James Montgomery Boice - Come to the Waters: Daily Bible Devotions for Spiritual Refreshment

2011 by Linda M. Boice

Published by Baker Books

a division of Baker Publishing Group

P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287

www.bakerbooks.com

E-book edition created 2011

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recordingwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

ISBN 978-1-4412-3644-9

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com

Scripture quotations labeled KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations labeled NASB are from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

Scripture quotations labeled NKJV are from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Quotations from the following works by James Montgomery Boice have been used by permission: The Heart of the Cross , co-authored with Philip Graham Ryken, 1992, Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, Il, www.crossway.org; The Christ of Christmas (2009) and The Christ of the Empty Tomb (2010), P&R Publishing Co., Phillipsburg, NJ, www.prpbooks.com; The Parables of Jesus, 1983, Chicago: Moody Press; Foundations of the Christian Faith , copyright 1986 by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship of the USA, revised edition, InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL, www.ivpress.com; The King Has Come (1992) and Sure I BelieveSo What (1994), Geanies House, Scotland, Christian Focus Publications; Ordinary Men Called by God, 1982, published 1998 by Kregel Publications, a division of Kregel, Inc., Grand Rapids; Dealing with Bible Problems , 1999, Fort Washington, PA: CLC Publications; Genesis (vols 13), Nehemiah, Psalms (vols 13), Daniel, The Gospel of Matthew (vols 12), The Gospel of John (vols 15), Acts, Romans (vols 14), Ephesians, Philippians, The Epistles of John, Joshua, and The Minor Prophets (vols 12), Grand Rapids: Baker Publishing Group; The Expositors Bible Commentary: Galatians/Ephesians co-authored with A. Skevington Wood, 1995, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, www.zondervan.com; The Bible Study Hours Bible Studies series, messages published by the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, www.alliancenet.org.

Thank you to Princeton Theological Seminary Libraries for providing access to unpublished materials in their archives of the James Montgomery Boice Collection.

To him whose Word is able to make us wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

Contents

Introduction

Study of the Bible must be the consuming passion of a believers life, James Montgomery Boice exhorted worshipers in one of his fourteen sermons through Psalm 119. His congregation at Tenth Presbyterian Church, which sat under his thirty years of expositional preaching, would attest that such was the consuming passion of his life. He preached systematically through twenty-seven books and extensively through another five.

There is a plaque at Tenth Church commemorating Boices life and ministry. It presents the passage considered the theme of his life work, Romans 11:3336, which extols the glory of God. That is an accurate summary of his aim in ministry, to which he pointed those under his teaching ministryto give all glory to God. But if that was his aim, the means by which he most believed in achieving that aim was to know and to obey Gods Word.

I have two purposes in compiling this year-long devotional from Boices sermons and writings. I hope this collection will keep his legacy alive for a new generation of Christians. Most of these devotions are culled from his published sermons. They give but a taste of his fuller exposition of the texts. A number of selections come from unpublished material. All but one of the Revelation devotions come from the last series of sermons he was preaching when he died. A few come from messages given in his early life before coming to Tenth, so that the body of work covers his full span of ministry.

The second purpose is the one that James Boice himself would have had for such a work, which is to aid readers in studying the most important bookthe Bible. As helpful as the words of the expositor may be, he would have had you value much more highly the Word of God. With that in mind, each reading not only includes a Scripture text, but cites the fuller Bible reading that should go along with the devotion. Take time with each devotion to open your Bible.

An added feature of the devotional is a topical index. Boice was an expository preacher who preached through whole books of the Bible. As every preacher who follows that system knows, it led him to cover a wide variety of topics. Note also a Scripture index, which lists primary Scripture references and others included in the devotions.

Though the devotional is laid out in order of the books of the Bible, you need not read them in succession. There are fifty-two psalms included, so you might read one each Sunday. Using the topical index, you could arrange a reading schedule that takes you through events of the church year.

A word about the title, Come to the Waters. It comes not from a devotion but a hymn written by Boice in partnership with Dr. Paul Jones, Tenths Music Director. The waters are the waters of life, the gospel of Jesus Christ. As you will see time and again in the devotions, it is knowing Jesus Christ that matters above all else. Yes, we are to live with the aim of glorifying God, but that cannot be done without being cleansed by the blood of Christ and then living in Christ. Yes, the means to glorify God is to know and to obey his Word, but we will not understand the Word of God if we do not see that it is leading us to the waters of the gospelto the person and work of Jesus Christ. These devotions are not intended simply to make you a better person. They are to lead you again and again to your only hopeJesus Christfor glorifying God.

I wish to thank Linda Boice for granting permission and providing support for the project. Terri Taylor came up with the devotionals title. Jessie Taylor compiled the topical and Scripture indexes, and Sarah Brubaker supplied the bibliography and references. My wife, Ginger, was my most fervent encourager. And I thank the editors and team at Baker Books, the publisher of most of Boices commentaries, for accepting this work and for its final production.

D. Marion Clark
Philadelphia, PA