3/7/2024 Yesterday Tomorrow
Deuteronomy 24 - 27
Deuteronomy 24
Laws Concerning Divorce
Deuteronomy 24:1 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house, 2 and if she goes and becomes another man’s wife, 3 and the latter man hates her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter man dies, who took her to be his wife, 4 then her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after she has been defiled, for that is an abomination before the LORD. And you shall not bring sin upon the land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance.Miscellaneous Laws
5 “When a man is newly married, he shall not go out with the army or be liable for any other public duty. He shall be free at home one year to be happy with his wife whom he has taken.6 “No one shall take a mill or an upper millstone in pledge, for that would be taking a life in pledge.
7 “If a man is found stealing one of his brothers of the people of Israel, and if he treats him as a slave or sells him, then that thief shall die. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
8 “Take care, in a case of leprous disease, to be very careful to do according to all that the Levitical priests shall direct you. As I commanded them, so you shall be careful to do. 9 Remember what the LORD your God did to Miriam on the way as you came out of Egypt.
10 “When you make your neighbor a loan of any sort, you shall not go into his house to collect his pledge. 11 You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you make the loan shall bring the pledge out to you. 12 And if he is a poor man, you shall not sleep in his pledge. 13 You shall restore to him the pledge as the sun sets, that he may sleep in his cloak and bless you. And it shall be righteousness for you before the LORD your God.
14 “You shall not oppress a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your towns. 15 You shall give him his wages on the same day, before the sun sets (for he is poor and counts on it), lest he cry against you to the LORD, and you be guilty of sin.
16 “Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. Each one shall be put to death for his own sin.
17 “You shall not pervert the justice due to the sojourner or to the fatherless, or take a widow’s garment in pledge, 18 but you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this.
19 “When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over them again. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. 21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not strip it afterward. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. 22 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this.
Deuteronomy 25
Deuteronomy 25:1 “If there is a dispute between men and they come into court and the judges decide between them, acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty, 2 then if the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall cause him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with a number of stripes in proportion to his offense. 3 Forty stripes may be given him, but not more, lest, if one should go on to beat him with more stripes than these, your brother be degraded in your sight.4 “You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain.
Laws Concerning Levirate Marriage
5 “If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her and take her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. 6 And the first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel. 7 And if the man does not wish to take his brother’s wife, then his brother’s wife shall go up to the gate to the elders and say, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to perpetuate his brother’s name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband’s brother to me.’ 8 Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him, and if he persists, saying, ‘I do not wish to take her,’ 9 then his brother’s wife shall go up to him in the presence of the elders and pull his sandal off his foot and spit in his face. And she shall answer and say, ‘So shall it be done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house.’ 10 And the name of his house shall be called in Israel, ‘The house of him who had his sandal pulled off.’Miscellaneous Laws
11 “When men fight with one another and the wife of the one draws near to rescue her husband from the hand of him who is beating him and puts out her hand and seizes him by the private parts, 12 then you shall cut off her hand. Your eye shall have no pity.13 “You shall not have in your bag two kinds of weights, a large and a small. 14 You shall not have in your house two kinds of measures, a large and a small. 15 A full and fair weight you shall have, a full and fair measure you shall have, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. 16 For all who do such things, all who act dishonestly, are an abomination to the LORD your God.
17 “Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you came out of Egypt, 18 how he attacked you on the way when you were faint and weary, and cut off your tail, those who were lagging behind you, and he did not fear God. 19 Therefore when the LORD your God has given you rest from all your enemies around you, in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven; you shall not forget.
Deuteronomy 26
Offerings of Firstfruits and Tithes
Deuteronomy 26:1 “When you come into the land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance and have taken possession of it and live in it, 2 you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from your land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket, and you shall go to the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make his name to dwell there. 3 And you shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, ‘I declare today to the LORD your God that I have come into the land that the LORD swore to our fathers to give us.’ 4 Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of the LORD your God.5 “And you shall make response before the LORD your God, ‘A wandering Aramean was my father. And he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number, and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. 6 And the Egyptians treated us harshly and humiliated us and laid on us hard labor. 7 Then we cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. 8 And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great deeds of terror, with signs and wonders. 9 And he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O LORD, have given me.’ And you shall set it down before the LORD your God and worship before the LORD your God. 11 And you shall rejoice in all the good that the LORD your God has given to you and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is among you.
12 “When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce in the third year, which is the year of tithing, giving it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your towns and be filled, 13 then you shall say before the LORD your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion out of my house, and moreover, I have given it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all your commandment that you have commanded me. I have not transgressed any of your commandments, nor have I forgotten them. 14 I have not eaten of the tithe while I was mourning, or removed any of it while I was unclean, or offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the voice of the LORD my God. I have done according to all that you have commanded me. 15 Look down from your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Israel and the ground that you have given us, as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.’
16 “This day the LORD your God commands you to do these statutes and rules. You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul. 17 You have declared today that the LORD is your God, and that you will walk in his ways, and keep his statutes and his commandments and his rules, and will obey his voice. 18 And the LORD has declared today that you are a people for his treasured possession, as he has promised you, and that you are to keep all his commandments, 19 and that he will set you in praise and in fame and in honor high above all nations that he has made, and that you shall be a people holy to the LORD your God, as he promised.”
Deuteronomy 27
The Altar on Mount Ebal
Deuteronomy 27:1 Now Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, “Keep the whole commandment that I command you today. 2 And on the day you cross over the Jordan to the land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall set up large stones and plaster them with plaster. 3 And you shall write on them all the words of this law, when you cross over to enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you. 4 And when you have crossed over the Jordan, you shall set up these stones, concerning which I command you today, on Mount Ebal, and you shall plaster them with plaster. 5 And there you shall build an altar to the LORD your God, an altar of stones. You shall wield no iron tool on them; 6 you shall build an altar to the LORD your God of uncut stones. And you shall offer burnt offerings on it to the LORD your God, 7 and you shall sacrifice peace offerings and shall eat there, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God. 8 And you shall write on the stones all the words of this law very plainly.”Curses from Mount Ebal
9 Then Moses and the Levitical priests said to all Israel, “Keep silence and hear, O Israel: this day you have become the people of the LORD your God. 10 You shall therefore obey the voice of the LORD your God, keeping his commandments and his statutes, which I command you today.”11 That day Moses charged the people, saying, 12 “When you have crossed over the Jordan, these shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. 13 And these shall stand on Mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. 14 And the Levites shall declare to all the men of Israel in a loud voice:
15 “‘Cursed be the man who makes a carved or cast metal image, an abomination to the LORD, a thing made by the hands of a craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ And all the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen.’
