Book Review: Morning and Evening

Morning and Evening. Charles H. Spurgeon. 1866. 470 pages. [Source: Bought]

Morning and Evening is a classic devotional by Charles H. Spurgeon that was originally published in 1866.

There is a devotional for every morning and every evening.

Each devotional begins with a bite-sized portion of Scripture.

Spurgeon "feeds" his flock from both the Old Testament and the New Testament.

He speaks directly to readers and addresses matters of great importance. His works are ever-relevant.

I've been sharing quotes from Morning and Evening since the first week of January when I began reading the devotional.

I'll share my top twenty or so with you now.

From December:

• The night of affliction is as much under the arrangement and control of the Lord of Love—as the bright summer days when all is bliss. Jesus is in the tempest! His love wraps the night as a cloak—but to the eye of faith the sable robe is scarcely a disguise.
• His presence will be most realized—by those who are most like Him. If you desire to see Christ, you must grow in conformity to Him.
• Christian, God has not left you in your earthly pilgrimage to an angel’s guidance—He Himself leads the van. You may not see the cloudy, fiery pillar—but Jehovah will never forsake you.
• Christ is the great Peacemaker; but before peace, He brings war. Where the light comes, the darkness must retire. Where truth is, the lie must flee; or, if it abides, there must be a stern conflict, for the truth cannot and will not lower its standard, and the lie must be trodden under foot.

From November:

• The past is gone; the future has not arrived; we never shall have any time but time present. Then do not fritter away your life in thinking of what you intend to do tomorrow, as if that could recompense for the idleness of today. No man ever served God by doing things tomorrow.
• Truth must enter into the soul, penetrate and saturate it—or else it is of no value. Doctrines held as a matter of mere creed—are like bread in the hand, which ministers no nourishment to the body.

• Be content with such things as you have, since the Lord has ordered all things for your good. Take up your own daily cross; it is the burden best suited for your shoulder, and will prove most effective to make you perfect in every good word and work to the glory of God.
• To have one foot on the land of truth, and another on the sea of falsehood, will end in a terrible fall and a total ruin. Christ will be all—or nothing.

From October:

• “I will love them freely.” Hosea 14:4 This sentence is a body of divinity in miniature. He who understands its meaning, is a theologian; and he who can dive into its fullness, is a true spiritual master. It is a summary of the glorious message of salvation, which was delivered to us in Christ Jesus our Redeemer. The meaning hinges upon the word “freely.” This is the glorious, the suitable, the divine way by which love streams from heaven to earth—a spontaneous love flowing forth to those who neither deserved it, purchased it, nor sought after it. It is, indeed, the only way in which God can love such as we are. The text is a death-blow to all sorts of fitness, “I will love them freely.”

• We ought to muse upon the things of God, because we thus get the real nutriment out of them. Hearing, reading, and learning—all require inward digesting to complete their usefulness, and the inward digesting of the truth lies for the most part in meditating upon it.

• When we repent of sin, we must have one eye upon SIN—and another upon the CROSS! It will be better still—if we fix both our eyes upon Christ—and see our transgressions only in the light of His love.
• Each believer must, when filled with a sense of Jesus’ love—be also overwhelmed with astonishment, that such divine love should be lavished on an object so utterly unworthy of it. Jesus must have found the cause of His love—in His own heart. He could not have found it in us—for it is not there! 

From September:

• Wherever Jesus may lead us—He goes before us. If we know not where we go, we know with whom we go. With such a companion, who will dread the perils of the road? The journey may be long—but His everlasting arms will carry us to the end.

• Scripture is a never-failing treasury filled with boundless stores of grace. It is the bank of heaven; you may draw from it as much as you please, without price or hindrance. Come in faith and you are welcome to all covenant blessings. There is not a promise in the Word which shall be withheld.

• A Christian man should so shine in his life, that a person could not live with him a week, without knowing the gospel. His conversation should be such that all who are about him should clearly perceive whose he is, and whom he serves; and should see the image of Jesus reflected in his daily actions.

From August:

• My Lord is more ready to pardon—than you to sin; more able to forgive—than you to transgress. My Master is more willing to supply your needs—than you are to ask for them!

• Do you dread sin? He has nailed it to His cross! Do you fear death? He has been the death of death! Are you afraid of hell? He has barred it against the entrance of any of His children; they shall never see the gulf of perdition!

• Let a Christian begin to boast, “I can do all things,” without adding “through Christ who strengthens me,” and before long he will have to groan, “I can do nothing,” and bemoan himself in the dust. When we do anything for the Lord, and He is pleased to accept of our doings, let us lay our crown at His feet, and exclaim, “Not I—but the grace of God which was with me!”

From July:

• It is impossible for any human speech to express the full meaning of this delightful phrase, “God is for me.” He was “for us” before the worlds were made. He was “for us,” or He would not have given His well-beloved son. He was “for us” when He smote the Only-begotten, and laid the full weight of His wrath upon Him—He was “for us,” though He was against Him. He was “for us,” when we were ruined in the fall—He loved us notwithstanding all. He was “for us,” when we were rebels against Him, and with a high hand were bidding Him defiance. He was “for us,” or He would not have brought us humbly to seek His face. He has been “for us” in many struggles; we have been summoned to encounter hosts of dangers; we have been assailed by temptations from without and within—how could we have remained unharmed to this hour—if He had not been “for us”? He is “for us,” with all the infinity of His being; with all the omnipotence of His love; with all the infallibility of His wisdom; arrayed in all His divine attributes, He is “for us,” eternally and immutably “for us”; “for us” when yon blue skies shall be rolled up like a worn out vesture; “for us” throughout eternity!
• Blessed is the fact that Christians can rejoice even in the deepest distress; although trouble may surround them, they still sing; and, like many birds, they sing best in their cages. Trouble does not necessarily bring consolation with it to the believer—but the presence of the Son of God in the fiery furnace with him fills his heart with joy. He is sick and suffering—but Jesus visits him and makes his bed for him. He is dying, and the cold chilly waters of Jordan are gathering about him up to the neck—but Jesus puts His arms around him, and cries, “Fear not, beloved!

From June:

• “Help, Lord!” will suit us living and dying, suffering or laboring, rejoicing or sorrowing.
• After conversion our God is our joy, comfort, guide, teacher, and in every sense our light—He is light within, light around, light reflected from us, and light to be revealed to us.
• If you are not humbled in the presence of Jesus—you do not know Him. You were so lost that nothing could save you—but the sacrifice of God’s only begotten Son. Think of that, and as Jesus stooped for you—bow yourself in lowliness at His feet.
• The Scriptures reveal Jesus, “The Scriptures point to Me!” No more powerful motive can be urged upon Bible readers than this—he who finds Jesus finds life, heaven, all things. Happy he who, searching his Bible, discovers his Savior!

From May:

• There is no need for God to create a new thing upon the earth in order to restore believers to joy; if they would prayerfully rake the ashes of the past, they would find light for the present; and if they would turn to the book of truth and the throne of grace, their candle would soon shine as aforetime.
• Christian, what have you to do with sin? Has it not cost you enough already? Burnt child—will you play with the fire? What! when you have already been between the jaws of the lion—will you step a second time into his den? Have you not had enough of the old serpent? Did he not poison all your veins once—and will you play upon the hole of the viper, and put your hand upon the cockatrice’s den a second time? Did sin ever yield you real pleasure? Did you find solid satisfaction in it? If so, go back to your old drudgery, and wear the chain again—if it delights you. But inasmuch as sin did never give you what it promised to bestow—but deluded you with lies—do not be snared a second time by the old fowler!
• What a comfort to know that we have a great Physician who is both able and willing to heal us! Let us think of Him for a while tonight. His cures are very speedy—there is life in a look at Him. His cures are radical—He strikes at the center of the disease. And hence, His cures are sure and certain. He never fails, and the disease never returns. There is no relapse where Christ heals—there is no fear that His patients should be merely patched up for a season. He is well skilled in all diseases. Jesus Christ is thoroughly acquainted with the whole of human nature. He is as much at home with one sinner as with another, and never yet did He meet with an unusual case which was difficult to Him.
• Oh, do not think, believer, that your sorrows are out of God’s plan; they are necessary parts of it.
• The gospel is a very bold gospel, it fearlessly proclaims the truth, whether men like it or not. We must be equally faithful and unflinching.

From April:

• Banquet your faith upon God’s own Word, and whatever your fears or needs, repair to the Bank of Faith with your Father’s hand-written note, saying, “Remember the Word unto Your servant—upon which You have caused me to hope.”

• Let us fight as if it all depended upon us—but let us look up and know that all depends upon Him!
• We are not far from home—a moment will bring us there.
• Remember that the same Christ who tells us to say, “Give us this day our daily bread,” had first given us this petition, “Hallowed be Your name; Your kingdom come; Your will be done in earth as it is in heaven.” Let not your prayers be all concerning your own sins, your own needs, your own imperfections, your own trials—but let them climb the starry ladder, and get up to Christ Himself, and then, as you draw near to the blood-sprinkled mercy-seat, offer this prayer continually, “Lord, extend the kingdom of Your dear Son!” Such a petition, fervently presented, will elevate the spirit of all your devotions. Mind that you prove the sincerity of your prayer by laboring to promote the Lord’s glory.

From March:

• Great thoughts of your sin alone—will drive you to despair; but great thoughts of Christ—will pilot you into the haven of peace. “My sins are many—but oh! it is nothing to Jesus to take them all away. The weight of my guilt presses me down as a giant’s foot would crush a worm—but it is no more than a grain of dust to Him, because He has already borne its curse on the cruel tree. It will be but a small thing for Him to give me full remission, although it will be an infinite blessing for me to receive.
• There is no road between my soul and heaven—but faith.
• Look upon all sin as that which crucified your Savior—and you will see it to be “exceeding sinful.”

From February:

• “He has said” must be our daily resort.
• We would be abler teachers of others, and less liable to be carried about by every wind of doctrine—if we sought to have a more intelligent understanding of the Word of God. As the Holy Spirit, the Author of the Scriptures is He who alone can enlighten us rightly to understand them, we should constantly ask His teaching, and His guidance into all truth.
• A daily portion is all that a man really needs. We do not need tomorrow’s supplies; for that day has not yet dawned, and its needs are as yet unborn. The thirst which we may suffer in the month of June—does not need to be quenched in February, for we do not feel it yet.
• Christian, meditate much on heaven—it will help you to press on, and to forget the toil of the way. This valley of tears is but the pathway to the better country! This present world of woe is but the stepping-stone to a world of bliss.

From January:

• We must not cease to wonder at the great marvels of our God. It would be very difficult to draw a line between holy wonder—and real worship; for when the soul is overwhelmed with the majesty of God’s glory, though it may not express itself in song, or even utter its voice with bowed head in humble prayer—yet it silently adores.

• Christ is not only “mighty to save” those who repent—but He is able to make men repent. He will carry those who believe those to heaven; but He is, moreover, mighty to give men new hearts and to work faith in them. He is mighty to make the man who hates holiness—love it; and to constrain the despiser of His name—to bend the knee before Him.

• How different will be the state of the believer in heaven—from what it is here! Here he is born to toil and suffer weariness—but in the land of the immortal, fatigue is never known.

• He who does not grow in the knowledge of Jesus, refuses to be blessed. To know Him is “life eternal,” and to advance in the knowledge of Him is to increase in happiness. He who does not long to know more of Christ—knows nothing of Him yet.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Bible Review: RSV

RSV. Revised Standard Version. 1952/2002. Oxford University Press. 1248 pages. [Source: Bought]

First sentence: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

I think it's safe to say that this will be the last Bible I complete in 2018. I began reading this one the first week of December--around the 5th. I finished it December 26th.

This was my second time to read through the Revised Standard Version. There are things that I absolutely love, love, love about this translation. But then again there are things that I don't like about it too.

The RSV translation does an absolutely lovely job with the book of Psalms.

I was less pleased with their translation of Romans. I am disappointed in any translation that does not use the word propitiation. [Romans 3:25] That's a little pet peeve of mine, I suppose.

This translation is also known for translating Isaiah 7:14 with 'young woman' instead of 'virgin.'

Do you have translation pet peeves?

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

McGee and Me #10 Joshua and Judges

Thru the Bible #10 Joshua and Judges. J. Vernon McGee. 228 pages. [Source: Bought]

I recently bought a complete set of J. Vernon McGee's Thru the Bible commentary series. These books are loosely based on his popular radio program. I plan on reading or in some cases rereading his commentaries. 

Joshua and Judges are covered in one commentary by J. Vernon McGee. This one reads much faster than you might expect. There are important insights to be shared on some of the chapters in these two books. He includes every word of Scripture. But some portions he does seem to be skimming over in terms of teaching and commentating. (I didn't mind this. He seems to skim the same chapters I do.) 

Joshua has some very exciting, action-packed sections. But it also has some tedious portions that aren't all that interesting. Same with Judges. I do think believers can pull some general principles from both books. All of God's Word is INSPIRED.

Quotes from his commentary on Joshua:

• In the Book of Genesis Israel was born. In the Book of Exodus Israel was chosen. In the Book of Numbers the nation was proven. In the Book of Leviticus it was brought nigh by the blood. In Deuteronomy it was instructed. Now in the Book of Joshua it faces conflict and conquest. 
• Exodus is the book of redemption out of Egypt; Joshua is the book of redemption into the Promised Land.
• The Book of Joshua corresponds to the Epistle to the Ephesians in the New Testament where we see that the believer is blessed with all spiritual blessings.
• The practical possession and experience of them depends upon conflict and conquest. These are never attained through the energy of the flesh, but through the power of the Holy Spirit in the yielded life of the believer.
• Moses was not essential to lead the children of Israel into the land. In fact, he could not bring them into the Land of Promise. Moses represented the Law and the Law cannot save us.
• The Law was never a savior. Moses could not lead Israel into the land because of his failure. The problem was not with the Law but with Moses just as the problem is with us. The Law reveals that we have fallen short of the glory of God.
• My friend, if you are going to walk with Him and live for Him, you will need a daily filling of the Holy Spirit of God.
• In fact, since you fill up the physical man three times a day, it would not be a bad idea to fill up the spiritual man three times a day.
• We are identified with Christ in His death; and when He died, my friend, He died for us. His death was our death. When He arose from the dead, then we arose from the dead.
• The worst enemy that you have is yourself.
• He occupies the same skin that you occupy. He uses the same brain that you use in thinking his destructive thoughts. He uses the same hands that you use to perform his own deeds.
• There are two factors that make dealing with this enemy doubly difficult. In the first place, we are reluctant to recognize and identify him. We are loath to label him as an enemy.
• The fact of the matter is most of us rather like him. The second problem is that he is on the inside of us. If he would only come out and fight like a man, it would be different, but he will not.
• As you recall, Jericho represents the world. How do you overcome the world? By faith. Ai represents the flesh. How do you overcome the flesh? Not by fighting it, but by recognizing your weakness, confessing to God, and letting the Spirit of God get the victory.
• The more I know about Joshua, the better I like him. Through the years he has stood in the shadow of Moses so that we think he is a sort of miniature Moses.
• But Joshua is a man of great stature. God made no mistake in choosing this man. Although Joshua is an average man, this book reveals that an average man dedicated to God can be mightily used.

Quotes from his commentary on Judges:

• Backsliding and the amazing grace of God in recovering and restoring is the theme of Judges.
• This is the Promised Land—God had given it to them! Yet not one tribe, apparently, was able to possess the land that God had given to it. How tragic!
• All of the judges were “little men.” There was not a big one in the lot. These men were used of God because they were—and I have to say it—odd characters. Their very oddness caused God to use them.
• God has a wonderful sense of humor. The Bible is a serious book, of course. It deals with a race that is in sin, and it concerns God’s salvation for that race. It reveals God as high and holy and lifted up. But God has a sense of humor and, if you miss that in the Bible, you will not find it nearly as interesting.
• Today many of us are just rolling a hoop through this world. One day we are up, and the next day we are down. God never intended our spiritual lives to be that way.
• [Jud. 12:11–12]. These two verses tell us all that we know about Elon. He did nothing—he didn’t even have a large family. Apparently all that he did was twiddle his thumbs.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Book Review: A Bound Heart

A Bound Heart. Laura Frantz. 2019. Revell. 400 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence:

Isle of Kerrera, Scotland, 1752
As the sun slid from the sky, Lark pressed her back into the pockmarked cliff on the island's west shore. 

Laura Frantz's A Bound Heart is historical fiction set in the 1750s in Scotland, Virginia, and Jamaica. The hero and heroine find themselves far from their native land--and not by choice. Both are "transported" to the colonies, albeit different colonies to serve out their indentures.

Lark MacDougall, our heroine, is a joy to spend time with. She's a bee keeper and a keeper of the stillroom. Like her grandmother, she knows how to make elixirs and remedies for most of what ails you. Unfortunately, she hasn't found an elixir that can cure infertility which is what her mistress is demanding of her.

Magnus MacLeish, our hero, is also a joy. He's also a laird, and Lark's employer. (These two have known each other all their lives, grown up together.) His city wife isn't adapting well to Kerrera. It doesn't help that she's been unable to have a child, an heir. With every miscarriage, she loses the will to live a little more.

I won't spoil the novel by telling you the details his crime or her crime. That should probably be "crime." For the justice system is more an injustice system for these two Scots.

But I will add in a thousand loves. I loved, loved, LOVED this novel. It was giddy-making. I loved the characters. I loved their big hearts. I loved their strength and determination. Magnus is definitely a swoon-worthy hero. Lark was lovely. Lark and Magnus just belong together. I was cheering for them from the beginning. I loved the setting as well. Scotland. Virginia. These are two places my own ancestors lived. The novel swept me up, up, and away. It was just a delight to read.



© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Book Review: The Bride of Ivy Green

The Bride of Ivy Green. Julie Klassen. 2018. Bethany House. 448 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: Mercy Grove could no longer put off the painful task.

If you enjoyed The Innkeeper of Ivy Hill and The Ladies of Ivy Cottage, you are definitely going to read the third book in the series, The Bride of ivy Green. The only complaint I have is that I think it should have been called the BRIDES of Ivy Hill instead.

This historical romance series by Julie Klassen is set in a small English village, Ivy Hill. The series follows the romantic adventures and misadventures of three women primarily: Jane, Rachel, and Mercy. Though really a dozen more characters are introduced and followed. One really gets a sense of time and place. (I believe this one is set in 1821; the others might be set a year or two earlier. The county is Wiltshire.)

Mercy Grove, the heroine, is a school teacher, or WAS a school teacher. Her brother returning with a wife has closed down--at least temporarily--her dreams and her means of independence. (The school was in her home.) She remains in his house, but make no mistake, she feels it is HIS house now. Her new sister-in-law soon has her living in the attic so that her former room can be a guest room. Mercy feels trapped--not trapped enough to regret turning down a loveless marriage offer--but trapped. So when Mr. James Drake mentions he's looking for a governess for his daughter, Alice, she volunteers for the job. (Alice was a former pupil, a beloved former pupil.)

Mercy, of course, is not the only woman adapting to big changes. Other women are as well. Rachel is loving getting to know her new sister-in-law, Justina. But her need to advocate for her may cause tension in her relationship with her mother-in-law. Justina is falling for someone....and her mother already has definite opinions on whom her daughter should marry. Jane is oh-so-close to getting her happily ever after. But someone from her past shows up, and difficult conversations must be had before she can be at peace with where she is in her life. There is also the matter of the brand new seamstress in town....there is something OFF about her. But what?!

I love, love, love this series. There is something COZY about this series. It is definitely character-driven. Don't expect much action or drama.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

McGee and Me #9 Deuteronomy

Thru the Bible #9: Deuteronomy. J. Vernon McGee. 202 pages. [Source: Bought]

I recently bought a complete set of J. Vernon McGee's Thru the Bible commentary series. These books are loosely based on his popular radio program. I have read a handful of his commentaries in the past--including this one--but I plan on reading and/or rereading all of the commentaries (again). 

Though Deuteronomy has thirty-four chapters, McGee tackles them all in one volume. This ninth volume will finish his commentary on the Pentateuch. 

Deuteronomy has always been one of my favorite books in the Old Testament to read. I have always found it to be an important foundation to understanding what follows. Grasping Deuteronomy helps with the history books, the wisdom books, and the prophetical books as well. Perhaps especially the prophetical books. Deuteronomy warns of God's judgment, the other books display God's judgment. If you read closely, you'll see Deuteronomy being fulfilled "before your eyes." 

McGee's commentary reprints the text of Scripture. He doesn't devote a great deal of time to each chapter. What he gives his readers, his friends, is a starting point, an overview. 

Quotes:

• There are four Hebrew titles of Deuteronomy: (1) Debarim, meaning “The Words” or “These be the Words,” is derived from the opening expression, “These are the words which Moses spake.” (2) The Kith, or the Fifth of the Law. (3) The Book of Reproofs. (4) The Iteration of the Law.
• The great theme is Love and Obey. You may not have realized that the love of God was mentioned that far back in the Bible, but the word love occurs twenty-two times.
• Deuteronomy teaches that obedience is man’s response to God’s love. This is not the gospel, but the great principle of it is here.
• Many times the Christian today finds himself confronted by giants in this life. I’m sure that as a child of God you have found yourself in giant country. Believe me, it is difficult to know how to handle a giant when you are just a pygmy yourself. God has given us the same promise that He is able to handle the giants for us. It is wonderful to know that.
• It is not our circumstances on the outside which are our real problem. It is the circumstance on the inside of us, the unbelief in our hearts, which is the cause of our problems.
• A great many of us today are not being blessed because we are spending too much time sitting down.
• That is the wrong place to be if we want the blessing of God. We are to walk.
• There is a great deal said in the Scriptures about the Christian’s walk and very little said about the Christian’s sitting down.
• [Deut. 4:37]. This is the first time in the Bible that God tells anybody that He loves them.
• God loves us today. But He does not save us by love; He saves us by grace. He couldn’t just open the back door of heaven and slip us in.
• Here are the four important steps we are to take in relation to the Word of God. The first is to hear it. The second is to learn it, to become acquainted with what God is saying. The third is to keep it. That means to have the Word of God down in your heart. The fourth is to do it. Not only should the Word of God be in your head and in your heart, but it should get down there where your feet and hands are.
• The Law is a mirror that is held up to the heart. It is a headlight on a car to show the way into the darkness and to reveal the curves ahead.
• Man’s first sin was not to become an atheist; his sin was to become a polytheist.
• There are only two kinds of people in the world: those who hate God and those who love Him.
• Anything that you give yourself to, anything that stands between you and God, becomes your god.
• The Law is a mirror held up to us. We are to look in it, and it will reveal to each of us that we are sinners. The mirror in the bathroom will show the smudge spot on the face, but the mirror won’t wash off that spot. The Law can show us our sin, but it cannot save us. In no way can the mirror remove the smudge spot.
• The important thing is not whether you approve of the Ten Commandments or what you think of them; the important question, my friend is: Have you kept them? If you are honest, you know that you haven’t measured up. That means you need a Savior.
• Today we live in a world, not so much of idolatry and polytheism, but of atheism.
• The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
• I have been saved. We already have eternal life. We already stand before God in all the righteousness and merit of our Savior. I am being saved. God is working in my life, shaping, guiding, molding me to conform me more and more to His own dear Son. I shall be saved. Don’t be discouraged with me, because God is not through with me yet. And I won’t be discouraged with you, because God is not through with you either.
• The liberal today hates the God of the Old Testament. I heard one call God a bully.
• Let us not have a false kind of pity for these nations. Rather, let us learn from these events. God is a God of mercy and of love in the Old Testament as well as He is in the New Testament.
• Sometimes He puts us in the furnace and heaps it on very hot. Why? To test us and to humble us. Little man is proud, he’s cocky, he is self-confident, and, to be frank, he is an abomination!
• Spiritual manna is the Word of God. It is a wonderful food. It will supply all your needs.
• There is a lopsided notion that if you are a faithful Christian, God will prosper you in temporal things. My friend, that is not true.
• He has promised us spiritual blessings. There is no verse in the New Testament which promises temporal blessing to the child of God today.
• The hope of the child of God today is that Christ is coming to take us out of this world. The hope of Israel is in this world. That distinction is of utmost importance.
• Too many so-called theologians use a blender. They put the whole Bible into a blender, and they really mix it up!
• If you let the Bible stand as it is, you will see that God is very specific when He makes promises.
• The only kind of people God is saving is bad people.
• People can be more phony in religion than in anything else. It seems to be something that is characteristic of the human nature.
• Moses knew that God hates sin. May I say to you that we today do not have the faintest conception of how God hates sin and how He intends to punish it.
• The average Christian today does not seem to realize how God hates sin in his life. My friend, God never ignores a sin we commit. God will deal with sin in your life and in my life.
• Moses also knew the mercy of God. Moses comes to God because he trusts in His mercy. God will punish sin, but, my friend, we do not comprehend how wonderful He is.
• He is so gracious. He extends mercy to the sinner. He has extended His mercy to you, I am sure.
• God did not hear the prayer of Moses because of who he was. God heard his prayer because He is merciful.
• I am afraid there are many of us, even in conservative churches, who are not faithful to God for a single day. We boast that we are sound in the faith—sound all right—sound asleep!
• Whether things come to us easily or with difficulty, He still is the Provider.
• We are saved by grace, we are kept by grace, we grow by the grace of God. We are going to get to heaven by the grace of God. When we’ve been there ten thousand years, it will still be by the grace of God.
• Believers do not meet in one place to worship God today; we meet around One Person and that Person is the Lord Jesus Christ.
• The all-important question is this: do you meet around the person of Jesus Christ? Now, friends, if you don’t, that is idolatry, because then you are meeting around something that is replacing Christ.
• Anything, anything that comes between our souls and God becomes an idol.
• I hope that I can learn more and more to hate what He hates and love what He loves.
• There are too many Christians today who think that it is Christian to be silent. There are so many Christians who do not take a stand on important issues even when truth is at stake.
• I thank God today that the Lord is not judging me on the basis of Law. He saves me by grace. If He were saving me by Law, I would be lost forever, because I could never, never measure up to the requirements of the Law.
• Law is law—we have developed such a careless attitude about it today—but God enforces His Law. It was eye for eye, tooth for tooth.
• How I thank God that Jesus Christ paid the penalty of the Law so that there is pardon for sinners.
• I’m convinced that the men who originally drew up our constitution were men who were Bible-oriented. The problem today is that we have a society made up of people who are entirely ignorant of the Bible, and lawmakers who are actually stupid as far as the Word of God is concerned.
• It is one thing to say that things are terrible, things are awful. It is another thing to go to God and say, “Oh, God, forgive us as a nation. God, forgive us for our sins today.”
• We are to give out the Word of God—that is our business—but we are pilgrims and strangers here, just passing through.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Bible Review: ESV Systematic Theology

ESV Systematic Theology Study Bible. 2017. Crossway. 1904 pages. [Source: Gift]

First sentence: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

The text is the 2016 edition of the ESV. I noticed a few changes here and there, but mainly because I'd heard--or read as the case may be--criticisms of individual verses. Overall, I didn't see a huge, overwhelming difference.

The unique features include book introductions (66), sidebars (424), articles (28), and indexes (2). The introductions, of course, appear before each book of the Bible. Old Testament introductions are by Paul R. House. New Testament introductions are by Robert W. Yarbrough.  The sidebars appear near the verses to which they are connected doctrinally. The articles appear at the end of the Bible.

• What is Doctrine and Why Is It Important? David F. Wells
• How to Do Theology: Worldview and Process by Christopher W. Morgan
• A Brief History of Doctrine by Gregg R. Allison
• Theological Traditions within Christendom Gregg R. Allison
• The Origin and Authority of the Biblical Canon by Michael J. Kruger
• Doctrine in the Creeds and Catechisms of the Church by Gerald Bray
• Apologetics by John M. Frame
• Orthodoxy and Heresy by Robert Letham
• Doctrine and Preaching by R. Kent Hughes
• Reading the Bible Theologically by J.I. Packer
• Revelation by Scott R. Swain
• Scripture by Kelly M. Kapic
• God by Fred Sanders
• Creation by David S. Dockery
• Providence by Michael S. Horton
• Humanity by Stephen J. Nichols
• Sin by Michael Reeves
• The Christian Life by Michael Reeves
• The Person of Christ by Robert Letham
• The Work of Christ by Donald Macleod
• The Holy Spirit by Graham A. Cole
• Ordinances and Sacraments by Graham A. Cole
• Grace by Bryan Chapell
• Election by Stephen J. Wellum
• The Gospel by Sam Storms
• Salvation by Sam Storms
• The Church by Bruce Riley Ashford and Christopher W. Morgan
• Eschatology by David S. Dockery 

The font of the text is on the smaller side. It was a little too small for me personally. The longer I read, the more straining it was. The weight of the Bible wasn't light enough just to hold it closer to ease that strain. I had to choose between arm cramps and eye strain. Or, I suppose, I could have just read two to three chapters a day instead of twenty plus.

It is black letter and not red letter.

It is two columns not single column.


© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Book Review: How To Be A Perfect Christian

How To Be A Perfect Christian. The Babylon Bee. 2018. 203 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: If you're reading this, we want to congratulate you.

Babylon Bee has written a book, HOW TO BE A PERFECT CHRISTIAN. It should only be read by those who know the style and wit of Babylon Bee.

Like Screwtape Letters, its wisdom--insights--comes only when you read between the lines. To take the book literally--to take it seriously--would be folly in the highest degree.

The book almost has a Twilight Zone feel to it. The Christianity it advocates is warped, turned upside down, topsy-turvy.

It is assumed that readers are believers trusting fully in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is assumed that readers know the gospel--really know it and believe it. It is also assumed that readers have a good sense of humor and can recognize the obvious.

I am not opposed to believers having a sense of humor. A teeny tiny bit of me questions whether something as life-and-death serious as the gospel should be a laughing matter. After all, self-righteousness, smugness, pride are REAL and DEADLY. The cultural brand of Christianity on display in the book are exaggerated and extreme--at times--but still a present danger. Just because situations are exaggerated doesn't mean that there aren't hints of reality--flashes of truth--within.

People who are Christian in name only--"cultural" Christians who perhaps have attended church two to three times in their life do tend to get the gospel wrong, to think that one can earn their own salvation, that one can through their own effort become righteous and pleasing to God.

This happens in television and movies all the time. 99% of the time screen writers don't get "the gospel" right. Don't grasp what Christianity is all about. They do make it a matter of bargaining with God, of getting on God's good sides by doing good deeds, or of countering the bad they've done with good. Why will God let you into heaven? Because I'm a good person. Because I've done more good than bad. Because I'm not as bad as so-and-so. Because I've tried my best. Because I am kind to animals. Because, because, because. Full of self-works, self-righteousness. The prayers that screen writers write for actors are more often than not atrocious.

The gospel is not self-evident--ever. The self, the fallen self, the oh-so-human self could never come up with the gospel on his or her own.

So this book is for Christians. It offers a giggle or two perhaps. But also, I hope a sobering moment or two.

Quotes:

The Seven Essential Truths of the Gospel
1. You are amazing. You are so special and amazing, you've surpassed even God's expectations for your life. As the great theologian Christina Aguilera said, "You are beautiful...Words can't bring you down!"
2. God really needs you on His team. What would God do without you? God decided to save sinners because He was really lonely and needed you to cheer Him up.
3. God is love and has absolutely no other distinguishing attributes. Holiness? Justice? Wrath? Sovereignty? Nah. God is love and only love.
4. Jesus died for your temporary comfort and security. You were just so special that God sent His Only Son so you could be satisfied with temporary things of this earth.
5. Did we mention you're amazing? Seriously, we just can't even describe how amazing you are. Turn your eyes upon yourself, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim.
6. The God of the Bible would never do anything you would personally disagree with. God is constantly checking His actions against your subjective moral compass to make sure you're never offended. He's lucky you're around to keep Him on message!
7. Those who conform to cultural Christianity will be justified. You will be declared right with God only when you look like a really good Christian. It's a hard road, but it'll be worth it in the end. We promise!
You must preach this gospel of your own sufficiency to save yourself each and every day if you want to remain focused on your sacred mission to become a perfect Christian. Listen to preachers who do nothing but encourage you, lift you up, and constantly remind you just how worthy you are of God's grace. (134-5)

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Bible Review: KJV

KJV Single Column. 2010. Thomas Nelson. 1632 pages. [Source: Bought]

First sentence: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

This Bible is one of my favorites. I believe this was the second time I've read this particular Bible.

I love that it is single column. I don't dislike double columns. I don't. That won't stop me from reading a Bible--loving a Bible. But if I have to choose--get to choose--then it's single column for me.

I love that it's black letter. I do dislike red letter. Two reasons really. One it's impossible on these eyes. Red letters tend to be faint pink and a strain--a pain--to read. OR red letters tend to be bright orange-y and migraine triggers. Either way--my head is feeling pained by the experience. I have noticed that the larger the print, the more tolerate I am of red letters in some way. So if you give me a giant font--say 18 points--the red letter isn't such a big deal. Two I think the whole Word of God is the Word of God. Red letters don't make a verse super-special-extra important.

I love that it is light weight. It is a convenient size to carry about and read wherever. But it is also a nice size for reading in bed.

I love that the font is a reasonable size. It is not a large print Bible--that is it is not advertised as such. But it is larger than many being published these days. In some ways I miss "the good old days" when Bibles were printed in fonts and font sizes that eyes could read comfortably. It is sad--tragic--that "large print" bibles being printed today have what was once normal font. To get a truly large print Bible, you have go GIANT or SUPER GIANT.

The paper-thickness isn't perfectly-perfect, but it is better than most being published today. I think the single column helps in some ways.

Most of all I love that it is the King James Version. I did not grow up reading the King James Version. In fact, I was at least thirty before I picked one up and read it. But once I started reading the King James, it was LOVE. I am not King James Only. I'm not. I don't think people who read the King James are more holy than those that read other translations. I don't think it is the only true translation that is true to the inspired originals.  I just happen to love, love, love, LOVE it and by choice I reread it often.


© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

McGee and Me #8 Numbers

Numbers. (Thru the Bible #8) J. Vernon McGee. 1975. 204 pages. [Source: Bought]

I recently bought a complete set of J. Vernon McGee's Thru the Bible commentary series. These books are loosely based on his popular radio program. I have read a handful of his commentaries in the past--including this one--but I plan on reading and/or rereading all of the commentaries (again). 

Though Numbers has thirty-six chapters, McGee tackles them all in one book. The book is a surprisingly quick read. 

From the introduction: The Book of Numbers, called Arithmoi (meaning “Arithmetic”) in the Septuagint, gets its name from the census in chapters 1 and 26. Numbers takes up the story where Exodus left off. It is the fourth book of the Pentateuch.

From chapter one: God spoke to Moses in the wilderness, but He spoke from the tabernacle. The tabernacle was in the wilderness. Just so, the church today is in the world.

Numbers has never been my favorite book in the Pentateuch. (That would probably be Genesis or Deuteronomy.) But I was able to come to a better appreciation of it thanks to J. Vernon McGee. Some of the chapters that I find most tedious--even boring--he brought new insights to. (For example, the second longest chapter in the Bible--the one where each of the twelve tribes gives the exact same offering.)

I am still loving McGee's casual approach or narrative style. I am sure there are more informative, perhaps better written commentaries out there. But McGee is readable and fun.

Quotes:

• God has saved us by His infinite, marvelous, wonderful grace. But you and I are in a world that is wicked and rough. Like the children of Israel out in the wilderness, we are in the wilderness of this world, which is full of sin.
• In this book we will find wars and trumpets, battles and giants—all of that. You and I live in that kind of world yet today.
• One would think we have here 54 verses of unnecessary details which are quite boring, but we need to remember that these details were important to God.
• First of all, we see that God is interested in the individuals. Mass movements have their place and play their role but God is interested in redeemed individuals. He is interested in every individual.
• We need to know our pedigree, the fact that we belong to the family of God as His children. And, we need to know where we belong.
• Our enemies today are the world, the flesh, and the devil. My friend, they will overcome you if you are not sure of your salvation.
• Every person in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ has a God-appointed place. All service in the church is to be directed by the Holy Spirit.
• We have been given as a love gift from the Father to the Son. Some of us may feel that He didn’t get very much. We need to remember that it is not what we are now, but what He is going to make out of us, that is important.
• The Christian today needs to recognize that he is a pilgrim going through the wilderness of this world. Everything and everyone must be in his place for the walk, the work, the war, and the worship of the wilderness.
• We need to recognize that if we are going to walk with God, if we are going to have fellowship with Him, there must be a cleansing of our lives.
• In our churches today, we shut our eyes to sin in the lives of the people.
• Where do you find joy, friend? I ask you that very personally. Do you need the stimulants of this world in order to enjoy “Christian” things?
• Can you really get joy out of studying the Word of God? Does prayer turn you off or turn you on? My, how many of us today think we are being really Christian and really spiritual when all we have been doing is bringing the world into our activities!
• Do you find your joy in the Lord? Are you willing to bear shame for Him, to take a humble place for Him? Are you willing to put Him first, above everything in this life? You see, although the believer today doesn’t take a Nazarite vow, there is the offer of a closer walk with the Lord.
• Sometimes when you stand for God, you will find you must stand alone. He must be first in your life.
• Friend, if God is going to use you, He’ll have to clean you. He will have His own way of doing it.
• If you are to serve God, you must confess your sins. The brazen altar is the place where the sinner comes to God for salvation; the laver is the place the believer, the saint of God, comes to be cleansed.
• The Word of God can dig down into your life and find things wrong there that you didn’t know were wrong.
• We need to wash our garments—we have certain habits that we need to get rid of because they are hurting our testimony for the Lord.
• We are not a group that is marching because we are better than anyone else. We are sinners who have been saved by the grace of God. If you see yourself as a sinner and you need a Savior, turn to Him by simple faith and trust Him.
• Join the march! This is no protest march; it is a salvation march, a redemption march. It is the march that is going to Zion, not the earthly Zion but the heavenly one, the city of Jerusalem which will come down from God out of heaven, adorned like a bride for the bridegroom.
• It was not God’s idea to send spies into the land. The sending in of the spies denoted a weakness and a fear on the part of the people.
• He would not have sent them into the land unless He knew they could take it. When they finally did enter the land, the giants were still there; all the difficulties and problems were still there, yet they took the land.
• What an important message this is for us today! Are we really walking by faith? Of course we need to take precautions, but there is a time when we do need to commit our way unto the Lord.
• As God brought these children of Israel out of the land of Egypt and did put them in the Promised Land, so God will complete the plan He had for you when He saved you.
• And He will complete the plan He is working on now for the entire earth, because the time is coming when the whole earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.
• There can be no victory when there is no submission to the will of God.
• Presumption is as dangerous as unbelief.
• Now we enter that division of the Book of Numbers from chapter 15 to 25, which I call “Faltering, Fumbling, and Fussing through the Wilderness.”
• Walking is turned to wandering; marching is turned to murmuring; witnessing is turned to wailing; warring is turned to wobbling; singing is turned to sighing; and working is turned to wishing.
• Unfortunately, I must say that a great many Christians go through life just like that!
• When there is sin in the church, you and I bear a certain amount of responsibility. We cannot escape the responsibility for sin in our lives, sin in our families, and sin in our church.
• It is also true of you and me that we don’t amount to anything when we are out of the will of God.
• When you and I are not functioning in the body of believers, exercising the gift that He has given to us by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are as unnecessary as a fifth leg on a cow.
• All of us are just pilgrims passing through this world; we won’t be in any one place for long. So we ought not to spend so much time complaining.
• Some men teach that his error was in smiting the rock twice. He should not have smitten it at all, friend. It had already been smitten. The rock is a type of Christ (1 Cor. 10:4). Christ suffered once for sins, never the second time. He died once. God was teaching this to them in a type, and Moses should have protected and guarded the type by obeying God.
• When we read the New Testament, we find that Moses did reach the Promised Land eventually; he appeared on the Mount of Transfiguration with Christ in that land.
• Our High Priest will not die. He died once for us down here; He lives forever for us up there. He will always be there for us.
• We can always depend on Him. He knows each of us individually and we can know Him. To know Him is life everlasting.
• It’s amazing how easy it is for us to complain, and especially to complain about that which pertains to the things of God.
• Now, that is a problem with many folk today. They want to begin with God as a church member, as a nice little girl or boy. We all must begin with God as sinners. The only way that God will begin with us is as sinners.
• You see, Christ died for sinners, and He loves sinners. If you can’t come in under that category, then Christ is not for you. He came for sinners.
• They are to look at the brazen serpent, and they are to look in faith. In fact, they would not look if it were not in faith.
• How was the Son of man lifted up? You say, on a cross. Yes, but He was dying on the cross of Barabbas, and Barabbas was a thief and a murderer. Barabbas was guilty and was worthy of death. Jesus was not. Our Lord was made sin for us. On that cross, He not only has taken the place of Barabbas but also your place and my place.
• God permitted this and did this because He loves us. But God cannot save us by His love.
• It doesn’t say that God so loved the world that He saved the world. Not at all. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.
• Now what God asks you to do, my friend, is to look and live. Look to Christ! He is taking your place there. You are a sinner and it is you who deserves to die. Christ did not deserve to die. He died for you.
• We read here that this serpent of brass was made, and those who looked to it lived. Those who did not look to it—died. It is just that simple today. Either you are looking to Christ as your Savior because you are a sinner, or you are not doing it.
• You must look to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is just as simple as that. And by the way, it is just as complicated as that. What a problem people have today. They would rather look to themselves and to their own good works, trusting that somehow their own good works might save them.
• A wag once said that it was a miracle in Balaam’s day when an ass spoke, and it’s a miracle in our day when one keeps quiet!
• Today we find the revolutionaries are on the inside of our nation. We are being destroyed from within. Rome didn’t fall from the outside. No enemy from the outside destroyed Rome, but Rome fell from within.
• Although this chapter is like a road map, and not interesting to read, it reveals that God noted and recorded every step that these people took.
• In fact, He was with them every step of the way through the wilderness march.
• This is one of the great truths of the Word of God. “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
• My friend, do not criticize God. Do not sit in judgment on God. We cannot realize all that is involved in any situation.
• One thing we do know—we will not experience peace on this earth until the rule of the Prince of Peace. Until that time, God will use nations in judgment upon other nations.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Book Review: A Taste of Heaven

