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October 7 Failure and Success: Quiet Heroes Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.... Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. --Matthew 5:5-8 We have but to become acquainted with, or even listen to, the big names of our times to discover how wretchedly inferior most of them are. Many appear to have arrived at their present eminence by pull, brass, nerve, gall and lucky accident. We turn away from them sick to our stomach and wonder for a discouraged moment if this is the best the human race can produce. But we...

Our Adversary, the Devil by Henry Morris, Ph.D.   "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." (1 Peter 5:8)This grave warning concerning the devil was given not only to young Christians, easily subject to temptations, but also to "the elders which are among you" (v. 1). It often seems, in fact, that Satan's greatest victories are won when he can cause the fall of a Christian leader, thereby not only destroying that leader's influence for Christ, but also giving "great occasion to the enemies of the...

October 6 Failure and Success: Stop Tinkering Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, 'Have I also here seen Him who sees me?' --Genesis 16:13 Faith is the least self-regarding of the virtues. It is by its very nature scarcely conscious of its own existence. Like the eye which sees everything in front of it and never sees itself, faith is occupied with the Object upon which it rests and pays no attention to itself at all. While we are looking at God we do not see ourselves-- blessed riddance. The...

The Mind of Christ by Henry Morris, Ph.D.   "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 2:5)Although salvation is free, it is not cheap, since it required the Creator Himself to become man and submit to an agonizing death on the cross. This was the mind of Christ!And, by the same token, although our salvation is not conditioned on any meritorious acts of our own, the standard by which we must measure our lives is nothing less than the perfect life of Jesus Christ. In the first place, our words and deeds are...

Failure and Success: The School of Failure As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust. --Psalm 103:13-14 For some of us last year was one in which we did not acquit ourselves very nobly as Christians, considering the infinite power available to us through the indwelling Spirit. But through the goodness of God we may go to school to our failures. The man of illuminated mind will learn from his mistakes, yes even from his sins. If his heart is trusting and penitent,...

The First Sacrifice by Henry Morris, Ph.D.   "Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them." (Genesis 3:21)This action by the Lord is very significant. God Himself apparently sacrificed some of His animal creation (possibly two innocent and blemish-free sheep) in order to provide clothing for the first man and woman. In the first place, this tells us that clothing is important in God's plan for human beings; nudity became shameful once sin entered the world.In the second place, we learn that symbolically speaking, clothing must be provided by...

Failure and Success: If a Man Falls If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. --1 John 1:9 Next, are you allowing Satan to magnify the memories of your spiritual failures? He will always keep them before you unless you take your stand and move up in faith. The devil will whisper, "You didn't get very far along toward the deeper life, did you?" He will say, "You made a big 'to-do' about wanting to be filled with the Spirit and you really flopped, didn't you?"...

How to Know the Truth by Henry Morris, Ph.D.   "If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." (John 7:17)The apostle Paul, in his last epistle, wrote about certain philosophers who would be "ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth" (2 Timothy 3:7). In the next verse, Paul makes it clear why such people, no matter how scholarly or well educated they seem to be, are still incapable of accepting real truth. "So do these also resist...

None But the Hungry Heart #2 Number two of None But the Hungry Heart is shared with the specific purpose of setting forth some of the scriptural principles of growth in the Christian life. An over-all knowledge of the Word of God is very important, and can produce a certain amount of spiritual development. However, careful study and experiential heart knowledge of the explicit truths for growth in the Lord Jesus Christ are required to bring us to spiritual maturity. The contents of this booklet are prayerfully designed to guide the believer to his satisfying source--Christ Jesus, our life....

Revival: More Than Talk and Prayer Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. --Joshua 1:7 It will take more than talk and prayer to bring revival. There must be a return to the Lord in practice before our prayers will be heard in heaven. We dare not continue to trouble God's way if we want Him to bless ours.... If we are foolish enough...

Dinosaurs and the Bible by Henry Morris, Ph.D.   "Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox. Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly. He moveth his tail like a cedar: . . . His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron. He is the chief of the ways of God." (Job 40:15-19)In this remarkable passage, the Lord has been urging Job and his three philosophizing friends to consider all the marvelous evidences of God's...

Revival: It Requires Obedience But why do you call Me "Lord, Lord," and not do the things which I say? --Luke 6:46 It is my conviction that much, very much, prayer for and talk about revival these days is wasted energy. Ignoring the confusion of figures, I might say that it is hunger that appears to have no object; it is dreamy wishing that is too weak to produce moral action. It is fanaticism on a high level for, according to John Wesley, "a fanatic is one who seeks desired ends while ignoring the constituted means to reach those ends."......

Sweet Naamah by Henry Morris, Ph.D.   "Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed is green." (Song of Solomon 1:16)These words begin King Solomon's tender expressions of love to his beautiful young wife. Solomon wrote a thousand and five songs (1 Kings 4:32), but apparently this was his favorite, for he called it his "song of songs" (Song 1:1), and it clearly centered on his beloved, whom he called "my sister, my spouse" no less than four times (Song 4:9-12; 5:1), thereby intimating both their spiritual and marital relationship.Rehoboam was Solomon's only son, as far...

Revival: Not Just Intensity of Prayer He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him. --John 14:21 Intensity of prayer is no criterion of its effectiveness. A man may throw himself on his face and sob out his troubles to the Lord and yet have no intention to obey the commandments of Christ. Strong emotion and tears may be no more than the outcropping of a vexed spirit, evidence of stubborn resistance to God's...

The Integrity of the Written Word by Henry Morris, Ph.D.   "Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you." (Deuteronomy 4:2)In addition to the numerous times when the writers of the Bible asserted that what they wrote came directly from God (e.g., Leviticus 1:1; Jeremiah 1:4; Revelation 1:1), there are at least four warnings against tampering with these revealed words.The first is our text above, in which Moses commanded neither to add to nor...

Revival: Don't Substitute Praying for Obeying So Samuel said: "Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams." --1 Samuel 15:22 Have you noticed how much praying for revival has been going on of late-and how little revival has resulted? Considering the volume of prayer that is ascending these days, rivers of revival should be flowing in blessing throughout the land. That no such results are in evidence should not discourage us; rather it should...

Praying According to His Will by Henry Morris, Ph.D.   "And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him." (1 John 5:14-15)This promise is comprehensive and unlimited--a tremendous assurance of answered prayer. But there is one proviso--according to His will! There are a number of Christians who, with all good intentions, have argued that it evidences a lack of faith to add...

None But the Hungry Heart #2 Number two of None But the Hungry Heart is shared with the specific purpose of setting forth some of the scriptural principles of growth in the Christian life. An over-all knowledge of the Word of God is very important, and can produce a certain amount of spiritual development. However, careful study and experiential heart knowledge of the explicit truths for growth in the Lord Jesus Christ are required to bring us to spiritual maturity. The contents of this booklet are prayerfully designed to guide the believer to his satisfying source--Christ Jesus, our life....

Revival: Unity Precedes Blessing Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. --Acts 4:32-33 ...unity of mind on the part of the people of God precedes the blessing. I have often heard people pray, "Oh Lord, send the Holy Spirit that we may become a united people." That is all right...

Many False Prophets by Henry Morris III, D.Min.   "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." (1 John 4:1)There is an unusual emphasis in the New Testament about false prophets. The Greek word pseudoprophetes appears 11 times and has no corresponding word in the Old Testament.Of the 298 usages of "prophet" in the Hebrew Scriptures, eight of them are connected to "false" prophets, and only in relation to visions and dreams. In the New Testament, the pseudoprophetes are workers of "miracles" and...

Revival: Poured-out Devotion Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness, and hold such men in esteem; because for the work of Christ he came close to death, not regarding his life, to supply what was lacking in your service toward me. --Philippians 2:29-30 That many Christians in our day are lukewarm and somnolent will not be denied by anyone with an anointed eye, but the cure is not to stir them up to a frenzy of activity. That would be but to take them out of one error and into another. What we need is a zealous hunger...

Where Is Jesus Now? by Henry Morris, Ph.D.   "Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not." (Matthew 24:26)The above warning was given by Christ in His famous Olivet discourse about His future second coming, right after He had predicted that many "false Christs" would first come, deceiving many (v. 24). That prediction has been fulfilled many times during the following centuries, but He Himself has not yet returned, in spite of the claims of these latter days.However, His present location...

Revival: Deliverance Comes By Deliverers Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt. --Exodus 3:9-10 Yes, if evangelical Christianity is to stay alive it must have men again--the right kind of men. It must repudiate the weaklings who dare not speak out, and it must seek in prayer and much humility the coming again of men of the...

The Gods Shall Perish by Henry Morris, Ph.D.   "Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens." (Jeremiah 10:11)This is a unique verse. Jeremiah, the second longest book in the Bible, is written in Hebrew except for this one verse! Why would Jeremiah make this remarkable exception here?This verse was written in Aramaic, which was the official language of the great Babylonian empire--the world's chief nation at that time. The Babylonians, as prophesied by Jeremiah, were soon to...

