DAY 325    Read 2 Corinthians 1 through 3.

Today's reading:  After Paul sent his rather stern letter (1 Corinthians) to the troubled church, he worried that he might have been too severe.  He dispatched a second one from Macedonia before going on the Corinth in person.

Memory gem:  "Ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart:  (2 Corinthians 3:3).

Thought for today:
If one is to be a letter from Christ, he must seek to obey the teachings of Christ and follow the example of Christ--all by the grace of Christ.  Remember, my friend, you are a letter from Christ to those where you work in the shop, in the office, the home, on the farm, on shipboard, at the airport.  They may never hear a chapter of Scripture read or a sermon.  Therefore, they must hear of Jesus from you.

One big question that faces us is this: Does the world see Jesus in me, in you?  What do they see when they look at us?  Remember, you are the best Christian that somebody will ever know.  In the Bible we have the gospel according to Matthew, according to Mark, according to Luke, according to John; but what is the gospel according to you, according to me?

An anonymous poet wrote:
      You are writing a gospel,
        A chapter each day.
        By deeds that you do,
        By words that you say.
        Men read what you write,
      Whether faithless or true;
         Say, what is the gospel
            According to you?

Millions of the busy, friendly people around us do not know where they are spiritually.  The experience of too many in our generation is like the last message of Amelia Earhart, flying over the South Pacific with her navigator.  From somewhere off New Guinea, in the gathering tropical storm, her failing radio spelled out the words: "Fuel almost gone.  Position doubtful."

Are you a letter from Christ, or is your position doubtful?

DAY 324    Read 1 Corinthians 15 and 16; Acts 19:23 through 20:1.

Today's reading:  Among other errors the apostle sought to correct was a denial of the resurrection.  After finishing the Corinthian letter, we turn back to Paul's experiences in Ephesus.

Memory gem:  "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.  But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept"  (1 Corinthians 15:19, 20).

Thought for today:
Rich and poor, believer and unbeliever, saint and sinner, the brave man and the coward--we must all face the great enemy, death.  Here we need one of the greatest of all chapters in the Bible, the fifteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians.  Through our tears we can repeat its promises by the graveside of those we love.

The dead shall live again.  Death is a temporary separation.  We may die, but we shall live again if we are the children of God.

As far as a sinful man is concerned, death is the end.  Science has done great things, but it cannot raise the dead.  The greatest scientist on earth cannot bring life to the nonliving.  Life comes only from antecedent life.  Men can take life, but they cannot give life.

When you are near the valley of the shadow, think of these words: "We shall be changed....This mortal must put on immortality."

Pointing to the Congo River, David Livingstone asked the tribesmen of interior Africa, "Where does your great river go?"  They always answered, "It is lost in the sands."  They did not know that beyond the sands the mighty Congo flowed into a limitless ocean.

God's child is not lost in the sands of time, nor forever imprisoned in the narrow tomb, but he will find his way at last to the measureless ocean of God's immortality.

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Difficult or obscure words:
1 Corinthians 16:23.  "Maranatha''--an Aramiac expression meaning "our Lord comes" or "our Lord, come."
Acts 19:24.  "Diana"--the Greek goddess Artemis.  The Roman Diana was not the same deity.

DAY 323    Read 1 Corinthians 12 through 14.

Today's reading:  In the middle of a study on the "gifts of the Spirit" lies the "love-chapter," which, the apostle says, shows "a more excellent way."

Memory gem:  "[Love] doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil"  (1 Corinthians 13:5).

Thought for today:
The real secret of the successful Christian life, the obedient life, the life in harmony with the commandments of God, is the love of Christ in the heart.  Love does no harm to others.  Love does not hate, love does not rejoice in the troubles of other people.  Love forgives, love is patient.  It has no envy.  It is not full of spiritual pride.  It is not selfish, is not easily provoked, does not always see something wrong in the acts of others.

That's what often happens in families: the first love cools off, and the husband and wife do not treat each other as they did at the beginning of their marriage.  If this is the condition in your family, then repent and do the first works.  Do you remember how you used to treat the girl you married?  Do you remember how careful you were of your personal appearance?  Yes, you were well groomed.  You had a smiling face.  You performed little acts of courtesy.  You brought her gifts and flowers.  You expressed your love.  Well, do those things again and see what happens.

