September 9

Luke 22:31-38

[31] “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, [32] but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” [33] Peter said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.” [34] Jesus said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.”

[35] And he said to them, “When I sent you out with no moneybag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “Nothing.” [36] He said to them, “But now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one. [37] For I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors.’ For what is written about me has its fulfillment.” [38] And they said, “Look, Lord, here are two swords.” And he said to them, “It is enough.”

Hebrews 6:1-12

[1] Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, [2] and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. [3] And this we will do if God permits. [4] For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, [5] and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, [6] and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. [7] For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. [8] But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.

[9] Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. [10] For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. [11] And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, [12] so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Proverbs 22:17-29

    [17] Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise,

        and apply your heart to my knowledge, 

    [18] for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you,

        if all of them are ready on your lips. 

    [19] That your trust may be in the LORD,

        I have made them known to you today, even to you. 

    [20] Have I not written for you thirty sayings

        of counsel and knowledge, 

    [21] to make you know what is right and true,

        that you may give a true answer to those who sent you?

    [22] Do not rob the poor, because he is poor,

        or crush the afflicted at the gate, 

    [23] for the LORD will plead their cause

        and rob of life those who rob them. 

    [24] Make no friendship with a man given to anger,

        nor go with a wrathful man, 

    [25] lest you learn his ways

        and entangle yourself in a snare. 

    [26] Be not one of those who give pledges,

        who put up security for debts. 

    [27] If you have nothing with which to pay,

        why should your bed be taken from under you? 

    [28] Do not move the ancient landmark

        that your fathers have set. 

    [29] Do you see a man skillful in his work?

        He will stand before kings;

        he will not stand before obscure men.

Isaiah 24

    [1] Behold, the LORD will empty the earth and make it desolate,

        and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants. 

    [2] And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest;

        as with the slave, so with his master;

        as with the maid, so with her mistress;

    as with the buyer, so with the seller;

        as with the lender, so with the borrower;

        as with the creditor, so with the debtor. 

    [3] The earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered;

        for the LORD has spoken this word.

    [4] The earth mourns and withers;

        the world languishes and withers;

        the highest people of the earth languish. 

    [5] The earth lies defiled

        under its inhabitants;

    for they have transgressed the laws,

        violated the statutes,

        broken the everlasting covenant. 

    [6] Therefore a curse devours the earth,

        and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt;

    therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched,

        and few men are left. 

    [7] The wine mourns,

        the vine languishes,

        all the merry-hearted sigh. 

    [8] The mirth of the tambourines is stilled,

        the noise of the jubilant has ceased,

        the mirth of the lyre is stilled. 

    [9] No more do they drink wine with singing;

        strong drink is bitter to those who drink it. 

    [10] The wasted city is broken down;

        every house is shut up so that none can enter. 

    [11] There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine;

        all joy has grown dark;

        the gladness of the earth is banished. 

    [12] Desolation is left in the city;

        the gates are battered into ruins. 

    [13] For thus it shall be in the midst of the earth

        among the nations,

    as when an olive tree is beaten,

        as at the gleaning when the grape harvest is done.

    [14] They lift up their voices, they sing for joy;

        over the majesty of the LORD they shout from the west. 

    [15] Therefore in the east give glory to the LORD;

        in the coastlands of the sea, give glory to the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. 

    [16] From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise,

        of glory to the Righteous One.

    But I say, “I waste away,

        I waste away. Woe is me!

    For the traitors have betrayed,

        with betrayal the traitors have betrayed.”

    [17] Terror and the pit and the snare

        are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth! 

    [18] He who flees at the sound of the terror

        shall fall into the pit,

    and he who climbs out of the pit

        shall be caught in the snare.

    For the windows of heaven are opened,

        and the foundations of the earth tremble. 

    [19] The earth is utterly broken,

        the earth is split apart,

        the earth is violently shaken. 

    [20] The earth staggers like a drunken man;

        it sways like a hut;

    its transgression lies heavy upon it,

        and it falls, and will not rise again.

    [21] On that day the LORD will punish

        the host of heaven, in heaven,

        and the kings of the earth, on the earth. 

    [22] They will be gathered together

        as prisoners in a pit;

    they will be shut up in a prison,

        and after many days they will be punished. 

    [23] Then the moon will be confounded

        and the sun ashamed,

    for the LORD of hosts reigns

        on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,

    and his glory will be before his elders.

Isaiah 25

    [1] O LORD, you are my God;

        I will exalt you; I will praise your name,

    for you have done wonderful things,

        plans formed of old, faithful and sure. 

    [2] For you have made the city a heap,

        the fortified city a ruin;

    the foreigners’ palace is a city no more;

        it will never be rebuilt. 

    [3] Therefore strong peoples will glorify you;

        cities of ruthless nations will fear you. 

    [4] For you have been a stronghold to the poor,

        a stronghold to the needy in his distress,

        a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat;

    for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall, 

    [5]     like heat in a dry place.

    You subdue the noise of the foreigners;

        as heat by the shade of a cloud,

        so the song of the ruthless is put down.

    [6] On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples

        a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,

        of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. 

    [7] And he will swallow up on this mountain

        the covering that is cast over all peoples,

        the veil that is spread over all nations. 

    [8]     He will swallow up death forever;

    and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces,

        and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,

        for the LORD has spoken. 

    [9] It will be said on that day,

        “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.

        This is the LORD; we have waited for him;

        let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” 

    [10] For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain,

        and Moab shall be trampled down in his place,

        as straw is trampled down in a dunghill. 

    [11] And he will spread out his hands in the midst of it

        as a swimmer spreads his hands out to swim,

        but the LORD will lay low his pompous pride together with the skill of his hands. 

    [12] And the high fortifications of his walls he will bring down,

        lay low, and cast to the ground, to the dust.

Isaiah 26

[1] In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: 

    “We have a strong city;

        he sets up salvation

        as walls and bulwarks. 

    [2] Open the gates,

        that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in. 

    [3] You keep him in perfect peace

        whose mind is stayed on you,

        because he trusts in you. 

    [4] Trust in the LORD forever,

        for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock. 

    [5] For he has humbled

        the inhabitants of the height,

        the lofty city.

    He lays it low, lays it low to the ground,

        casts it to the dust. 

    [6] The foot tramples it,

        the feet of the poor,

        the steps of the needy.”

    [7] The path of the righteous is level;

        you make level the way of the righteous. 

    [8] In the path of your judgments,

        O LORD, we wait for you;

    your name and remembrance

        are the desire of our soul. 

    [9] My soul yearns for you in the night;

        my spirit within me earnestly seeks you.

    For when your judgments are in the earth,

        the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. 

    [10] If favor is shown to the wicked,

        he does not learn righteousness;

    in the land of uprightness he deals corruptly

        and does not see the majesty of the LORD. 

    [11] O LORD, your hand is lifted up,

        but they do not see it.

    Let them see your zeal for your people, and be ashamed.

        Let the fire for your adversaries consume them. 

    [12] O LORD, you will ordain peace for us,

        for you have indeed done for us all our works. 

    [13] O LORD our God,

        other lords besides you have ruled over us,

        but your name alone we bring to remembrance. 

    [14] They are dead, they will not live;

        they are shades, they will not arise;

    to that end you have visited them with destruction

        and wiped out all remembrance of them. 

    [15] But you have increased the nation, O LORD,

        you have increased the nation; you are glorified;

        you have enlarged all the borders of the land.

    [16] O LORD, in distress they sought you;

        they poured out a whispered prayer

        when your discipline was upon them. 

    [17] Like a pregnant woman

        who writhes and cries out in her pangs

        when she is near to giving birth,

    so were we because of you, O LORD; 

    [18]     we were pregnant, we writhed,

        but we have given birth to wind.

    We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth,

        and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen. 

    [19] Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise.

        You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!

    For your dew is a dew of light,

        and the earth will give birth to the dead.

    [20] Come, my people, enter your chambers,

        and shut your doors behind you;

    hide yourselves for a little while

        until the fury has passed by. 

    [21] For behold, the LORD is coming out from his place

        to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity,

    and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it,

        and will no more cover its slain.

Grace Must Be Free

What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? (1 Corinthians 4:7)

Picture salvation as a house that you live in.

It provides you with protection. It is stocked with food and drink that will last forever. It never decays or crumbles. Its windows open onto vistas of all-satisfying glory.

God built it at great cost to himself and to his Son, and he gave it to you free and clear.

The “purchase” agreement is called a “new covenant.” The terms read: “This house shall become and remain yours if you will receive it as a gift and take delight in the Father and the Son as they inhabit the house with you. You shall not profane the house of God by sheltering other gods nor turn your heart away after other treasures, but find your contentment in the fellowship of God in this house.”

Would it not be foolish to say yes to this agreement, and then hire a lawyer to draw up an amortization schedule with monthly payments in the hopes of somehow balancing accounts and paying for the house?

You would be treating the house no longer as a gift, but a purchase. God would no longer be the free benefactor. And you would be enslaved to a new set of demands that he never dreamed of putting on you.

If grace is to be free — which is the very meaning of grace — we cannot view it as something to be repaid.

John Piper 

Life’s Hidden Hunger

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”

MATTHEW 5:6

 

PONDER THIS

What does it mean to hunger after righteousness? You may think of righteousness as something you do. But righteousness in the Bible is wrapped up in a person, and His name is Jesus. The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 1:30 that Jesus is our righteousness. He is made righteousness for us. So when a person hungers and thirsts after righteousness, he is hungering and thirsting after Jesus Christ.

Life’s hidden hunger is Jesus. You may not know it, you may not understand it, and you may not agree with it. But the deepest need of your life is a right relationship with God through Jesus Christ. He is the righteousness of God that you hunger for.

He is to be first in your life. Jesus Christ is heaven’s bread for man’s deepest hunger. Most people don’t want to seek righteousness. They want to seek blessedness. We want to seek satisfaction, but the problem is, by wanting satisfaction, we don’t get it. What you need is not primarily happiness, satisfaction, and blessing. What you need is Jesus. The peace, joy, and satisfaction you long for only come through Him.

What are some ways you have tried to find lasting joy outside of Christ? What was the result?

What does it look like to let Christ be first in your life? What are some practical ways you can do that each day?

PRACTICE THIS

Ask a Christian you are learning from how to seek to make Christ first in your life each day.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

September 8

Luke 22:24-30

[24] A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. [25] And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. [26] But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. [27] For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.

[28] “You are those who have stayed with me in my trials, [29] and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, [30] that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Hebrews 5

[1] For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. [2] He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. [3] Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins just as he does for those of the people. [4] And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was.

[5] So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, 

    “You are my Son,

        today I have begotten you”;

    [6] as he says also in another place, 

    “You are a priest forever,

        after the order of Melchizedek.”

    [7] In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. [8] Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. [9] And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, [10] being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.

[11] About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. [12] For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, [13] for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. [14] But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

Proverbs 22:1-16

    [1] A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,

        and favor is better than silver or gold. 

    [2] 

    The rich and the poor meet together;

        the LORD is the Maker of them all. 

    [3] 

    The prudent sees danger and hides himself,

        but the simple go on and suffer for it. 

    [4] 

    The reward for humility and fear of the LORD

        is riches and honor and life. 

    [5] 

    Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked;

        whoever guards his soul will keep far from them. 

    [6] 

    Train up a child in the way he should go;

        even when he is old he will not depart from it. 

    [7] 

    The rich rules over the poor,

        and the borrower is the slave of the lender. 

    [8] 

    Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity,

        and the rod of his fury will fail. 

    [9] 

    Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed,

        for he shares his bread with the poor. 