Taste of Heaven: Worship in Light of Eternity. R.C. Sproul. 2006. 173 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence from the preface: We observe the flight of birds with a sense of awe.

First sentence from chapter one: It was one of those lovely autumn Saturday afternoons when people’s thoughts turn to football, golf, or raking leaves. But I was doing something else entirely: reading again the Discourse on Method and Meditations of Rene Descartes.
In A Taste of Heaven, R.C. Sproul examines how the Bible answers the question: how should we worship God. He argues that the Bible is not silent on the matter. There are two approaches to answering this question. One approach is to strictly worship according to what the Bible explicitly says. The second approach is to ask the question: does the Bible forbid it? does the Bible speak against this? warn about this? If the Bible does not forbid it or discourage it, then it is okay. Sproul does not come down completely in favor of one approach or the other.

The book discusses topics relevant to believers: baptism, communion, prayer, praise, fellowship, etc.


Quotes from chapter one:

• The question we need to ask is this, “If God Himself were to design worship, what would it look like?” (15)
• We behave as if nothing God said on the subject of worship in the Old Testament applies today. If we are to come back to the foundation, if we are to please God in our worship, doesn’t it make sense to ask whether there has ever been a time when the unchanging God Himself revealed the kind of worship that was pleasing to Him? I believe that the answer is yes, and I believe that there was such a time. (18)
• I believe we can discern principles in the patterns of worship that God revealed from heaven to His people in the Old Testament, and that those principles can and should inform the patterns our worship follows. (19)
• There is no doubt that God wants HIs worship to have form, so the question is not whether we will have a liturgy or not. The issue is whether the liturgy is biblical in its content, and ultimately, whether we are using the liturgy to worship in spirit and in truth. No matter what the liturgy is, whether it’s a plain liturgy, a simple liturgy, or a complex, highly symbolic liturgy, it can be formalized and externalized so that it is corrupted to the point that God despises it. As we seek out the forms of worship that please God, we must be vigilant lest we fall into formalism or externalism. (22)

Quotes from chapter two:

• The all-encompassing criterion for acceptable sacrifice before God in the Old Testament was the posture and the attitude of the person making the sacrifice (28)
• The promise of our redemption was first announced to Adam and Eve after they sinned and violated their moral relationship with God. God gave them the protoevangelism, the original announcement of the gospel: The Seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent, and in the process He would be wounded in his Heel. (Genesis 3:15). If that verse was the only reference to redemption in the Bible, no one could penetrate its meaning because it is so cryptic. Having the benefit of the unveiling of God's plan of redemption through the ages and through the Scriptures, we know exactly to what God was referring in Genesis 3:15. In that promise, the gospel was given to Adam and Eve, the gospel of forgiveness, restoration, and fellowship with God. It was the gospel that proclaims the crushing of the evil one who disrupts and mars the beauty and holiness of God's creation. God promised that the evil one would be destroyed by the sacrifice of the Seed of the woman, Who would be wounded by the process of His conquest. This promise of the sacrifice of the Seed of the woman was central to Abel's worship. The irony is that this first gospel was given in the context of the cursing of the serpent after the fall. (30-1)
• My speculation is this: I cannot imagine that our first parents did not explain to their sons the hope that sustained them. That hope was the most important promise that Adam and Eve had received, the promise that the Seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent at the cost of the wounding of His heel. How many hours do you suppose Adam and Eve sat with their children, preaching the gospel to them and teaching them the elements of appropriate worship? (32)
• However, it was not enough for Cain and Abel to merely hear Adam and Eve speak of the promise. The issue was whether they would trust the promise. (32)
• Unlike Cain, Abel was humble in his worship, which is the only possible posture for a fallen human being to have in the context of worship. Arrogant worship is an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms. (35)
• The single most important thing to understand about worship is that the only worship that is acceptable to God is worship that proceeds from a heart that is trusting in God and in God alone. (38)

Quotes from chapter three:

• The sacrifices that were made in the Old Testament were to be sacrifices of praise, and praise is an attempt to express honor. The central element of worship in the Bible involved honoring God, blessing God, esteeming and reverencing God. A sacrifice was offered as an outward sign of a heart that was filled with awe, reverence, and respect toward God. (41)
• I've never given my whole self to God or given my reasonable service to HIm. I have failed in my spiritual duty. And yet, that's what worship is--the presenting of ourselves on the altar of praise, so that what we think, what we do, and what we live is motivated by a desire to honor God. (46)

Quotes from chapter seven:

• I hear preachers say, "We're not supposed to suffer as Christians." When I hear that, I want to say, "You are a false prophet." Not only are we allowed to suffer, it's our vocation as Christians. Our Savior was a suffering Savior, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, who endured manifold afflictions. The New Testament tells us many times to be prepared for the same thing. We suffer, if need be, for a season. (86)
• The thing that is strange is when we enjoy relative freedom from afflictions in this world. The time when afflictions are over will come when we pass the veil. (86)
• Disease is part of the fallen world. It's part of the kingdom of this world. To bear that affliction is to give the same testimony to the redemption that is ours in Christ as if we were bearing the affliction of the persecutions of the Emperor Nero. Our spiritual response to disease should be no different from our spiritual response to persecution. (87)