16 “‘Cursed be anyone who dishonors his father or his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
17 “‘Cursed be anyone who moves his neighbor’s landmark.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
18 “‘Cursed be anyone who misleads a blind man on the road.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
19 “‘Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
20 “‘Cursed be anyone who lies with his father’s wife, because he has uncovered his father’s nakedness.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
21 “‘Cursed be anyone who lies with any kind of animal.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
22 “‘Cursed be anyone who lies with his sister, whether the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
23 “‘Cursed be anyone who lies with his mother-in-law.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
24 “‘Cursed be anyone who strikes down his neighbor in secret.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
25 “‘Cursed be anyone who takes a bribe to shed innocent blood.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
26 “‘Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
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By J. Warner Wallace 3/6/2017
In my book, God's Crime Scene: A Cold-Case Detective Examines the Evidence for a Divinely Created Universe, I examine eight pieces of evidence in the universe as I make a cumulative case for the existence of God. One important piece of evidence is our common experience of consciousness. If atheism is true, our natural universe is nothing more than space, time, and matter, governed by the laws of physics and chemistry. In this material, physical environment, it’s easy to account for brains, but difficult to explain our experience of “mind”. Brains are material, minds are not. Some naturalistic atheists who try to stay “inside the room” of the natural universe for an explanation of consciousness simply deny the existence of mental states altogether. Eliminative Materialists, as they are known, do this by declaring that the term, “mental states” is an invention of those who simply didn’t understand the nature of the brain. Let me explain…
Most of us who are even remotely familiar with the history of science recognize some theories have a shorter shelf life than others. There was a time, for example, when scientists trying to understand the nature of combustion proposed a fire-like element called phlogiston. When asked to describe what happened at the point of combustion, they might have responded, “When something begins to combust, phlogiston is released.”
As scientists learned more about the nature of combustion and the role of oxygen, they abandoned the faulty theory of phlogiston, along with its antiquated terminology. Scientists eventually replaced this archaic explanation with current oxidation theories. Some philosophers, known as eliminative materialists, view “mental states” as yet another outdated, faulty notion riddled with antiquated language from “folk psychology.”
James "Jim" Warner Wallace (born June 16, 1961) is an American homicide detective and Christian apologist. Wallace is a Senior Fellow at the Colson Center for Christian Worldview and an Adjunct Professor of Apologetics at Biola University in La Mirada, California. He has authored several books, including Cold-Case Christianity, God’s Crime Scene, and Forensic Faith, in which he applies principles of cold case homicide investigation to apologetic concerns such as the existence of God and the reliability of the
Gospels.
Inadequacy In Prayer
Rick Adams 3/7/2024
I saw Lily rubbing her hand this morning and asked her what was wrong. She said it was just a little pain. I immediately wanted to pray for her, after all, she is the love of my life and has been for over 40 years. I said a short prayer and in a little while she went to work. After she left I started to pray for her again.
In prayer I confessed to God that even after all these years I really don't know how to pray. God is my friend, but God is also God.
Don't pray as the Gentiles do (long winded) the Scripture says, (I also read that some laid on their face for hours at a time before God, maybe in silense?) but it also says that much can be accomplished by the fervent prayer of the righteous. Fervent, does that mean emotional, passionate? Truly, I want God to touch and heal Lily, but I sense (I try to be careful not to use the very popular "FEEL".) my prayer is so inadequate. (... as if what and how I compose my words in prayer really makes any difference ... please excuse me as I think this through ...
God destroyed false prophets through Elijah who were certainly fervent, cutting themselves with knives as they implored Baal to grant their requests. I understand much (all?) depends on our relationship with God when we ask. Fervent is down the list of importance compared to righteous and righteous is all about our relationship with Jesus Christ. I love Jesus more than Lily and I certainly ask in the name of Jesus, but a short "please touch Lily's hand" seems so shallow, hollow, lacking substance, unsatisfactory.
Of course it is not about me and how I 'FEEL.' (Oh that word! I hate to use it. I hate to even say it. I wish I had really learned Greek in seminary instead of just passing the class. There must be a better word.) Let me just say I FEEL like I have not done my part in prayer and I frequently FEEL this way when I pray for family, friends, neighbors. I have NOT done my part. Maybe?? Maybe because it has NOT cost me anything?? Is that what this is all about? I know Ephesinas 2:8. I consider it often, but is that why I FEEL like I have not done my part when I pray for others because it has NOT cost me anything, because I have NOT suffered any pain in any way? Giving myself the benefit of the doubt, could it be because I can not share their pain, I can not take any of their pain on myself, I can not lessen their pain?
Is this all about pride? I made my requests known to God and God certainly knows her pain. What else am I supposed to do? I'm supposed to trust God. I'm supposed to know that God will do what is 'right' ... in God's time and in God's way. God is always right and just and righteous and always does what is best. I am supposed to make my request known and trust, knowing that what I want is not always best, but trusting that what God does is always best.
Faith is not an easy thing thing. It is easy to say, but the rubber meets the road when we walk it out.The just shall live by faith.
Richard S. Adams | Lover of Christ, husband of Lily, father of four, grandfather of fourteen, Masters in Divinity and Certificate in Spiritual Direction. On staff at George Fox Evangelical Seminary 1/2009 to 7/2018.
- Jan 23 Potholes (2021)
- Jan 24 The Hornet
- Jan 26 Dealing With Disappointment
- Jan 27 Lost (2014)
- Jan 28 Life Support, A Non-Stop Flight
- Feb 5 Prosperity and the Camp Fire
- Feb 7 Job 6:14-23
- Feb 10 Spontaneous Generation
- Feb 14 Hindsight
- Feb 18 The Cure For Despair
- Feb 22 RE: Job's Friends
- Feb 23 Job 23:14
- Feb 25 No Time To Text
- Feb 26 The Labyrinth
- Feb 27 Find A Servant Of God And Ask This Question
- Mar 5 Polemics and Caricature
- Mar 6 Ecclesiastes 3:14 | Grace
- Mar 7 Inadequacy In Prayer
- Mar 17 A Walk In The Rain
- Mar 25 The Corona Virus
- Apr 20 Death and My Master's Voice
- Apr 26 The Unexpected Blessing Returns
- May 1 RE: The Anointing at Bethany
- May 10 Ruth | Relationships
- May 25 Jesus and the Passover
- May 25 The Third Cup
- June 2 Extension Cords
- June 18 Lincoln City 6/2/18
- July 14 Tom - Gen andRevelation
- July 15 Knowledge and World Peace
- July 16 The Church as Lobbyist
- Aug 3 Have You Noticed
- Sept 1 Branches Ran Over The Wall
- Sept 2 1 Cor 9:1-2
- Sept 2 Many Young Folks Get This
- Sept 13 Reading God's Word
- Nov 27 The Way The World Is
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- Dec 31 IMHO
By Gleason Archer Jr.
