, and were scattered over the face of the earth. And as the tower of Babel itself, very probably, was built for idolatrous worship, for which reason the Lord was so displeased with the builders of it; so in this same place, or near it, now stood an idol's temple, where the king of Babylon, and the inhabitants thereof, worshipped, here called "the house of his gods" (w), as it may be rendered; for the Babylonians worshipped more gods than one; there were Rach, Shach and Nego, from whom Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, are supposed to have their names given them by the Chaldeans, Dan_1:7. Rach is thought to be the sun, whose priests were called Rachiophantae, observers of the sun; Shach, to which Sheshach is referred by some, Jer_51:41, for which a feast was kept once a year for five days, when servants had the rule and government of their masters; and Nego either was worshipped for the sun, or some star, so called from its brightness. Venus was also had in veneration with the Babylonians, whom they called Mylitta; in whose temple many acts of uncleanness and filthiness were committed, as Herodotus (x) relates. And, besides these, there were Merodach, Nebo, and Bel; of which see Isa_46:1, the latter seems to have been their chief deity, and who was called Jupiter Belus; and with whom were the goddesses Juno and Rhea. And in the city of Babylon stood the temple of Bel, or Jupiter Belus, which was extant in the times of Herodotus, and of which he gives an account (y), and is this:
 
"the temple of Jupiter Belus had gates of brass; it was four hundred and forty yards on every side, and was foursquare. In the midst of the temple was a solid tower, two hundred and twenty yards in length and breadth; upon which another temple was placed, and so on to eight. The going up them was without, in a winding about each tower; as you went up, in the middle, there was a room, and seats to rest on. In the last tower was a large temple, in which was a large bed splendidly furnished, and a table of gold set by it; but there was no statue there; nor did any man lie there in the night; only one woman, a native of the place, whom the god chose from among them all, as the Chaldean priests of this deity say.''
 
Diodorus Siculus says (z) it was of an extraordinary height, where the Chaldeans made observations on the stars, and could take an exact view of the rise and setting of them; it was all made of brick and bitumen, at great cost and expense. Here the vessels of the sanctuary were brought by Nebuchadnezzar, to the praise and glory of his idols, as Jarchi and Jacchiades observe; to whom he imputed the victory he had obtained over the Jews. Even these
 
he brought into the treasure house of his god; very probably this was the chapel Herodotus (a) speaks of, where was a large golden statue of Jupiter sitting, and a large golden table by it, and a golden throne and steps, reckoned by the Chaldeans at eight hundred talents of gold. And Diodorus Siculus (b) relates that there were three golden statues, of Jupiter, Juno, and Rhea. That of Jupiter was as one standing on his feet, and, as it were, walking, was forty feet in length, and weighed a thousand Babylonian talents (computed three millions and a half of our money). That of Rhea was of the same weight, sitting upon a throne of gold, and two lions standing at her knees; and near to them serpents of a prodigious size, made of silver, which weighed thirty talents. That of Juno was a standing statue, weighing eight hundred talents; in her right hand she held the head of a serpent, and in her left a sceptre set with precious stones; and there was a golden table, common to them all, forty feet long, fifteen broad, and of the weight of fifty talents. Moreover, there were two bowls of thirty talents, and as many censers of three hundred talents, and three cups of gold; that which was dedicated to Jupiter weighed a thousand two hundred Babylonian talents, and the other six hundred. Here all the rich things dedicated to their god were laid up, and here the king of Babylon brought the treasures and rich vessels he took out of the temple of Jerusalem; and to this agrees the testimony of Berosus (c), who says, that with the spoils of war Nebuchadnezzar took from the Jews and neighbouring nations, he adorned the temple of Belus. The riches of this temple, according to historians, are supposed to be above one and twenty millions sterling (d), even of those only which Diodorus Siculus gives an account of, as above.
 
(s) Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 24. (t) Geograph. l. 5. c. 18. (u) Apud Joseph. Antiqu. l. 1. c. 4. sect. 3. (w) בית אלהיו "domum deorum suorum", Cocceius, Michaelis. (x) Clio, sive l. 1. c. 199. (y) Ibid. c. 181. (z) Biblioth. 1. 2. p. 98. Ed. Rhodoman. (a) Clio, sive l. 1. c. 183. (b) Biblioth. I. 2. p. 98. (c) Apud Joseph. Antiqu. l. 10. c. 11. sect. 1. (d) Vid. Rollin's Ancient History, vol. 2. p. 70. and Universal History, vol. 4. p. 409.
 
John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible
 

The Eternal Name

 

A Sermon by C.H. Spurgeon
 
“His name shall endure forever.”
Psalm 72:17
 
No one here requires to be told that this is the name of Jesus Christ which “shall endure forever.” Men have said of many of their works, “they shall endure forever.” But how much have they been disappointed! In the age succeeding the Flood, they made the brick, they gathered the slime and when they had piled old Babel’s tower, they said, “This shall last forever.” But God confounded their language. They finished it not. By His lightening He destroyed it and left it a monument of their folly.
 
