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Growing in Grace

A daily Bible verse and devotional

October 2026

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Saturday, October 31, 2026

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“I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils [demons]” (1 Corinthians 10:20).
At least here in North America, tonight is what is called “Hallowe’en night.” Many children go from house to house in the evening, with the customary call, “Trick or treat,” and expect to be given candy or some other gift that they can eat. They are usually dressed up in all sorts of strange costumes, and people often put out carved up pumpkins, ghost-like figures, silhouettes of witches, etc. in front of their homes. It is not done so much today, but in years gone by, young men often used to go out and play tricks on people. They would take a bar of soap and smear it on the windows of houses, or on car windows. Sometimes they would take things such as farm implements from farmers’ property and hide them. Then everyone would have to go out and straighten everything up the next day.
The word “hallowe’en” is a shortened version of the phrase “all hallows even (evening),” and has very bad associations. Among the ancient Celts in Scotland and England, it was a time of year when it was believed that the entrance of the spirit world was opened for spirits to pass through and haunt the living. People marked the occasion by lighting bonfires for protection, and dressing up like the spirits and creatures they believed could cross over that night. All this was supposed to keep the spirits from harming them. It was definitely connected with Satan and his demons.
It is not a good thing for Christians to be involved in all this, for it is not just something funny and harmless. Satan is real, and wicked spirits are real. The unbelievers who are involved with them never make fun of them; they are afraid of them. We do not need to be afraid of them, for we read in the Bible that “greater is He [the Holy Spirit] that is in you than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). However, we should not become part of anything that has to do with them. It is an effort of the devil to get us to think that he is not all that bad, and then we are not on guard for his attacks. As our verse says, let us not have fellowship with demons.

Friday, October 30, 2026

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“Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you” (Titus 2:8).
Out in the world today — at school, at work, in stores, etc. you will often hear what can be called rough language. People seem to think that in order to emphasize something, they have to use vulgar and sometimes blasphemous words. For example, you will often hear the word hell used very casually in conversation. Satan is behind this, as he wants people to think that hell is not that serious, and is not something to be concerned about.
At other times you will hear rather foul and immoral language, for some people cannot seem to talk without using these words. As Christians we are certainly saddened as we listen to this, and worse still, these words are now being used in books, newspapers and in news broadcasts, as if it is all right to talk that way,
Then we hear words that refer to God and to the Lord Jesus. I am sure you have heard people use the name of the Lord Jesus when they become upset about something. When something happens that is surprising and upsetting, you have certainly heard people say, “Oh, my God!” But I have never heard anyone use the name of Mohammed, Krishna, Buddha, or Confucius in this way. No, it is always the name of God or the Lord Jesus.
The danger for us as Christians is that we can become used to hearing this kind of talk, and then perhaps it does not affect us as it should. Rather, we should ask the Lord for the courage to speak up when people talk this way, and point out that when they use the name of the Lord Jesus like this, they are insulting our Savior. Also, let us be very careful not to use this kind of language ourselves. Rough, crude language in any form is not right for a Christian.

Thursday, October 29, 2026

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“Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit” (Galatians 6:18).
This is a very nice verse, and you may remember that we had one like it, away back in February. That verse was 2 Timothy 4:22, and expressed the Apostle Paul’s wish that “the Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit.” Today’s verse is similar, but a little different.
When we have a new life in Christ, and really want to please the Lord, we can be quite passionate about it, especially when we are young. This is all right, but sometimes in wanting to defend the Lord’s glory and stand up for what is right, we can allow our old sinful nature to act. We can forget that grace is the strongest force to keep us from sin. Then we may defend what is right, but perhaps do it in the wrong spirit. If this happens, what we say will not have the right effect on others.
Grace is the goodness of God that we do not deserve, and it is only because of the grace of God that any of us are saved. When we fully understand grace, we will not take a position of pride and look down on others. In the assemblies in Galatia, some were teaching them that they had to live the Christian life by a rule of law. But this kind of teaching always leads to pride, for then people make rules, and sometimes rules that are hard to follow. Then, when some people can keep the rules but others find it difficult, those who can keep them become proud.
Paul expresses a wish that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ would be with the spirit of those believers in Galatia, and we should want this too. The Lord Jesus was always faithful and stood firmly for what was right. He always had His Father’s glory before Him. But He did it in a way that commended itself to people’s consciences, for the Lord Jesus did not seek His own glory. When He said something, His spirit was always right. We should ask the Lord to help us act in the same way. When we understand grace, we want to follow the Lord Jesus and please Him because we love Him, not because we are obeying a rule.

Wednesday, October 28, 2026

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“There shall come in the last days scoffers [people who make fun of something] … saying, Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation” (2 Peter 3:3-4).
Away back in the time when the church was first formed, nearly 2,000 years ago, they knew about the Lord’s coming. The Lord Jesus had told them, and the apostles preached this precious truth very clearly. But after the apostles had gone to be with the Lord, Christians very quickly lost the hope of the Lord’s coming. However, about 200 years ago, the Lord used some diligent students of the Bible to begin to teach that wonderful truth again, and now many people know about the coming back of the Lord Jesus. It has been widely preached among many Christians, and even worldly people who are not saved know about it.
Some of them are saying what we find in our verse for today. They are saying that they have been hearing about the Lord’s coming for many years, and yet nothing happens. They make fun of Christians who believe that the Lord will come back and take us home to be with Himself. They try and tell us that everything is going on just as it always did.
Why is the Lord Jesus waiting so long? He is waiting longer because He loves lost sinners, and wants more of them to be saved. He knows that when He comes, there will be no more chance to get saved, and that all those who are left behind when He comes will go into a lost eternity.
Everything that God has said in the past has happened, just as He said it would. It is the same with the Lord’s coming, for God always keeps His promises. We may see the world get more wicked than it is, if we are left here for a little longer. Life may become more difficult for those of us who are believers. Thirty years ago, some of us wondered how the world could possibly get any worse, but it certainly has happened. In many countries today serious moral sins are not only tolerated, but legalized. God is not going to let all this go on indefinitely. No, the Lord Jesus will come for us, just as He said He would. Are you looking for Him today?

Tuesday, October 27, 2026

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“Strive to enter in at the strait [narrow] gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able” (Luke 13:24).
When we first read this verse, it might seem a bit confusing. Isn’t salvation a free gift from God, and does God not save all those who come to Him? How then will there be many who will wish to get saved, yet will not be able, as our verse says today?
The problem is that many today are on the broad road that leads to destruction, and they like that road; they do not want to change. A few years ago, I visited a couple that I knew well, although I had not seen them for many years. All three of us had gone to high school together and were even in the same class all through our high school years. The husband had gone to the same university as I did, and we often spent time together. He came to gospel meetings with me and heard the gospel clearly, but to my knowledge he never got saved.
When I visited them again, I brought up the gospel to them, for the wife’s health was not very good. I asked her plainly where she was going if she died. Her answer was typical, “To heaven, I hope!” But when I pointed out that this was not good enough, and that the only way to be saved was to come to Christ as a sinner, and accept Him as her Savior, she did not want to hear that. She wanted to come her own way.
Many today lead good, morally upright lives, and some regularly “go to church,” thinking that somehow this is good enough. Later, when they face eternity, they will expect to be in heaven on the basis of living a good life, and it will be awful for them to find the Lord saying, “I know you not whence ye are” (Luke 13:25). If we wish to enter in at the narrow gate, we must come in God’s way, not in our own way.

Monday, October 26, 2026

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“And brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty” (Matthew 13:8).
“And bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred” (Mark 4:20).
“And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold” (Luke 8:8).
Here is something interesting for all of us to think about. It may be a little hard to understand, but the Bible is full of lovely meditations like this. The parable of the sower is given to us three times in the Bible — in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Yet the fruit from the good ground is described in three different ways. In Matthew it starts with “an hundredfold” and goes down to thirty. In Mark it starts with “thirtyfold,” and goes up to one hundred. In Luke it is all “an hundredfold.” Why is this?
I would suggest that each gospel gives us a different view of the way the gospel is presented. In Matthew, we realize that everything that God has ever committed to man has failed; man has been a failure right from the beginning. Adam and Eve broke the one commandment God gave them, Noah got drunk shortly after he came out of the ark, the nation of Israel turned away from the Lord and worshiped idols, just to name a few examples.
Man has been no better under the gospel. The church started out well, but very quickly bad doctrine and bad practices came in, and now, outwardly, the church is in ruins. We can be thankful that the gospel still goes out, but it is only producing “thirtyfold” in comparison to the beginning.
However, Mark’s gospel is about Christ as the perfect Servant, and service for the Lord is individual. At every period in man’s history, as many of the people turned away from the Lord, the faithfulness of individuals became more noticeable. Before he built the ark, Noah was faithful even when all others were not; Abraham was faithful when many others were not: Josiah the king of Judah was very faithful, even though he had an ungodly father and grandfather.
So it is today. If the church is in ruins outwardly, individuals who are faithful to the Lord are more noticeable, and God values them. They are often the ones who produce one hundredfold, and this ought to be a real encouragement to you and me!
Finally, in Luke it says simply, “an hundredfold.” In one sense, in the Lord’s hands, everything is one hundredfold. When the Lord presents His church to Himself in a coming day, she will be seen in all His perfection, not having “spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing” (Ephesians 5:27). This is how we appear before God as a result of the work of Christ on the cross, and the Spirit of God in Luke calls this “an hundredfold.” How encouraging this is! None of us are perfect Christians as to the fruit we produce, but we are all before God in the perfection of Christ Himself, because He has cleansed us from all sin.

Sunday, October 25, 2026

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“But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold” (Matthew 13:8).
Finally we come to some good soil! We thank the Lord for the good soil, for it is soil that has been well prepared, is free of stones, has not been tramped down by people’s feet, and does not have thorns in it. Here is a place where the seed can really grow and mature.
The seed that grows in this soil represents true believers, who accept Christ as their Savior, and who go on to produce fruit for Him. But then we notice that not every stalk of wheat produces the same amount of fruit.
In a field of wheat, with a really “bumper” crop, a head of wheat may have as many as one hundred kernels on it. That means one hundred kernels of wheat from one seed! In an average year, a head of wheat may have about sixty kernels on it, and that is considered a good yield. Finally, if it is a poor crop, perhaps due to a lack of enough rain, there may be thirty grains of wheat on a stalk.
So it is with you and me as Christians. Some Christians produce more fruit than others. Some Christians are more devoted and more diligent in their Christian life, and produce more for the Lord than others. But then the question may arise, What is fruit for the Lord? Does it mean activity in serving Him, or is it something else? How about a person who is born blind, or born with some other handicap, so that he/she cannot go out and actually do much for the Lord?
Fruit for the Lord is not measured only by active service for Him, although it includes that. But every right thought in your heart and mine is fruit for the Lord. Believers who can never leave their homes can produce much fruit for the Lord. Many have served Him well by earnest prayer; others have enjoyed His Word and been a help to others, without ever going out of their homes. The Lord has something for each of us to do.
Let us all seek to produce one hundredfold.

Saturday, October 24, 2026

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“And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them” (Matthew 13:7).
Here we find a third kind of soil. It was not hard like the soil by the wayside, nor did it have big stones in it to stop the plant from making deep roots. However, there was another very serious problem. You may remember that when Adam and Eve were put out of the Garden of Eden, one of the things that God said would happen was that the ground would bring forth thorns and thistles (Genesis 3:18). Since that time we have had to pull weeds out of our gardens, for they are always there, waiting to grow.
Evidently there was part of the field where there were some thorns, and thorn bushes are very strong. They grow well, and will suck up all the moisture and all the nutrients in the soil where they are. Then there is nothing left for the good seed to use, and the good plants are choked out.
The Lord says that this is like the “care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches” (Matthew 13:22). It is interesting that the care of this world is mentioned first. Yes, riches can be deceitful, for they will never satisfy us, people can spend a lot of time trying to get rich. However, the care of this world is often a worse enemy of the gospel. Why is this?
It is because we have to look after some things that could be called “cares.” We have to work to earn our living, we have to manage our affairs in an orderly way, and we have to look after our homes and our cars, so that they will continue to function well for us. Just this week we had to have a repair done on our gas fireplace; it was one of the cares that I had to deal with. Last week we had to take our car in for servicing — another care. You may have projects and essays to complete for your schoolwork. That can be a care. It is easy to let all this take up so much of our time that we seem to have no time for eternal matters. Yes, we need to take responsibility in our life, but we should not let these things control us to such an extent that we have no time for what is really important. Let us be on guard, and not let either the care of this life or the deceitfulness of riches rob us of the time we need to spend on eternal matters.

Friday, October 23, 2026

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“Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: and when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away” (Matthew 13:5-6).
Here is a different kind of soil. Remember that all the seed was good, but it fell on different kinds of soil. So the gospel is always true, but how various people receive it is different.
The soil in our verses today was not hard like the soil we saw yesterday. But there was another problem. There were big stones in it, and the amount of soil on top of the stones was rather thin. This kind of soil always heats up fast when the sun comes out, and of course the seed immediately tried to grow. But as the sun got hotter, the plants could not get enough moisture to keep them healthy, because the stones stopped the roots from penetrating down deep into the ground. The plants were scorched, and because they had no root, they withered away.
This sometimes happens where I live, for it is a rocky area. The soil on top of the rocks is sometimes only a few inches deep, perhaps 10 cm. Grass and other plants begin to grow quickly in it, but when it gets really hot, the grass starts to wither. We have to water it a lot to keep it looking healthy.
As the Lord Jesus told His disciples, this is like those who hear the gospel, and think it sounds good. But there is no real work in their heart; they believe only with their head. Then, when they find the Christian life difficult and encounter persecution or reproach from this world, they fall back into the same things that they did before they heard the Word. They were not really saved at all.

Thursday, October 22, 2026

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“And He spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; and when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up” (Matthew 13:3-4).
After the Lord Jesus was rejected by Israel as the true Messiah, it tells us in verse 1 of our chapter (Matthew 13) that He went “out of the house, and sat by the seaside.” The house is a picture of Israel, and the seaside is a picture of the Gentile nations. The Lord Jesus was going outside the nation of Israel and was going to bring blessing to the whole world.
He shows us what He was going to do by telling us the parable of the sower. We do not sow seed like this today where I live, as most of it is now done by machines pulled behind tractors. But in those days they worked the land up, and then a man went out with a bag of seed over his shoulder. He scattered the seed by hand, and of course it fell on different kinds of soil. The Lord Jesus uses this parable to show us what happens to the Word of God when it is preached, for the Word of God is the good seed.
Here in today’s verse we find the first kind of soil. The “wayside” is a term for a hard path beside the field, where people walked. As you can imagine, the ground was all packed down hard from the many feet that walked on it, and there is no way that any seed that fell there would grow. No, the birds quickly ate it.
Later in the chapter, the Lord Jesus explains that this is a picture of the devil catching away the good seed that was sown, so that it never had a chance to grow. The ground was hard, and our hearts are sometimes hard too, so that they do not want to receive the Word of God. Then Satan snatches away that seed by filling our minds with many other things. How many people have heard the gospel but have had Satan snatch away that good seed that they heard!

Wednesday, October 21, 2026

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“For whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have” (Luke 8:18).
This verse is so important that the Lord repeats it in the Bible, with small differences, five times. See if you can find the other four times it is used. Two are in Matthew, one is in Mark, and one more is in Luke. Let me explain what this verse means.
As Christians, when we hear something from the Word of God, or perhaps read it for ourselves, we are among those who have that particular truth. We have learned it, but then the question arises, What do we do with it? Are we willing to practice it in our lives, or is it just something interesting that we have read? In the language of the Bible, we do not really have something unless we have put it into practice in our life. We may have it in our head, but we do not really have it unless it becomes part of us, and we live out the truth of it.
When we walk in the truth that we learn, then the Lord gives us more. This is the way we grow as Christians. That is what it means when it says, “For whosoever hath, to him shall be given.” But God does not give us more if we do not practice what we already have.
But suppose we learn something, but decide that we do not want to do it. The Lord tells us that “from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.” God will not allow us to carry the truth in our heads without walking in it. God says that we only “seem” to have it, if we have it only in our heads. If we do not walk in it, we will lose it.
It is a serious thing to lose what we have heard or read, but that is what will happen if we do not practice it. The Lord values our obedience, and as I have said, repeats this verse five times in His Word to emphasize the truth it contains.

Tuesday, October 20, 2026

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“And when even was come, the ship was in the midst of the sea, and He [Jesus] alone on the land. And he saw them [the disciples] toiling in rowing” (Mark 6:47-48).
Have you ever seen a professional rowing team in action? It is a most graceful and rhythmic sight. A team often consists of eight men plus the coxswain (pronounced “cox’n”). He is the team member that sits in the rear of the boat and directs the whole operation. Of course, the rowers are sitting with their backs to where they are going, and only the coxswain can see what lies ahead. He calls the “stroke” so that the team all pulls together, and he also directs when to pull left or right to keep the boat on course. He is like a coach. He does not contribute physically but motivates and with his vision ahead, without touching an oar, steers the boat. The rowers must have faith in their coxswain and trust him fully.
As the boat races along its course, the rowers work to their absolute limit, for rowing is a competitive sport. But you would not usually say they were “toiling in rowing.” So, what was happening in our verse today? The disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee, and a storm had come up. Verse 48 says, “the wind was contrary unto them.” But the Lord Jesus was not in the boat with them. They had no “coxswain.”
They were afraid and had no one to calm, direct, and motivate them. No one to call the “stroke” and help them pull together with assurance. They were toiling. Jesus comes alongside and talks with them. “Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid” (vs. 50). He gets into the ship, and the wind stops. All is well.
In everyday life, it is often with us as it was with Jesus’ disciples that day on the Sea of Galilee. We are struggling to keep on course, and often fearful of the outcome of something we are doing. They were actually doing what Jesus had told them to do! Verse 45 it tells us that He told them to get into the ship and cross to the other side. But they were finding out that they could not do it in their own strength. They needed the help of their Lord, the Creator of the seas.
No coxswain could calm a storm so his team could win a race! But we need to invite Jesus into the ship with us, each and every day. He can see the end of our journey and knows just which way to direct the rowing. He can make us all pull together. He can motivate and encourage. We dare not take the journey without Him in the boat with us. The way may sometimes be rough, but we do not need to “toil.”

Monday, October 19, 2026

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“Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20).
Trees grow in many parts of the world, although there are some places where there is not enough rainfall to support the growth of trees. When we live where trees grow, we learn to identify them by various means — the shape of the tree, the kind of bark it has, the kind of leaves on it, and the kind of fruit it produces. Trees that lose their leaves in the fall are called deciduous trees, and we who live in cooler climates are used to seeing the leaves change color in the fall, then drop off. It is harder to identify a tree without any leaves, although sometimes the shape of it tells us what it is.
Because I grew up on a fruit farm, I can usually identify a fruit tree even in wintertime, but there is one thing I cannot tell. I cannot tell whether it will produce a good crop of fruit, or only a poor crop. However, in our verse for today, the Lord Jesus is talking about whether a tree produces fruit, or whether it produces only thorns, or something like that.
According to verse 15 in this same chapter, there are many false prophets around. They are like wolves in sheep’s clothing, and are not true believers. They are like trees that look like fruit trees, but when they produce something, it is only thorns instead of fruit that can be eaten.
It is important for us to be real before the Lord, too. Being real means that we have truly accepted the Lord as Savior and are not pretending. Then we will have a desire to please the Lord. Sooner or later it will come out as to what we really are, for “neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit” (vs. 18). Let us make sure that we are good trees!

Sunday, October 18, 2026

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“Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord” (Psalm 27:14).
In today’s verse we have another happy expression in the Bible — “Be of good courage.” This expression occurs six times in the Bible; see if you can find the other five. One is in 2nd Samuel, one in 1st Chronicles, one in Ezra, one more in Psalms, and one in Isaiah. It is interesting that while all the verses that say, “Be of good cheer” are in the New Testament, all those that say, “Be of good courage” are in the Old Testament.
We all admire people who have courage, and we all would like to have courage ourselves. However, it is important to have courage to do what is right. Many times in this world people have courage, and use their strength to do something, but they do not always do the right thing. It is possible to use our strength and courage to do the wrong thing, if we are not guided by the Lord.
Here in our verse, we are to have courage, not to do something, but to “wait on the Lord.” Does it take courage just to wait, instead of doing something? Yes, it does, and often it takes more courage than if we do something. We all like action, and when we see a problem, we like to do something about it. But sometimes it is more important to wait on the Lord and let Him solve the problem for us. King David, who wrote this psalm, had to learn this, and then he saw how the Lord could deliver him from the difficulty.
At other times, however, when the Lord has clearly shown us what to do, it is important to go ahead and do something. Joshua had to learn this when Israel was defeated at a city called Ai. You can read about it in Joshua 7. When this happened, Joshua “fell to the earth upon his face” (Joshua 7:6). But then the Lord said to him, “Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face?” (Joshua 7:10). There was something that needed to be done, and Joshua needed to do it.
It is encouraging when the Lord says to us, “Be of good courage,” for He will give us the wisdom to know what to do, even if it is only to wait on Him.

Saturday, October 17, 2026

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“And, behold, they brought to Him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee” (Matthew 9:2).
The expression “be of good cheer” is a most encouraging thing to hear, and especially when it comes from someone who really cares about us, and really means it. We have all known people who rather flippantly say, “Don’t worry; everything is going to be all right,” when they have no idea what we are going through. Sometimes we get the impression that they do not care that much either. But the Lord Jesus cared deeply about the man who was sick of the palsy, and He cares about you and me too.
The Lord Jesus not only cared about this man, but He was going to heal him, right then and there. This was certainly a message of good cheer, for no one else could heal him. However, the Lord Jesus said unusual words when He healed this man. He said, “Thy sins be forgiven thee.” What does this mean? The people who heard the Lord Jesus say this were upset, and especially the scribes, who accused the Lord Jesus of blaspheming. This means that they thought He was acting as if He were God, when He forgave the man’s sins. But that was the very point; He was God, and as God He could forgive sins!
The man was sick because of some serious sin in his life, and the Lord Jesus forgave him. A few minutes later, He told the sick man to pick up his bed and go to his house. It was indeed a day of good cheer for him.
Perhaps you are going through a difficult time in your own life, The Covid virus has disrupted most people’s lives today, and many of you young people are often having a hard time. Perhaps you cannot go to school at the moment, and have to study at home. Perhaps you had a career you wanted to pursue, and now you have to wait. Perhaps you miss the nice social times that you enjoyed a few years ago. But the Lord Jesus says to each of us, “Be of good cheer.” He is there for us, and His presence is worth everything. Sometimes we learn more of Christ when things are difficult than when they are going smoothly. Better still, He is coming soon, and as the hymn says, “It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus.”

Friday, October 16, 2026

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“The weight of the brass could not be found out” (2 Chronicles 4:18).
This statement is made twice in the Bible concerning the amount of brass used in the building of Solomon’s temple. See if you can find the verse in 1st Kings that also says this. Why was the weight of the brass so hard to find out?
When all the measurements are given concerning the materials used in the temple, most of them are carefully recorded. The amount of gold used was very large, yet we know how much there was (1 Chronicles 22:14). Even the weight of the nails used in the building is recorded (2 Chronicles 3:9). But somehow the weight of the brass (or copper) could not be found out.
In the Word of God, brass (or copper) speaks of judgment. You will recall that the serpent on the pole that the Lord told Moses to make was of brass. Also, the altar on which sacrifices were to be offered was covered with brass, had a brass grate, and had instruments of brass. All this speaks of judgment. It is a picture to us of what the Lord Jesus suffered on the cross for sin.
No one will ever know how much the Lord Jesus suffered for sin on the cross. Even when we are with Him up in heaven for all eternity, we will never know what He suffered for us. It is for this reason that the weight of the brass used in the temple could not be found out. Brass was used for many things in the temple, but the Lord saw to it that no one kept track of all the brass that was used. The Lord wants to remind us of how much He suffered for our sins.

Thursday, October 15, 2026

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“And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building” (1 Kings 6:7).
If you read the story in 1st Kings of the building of Solomon’s temple, and the similar account in 2nd Chronicles, you will be amazed at the amount of money and effort that went into the building. It was truly one of the most magnificent and expensive buildings ever constructed. Yet our verse for today tells us that there was something unusual about the way it was built.
At present my wife and I live in a subdivision where all the lots have not yet been built on, and from time to time a new house is constructed. We can usually hear the noises of construction — first of all the power shovel digging the foundation; then the noise of the trucks delivering building materials; then the noise of the workmen as they use both hand tools and power tools to do the actual building. There is often the noise of a generator that provides electricity to the power tools. But during the building of Solomon’s temple, it was quiet. Very quiet!
All the stone had been quarried before, and was perfectly chiseled to fit, before it was brought into the area where it was to be used. All the wood was cut beforehand, and shaped to fit just where it would be needed. As it says in our verse, no tool of iron was heard in the house. Why was this?
First of all, Solomon was to be a man of peace. The house of God was to be “a house of prayer for all people” (Isaiah 56:7), and it was to be a quiet place. Noise and confusion do not favor prayer and meditation. Perhaps Solomon realized this, and asked that there be no noise in the actual building. It is quite possible that Solomon did this out of respect for God’s house.
However, there is something more for our hearts. Today souls are being saved, and God is building a house for Himself. We read about this house in 1 Peter 2:5 — “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house.” Every soul that is saved becomes a “living stone” in this house that God is building. This building is also being built quietly. God is not making a lot of noise in this world; rather, the Spirit of God is quietly working among souls to bring them to Christ, and one by one the living stones are being built into God’s house. Soon it will be finished! Are you one of those living stones?

Wednesday, October 14, 2026

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“Quit yourselves like men; be strong. Let all things ye do be done in love” (1 Corinthians 16:13-14 JND).
As I mentioned yesterday, today’s talk is mainly for young men, although the young women may read it too.
In the Western world today, young men are often confused about what they should do, and how they should act. Even we older men sometimes do not know what we should do. Let me give you an illustration. A few years ago I was in an airport, and stepped up to an elevator. I had to wait a minute or two for it, and in the meanwhile several younger women stepped up too. When the elevator arrived, I immediately stepped back to allow the women to get on first. But instead of getting on, they just stood there, until I was finally obliged to get on. They got on behind me, and then one of them immediately asked me if I was all right. She evidently thought there was something medically wrong with me that I had just stood there and did not get on ahead of them. (I did not get into an explanation, but simply assured her that I was perfectly all right.)
In our verses today, the Apostle Paul is speaking to the Corinthian assembly, but his advice is very good for us men today. He tells them to be strong, yet to do everything with love. What a good combination! When men talk about being strong, sometimes they mean being “macho.” This simply means being tough, perhaps even mean and fierce, and with a domineering attitude toward women. We never find this to be a proper manly attitude in the Bible.
Rather, the Lord wants men to take the place of leadership in a protective and helpful way, and to treat women with love and respect. Despite the wrong attitudes prevailing in the Western world today, most women will respond to this character in a man. However, as Paul points out, this strength and leadership must be tempered with love. An overbearing and arrogant attitude will not do; this is not the character God wants in men.
It is important for Christian young men to develop this type of leadership and love. It is sadly lacking in the world today, and if men would act as they should, I believe that women would respond to it. (They did not respond at that elevator; they were evidently accustomed to being treated just like men.) May the Lord help us in these last days to walk in the wisdom of His Word, and not in this world’s wisdom.

Tuesday, October 13, 2026

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“Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies” (Proverbs 31:10).
Today’s verse refers to a young woman, so young ladies, this is for you. Tomorrow will be reserved for the young men.
If you read the first verse of Proverbs 31, you will notice that it was “his mother” talking to King Lemuel. It is quite possible that this king could be Solomon. Even that very wise king needed to hear good advice from his mother on marriage. He needed to learn how to make a good choice in a wife, and how to treat her!
There are many varied opinions buzzing around us today about the roles of men and women. Yes, you are told in the Western world, you can do anything a man can do. “Go for it!” You can pack your briefcase in the morning, head out the door to your career, and still be a good wife and mother in the home. In some countries, women are often oppressed. They cannot drive a car, or even go out in the street to buy groceries without a man along. They must cover their faces with a veil in public — quite different ways of thinking. But God’s Word has advice.
Right from the beginning, God put the man in the place of leadership. This happened away back in the Garden of Eden with the creation of Adam and Eve. We all know that there cannot be two leaders of an army, two teachers at the same time in the classroom, or two bosses on the same job site. One must lead, and God says that is the man’s responsibility. Where does that put us as girls and women? In a happy marriage, the husband wants to hear and consider his wife’s opinions. But as women, we are given an area to supervise for which we have a natural ability. That is, running the home. And you will find if you reach that stage in life, that it is a challenging and most important job. The Bible does not assume we will all get married. Until you have a home of your own, there are many varied and interesting careers and ways to earn a living. Sometimes after you are married there may be a need for you to help with the income in the home.
The “virtuous woman” does not just sit at home and scrub dirty pots and pans! Nor is she spending all her time gossiping. No, she is out buying a field. That means she is handling the family’s money wisely. She makes “fine linen,” sells it, and spends long hours making clothing to keep her children warm. She works hard! But the chapter concludes that her children will admire and appreciate her, and her husband will praise her (see verse 28).
So, two things to think about …
Remember that your mom likes a word of appreciation and thankfulness as often as you can give it to her!
Remember that when the time comes for you to be prayerfully considering someone whom you might marry, take a long, hard look and ask the Lord, “Is this a man that I can respect and follow when he takes the lead?”

Monday, October 12, 2026

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“Now is our salvation nearer than when we believed” (Romans 13:11).
Yesterday we spoke about two ways of being saved — being saved once when we accept the Lord Jesus as our Savior, and being saved continually all through our Christian lives, as the Lord helps us not to allow our old sinful nature to cause us to sin. We did not mention it yesterday, but baptism is how we show this second way of being saved practically in our lives. When we are baptized, we go under the water and then come up again. Going under the water speaks of death, and in this case it is a picture of death to our old sinful nature. We admit that there is no good in it, and all it deserves is death. But then we come out of the water, and this is a picture of resurrection. We now have a new life in Christ, and this new life cannot sin. If we sin, it is always the old nature that does the sinning. God wants us to display that new life in our Christian walk.
I have repeated the third verse that we had yesterday, just to remind us of it. How can our salvation be nearer than when we believed? This is the third type of salvation that the Bible speaks about, and it simply means that when the Lord comes, we will have everything that salvation means. Now we already have a new life in Christ, but as we have been pointing out, we still have a sinful nature too. Also, we live in a world that is sinful, and we are constantly being tempted to sin because we see sin all around us. Finally, we still have bodies that get sick, and if the Lord does not come, we eventually die.
All this will change when the Lord comes and takes us home to be with Him. Our bodies will change and will become glorified bodies. They will not be subject to disease and death any longer. Also, we will no longer have an old sinful nature. It will never tempt us to sin anymore. Finally, we will be taken out of this world, to a place where sin can never come. No longer will we see sin around us. In this way, we will realize the full effect of our salvation, for we will never see or commit sin again. This is the salvation about which the Apostle Paul is speaking, when he says that our salvation is nearer than when we believed. As time goes on, we get closer and closer to the Lord’s coming. Today we are very close to His coming; it is very near!

Sunday, October 11, 2026

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“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).
“He is able also to save them to the uttermost [completely] that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25).
“Now is our salvation nearer than when we believed” (Romans 13:11).
Here we have three verses that all talk about being saved, yet when we read them, they seem a bit confusing. Let me illustrate it by a story. Many years ago a young woman, about eighteen years old, had just received the Lord Jesus as her Savior. She was so overjoyed that she wanted to tell everyone else about it. A few days later an older Christian man came to visit at her home, and since she had not met him before, she immediately asked him if he was saved. He gave her an unusual answer, for he said, “Yes, I was saved, I am being saved, and I will be saved.” Naturally the girl was somewhat confused by this answer, and asked him what he meant.
He then began to explain to her that salvation is spoken of in three different ways in the Word of God, and that it is important to understand the difference between them. First of all, when we accept Christ as our Savior, the Bible clearly tells us that we are saved. Our first verse today is very clear on this, and it never needs to be repeated. When we are saved once from the penalty of our sins, we are saved forever.
However, in our second verse today, another way of being saved is brought before us. It says that the Lord Jesus is able to save them completely, because He “ever liveth to make intercession for them.” This is not speaking of eternal salvation from the penalty of our sins, but rather being saved from the power of sin in our lives. Even though we are truly saved, we all know that we still have the old sinful nature within us. We are still capable of sinning, even though we now have a new life in Christ.
But God does not want us to continue to sin. The Apostle Paul could say to the Romans, “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” (Romans 6:1). When the Lord Jesus died, the Bible tells us that “He died unto sin” (Romans 6:10). He died and rose again, and that is a picture of how we too have died unto sin. We have put the old sinful nature behind us, and now we belong to Christ. He wants us to let that new nature display itself in our lives.
We will still be tempted to sin, and sad to say, we may sometimes sin. But God wants to keep us from that, and through the intercession of the Lord Jesus up in heaven, we are “being saved” from the power of sin every day. You may have to think about this a little, as it is hard at first to understand, but it is most important to realize. Many dear believers do not understand deliverance from the power of sin, and do not lead victorious lives. But the Lord wants us to do so, and the Lord Jesus is there to help us.
Tomorrow we will speak a little about the last way of being saved.

Saturday, October 10, 2026

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“Jesus … said to them, Whom seek ye? They answered Him, Jesus the Nazaraean. Jesus says to them, I am [He] … When therefore He said to them, I am [He], they went away backward and fell to the ground” (John 18:4-6 JND).
Here we have an account of how the chief priests and Pharisees had sent a band of men to arrest the Lord Jesus. In order to do this, they had paid one of the Lord’s disciples, Judas Iscariot, a lot of money to show them where the Lord was. Judas knew exactly how to find the Lord Jesus, and brought the band of men and officers to arrest Him. The Lord Jesus eventually submitted to them, but first of all, as the Son of God, He showed them who He was.
When the men told the Lord Jesus whom they wanted, He readily identified Himself, but instead of saying, “I am Jesus the Nazaraean,” He said, “I am [He].” Then something happened. All the men who had come to arrest Him, including Judas Iscariot, fell backward to the ground. Can you imagine their surprise? They had come with lanterns and weapons, yet all the Lord Jesus did was say those few words, and they all fell backward to the ground. Why did this happen?
If we go back to the Old Testament, in the time of Moses, there came a time when the Lord sent him to Egypt, to deliver the people of Israel from the power of the Egyptian king, Pharaoh. Moses asked the Lord, If they ask me who sent me, what shall I say? God said to him, “Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you” (Exodus 3:14).
When the Lord Jesus referred to Himself in this way, He immediately connected Himself with the Jehovah of the Old Testament. He had the same power as the God Israel had known in the Old Testament; the same power that had worked miracles before Pharaoh, king of Egypt; the same power that had brought plagues on the land of Egypt, and divided the Red Sea so that the Israelites could escape from the Egyptians. One word from the Lord Jesus could cause all those men and officers to fall to the ground. Yet they were bold enough to scramble to their feet and go on with their arrest.
Yet the Lord Jesus submitted to them, and allowed them to tie Him up and take Him away. Why did He do this? Why did He not simply escape, as He had so often done before? He submitted because He was here to do the Father’s will, and because He loved you and me so much.

Friday, October 9, 2026

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“There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling” (Ephesians 4:4).
Perhaps you have heard people sometimes refer to the body of Christ, and how we who are saved are all members of His body. Do you know what this means?
All of us have bodies, and they enable us to carry out our daily responsibilities. We have brains that can think, ears that can hear, mouths that can speak, hands that can do things, and feet that enable us to walk. We also have internal organs, such as a heart, a liver, two kidneys, two lungs, etc. that we have not likely ever seen, yet they form a vital part of our body. Each part of our body has a specific function, and normally one part of the body cannot do what the other parts do. I once saw a video of a woman who had no arms, and had to do everything with her feet. She managed very well, but I am sure she would rather have had her arms and hands! (She could change a baby’s diaper, bake bread, drive a car, and even write out a check — all with her feet! But hands could do all this more easily!)
With the body of Christ, He is the Head in heaven. We learn this from Colossians 1:18 — “And He is the Head of the body, the church.” He is up there in heaven, and He is the Head of His body, which is down here. The body of Christ is composed of all believers who are alive at any one time on this earth. Today there are millions of people who belong to Christ, and who are members of His body.
Just as in our natural bodies, the members of the body of Christ have different functions. The Apostle Paul describes this to us in 1 Corinthians 12:17 — “If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?” For the same reason God has given different gifts to various members of the body of Christ, so that the body can function properly. Some people are good gospel preachers, some have a real gift in teaching children in a Sunday school, some are good teachers of the Bible, and some are good at comforting people who need it. God wants us each to use what He has given us.
Sometimes our human bodies do not function properly, and sad to say, sometimes the body of Christ does not work together as it should. Our natural bodies cannot function without direction from the brain (our “head”). For example, someone with Alzheimer’s disease, whose brain is not working properly, sometimes cannot tell his hands to feed himself. It is so important to look to our Head in heaven for direction, for He never gives wrong directions to His body.

Thursday, October 8, 2026

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“And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Allelula: for the Lord God omnipotent (all -powerful) reigneth” (Revelation 19:6).
The world is in lot of trouble right now, with things like the Covid pandemic, governments competing with one another for influence and power, our lives being upset by lack of some things in stores, etc., and many other problems. But as we have said before, God is still in charge and always will be. He knows very well what is going on, and is working behind it all to accomplish what He is going to do.
Compared to the size of the universe, our planet is rather small, yet God has chosen it as the place to work out His purposes concerning His beloved Son. God is going to have Him exalted to the highest place, and nothing is going to stop God from doing this.
At the time that I am writing this in January, 2022, Russia is massing large numbers of troops on the border of the Ukraine, and everyone expects them to try and invade that country. Many other countries, including Canada and United States, are very upset about Russia’s intentions, and have said that they will do everything possible to prevent their invading the Ukraine. Russia may not be able to do what they wish to do, but again, nothing can prevent God from carrying out His purposes.
There is a day coming when the Lord Jesus will come back in power and glory, and this is given to us in some detail in this 19th chapter of Revelation. Today man thinks that he can do what he wishes in this world, and the strongest country can use its power to carry out its purposes. But when the Lord Jesus comes back, as we read in this chapter, all who dare to oppose Him will be defeated. In one sense it will be a sad day, for judgment is God’s “strange work,” and He does not wish for the death of the wicked. But if man continues to oppose God’s purpose, and thinks that he can fight against God, he will fall under God’s judgment. For you and me who know the Lord, we will also be happy when the Lord Jesus has His rightful place.

Wednesday, October 7, 2026

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“Beloved, now are we the sons of God … ” (1 John 3:2).
“Having predestinated us [chosen beforehand] unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself” (Ephesians 1:5).
There are two ways that we can become part of a family. One is to be born into the family, and the other is to be adopted into it. In each way, we are equally children of that family. God has made us His children in both of these ways! We are “born” into His family when we are born again, and He also tells us we are “adopted.” That means that we were chosen specially to be a part of this wonderful family.
In a past eternity, long before the world was created, God had a plan for this family. He was God. He didn’t need anything, except someone to love! He wanted children, and He wanted them all to be like His Son, the Lord Jesus. So when we read that verse in Romans 8:29, we see that any troubles and difficulties in our lives are sent to us that we might be “conformed to the image of His Son.” In other words, the troubles are like a carving tool. They are cutting and shaping us to be in the same image as the Lord Jesus. It is a really special privilege to be shaped to be like sons of God.
And there is another thing about families; they have similar characteristics. The more each of us is like the Lord Jesus, the more we are like one another. And what a huge family it is! You may go into a restaurant and see another family across the room, and notice that they bow their heads and thank the Lord for the meal they are about to have. Immediately you realize that they must be Christians too, and you want to go over to them and meet them. They are your brothers and sisters in Christ!
You can travel all over the world and meet family members of every nationality and race. Immediately there is a link between you, and you feel a wonderful bond that joins you together, as you are all a part of God’s family. You may have your dad’s eyes, and your mom’s curly hair, but in God’s family, it is the hearts that match! First John 3:14 tells us that this is one of the signs that someone is a Christian — “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.”
One other special thing about this family is that God is our Father, and He wants us to come to Him and call Him, “Father.” He will comfort us and encourage us, and also correct us when necessary. And He never makes a mistake! It is an awesome relationship that God has designed for His family.

Tuesday, October 6, 2026

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“Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven; and He overthrew those cities” (Genesis 19:24-25).
“Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness [lots of free time] … neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy” (Ezekiel 16:49).
The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are mentioned many times in the Bible. They were very wicked cities, and God destroyed them in the time of Abraham. Prior to their being destroyed, they had everything — a beautiful climate, well-watered land, plenty of food, and a relaxing life. The Bible says that it was “well watered every where … even as the garden of the Lord” (Genesis 13:10). However, their wickedness was so great that the Lord destroyed those cities, as we see in our first verse today. The Dead Sea in that area is a reminder of the judgment that God inflicted on them, for the destruction of those cities was intended to be an example to all those who came later. Brimstone is another word for sulphur, which gives off toxic fumes when it burns. There is quite a bit of it on the shores of the Dead Sea.
The destruction of those cities probably occurred about 450 years after the flood of Noah, and most people would have heard about the flood. Shem, one of the sons of Noah, was still alive when Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed. How quickly men forgot the flood, and once again turned to wickedness!
Ezekiel describes the problem with Sodom, as it says in our second verse for today — plenty of food, pride, and a careless ease, that thought that everything would just go on in prosperity for them. You and I who live in Western countries live in that kind of a world today. We have plenty to eat, and are provided for in every way. But judgment will overtake this world soon, and especially that part of the world that has known the gospel and has had the Bible.
When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He spoke several times about the responsibility of those cities where He had lived, and had done many of His mighty works of miracles. He said clearly that it would be more tolerable for Sodom in the day of judgment, than for those cities. So it will be with much of the Western world. God judges according to our responsibility, and will judge very severely those who have had the Word of God, and have turned away from it.

Monday, October 5, 2026

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“Woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! Good were it for that man if he had never been born” (Mark 14:21).
This is one of the most solemn verses in the Bible, and refers, of course, to Judas Iscariot, who was one of the disciples of the Lord Jesus. But he was not a true disciple, even though he kept company with the Lord Jesus all through His earthly service, and did everything the other disciples did. Like the other disciples, he spoke about the Lord Jesus, preached to people, performed miracles, cleansed lepers, and probably even brought dead people back to life. He acted so much like all the other disciples that when the Lord Jesus told them that one of them was going to betray Him, the true disciples had no idea whom the Lord was talking about.
Judas had one serious fault; he loved money. When he saw a chance to make some money, he was ready to betray the Lord Jesus. He had seen the Lord Jesus escape easily from those who wanted to arrest Him before, and he thought it would happen again. But this time the Lord Jesus allowed Himself to be taken.
It is a most awful statement that the Lord Jesus made about Judas — “Good were it for that man if he had never been born.” That could never be said about someone who eventually got saved. No matter how hard a life you or I may have had, or how bad we may have been, if we accept Christ as Savior, we will end up with Him in heaven. In that case, no one could say that it would have been better if we had not been born! This statement by the Lord Jesus could be said only of someone who went into a lost eternity. It is better not to be born, than to end up in hell. It is most solemn to think that a man who knew the Lord Jesus so well, and spent between three and four years in His company, ended up like this. Let us all take a warning from it. We can grow up in a Christian home, memorize verses from the Bible, listen to the Bible being read, even read it ourselves, and spend time with other Christians, yet we may not be saved. I hope no one who reads this is in this awful position!

Sunday, October 4, 2026

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“Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18).
I live in Canada, where snow is common in winter, and most of Canada gets quite cold in winter. Some parts are colder than others, of course. Around the Great Lakes, and especially Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, the climate is milder, because of the warming effect of the lakes. Also in southwestern British Columbia the climate is milder, because of the Japan Current in the Pacific Ocean. But in other regions of Canada it can get very cold in winter.
Two days ago we received almost 50 cm. of snow; that is more than 20 inches. It slowed everything down, but most people were able to get to work, as the snowplows did their job well, and most of the roads were clear. Today several more inches of snow fell.
Snow is very white and beautiful when it falls, and the whole landscape looks clean and nice at first. But then, as snowplows begin to move it away, and the road crews put salt and sand on the roads, it does not look quite so pretty. Then of course people walk on it, and again, it is not as beautiful as before.
Snow is mentioned a number of times in the Bible, mostly in the Old Testament. Sometimes people got leprosy, and their skin looked white, like snow. In another place Job mentions the “treasures of the snow.” I am not sure what he was referring to, but in some parts of the world they depend on heavy snowfall in the mountains, which then melts as spring and summer arrive, and supplies water for those living in the valleys. For those people, a good “snowcap” is a real treasure.
But then the Lord says that when we come to Christ, our sins will be as white as snow. White in the Bible speaks of purity, and when our sins are washed away by the blood of Christ, we are as white as snow. David goes a step further in Psalm 51:7, when he says to the Lord, “Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” Even though we may have committed some serious sins, the blood of Christ can make us perfectly fit for God’s presence.

Saturday, October 3, 2026

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“And Israel [Jacob] said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you” (Genesis 48:21).
“And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you” (Genesis 50:24).
When Jacob was about to die, he recognized that he was nearing the end of his life in this world, and told Joseph that though he was going to die, God would be with him. Perhaps even in your young life you have had someone die who was close to you, perhaps a grandmother or grandfather, or even a good friend. It is hard when this happens, and Jacob knew it would be hard for Joseph when he died. Joseph would miss his father very much. But he reminded Joseph that God would be with him — the One who would never die. It is the same with us today. We may lose good friends and older relatives, as they go to be with the Lord, but the Lord is the same, and He will always be with us.
But then, when Joseph was about to die, he said something different. He was looking on to the time when the Lord would deliver the children of Israel from Egypt, and bring them into the land of Canaan. He knew that while they were doing well in Egypt, yet it was not the place where they were to stay. God had promised Abraham that He would give his children the land of Canaan, and Joseph remembered this.
Because of this, Joseph reminds his brethren that he was going to die, but that God would surely visit them. It took some time, for the children of Israel stayed in Egypt about another 140 years after Joseph died, and had a very difficult time, for a new Pharaoh became king. He did not know Joseph, and when the children of Israel became very numerous, he made them into slaves. But eventually the Lord raised up Moses, who led the people to freedom with the Lord’s power.
You and I are also enjoying the fact that the Lord is with us, but we must also remember that this world is not our home. We are waiting for the Lord to come and take us home to be with Him. God will surely visit us too!

Friday, October 2, 2026

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“So he [Joseph] sent his brethren away, and they departed: and he said unto them, See that ye fall not out by the way” (Genesis 45:24).
Joseph had told his brothers who he was, and had been very kind to them. He told them to go home and bring their father down to Egypt, and that he would look after them. He even gave them wagons to take home, so that their father could ride comfortably down to Egypt, instead of having to ride on the back of a donkey or a camel.
However, when Joseph sent his brothers home, according to our verse for today, he said to them, “See that ye fall not out by the way.” This simply means, “Make sure that you do not get fighting among yourselves on the way home.” Isn’t it sad that Joseph had to say that? Why would he need to tell them something like that? They had just been shown every kindness, and could look forward to coming down to Egypt and being looked after by Joseph. Why would they get to quarreling among themselves?
Joseph knew his brothers very well, and knew that they tended to have frequent disagreements. They might start fighting over who was to blame for selling Joseph into Egypt, and perhaps even fighting about who would have the best place in Egypt. Joseph knew they needed this warning.
It is also true for us who are Christians. We have been redeemed with the blood of Christ, and are on our way to heaven. God has provided everything for us along the way, and promised to look after us until we are safely home there with Him. Yet how many times Christians seem to find something about which to quarrel with one another. It is not a good thing, for people in the world see this, and then tend to make fun of us. The Lord Jesus could say to His disciples, “By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:35). Let us take care to display that love before the world around us.

Thursday, October 1, 2026

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“And he searched, and began at the eldest, and left at the youngest: and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack” (Genesis 44:12).
If you read the story in Genesis 43 and 44, you will find that eventually Jacob allowed Benjamin to go down to Egypt with his brothers, because there was no other way to get food. But then it seems as if Joseph plays a mean trick on them. After giving them a good meal in his home, he gives them their wheat and lets them start out for home. But he tells his steward, the man in charge of his house, to put his silver cup in Benjamin’s sack, to make it look as if Benjamin stole it. Then he tells the steward to catch up with them, and find the silver cup.
You can imagine the brothers’ feelings when they find the cup in Benjamin’s sack. Joseph says Benjamin must stay in Egypt and be his servant, and the rest could go home. What would the brothers do now? Would they just leave Benjamin there? No, Judah offers to stay in Egypt in Benjamin’s place, so that Benjamin could go home.
At this point Joseph knows that his brothers are really repentant, and he tells them who he is. He tells them that he will look after them in the land of Egypt, and to go and bring their father down with them.
Again, all this reminds us of the Lord Jesus. Benjamin was the only brother who was not involved in selling Joseph into Egypt, yet he is the one in whose sack the silver cup is found. Would the other brothers let the only innocent one among them suffer? But the Lord Jesus was the only One who had never sinned, yet He bore that awful load of sin on Calvary’s cross. No one offered to take His place, for no one else could bear our sins. Benjamin had not stolen the cup, either. It had been put there deliberately by Joseph’s steward. But now Judah was willing to take Benjamin’s place, instead of allowing him to suffer. Tomorrow we will see what happens when they start out for home again.
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