Salem Rd Baptist Church

Salem Rd Baptist Church Preaching the Old Time Gospel In a New Age World. Teaching Families to make a difference in their Community.

06/23/2026

June 23

Carnality with a Halo

For ye are yet carnal: … are ye not carnal, and walk as men? 1 Corinthians 3:3.

Let it be observed that the marks of carnality Paul had in mind here were not card-playing, dancing, and theatergoing, They are, indeed, marks of carnality, but Paul was concerned with some sins we overlook while we lambast other forms of evil. “Whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?”
Some who have long prided themselves that they do not smoke or haunt the movies seem not to have discovered that in their partyism and church strife they are just as carnal as the worldlings they censure.
Nothing has harmed the cause of Christ more than the Paul-Cephas-Apollos factions. And they are all the more deceptive because such carnality looks so much like zeal for the truth. “Nothing is so like conviction as simple obstinacy,” and more than one dear brother has fancied himself Mr. Valiant-for-truth when, indeed, he is Mr. Fond-of-a-fight.
Be sure your “conviction” is not carnality.

Vance Havner, Day by Day: A Book of Bible Devotions (Baker Publishing Group, 1953), 133–134.

06/22/2026

June 22

“Behold Your Savior Come!”

Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. John 1:29.

We often hear these days the question, “What is the world coming to?” It is an interesting subject and most of the discussion relieves the speakers but not the situation. The chief theme of the Gospel is not what the world is coming to but rather the One who has come to the world.
It is also very popular now to behold the sin of the world. There never was more of it and it never was more evident. But John the Baptist was pointing out the cure for sin, the Lamb who came to take it away.
Of course, there is a very real sense in which men need to see their sin and themselves to be sinners. There has not been enough preaching on sin with that in view. But the Gospel is Good News that the problem of our sin finds its answer in the person of God’s Son. He has been made sin-not a sinner or sinful, but sin—for us, though He knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
Let us not be so taken up with beholding the sin of the world that we do not behold Him who came to take it away.

Vance Havner, Day by Day: A Book of Bible Devotions (Baker Publishing Group, 1953), 133.

06/21/2026

June 21

Holy Quietness

Study to be quiet. 1 Thessalonians 4:11.

One of our national leaders some years ago expressed doubt as to whether there could have been a Constitution of the United States if the Convention had been currently reported by radio, telegraph, and newspapers over the thirteen colonies. Now, with television added, he might wonder some more. The tempo of the times and our publicity gadgets have had a devastating effect on contemplation and deliberation. It shows up in the documents and dissertations we are turning out.
Unless somebody gets still long enough to hear from God we are going to have scant word from heaven these days. Our Lord made the people sit down before He fed them. Samuel said to Saul, “Stand thou still a while, that I may shew thee the word of God.” We are all living in a commotion and we do not know how to break out of the frenzy. Solitude is maddening to us, for we run in herds.
Habakkuk was in a stew of complaint about the times until he got off to his tower to hear what God would say. In our text Paul is calming some overexcited saints—and we could take a few lessons today!

Vance Havner, Day by Day: A Book of Bible Devotions (Baker Publishing Group, 1953), 132.

06/20/2026

June 20

Are You God’s Enemy?

Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. James 4:4.
If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 1 John 2:15.

How conclusive these statements! The friend of the world makes himself thereby the enemy of God. We would not use so strong a term as “enemy,” but God does. “The friendship of this world is enmity with God.” Not mild disagreement but utter hostility!
And John does not say that if any man love the world the love of the Father is weak in him—it is not in him at all. Why is it that we hear so little of this today? Because Christians and churches that have compromised with the world and gone into alliance with it are in no position to say “amen” to such an unequivocal pronouncement as this. We have become artists at soft-pedaling Bible verses that come too uncomfortably close to where we live, and these certainly are two that are played pianissimo while we pull out all the stops on others.
But no exegetical sleight of hand can tone down these texts. The friend of the world is God’s enemy. The lover of the world has no love of God in him.

Vance Havner, Day by Day: A Book of Bible Devotions (Baker Publishing Group, 1953), 131–132.

06/19/2026

June 19

Prophetic and Pastoral

And he gave some, … prophets; and some evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers. Ephesians 4:11.

In the middle ages the church retired into solitude and seclusion and God had to raise up awakeners. There come high tides of revival and evangelism, and God balances them with pastors and teachers. Moody was a messenger to the multitudes, but he had the good judgment to associate with him men like Morgan and Meyer, who could teach and build up the saints.
We must have both. If we have only teachers we may become passive Bible students and fail of aggressive evangelism. We may spend ourselves in public activity and starve the inner life. The church needs both and the individual Christian needs both. It is pitiable indeed if the evangelist disparages the work of the teacher or the teacher belittles mass evangelism.
Some saints need a prophet to blast them out of a comfortable quietism. Some need a teacher to make them be still and take in that they may have something to give out.
Our Lord combined both in His perfect ministry, quietly teaching His disciples and shepherding His flock, while at the same time He was a prophet and challenged us to a life of service in His Name.

Vance Havner, Day by Day: A Book of Bible Devotions (Baker Publishing Group, 1953), 130–131.

06/18/2026

June 18

Carmel and Horeb

Then the fire of the Lord fell … 1 Kings 18:38.
But the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still, small voice. 1 Kings 19:12.

God was in the fire at Carmel; He was not in the fire at Horeb. We are not to gather from the still, small voice that God is never in wind, earthquake, and fire. He often is. He came at Pentecost with a sound as of a rushing mighty wind. He came in an earthquake in the Philippian jail.
God works in nature in the cataclysmic, in flood and tornado; and He works in the gradual, quiet process of the seasons. He works in mighty mass movements in revival with a Whitefield or a Moody. But He also moves in quiet gatherings in the day-by-day work of faith and labor of love among the churches.
And into our hearts He sometimes breaks in sudden and tempestuous ways, in mountain-top raptures and third-heaven experiences. But He also works in daily growth in the knowledge of Christ, the quiet walk by His sufficient grace.
You cannot live at Carmel all the time. Carmel happens only once in a while. God is at Horeb too—if you have ears to hear.

Vance Havner, Day by Day: A Book of Bible Devotions (Baker Publishing Group, 1953), 130.

06/17/2026

June 17

“Waters That Go Softly”

Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go softly … the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many. Isaiah 8:6, 7.

Threatened by invasion from Israel and Syria, Ahaz of Judah foolishly chose alliance with Assyria instead of reliance on God. The soft-flowing waters of Shiloah represent the benign reign of the house of David as compared with the violent Euphrates, emblem of the Assyrians.
How prone we are to choose earthly alliances, confederacies of the world and the flesh, instead of God’s gentle way! The way of the meek and lowly, the rule of love, seems too weak to cope with the ways and devices of men. The world chooses the way of the Euphrates and suffers a deluge of disaster. And in our private lives the still small voice and the quiet way of God seem too mild for some of us. We ally with the boisterous, turbulent spirit of the age and live to regret it. For Assyria always comes to help but remains to conquer.
Remember, it is the Lamb that finally conquers!

Vance Havner, Day by Day: A Book of Bible Devotions (Baker Publishing Group, 1953), 129.

06/16/2026

June 16

Abhorrence, Not Tolerance

Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Romans 12:9.

We are not to tolerate evil but abhor it. The mood of the age is to put up with evil, allow it, and then move easily to play with it and finally practice it. Tolerance is a pet word these days, and we stretch our consciences while we “broaden” our minds. But the Word of God tells us that the fear of the Lord is to hate evil and that we are to abstain from the very appearance of evil. There is no leniency toward sin whatever in that. Nothing is more dangerous to our spiritual well-being than a mild amiability that smiles at sin. Some have come to think that there is something noble in a mild attitude toward sin. Compassion on the sinful is one thing, but never confuse it with tolerance of evil. We have sunk to an acceptance of that toward which God counsels abhorrence and behold the harvest!
A holy, healthy hatred of sin and indignation at evil is our crying need today, because we fear not God—and the fear of the Lord is to hate evil.

Vance Havner, Day by Day: A Book of Bible Devotions (Baker Publishing Group, 1953), 128–129.

06/15/2026

June 15

A Better Way

Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but was without in desert places: and they came to him from every quarter. Mark 1:45.

Let the bible scholars account for it as they will, over and over again Jesus discouraged publicity, left the crowd for the solitudes, and never played up to the multitude. His brethren could not understand why He did not go up to Jerusalem and get in the public eye. He did not seek the crowd, the crowd sought Him.
All this would be quite incomprehensible to this age of ballyhoo and the despair of high-pressure advertising. The Early Church grew as one brought another, and the Lord added such as should be saved. The Gospel was its own best publicity. By word of mouth it was noised about. Today we build up a gigantic publicity after the fashion of this age, but what we advertise does not come up to the advance notices. The mountain brings forth a mouse.
God’s ways are not ours and the church did her mightiest work unassisted by radio, television, and modern advertising. The best publicity the Gospel will ever have is a new Christian out to win others. And simple arithmetic shows that if each new disciple brought another the statistics would soon be phenomenal.
Maybe we have it all figured out wrong. Think it over.

Vance Havner, Day by Day: A Book of Bible Devotions (Baker Publishing Group, 1953), 127–128.

06/14/2026

June 14

Weather Watchers

He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap. Ecclesiastes 11:4.

If a farmer waited until he was sure of the weather he would never raise a crop. He has to reckon with the weather and contend with it, but he cannot be sure of it. So every year he makes a venture of faith.
We cannot let the wind and clouds of circumstance determine our course. We cannot grow a harvest for God with one eye on the weather. Just as with the farmer, circumstances are to be considered, and we shall not foolishly disregard them. But we must not let them be the main factor in making our decisions.
Too many saints live fearfully from one “weather report” to another, scanning the skies and watching the clouds, conscious of “conditions” rather than of Christ. Faith goes ahead in fair weather and foul. It breaks up the fallow ground, sows the seed, cultivates the crop, and gathers the harvest. There may be pests and floods and droughts, but the Lord of the Harvest will see to it that our labor is not in vain.

Vance Havner, Day by Day: A Book of Bible Devotions (Baker Publishing Group, 1953), 127.

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1028 Salem Road
Rossville, GA
30741

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10:45am - 12pm

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