Old Pharaoh and the Egyptian monarchs heaped up their pyramids and they said, “They shall stand forever,” and so indeed they do stand. But the time is approaching when age shall devour even these. So with all the proudest works of man, whether they have been his temples or his monarchs, he has written “everlasting” on them. But God has ordained their end and they have passed away. The most stable things have been evanescent as shadows and the bubbles of an hour, speedily destroyed at God’s bidding.
 
Where is Nineveh and where is Babylon? Where the cities of Persia? Where are the high places of Edom? Where are Moab and the princes of Ammon? Where are the temples or the heroes of Greece? Where are the millions that passed from the gates of Thebes? Where are the hosts of Xerxes, or the vast armies of the Roman emperors? Have they not passed away? And though in their pride they said, “This monarch is an everlasting one–this queen of the seven hills shall be called the eternal city,” its pride is dimmed–and she who sat alone and said, “I shall be no widow, but a queen forever,” has fallen.
 
She has fallen and in a little while she shall sink like a millstone in the flood, her name being a curse and a byword and her site the habitation of dragons and of owls. Man calls his work eternal–God calls them fleeting. Man conceives that they are built of rock–God says, “No, sand. Or worse than that–they are air.” Man says he erects them for eternity–God blows but for a moment and where are they? Like baseless fabrics of a vision, they are passed and gone forever.
 
It is pleasant, then, to find that there is one thing which is to last forever. Concerning that one thing we hope to speak tonight, if God will enable me to preach and you to hear–“His name shall endure forever.” First, the religion sanctified by His name shall endure forever. Secondly, the honor of His name shall endure forever. And thirdly, the saving, comforting power of His name shall endure forever.
 
First, the religion of the name of Jesus is to endure forever. When impostors forged their delusions, they had hopes that perhaps they might in some distant age carry the world before them. And if they saw a few followers gather around their standard, who offered incense at their shrine, then they smiled and said, “My religion shall outshine the stars and last through eternity.” But how mistaken have they been! How many false systems have started up and passed away! Why, some of us have seen, even in our short lifetime, sects that rose like Jonah’s gourd in a single night and passed away just as swiftly.
We, too, have beheld prophets rise who have had their hour–yes, they have had their day, as dogs all have–but like the dogs, their day has passed away and the impostor, where is he? And the arch-deceiver, where is he? Gone and ceased. Specially might I say this of the various systems of infidelity. Within a hundred and fifty years how has the boasted power of reason changed! It has piled up one thing–and then in another day it has laughed at its own handiwork, demolished its own castle and constructed another–and the next day a third. It has a thousand dresses.
 
Once it came forth like a fool with its bells, heralded by Voltaire. Then it came out a braggart bully, like Tom Paine. Then it changed its course and assumed another shape, till finally we have it in the base, bestial secularism of the present day–which looks for nothing but the earth. If it keeps its nose upon the ground and like the beast thinks this world is enough, or looks for another through seeking this. Why, before one hair on this head shall be gray, the last secularist shall have passed away.
 
Before many of us are fifty years of age, a new infidelity shall come and to those who say “Where will saints be?” we can turn round and say, “Where are you?” And they will answer, “We have altered our names.” They will have altered their names, assumed a fresh shape, put on a new form of evil–but still their nature will be the same–opposing Christ and endeavoring to blaspheme His truths. On all their systems of religion, or non-religion–for that is a system, too–it may be written, “Evanescent–fading as the flower, fleeting as the meteor, frail and unreal as a vapor.”
 
But of Christ’s religion it shall be said, “His name shall endure forever.” Let me now say a few things–not to prove it, for that I do not wish to do–but to give you some hints whereby possibly I may one day prove it to other people, that Jesus Christ’s religion must inevitably endure forever.
 
And first, we ask those who think it shall pass away, when was there a time when it did not exist? We ask them whether they can point their finger to a period when the religion of Jesus was an unheard-of thing. “Yes,” they will reply, “before the days of Christ and His Apostles.” But we answer, “No, Bethlehem was not the birthplace of the Gospel. Though Jesus was born there, there was a Gospel long before the birth of Jesus and a preached one, too, although not preached in all its simplicity and plainness, as we hear it now. There was a Gospel in the wilderness of Sinai. Although it might be confused with the smoke of the incense and only to be seen through slaughtered victims, yet there was a Gospel there.”
 
Yes, more, we take them back to the fair trees of Eden, where the fruits perpetually ripened and summer always rested. Amid these groves we tell them there was a Gospel and we let them hear the voice of God, as He spoke to recreant man and said, “The Seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s head.” And having taken them thus far back, we ask, “Where were false religions born? Where was their cradle?” They point us to Mecca, or they turn their fingers to Rome, or they speak of Confucius, or the dogmas of Buddha.
 
