Day: November 29, 2013

The Supremacy of Jesus Christ

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Oswald Chambers Imageby Oswald Chambers

He will glorify Me . . . —John 16:14

The holiness movements of today have none of the rugged reality of the New Testament about them. There is nothing about them that needs the death of Jesus Christ. All that is required is a pious atmosphere, prayer, and devotion. This type of experience is not supernatural nor miraculous. It did not cost the sufferings of God, nor is it stained with “the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 12:11). It is not marked or sealed by the Holy Spirit as being genuine, and it has no visual sign that causes people to exclaim with awe and wonder, “That is the work of God Almighty!” Yet the New Testament is about the work of God and nothing else.

The New Testament example of the Christian experience is that of a personal, passionate devotion to the Person of Jesus Christ. Every other kind of so-called Christian experience is detached from the Person of Jesus. There is no regeneration— no being born again into the kingdom in which Christ lives and reigns supreme. There is only the idea that He is our pattern. In the New Testament Jesus Christ is the Savior long before He is the pattern. Today He is being portrayed as the figurehead of a religion— a mere example. He is that, but He is infinitely more. He is salvation itself; He is the gospel of God!

Jesus said, “. . . when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, . . . He will glorify Me . . .” (John 16:13-14). When I commit myself to the revealed truth of the New Testament, I receive from God the gift of the Holy Spirit, who then begins interpreting to me what Jesus did. The Spirit of God does in me internally all that Jesus Christ did for me externally.

by Oswald Chambers

Watching For A Loved One

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A.B. Simpson Imageby A.B. Simpson

Could ye not watch with me one hour?—Matthew 26:40

A young woman whose parents had died while she was an infant had been cared for by a friend of the family. Before she was old enough to know him he went to Europe. Through all his years of absence he wrote regularly to her and never failed to send her money for all her wants.

Finally word came that during a certain week he would return and visit her. He did not fix the day or the hour. During that week the young woman received several invitations to take pleasant trips with her friends. one of these sounded so exciting that she could not resist accepting it. But during her trip her benefactor came, inquired as to her absence and left. Returning she found a note:

“My life,” the note said, “has been a struggle for you; might you not have waited one week for me?” More she never heard, and her life of plenty became one of want.

Jesus has not fixed the day or hour of His return but He has said, Watch. Should He come today, would He find us absorbed in thoughtless dissipation? May we be found each day in the expectant attitude of those watching for a loved one.

by A.B. Simpson