Quotes from chapter ten:

• There is a variety of responses to the presence of God, but we never read in the Bible of an occasion where God appears to the people and they are bored. Neither do we read of anyone walking away from an encounter with God saying, "That was irrelevant." A Christian service of worship is a gathering of God's people in His presence; it is an encounter with God. So how can we account for the results of the polls that tell us that people come away from church feeling that it is boring and irrelevant? I believe it is because they have no sense of the presence of God when they attend worship. The real crisis of worship today is not that he preaching is paltry or that it's too drafty in church. It is that people have no sense of the presence of God, and if they have no sense of his presence, how can they be moved to express the deepest feelings of their souls to honor, revere, worship, and glorify God? (126)
• Idolatry is simply an attempt to make God visible in ways that are unacceptable to Him. (127)

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

McGee and Me #7: Leviticus 15-27

Leviticus 15-27 (Thru the Bible #7) J. Vernon McGee. 168 pages. [Source: Bought]

I recently bought a complete set of J. Vernon McGee's Thru the Bible commentary series. These books are loosely based on his popular radio program. I have read a handful of his commentaries in the past--including this one--but I plan on reading and/or rereading all of the commentaries (again). 

His commentary on Leviticus is divided into two books. The first book covers Leviticus 1-14. The second book covers Leviticus 15-27. 

First sentence: We have had two chapters on this matter of leprosy, and that has been bad enough, but it is going to get worse in this chapter.

These chapters in the Bible may not be winning any popularity contests--but McGee continues to have a few key insights to share with his audience.

These chapters focus on how the Jewish people--the would-be Jewish nation--should live. God has called his people to live consecrated, set apart, peculiar, holy lives. He does something similar for the church in the New Testament. These rules and regulations seem tedious, odd. But they can reveal just as much about where they've been as to where they're going. [That is the Israelites. They left an idol-worshipping Egypt and are heading towards an idol-worshipping Canaan.] I believe McGee points out that all these "thou shalt nots" mean that there were actually people who were--be they Egyptians, Canaanites, or the Israelites themselves. These chapters stress that there are no "little" or "harmless" sins. All sin--no matter the size, shape, or color--is offensive to God.

Quotes:

• “I do not know what the heart of a villain may be—I only know that of a virtuous man, and that is frightful” (Count de Maistre).
• I live my life in you, and you live your life in me. It cannot be otherwise. You are a preacher, whether you know it or not. You are preaching by your life.
• Well, my friend, whoever you are, you are a preacher. You are preaching some message by your life. You are influencing someone.
• We need to confess and be cleansed of our secret sins.
• Jesus is the fountain for the cleansing of the uncleanness of our hearts.
• God did not take away sins in the Old Testament; He covered them until Christ came and removed them. There are a number of Scriptures which teach this.
• The Day of Atonement pointed to Christ and His redemption as did no other sacrifice, ceremony, or ordinance of the Old Testament. It reveals Christ, as our Great High Priest, going into the Holy of Holies for us.
• There is a great gulf between God and man, but it is not fixed. Thank God for that! It has been bridged.
• It is not the cross that is important; the importance is in the One who died on the cross.
• Christ shed His blood on the cross and then He presented His blood for your sins and my sins. We have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ.
• It is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. The blood of Christ is the only thing that can wash away sin. There is nothing offensive about the blood; the offense is in our sin.
• We are living in a day when the moral foundations have been broken up and removed. “Who makes the rules, and what is right and wrong?” asks the sneering skeptic.
• God demands that His people be holy. Purity in all life’s situations is the command of God.
• The Egyptians were behind them, the Canaanites were ahead of them, and both of them were grossly immoral.
• God says, “I am the LORD, your God,” and “I am the LORD.” Who makes the rules? God makes the rules.
• The things that God said were immoral are still immoral today.
• The child of God in any age is called to holy living.
• Many folk say that if you are going to reach the crowds, you’ve got to go down and live with them. You’ve got to be like they are. This has been tried, both by individuals and by groups. And do you know what? They don’t reach the crowd; they become a part of the crowd.
• God’s love of children is evident in Scripture from Genesis to Revelation. The Lord Jesus said, “Let them come to Me.”
• The Law can not produce the holiness which it demands. It demanded, but it did not supply.
• Don’t volunteer to do God’s work unless you are going to give it everything you have. I’m of the opinion there will be a lot of Christians judged someday because of their laziness.
• The church today is called a royal priesthood. Every believer is a priest and has access to the throne of grace today. Every believer-priest is required to live a holy life which is possible only by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
• The unbelieving world gains its impression of the church from the members of the church. Indifference and irreverence is detected immediately by the outside unbeliever, and his attitude and conduct is governed accordingly.
• The Gospel is written a chapter a day By the deeds that you do and words that you say. Men read what you say whether faithless or true. Say, what is the Gospel according to you?
• Men are not reading the Bible today. They are reading you and me. What are they reading in you, my friend?
• All those who love the Word of God should get involved in getting the message to people.
• God loves you and wants to shower you with His blessings. But you can put up an umbrella of indifference, you can put up an umbrella of sin, you can put up an umbrella of stepping out of the will of God.
• When you do that, the sunshine of His love won’t get through to you. You must put down your umbrella to experience His spiritual blessings.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Book Review: Expository Thoughts on Matthew

Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of Matthew. J.C. Ryle. 1856. 432 pages. [Source: Bought]

Matthew chapter 1
These verses begin the New Testament. Let us always read them with serious and solemn feelings.

I first read J.C. Ryle's commentary on Matthew in 2013. I decided to reread it for a super-obvious reason: it's worth rereading. If a book is really worth reading in the first place, it is often worth rereading.

J.C. Ryle (1816-1900) is one of my favorite authors. He was a Victorian, a contemporary of Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892). (Though the two are different; one remained in the church of England, the other was Baptist. Both are Reformed.) I've spent most of the year sharing quotes from both Victorian theologians.

This book is a commentary--chapter by chapter--of the gospel of Matthew. It includes a reprint of the Scripture text. After presenting the text of the Bible, Ryle shares his thoughts on what we've just read. He keeps things organized and straight-forward. He is passionate, zealous, and not afraid of asking tough questions. His goal wasn't to make his audience feel comfy-cozy-safe-and-warm. He wanted his audience to think, to consider, to weigh, to question spiritual matters of the utmost importance. Are they indeed saved? What does it mean to be saved? What are we saved from? What are we saved to?

I'm going to share twenty-eight quotes--one from each chapter of the gospel of Matthew.

The name JESUS means "Savior." It is given to our Lord because "He saves His people from their sins." This is His special office. He saves them from the guilt of sin, by washing them in His own atoning blood. He saves them from the dominion of sin, by putting in their hearts the sanctifying Spirit. He saves them from the presence of sin, when He takes them out of this world to rest with Him. He will save them from all the consequences of sin, when He shall give them a glorious body at the last day. He who cleaves to sin is not yet saved.

They [the wise men] saw no miracles to convince them. They heard no teaching to persuade them. They beheld no signs of divinity and greatness to overawe them. They saw nothing but a new-born infant, helpless and weak, and needing a mother's care like any one of ourselves. And yet when they saw that infant, they believed that they saw the divine Savior of the world. "They fell down and worshiped Him." We read of no greater faith than this in the whole volume of the Bible.

We are naturally dead, and blind, and asleep in spiritual things. We are ready to content ourselves with a mere formal religion, and to flatter ourselves, that if we go to church we shall be saved. We need to be told, that except we "repent and are converted" we shall all perish. We need to be sent direct to Christ. We are all ready to stop short of this. We want to rest in our union with the church, regular use of the sacraments, and diligent attendance on an established ministry.