But we say, you only go back to a distant obscurity. We take you to the primeval age. We direct you to the days of purity. We take you back to the time when Adam first trod the earth. And then we ask you whether it is not likely that as the first-born, it will not also be the last to die? And as it was born so early and still exists, while a thousand ephemera have become extinct, whether it does not look most probable that when all others shall have perished like the bubble upon the wave, this one only shall swim, like a good ship upon the ocean and still shall bear its myriad souls, not to the land of shades, but across the river of death to the plains of Heaven?
 
We ask next, supposing Christ’s Gospel to become extinct, what religion is to supplant it? We enquire of the wise man, who says Christianity is soon to die, “Pray, Sir, what religion are we to have in its place? Are we to have the delusions of the heathen, who bow before their gods and worship images of wood and stone? Will you have the orgies of Baechus, or the obscenities of Venus? Would you see your daughters once more bowing down before Thammuz, or performing obscene rites as of old?” No, you would not endure such things. You would say, “It must not be tolerated by civilized men.”
 
“Then what would you have? Would you have Romanism and its superstition?” You will say, “No, God help us, never.” They may do what they please with Britain, but she is too wise to take old Popery back again while Smithfield lasts and there is one of the signs of martyrs there. Yes, while there breathes a man who marks himself a free man and swears by the constitution of Old England, we cannot take Popery back again. She may be rampant with her superstitions and her priestcraft but with one consent my hearers reply, “We will not have Popery.” Then what will you choose?
 
Shall it be Mohammedanism? Will you choose that, with all its fables, its wickedness and libidinousness? I will not tell you of it. Nor will I mention the accursed imposture of the West that has lately arisen. We will not allow Polygamy, while there are men to be found who love the social circle and cannot see it invaded. We would not wish, when God has given to man one wife, that He should drag in twenty, as the companions of that one. We cannot prefer Mormonism. We will not and we shall not. Then what shall we have in the place of Christianity? “Infidelity!” you cry, do you, Sirs? And would you have that?
 
Then what would be the consequence? What do many of them promote? Communist views and the real disruption of all society as at present established. Would you desire reigns of terror here, as they had in France? Do you wish to see all society shattered and men wandering like monster icebergs on the sea, dashing against each other and being at last utterly destroyed? God save us from Infidelity! What can you have, then? Nothing. There is nothing to supplant Christianity. What religion shall overcome it? There is not one to be compared with it.
 
If we tread the globe round and search from Britain to Japan, there shall be no religion found, so just to God, so safe to man. We ask the enemy once more–suppose a religion were to be found which would be preferable to the one we love–by what means would you crush ours? How would you get rid of the religion of Jesus? And how would you extinguish His name? Surely, Sirs, you would never think of the old practice of persecution, would you? Would you once more try the efficacy of stakes and fires, to burn out the name of Jesus? Would you try racks and thumb-screws? Would you give us the boots and instruments of torture?
 
Try it, Sirs and you shall not quench Christianity. Each martyr, dipping his finger in his blood, would write its honors upon the heavens as he died. And the very flame that mounted up to Heaven would emblazon the skies with the name of Jesus. Persecution has been tried. Turn to the Alps. Let the valleys of Piedmont speak. Let Switzerland testify. Let France, with its St. Bartholomew. Let England, with all its massacres, speak. And if you have not crushed it yet, shall you hope to do it? Shall you? No, a thousand are to be found and ten thousand if it were necessary, who are willing to march to the stake tomorrow!
 
And when they are burned, if you could take up their hearts, you would see engraved upon each of them the name of Jesus. “His name shall endure forever,” for how can you destroy our love to it? “Ah, but” you say, “we would try gentler means than that.” Well, what would you attempt? Would you invent a better religion? We bid you do it and let us hear it. We have not yet so much as believed you capable of such a discovery. What then? Would you wake up one that should deceive us and lead us astray? We bid you do it. For it is not possible to deceive the elect.
 
You may deceive the multitude, but God’s elect shall not be led astray. They have tried us. Have they not given us Popery? Have they not assailed us with Puseyism? Are they not tempting us with wholesale Arminianism? And do we therefore renounce God’s Truth? No. We have taken this for our motto and by it we will stand. “The Bible, the whole Bible and nothing but the Bible,” is still the religion of Protestants. And the selfsame Truth which moved the lips of Chrysostom, the old doctrine that ravished the heart of Augustine, the old faith which Athanasius declared, the good old doctrine that Calvin preached is our Gospel now–and God helping us–we will stand by it till we die.
 
How will you quench it? If you wish to do it, where can you find the means? It is not in your power. Aha! Aha! Aha! we laugh you to scorn! But you will quench it, will you? You will try it, do you say? And you hope you will accomplish your purpose? Yes. I know you will, when you have annihilated the sun. When you have quenched the moon with drops of your tears. When you have dried up the sea with your drinking. Then shall you do it. And yet you say you will.
 