And you, too, wife.  Do you remember when you first fell in love?  Act in the same way now.  Ask God to help you, and He will.

It is the same in the Christian life.  If we perform our religious duties merely as duties, our spiritual experience will be a drudgery.  There are too many long-faced Christians today, Christians who have lost the joy of their salvation.  This is because their love is cold and their service is based on a bleak duty rather than upon the outworking of the love of God in the heart.  God's love is the same in all kinds of weather.  No matter what happens, God still loves us, and it is our privilege to love Him.

DAY 322    Read 1 Corinthians 9 through 11.

Today's reading: Again and again the apostle points to control of the physical body as an important part of maintaining spiritual health.

Memory gem:  "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God"  (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Thought for today:
Real temperance is absolute abstinence from all that is evil, and the moderate and proper use of that which is good.  Self-discipline is essential to temporal achievement in this world.

"Every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things"  (1 Corinthians 9:25).  Those who succeeded in winning the laurel crown of victory at the Olympic games were temperate in their eating and drinking.  They took the right kind of exercise.  They did this to obtain an earthly crown which would soon fade away.  But how much more necessary it is for us in our spiritual quest, as the apostle reminds us in verse 25: "Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible."

Let me say this:  We are not going to have perfect temperance by merely shutting off intoxicating drinks, bad as they are.  We must start by civilizing the kitchen.  As Henry Ward Beecher said, "We must apply scientific wisdom and knowledge to the department of cookery.  Bad cooking is a perpetual temptation to drink."  We are not to be indifferent to the health of the body.  We are not to deceive ourselves into thinking that intemperance is no sin and will not affect our spirituality.  Yes, eating wisely is a part of temperate living.  And after all is said and done, temperance must begin in our thinking.  States of mind and prevailing habits of thought register themselves in bodily, as well as moral, conditions.  Right thinking leads to health.  Right thinking leads to happiness.  Right thinking leads to God, "for as [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he," declares the Holy Word in Proverbs 23:7.  Therefore, we appeal to you, friend, in the words of Holy Writ: "Gird up the loins of your mind, be sober"  (1 Peter 1:13).

Then the fruits of true temperance will be in your life, will be seen in you wholly--spirit, soul, and body.

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Difficult or obscure words:
1 Corinthians 10:25.  "Shambles"--the public market.

DAY 321    Read 1 Corinthians 6 through 8.

Today's reading:  Paul gets down to specifics on the subject of sins plaguing even God's people.  The apostle offers positive suggestions for curing the plague.

Memory gem:  "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?  For ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's"  (1 Corinthians 6:19, 20).

Thought for today:
If each of us is a living temple for the indwelling of God and for His glory, it is supremely important how we live.  How do we treat God's temple?  Is it ever difficult by our way of living, thinking, eating, drinking, or whatever we may name?

We should ask ourselves this question, "Does our living temple need cleansing?"  When we give ourselves to Christ as His servants, we are dedicated to Him.  In 1 Corinthians 6:11, it is written: "But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."

In the literal temple on earth, which was a figure of the heavenly temple above, the Father and the Son had their dwelling place.  Strange and wonderful is the promise of Jesus concerning the living temple, man himself.  Listen to the words of our Saviour as recorded in John 14:23: "If a man love me, he will keep my words and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him."

Christians are the temple of the Holy Ghost.  God's Spirit lives in every Christian, unless He has been grieved away by an evil life.  This is why Crostians should put away every wrong habit.  We should constantly remember that we are living temples and that God, by His Spirit, dwells within us.  This will make life different, wonderful, glorious, happy, and successful.

NOTE:  1 Corinthians 6:12 is evidently a Greek proverb current in Paul's day.  As is often the case, a translation loses the sense of the original saying, in this case a play on words.  A paraphrase that suggests the meaning of the proverb is this: "All things are in my power, but I shall not be brought under the power of any."  Paul certainly did not mean to teach that "all things mentioned in verse 9 and 10 "are lawful"!

DAY 320    Read 1 Corinthians 2 through 5.

Today's reading:  As Paul begins to deal with the problems in the Corinthian church, he first exalts Jesus Christ as the only hope of salvation; then he plunges into a treatment of the epidemic of sin.

Memory gem:  "I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified"  (1 Corinthians 2:2).

Thought for today:
A few people were watching a blind man who had taken his stand on a bridge in a certain great city where he was reading from his Braille Bible.  A man on his way home paused a moment out of curiosity--he wondered what was going on.

Just then the blind man was reading Acts 4:12: "For there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."  And as the man looked on, the blind man lost his place.  While trying to find it  with his fingers he kept repeating the last words he had read: "None other name, none other name!"

Some laughed at his embarrassment, but his man on the edge of the group walked away deeply impressed, for he had been under conviction of sin for some time.  He had altered his habits, he had made good resolutions, he had performed religious exercises, but still he hadn't found peace.

Ringing in his ears were those words: "None other name, none other name!"--the words the blind man had been repeating.  When he retired at night, those worlds kept chiming in his soul: "None other name, none other name!"

At last he found the victory.  "I see it now," he said.  "I have been trying to find peace through my works, my resolutions, my reformation, my prayers.  It is Jesus alone who can save me.  Lord, I receive You as my Saviour."  From that moment the joy of salvation was his.

Oh, friend, there is no other name in earth or heaven, no other name but His.  In no other name may we be forgiven.  Will you not accept Him here and now?

DAY 319    Read 2 Thessalonians; Acts 18:18 through 19:22; and 1 Corinthians 1.

Today's reading:  Some believers in Thessalonica got the idea that Jesus would return right away; therefore, they reasoned, they should do nothing but wait.  Paul had to correct that notion by a second letter from Corinth.  He left Corinth, reported in Jerusalem, returned to Antioch, and then started a third journey.  Arriving at Ephesus, he ran into several problems, including disturbed reports of conditions on Corinth.

Memory gem:  "With thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light"  (Psalm 36:9).

Thought for today:
Notice with me 2 Thessalonians 2:10, 11: "They received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie."

It is a terrible thing to believe a lie, isn't it?  But those people are really going to believe it.

Nearly the whole world refuses truth, rejects truth, neglects truth, puts off, hesitates, waits, stops, doesn't obey, doesn't do, doesn't follow.  Finally the Holy Spirit leaves them, and they believe a lie.  This is the great delusion, the strong delusion.

Friend, I want to be delivered from strong delusions, and I believe the only way is to do as Cornelius did.  If you will read the whole chapter of Acts 10, you will find that Cornelius was a man who already prayed to God.  He was a praying man; he gave money to God; he loved the people of God; he even had services in his own home.  He had gone a long way in the service of the Lord, and God had blessed him.  He might have said, "Well, now I am a servant of God; the Lord helps me; He accepts my prayers; why should I accept this advanced light?  I am receiving the blessing of God already."  But when Cornelius heard about a man who might bring him more light, what did he do?  Friend, he made a great effort to get that man to his house so that he might receive that advanced truth.  Had Cornelius not done that, he would have drifted away into darkness.

Oh, friend, be like Cornelius.  Look for the light in order to walk in it, not merely for curiosity.  "If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine"  (John 7:17).

DAY 318    Read Acts 18:1-17 and 1 Thessalonians.

Today's reading:  While Paul worked in Corinth, he learned of certain errors that had already crept into the church at Thessalonica.  He wrote a letter to set matters straight.

Memory gem:  "We which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.  Wherefore comfort one another with these words' (1 Thessalonians 4:17, 18).  (Read carefully verses 13 to 18.)

Thought for today:
Christian believers everywhere have a right to hear these words read to them in times of sorrow by their pastors and ministers.  Notice: "Wherefore comfort one another with these words."  This is apostolic authority for words of comfort when our hearts are broken.

Personally, I know how comforting these words are.  Some time ago we lost one of the brightest jewels in our family.  She was beautiful, sweet of character, loving, and a great lover of the Lord Jesus Christ, and suddenly she was taken from us.  In two terrible hours she was gone from us.  Then how wonderful were these words, how blessed was the hope, the hope of "the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" and "our gathering together unto him"  (Titus 2:13; 2 Thessalonians 2:1).

The believer is not immortal now, but he has eternal life, which is promised to him in Jesus Christ (see 1 John 5:11, 12).  Immortality will be given him at the second coming of the Lord, "in a moment in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump"  (1 Corinthians 15:52).

The only way to become immortal and to live for all eternity with Christ is to accept God's plan by accepting God's Man, His only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.  How do we do this?  By receiving Him as Saviour and Lord.

Can we imagine what our sensations will be on that resurrection morning?  We cannot, of course.  Glorious coming day!  Let us lift up our heads and rejoice, for our redemption draweth nigh.  Jesus is coming!  When we hear the words of Christ, "Surely I come quickly," may our response and prayer be, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus"  (Revelation 22:20).

DAY 317    Read James.

Today's reading:  Many Bible students believe that this is the first of the general epistles to be written.  The author was probably the James who presided at the Jerusalem council (Acts 15), one of Christ's stepbrothers.

Memory gem:  "To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin"  (James 4:17).

Thought for today:
The greatest sinner in town may be a preacher; he may be a Sunday School teacher or the leading businessman.  He may or may not be a professed Christian.  This greatest sinner may be an old man or an old woman, a young man or a young woman.  Oh, friend, the solemn truth is that the greatest sinner in this town is the person who has had the greatest light but fails to walk in it.  And our memory gem for today proves that statement.

You say, "I know those things are true.  I know I should walk in the light I have heard--in church, in reading my Bible, over the radio--and I plan to do it; but it is not convenient now.  Don't push me, preacher!  I will do it when I get ready.  I really will."

But friend, don't you know that every day, every hour, every second, that you fail to walk in the recognized light, you are piling up a load of sin on your record?  You believe that message you have heard, yet you are holding back.  You still cherish that secret sin, that unfaithfulness, that dishonesty.  You are still clinging to that liquor bottle.  You are a slave to that pipe, that cigar, that cut of tobacco, that sin.  God knows all about it--and probably more people know than you think.

Every man and woman who knows to do good and does it not, "to him it is sin."  The Bible says so.  There is no middle ground.  Jesus said, "He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad"  (Matthew 12:30).

There is only one way to be ready to face God in the judgment, and that is to fall on your knees and say right now, "God, forgive me!  In Christ's name give me a new life and help me to live right before my children.  Help me to be true and to follow the light I know."  God will forgive you, and you will be surprised to find that your friends will forgive you too!

DAY 316    Read Acts 16 and 17.

Today's reading:  Paul, on his second missionary journey, first revisited some of the cities he had evangelized before.  Then, by divine direction, he entered the European continent.

Memory gem:  "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth"  (2 Timothy 2:15).

Thought for today:
While it may be interesting to know what position a minister holds, it is more important to know what he preaches.  Is it the truth?  Is it in harmony with the Word of God?  These are the questions we need to settle, as did the ancient Bereans who, according to Acts 17:11, "received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so."

That is what many need today--the appeal to the Scriptures rather than to denominational prejudice.  It would be as unreasonable for a judge, before he heard the evidence, to pass sentence in a court case on the grounds that he did not like the defendant's name, as it is to condemn a preacher, a sermon, or a radio broadcast which we have not heard, merely on the ground that he or it is not within our own denominational circle.

It is good to remember that millions are where they are, as to religious denomination, through the accident of birth or association rather than through study or conviction.  We need to recognize that others are as honest as we--and as anxious for the light.  But opportunities differ, and environments are often not the same.  Let us not attempt to judge human hearts.  God alone can do this.

While one says, "This is the way!" and another says, "No, this is the way!"  Jesus holds out His nail-pierced hands to us and says, "I am the Way!"  The world has drifted a long, long journey from that Way and needs to turn back.  The church needs to turn back.  We all need to turn back to the Way revealed in God's Word.  The religious thinkers of today need to forget their divergent philosophies and come back to 1 John 1:7 and obey it in simple faith.  It reads: "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Chirst his Son cleanseth us from all sin."