    [10] 

    Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out,

        and quarreling and abuse will cease. 

    [11] 

    He who loves purity of heart,

        and whose speech is gracious, will have the king as his friend. 

    [12] 

    The eyes of the LORD keep watch over knowledge,

        but he overthrows the words of the traitor. 

    [13] 

    The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside!

        I shall be killed in the streets!” 

    [14] 

    The mouth of forbidden women is a deep pit;

        he with whom the LORD is angry will fall into it. 

    [15] 

    Folly is bound up in the heart of a child,

        but the rod of discipline drives it far from him. 

    [16] 

    Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth,

        or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.

Isaiah 21

[1] The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea. 

    As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on,

        it comes from the wilderness,

        from a terrible land. 

    [2] A stern vision is told to me;

        the traitor betrays,

        and the destroyer destroys.

    Go up, O Elam;

        lay siege, O Media;

    all the sighing she has caused

        I bring to an end. 

    [3] Therefore my loins are filled with anguish;

        pangs have seized me,

        like the pangs of a woman in labor;

    I am bowed down so that I cannot hear;

        I am dismayed so that I cannot see. 

    [4] My heart staggers; horror has appalled me;

        the twilight I longed for

        has been turned for me into trembling. 

    [5] They prepare the table,

        they spread the rugs,

        they eat, they drink.

    Arise, O princes;

        oil the shield! 

    [6] For thus the Lord said to me:

    “Go, set a watchman;

        let him announce what he sees. 

    [7] When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs,

        riders on donkeys, riders on camels,

    let him listen diligently,

        very diligently.” 

    [8] Then he who saw cried out:

    “Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord,

        continually by day,

    and at my post I am stationed

        whole nights. 

    [9] And behold, here come riders,

        horsemen in pairs!”

    And he answered,

        “Fallen, fallen is Babylon;

    and all the carved images of her gods

        he has shattered to the ground.” 

    [10] O my threshed and winnowed one,

        what I have heard from the LORD of hosts,

        the God of Israel, I announce to you.

    [11] The oracle concerning Dumah. 

    One is calling to me from Seir,

        “Watchman, what time of the night?

        Watchman, what time of the night?” 

    [12] The watchman says:

    “Morning comes, and also the night.

        If you will inquire, inquire;

        come back again.”

    [13] The oracle concerning Arabia. 

    In the thickets in Arabia you will lodge,

        O caravans of Dedanites. 

    [14] To the thirsty bring water;

        meet the fugitive with bread,

        O inhabitants of the land of Tema. 

    [15] For they have fled from the swords,

        from the drawn sword,

    from the bent bow,

        and from the press of battle.

    [16] For thus the Lord said to me, “Within a year, according to the years of a hired worker, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end. [17] And the remainder of the archers of the mighty men of the sons of Kedar will be few, for the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken.”

Isaiah 22

[1] The oracle concerning the valley of vision. 

    What do you mean that you have gone up,

        all of you, to the housetops, 

    [2] you who are full of shoutings,

        tumultuous city, exultant town?

    Your slain are not slain with the sword

        or dead in battle. 

    [3] All your leaders have fled together;

        without the bow they were captured.

    All of you who were found were captured,

        though they had fled far away. 

    [4] Therefore I said:

    “Look away from me;

        let me weep bitter tears;

    do not labor to comfort me

        concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.”

    [5] For the Lord GOD of hosts has a day

        of tumult and trampling and confusion

        in the valley of vision,

    a battering down of walls

        and a shouting to the mountains. 

    [6] And Elam bore the quiver

        with chariots and horsemen,

        and Kir uncovered the shield. 

    [7] Your choicest valleys were full of chariots,

        and the horsemen took their stand at the gates. 

    [8] He has taken away the covering of Judah.

    In that day you looked to the weapons of the House of the Forest,  [9] and you saw that the breaches of the city of David were many. You collected the waters of the lower pool, [10] and you counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall. [11] You made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you did not look to him who did it, or see him who planned it long ago.

    [12] In that day the Lord GOD of hosts

        called for weeping and mourning,

        for baldness and wearing sackcloth; 

    [13] and behold, joy and gladness,

        killing oxen and slaughtering sheep,

        eating flesh and drinking wine.

    “Let us eat and drink,

        for tomorrow we die.” 

    [14] The LORD of hosts has revealed himself in my ears:

    “Surely this iniquity will not be atoned for you until you die,”

        says the Lord GOD of hosts.

    [15] Thus says the Lord GOD of hosts, “Come, go to this steward, to Shebna, who is over the household, and say to him: [16] What have you to do here, and whom have you here, that you have cut out here a tomb for yourself, you who cut out a tomb on the height and carve a dwelling for yourself in the rock? [17] Behold, the LORD will hurl you away violently, O you strong man. He will seize firm hold on you [18] and whirl you around and around, and throw you like a ball into a wide land. There you shall die, and there shall be your glorious chariots, you shame of your master’s house. [19] I will thrust you from your office, and you will be pulled down from your station. [20] In that day I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, [21] and I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your sash on him, and will commit your authority to his hand. And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. [22] And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. [23] And I will fasten him like a peg in a secure place, and he will become a throne of honor to his father’s house. [24] And they will hang on him the whole honor of his father’s house, the offspring and issue, every small vessel, from the cups to all the flagons. [25] In that day, declares the LORD of hosts, the peg that was fastened in a secure place will give way, and it will be cut down and fall, and the load that was on it will be cut off, for the LORD has spoken.”

Isaiah 23

[1] The oracle concerning Tyre. 

    Wail, O ships of Tarshish,

        for Tyre is laid waste, without house or harbor!

    From the land of Cyprus

        it is revealed to them. 

    [2] Be still, O inhabitants of the coast;

        the merchants of Sidon, who cross the sea, have filled you. 

    [3] And on many waters

    your revenue was the grain of Shihor,

        the harvest of the Nile;

        you were the merchant of the nations. 

    [4] Be ashamed, O Sidon, for the sea has spoken,

        the stronghold of the sea, saying:

    “I have neither labored nor given birth,

        I have neither reared young men

        nor brought up young women.” 

    [5] When the report comes to Egypt,

        they will be in anguish over the report about Tyre. 

    [6] Cross over to Tarshish;

        wail, O inhabitants of the coast! 

    [7] Is this your exultant city

        whose origin is from days of old,

    whose feet carried her

        to settle far away? 

    [8] Who has purposed this

        against Tyre, the bestower of crowns,

    whose merchants were princes,

        whose traders were the honored of the earth? 

    [9] The LORD of hosts has purposed it,

        to defile the pompous pride of all glory,

        to dishonor all the honored of the earth. 

    [10] Cross over your land like the Nile,

        O daughter of Tarshish;

        there is no restraint anymore. 

    [11] He has stretched out his hand over the sea;

        he has shaken the kingdoms;

    the LORD has given command concerning Canaan

        to destroy its strongholds. 

    [12] And he said:

    “You will no more exult,

        O oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon;

    arise, cross over to Cyprus,

        even there you will have no rest.”

    [13] Behold the land of the Chaldeans! This is the people that was not; Assyria destined it for wild beasts. They erected their siege towers, they stripped her palaces bare, they made her a ruin.

    [14] Wail, O ships of Tarshish,

        for your stronghold is laid waste.

    [15] In that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, like the days of one king. At the end of seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute:

    [16] “Take a harp;

        go about the city,

        O forgotten prostitute!

    Make sweet melody;

        sing many songs,

        that you may be remembered.”

    [17] At the end of seventy years, the LORD will visit Tyre, and she will return to her wages and will prostitute herself with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth. [18] Her merchandise and her wages will be holy to the LORD. It will not be stored or hoarded, but her merchandise will supply abundant food and fine clothing for those who dwell before the LORD.