And next, I ask you, suppose you did, what would become of the world then? Ah, were I eloquent tonight, I might perhaps tell you. If I could borrow the language of a Robert Hall I might hang the world in mourning. I might make the sea the great chief mourner, with its dirge of howling pain and its wild death march of disordered waves. I might clothe all nature–not in robes of green, but in garments of somber blackness. I would bid hurricanes howl the solemn wailing–that death shriek of a world–for what would become of us, if we should lose the Gospel? As for me, I tell you fairly, I would cry, “Let me be gone!” I would have no wish to be here without my Lord.
 
And if the Gospel is not true, I should bless God to annihilate me this instant for I would not care to live if you could destroy the name of Jesus Christ. But that would not be all–that only one man should be miserable–for there are thousands and thousands who can speak as I do. Again, what would become of civilization if you could take Christianity away? Where would be the hope of a perpetual peace? Where governments? Where your Sabbath-Schools? Where all your societies? Where everything that ameliorates the condition of man, reforms his manners and moralizes His character? Where?
 
Let echo answer, “Where?” “They would be gone and not a scrap of them would be left. And where, O men, would be your hope of Heaven? And where the knowledge of eternity? Where a help across the river Death? Where a Heaven? And where bliss everlasting? All were gone if His name did not endure forever. But we are sure of it, we know it, we affirm it, we declare it. We believe and ever will, that "His name shall endure forever”–yes, forever! Let who will try to stop it.
 
This is my first point. I shall have to speak with rather bated breath upon the second, although I feel so warm within as well as without, that I would to God I could speak with all my strength as I might do.
 
II. But, secondly, as His religion, so the honor of His name is to last forever. Voltaire said He lived in the twilight of Christianity. He meant a lie. He spoke the truth. He did live in its twilight. But it was the twilight before the morning–not the twilight of the evening, as he meant to say. For the morning comes, when the light of the sun shall break upon us in its truest glory. The scorners have said that we should soon forget to honor Christ and that one day no man should acknowledge Him. Now, we assert again, in the words of my text, “His name shall endure forever,” as to the honor of it.
 
Yes, I will tell you how long it will endure. As long as on this earth there is a sinner who has been reclaimed by Omnipotent grace, Christ’s name shall endure. As long as there is a Mary ready to wash His feet with tears and wipe them with the hair of her head. As long as there breathes a chief of sinners who has washed himself in the Fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness. As long as there exists a Christian who has put his faith in Jesus and found Him his delight, his refuge, his stay, his shield, his song and his joy, there will be no fear that Jesus' name will cease to be heard.
 
We can never give up that name. We let the Unitarian take his gospel without a Godhead in it. We let him deny Jesus Christ. But as long as Christians–true Christians, live–as long as we taste that the Lord is gracious, have manifestations of His love, sights of His face, whispers of His mercy, assurances of His affection, promises of His grace, hopes of His blessing–we cannot cease to honor His name. But if all these were gone–if we were to cease to sing His praise, would Jesus Christ’s name be forgotten then? No. The stones would sing, the hills would be an orchestra, the mountains would skip like rams and the little hills like lambs. For is He not their Creator?
 
And if the lips of all mortals were dumb at once, there are creatures enough in this wide world besides. Why, the sun would lead the chorus. The moon would play upon her silver harp and sweetly sing to her music. Stars would dance in their measured courses. The shoreless depths of ether would become the home of songs. And the immense void would burst out into one great shout, “You are the glorious Son of God. Great is Your majesty and infinite Your power!” Can Christ’s name be forgotten? No. It is painted on the skies. It is written on the floods. The winds whisper it. The tempests howl it. The seas chant it. The stars shine it. The beasts low it. The thunders proclaim it–earth shouts it–Heaven echoes it!
 
But if that were all gone–if this great universe should all subside in God, just as a moment’s foam subsides into the wave that bears it and is lost forever–would His name be forgotten then? No. Turn your eyes up yonder. See Heaven’s terra firma “who are these that are arrayed in white and from where they came?” “These are they that came out of great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the Throne of God and praise Him day and night in His temple.” And if these were gone. If the last harp of the glorified had been touched with the last fingers. If the last praise of the saints had ceased. If the last hallelujah had echoed through the then deserted vaults of Heaven, for they would be gloomy then–if the last immortal had been buried in his grave–if graves there might be for immortals–would His praise cease then? No, by Heaven, no!
 
For yonder stand the angels. They, too, sing His glory. To Him the cherubim and seraphim do cry without ceasing, when they mention His name in that thrice holy chorus, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Armies.” But if even these were perished–if angels had been swept away, if the wing of seraph never flapped the ether. If the voice of the cherub never sung his flaming sonnet. If the living creatures ceased their everlasting chorus, if the measured symphonies of glory were extinct in silence, would His name then be lost?
 
Ah, no. For as God upon the Throne–He sits–the Everlasting One, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And if the universe were all annihilated, still would His name be heard, for the Father would hear it and the Spirit would hear it and deeply graven on immortal marble in the rocks of ages, it would stand–Jesus the Son of God–co-equal with His Father. “His name shall endure forever.”
 
