Matthew – Mark

— Read and listen to the Bible being read at the same time; also, A. R. Wells, 1908, shares a (self-application) “tiny meditation” on each chapter.
.

.
Click for a brief easy English summary of the book of Matthew.

Suggestions:
1) Read the “tiny meditation” before and/or after you read the Bible chapter to help make a self-appllication of the scriptures read.
2) Want to use both your eye gate and ear gate in taking in the Word? Just click the “Read” chapter to get started.

.

Click to Read Matthew 1 —My Emmanuel

The Sun of Righteousness, no longer prophesied, has come indeed! Out of dawning, it is full day! With healing in His wings, He shall save His people from their sins. God with us! My God with me!

Read Matthew 2—My Offerings

The offerings for which Malachi pleaded before he prophesied the coming of Christ, here, now that Christ is come, we see poured out by the wise men. Wise men indeed were they, and wise shall I be if I follow them, kneeling at Jesus’ feet with my glad gifts.

Read Matthew 3—My Repentance

So closely is the Bible knit together that at the entrance to the New Testament stands the incarnation of the Old Testament. O that my life may heed the message of the Baptist! For there is only one door to the Door, and that is sincere repentance, leading to repentant deeds.

Read Matthew 4—My Testing

Not only in the wilderness, but in the palace, comes the devil to me; and where he comes is wilderness. My temptations are not those of Jesus, yet they are the same. For all temptation is to forget others and seek self. From that temptation, O my unselfish Savior, bring me into Thy salvation.

Read Matthew 5—My Blessedness

When He that made blessedness points to humility as the highest gain, shall I pursue pride? When He exalts purity, shall I endure a stain? When He commends mercy, shall I be hard of heart? Or mourning, shall I shrink from dark pathways? Is it because I, who am unhappy, am wiser that the Creator of all joy?

.

Read Matthew 6—My Hypocrisy

I do not think myself a hypocrite. Does anyone think himself a hypocrite? But the question is, Does God know me to be a hypocrite? And the test is, Would I be willing that all men should know me as He knows me? Ah, would I?

.

Read Matthew 7—My Foundation

Is my house built on the rock or on the sand? Will it endure the tempests that are sure to come? Will it remain stanch when swept by the dark waters of death? Do I reach down to what is solid, and am I comforted, daytime and night-time, by the Great Certainty?

Read Matthew 8—My Demons

Yes, I too am possessed of demons. They lead me with them to solitary places. They tear my soul. They cause me to do shameful things, and separate me from my kind. But Thou, O Christ, art greater than my demons; even a legion of them is less than Thy least whisper.

Read Matthew 9—My Touch

If I but touch the hem of Christ’s garment with the hand of faith, I shall be made whole. If I clasp Him and cling to Him with the hand of unfaith or of half-faith, it is nothing. Oh, to believe my beliefs!

Read Matthew 10—My Mission

If Christ sends me forth (and Christ does send me forth), He will go with me. What I carry will not matter, in my purse or in my hand. How I am received will not matter, whether with praise or a blow. I shall go with Christ, and I shall go to success.

Take Up His Cross, Matthew 10:38

Read Matthew 11—My Yoke

The trouble is, I am bearing my own yoke. I have chosen it. I have fashioned it to my shoulders. I have fixed the burden on it. And it is weighing me to the earth. Oh, let me throw it off! Lay upon me, O Christ, Thy yoke, which is easy, and Thy burden, which is light.

Read Matthew 12—My Sabbaths

Do I truly yield up to Christ one-seventh of my time? He made the Sabbath for me; am I using it, not for myself, but for the world? Not for the eternities, but the temporalities? He made the Sabbath. Should not He best know how to use it?

Read Matthew 13—My Receiving

How good is God to me! How He pours forth His bounty, like the myriad seeds of the summer! It is no question of seed, it is a question of soil. Is my heart ready to receive God’s gifts? Is my life eager and swift to use them?

Jesus teaches by the seaside, Matthew 13:2

.

.

.
Read Matthew 14—My Daring

Waves dash around me, as they arose and fell before Peter. Waves of trouble. Waves of fear. Waves of passion. I can walk upon them if I will, for my Lord bids me to. Or I can sink in them, if my faith fails, though the Lord is standing by. Ah, which shall it be, on my Gennesaret?

.

