Archive for the ‘Daily Devotional’ Category

Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil. Hebrews 6:19

The sailors in the tiny ship became increasingly alarmed as they heard the roar of the waves crashing on rocks. They had approached their destination as the storm rose and darkness fell. Because they were unable to see the harbour entrance, or the nearby rocks, they feared to get any closer. But no matter how hard they worked, the sound of those huge waves falling on the rocks grew louder as the wind and currents pushed them nearer. ‘Prepare the anchor’, the captain ordered. The sailors checked to make sure the rope was securely fastened to the huge rock in the bow of the ship. They unfastened the section of railing beside the rock, and, at the captain’s command, pried the rock over the side. They heard the great splash as the rock struck the water and sank, and they watched the coiled rope play out. When the rope was at its limit, the sailors stood back and listened. The sound of the raging waves grew no louder. The anchor was holding. They retired to their bunks to sleep until daybreak. What a comfort that great anchor was! Just like the comfort we have in the great hope that God has given us for our souls.

Sailors will tell us that many an anchor has drifted and slipped, and placed their ship in great peril. Such anchors are not sure and steadfast under the worst of conditions. But no conditions can get so bad that the wonderful hope that God has given us will ever slip or fail. Our hope is as sure as the Word of God on which it is based. God’s great promises are eternally established and can never let us down. Our salvation has rescued us from the punishment that our sins deserve and granted us the daily power and confidence to live as Christian lights in a dark world. But our text points out that our hope also brings us into a very special place: within the veil.

What happened within the veil in the Old Testament? It was the place where the high priest entered to make intercession for the people and to commune with God in His very presence. This was where God dwelt. And that is what our text is referring to when it speaks of entering within the veil. No, we don’t approach a physical Ark of the Covenant with its angel-spread Mercy Seat that Aaron and his descendants approached once a year with the blood of carefully sacrificed animals. No, the blood has already been applied once for all, and we have continual access to the very presence of God. Here, we worship and appreciate His presence. Here we bring our petitions and prayers. Here we find refuge from the sorrows and burdens and attacks of the world. Can we ever place a value on such an amazing hope?  -Jim MacIntosh

That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Hebrews 6:12

Do you remember who your heroes were when you were a kid? For some of us boys, it was one of the famous cowboys, or maybe one of the cartoon super-heroes, or possibly the conductor on the train who waved to us as he oversaw the journey of his huge beast. For the girls, maybe it was one of the fairy tale princesses or even one of the true heroes of history such as Florence Nightingale. No matter, we all had heroes who we wanted to be like when we grew up. And where did the heroes go when we did grow up? Hopefully, the fanciful ones disappeared, and we discovered people around us who we adopted as role models in one way or another. If the role models are good, then our choice of heroes is wise. God would have us to select great spiritual role models, as our text declares.

Who are your spiritual role models? We should have them, says our text. Of course, our best role model is always the Lord Jesus, because the ultimate goal of a Christian’s life is to be like Him. But there are others, as the Scriptures tell us. We read that we are to remember them which have the rule over us, who have spoken unto us the Word of God, whose faith follow (Hebrews 13:7). That means that we should be followers of those who have the burden of responsibility for God’s Assembly, all the while praying that God would preserve them and make them worthy of being followed. If we follow godly men and woman who are following their Lord, we will be guided in a godly direction.

The earmarks of those who we are to follow are faith and patience. And we will be filled with both faith and patience if we follow them too. Hebrews 11 is filled with examples of those who achieved much for God by their faith. This chapter is a worthwhile read as we consider how we are to live for our Lord. Without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Patience is a companion of faith. Patience is far more than simply and quietly waiting for God to bless, and enduring all that comes along while we wait. It includes that, but it also includes the confidence to accept God’s purposes and timetable in all things. Think of the patience of Job, who was willing to put up with so much loss and suffering because it was the will of God.

Choose your spiritual heroes wisely, but choose them because you will be blessed by their great example. – Jim MacIntosh

For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward His Name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister. Hebrews 6:10

When we were first married, Judy and I didn’t have much, and the larder in our tiny apartment would often be pretty lean. So we were always glad to accept a dinner invitation on Sundays after the Sunday School was over. The invitations were frequent, and came from Clifford and Annie Haines. ‘Come and get a clean bite,’ Clifford would joke, and we would go, knowing the food would be great and the company would be even better. They knew we were struggling to make ends meet and that our Sunday dinner would not have amounted to much in the apartment. They were a kind and caring couple, and we learned to love them dearly. Several years later, when they moved to another home, one of our friends gave them a large mounted text for their wall. The verse was the words of our text today, and I was glad to see it, because it fitted that dear old couple so well. We all know some folks like that, and we are so thankful for them!

Hospitality – ministering to the saints – is not something that everyone does as well as our text indicates. Yes, it’s very nice to visit each other in our homes. And we should definitely do that. But what our text has in mind, and what Clifford and Annie practiced, is hospitality toward those who could not return the favour, hospitality as a means of extending kindness to those in need of it. Sometimes there is not much thanks for this type of service. That’s why it’s important to note that God always notices it.

The righteousness of God demands that He records and remembers – and eventually rewards – each act of kindness toward His people. No matter that others don’t know about it. No matter that it’s not common knowledge in the Assembly or the community. No matter that you don’t receive a pat on the back or a return favour. God will never forget one of these selfless and generous acts. And there is a good reason why He won’t. Our text declares that all of these kind deeds are not only directed toward those in need of kindness, but they are also directed toward His Name. Jesus said it best, ‘Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me’ (Matthew 25:40).

Do you want to do something to please your Lord today? Show kindness to somebody in need and He will be delighted. – Jim MacIntosh

For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. Hebrews 5:12

I can recall the first time I saw one of my cousins, when she was a little baby, just a few months old. She was a very healthy and happy baby, obviously thriving on the milk that her mother was feeding her. At that stage, milk was the sole item in her infant diet. Years later, that same cousin was still healthy and strong, and participating in marathon races. It was very obvious that she was no longer relying only on milk for her nourishment. It is also very obvious when Christians advance beyond the stage of consuming only the milk of the Word of God.

There is nothing wrong with a newborn baby wanting, and demanding, the milk that its mother provides. In fact, there is something very wrong when a baby doesn’t cry to be fed. It is also appropriate for a new Christian to want to be fed with what our text calls the first principles of the oracles of God. This is what the apostle Peter had in mind when he wrote to the new Christians,’As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby’ (1 Peter 2:2). These expressions are referring to the fundamental and basic truths concerning the faith. This includes the simplicity of the Gospel message, the need for a Christian to obey the Lord in the water of baptism, the need for Christians to enjoy fellowship by not forsaking the assembling of themselves together (Hebrews 10:25), and so on. There is nothing difficult to understand about these truths. And yet, our text is speaking of Christians who need to hear these things again, because they don’t grasp them as they should. They are at a stage when they should be able to teach these things, but instead they need to be retaught them for themselves. These are not healthy Christians. And we have many like them with us today.

Many of us remember listening to the late Albert Ramsay, a preacher who was often referred to as the kindergarten teacher. Albert’s messages were always easily understood by all; he used to go over and over the basics. Everybody enjoyed listening to Albert and it was good to hear the fundamental truths again. But there were other preachers who delved deeply into the Scriptures and who served us with the meat of the Word. Their teaching usually went over the heads of the younger and lesser learned in the audience, because they were talking about doctrines and principles that are more advanced. And yet, the Lord would have us to learn the deeper truths of His Word. The Bible is a book of unimaginable depths, so profound that the greatest Bible scholars of all time will confess that they have barely penetrated its surface. The Bible is inexhaustible and infinite, which is why it will be from the Scriptures that the Lord Jesus will unfold to us for all eternity the riches of His grace. The more we know of it now, the more wonderful will be its unfolding in the Glory.

Do you have an appetite for the strong meat of the Word of God, or are you content to continue sipping at the milk?  -Jim MacIntosh

Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered. Hebrews 5:8

When I was a little boy, I liked to play with the two little boys who lived in the apartment at the other end of our house. Not being Christians, the parents of those boys were not as careful in their speech as mine were. And those two little boys used words that were never heard in our home. Because I heard those words, I repeated them. But I made the mistake of repeating one of them at home within my mother’s hearing. She warned me sternly not to repeat that word again. But her stern warning did not work for long. The word slipped out again a day or two later when my mother was close enough to hear. It was then that I learned obedience by the things that I suffered. My suffering came because I had disobeyed. But the Lord Jesus never did, and never could, disobey His Father. So why did He suffer? And how could He, the omniscient God of all knowledge, learn anything?

The answer to the first question – why He suffered – is precious to every believer. He suffered for you and me. That is what 1 Peter 3:18 tells us: ‘For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit’. The same precious thought is expressed in Isaiah 53:5: But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. We ought to have suffered, but because of the things which He suffered, we are set free.

The answer to the second question – how He Who knows all could learn something – is a little more complicated. It is true that there never was a time when the Lord Jesus did not possess all knowledge. He always knew everything. But there was a time when He had not experienced humanity. And so there came a time when He learned by experience what it was to become flesh and dwell among us. There came a time when he learned by experience what hunger, weariness, pain, and grief were all about. And, as our text indicates, there came a time when He learned by experience what it was to suffer for disobedience. Although it was our disobedience and not His own that He suffered for, He suffered. Although His suffering was the result of our disobedience, it was also a result of His obedience. The Son Who never disappointed His Father, the Lord Jesus obeyed His Father in all things. The Father’s love for us caused Him to send His Son for us. And the Son’s love for His Father and for us led Him in obedience to Calvary.

Because the Son obeyed, He suffered for sin. Because the Son obeyed, we will never suffer for sin. – Jim MacIntosh

Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. Hebrews 5:11

A number of years ago, some of my family members became concerned that I might be losing some of my hearing. I wasn’t concerned, but, to humour them and alleviate their concerns, I booked an appointment with an audiologist to have my hearing tested. The testing went well, and the audiologist assured me that I had ‘robust’ hearing, which was no surprise me but was a surprise to my family. So if my hearing was fine, where did they get the idea that it might not be? They concluded that I must have been suffering from something called ‘selective hearing’. All that means is that I was hearing what I wanted to hear, and blocked out what I was not interested in hearing. If so, I put it down to working for so many years in busy radio newsrooms, where I had to focus on one source of sound while ignoring many others. It was something like the folks to whom the writer of the book of Hebrews was speaking. He accused them of being dull of hearing in the matters of which he was writing.

The problem with these folks is that their Jewish background was hindering them from appreciating some of the best aspects of Christianity. These folks had been saved, and had gone on well for a while, but were being drawn back toward their former religion. The ordinances, the commandments, and the observances such as circumcision and unleavened bread had been their way of life for a long time, and they had been comfortable in it. It was somewhat of a shock to that comfort to lay aside all of those traditions and take up the simplicity of living by faith in Jesus Christ. It was a struggle for some of them. Not coming from a Jewish tradition, you and I don’t struggle with the same things as they did. But there are other things that stumble us and cause us to lose out on the simplicities of what Christ offers in terms of serving and worshipping Him.

Much of Christendom seems to be mandated to have a leader who takes charge of the gatherings of the people. Whether called a priest or a minister or a pastor, this leader takes a position not found in the Scriptures, a position based on the Levitical priesthood of the Old Testament. This deprives others in the company of the privilege of functioning in the priesthood of all believers. It also makes the company lazy, relying on the priest/minister/pastor to do all of the studying and feeding them with what he has obtained. The New Testament describes rather a pattern of full functioning of all believers, led by a plurality of elders who guide and protect but do not restrict or dominate. Another of Christendom’s trappings is the seeming requirement that the primary focus of a meeting or service is to hear a sermon. Nothing against sermons, but preaching a sermon or listening to it is not what the Lord Jesus instructed His disciples to do. Referring to the Lord’s Supper, He told them,’This do, in remembrance of me (Luke 22:19). Neglecting the apostles’ practice of this observance on the first day of every week (Acts 20:7) causes the Lord’s people to become dull in their appreciation of the work of Christ on the cross.

We need to be careful that our hearing of what the Lord wants us to do is not drowned out by the noise of what we want to do. – Jim MacIntosh

And being made perfect, He became the Author of eternal salvation to all them that obey Him. Hebrews 5:9

When I was working with some secure information recently, the program on my computer prompted me to select a security question and provide a security answer to the question. One of the options was the question, Who is your favourite author? That got me thinking about a favourite author when I was a youngster. James Oliver Curwood wrote a good many stories about the Canadian north, adventure stories with some wonderful human and animal characters. Who was your favourite author from your childhood? There were, and are, so many wonderful authors! But there never was an author like the One identified in our text as the Author of eternal salvation. He is also known as the Author and Finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). Those are high titles for One Who as far as we know never wrote anything other than a message in the dirt (John 8:6-8) and we don’t know even what that message was! But the Scriptures identify Him as Author, and unlike the works of other authors, the works of the Lord Jesus never need to be revised. And that is especially true of His great work of eternal salvation.

What is eternal salvation? Let’s ask a man who knew something of the subject, and who preached about it often, none other than that prince of preachers, Charles H. Spurgeon: ‘Brethren, what a grand expression that is, ‘eternal salvation’! You know that there are some who preach a temporary salvation; they say that you may be in Christ today and out of Christ tomorrow, that you may be saved by grace at one hour, but damned by sin the next. Ah! but the Bible says no such thing. This may be the gospel according to (Jacobus) Arminius, but it is not the gospel according to John, nor according to Paul, nor according to our Lord Jesus Christ. That gospel is, – ‘Once in Christ, in Christ for ever;  Nothing from his love can sever.‘ Thank you, Brother Spurgeon! Eternal salvation is what Jesus was speaking about when He told Nicodemus about eternal and everlasting life in John 3:15 and 16. Eternal life is what the Lord Jesus was purchasing for us when He shed His blood on the cross of Calvary. Eternal life is what He provided when He made one sacrifice for sins forever (Hebrews 10:10, 12, 14). All those who are saved have eternal salvation.

But some will point out that our text says eternal salvation belongs only to those who obey the Lord Jesus. Is that so? In one way, they are right, because it is impossible for anybody to obey the Lord Jesus without first trusting Him as Saviour and Lord. The first step of obedience is that step that brings us forever into the value of the obedience of the Lord Jesus. Eternal damnation is the lot of all those who obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 1:8) and eternal salvation is the gift to all those who obey that same Gospel.

You and I are characters in that great work called Eternal Salvation, because its Author loves us. – Jim MacIntosh

As He saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. Hebrews 5:6

Today’s text is referring to Psalm 110:4, which says, ‘The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest forever, after the order of Melchisedec’. The verse is describing the priesthood of the Lord Jesus, and it identifies three wonderful things about that priesthood. First, the priesthood is established by an oath and declaration of God Almighty. Second, the priesthood is forever. Third, the priesthood is after the order of Melchisedec.

Being established by an oath of God makes Christ’s priesthood so much more valid than any priesthood established by men. It also shows how permanent this priesthood is, because an oath of God is immutable – that is just a big word that says that God cannot change His word or His oath.

A priest forever! That means our great High Priest is never to be replaced by another. This is different from the Aaronic high priesthood, in which high priests served in their office until they died, and were replaced by somebody else. That cannot happen with Christ; He is our high priest now, and will be so forever.

The third aspect of this priesthood is that of being after the order of Melchisedec. That is important, because the former Aaronic priesthood served the law, but Christ’s priesthood serves grace and truth (John 1:17). But why Melchisedec? We don’t really know much about this man. His encounter with the patriarch Abraham is described in only three verses in Genesis 14. In fact, we learn far more about him in the book of Hebrews than in Genesis. Like Melchisedec, Christ is both a priest and a king. As a king, Christ is like Melchisedec, whose name means king of righteousness. As a king, Christ is also like Melchisedec, who was king of Salem, which means king of peace. In fact, Isaiah 9:5 identifies the Lord Jesus as King of peace. Like Melchisedec, Christ is greater than Abraham, and therefore greater than all who came from Abraham’s loins, including Levi and the Aaronic priesthood.

Take a moment today to consider the greatness of our High Priest. That He is of the order of Melchisedec forever is pretty special!  -Jim MacIntosh

So also Christ glorified not Himself to be made an high priest; but He that said unto Him, Thou art My Son, to day have I begotten Thee. Hebrews 5:5

What would you say are the most boring parts of the Bible? Many people will point to those different places that contain genealogy lists, such as the genealogy of the Lord Jesus in Matthew 1 and Luke 3. Some of it can be pretty ponderous; for example, the bulk of the first nine chapters of 1 Chronicles is genealogy listings. What could possibly be more boring than 1 Chronicles 8:36-38, which says ‘And Ahaz begat Jehoadah; and Jehoadah begat Alemeth, and Azmaveth, and Zimri; and Zimri begat Moza, and Moza begat Binea: Rapha [was] his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son: and Azel had six sons, whose names [are] these, Azrikam, Bocheru, and Ishmael, and Sheariah, and Obadiah, and Hanan. All these [were] the sons of Azel’? They look so tedious, with all of those ‘begats’ some will say. Actually, those ‘begats’ can be fairly exciting if you dig deeply enough. Those ‘begats’ are important. In those lists, the word ‘begat’ simply means ‘fathered a son and named him’. In all of those cases, a son came into being because of the actions of the father. But our text today is obviously speaking of something different, because it is speaking of Christ, and we know that there was never a point of time when He came into being. So why does our text speak of Christ as being begotten? And does it matter?

Our text is actually quoting from Psalm 2:7, which says ‘Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee’. The most famous use of the word ‘begotten’ is in John 3:16, which most of us can recite by heart. That verse would seem a bit empty without the word ‘begotten’, but we rarely think about what it means. When you and I were begotten, we came into the world. It’s the same with the Lord Jesus. The difference is that when we were begotten, we began our existence. But when the Lord Jesus was begotten, He was sent by His father from Heaven into this world to save sinners like you and me. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved (John 3:17).

What a wonderful word ‘begotten’ is when it refers to the Lord Jesus! It tells us that the Son of God became the Son of man, that He stooped from the glories of Heaven to become a human being, that He might die for us. Did you thank the Father today for sending His only begotten Son? – Jim MacIntosh

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16

A dear old preacher named David Pethrick used to pass on bits of wisdom to those of us who were young in the faith, and his bits of wisdom were well worth noting. One that I remember well and that comes to mind with today’s text is the following: ‘whenever you see the word ‘therefore’ in the Bible, make sure you stop and see what it is there for’. Our text contains the word ‘therefore’. What is it there for? It links our text with the previous several verses in this chapter. Our verse is about coming to the throne of grace, which is a lovely euphemism for prayer. The previous verses are about our Great High Priest, the One Who is waiting at our side as we approach our Father in Heaven. He pleads our case as we bring our prayers. Because we have no worth or merit of our own, He confers on us His own worth and merit, and His Father gladly hears our prayers. That is why undeserving sinners are able to come boldly to the throne of grace. All that we find at the throne is based on how delighted the Father is in His Son.

One of the greatest fallacies of the so-called prosperity gospel is its teaching that we deserve wealth and blessings from God. They certainly don’t find that in the Bible. What we do find is the mercy of God toward poor and guilty sinners who deserve nothing but judgment. That mercy has cleared away the curse and guilt of our sin. When we read in Proverbs 13:15 that the way of the transgressor is hard, we read of our unconverted days. We understand that the mercy we received at Salvation’s day rescued us from the flames of hell, and the mercy we receive daily at the throne of grace rescues us from the hardness of sinfulness that robs the poor lost souls around us of joy and hope. No wonder that Ethan the Ezrahite delightfully declares ‘I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever; with my mouth will I make known Thy faithfulness to all generations’ (Psalm 89:1).

If the throne of grace provides us with the mercy of deliverance from the sorrows and hopelessness of sin, how much more does it provide us with grace to help in time of need? Grace, as we know, is receiving good that we do not deserve. And although we don’t deserve it, God delights to provide us with good. Because the Lord Jesus bore our griefs and sorrows (Isaiah 53:4), the throne of grace gives us access to joy and comfort. If mercy delivers us from all that is bad, grace opens up to us all that is good. The throne of grace offers us the comfort of the loving presence of our Lord. It also offers us the strength and encouragement to bear the bumps and curves of the road that we travel through time. It also gives to us the joyful assurance of the mansions that await us beyond this vale of tears. At the throne of grace, we find all the help we can use for all the needs that can ever come along.

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, because our Saviour awaits us there. – Jim MacIntosh