III. And so shall the power of His name. Do you enquire what this is? Let me tell you. Do you see yonder thief hanging upon the cross? Behold the Fiends at the foot thereof, with open mouths. Behold they are charming themselves with the sweet thought that another soul shall give them meat in Hell. Behold the death bird, fluttering his wings over the poor wretch’s head. Vengeance passes by and stamps him for her own. Deep on his breast is written “a condemned sinner.” On his brow is the clammy sweat, expressed from him by agony and death. Look in his heart–it is filthy with the crust of years of sin. The smoke of lust is hanging within, in black festoons of darkness.
 
His whole heart is Hell condensed. Now, look at him. He is dying. One foot seems to be in Hell. The other hangs tottering in life–only kept by a nail. There is a power in Jesus' eye. That thief looks–he whispers, “Lord, remember me.” Turn your eye again there. Do you see that thief? Where is the clammy sweat? It is not there. Where is that horrid anguish? Is it not there. Positively there is a smile upon his lips. The Fiends of Hell, where are they? There are none–but a bright seraph is present, with his wings outspread and his hands ready to snatch that soul, now a precious jewel and bear it aloft to the palace of the great King!
 
Look within his heart–it is white with purity. Look at his breast–it is no longer written “condemned,” but “justified.” Look in the Book of Life–his name is engraved there. Look on Jesus' heart–there on one of the precious stones He bears that poor thief’s name. Yes, once more, look! See that bright one amid the glorified, clearer than the sun and fair as the moon? That is the thief! THAT IS THE POWER OF JESUS! And that power shall endure forever. He who saved the thief can save the last man who shall ever live. For still–
 
“There is a fountain filled with blood,
Drawn from Immanuel’s veins.
And sinners plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains.
The dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in his day–
O may I there, tho' vile as he,
Wash all my sins away.
Dear dying Lamb! That precious blood
Shall never lose its power,
Till all the ransomed Church of God
Be saved to sin no more.”
 
His powerful name shall endure forever.
 
Nor is that all the power of His name. Let me take you to another scene and you shall witness something else. There on that deathbed lies a saint. No gloom is on his brow, no terror on his face. Weakly but placidly he smiles. He groans, perhaps, but yet he sings. He sighs now and then, but more often he shouts. Stand by him. “My Brother, what makes you look in death’s face with such joy?” “Jesus,” he whispers. What makes you so placid and so calm? “The name of Jesus.” See, he forgets everything! Ask him a question. He cannot answer it–he does not understand you. Still he smiles. His wife comes, enquiring, “Do you know my name?” He answers, “No.”
 
His dearest friend requests him to remember his intimacy. “I know you not,” he says. Whisper in his ear, “Do you know the name of Jesus?” and his eyes flash glory and his face beams Heaven! His lips speak sonnets and his heart bursts with eternity! For he hears the name of Jesus and that name shall endure forever. He who landed one in Heaven will land me there. Come on, Death! I will mention Christ’s name there. O grave! This shall be my glory, the name of Jesus! Hell dog! This shall be your death–for the sting of death is extracted–Christ our Lord. “His name shall endure forever.”
 
I had a hundred particulars to give you. But my voice fails, so I had better stop. You will not require more of me tonight. You perceive the difficulty I feel in speaking each word. May God send it home to your souls! I am not particularly anxious about my own name, whether that shall endure forever or not, provided it is recorded in my Master’s book. George Whitfield, when asked whether he would found a denomination, said, “No, Brother John Wesley may do as he pleases, but let my name perish. Let Christ’s name last forever.” Amen to that! Let my name perish. But let Christ’s name last forever.
 
I shall be quite contented for you to go away and forget me. I dare say I may not see the faces of half of you again. You may never be persuaded to step within the walls of a conventicle. You will think it perhaps not respectable enough to come to a Baptist meeting. Well, I do not say we are a very respectable people. We don’t profess to be. But this one thing we do profess, we love our Bibles. And if it is not respectable to do so, we do not care to be had in esteem. But we do not know that we are so disreputable after all, for I believe, if I may state my own opinion, that if Protestant Christendom were counted out of that door–not merely every real Christian, but every professor–I believe the PaedoBaptists would have no very great majority to boast of.
 
We are not, after all, such a very small disreputable sect. Regard us in England we may be. But take America, Jamaica, the West Indies and include those who are Baptists in principle, though not openly so and we surrender to none, not even to the Established Church of this country, in numbers. That, however, we care very little about. For I say of the Baptist name, let it perish, but let Christ’s name last forever. I look forward with pleasure to the day when there will not be a Baptist living. I hope they will soon be gone.
 
You will say, “Why?” Because when everybody else sees baptism by immersion, we shall be immersed into all sects and our sect will be gone. Once give us the predominance and we are not a sect any longer. A man may be a Churchman, a Wesleyan, or an Independent and yet be a Baptist. So that I say I hope the Baptist name will soon perish. But let Christ’s name last forever. Yes, and yet again, much as I love dear old England, I do not believe she will ever perish. No, Britain! You shall never perish. The flag of old England is nailed to the mast by the prayers of Christians, by the efforts of Sunday-Schools and her pious men.
 