Read Matthew 15—My Persistence

When Jesus repulses me, as He repelled the Syro-phoenician, it is not to drive me away, but to draw me near. It is to spur my resolution, test my courage, and render me more worthy of my desires. Let me not complain, then, at the divine delays. They are divine invitations.

Read Matthew 16—My Self-Seeking

My mistakes are only one, and that is all-comprehensive. It is the following self instead of Christ. It is in seeking gain and not God. What I find, when I seek gain, is only my wretched self. What I find, when I seek God, is eternal gain.

Read Matthew 17—My Demon

Why cannot I cast him out? For the same reason that kept the disciples from healing the epileptic. Because I have not faith. No faith, not even a mustard-seed of faith, for that would be enough. O Christ, be Thou my faith, as Thou wilt be. Then shall I get rid of my demon.

Read Matthew 18—My Stumbling

Let me clear my path before me! Evil desires, unholy passions, worldly ambitions, faithless worries, let them all be cleared from my path. If anything is an occasion of stumbling, however dear, however familiar, let me cast it from me. A clear path, from earth to heaven! Can any rejected joy equal that?

ead Matthew 19—My Riches

To leave all and follow Christ,–be that my bank account! To give gladly and freely,–be that my treasury! I would be rich, but with the enduring riches. Oh, make me a millionaire of heaven, Thou heavenly Treasurer, though I become a pauper on earth!

Read Matthew 20—My Vineyard

I have a work to do, a corner of the vineyard to till. God has a reward to give. If He choose to give it for past work, for belated work, the greater His glory and the more my grief. I receive the pay. Ah, yes; but I have not done the work.

…painting by Wiliam Hole[/caption]

Read Matthew 21—My Triumph

When Christ, the Lord, next goes on a triumph, shall I be of His retinue? Shall I have a share in His plaudits? Shall I be admitted to His joy? For no Calvary is to follow that triumph. No cross is to attend that crown. It is to be all glory, and forever.

Read Matthew 22—My Wedding Garment

Service is not enough, though the service be ever so faithful. No service suffices without soul. It is never enough to lavish time without thought, nor thought without love, nor love without joy. It is never enough to go to the wedding, if one does as to a workshop.

Read Matthew 23—My Hypocrisy

I am what I am within, and not what I am outwardly. It is easy to cheat myself with my mirror. It is easy to see myself reflected in men’s praises, and approve myself and fall in love with myself. But that is not I, not at all I. I am what I am within.

Read Matthew 24—My Expectation

Men live jokingly over a mine that may any day explode. Men feast amid the falling cinders of an active volcano. Men saunter through streets that quiver with earthquakes. Ah, the folly of those that live to the day, and take no thought for the hereafter!

Read Matthew 25—My Talents

It is not how many talents I have, but what I do with what I have. It is not what gain I make with my talents, but what attempt I make to increase them. God will not hold me accountable for what is not of man; he will hold me accountable for my desire.

Read Matthew 26—My Gethsemane

To feel one’s self abandoned by man. To feel one’s self an outcast from love. To be unvalued, unpraised, neglected, scorned. To see the heavens black overhead. To hear no echo of my prayer. To be alone in eternity. That is to enter Gethsemane. This is the triumph of faith, not to be alone in Gethsemane. To say, Christ also has been here; therefore, though I cannot see Him, He is here with me.

Read Matthew 27—My Cross

I crucified with Christ? What nail has yet pierced my body or my soul? Upon what rack of agony have I yet been stretched, even an hour, for the love of man? What darkness has been thrust upon me by the hatred of enemies,–enemies made by my righteous zeal? I crucified with Christ? Nay; I have not yet crept to the foot of Calvary.

…painting by William Hole[/caption]

Read Matthew 28—My Comrade

Lo, He is with me always. To the end of the world He is with me, to the end of all worlds, if I am one of His disciples. Do I rejoice in the gladness of His presence? Do I realize my glorious partnership? Why, all life should be a sunrise in the joy of it!

.

..

Click for a brief summary of the book of Mark.

Click to Read Mark 1—My Fishing

A fisher of men! For what am I fishing? Is it for gold dollars? Is it for a laurel wreath? Is it for costly raiment? Or is the end of my search, the real longing of my soul, my brother’s heart? What is my toil for, truly? And is Christ in the boat with me?

