This perpetual calendar includes:
- Remarkable testimonies of souls won to the Savior
- Explanations of gospel concepts
- Answers to frequently-asked questions
- Stories of real-life witnessing opportunities
- Encouragements and tips for sharing the glorious gospel
May 9
Sanctification comes from the same root meaning as holiness. In its primary sense, it means to be different, then to be set apart, then to be wholly for God, and finally that process by which those who have been declared right shall be made right. “By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ” (Heb. 10:10). “Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach” (Heb 13:12-13). There is positional sanctification (Heb 10:14), experiential sanctification (2 Tim 2:21), and ultimate sanctification (1 Thess 5:23). The Word has a role (Jn 17:17), as do the Holy Spirit (1 Pet 1:2), other believers (1 Cor 7:14), and our personal wills (1 Thess 4:3-4). But it is greatly encouraging to know that “of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us…sanctification” (1 Cor. 1:30). In the mind of God, it is a completed fact (see Heb. 10:10, 14).
Today’s Reading: Nehemiah 7-9 Memorize: Matthew 3:16-17May 8
The Reason Why, a gospel booklet written in 1913 by Robert Laidlaw, a New Zealand businessman, 50 years later had reached a worldwide circulation of 16 million copies in 30 languages. Thousands of letters poured into his office from around the world, letters like: “Have read your booklet. Your booklet has given me rebirth. As a result of the war I lost my left arm and my right hand is crippled. Am a refugee from the East and have no parents or relatives so my only hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ my Savior. —E.K.” Or this: “I have been reading The Reason Why which has been lent to me, and have just accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior, after 26 years of church membership and nine years as deacon and officer. It has taken a long time, and I’ve been under conviction for a long time, but now it’s done: ‘I am my Lord’s and He is mine!’ —B. R.” Good tracts, graciously given and well prayed over, continue to be used by the Lord in conviction and salvation.
Today’s Reading: Nehemiah 4-6 Memorize: Matthew 1:23May 7
To a large degree, the gospel will only grip others’ hearts to the measure in which it has gripped our own. Robert Robinson was living a wicked life in London when he and some friends decided to hear George Whitefield preach. That evening he took his text from Matthew 3:7, “When He saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to His baptism, He said to them, ‘Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?’” Bursting into tears, Whitefield cried, “Oh, my hearers! The wrath to come! The wrath to come!” For three long years, those words haunted Robinson until at last he received the Lord on December 10, 1755. Robinson is best remembered for his stirring hymn, “Come Thou Fount.” He wrote: “O to grace how great a debtor Daily I’m constrained to be! Let that grace, Lord, like a fetter, Bind my wandering heart to Thee. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love; Here’s my heart, Lord, take and seal it, Seal it for the courts above.” Amen!
Today’s Reading: Nehemiah 1-3 Memorize: Matthew 1:21May 6
Mormonism (Latter-Day Saints) was founded by Joseph Smith in 1830, and now claims more than 12 million adherents. They believe that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are three separate gods. Salvation is accomplished by faith in Christ, good works, ordinances, and evangelism. Humankind is of the same species as God, were begotten in heaven as offspring of his wives, and were sent to earth for their potential exaltation and godhood. Mormons go to heaven with God and their families; hell is for those who reject God after death. They practice baptism for the dead and eternal marriage, claiming the Book of Mormon as sacred. They teach: “As man is, God once was; as God is, man may become.” How different the words of Psalm 90:2, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.” “I am He: before Me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after Me” (Isa 43:10).
Today’s Reading: Ezra 8-10 Memorize: Malachi 4:1-2May 5
How do we know that Jesus rose from the dead? The Lord would not leave us in any doubt. “He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days” (Acts 1:3). Writing circa 56 ad, Paul lists some of the witnesses who saw the risen Christ (and that doesn’t include the meetings with women, their testimony not being valid in a first century court of law), including the statement that over 500 saw Him all at once. Who would deny the corroborating testimony of so many? And many of the witnesses would seal their testimony in their own blood! Not to mention the author himself, who was the most unlikely of witnesses, on the way to Damascus to incarcerate some who dared claim Jesus to be the resurrected Son of God. Peter adds: “We did not follow cunningly devised fables” (2 Pet 1:16). There is no other valid explanation. Otherwise why did the Jews or the Romans not present His closely guarded body? He is risen indeed!
Today’s Reading: Ezra 5-7 Memorize: Malachi 3:17May 4
No one can calculate the suffering and death that swept through Angola during its 27-year civil war, as forces from around the world battled for control of that country’s natural resources. It is estimated that 1.5 million died, many of them believers. Church elders were systematically killed to destabilize the communities. One missionary who returned to his field of labor after the slaughter could find only one surviving elder from hundreds of local churches. The youngest of seven elders, he had been kept last to be executed in hopes that he would recant. But when the sixth elder dropped at his feet, he began to sing: “Am I a soldier of the cross, a follower of the Lamb? And shall I fear to own His cause, or to defend His name?” (I. Watts). He was spared death for his remarkable courage. Remember this story the next time you shrink back from witnessing, for fear you might be—what? Refused? Ridiculed? “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord” (2 Tim 1:8).
Today’s Reading: 2 Chronicles 36; Ezra 1-4 Memorize: Zechariah 9:9May 3
George Goodman writes: An appeal should only be made when the Spirit has evidently been convicting the hearers, and then in such sober and wise terms as will leave no doubt as to the step to be taken. We are not without precedent in Scripture. Perhaps the appeal par excellence is, “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God” (2 Cor 5:20). The instruction given by Peter at Pentecost is another excellent example. “With many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, ‘Save yourselves from this crooked generation’” (Acts 2:40), an appeal seldom heard in the present day. The instruction given to the jailor at Philippi is in the nature both of instruction and appeal. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved” (Acts 16:31). Let our appeals be intelligent and clear, leaving no question in the hearers as to the step to be taken and to what purpose. — The Gospel We Preach, pp 33-34
Today’s Reading: 2 Chronicles 33-35 Memorize: Zechariah 1:3