But I say let even England’s name perish. Let her be merged in one great brotherhood. Let us have no England and no France and no Russia and no Turkey–but let us have Christendom. And I say heartily, from my soul, let nations and national distinctions perish, but let Christ’s name last forever. Perhaps there is only one thing on earth that I love better than the last I have mentioned and that is the pure doctrine of unadulterated Calvinism.
 
But if that is wrong–if there is anything in that which is false–I for one say let that perish, too and let Christ’s name last forever. Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Jesus–“Crown Him Lord of all!” You will not hear me say anything else. These are my last words in Exeter Hall for this time. Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! “Crown Him Lord of all.”
 
 

Job 5:26

 

You go to the grave in a full age,
    as stalks of grain are gathered up in season.
Job 5:26 Modern English Version (MEV)
 
****************
 
Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age,.... Or, "go into thy grave" (o), which is represented as a house to enter into and dwell in; and so the wise man calls it man's long home, and Job his house, and which is appointed for all living, Ecc_12:5; for all men must die, and so come to the grave, good men as well as bad, the righteous and the wicked: this is not to be understood literally, for the dead cannot go or come to their graves, but are carried thither, as Stephen was, and all are; but it denotes their willingness to die, who choose to be absent from the body, that they may be present with the Lord, and are desirous to depart this world, and be with him, as the Apostle Paul was; and therefore cheerfully give up the ghost, and resign their souls into the hands of Christ, desiring him to receive them; and rejoice when they observe the grave is near, and ready for them; while others have their souls demanded and required of them, and are forced to death and the grave against their wills, and are driven away in their wickedness: now this, with respect to good men, is said to be "in a full age", not "in abundance", as the Vulgate Latin version, in an abundance or fulness of wealth and honour, and with great pomp and splendour, which is not the case of all good men, but of very few; nor in the full time which God has determined and appointed men should live, which may be called "the fulness of time"; for in this every man comes to the grave, good and bad, young and old; no man dies before or lives beyond it, see Job_14:5 but in the full age of men or the common term of man's life; the highest which he usually attains unto, which is threescore years and ten, and at most fourscore, Psa_90:10; and such who die before this are said to die before their time, the usual term of life; who die before the midst of this, are said not to live out half their days, Ecc_7:17; but he that arrives to this dies in a good old age, and has filled up his days, which men, at most, ordinarily live: Mr. Broughton renders it, "in lusty old age", enjoying great health, strength, and vigour; and so Nachmanides takes the word to be compounded of כ, "as", and לח, "moist", lively, strong, and lusty; as if the sense was, that Job should die indeed in old age, but, when old, be as hearty as a young man in his full strength, and whose bones are moistened with marrow; as was the case of Moses, whose eyes were not dim, nor his natural force or radical moisture abated, Deu_34:7; but the word denotes extreme decrepit old age (p), coming from the root in the Arabic language, which signifies to be of an austere, rugged, wrinkled, contracted countenance (q), which is usually the case of old men: now this is to be understood, not as if every good than arrives to such an age, or that none but good men do; for certain it is, that some good persons, as Abijah, die in their youth, and many wicked men live to a great age, see Ecc_7:15; but Eliphaz here speaks suitably to the legal dispensation under which he was, in which temporal blessings were promised to good men, as shadows of spiritual things, and this of long life was a principal one, see Psa_91:16; this is illustrated by the following simile:
 
like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season; there is a very great resemblance between ripe corn and old age; corn, when it is in its full ear, and ripe, its ears will hang down; the stalks, being dry and withered, are weak, and not able to bear the weight of them; so old men stoop, their knees bend, the strong men bow themselves, being unable to bear the weight of the body; fields of corn, ripe for the harvest, look white, and so the hairs of a man's head in old age; the almond tree flourishes, which, when in full bloom, is a lively emblem of the hoary head: and there is a great likeness between ripe corn, and shocks and sheaves of it, and a good old man; a good man is comparable to a corn of wheat that falls into the ground, to which Christ compares himself, Jhn_12:24; and to wheat the compares his saints, Mat_13:30; for their choiceness, excellency, purity, and solidity; and these, like a corn of wheat, grow up gradually in grace, in spiritual light, knowledge, faith, and experience, and at length come to maturity; the good work is performed and perfected in them, and they come to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ; and then they are cut down with the scythe or sickle of death, which is the proper time, like corn "in his season"; which, if cut before it is ripe, would not be fit for use, and, if it stood longer, would shed and come to nothing: and then, as corn, when cut down and reaped, is put up in shocks and sheaves, which are lifted up from the earth, and made to "ascend", as the word (r) signifies, and are laid in carts and wagons, and carried home with expressions of joy, (hence we read of the joy of harvest,) and are laid up in the barn or granary; so the saints are carried by angels, the reapers, into Abraham's bosom, as Lazarus was, into heaven, and as all the elect will be gathered by the angels at the harvest, the end of the world; attended with their shouts and acclamations, and with expressions of joy from Gospel ministers, who now go forth bearing the precious seed of the word, and sow it in tears, but then shall return with joy, bringing their sheaves with them, see Mat_13:30.
 
