Nehemiah 2

2 And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.

2 Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid,

3 And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?

4 Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.

5 And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it.

6 And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.

7 Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah;

8 And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.

9 Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me.

10 When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.

11 So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.

12 And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon.

13 And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire.

14 Then I went on to the gate of the fountain, and to the king's pool: but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass.

15 Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and so returned.

16 And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work.

17 Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.

18 Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.

19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?

20 Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.

Are You Washed in the Blood?

Job 9:10

10 Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number.

ISAIAH 61

61 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.

4 And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.

5 And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.

6 But ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.

7 For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them.

8 For I the Lord love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

9 And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed.

10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.

11 For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

Zeal Without Knowledge

By Theodore Epp


Philippians 3:1-11

Paul said about himself, "Concerning zeal, persecuting the church" (Phil. 3:6). This reveals the pride of personal devotion to his religious choices. In a sense, it was Paul's pride of reputation. He was more devoted than any of his contemporaries. He was not only a Pharisee, but he was also a very zealous one. He was a conscientious and relentless persecutor of all who were considered heretics outside of his pharisaic Judaism. In Paul's unsaved state in Judaism, he actually thought he was doing the will of God by persecuting the believers in Jesus Christ. He measured his religion by his hatred for Christians.

It is regrettable that even today some believers measure their Christian zeal by what they are against. Some have so much bitterness against modernists--those with liberal theology; others contend zealously over the issue of the Holy Spirit or over a particular translation of the Bible. Some have bitterness toward sinners, not distinguishing the sin from the sinner. But remember, a reputation of zeal against anything is not a proof of salvation in itself. I believe that when we are rightly related to Jesus Christ, we will have much zeal against those things that dishonor Him, but it is possible for people to be zealous against some things without having a right relationship with Christ.

"Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works" (Titus 2:14).

Vision: Waiting

• Vision: Waiting January 15, 2015

No oil?

(Bonar, "Religion Without the Holy Spirit")

"The five who were foolish took no oil for
 their lamps."  Matthew 25.3

This parable has many sides and aspects.
It is prophetical; it is also practical.
It suits all ages, but especially the last days.
It suits the world, but especially the church of God.
It is searching and sifting.
It is also quickening and comforting. 

It suits us well in these days of . . .
  profession,
  fashionable religion and
  religiousness. 

It is a parable for the church.
It comes in to the inner circle of Christian
profession, and sifts it, divides it.
There are points of likeness between the two classes.
    They get the same name, virgins;
    they wear the same dress;
    they are on the same errand;
    they both have lamps;
    they both slumber and sleep. 

They have thus many features in common.
The peril of mere externalism is that which our
Lord points out here. This externalism may not
always be hypocrisy, but it is imitation. It is not
the flower in its natural color and growth, but
painted, artificial. Let us watch against an
artificial life, and an artificial religion. What
does it profit now? What will it profit in the
day of wrath? The name, the dress, the lamp,
the outward show, will all go for nothing in
that day of universal discovery and detection.

Though in most respects they were all alike,
yet there was a difference. It was within; it
was imperceptible from without; it could only
be discovered when the bridegroom came. Up
until then all were completely similar. Only
then the deficiency came out in the foolish.
Then was it seen who were wise, and who
were foolish. That day is the day of certain
and unerring detection. It is the day of
weighing in the balances! It is the separation
of the false from the true.

The difference was confined to a single point,
the lack of oil. The oil is the Holy Spirit. Thus
a man may be very like a Christian, and yet
not be one. He may come very near the kingdom,
and yet not enter in. He may have all the outward
features of a Christian, and yet be lacking in the
main one. He may have the complete dress of
the saint, and yet not be one.

He may have a good life, a sound creed, a strict
profession; he may be one who says and does
many excellent things; he may be a subscriber
to all the religious societies in the land, a member
of all their committees, or a speaker at all their
meetings, and supporter of all their plans; he
may profess to be looking for Christ's coming,
and going forth to meet the bridegroom, yet
not necessarily a Christian!

He may lack the oil, the Holy Spirit.

A religion without the Holy Spirit profits nothing.

There is the religion . . .
    of the intellect,
    of the sense,
    of the imagination,
    of the flesh,
    of the creed,
    of the liturgy,
    of the catechism,
    of nature,
    of poetry,
    of sentiment,
    of mysticism,
    of humanity. 

But what are these without the Spirit?

Christianity without Christ, what would that be?
Worship without God, what would that be?
So religion without the Holy Spirit, what would that be?
The five who were foolish took no oil for their lamps.
"Sir! Sir!" they said. "Open the door for us!"
But He replied, "I tell you the truth, I don't know you."