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Daily Light's Evening Reading
There was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.—REV. 4:3.
This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud,. . . and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.—An everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure.—That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.
We declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto their children, in that He hath raised up Jesus again.
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.
Gen. 9:12,13,16. -II Sam. 23:5. -Heb. 6:18.Acts. 13:32.Heb. 13:8.
Spurgeon's Evening Reading
“Behold, if the leprosy have covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce him clean that hath the plague.”
Leviticus 13:13
Strange enough this regulation appears, yet there was wisdom in it, for the throwing out of the disease proved that the constitution was sound. This evening it may be well for us to see the typical teaching of so singular a rule. We, too, are lepers, and may read the law of the leper as applicable to ourselves. When a man sees himself to be altogether lost and ruined, covered all over with the defilement of sin, and in no part free from pollution; when he disclaims all righteousness of his own, and pleads guilty before the Lord, then he is clean through the blood of Jesus, and the grace of God. Hidden, unfelt, unconfessed iniquity is the true leprosy; but when sin is seen and felt, it has received its deathblow, and the Lord looks with eyes of mercy upon the soul afflicted with it. Nothing is more deadly than self-righteousness, or more hopeful than contrition. We must confess that we are “nothing else but sin,” for no confession short of this will be the whole truth; and if the Holy Spirit be at work with us, convincing us of sin, there will be no difficulty about making such an acknowledgment—it will spring spontaneously from our lips. What comfort does the text afford to truly awakened sinners: the very circumstance which so grievously discouraged them is here turned into a sign and symptom of a hopeful state! Stripping comes before clothing; digging out the foundation is the first thing in building—and a thorough sense of sin is one of the earliest works of grace in the heart. O thou poor leprous sinner, utterly destitute of a sound spot, take heart from the text, and come as thou art to Jesus—
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“For let our debts be what they may, however great or small, As soon as we have nought to pay, our Lord forgives us all. ’Tis perfect poverty alone that sets the soul at large: While we can call one mite our own, we have no full discharge.” |
Old Testament Chapter a Day - Genesis 22
22. Abraham Tested
The Command to Sacrifice Isaac
22
After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”2He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.”3So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him.4On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away.5Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.”6Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together.7Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”8Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.
9 When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.10Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son.11But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”12He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”13And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.14So Abraham called that place “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”
15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven,16and said, “By myself I have sworn, says the Lord: Because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son,17I will indeed bless you, and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of their enemies,18and by your offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain blessing for themselves, because you have obeyed my voice.”19So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beer-sheba; and Abraham lived at Beer-sheba.
The Children of Nahor
20 Now after these things it was told Abraham, “Milcah also has borne children, to your brother Nahor:21Uz the firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram,22Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.”23Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother.24Moreover, his concubine, whose name was Reumah, bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.
New Testament in Four Years - Romans 6:19-23
6. Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ
19I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness for sanctification.20 When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.21So what advantage did you then get from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death.22But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life.23For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Psalm a Day - Psalm 36
36. Psalm 36
Psalm 36
Human Wickedness and Divine Goodness
To the leader. Of David, the servant of the Lord.
1
Transgression speaks to the wicked
deep in their hearts;
there is no fear of God
before their eyes.
2
For they flatter themselves in their own eyes
that their iniquity cannot be found out and hated.
3
The words of their mouths are mischief and deceit;
they have ceased to act wisely and do good.
4
They plot mischief while on their beds;
they are set on a way that is not good;
they do not reject evil.
5
Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
6
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your judgments are like the great deep;
you save humans and animals alike, O Lord.
7
How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8
They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
9
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.
10
O continue your steadfast love to those who know you,
and your salvation to the upright of heart!
11
Do not let the foot of the arrogant tread on me,
or the hand of the wicked drive me away.
12
There the evildoers lie prostrate;
they are thrust down, unable to rise.