(o) תבוא־אלי קבר "ingredieris in sepulchrum", Pagninus, Montanus, Mercerus, Drusius, Michaelis; "intrabis ad tumulum", Schultens. (p) בכלח "in summa senectute", Michaelis; "in decrepita senectue", Schultens. (q) p. 232. "austero et tetrico (corrugato) vultu fuit", Golius, col. 2057. Castell. col. 1733. So Hinckelman. Praefat. ad Alcoran. p. 29. Hottinger. Smegina Oriental. l. 1. c. 7. p. 162. Thesaur. Philolog. l. 2. c. 1. p. 507, 508. (r) כעלות "sicut ascendere", Montanus, Bolducius, Schmidt, Michaelis; "sicut ascendit", Pagninus, Mercerus.
 
John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible
 

Morning Devotion December 26

Morning Devotion by C.H. Spurgeon
 
"The last Adam." — 1Co_15:45
 
Jesus is the federal head of his elect. As in Adam, every heir of flesh and blood has a personal interest, because he is the covenant head and representative of the race as considered under the law of works; so under the law of grace, every redeemed soul is one with the Lord from heaven, since he is the Second Adam, the Sponsor and Substitute of the elect in the new covenant of love. The apostle Paul declares that Levi was in the loins of Abraham when Melchizedek met him: it is a certain truth that the believer was in the loins of Jesus Christ, the Mediator, when in old eternity the covenant settlements of grace were decreed, ratified, and made sure for ever. Thus, whatever Christ hath done, he hath wrought for the whole body of his Church. We were crucified in him and buried with him (read Col_2:10-13), and to make it still more wonderful, we are risen with him and even ascended with him to the seats on high (Eph_2:6). It is thus that the Church has fulfilled the law, and is "accepted in the beloved." It is thus that she is regarded with complacency by the just Jehovah, for he views her in Jesus, and does not look upon her as separate from her covenant head. As the Anointed Redeemer of Israel, Christ Jesus has nothing distinct from his Church, but all that he has he holds for her. Adam's righteousness was ours so long as he maintained it, and his sin was ours the moment that he committed it; and in the same manner, all that the Second Adam is or does, is ours as well as his, seeing that he is our representative. Here is the foundation of the covenant of grace. This gracious system of representation and substitution, which moved Justin Martyr to cry out, "O blessed change, O sweet permutation!" this is the very groundwork of the gospel of our salvation, and is to be received with strong faith and rapturous joy.

Morning Prayer December 26

Father in Heaven,
 
Holy are you, Lord God Almighty, for you alone are worthy of all glory, honor and praise.
 
Open our eyes that we may see You. Open our ears that we may hear You. We are lost without You, Lord, hopelessly adrift in a sea of madness. We need Your light to guide us, Your word to steer us, and Your Spirit to give us strength. Without You, Lord, we are nothing, but You are our everything. In you we have hope. In You we have life. You are our all in all. Forgive us, Lord, for taking You for granted. Forgive us, Lord, for treating You as less than the Lord God Almighty, Creator of the heavens and the earth, King of kings, Lord of lords, Savior, and Redeemer.
 
To you who sits on the throne, be blessing, and honor, and glory, and power forever and ever.
 
Amen
 

Galatians 1:2

 

and all the brothers who are with me,
 
To the churches of Galatia:
Galatians 1:2 Modern English Version (MEV)
 
****************
 
And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia.
Church unity
Our religion is not designed to terminate upon ourselves, but to benefit those with whom we associate. As the touched needle has the power to impart something of its own magnetic virtue to kindred substances brought into contact with it, so true grace is always communicative, and delights to diffuse the moral impressions which it has received. The early Churches set a noble pattern, in this respect, to the men of succeeding times.
 
I. Their unity of sentiment in the fundamental doctrines of Christian faith. Paul blends the testimony of his brethren in the ministry with his own (“all the brethren”) to show that he stood not alone in his views of Christian doctrine; and they delight to bear their concurrent attestation in favour of the truths he proclaimed, and against the errors he condemned.
 
II. Their unity of affection. “All the brethren that are with me, to the Churches of Galatia.” Amidst some discrepancy of opinion, there was much love at heart, which yet did not prevent their bearing a faithful and energetic protest against the dangerous views newly entertained by their Galatian friends, upon the subject of the incorporation of the Jewish rites with the Christian faith. The truth of grace in others should be the most powerful loadstone to attract our regards towards them. For one man to love another, chiefly because he is of his own opinion and party, is little better than a refined species of selfishness, as he does but embrace his own shadow which he sees falling upon his brother’s breast.
 