Read Mark 2—My Palsy

I am borne of four; yea, of more than four. What friends, what countless holy influences, carry me Christward! And I need Him so, with my palsied soul! Yet ever I shake them all off, and flee from the house where the Healer is. Ah, my palsy itself has become dear to me!

Read Mark 3—My Discipleship

Twelve? Nay; twelve hundred; twelve hundred million! My Lord appointed the Twelve just to show how He appoints all, how He appoints me. It is the highest honor of earth and heaven, and it is veritably mine.

Read Mark 4—My Fear

To be sure, the wind rages, and the lightning flashes, and the waves run high. To be sure, the boat tosses, and seems about to swamp. But Christ is in the boat, and fear is folly. Christ is in the boat, and it is as safe as any couch upon the land.

Read Mark 5—My Solitude

Why do I go apart from men? Is it to meet God, or devils? Is it to build myself up, or to tear myself down? Is it to pray or to rage in frenzy? Ah, let me know that I certainly am not what I am in the throng, but what I am in the desert.

Read Mark 6—My Witnessing

I am not called to bear witness before a king, like John the Baptist; but I am to bear witness for a King. I may not be called to lay down my life in the way he laid down his, but I am called to lay down my life. God grant me his courage for his sacrifice!

Read Mark 7—My Hand-Washing

I would have clean hands; but let me not call my hands clean, though they be white as snow, if they obey a filthy heart. I would carry about a pure body; but let me count the least defilement of my soul as more deplorable far than a body whelmed in the mire. May I be washed, within and without, in the Fountain of Life!

Read Mark 8—My Profit

As I rise in the morning, I will say, “Today let me seek the true gain.” As I fall asleep at night, I will say, “Come, now; let me reckon up my true gain.” Not the winning of goods, but the bestowing of blessings. Not the receipt of praise, but the strengthening of character.

Read Mark 9—My Maiming

If my goods cause me to stumble in the Christian path, I must count it a gain to give them away. If my talents cause me to stumble, I must know that I am more talented when I forget them utterly. Whatever I do not use for the Master masters me, and I am better off without it, till I can master it.

Read Mark 10—My Glory

Is what I wish a share in the Savior’s glory, or in the love and self-sacrifice that make the glory? Do I seek the crown without the cross, Olivet without Calvary? Then I am one of those endlessly foolish ones that expect something out of nothing; nay, the greatest thing of all the universe out of the least thing in all the universe.

Read Mark 11—My Money-Changing

Am I one of those whom Christ would drive from His Father’s temple with a scourge? Yes, if I take into that temple my own self-interest, though only the gloating over a successful bargain, though only the planning of a bargain on the morrow. For the temple is for God and man, and not for self. It is for eternity, and the things of eternity, and not for bubble-blowing.

Read Mark 12—My Mite

Let me give as the poor widow gave! If I give as she gave, I shall have nothing left. If I give as she gave, I shall have all things gained. She entered, bearing her whole livelihood. She went away, bearing life, which is better than livelihood.

Read Mark 13—My Endurance

There will be much to endure,–wars and rumors of wars, fightings within and without, fears and tumults and hatreds and despair. But nothing will befall me that I cannot endure, with Christ; and if I endure to the end, I shall be saved. And endurance how brief, for a salvation endless and entire!

Read Mark 14—My Forsaking

If they all forsook Him and fled, may not I? Am I stronger than Peter the rock? Am I wiser than James? Am I more alert than Andrew and Philip? Am I more loving than John? Am I readier and more self-denying than Matthew? If they forsook Him, must not I fear that I shall forsake Him, and guard myself in that fear at every point?

Read Mark 15—My King

He was the King of the Jews, of those who had denied Him, and given Him up. He was the King of the Romans, of those who were crucifying Him, unjustly and cruelly. He was King of the Greeks, who were looking on, in the enjoyment of a new sensation. He was the King of all the unborn ages. Yea, my King, Lord of my body and soul, of all I am and have, hung there on the awful cross!

Read Mark 16—My Risen Life

When they, the early disciples, had entered into the joy and power of the resurrection, they went forth everywhere preaching Christ, mysterious attestations attending their words. And all, ever since, who have entered into the joy and power of the resurrection have proved that entrance by the same going forth. Oh, be mine the risen life, and no longer the cell life of the worm!