PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
Days of Heaven Upon Earth
Simpson, A. B. (Albert B.), 1843-1919 · 76,963 words · 368 reading sections
OCTOBER 25.
“Now it is high time to awake out of sleep. Let us cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light” (Rom. xiii. 11, 12). Let us wake out of sleep; let us be alert; let us be alive to the great necessities that really concern us. Let us put off the garments of the night and the indulgences of the n…
212 wordsSECTION 302OCTOBER 26.
“Go out into the highways and compel them to come in” (Luke xiv. 23). In the great parable in the fourteenth chapter of Luke, giving an account of the great supper an ancient lord prepared for his friends and neighbors, and to which, when they asked to be excused, he invited the halt and the lame from the city slums a…
198 wordsSECTION 303OCTOBER 27.
“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is there anything too hard for Me?” (Jer. xxxii. 27.) Cyrus, the King, was compelled to fulfil the vision of Jeremiah, by making a decree, the instant the prophecy had foretold, declaring that Jehovah had bidden him rebuild Jerusalem and invite her captives to return to th…
220 wordsSECTION 304OCTOBER 28.
“Thou good servant, because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities” (Luke xix. 17). It is not our success in service that counts, but our fidelity. Caleb and Joshua were faithful and God remembered it when the day of visitation came. It was a very difficult and unpopular position…
220 wordsSECTION 305OCTOBER 29.
“Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, He will give it you” (John xvi. 23). Two men go to the bank cashier, both holding in their hands a piece of paper. One is dressed in expensive style, and presents a gloved and jeweled hand; the other is a rough, unwashed workman. The first is rejected with a polite sente…
209 wordsSECTION 306OCTOBER 30.
“Dwell deep” (Jer. xlix. 8). God’s presence blends with every other thought and consciousness, flowing sweetly and evenly through our business plans, our social converse our heart’s affections, our manual toil, our entire life, blending with all, consecrating all, and conscious through all, like the fragrance of a flo…
185 wordsSECTION 307OCTOBER 31.
“My grace is sufficient for thee; for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (II. Cor. xii. 9). God allowed the crisis to close around Jacob on the night when he bowed at Peniel in supplication to bring him to the place where he could take hold of God as he never would have done; and from that narrow pass of peril J…
211 wordsSECTION 308NOVEMBER 1.
“We will come unto him and make our abode with him” (John xiv. 23). This idea of trying to get a holiness of your own, and then have Christ reward you for it, is not His teaching. Oh, no; Christ is the holiness; He will bring the holiness, and come and dwell in the heart forever. When one of our millionaires purchase…
226 wordsSECTION 309NOVEMBER 2.
“Bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (II. Cor. x. 5). If we would abide in Christ we must have no confidence in self. Self-repression must be ever the prime necessity of divine fulness and efficiency. Now you know how quickly you spring to the front when any emergency arises. When somethi…
207 wordsSECTION 310NOVEMBER 3.
“This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend” (Song of Solomon v. 16). He is our Friend. “Which of you shall have a friend at night?” This has deep significance through the experience of each one of us. Who has not had a friend, and more of a friend in some respects than even a father? There are some intimacies not bor…
215 wordsSECTION 311NOVEMBER 4.
“Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings as in obeying the voice of the Lord?” (I. Sam. xv. 22). Many a soul prays for sanctification, but fails to enter into the blessing because he does not intelligently understand and believingly accept God’s appointed means by Jesus Christ and the indwelling of the Spiri…
201 wordsSECTION 312NOVEMBER 5.
“I in them, and Thou in Me” (John xvii. 23). If we would be enlarged to the full measure of God’s purpose, let us endeavor to realize something of our own capacities for His filling. We little know the size of a human soul and spirit. Never, until He renews, cleanses and enters the heart can we have any adequate conc…
204 wordsSECTION 313NOVEMBER 6.
“Bless the Lord, O, my soul” (Ps. ciii. 1). Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me be stirred up to magnify His holy name. “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits; who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth t…
195 wordsSECTION 314NOVEMBER 7.
“I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee” (Isa. xli. 10). God has three ways of helping us: First, He says, “I will strengthen thee”; that is, I will make you a little stronger yourself. And secondly, “I will help thee”; that is, I will add My strength to your strength, but you shall lea…
218 wordsSECTION 315NOVEMBER 8.
“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free” (Rom. viii. 2). There is a natural law of sin and sickness, and if we just let ourselves go and sink into the trend of circumstances we shall go down and sink under the power of the tempter. But there is another law of spiritual life and of physical…
215 wordsSECTION 316NOVEMBER 9.