III. Mark also their unity in prayer, for spiritual blessings to descend upon those to whom they wrote--“Grace be to you and peace, from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.” (The Evangelist.)
A word to pastors and people
 
I. To pastors.
1. Don’t lord it over your people: they are “brethren.”
2. Take them into your confidence: not to confirm your authority, but because they have an interest in your work.
3. Secure their sympathy: it “will be your solace when you are dealing with crafty Judaizers.
4. Carry them with you. You will need them
(1) in bodily affliction;
(2) in exceptional difficulties.
 
II. To people,
1. Your pastor is not your slave but your “brother”: love and esteem him.
2. He is the servant of Christ and the Church, and you are his fellowservants: give him sympathy and co-operation.
3. He is your leader: follow him; let him speak not only in his own name but yours, because
 
(1) you have common interests,
(2) these interests can only be preserved by unanimity (Php_1:27).
There is no relationship like that founded on the sanctity of religion. Between you and me that sanctity exists. I stood by your side when you awoke in the dark valley of conviction and owned yourselves lost. I led you by the hand out of the darkness. By your side I have prayed, and my tears have mingled with yours. I have bathed you in the crystal waters of a holy baptism; and when you sang the song of the ransomed captive it filled my heart with a joy as great as your own. Love beginning in such scenes and drawn from so sacred a fountain is not commercial, is not fluctuating. Amid severe toils and not a few anxieties it is a crown of rejoicing to a pastor. (H. W. Beecher.)
The Churches of Galatia
 
I. Their locality. Probably the seats of the most ancient bishoprics.
1. Ancyra, the capital.
2. Pessinus, the great emporium.
3. Tavium, the junction of many roads.
4. Juliopolis, in the centre of the land. Note Paul’s sagacity in choosing such serviceable centres.
 
II. Their members.
1. The native Gaulo-Phrygians--an impulsive, inquisitive, imaginative, and superstitious race; worshippers of Cybele, whose cult involved wild ceremonial and horrible mutilations.
2. Jews and proselytes.
3. Roman colonists.
 
III. Their planting.
1. During second missionary tour (Act_16:6).
2. Under afflictive circumstances (Gal_4:13).
3. With warm enthusiasm (Gal_4:15). Rapid growth, rapid decadence.
 
IV. Their character.
1. Their natural imaginativeness and impulsiveness moulded by grace.
2. Many churches, but one Church.
3. True churches, though in error.
 
V. Their early history.
1. Confirmed during third missionary tour (Act_18:23).
2. Corrupted by Judaizers.
3. Rebuked and perhaps reclaimed by Paul (2Ti_4:10).
4. Strongholds of heresy during second and third centuries.
5. Purged by the Diocletian persecution.
6. Triumphant over Julian.
 
What is a church?
A band of faithful men
Met for God’s worship in some humble room,
Or screened from foes by midnight’s starlit gloom,
On hillside or lone glen
To hear the counsels of God’s Holy Word
Pledged to each other and their common Lord.
These, few as they may be,
Compose a Church, such as in pristine ages
Defied the tyrant’s steel, the bigot’s rage.
For, when but two or three,
Whate’er the place, in faith’s communion meet,
There, with Christ present, is a Church complete.
 
The Galatian people
When the vast tide of Aryan migration began to set to the westward the Celtic family was among the earliest to stream away. They gradually occupied a great part of the centre and west of Europe, and their various tribes were swept hither and thither by various currents. One of their Brennuses, four centuries b.c., inflicted on Rome its deepest humiliation. Another, 111 years later, ravaged Northern Greece, and when its hordes were driven back at Delphi they found another body under Leonnorius and Lutarius, and established themselves in the northern regions of Asia Minor. But their exactions soon roused an opposition which led to their confinement to the central region. Here we find them in three tribes: the Tolistobogii, with their capital Pessinus; the Tectosages, with their capital Ancyra; the Trocmi, with their capital Tavium. These tribes were, in b.c. 65, united under Deiotarus, tetrarch of the Tolistobogii. The Romans had conquered them in b.c. 189, but had left them nominally independent; and in b.c. 36 Mark Antony made Amyntas king. On his death, b.c. 25, Galatia was joined to Lycaonia and part of Pisidia, and made a Roman province. This was its political condition when Paul entered Pessinus. (F. W. Farrar.)
Note--
 
I. The brotherhood of Christians;
 
II. Their united action;
 
III. Their interest in distant churches. (J. Lyth.)
Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell M.A.
 

Ezra 1:9

 

This is the number of them: thirty containers of gold, one thousand containers of silver, and twenty-nine knives.
Ezra 1:9 Modern English Version (MEV)
 
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And this is the number of them,.... Of the vessels delivered, as follows:
 
thirty chargers of gold, a thousand chargers of silver; these, according to Ben Melech, were vessels in which water was put to wash hands in; but rather they were, as Aben Ezra observes from the Jerusalem Talmud (r), vessels in which they gathered the blood of lambs and bullocks slain for sacrifices:
 
nine and twenty knives; which, because the handles of them were of gold or silver, were valuable, and might be very large knives, and what the priests used in slaying and cutting up the sacrifices.
 
(r) T. Hieros. Yoma, fol. 41. 1.
 
John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible