Daily Devotionals

Bowen's Daily Meditations

Devotional: July 15th

" The foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his." - 2 Timothy 2:19.

This is said with reference to some that appear unto men to be the children of God, and afterwards fall away. Christians have no promise that they shall be kept from misconceptions on this point; and they are sometimes greatly shocked to find the court of God’s house strewn with columns. God is the architect of his temple, and is cognizant of his own plan; he allows stones and pillars to be placed in the edifice which he knows do not permanently belong to it; but for the places they temporarily occupy there are other materials known to him; and no chasms, no unlovely vacancies shall after all appear. Let this console us. The Lord knoweth them that are his. These pseudo-Christians that figure for a while upon the platform, and then pass away in the whirlwind of sin, amid the triumphs of a scoffing world, were never known to him for anything but what they really were.

The foundation laid by the Lord standeth sure, and amid the shock of ages remains the same. The prophets and the apostles are this foundation, the chief corner-stone being the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, the Bible exhibits the religion that God requires of man. Every generation is made to look upon this foundation, and is invited to build upon it. It builds and builds; but its work is perhaps not accordant with the foundation laid; and God quietly removes the superstructure, and summons the next generation. It builds and builds; and its work, too, is swept away. Finally we are reached. We behold the foundation, and we apply ourselves to the work of completing the house of God. Will God be pleased with our performance? Only if we adopt the apostolic standard, and banish the futile thought of improving on the plans of God.

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