December 31 Daily Devotional

Bible Reaings:

Isaiah 45:22, King James Version:
²²Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.

Isaiah 52:10, KJV:
¹⁰The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.

Matthew 28:18-20, KJV:
¹⁸And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
¹⁹Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
²⁰Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Luke 10:30-37, KJV:
³⁰And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
³¹And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
³²And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
³³But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
³⁴And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
³⁵And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
³⁶Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
³⁷And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.

Acts 1:8, KJV:
⁸But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Revelation 5:9-13, KJV:
⁹And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
¹⁰And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
¹¹And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;
¹²Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.
¹³And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

Revelation 7:9-12, KJV:
⁹After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
¹⁰And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.
¹¹And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,
¹²Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.

Devotional:

It is a remarkable fact that the Christian Church is to be found in almost every part of this globe. Growing from a small band of disciples in the land of Palestine, the Church has multiplied in the providence and by the grace of her sovereign Lord to a great number. He adds to the Church such as are saved. And He adds them in many lands and climes, "from Greenland's icy mountains to India's coral strand." He adds them from many diverse cultures and races. It is God's will that all nations shall see the salvation of the Lord. As He offers salvation through His Son to all men so He gathers His elect people from every kindred and people and tongue to bring them around the throne to sing the praises of the Lamb. Heaven's gate bars none save those who spurn Heaven's Son and King.

Those whom God would have to see the Light are not classified by Him according to customs of living. Nor are sinners inferior or superior to each other by reason of color or culture or language. As Peter misunderstood the command of Jesus to preach the gospel to all nations and particularly to Cornelius, so many Christians fail in the responsibility placed upon them to bring the Word of life to all. Our missionary responsibility ends not with the ministry of the gospel to a local church or community. Yet often when no obstacle prevents our sending the Word by our missionary representatives to those cultures, races, or lands different from ours, a barrier is raised when at home we are faced with the duty of evangelizing and having fellowship with those of backgrounds different from our own. May we never forget man's dignity as a creature made in the image of God. Let us never despise or look with indifference upon people of different customs from ours. Particularly may no church or individual believer consider a fellow believer inferior because of the color of his skin or strangeness of his language. The communion of the saints forbids distinctions not made by the King of the Church. Racism and spiritual pride grow from the same root, and when Divine grace uproots the one, the other must also go.

It is not easy for us to escape our provincial outlook. To see men as God sees them, to have compassion as God has compassion and pity, is our goal. To love men as sinners to whom a gracious Saviour offers forgiveness of sin and hope of eternal life is the complement of loving God. And prayer alone will not enlarge our vision. To pray for the heathen of other lands on the one hand, and to withhold the fellowship of the gospel from men of those lands who are our neighbors here on the other hand, is contradictory. Practice of brotherly kindness is also required by our Saviour's word concerning the Good Samaritan. There is the possibility of the enrichment of spiritual life in the mingling of peoples who are many in cultures but one in Christ. God has not granted, in His providence, to all men alike the same virtues or emphases even in the practice of Christianity. Variety of modes of worship or expression of the same faith should not separate believers but should broaden their appreciation of the glory of the kingdom of Christ. Narrowness and bigotry forbid the exercise of that precious means of grace, the communion of the saints. Narrow, indeed, is the road which the Christian travels, but along that highway march peoples of every realm and tongue. All trust in the same Saviour, seek to obey the same Word, and desire the same heaven.

Modernism stresses the brotherhood of man in a wrong way, conceiving of men as children of God apart from their faith or unbelief in the Lord Jesus Christ. That sort of teaching must be opposed because it disregards the Bible's teaching of the one way of salvation. But because there is a wrong doctrine of brotherhood abroad is no reason for any of us who believe the Bible to disregard our responsibilities to all men either to minister the gospel unto them or to engage with them in the worship of the one true and living God. Among Bible believing people there is need of eexamination of our attitudes toward the Christian of other races. Since in that last day every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord, let us be among those who shall bow together with men of every land whose willing hearts have been opened to the Lord by His sovereign grace.

We are very happy to make available to you this month these devotionals by the late Rev. LeRoy B. Oliver. They originally appeared in The Presbyerian Guardian during the late 1940's.

The description of his "Your Family Altar" page in The Presbyterian Guardian also fits this Web page: "The page is designed for both private and family use, whichever is most convenient in your case. If you do not have family worship in your home, we hope you will begin, and suggest using these readings. They should not, however, take the place of reading books of the Bible, or the Bible itself, through in regular course." It is those who abide (continue) in the Word who are truly Christ's disciples, who know the truth, and who experience freedom in Him (John 8:31-32). May these devotionals be used for the building up of God's people and to the glory of God.