“Because I live ye shall live also” (John xiv. 19). After having become adjusted to our Living Head and the source of our life, now our business is to abide, absorb and grow, leaning on His strength, drinking in His life, feeding on Him as the Living Bread, and drawing all of our resources from Him in continual depend…
209 wordsSECTION 317NOVEMBER 10.
“But prayer was made without ceasing, of the church unto God for him” (Acts xii. 5). But prayer is the link that connects us with God. This is the bridge that spans every gulf and bears us over every abyss of danger or of need. How significant the picture of the apostolic church: Peter in prison, the Jews triumphant, …
184 wordsSECTION 318NOVEMBER 11.
“Reckon yourselves dead, indeed” (Rom. vi. 11). Our life from the dead is to be followed up by the habit and attitude henceforth which is the logical outcome of all this. “Reckon yourselves _dead indeed_, unto sin, but _alive unto God_ through Jesus Christ, and yield yourselves unto God,” not to die over again every d…
211 wordsSECTION 319NOVEMBER 12.
“The earnest of the Spirit in our hearts” (II. Cor. i. 22). Life in earnest. What a rare, what a glorious spectacle! We see it in the Son of God, we see it in His apostle, we see it in every noble, consecrated and truly successful life. Without it there may be a thousand good things, but they lack the golden thread th…
231 wordsSECTION 320NOVEMBER 13.
“Delight thyself in the Lord” (Ps. xxxvii. 4). Daniel’s heart was filled with God’s love for His work and kingdom and his prayers were the mightiest forces of his time, through which God gave to him the restoration of Israel to their own land, and the acknowledgment by the rulers of the world of the God of whom he tes…
192 wordsSECTION 321NOVEMBER 14.
“The things which are seen are temporal” (II. Cor. iv. 18). How strong is the snare of the things that are seen, and how necessary for God to keep us in the things that are unseen! If Peter is to walk on the water, he must walk; if he is going to swim, he must swim, but he cannot do both. If the bird is going to fly i…
234 wordsSECTION 322NOVEMBER 15.
“Oh, man of desires” (margin) (Dan. x. 11). This was the divine character given to Daniel of old. It is translated in our version, “O man, greatly beloved.” But it literally means “O man of desires!” This is a necessary element in all spiritual forces. It is one of the secrets of effectual prayer, “What things soever …
198 wordsSECTION 323NOVEMBER 16.
“Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day” (Matt. xxv. 13). Jesus illustrates the unexpectedness of His coming by the figure of a thief entering a house when the master was not there. Life, like the old Jewish night, may be divided into three watches, youth, maturity, old age. The summons to meet God may come to u…
202 wordsSECTION 324NOVEMBER 17.
“The ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them” (Num. x. 33). God does give us impressions but not that we should act on them as impressions. If the impression be from God, He will Himself give sufficient evidence to establish it beyond the possibility of a doubt. How beautifully we read, in the story of Jerem…
200 wordsSECTION 325NOVEMBER 18.
“And He that sat upon the throne said, It is done” (Rev. xxi. 5, 6). Great is the difference between action and transaction. We may be constantly acting without accomplishing anything, but a transaction is action that passes beyond the point of return, and becomes a permanent committal. Salvation is a transaction betw…
185 wordsSECTION 326NOVEMBER 19.
“We would see Jesus” (John xii. 21). When any great blessing is awaiting us, the devil is sure to try and make it so disagreeable to us that we shall miss it. It is a good thing to know him as a liar, and remember, when he is trying to prejudice us strongly against any cause, that very likely the greatest blessing of …
206 wordsSECTION 327NOVEMBER 20.
“The disciple whom Jesus loved leaned on His breast” (John xxi. 20). An American gentleman once visited the saintly Albert Bengel. He was very desirous to hear him pray. So one night he lingered at his door, hoping to overhear his closing devotions. The rooms were adjoining and the doors ajar. The good man finished hi…
177 wordsSECTION 328NOVEMBER 21.
“Consider the lilies how they grow” (Matt. vi. 28). It is said that a little fellow was found one day by his mother, standing by a tall sunflower, with his feet stuck in the ground. When asked by her, “What in the world are you doing there?” he naively answered, “Why, I am trying to grow to be a man.” His mother laug…
206 wordsSECTION 329NOVEMBER 22.
“Cast the beam out of thine own eye” (Matt. vii. 5). Greater than the fault you condemn and criticise is the sin of criticism and condemnation. There is no place we need such grace as in dealing with an erring one. A lady once called on us on her way to give an erring sister a piece of her mind. We advised her to wait…
200 wordsSECTION 330NOVEMBER 23.
“It is high time to awake out of sleep” (Rom. xiii. 11). One of the greatest enemies to faith is indolence. It is much easier to lie and suffer than to rise and overcome; much easier to go to sleep on a snowbank and never wake again, than to rouse one’s self and shake off the lethargy and overcome the stupor. Faith is…
223 wordsSECTION 331NOVEMBER 24.
“I can do all things through Christ” (Phil. iv. 13). A dear sister said one day: “I have so much work to do that I have not time to get strength to do it by waiting on the Lord.” Surely that was making bricks without straw, and even if it was the name of the Lord and the church, it was the devil’s bondage. God sends n…
214 wordsSECTION 332NOVEMBER 25.
“Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come” (I. Cor. iv. 5). Nothing will more effectually arrest the working of the Spirit in the heart than the spirit of criticism. At the end of a meeting a young minister came forward and told us of the great blessing he had received that afternoon, and the baptism of the …
217 wordsSECTION 333NOVEMBER 26.
“He purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit” (John xv. 2). One day we passed a garden. The gardener had finished his pruning, and the wounds of the knife and saw were beginning to heal, while the warm April sun was gently nourishing the stricken plant into fresh life and energy. We thought as we looked at that p…
203 wordsSECTION 334NOVEMBER 27.
“And the remnant of the oil ... shall pour upon the head” (Lev. xiv. 18). In the account of the healing of the Hebrew leper there is a beautiful picture of the touching of his ears, hands and feet, with the redeeming blood and the consecrating oil, as a sign that his powers of understanding, service, and conduct were …
199 wordsSECTION 335NOVEMBER 28.
“Without Me ye can do nothing” (John xv. 5). How much can I do for Christ? We are accustomed to say.—As much as I can. Have we ever thought we can do more than we can? This thought was lately suggested by the remarks of a Christian friend, who told how God had laid it upon her heart to do something for His cause whic…
190 wordsSECTION 336NOVEMBER 29.
“Could ye not watch with Me one hour?” (Matt. xxvi. 40.) A young lady whose parents had died while she was an infant, had been kindly cared for by a dear friend of the family. Before she was old enough to know him, he went to Europe. Regularly he wrote to her through all his years of absence, and never failed to send …
215 wordsSECTION 337NOVEMBER 30.
“In lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves” (Phil. ii. 3). When the apostle speaks of “the deep things of God,” he means more than deep spiritual truth. There must be something before this. There must be a deep soil and a thorough foundation. Very much of our spiritual teaching fails, because …
200 wordsSECTION 338DECEMBER 1.
“As He is, so are we in this world” (I. John iv. 17). Jesus will come into the surrendered heart and unite Himself with it, impart to it His own life and being and become anew from day to day, the supply of its spiritual needs and the substitute for its helplessness. Our part is simply to yield ourselves fully recogn…
183 wordsSECTION 339DECEMBER 2.
“Looking diligently lest any man fail” (Heb. xii. 15). It is not losing all, but coming short we are to fear. We may not lose our souls, but we may lose something more precious than life—His full approval, His highest choice, and our incorruptible and star-gemmed crown. It is the one degree more that counts, and makes…
180 wordsSECTION 340DECEMBER 3.
Thy thoughts are very deep (Ps. xcii. 5). When a Roman soldier was told by his guide that if he insisted on taking a certain journey it would probably be fatal he answered, “It is necessary for me to go, it is not necessary for me to live.” That was depth. When we are convicted like that we shall come to something. T…
190 wordsSECTION 341DECEMBER 4.
“From me is thy fruit found” (Hos. xiv. 8). Nothing keeps us from advancement more than ruts and drifts, and wheel-tracks into which our chariots roll and then move on in the narrow line with unchanging monotony, currents in life’s stream on which we are borne in the old direction until the law of habit almost makes a…
182 wordsSECTION 342DECEMBER 5.
“With a perfect heart to make David King” (I. Chron. xii. 38). “What is the supreme purpose of our life? They were all of one heart to make David king.” Is this our purpose, to prepare the Bride, to prepare the world, to prepare His way? Does it dwarf and dim all other ambitions, all other cares? Does it fill and sati…
185 wordsSECTION 343DECEMBER 6.
“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you” (I. Peter v. 6). Opposition is essential to a true equilibrium of forces. The centripetal and centrifugal forces acting in opposition to each other keep our planet in her orbit. The one propelling, and the other repelling, so act and rea…
208 wordsSECTION 344DECEMBER 7.
“Abide with us; for it is toward evening” (Luke xxiv. 29). In His last messages to the disciples in the 14th and 15th chapters of John, the Lord Jesus clearly teaches us that the very essence of the highest holiness is, “Abide in Me, and I in you, for without Me ye can do nothing.” The very purpose of the Holy Ghost …
190 wordsSECTION 345DECEMBER 8.
“Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there?” (Jer. viii. 22). Divine healing is just divine life. It is the headship of Christ over the body. It is the life of Christ in the frame. It is the union of our members with the very body of Christ and the inflowing life of Christ in our living members. It is as…
211 wordsSECTION 346DECEMBER 9.
“Launch out into the deep” (Luke v. 4). One of the special marks of the Holy Ghost in the Apostolic Church was the spirit Of boldness. One of the most essential qualities of the faith that is to attempt great things for God and expect great things from God, is holy audacity. Where we are dealing with a supernatural Be…
217 wordsSECTION 347DECEMBER 10.
“According to the measure of the rule which God hath distributed” (II. Cor. x. 13). According to thy faith be it unto thee was Christ’s great law of healing and blessing in His earthly ministry. This was what He meant when He said, “With what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again.” These mighty measures ar…
203 wordsSECTION 348DECEMBER 11.
“I pray not for the world, but for them” (John xvii. 9). How often we say we would like to get some strong spirit to pray for us, and feel so helped when we think they are carrying us in their faith. But there is One whose prayers never fail to be fulfilled and who is more willing to give them to us than any human fri…
195 wordsSECTION 349DECEMBER 12.
“To abide in the flesh is more needful for you, and having this confidence, I know that I shall abide” (Phil. i. 24, 25). One of the most blessed things about divine healing is that the strength it brings is holy strength, and finds its natural and congenial outflow in holy acts and exercises. Mere natural strength s…
194 wordsSECTION 350DECEMBER 13.
“He that abideth in Me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit for apart from Me ye can do nothing” (John xv. 5). So familiar are the vine and the branches, it is not necessary to explain; only the branches and the vine are one. The vine does not say, I am the central trunk running up and you are the little br…
202 wordsSECTION 351DECEMBER 14.
“Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree” (Isa. lv. 13). Difficulties and obstacles are God’s challenges to faith. When hindrances confront us in the path of duty we are to recognize them as vessels for faith to fill with the fulness and all-sufficiency of Jesus, and as we go forward, simply and fully trusting…
211 wordsSECTION 352DECEMBER 15.
“When my heart is overwhelmed lead me to the Rock that is higher than I” (Ps. lxi. 2). The end of self is the beginning of God. “When the tale of bricks is doubled then comes Moses.” That is the old Hebrew way of putting it. “Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity.” That is the proverbial expression of it. “When my hear…
214 wordsSECTION 353DECEMBER 16.
“I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the canker worm and the caterpillar and the palmer worm, my great army, which I sent among you” (Joel ii. 25). A friend said to me once: “I have got to reap what I sowed, for God has said: ‘Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.’ Then why don’t yo…
221 wordsSECTION 354DECEMBER 17.
“Be careful for nothing” (Phil. iv. 6). What is the way to lay your burden down? “Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” That is the way to take His burden up. You will find that His burden is…
197 wordsSECTION 355DECEMBER 18.
“The faith of the Son of God” (Gal. ii. 20). Faith is hindered most of all by what we call “our faith,” and fruitless struggles to work out a faith which is but a make-believe and a desperate trying to trust God, which must ever come short of His vast and glorious promises. The truth is that the only faith that is equ…
220 wordsSECTION 356DECEMBER 19.
“God giveth grace unto the humble” (James iv. 6). One of the marks of highest worth is deep lowliness. The shallow nature, conscious of its weakness and insufficiency, is always trying to advertise itself and make sure of its being appreciated. The strong nature, conscious of its strength, is willing to wait and let i…
191 wordsSECTION 357DECEMBER 20.
“That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the Gospel of God” (Rom. xv. 16). This is a very beautiful and practical conception of missionary work. There is a great difference in being consecrated to our God. We may be consecrated to our work and consecrated to our God. We may be consec…
210 wordsSECTION 358DECEMBER 21.
“Give us day by day our daily bread” (Luke xi. 3). It is very hard to live a lifetime at once, or even a year, but it is delightfully easy to live a day at a time. Day by day the manna fell, so day by day we may live upon the heavenly bread, and live out our life for Him. Let us, breath by breath, moment by moment, st…
218 wordsSECTION 359DECEMBER 22.
“My tongue also shall talk of Thy righteousness all the day long” (Ps. lxxi. 24). It is a simple law of nature, that air always comes in to fill a vacuum. You can produce a draught at any time, by heating the air until it ascends, and then the cold air rushes in to supply its place. And so we can always be filled with…
224 wordsSECTION 360DECEMBER 23.
“Out of the spoils won in battles, did they dedicate to maintain the house of the Lord” (I. Chron. xxvi. 27). Physical force is stored in the bowels of the earth, in the coal mines, which came from the fiery heat that burned up great forests in ancient ages. And so spiritual force is stored in the depths of our being,…
203 wordsSource & rights
Public domain in the USA; original historical text digitized by Project Gutenberg.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.