Our Verse of the Day

The Word Says:

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”

Verse Thoughts:

The topic of brothers living together in unity was part of Christ’s High Priestly prayer, just before His walk to Calvary. In his advancing years the apostle John pleaded, “Little children love one another.” Paul continues this theme of unity: “Be of the same mind toward one with another, maintaining the same love, united in spirit and intent on one purpose,” and one Person.

And in his short outburst of praise, we discover king David rejoicing and singing in his heart by faith with thanksgiving: “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony,” for it refreshes the soul and is a sweet fragrance that ascends to the Lord and glorifies His holy name.

This was one of the songs of ascent that Israel would sing to the Lord with joy in their hearts, as they advanced on their pilgrimage to Jerusalem. This was a hymn of praise that would echo throughout the land of Israel, as God’s people travelled towards their sacred destination.

We too are on our own march towards our heavenly home, but every step we make toward that day when the Lord takes us to be with Himself, should be a day when we live together with our brothers and sisters in Christ in gracious harmony and godly unity.

Unity does not imply uniformity! But in the Body of Christ there should be a real oneness of spirit on the essential fundamentals of our faith, while lesser, subordinate issues should not cause wanton discord, disunity, or division. Little disagreements or alternative views on  minor issues should be approached with wisdom and grace.

In all our dealings there should be a godly spirit of unity and love. There should be a patient, kind, gracious love that comes only from the indwelling Spirit of Christ Who is our life, for in Him our soul is refreshed and we are equipped to edify others, which glorifies our Father in heaven.

The Word Says:

“Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:”

Verse Thoughts:

Hebrews is a book that was mainly written to Jewish believers in the early Church who found it very difficult to let go of many of their former traditions and Jewish rituals. It was written to help them come to terms with the New and better Covenant, which was promised by the mouth of Jeremiah, cut through the precious blood of Jesus Christ our Saviour, and will be fully and finally ratified when Jesus returns to set up His Millennial Kingdom on earth.

Many Jews were still enslaved by the pre-Cross Law and bound by its curse. They failed to recognise the freedom they were given in their post-Cross Christian life, which is by faith alone in Christ alone, and not by carrying out good works of the Law.

However, there are many truths contained in Hebrews for Christians everywhere. There is much to learn from this amazing book which buries its roots deep into the Old Testament and which comes to fruition in the New. We find that it contrasts the New Testament freedoms we have in Christ with the former restrictions and requirements of the old Law.

It contrasts God’s initial revelation of Himself, through Moses at Sinai, with His full and final revelation of Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, through the Cross. It compares the superiority of the Person and work of Christ with men and angels alike and outlines the advantages of His heavenly Priesthood, as compared with the restrictive Law of Moses and the inferior Aaronic priesthood. It teaches that the former things were used by God as a signpost, to direct sinful man to Christ.

The Law was a schoolmaster to point sinners to Christ. The Law was designed to identify our sinfulness and highlight our need of salvation. The Law causes the sinner to acknowledge his sinfulness and reach out to Jesus Christ, our perfect sacrifice, for whosoever believes on Him by accepting His gracious offer of salvation through faith, will be saved.

By the time the author has reached chapter 12, the need for faith rather than works has been clearly outlined and explained, and believers are exhorted to hope in Christ and to recognise that the terrors of the Law and the wrath of God, have been removed from all who believe, by faith, in the shed blood of Jesus Christ Who cleanses the heart and affords for us an eternal pardon from the God of the universe.

The incomparable privileges we have in Christ, the benefits of our heavenly inheritance in His coming kingdom, and the glory that is ours in Him, are accompanied by a severe warning for those who refuse to listen to His Word and obey His voice: “Therefore, since we received a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe.”

As members of Christ’s Body, we are children of God and joint heirs with Christ. We have been promised positions in His coming kingdom, where we will rule and reign with Christ, our heavenly Bridegroom.

The Word of God cannot be broken. Our promised positions in Christ’s coming Kingdom and the many precious pledges that God has made to all who believe in His only begotten Son for the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting, are equally certain, totally true, and unquestionably unbreakable. For God cannot lie.