The Word is the sword of the Spirit. We shall never fight a good fight, if we do not use it as our principal weapon. The Word is the lamp for our feet. We shall never keep the king's highway to heaven, if we do not journey by its light. It may well be feared, that there is not enough Bible-reading among us. It is not sufficient to have the Book. We must actually read it, and pray over it ourselves. It will do us no good, if it only lies still in our houses. We must be actually familiar with its contents, and have its texts stored in our memories and minds. Knowledge of the Bible never comes by intuition. It can only be obtained by diligent, regular, daily, attentive, wakeful reading.

Unfailing courtesy, kindness, tenderness, and consideration for others, are some of the greatest ornaments to the character of the child of God. The world can understand these things, if it cannot understand doctrine. There is no religion in rudeness, roughness, bluntness, and incivility. The perfection of practical Christianity consists in attending to the little duties of holiness as well as to the great.

The glory of God is the first thing that God's children should desire. It is the object of one of our Lord's own prayers--"Father, glorify your name." (John 12:28.) It is the purpose for which the world was created. It is the end for which the saints are called and converted. It is the chief thing we should seek, that "in all things God may be glorified." (1 Peter 4:11.)

What is the best safe-guard against false teaching? Beyond all doubt the regular study of the word of God, with prayer for the teaching of the Holy Spirit. The Bible was given to be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. (Psalm. 119:105.) The man who reads it aright will never be allowed greatly to err. It is neglect of the Bible which makes so many a prey to the first false teacher whom they hear.

To believe Christ's power and willingness to help, and to make a practical use of our belief, is a rare and precious gift. Let us be ever thankful if we have it. To be willing to come to Jesus as helpless, lost sinners, and commit our souls into His hands is a mighty privilege.

Our courage may be small. Our grasp of the Gospel, and its promises, may be weak and trembling. But, after all, the grand question is, do we really trust in Christ alone? Weak faith is less comfortable than strong faith. Weak faith will carry us to heaven with far less joy than full assurance. But weak faith gives an interest in Christ as surely as strong faith. 

Every believer may do something if he tries. There is always something for every one to do. May we each have an eye to see it, and a will to do it.

The beginning of the way to heaven, is to feel that we are in the way to hell, and to be willing to be taught of the Spirit.

It is a good thing to strive to cast sin out of our hearts. But let us take care that we also receive the grace of God in its place.

We must not be satisfied with clear knowledge, warm feelings, and a decent profession. We must see to it that the Gospel we profess to love, produces positive "fruit" in our hearts and lives.

Let all true Christians remember, that their best things are yet to come. Let us count it no strange thing, if we have sufferings in this present time.

There is nothing which shows our ignorance so much as our impatience under trouble. We forget that every cross is a message from God, and intended to do us good in the end. Health is a good thing; but sickness is far better, if it leads us to God. Prosperity is a great mercy, but adversity is a greater one, if it brings us to Christ. Anything, anything is better than living in carelessness, and dying in sin. 

We must not conceal from ourselves that true Christianity brings with it a daily cross in this life, while it offers us a crown of glory in the life to come. The flesh must be daily crucified. The devil must be daily resisted. The world must be daily overcome. There is a warfare to be waged, and a battle to be fought. All this is the inseparable accompaniment of true religion. Heaven is not to be won without it. Never was there a truer word than the old saying, "No cross, no crown!" If we never found this out by experience, our souls are in a poor condition.

Let it be our daily aim to say nothing we would not like Christ to hear, and to do nothing we would not like Christ to see. Let us measure every difficult question as to right and wrong by one simple test, "How would I behave, if Jesus was standing by my side?" Happy is he that tries to realize his Lord's presence, and to do all and say all as unto Christ.

The same sure word which holds out a heaven to all who repent and are converted, declares plainly that there will be a hell for all the ungodly. Let no man deceive us with vain words upon this dreadful subject. Men have arisen in these latter days, who profess to deny the eternity of future punishment, and repeat the devil's old argument, that we "shall not surely die." (Gen. 3:4.) The God of love and mercy, is also a God of justice. He will surely requite. The flood in Noah's day, and the burning of Sodom, were meant to show us what He will one day do. No lips have ever spoken so clearly about hell as those of Christ Himself. Hardened sinners will find out, to their cost, that there is such a thing as the "wrath of the Lamb." (Rev. 6:17.)

Let us begin from their very earliest years to deal with them [children] as having souls to be lost, or saved, and strive to bring them to Christ. Let us make them acquainted with the Bible, as soon as they can understand anything. Let us pray with them, and pray for them, and teach them to pray for themselves. We may rest assured that such endeavors are not in vain. The seed sown in infancy, is often found after many days.

We ask that God would make us holy. It is a good request indeed. But are we prepared to be sanctified by any process that God in His wisdom may call on us to pass through? Are we ready to be purified by affliction, weaned from the world by bereavements, drawn nearer to God by losses, sicknesses, and sorrow? Alas! these are hard questions. But if we are not, our Lord might well say to us, "You don't know what you are asking." Let us leave these verses with a solemn resolution to consider well what we are about, when we draw near to God in prayer.

Let it be a settled principle in our Christianity, that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is infinitely willing to receive penitent sinners. Only let us repent and believe in Christ, and there is hope. Let us encourage others to repent. Let us hold the door wide open to the very chief of sinners. 

There is in the Gospel a complete provision for all the needs of man's soul. There is a supply of everything that can be required to relieve spiritual hunger and spiritual thirst. Pardon, peace with God, lively hope in this world, glory in the world to come, are set before us in rich abundance. It is "a feast of fat things." All this provision is owing to the love of the Son of God, Jesus Christ our Lord. He offers to take us into union with Himself--to restore us to the family of God as dear children--to clothe us with His own righteousness--to give us a place in His kingdom, and to present us faultless before His Father's throne at the last day. The Gospel, in short, is an offer of food to the hungry--joy to the mourner--a home to the outcast--a loving friend to the lost. It is glad tidings. God offers, through His dear Son, to be at peace with sinful man. 

A will to repent and believe no man can give himself, but a will to reject Christ and have his own way, every man possesses by nature, and if not saved at last, that will shall prove to have been his destruction. Let it be a settled principle in our religion, that men's salvation, if saved, is wholly of God; and that man's ruin, if lost, is wholly of himself. The evil that is in us is all our own. The good, if we have any, is all of God.

Our plain duty then is to live always prepared for His return. Let us walk by faith, and not by sight. Let us believe in Christ, serve Christ, follow Christ, and love Christ. So living, whenever Christ may return, we shall be ready to meet Him.

There is a judgment before us all. Words have no meaning in the Bible, if there is none. It is mere trifling with Scripture to deny it. There is a judgment before us according to our works--certain, strict, and unavoidable. High or low, rich or poor, learned or unlearned, we shall all have to stand at the bar of God and to receive our eternal sentence.

We can never attach too much importance to the atoning death of Christ. It is the leading fact in the word of God, on which the eyes of our soul ought to be ever fixed. Without the shedding of his blood, there is no remission of sin. It is the cardinal truth on which the whole system of Christianity hinges. Without it the Gospel is an arch without a key-stone, a fair building without a foundation, a solar system without a sun. Let us make much of our Lord's incarnation and example, His miracles and his parables, His works and His words, but above all let us make much of His death. This, after all, is the master-truth of Scripture, that "Christ died for our sins." To this let us daily return.

Was He scourged? It was that "through His stripes we might be healed." Was he condemned, though innocent? It was that we might be acquitted though guilty. Did He wear a crown of thorns? It was that we might wear the crown of glory. Was He stripped of His clothing? It was that we might be clothed in everlasting righteousness. Was he mocked and reviled? It was that we might be honored and blessed. Was He reckoned a malefactor, and numbered among transgressors? It was that we might be reckoned innocent, and justified from all sin. Was he declared unable to save Himself? It was that He might be able to save others to the uttermost. Did He die at last, and that the most painful and disgraceful of deaths? It was that we might live for evermore, and be exalted to the highest glory. Our sins are many and great. But a great atonement has been made for them. There was an infinite merit in all Christ's sufferings.

No doubt men may easily think too little of God the Father, and God the Spirit, but no man ever thought too much of Christ.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible