But every priest stands daily ministering and repetitively offering the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.

— Hebrews 10:11-12

Only the High Priest could enter into the Holy of Holies, and that but once a year, and then not without the blood of the sacrifice that was to be sprinkled onto the mercy seat.

What was in that Holy of Holies? There was the Ark of the Covenant. Within it were found the two tables of the Law written by the very hand of Jehovah. Those laws, looking upward, cried out against the transgressions of men against the commandments. On the top of the Ark was the mercy seat, covered in pure gold. Once a year on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the High Priest entered into the Holy of Holies and sprinkled blood on the mercy seat of the atonement.

On either end of that Ark, gold-covered cherubim faced inward. Between those cherubim there dwelt the presence of the Almighty God. There the broken law cried out for vengeance upon the transgressors, and it was only the blood of the atonement that blocked it out. That is a great picture of Christ who entered the Holy of Holies in Heaven itself with His own blood to make atonement for our sins. There is the secret place of the most High God, where mercy is meted out through the death of the Sacrifice.

Question to ponder:
How is Jesus Christ both our High Priest and sacrifice?

A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, …

— Proverbs 13:22

What kind of spiritual heritage are you leaving or have you left your children? If you look back through the great names of God’s people, you will find that in many cases their testimony is that whatever they are, they owe it to the prayers of their parents in family devotion times around the family altar when they were children.

The saintly Matthew Henry says in his own testimony that whatever there may be of good about him, he contributes it in a large part to his godly home and praying parents who gathered the children together each day for the worship of God.

I think of Patrick Henry, who wrote this in his Last Will and Testament: “I have now disposed of all my property to my family; there is one thing more I wish I could give them, and that is the Christian religion. If they had that, and I had not given them one shilling, they would be rich, and if they had not that, and I had given them all the world, they would be poor.”

Question to ponder:
What would you like to leave to your children?

How long, O Sovereign Lord, holy and true …?

— Revelation 6:10

Some years ago, I went through a trial worse than anything I’d ever known. In the midst of that ordeal, many cries went up from my heart: “How long, O God?” In all of that, there was the belief that God is the sovereign Lord, that He is the infinite, all-powerful One who holds the reins of the world in His hand. Even beyond that, He is a loving and merciful God and therefore there was a purpose and a reason for all that happened. Furthermore, I believed that ultimately He would work all things together for my good.

One of the greatest books on suffering from a Christian perspective was first published in 1856 and retranslated into English in 2002. The book is by a Calvinistic French pastor, Adolphe Monod. His book is a series of sermons, which he delivered as he was dying of cancer. The book is Living in the Hope of Glory (translated by Constance K. Walker). Monod said that whatever we need, we have in Christ, even if we’re suffering the pangs of death: “He will never deprive me of any good except to give me some other, better one.” He also noted, “Having Christ we have all things …”

Question to ponder:
God is good, and God is sovereign. How do these two truths comfort us?

You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.

— Isaiah 26:3 NKJV

Anxiety. Fear. Worry. We live in a time of “men’s hearts failing them for fear” (Luke 21:26 NKJV). If you are like most Americans, you have to confess that you are often troubled by many things. People are anxious and worried; peace is elusive and never lasts.

How much serenity do we have? The word “serenity” is not found in the Bible, but it conveys the concept in words that mean the same thing. The Bible talks about “peace” and “rest” and “quiet”—something most people experience very little of. Shalom is the word in the Bible for the peace that includes security and wholeness.

How tragic that millions who have never found the solution to the sin problem are trying to find serenity in some other way. It can never, ever be done, my friends. It just will not work. You have to have the forgiveness of God before you can have serenity and peace of mind. Christ Jesus is the Prince of Peace, and He offers us the peace of God.

This is perhaps one of the reasons Paul greets his readers with “Grace and peace.” Without grace, there is no peace.

Question to ponder:
How can a person be serene in the midst of chaos?

To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces …

— 1 Peter 1:1 NIV

A Dr. Morrison went on a great preaching mission and spent two years preaching the Gospel in scores of different countries. About the time he got back, Teddy Roosevelt returned from big game hunting in Africa. The nation honored him with a ticker-tape parade and tens of thousands of people turned out to celebrate his return.

When Dr. Morrison arrived in his small hometown late at night, there was no one at the train station to greet him. There was one light bulb hanging from a cord, swaying and swinging in the breeze, but not a single person was there.

As he picked up his bags and started up a long hill to the little town, his heart was heavy. He said, “O Lord, Teddy Roosevelt went to shoot animals and he came back and they gave him a ticker-tape parade. I’ve been all over the world. I was almost killed in Borneo, and I was almost eaten in New Guinea, and several times I almost lost my life to preach the Gospel for the glory of your Son. I come home and there’s nobody here to greet me. Lord, I just don’t understand it.” He said that it seemed there in the darkness, as the breeze blew across his face, he could almost hear a voice coming out of Heaven that said, “You’re not home, yet.”

Question to ponder:
When you think of your homecoming, what do you think you will say to Jesus?

… I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, you may be also.

— John 14:3

We are constantly looking for a place to belong. We all want a home. Even here on earth, a good home is a great blessing, and it can be a little bit of heaven. But our true home is in heaven.

Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are many dwelling places” (John 14:2). Jesus is the only one in the New Testament who refers to Heaven as a house—indeed, His Father’s house. Heaven is called in Scripture a country, a city, a garden, and paradise. But it is also a home, and this speaks to the depths of the concerns of our hearts. Home used to mean, and still does for some, a retreat from the problems of this world, a place of solace, a place where loved ones gather and have the deepest of fellowship.

But Heaven is our ultimate home—a home prepared for us by our Savior. Interestingly, He didn’t send angels to prepare it. He said, “I am going to prepare a place for you” (v. 2). The pronouns are filled with meaning. Jesus is the architect of those mansions. He is the builder of those rooms. He is the decorator, the provider of everything needful. Jesus has provided it, and not only that, but He went to Calvary’s Cross to pay for it. It is paid in full.

Question to ponder:
How do you picture your home in heaven?

Then the soldiers likewise demanded of him [John the Baptist], “And what must we do?” He said to them, “Do no violence to anyone nor accuse any falsely, and be content with your wages.”

— Luke 3:14

War is a great evil. It is a tragedy. Every Christian should abhor it and do what he can to prevent it. We are to live at peace with all men as much as lies within us. But there are times when we must fight. The greatest of Christian theologians and Reformers down through the centuries have believed this, and so, too, believed the founders of this nation.

Jesus did say “do not resist an evil person” but turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39). This, however, is a personal ethic, and not a directive to the state. That is why nations have police forces and armies. Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 teach how the civil ruler is to bear the sword and punish evildoers. “[F]or he [the state ruler] is the servant of God for your good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain, for he is the servant of God, an avenger to execute wrath upon him who practices” (Romans 13:4).

Today we honor those brave men and women who have served their country faithfully. We honor these brave men and women because they have secured the freedom that we enjoy in this nation under God. Peace is precious, and it is not cheap.

Thank a veteran today.

Question to ponder:
What can you do today to honor our veterans?

… be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.

— John 16:33

I like the story about a man walked to the drug store and when he entered the store, he found himself in the middle of a holdup. The robber, gun in hand said to him, “Give me your wallet and your keys, or I’ll shoot.”

This man said, “I just finished reading the Scriptures, and I just finished my prayers, so go ahead, shoot.” The robber was astonished. He didn’t know what to do, so he turned and ran out the door.

Now there was a courage born out of faith. All that robber could do to him was simply send him on a first class ticket to Heaven—no cancer, no stroke, no lingering disease, no debilitating old age—but a first class ticket to heaven. Of course, what that robber probably realized is that if he pulled that trigger, what he could do for himself was get a ticket straight to the electric chair and then to hell. So he ran.

Obviously, we are not called to a foolish presumptuous life that takes needless risks. That is not wisdom. But, as Christians, we need not live our lives in cowering fear. Jesus Christ has overcome the world, and this life is but a second compared to all eternity.

Question to ponder:
In which area of your life, do you need more courage?

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.

— Matthew 11:28

Guilt breaks lives down like a caustic acid. Our mental institutions are filled with individuals who are utterly destroyed by guilt. One psychiatrist has said that every person in every mental institution in the country is there because of feelings of guilt.

I shared the Good News of Christ with a man, and then I asked him if he would like to receive Christ as Lord and Savior of his life. I shall never forget the way he phrased his answer. He said: “Yes, I would like to get rid of this burden of guilt.”

Are you carrying such a burden? The sojourner in Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress begins the story with a great, heavy burden on his shoulders—a burden of guilt that he cannot get rid of or unleash. Finally, he is pointed to a Cross on top of a hill. He climbs that hill and kneels before that Cross. Suddenly the burden breaks loose and rolls down the hill into a dark tomb, never to be seen again.

God completely removes our burden of guilt. As far as the east is from the west, so far is the punishment for our transgression removed from us.

Question to ponder:
Are you still carrying the burden of guilt that you could leave at the foot of the Cross?

Claiming to be wise, they became fools.

— Romans 1:22

Many on our university campuses today see the world through the lens of existentialism, the prevailing philosophy of modern man. And what is the modern man? He is Irrational Man. This is the title of a scholarly work that details how man has reached a point of total irrationality—where the world has no rhyme or meaning; where there is no significance; where there is no purpose; where there is no teleology; where there is no end; and where there is no beginning. All things have been reduced to a primeval chaos in human thinking.

It is a tragic pilgrimage to meander through Irrational Man. We see that man without God, without divine revelation, and with only his unaided reason, has not produced a rational, enlightened, intelligent view of the universe. He has not grasped nor comprehended and understood all things, but rather, he has been led into the miry slough of despond. Pessimism is to be found everywhere among the existentialists. That is why suicide is a leading cause of death among college students today.

But God has shone His light into our world by revealing the truth through His Word—both the Bible and Jesus Christ, the Word of God. In Him we find true wisdom.

Question to ponder:
Can a faithful Christian with a true Christian worldview be a pessimist?