It is because we have received a kingdom which cannot be shaken, that we are instructed to show Him our gratitude. In consideration of all that God has given us freely, by faith in His Son, there should be no question that we should live our life in thanksgiving and praise for His goodness and grace, and offer to Him our acceptable service, with reverence and awe.

All that the Lord has done for us should inspire us towards sincere worship, fervent praise, impassioned homage, and everlasting worship. The recognition of God’s boundless mercy and grace towards sinners such as us should incline us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God.

May we be energised from this day forward, to give Him the glory and worship that is due to His holy name. May we be stimulated, in the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, to offer Him the honour, praise, adoration, and thanks, for He alone is worthy.

The Word Says:

“Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto Him with psalms.”

Verse Thoughts:

So the beautiful psalm encouraging us of singing unto the Lord, making a joyful noise of praise unto Him, coming into His presence with thanksgiving. It’s a beautiful psalm, really, of thanksgiving and making a joyful noise with praise for the greatness of God.

We should always be thankful for all the the Lord has done for us. We should always be thankful unto Him that He delivered us from our past life and gave us a new life, by His grace and mercy.

God is good!

The Word Says:

“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.”

Verse Thoughts:

The deity of Christ, the uniqueness of Christ, the humanity of Christ and the supremacy of Christ are all important issues in this epistle to the Hebrews. Christ is the eternal God Who chose to come to earth and be clothed in human flesh, living His life just like we live, and yet He was not born with a sin nature as we are, for He was conceived of the Holy Ghost and Christ lived a perfect life during His 33 years sojourn on earth.

It was the eternal Father who formulated the plan of redemption. It was the eternal Son Who carried out the plan of redemption by means of His birth into the human race. His perfect life, His sacrificial death and His glorious resurrection from the dead, and it was the eternal Spirit Who empowered the Lord Jesus throughout His earthly life for the eternal Son of God set aside His glory in order to become the perfect Son of Man, by submitting to the Father, our precious kinsman, Redeemer, Who lived and died in our stead.

In order to become the Messiah of Israel and Saviour of the world as laid out in God’s plan of redemption, the eternal Son of God had to humble Himself and for a time was made a little lower than the angelic hosts that He Himself created. He had to be born into the fallen race of humanity who had rebelled against their Creator and were under the curse of sin and death.

Although He was eternal Deity, and the second member of the Trinity, we see Jesus living His life as God intended man to live, in humble submission and complete obedience to His Father in heaven. We see Him made as a little lower than the angels for a while, we see Him despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. We see Him humble himself, and become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

And it is for that reason that God has highly exalted Him and has given Him a name that is above every name. It is because He was willing to suffer the death of the cross on behalf of the fallen human race, that God has crowed Him with glory and honour, so that by the grace of God He tasted death for every man, woman and child who ever has lived. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to pay the full and final price for the sin of the world, and those who choose to believe in the Him are not condemned, but become one with Christ. For there is no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus.

When Adam sinned a curse was placed on all creation. The icy fingers of death and destruction not only touched every member of the human race but also animals and birds, the natural world and the heaven itself. But Christ’s sacrificial death and glorious resurrection was the one and only price that a holy and just God could accept in full payment for sin. And so we read that Christ tasted death for EVERYONE, so that by God’s grace, all who believe on Him are saved and are removed from the curse of sin, death and hell forever. Praise His holy name.

The Word Says:

“That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Verse Thoughts:

Previously, Paul has written that one result of Adam’s devastating sin was that death came to reign over the lives of humanity. Now he writes that death’s reign was, in truth, the reign and rule of sin. Sin brings death. Human beings cannot escape our own sin nature no matter how badly we want to. In ourselves, without God’s intervention, we will always continue to sin. It rules over us, and it leads to death.

However, Paul has just written that as sin increases, God’s grace increases even more. In other words, sin cannot grow past God’s capacity to give good to those who deserve His angry judgment instead. Paul concludes that God’s grace is the greater ruler. It reigns over sin and death. How? He declares righteous all of us sinners who, by faith, receive his grace-gift of Jesus’ death for our sin on the cross.

With death defeated, those who are in Christ will live forever. Grace reigns through righteousness leading to eternal life. But this eternal life is found only through Jesus Christ our Lord. There is no other way to escape the reign of sin and death.

Starting with the next verse, Paul will counter a common and unfortunate response to this idea of abundant grace. Some see God’s grace as a license to sin, which is not what God intended, nor what Paul is teaching. The overflowing mercy of God is not a reason to sin, just so that His grace can increase.

The Word Says:

“O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.”

Verse Thoughts:

O house of Jacob;
This is either an exhortation of the prophet to the men of his generation, to attend to the light of the law, which the Lord had given them, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi; or rather, as the Targum and Jarchi suggest, an exhortation of the nations to the people of Israel, and are indeed the words of the converted Gentiles to the people of the Jews, being concerned for their conversion and spiritual welfare, as will appear in the latter day; when they will not only encourage one another to go up to the house of the Lord, as in the preceding verses, but will be very solicitous that the Jews, the posterity of Jacob, share with them in all that light and glory that shall be risen upon Zion; as follows:

come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord;
meaning either Christ, in whom the light of the knowledge of the glory of God is given, and the glory of all the perfections of the divine nature is displayed; who is that light that dwells with the Lord, was sent forth by him, and came into this world as the light of it, and is given for a light to the Gentiles, as well as the glory of the people of Israel; and who is the author of all light; of corporeal light, in the first creation; of the sun, moon, and stars; of the light of nature in every man; of the light of the Gospel of the grace of God; of the spiritual light of grace in the hearts of his people; and of the light of eternal glory: or else the Gospel is intended, called the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, by which some are only notionally enlightened, and some spiritually and savingly, when it is attended with the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ: or rather, the light of the latter day glory, which includes the other two; when Christ and his Gospel will be more clearly revealed and seen, not only by the watchmen, who will see eye to eye, but by all the saints; when the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun sevenfold as the light of seven days, and the whole earth shall be lightened with its glory,  and to “walk” in this light, as it respects Christ, is to walk by faith in him, to go on in believing views of him, and to walk in imitation of him, and as he directs; and as it respects the Gospel, it is to embrace it, profess it, hold it fast, and hold it forth; and to walk as that prescribes and guides, and as becomes it; and to walk as children of the light, wisely and circumspectly; worthy of the calling of God, of the grace he calls by, and the kingdom he calls to: and to walk in the light of the latter day glory is to enjoy it, and share in all the blessings of it, with perseverance therein, through the grace of God; and such walking is pleasant and comfortable; such shall have the communion of God and Christ, and fellowship one with another, and at last enjoy the light of life.

The Word Says:

“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.”

Verse Thoughts:

There are godly rules and important instructions in the college of Christian living, which educate believers in sound doctrine, purity of heart, and saintly behaviour. As we journey through the ups and downs of life, we are called to implement these rules for living in each of our lives.

Older men and matrons, younger men and women, youths and elders, together with slaves and masters, all receive a range of biblical directives in this passage, which are appropriate to their status and standing.

Whether young or old, male or female, servant or master, the consistent teaching that we discover in this epistle to Titus, urges appropriate behaviour and righteous Christian conduct for every member of the Body of Christ.

In this passage, Paul wants to demonstrate that the purpose of the normal Christian life is to refuse to engage in ungodly pursuits, participate in fleshly desires, or be tempted by the alluring trinket and tricks of this world-system. Rather, we are exhorted to: “Live sensibly, righteously and godly in this present, evil age.”

Although these instructions from Paul to Titus may appear to be predictable, and list behaviours that are appropriate for every man or woman of God and expedient for sound doctrine. Nevertheless, there are greater numbers of people who reject God’s offer of salvation by grace through faith in Christ, and remain enslaved to this satanic world system.

Such people are blinded by Satan, the god of this world, and remain dead in their trespasses and sins. They are at enmity with God and are purveyors of the evil works of darkness. And so we, who are saved by grace through faith, need to be careful that we do not become entrapped in the wiles of the evil one.

It was by God’s grace that Christ Jesus came to earth, instructing us how to live godly lives which honour our Father in heaven. The Lord Jesus came, as promised, to be the sacrifice for man’s sin. And although He appeared at God’s appointed time as the sacrifice for the sin of the whole world, only those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ are identified with Him, through the forgiveness of their sins; only they receive eternal life; only they are equipped by the Holy Spirit to live godly in this evil age.

The essence of Paul’s teaching to Titus, and to us all, is that there are certain ungodly passions and fleshly pursuits which we as His children are to vehemently reject. There is also godly behaviour, biblical attitudes, a holy life-style and Christian conduct that we should keenly pursue in this present age. As God’s children, we are to do the good, renounce the evil, and pursue after sound doctrine, purity of heart, and saintly living.

May we be diligent to follow after that which is good and renounce all that is evil, no matter what our gender or status may be. And in the words of the apostle Paul, may we endeavour to “deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly lives, in the present age.”

The Word Says:

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Verse Thoughts:

The apostle John was one who saw the glory of the Word made flesh. John was one who gazed on Him in wonder and worshipped at the feet of Jesus Christ, his Lord and his God.

John lived with Him, walked with Him, talked with Him, and touched Him. John spent over three years of his life with Jesus, listening intently to His gracious words, astonished by His amazing truth, watching Him attentively as He fulfilled the prophetic Scriptures, and beholding His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Yes, John could proclaim with authority: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us.”

John saw His glory, the glory as of the eternal God shining in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. The sum total of the eternal, omnipotent, infinite glory of God was reflected in Jesus Christ. The combined attributes of the living God were reflected in the human person of the only begotten of the Father, the God-Man, Jesus Christ the righteous.

Over and again, John and the other disciples gazed on the perfection of the sinless Son of Man, and the glory that was seen in Him was a reflection of the exact image of the glory of the Father, full of grace and full of truth.

The eternal Son of God in the person of the sinless Son of Man was full of God’s grace and goodness, which alone qualified Him to become our perfect Saviour and sacrifice for sin. The incarnate Word of God, made in the likeness of human flesh, was also full of truth which alone qualifies Him to be the perfect source of God’s completed revelation.

Revelation (truth) from our Father in heaven, came through the eternal Son of God Who became the perfect Son of Man: “For in these last day, God has spoken to us through His Son Whom He appointed Heir of all things, and through Whom also He made the universe.”

Salvation (grace) came through the only begotten Son of the Father, the unique God-Man, Christ Jesus the righteous: “For by grace are You saved, through faith in HIM and not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

The Word Says:

“Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.”

Verse Thoughts:

The two commands are to arise and shine. We are not allowed to live passive lives. This is why entertainment and other such activities, though not wrong in themselves, easily become moral issues. We need to think concretely what the Lord would have us do: Arise and Shine.

“Arise.” We need to cease walking with the world. This might not be comfortable or easy. The world might even demand that we live with them. But we must refuse. We are mission oriented. No matter what the costs, we must step out of line from the world and live by God’s heartbeat. We need to arise from compromises of the world where we become indebted and strive for the glory of God’s kingdom.

“Shine.” It is not good enough if we only arise. We must shine. We must get involved. We must become active. I recently heard Paul who was urged to sign up for two professional baseball teams. Instead he chose to work bringing the gospel to the Chinese getting by on a bare minimum of subsistent. We must refuse to be those who sift through their treasures and then put them away. We must consider it sin to be easily offended and give up on the task God has set us to. We must shine at all costs.

What then is this great occasion that calls us to sacrifice all? What is this call that demands us to drop all for the sake of all?

Life change is demanded because of God’s revelation of His glory in our lives. Our focus once upon the earth is now turned to the heavens. Light has come. No matter how dark or dim our circumstances might be, our light has come. This light is nothing less than the great and glorious presence of Jehovah.