February 9 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

John 5:24-40:

²⁴Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
²⁵Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.
²⁶For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
²⁷And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
²⁸Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
²⁹And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
³⁰I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
³¹If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.
³²There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true.
³³Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth.
³⁴But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved.
³⁵He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.
³⁶But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.
³⁷And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.
³⁸And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.
³⁹Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
⁴⁰And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

Devotional

Christ says, "This is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day." Man is saved by grace! He is lost by wilfully rejecting the Saviour. No one can blame God if he is eternally lost. All must confess, that God's judgments are just and altogether righteous. Could Jerusalem blame God that it was destroyed? Did not Christ weep over it? Did He not exclaim, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem . . . how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not?" "As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live." The Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. He will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. Therefore, He commandeth "all men everywhere to repent: because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." Are you one of those that believe in Christ unto life eternal? or are you one of those that will not come unto him, that they might have life?

Prayer

O Lord, help us to realize that we are living in the day of salvation, in the day when the gospel is proclaimed. May we give heed to that Gospel; may we take heed, lest there be in any of us an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. May we give heed to the voice of the Holy Ghost, as He speaks to us in Thy Word, saying, "Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts." Grant us ears to hear, hearts to believe, and mouths to make confession unto salvation. For Jesus' sake. Amen.

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Scripture in Devotional: John 6:40; Luke 19:41; Ezek. 13:11; 2 Pet. 3:9; 1 Tim. 2:4; Acts 17:30f.; John 6:40; 5:40.

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