Revival: Let Anyone Seek His Face Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, till He comes and rains righteousness on you. --Hosea 10:12 It will require a determined heart and more than a little courage to wrench ourselves loose from the grip of our times and return to biblical ways. But it can be done. Every now and then in the past Christians have had to do it. History has recorded several large-scale returns led by such men as St. Francis, Martin Luther and George Fox. Unfortunately,...

Assurance Before God by Henry Morris III, D.Min.   "And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him." (1 John 3:19)There is a chain of reasoning in this context that is important to understand. Our hearts will be "assured" before God (3:19) if we love the brethren in "deed and in truth" (3:18). A lack of that heart assurance condemns us (3:20). If our heart does not condemn us, then we will have "confidence toward God" (3:21).It is worth noting that John uses the word "love" 26 times in this little...

Revival: Time Is Running Out The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. --Romans 13:12 The absence of spiritual devotion today is an omen and a portent. The modern church is all but contemptuous of the sober virtues-- meekness, modesty, humility, quietness, obedience, self effacement, patience. To be accepted now, religion must be in the popular mood. Consequently, much religious activity reeks with pride, display, self-assertion, self-promotion, love of gain and devotion to trivial pleasures. It behooves us to take...

The Two-Fold Call by Henry Morris, Ph.D.   "And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth." (1 Samuel 3:10)There are a number of other times in Scripture when the Lord repeated a second time the name He was calling, always at a time of great significance and urgency. Once had been to Moses: "God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here I am" (Exodus 3:4).God then ordained Moses to lead His people out of...

Revival: How Much Does Revival Cost? I will set My tabernacle among you, and My soul shall not abhor you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people. -Leviticus 26:11-12 So we sit down to have a board meeting. What are we going to do to stir ourselves up? Who can we get? Where will we look? We forget that all the time Jehovah is present. "I am Jehovah shammah; I am in the midst of you. Why don't you talk to me?" No, we don't ask Him. "I am your banner of...

A Response to Threat by John D. Morris, Ph.D.   "He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor the arrow that flieth by day." (Psalm 91:4-5)On this day we remember the unprovoked attack on America by Muslim terrorists. Despite attempts to make the country more secure, the threat remains scarcely abated today. What should the Christian's response be? In our text above, we see that we have no cause for fear. The physical danger...

Revival: We Need a Revival! And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry." But God said to him, "Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?" So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. -Luke 12:19-21 We need a revival! We need a revival of consecration to death, a revival of happy abandonment to the will of God that will laugh at sacrifice and...

The Second Man by Henry Morris, Ph.D.   "The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven." (1 Corinthians 15:47)Paleoanthropologists, seeking to trace man's supposed evolutionary ancestry, have widely different opinions as to the when and how of it. As one evolutionist lamented: "Paleoanthropologists seem to make up for a lack of fossils with an excess of fury, and this must now be the only science in which it is still possible to become famous just by having an opinion."There is no need to speculate. The Bible solves the problem when it...

Revival: A Divine Visitation And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. -1 Corinthians 3:1 I believe that it might be well for us if we just stopped all of our business and got quiet and worshiped God and waited on Him. It doesn't make me popular when I remind you that we are a carnal bunch, but it is true, nevertheless, that the body of Christians is carnal. The Lord's people ought to be a sanctified, pure, clean people, but we are a carnal crowd. We...

The God/man by Henry Morris, Ph.D.   "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life." (1 John 1:1)It has been said, quite cogently, that John's gospel assumes the humanity and undertakes to prove the deity of Jesus Christ, whereas John's first epistle assumes His deity, and then seeks to prove His humanity. The Lord Jesus Christ was both fully God and perfect Man.John, in his gospel, says: "these are written, that ye might believe that...

Revival: God In Our Midst And He said, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." Then he said to Him, "If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here." -Exodus 33:14-15 In what I have to say I may not be joined by any ground swell of public opinion, but I have a charge to make against the church. We are not consciously aware of God in our midst. We do not seem to sense the tragedy of having almost completely lost the awareness of His presence.... Revival and...

The Scars of Sin by Henry Morris, Ph.D.   "But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house." (Judges 16:21)The sad end of mighty Samson, who once had been so greatly energized and utilized by the Lord, is also an allegory and a grave warning to every Christian. "But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it...

Revival: The Arrow of Infinite Desire Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. -Matthew 5:6 These words are addressed to those of God's children who have been pierced with the arrow of infinite desire, who yearn for God with a yearning that has overcome them, who long with a longing that has become pain. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."... A dead body feels no hunger and the dead soul knows not the pangs of holy desire. "If you want God," said the old saint,...

Too Hard or Too Small by Henry Morris, Ph.D.   "Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee." (Jeremiah 32:17)This mighty declaration of faith in the Creator of heaven and earth was given by Jeremiah in respect to a mundane sort of need--the need of assurance that his real estate investment would be safe, even if he were forced to be away from it for many years. There is nothing too small for the Lord, just as there is...

Revival: Living at a Fever Pitch And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men. -Colossians 3:23 We live at a fever pitch, and whether we are erecting buildings, laying highways, promoting athletic events, celebrating special days or welcoming returning heroes we always do it with an exaggerated flourish. Our building will be taller, our highway broader, our athletic contest more colorful, our celebration more elaborate and more expensive than would be true anywhere else on earth. We walk faster, drive faster, earn more, spend more and run higher blood pressure than any other...

Be Continually Being Filled by Henry Morris, Ph.D.   "For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb." (Luke 1:15)This prophecy of the angel Gabriel, bearing as it does a tremendous testimony to the character of John the Baptist, contains the first reference in the New Testament to the unique Christian doctrine of the filling of the Holy Spirit. John was the first Christian witness, directing his own disciples to Christ (John 1:35-37) and clearly...

Revival: The Curse of Self-righteousness Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. -Philippians 3:13-14 Self-righteousness is terrible among God's people. If we feel that we are what we ought to be, then we will remain what we are. We will not look for any change or improvement in our lives. This will quite naturally lead us to judge everyone by what...

Pray Anyhow by Henry Morris, Ph.D.   "Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way." (1 Samuel 12:23)Samuel had served the children of Israel as their faithful judge for many years, and the Lord had blessed them and their land. Nevertheless, they began to want a king and pressed Samuel to get one for them. Finally, Samuel anointed Saul to be their king, but both Samuel and the Lord Himself were displeased with their demands.Nevertheless, Samuel's great...

None But the Hungry Heart #1 None But the Hungry Heart is a devotional study. There are twelve sections each containing thirty-one daily portions. The following three factors have been considered in arriving at this form of presentation: 1. A spiritually hungry heart is the requisite for entering into the growth truths of identification with Christ. 2. Prayerful study on the part of the believer is the means by which the Holy Spirit ministers these truths. 3. The concentration of the Christ-life truths in brief daily studies facilitates their assimilation. The authors quoted have been carefully selected; however, this...

Revival: A Purified Church But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ. -Philippians 3:7-8 Our most pressing obligation today is to do all in our power to obtain a revival that will result in a reformed, revitalized, purified church. It is of far greater importance that we have better Christians than that we have more...

The Branch of the Lord by Henry Morris, Ph.D.   "In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel." (Isaiah 4:2)One of the fascinating titles of the promised Messiah is that of "the Branch." Here He is called "the Branch of the Lord," along with "the fruit of the earth." As the first, He is "beautiful and glorious." As the second, He is "excellent and comely." "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem...

Evangelism: Salvation Apart from Obedience For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. --Ephesians 2:10 Therefore, I must be frank in my feeling that a notable heresy has come into being throughout our evangelical Christian circles--the widely accepted concept that we humans can choose to accept Christ only because we need Him as Savior and we have the right to postpone our obedience to Him as Lord as long as we want to!... I think the following is a fair statement of what I was taught...

Negatives to the Unsaved by James J. S. Johnson, J.D.   "Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven." (Luke 10:20)How good it is to experience victories in spiritual warfare, to see God's values triumph, and to see an ungodly scheme thwarted! We especially rejoice if we somehow participated in the process.The prophet Elijah saw "big" victories over the forces of evil: the defeat of hundreds of Baal's prophets, the bold confrontation of wicked Ahab and Jezebel (1 Kings 18). Elisha did likewise in the...

Evangelism: Believe the Right Things And He said to them, "You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." --John 8:23-24 Because the heart of the Christian life is admittedly faith in a person, Jesus Christ the Lord, it has been relatively easy for some to press this truth out of all proportion and teach that faith in the Person of Christ...

The Gospel and Health by Henry Morris, Ph.D.   "And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people." (Matthew 4:23)This is the first mention of "the gospel" in the New Testament, and it is significant that Christ was emphasizing, first of all, the long-range future aspect of the gospel, the Kingdom. In that great day, all manner of sickness and even death itself will be eternally healed, when the earth's age-long curse, pronounced originally because of man's...

Evangelism: Trusting the Lifeboat And he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" So they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household." --Acts 16:30-31 Now, the matter of complete trust in the person of Christ. No man has any hope for eternal salvation apart from trusting completely in Jesus Christ and His atonement for men. Simply stated, our Lord Jesus is the lifeboat and we must fully and truly be committed to trusting the lifeboat. Again, our Lord and Savior is the rope by which...