Discoveries at Ebla
In 1964 an archaeological expedition was launched by the University of Rome to examine a prominent hill, located about 44 miles south of Aleppo, known as Tell Mardikh, (under the leadership of Paolo Matthiae). It turned out to have been occupied as early as 3500 B.C. It was not definitely identified as the city of Ebla (mentioned in the Code of Hammurabi) until the discovery of a dedication of a statue to “King Ibbit-Lim, king of Ebla.” This exciting discovery led to intensified excavation that yielded to the investigators an entire library in 1974. The first portion of this library consisted of 42 tablets in Akkadian cuneiform discovered on a palace floor located on the acropolis. In the following year 14,000 more tablets or tablet fragments were unearthed, many of them still arranged in library order, even though they had fallen to the floor after their wooden shelves were consumed by fire. Apparently the city was stormed and put to the torch in the reign of Naram Sin, king of Akkad, in 2250 B.C.
It was at this juncture that Giovanni Pettinato, a foremost Sumerologist, was summoned to analyze and translate this immense collection of cuneiform tablets dating back to centuries before the birth of Abraham (the earliest of them dated as early as 2500 B.C.). Pettinato soon made the astonishing discovery that certain of the documents were finished off not only by the customary Sumerian formula of dub-gar (“tablet written”), but others by a senseless pair of signs reading gal-balag, which could also be read as ik-tub. Read like this it meant “he wrote” in a language neither Sumerian nor Akkadian, but quite evidently using the verb kataba, which is extensively employed in Arabic, Phoenician, Ugaritic, and Hebrew meaning “wrote.” Since the morphology of the verb was similar to Akkadian (a so-called iprus form), it appeared that the native inhabitants actually spoke a tongue having morphological similarities to Akkadian, but with a vocabulary very definitely Canaanite. This was abundantly confirmed when a large number of lexical texts were brought to light. These consisted of lists of words in Sumerian which were paired with the Eblaite equivalents. This demonstrated that written records were kept in this portion of Syria by a people who spoke a language closely related to Canaanite, even though using a verbal morphology closer to Akkadian. It would appear to have been a dialect spoken by Amorites or some closely related ethnic group, having a greater affinity to Canaanite than to Aramaic, which was apparently the predominating tongue at Padan-Aram back in Laban’s time (cf. Gen. 31:47 ). Amazingly enough, many of the names of kings and leading men in Ebla bore a remarkable resemblance to names that were later used by the Hebrews themselves. Among these were Ibrium (biblical Eber), Ish-ma-il (Ishmael), Ish-ra-il (Israel), Na-khur (Nahor) and Mi-ka-il (Michael). Commercial and political relations were maintained with cities like Dor, Hazor, Megiddo, Shalem (Jerusalem), Gaza, and Ashtaroth (cf. Ashtaroth-Qarnaim).
City I dated back to 3500 B.C., but its greatest prosperity occurred in the period of City II, datable to 2400–2250 B.C., under the leadership of kings like Igrish-Halam, Irkab-Damu, Ar-Ennum (a contemporary of King Sargon of Agade), Ebrium, Ibbi-Sippish and Dubaha-Ada (who had the misfortune of being conquered by Naram-Sin of Agade, who plundered Ebla in 2250 and put it to the torch. It was not long before Ebla was rebuilt after this catastrophe, about 2000 B.C. (City III), but it never regained its former power, and was eventually sacked by the Hittites in 1600 B.C., about the same time that they pillaged Babylon itself.
Among the cities with which Ebla maintained trade relations were Si-da-mu-ki (apparently Sodom) or Sa-dam-ki, and Sa-bi-im (equivalent to Zeboiim). This is attested in Pettinato’s Archives of Ebla (Doubleday, 1981, p. 287). These two cities of the Pentapolis of the Plain, where Lot made his home prior to the destruction meted out by the Lord according to Gen. 19, were formerly dismissed by Wellhausen and the Documentarians as merely legendary rather than historical. Therefore their attestation by contemporary records going back to the time of Abraham comes as another refutation of the skepticism of the Wellhausen School of scholarship.
Additional information about the Ebla Tablets may be found in Excursus 2 in the latter part of this book.
Deuteronomy 24
By Don Carson 6/19/2018
It is striking how the Mosaic Law provides for the poor.
Consider Deuteronomy 24. Here God forbids taking a pair of millstones, or “even the upper one” (i.e., the more movable one), as security for a debt (Deut. 24:6). It would be like taking a mechanic’s tools as security, or a software writer’s computer. That would take away the means of earning a living, and would therefore not only compound the poverty but would make repayment a practical impossibility.
In Deut. 24:10-12, two further stipulations are laid down with respect to security for loans. (1) If you make a loan to a neighbor, do not go into his home to get the pledge. Stay outside; let him bring it out to you. Such restrained conduct allows the neighbor to preserve a little dignity, and curtails the tendency of some rich people to throw their weight around and treat the poor as if they are dirt. (2) Do not keep as security what the poor man needs for basic warmth and shelter.
In Deut. 24:14-15, employers are told to pay their workers daily. In a poor and agrarian society where as much as 70% or 80% of income went on food, this was ensuring that the hired hand and his family had enough to eat every day. Withholding wages not only imposed a hardship, but was unjust. Still broader considerations of justice are expressed in Deut. 24:17-18: orphans and aliens, i.e., those without protectors or who do not really understand a particular culture’s “ropes,” are to be treated with justice and never abused or taken advantage of.
Finally, in Deut. 24:19-22, farmers are warned not to pick up every scrap of produce from their field in order to get a better return. Far better to leave some “for the alien, the fatherless and the widow.”
Two observations: First, these sorts of provisions for the poor will work best in a non-technological society where labor and land are tied together, and help is provided by locals for locals. There is no massive bureaucratic scheme. On the other hand, without some sort of structured organization it is difficult to imagine how to foster similar help for the poor in, say, the south side of Chicago, where there are few farmers to leave scraps of produce. Second, the incentive in every case is to act rightly under the gaze of God, especially remembering the years the people themselves spent in Egypt (Deut. 24:13-22). These verses demand close reading. Where people live in the fear, love, and knowledge of God, social compassion and practical generosity are entailed; where God fades into the mists of sentimentalism, robust compassion also withers — bringing down the biting denunciation of prophets like Amos.
Don Carson is research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, and co-founder (with Tim Keller) of The Gospel Coalition. He has authored numerous books, and recently edited The Enduring Authority of the Christian Scriptures (Eerdmans, 2016).
Don Carson Books | Go to Books PageRead The Psalms In "1" Year
Psalm 28
28 Of David.1 To you, O LORD, I call;
my rock, be not deaf to me,
lest, if you be silent to me,
I become like those who go down to the pit.
2 Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy,
when I cry to you for help,
when I lift up my hands
toward your most holy sanctuary.
3 Do not drag me off with the wicked,
with the workers of evil,
who speak peace with their neighbors
while evil is in their hearts.
4 Give to them according to their work
and according to the evil of their deeds;
give to them according to the work of their hands;
render them their due reward.
5 Because they do not regard the works of the LORD
or the work of his hands,
he will tear them down and build them up no more.
Deuteronomy 27:1-28:19
By Don Carson 6/22/2018
Here the pair of italicized passages converge.
The setting envisaged by Deuteronomy 27 — 28 is spectacular. When the Israelites enter the Promised Land, they are to perform a solemn act of national commitment. They are to divide themselves into two vast companies, each hundreds of thousands strong. Six tribes are to stand on the slopes of Mount Gerizim. Across the valley, the other six tribes are to stand on the slopes of Mount Ebal. The two vast crowds are to call back and forth in antiphonal responses. For some parts of this ceremony, the Levites, standing with others on Gerizim, are to pronounce prescribed sentences, and the entire host shout its “Amen!” In other parts, the crown on Gerizim would shout the blessings of obedience, and the crowd on Ebal would shout the curses of disobedience. The sheer dramatic impact of this event, when it was actually carried out (Josh. 8:30-33), must have been astounding. The aim of the entire exercise was to impress on the people the utter seriousness with which the Word of God must be taken if the blessing of God is to be enjoyed, and the terrible tragedy that flows from disobedience, which secures only God’s curse.
Psalm 119 is formally very different, but here too there is an extraordinary emphasis on the Word of God. It is almost as if this longest of all biblical chapters is devoted to unpacking what the second verse in the book of Psalms means: “But his delight is in the law of the LORD and on his law he meditates day and night” (Ps. 1:2; see also the April 1 meditation). Psalm 119 is an acrostic poem: each of the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet is given its turn to serve as the opening letter of each of eight verses on the subject of the Word of God.
Throughout this poem, eight near synonyms are used to refer to Scripture: law (which perhaps might better be rendered “instruction,” and has overtones of revelation), statutes (which speak of the binding force of Scripture), precepts (connected with God’s superintending oversight, as of one who cares for the details of his charge), decrees (the decisions of the supreme and all-wise Judge), word (the most comprehensive term, perhaps, embracing all of God’s self-disclosed truth, whether in a promise, story, statute, or command), commands (predicated on God’s authority to tell his creatures what to do), promise (a word derived from the verb to say, but often used in contexts that make us think of the English word promise), and testimonies. (God’s bold action of bearing “witness” or “testimony” to the truth and against all that is false; the Hebrew word is sometimes rendered “statute” in NIV, e.g., lit. “I delight in your testimonies.”)
Don Carson is research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, and co-founder (with Tim Keller) of The Gospel Coalition. He has authored numerous books, and recently edited The Enduring Authority of the Christian Scriptures (Eerdmans, 2016).
Don Carson Books | Go to Books Page“Candy-Assed” Christians
By Larry Alex Taunton 03/02/2017
In July 2012 I was speaking at a youth retreat in the mountains of Tennessee when I received a call from CNN. It seemed that Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy had publicly commented on the issue of same-sex marriage and now the gay mafia were out to destroy him and his restaurant chain. Would I, asked CNN, be willing to offer the orthodox Christian perspective on homosexuality and defend Chick-fil-A in this controversy? After reviewing Cathy’s remarks and concluding that they were neither outrageous nor biblically incorrect, I agreed to the interview and, later that day I defended the Christian position on the network as vigorously as possible in the time that I had.
Shortly thereafter, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee called for Christians to mobilize and show their support for the embattled fast food restaurant with “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day.” They did. Lines at the restaurant stretched for blocks. This event marked the first time I could remember Christians fighting back rather than meekly submitting to the media and special interest bullies.
But not all evangelical Christians were supportive of the Home of the Chicken Sandwich. In an article for World Magazine, Barnabas Piper, son of prominent evangelical pastor John Piper, wrote:
Larry Alex Taunton is an American author, columnist, and cultural commentator. A frequent television and radio guest, he has appeared on CNN, CNN International, Fox News, Al Jazeera America, and BBC. You can find his columns on issues of faith and culture in The Atlantic, USA Today, CNN.com, and The Blaze. Mr. Taunton has been quoted by Rush Limbaugh, The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, TIME, Vanity Fair, and NPR, among others. He is the author of The Grace Effect: How the Power of One Life Can Reverse the Corruption of Unbelief and The Faith of Christopher Hitchens: The Restless Soul of the World's Most Notorious Atheist and Listening to Young Atheists: Lessons for a Stronger Christianity.
Mr. Taunton is also the founder and executive director of the Fixed Point Foundation. In that role he has debated such high profile atheists as Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett, and Michael Shermer as well as Muslim cleric Zaid Shakir. He has organized or chaired debates on science, religion, and ethics at Trinity College, Oxford University; The Edinburgh International Festival; the Melbourne Town Hall in Melbourne, Australia; Princeton University; and the Oxford Museum of Natural History. Taunton was born at Fort Benning, Georgia. He currently divides his time between the United States and Europe.
By James Orr 1907
III. TEXTUAL INTERRELATIONS OF THE PRIESTLY WRITING AND JE
The interweaving of P with JE in the actual history of the Pentateuch is so intimate that it is only by the utmost critical violence that the different elements can be rent asunder. To illustrate this fully would carry us much beyond our limits, but, the point being crucial, it is necessary to bestow some little pains on its elucidation. We begin with the patriarchal period and the Book of Genesis; then glance at the Mosaic period. The difficulties of the critical hypothesis will reveal themselves in both.
1. We look, first, at the P and JE narratives in Genesis. The general relation of P to JE in this book, as already said, is that of “framework.” The following, in order of the book, are examples of the closeness of the textual relations.
(1) With regard to the beginnings of things, how constantly is it alleged that “we have two contradictory accounts of the creation.” It is certain that the narratives in Gen. 1–2:4 and chap. 2:4 ff. are quite different in character and style, and view the work of creation from different standpoints. But they are not “contradictory”; they are, in fact, bound together in the closest manner as complementary. The second narrative, taken by itself, begins abruptly, with manifest reference to the first: “In the day that Jehovah Elohim made earth and heaven” (ver. 4 ). It is, in truth, a misnomer to speak of chap. 2 as an account of the “creation” at all, in the same sense as chap. 1. It contains no account of the creation of either earth or heaven, or of the general world of vegetation; its interest centres in the making of man and woman, and everything in the narrative is regarded from that point of view. The very union of the divine names — in chaps. 2, 3 — indicates a designed connection of the two narratives which it is arbitrary to refer to a redactor, instead of to the original composers of the book.
We have next, in P, the bare thread of genealogy in chap. 5 (with, however, universal death) to conduct us from the creation to the flood, when the earth, which God made “very good” (chap. 1:31 ) is found, without explanation, “corrupt before God,” and “filled with violence” — “for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth” (chap. 6:11, 12 ). Yet we are asked to believe that P, who is admittedly acquainted with the JE history, “builds” upon it, and produces a narrative “parallel” with it, “knows nothing” of a fall. Much more natural is the supposition that P, who furnishes the “framework” for JE, presupposes the JE narrative which it enshrines, and which in Gen. 6:5–7 contains precisely similar intimations of the corruption of mankind — proceeding from the fall. Here for once we have Wellhausen as an ally. “In JE,” he says, “the flood is well led up to; in Q [= P] we should be inclined to ask in surprise how the earth has come all at once to be so corrupted, after being in the best of order, did we not know it from JE.” A fact which shows quite clearly how far P is from being complete, and how necessary JE is to its right understanding.
(2) The story of the flood ( Gen. 6–9 ), which comes next, is the classical proof of the distinction of the two sources P and J; but we must claim it also as an illustration of the impossibility of separating these elements in the narrative into two independent histories. The substance of the story is allowed to be the same in both. “In chaps. 7, 8, ” Kuenen says, “two almost parallel narratives are combined into a single whole.” Since the discovery of the Babylonian account of the deluge, it is recognised that both writers drew from very old sources, and, moreover, that it needs both J and P to yield the complete parallel to the old Chaldean version. P, e.g., in Genesis, gives the measurements of the ark, but lacks the sending out of the birds — an essential feature in the Babylonian story. J has the birds, and also the sacrifice of Noah, which P, again, wants. In not a few passages the criteria curiously intermingle, and the services of the redactor have to be called freely into requisition to disentangle them. E.g., in chaps. 7:7–10, 23, 8:1, 2, where there is clearly literary fusion of some kind. Above all, the parts of the narrative fit into each other in a way that makes it impossible to separate them. We have just seen how the “corruption” of chap. 6:11, 12 (P) implies the Jehovistic story of the fall. From the sudden mention of Noah in chap. 6:8 the J story passes abruptly to chap. 7:1: “And Jehovah said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark.” But it is P who mentions Noah’s sons, and narrates the building of the ark (chap. 6:6–22 ). The Jehovistic clause, “And Jehovah shut him in” (chap. 7:16 ), stands isolated if taken from the P connection in which it stands. J, as stated, records Noah’s sacrifice (chap. 8:20 ), but tells us nothing of his going out of the ark. That is left for P (vers. 15–19 ).
It is easy, as before, to assert that all these lacking parts of J and P were originally present, but were omitted by the redactor, but it is impossible to prove it, and the hypothesis is superfluous, because the missing parts are there in the other narrative. Besides, what in that case becomes of the “completeness” of the P narrative? If “omission” is postulated to the extent required, the two narratives become simply duplicates, and the ground for the assertion that P “knows nothing” of this or that is destroyed. If there has been replacement of parts, as here and there is not impossible, it may be more simply conceived as the result of one writer collaborating with another, or working upon, and in parts re-writing, the materials furnished him by another, in view of a plan, and with a common aim.
Against this view of the unity of the narrative, it is customary to urge the repetitions and alleged inconsistencies of the several parts. On this it may suffice at present to observe that the P writer does not shun repetitions, even of his own statements, where these serve his purpose, — they are in fact a mark of his style, — and that at least the greater number of the inconsistencies arise from the very evil of the hypothesis we are criticising — the pitting of one part of the narrative against another as if each was complete in itself. The most plausible example in the present case is the alleged discrepancy as to the duration of the flood. J’s numbers, it is said, yield a much shorter duration for the flood (40 + 21 = 61 days) than the year and eleven days assigned to it by P. It is not explained how P, with the J narrative before him, should gratuitously invent numbers hopelessly at variance with his authority and with the common tradition. But if the narrative be taken as a whole there need be no discrepancy. P’s longer period is of itself more in keeping with the magnitude of the catastrophe, even as described by J; and the assumption of the critics that J meant to confine the actual flood within forty days can be shown by the text itself to be unwarrantable. For (1) forty days is expressly given by J as the period when “the rain was upon the earth,” i.e., when the cataclysm was in process (chap. 7:12, 17 ); and (2) is separated from a second forty days (chap. 8:6 ) by the mention of an interval of gradual subsidence of the waters — “the waters returned from off the earth continually” (chap. 8:2, 3; also J) — which P in the same verse dates at one hundred and fifty days. J’s second forty days, therefore, with the three weeks spent in sending out the birds, equate with P’s interval of two months between chap. 8:5 and chap. 8:13, which covers the same period, and the discrepancy disappears.
In further illustration of the divisive methods employed in this part of the history, it may be mentioned that Wellhausen, Kuenen, Budde, Gunkel, etc., distinguish a J1 and J2, and suppose that J1 (cf. Gen. 4:16–24 ) had no knowledge of a flood, which, therefore, it is held, does not belong to the oldest tradition; neither does Gen. 11:1–9 look back, it is said, to a flood. It is even contended that in Gen. 9:18–27 the names of the three sons of Noah must have been originally Shem, Japheth, and Canaan — this on the ground that in ver. 25 the curse is pronounced on Canaan — a notion which, in its direct defiance of the text, Delitzsch justly cites as “a specimen of what emulation in the art of severing can accomplish.”
The Institutes of the Christian Religion
Translated by Henry Beveridge
16. We can now understand what are the fruits of repentance--viz.
offices of piety towards God, and love towards men, general holiness
and purity of life. In short, the more a man studies to conform his
life to the standard of the divine law, the surer signs he gives of his
repentance. Accordingly, the Spirit, in exhorting us to repentance,
brings before us at one time each separate precept of the law; at
another the duties of the second table; although there are also
passages in which, after condemning impurity in its fountain in the
heart, he afterwards descends to external marks, by which repentance is
proved to be sincere. A portraiture of this I will shortly set before
the eye of the reader when I come to describe the Christian life
(infra, chapter 6) I will not here collect the passages from the
prophets in which they deride the frivolous observances of those who
labour to appease God with ceremonies, and show that they are mere
mockery; or those in which they show that outward integrity of conduct
is not the chief part of repentance, seeing that God looks at the
heart. Any one moderately versant in Scripture will understand by
himself, without being reminded by others, that when he has to do with
God, nothing is gained without beginning with the internal affections
of the heart. There is a passage of Joel which will avail not a little
for the understanding of others: "Rend your heart, and not your
garments," (Joel 2:13). Both are also briefly expressed by James in
these words: "Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts,
ye double-minded," (James 4:8). Here, indeed, the accessory is set down
first; but the source and principle is afterwards pointed out--viz.
that hidden defilements must be wiped away, and an altar erected to God
in the very heart. There are, moreover, certain external exercises
which we employ in private as remedies to humble us and tame our flesh,
and in public, to testify our repentance. These have their origin in
that revenge of which Paul speaks (2 Cor. 7:2), for when the mind is
distressed, it naturally expresses itself in sackcloth, groans, and
tears, shuns ornament and every kind of show, and abandons all
delights. Then he who feels how great an evil the rebellion of the
flesh is, tries every means of curbing it. Besides, he who considers
aright how grievous a thing it is to have offended the justice of God,
cannot rest until, in his humility, he have given glory to God. Such
exercises are often mentioned by ancient writers when they speak of the
fruits of repentance. But although they by no means place the power of
repentance in them, yet my readers must pardon me for saying what I
think--they certainly seem to insist on them more than is right. Any
one who judiciously considers the matter will, I trust, agree with me
that they have exceeded in two ways; first, by so strongly urging and
extravagantly commending that corporal discipline, they indeed
succeeded in making the people embrace it with greater zeal; but they
in a manner obscured what they should have regarded as of much more
serious moment. Secondly, the inflictions which they enjoined were
considerably more rigorous than ecclesiastical mildness demands, as
will be elsewhere shown.
17. But as there are some who, from the frequent mention of sackcloth,
fasting, and tears, especially in Joel (2:12), think that these
constitute the principal part of repentance, we must dispel their
delusion. In that passage the proper part of repentance is described by
the words, "turn ye even to me with your whole heart;" "rend your
heart, and not your garments." The "fastings", "weeping," and
"mourning," are introduced not as invariable or necessary effects, but
as special circumstances. [314] Having foretold that most grievous
disasters were impending over the Jews, he exhorts them to turn away
the divine anger not only by repenting, but by giving public signs of
sorrow. For as a criminal, to excite the commiseration of the judge,
appears in a supplicating posture, with a long beard, uncombed hair,
and coarse clothing, so should those who are charged at the
judgment-seat of God deprecate his severity in a garb of wretchedness.
But although sackcloth and ashes were perhaps more conformable to the
customs of these times, [315] yet it is plain that weeping and fasting
are very appropriate in our case whenever the Lord threatens us with
any defeat or calamity. In presenting the appearance of danger, he
declares that he is preparing, and, in a manner, arming himself for
vengeance. Rightly, therefore, does the Prophet exhort those, on whose
crimes he had said a little before that vengeance was to be executed,
to weeping and fasting,--that is, to the mourning habit of criminals.
Nor in the present day do ecclesiastical teachers act improperly when,
seeing ruin hanging over the necks of their people, [316] they call
aloud on them to hasten with weeping and fasting: only they must always
urge, with greater care and earnestness, "rend your hearts, and not
your garments." It is beyond doubt that fasting is not always a
concomitant of repentance, but is specially destined for seasons of
calamity. [317] Hence our Savior connects it with mourning (Mt. 9:15),
and relieves the Apostles of the necessity of it until, by being
deprived of his presence, they were filled with sorrow. I speak of
formal fasting. For the life of Christians ought ever to be tempered
with frugality and sobriety, so that the whole course of it should
present some appearance of fasting. As this subject will be fully
discussed when the discipline of the Church comes to be considered, I
now dwell less upon it.
18. This much, however, I will add: when the name repentance is applied
to the external profession, it is used improperly, and not in the
genuine meaning as I have explained it. For that is not so much a
turning unto God as the confession of a fault accompanied with
deprecation of the sentence and punishment. Thus to repent in sackcloth
and ashes (Mt. 11:21; Luke 10:13), is just to testify self
dissatisfaction when God is angry with us for having grievously
offended him. It is, indeed, a kind of public confession by which,
condemning ourselves before angels and the world, we prevent the
judgment of God. For Paul, rebuking the sluggishness of those who
indulge in their sins, says, "If we would judge ourselves, we should
not be judged," (1 Cor. 11:31). It is not always necessary, however,
openly to inform others, and make them the witnesses of our repentance;
but to confess privately to God is a part of true repentance which
cannot be omitted. Nothing were more incongruous than that God should
pardon the sins in which we are flattering ourselves, and
hypocritically cloaking that he may not bring them to light. We must
not only confess the sins which we daily commit, but more grievous
lapses ought to carry us farther, and bring to our remembrance things
which seemed to have been long ago buried. Of this David sets an
example before us in his own person (Ps. 51). Filled with shame for a
recent crime he examines himself, going back to the womb, and
acknowledging that even then he was corrupted and defiled. This he does
not to extenuate his fault, as many hide themselves in the crowd, and
catch at impunity by involving others along with them. Very differently
does David, who ingenuously makes it an aggravation of his sin, that
being corrupted from his earliest infancy he ceased not to add iniquity
to iniquity. In another passage, also, he takes a survey of his past
life, and implores God to pardon the errors of his youth (Ps. 25:7).
And, indeed, we shall not prove that we have thoroughly shaken off our
stupor until, groaning under the burden, and lamenting our sad
condition, we seek relief from God. It is, moreover to be observed,
that the repentance which we are enjoined assiduously to cultivate,
differs from that which raises, as it were, from death those who had
fallen more shamefully, or given themselves up to sin without
restraint, or by some kind of open revolt, had thrown off the authority
of God. For Scripture, in exhorting to repentance, often speaks of it
as a passage from death unto life, and when relating that a people had
repented, means that they had abandoned idolatry, and other forms of
gross wickedness. For which reason Paul denounces woe to sinners, "who
have not repented of the uncleanness, and fornication, and
lasciviousness which they have committed," (2 Cor. 12:21). This
distinction ought to be carefully observed, lest when we hear of a few
individuals having been summoned to repent we indulge in supine
security, as if we had nothing to do with the mortification of the
flesh; whereas, in consequence of the depraved desires which are always
enticing us, and the iniquities which are ever and anon springing from
them, it must engage our unremitting care. The special repentance
enjoined upon those whom the devil has entangled in deadly snares, and
withdrawn from the fear of God, does not abolish that ordinary
repentance which the corruption of nature obliges us to cultivate
during the whole course of our lives.
19. Moreover if it is true, and nothing can be more certain, than that
a complete summary of the Gospel is included under these two
heads--viz. repentance and the remission of sins, do we not see that
the Lord justifies his people freely, and at the same time renews them
to true holiness by the sanctification of his Spirit? John, the
messenger sent before the face of Christ to prepare his ways,
proclaimed, "repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," (Mt. 11:10;
3:2). By inviting them to repentance, he urged them to acknowledge that
they were sinners, and in all respects condemned before God, that thus
they might be induced earnestly to seek the mortification of the flesh,
and a new birth in the Spirit. By announcing the kingdom of God he
called for faith, since by the kingdom of God which he declared to be
at hand, he meant forgiveness of sins, salvation, life, and every other
blessing which we obtain in Christ; wherefore we read in the other
Evangelists, "John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the
baptism of repentance for the remission of sins," (Mark 1:4; Luke 3:3).
What does this mean, but that, weary and oppressed with the burden of
sin, they should turn to the Lord, and entertain hopes of forgiveness
and salvation? [318] Thus, too, Christ began his preaching, "The
kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the Gospel," (Mark
1:10). First, he declares that the treasures of the divine mercy were
opened in him; next, he enjoins repentance; and, lastly, he encourages
confidence in the promises of God. Accordingly, when intending to give
a brief summary of the whole Gospel, he said that he behaved "to
suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance
and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all
nations," (Luke 24:26, 46). In like manner, after his resurrection the
Apostles preached, "Him has God exalted with his right hand, to be a
Prince and a Savior, for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness
of sins," (Acts 5:31). Repentance is preached in the name of Christ,
when men learn, through the doctrines of the Gospel, that all their
thoughts, affections, and pursuits, are corrupt and vicious; and that,
therefore, if they would enter the kingdom of God they must be born
again. Forgiveness of sins is preached when men are taught that Christ
"is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and
redemption," (1 Cor. 1:30), that on his account they are freely deemed
righteous and innocent in the sight of God. Though both graces are
obtained by faith (as has been shown elsewhere), yet as the goodness of
God, by which sins are forgiven, is the proper object of faith, it was
proper carefully to distinguish it from repentance.
20. Moreover, as hatred of sin, which is the beginning of repentance,
first gives us access to the knowledge of Christ, who manifests himself
to none but miserable and afflicted sinners, groaning, laboring,
burdened, hungry, and thirsty, pining away with grief and wretchedness,
so if we would stand in Christ, we must aim at repentance, cultivate it
during our whole lives, and continue it to the last. Christ came to
call sinners, but to call them to repentance. He was sent to bless the
unworthy, but by "turning away every one" "from his iniquities." The
Scripture is full of similar passages. Hence, when God offers
forgiveness of sins, he in return usually stipulates for repentance,
intimating that his mercy should induce men to repent. "Keep ye
judgment," saith he, "and do justice: for my salvation is near to
come." Again, "The Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn
from transgression in Jacob." Again, "Seek ye the Lord while he may be
found, call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his
way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the
Lord, and he will have mercy upon him." "Repent ye, therefore, and be
converted, that your sins may be blotted out." [319] Here, however, it
is to be observed, that repentance is not made a condition in such a
sense as to be a foundation for meriting pardon; nay, it rather
indicates the end at which they must aim if they would obtain favor,
God having resolved to take pity on men for the express purpose of
leading them to repent. Therefore, so long as we dwell in the prison of
the body, we must constantly struggle with the vices of our corrupt
nature, and so with our natural disposition. Plato sometimes says,
[320] that the life of the philosopher is to meditate on death. More
truly may we say, that the life of a Christian man is constant study
and exercise in mortifying the flesh, until it is certainly slain, and
the Spirit of God obtains dominion in us. Wherefore, he seems to me to
have made most progress who has learned to be most dissatisfied with
himself. He does not, however, remain in the miry clay without going
forward; but rather hastens and sighs after God, that, ingrafted both
into the death and the life of Christ, he may constantly meditate on
repentance. Unquestionably those who have a genuine hatred of sin
cannot do otherwise: for no man ever hated sin without being previously
enamored of righteousness. This view, as it is the simplest of all,
seemed to me also to accord best with Scripture truth.
21. Moreover, that repentance is a special gift of God, I trust is too
well understood from the above doctrine to require any lengthened
discourse. Hence the Church [321] extols the goodness of God, and looks
on in wonder, saying, "Then has God also to the Gentiles granted
repentance unto life," (Acts 11:18); and Paul enjoining Timothy to deal
meekly and patiently with unbelievers, says, "If God per adventure will
give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth, and that they
may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil," (2 Tim. 2:25,
26). God indeed declares, that he would have all men to repent, and
addresses exhortations in common to all; their efficacy, however,
depends on the Spirit of regeneration. It were easier to create us at
first, than for us by our own strength to acquire a more excellent
nature. Wherefore, in regard to the whole process of regeneration, it
is not without cause we are called God's "workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we
should walk in them," (Eph. 2:10) [322] Those whom God is pleased to
rescue from death, he quickens by the Spirit of regeneration; not that
repentance is properly the cause of salvation, but because, as already
seen, it is inseparable from the faith and mercy of God; for, as Isaiah
declares, "The Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn
from transgression in Jacob." This, indeed, is a standing truth, that
wherever the fear of God is in vigor, the Spirit has been carrying on
his saving work. Hence, in Isaiah, while believers complain and lament
that they have been forsaken of God, they set down the supernatural
hardening of the heart as a sign of reprobation. The Apostle, also,
intending to exclude apostates from the hope of salvation, states, as
the reason, that it is impossible to renew them to repentance (Heb.
6:6); that is, God by renewing those whom he wills not to perish, gives
them a sign of paternal favor, and in a manner attracts them to
himself, by the beams of a calm and reconciled countenance; on the
other hand, by hardening the reprobate, whose impiety is not to be
forgiven, he thunders against them. This kind of vengeance the Apostle
denounces against voluntary apostates (Heb. 10:29), who, in falling
away from the faith of the gospel, mock God, insultingly reject his
favor, profane and trample under foot the blood of Christ, nay, as far
as in them lies, crucify him afresh. Still, he does not, as some
austere persons preposterously insist, leave no hope of pardon to
voluntary sins, but shows that apostasy being altogether without
excuse, it is not strange that God is inexorably rigorous in punishing
sacrilegious contempt thus shown to himself. For, in the same Epistle,
he says, that "it is impossible for those who were once enlightened,
and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the
Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the
world to come, if they shall fall away to renew them again to
repentance, seeing they crucify the Son of God afresh, and put him to
an open shame," (Heb. 7:4-6). And in another passage, "If we sin
willingly, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth,
there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful
looking for of judgment," &c. (Heb. 11:25, 26). There are other
passages, from a misinterpretation of which the Novatians of old
extracted materials for their heresy; so much so, that some good men
taking offense at their harshness, have deemed the Epistle altogether
spurious, though it truly savors in every part of it of the apostolic
spirit. But as our dispute is only with those who receive the Epistle,
it is easy to show that those passages give no support to their error.
First, the Apostle must of necessity agree with his Master, who
declares, that "all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto
men, but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven
unto men," "neither in this world, neither in the world to come," (Mt.
12:31; Luke 12:10). We must hold that this was the only exception which
the Apostle recognized, unless we would set him in opposition to the
grace of God. Hence it follows, that to no sin is pardon denied save to
one, which proceeding from desperate fury cannot be ascribed to
infirmity, and plainly shows that the man guilty of it is possessed by
the devil.
22. Here, however, it is proper to consider what the dreadful iniquity
is which is not to be pardoned. The definition which Augustine
somewhere gives [323] --viz. that it is obstinate perverseness, with
distrust of pardon, continued till death,--scarcely agrees with the
words of Christ, that it shall not be forgiven in this world. For
either this is said in vain, or it may be committed in this world. But
if Augustine's definition is correct, the sin is not committed unless
persisted in till death. Others say, that the sin against the Holy
Spirit consists in envying the grace conferred upon a brother; but I
know not on what it is founded. Here, however, let us give the true
definition, which, when once it is established by sound evidence, will
easily of itself overturn all the others. I say therefore that he sins
against the Holy Spirit who, while so constrained by the power of
divine truth that he cannot plead ignorance, yet deliberately resists,
and that merely for the sake of resisting. For Christ, in explanation
of what he had said, immediately adds, "Whosoever speaketh a word
against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever
speaketh against the holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him," (Mt.
12:31). And Matthew uses the term spirit of blasphemy [324] for
blasphemy against the Spirit. How can any one insult the Son, without
at the same time attacking the Spirit? In this way. Those who in
ignorance assail the unknown truth of God, and yet are so disposed that
they would be unwilling to extinguish the truth of God when manifested
to them, or utter one word against him whom they knew to be the Lord's
Anointed, sin against the Father and the Son. Thus there are many in
the present day who have the greatest abhorrence to the doctrine of the
Gospel, and yet, if they knew it to be the doctrine of the Gospel,
would be prepared to venerate it with their whole heart. But those who
are convinced in conscience that what they repudiate and impugn is the
word of God, and yet cease not to impugn it, are said to blaspheme
against the Spirit, inasmuch as they struggle against the illumination
which is the work of the Spirit. Such were some of the Jews, who, when
they could not resist the Spirit speaking by Stephen, yet were bent on
resisting (Acts 6:10). There can be no doubt that many of them were
carried away by zeal for the law; but it appears that there were others
who maliciously and impiously raged against God himself, that is,
against the doctrine which they knew to be of God. Such, too, were the
Pharisees, on whom our Lord denounced woe. To depreciate the power of
the Holy Spirit, they defamed him by the name of Beelzebub (Mt. 9:3, 4;
12:24). The spirit of blasphemy, therefore, is, when a man audaciously,
and of set purpose, rushes forth to insult his divine name. This Paul
intimates when he says, "but I obtained mercy, because I did it
ignorantly in unbelief;" otherwise he had deservedly been held unworthy
of the grace of God. [325] If ignorance joined with unbelief made him
obtain pardon, it follows, that there is no room for pardon when
knowledge is added to unbelief.
23. If you attend properly, you will perceive that the Apostle speaks
not of one particular lapse or two, but of the universal revolt by
which the reprobate renounce salvation. It is not strange that God
should be implacable to those whom John, in his Epistle, declares not
to have been of the elect, from whom they went out (1 John 2:19). For
he is directing his discourse against those who imagined that they
could return to the Christian religion though they had once revolted
from it. To divest them of this false and pernicious opinion, he says,
as is most true, that those who had once knowingly and willingly cast
off fellowship with Christ, had no means of returning to it. It is not,
however so cast off by those who merely, by the dissoluteness of their
lives, transgress the word of the Lord, but by those who avowedly
reject his whole doctrine. There is a paralogism in the expression
casting off and sinning. Casting off, as interpreted by the Novatians,
is when any one, notwithstanding of being taught by the Law of the Lord
not to steal or commit adultery, refrains not from theft or adultery.
On the contrary, I hold that there is a tacit antithesis, in which all
the things, contrary to those which had been said, must be held to be
repeated, so that the thing expressed is not some particular vice, but
universal aversion to God, and (so to speak) the apostasy of the whole
man. Therefore, when he speaks of those falling away "who were once
enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made
partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted of the good word of God,
and the powers of the world to come," we must understand him as
referring to those who, with deliberate impiety, have quenched the
light of the Spirit, tasted of the heavenly word and spurned it,
alienated themselves from the sanctification of the Spirit, and
trampled under foot the word of God and the powers of a world to come.
The better to show that this was the species of impiety intended, he
afterwards expressly adds the term willfully. For when he says, "If we
sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth,
there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins," he denies not that Christ
is a perpetual victim to expiate the transgressions of saints (this the
whole Epistle, in explaining the priesthood of Christ, distinctly
proclaims), but he says that there remains no other sacrifice after
this one is abandoned. And it is abandoned when the truth of the Gospel
is professedly abjured.
Christian Classics Ethereal Library / Public Domain
Institutes of the Christian Religion
The Pilgrim's Progress From This World To That Which Is To Come;
Delivered Under The Similitude Of A Dream (Part 2)
By John Bunyan 1678
THE SIXTH STAGE
GREAT. Had you ever any talk with him about it?HON. Yes, more than once or twice; but he would always be like himself, self-willed. He neither cared for man, nor argument, nor yet example; what his mind prompted him to, that he would do, and nothing else could he be got to do.
GREAT. Pray, what principles did he hold? for I suppose you can tell.
HON. He held that a man might follow the vices as well as the virtues of pilgrims; and that if he did both, he should be certainly saved.
GREAT. How? If he had said, it is possible for the best to be guilty of the vices, as well as to partake of the virtues of pilgrims, he could not much have been blamed; for indeed we are exempted from no vice absolutely, but on condition that we watch and strive. But this, I perceive, is not the thing; but if I understand you right, your meaning is, that he was of opinion that it was allowable so to be.
HON. Aye, aye, so I mean, and so he believed and practised.
GREAT. But what grounds had he for his so saying?
HON. Why, he said he had the Scripture for his warrant.
GREAT. Prithee, Mr. Honest, present us with a few particulars.
HON. So I will. He said, to have to do with other men’s wives had been practised by David, God’s beloved; and therefore he could do it. He said, to have more women than one was a thing that Solomon practised, and therefore he could do it. He said, that Sarah and the godly midwives of Egypt lied, and so did Rahab, and therefore he could do it. He said, that the disciples went at the bidding of their Master, and took away the owner’s ass, and therefore he could do so too. He said, that Jacob got the inheritance of his father in a way of guile and dissimulation, and therefore he could do so too.
GREAT. High base indeed! And are you sure he was of this opinion?
HON. I heard him plead for it, bring Scripture for it, bring arguments for it, etc.
GREAT. An opinion that is not fit to be with any allowance in the world!
HON. You must understand me rightly: he did not say that any man might do this; but that they who had the virtues of those that did such things, might also do the same.
GREAT. But what more false than such a conclusion? For this is as much as to say, that because good men heretofore have sinned of infirmity, therefore he had allowance to do it of a presumptuous mind; or that if, because a child, by the blast of the wind, or for that it stumbled at a stone, fell down and defiled itself in the mire, therefore he might wilfully lie down and wallow like a boar therein. Who could have thought that any one could so far have been blinded by the power of lust? But what is written must be true: they “stumble at the word, being disobedient; whereunto also they were appointed.”
1 Peter, 2:8 and
“A stone of stumbling,
and a rock of offense.”
His supposing that such may have the godly men’s virtues, who addict themselves to their vices, is also a delusion as strong as the other. To eat up the sin of God’s people,
Hos. 4:They feed on the sin of my people;
they are greedy for their iniquity. ESV
as a dog licks up filth, is no sign that one is possessed with their virtues. Nor can I believe that one who is of this opinion, can at present have faith or love in him. But I know you have made strong objections against him; prithee what can he say for himself?
HON. Why, he says, to do this by way of opinion, seems abundantly more honest than to do it, and yet hold contrary to it in opinion.
GREAT. A very wicked answer. For though to let loose the bridle to lusts, while our opinions are against such things, is bad; yet, to sin, and plead a toleration so to do, is worse: the one stumbles beholders accidentally, the other leads them into the snare.
HON. There are many of this man’s mind, that have not this man’s mouth; and that makes going on pilgrimage of so little esteem as it is.
GREAT. You have said the truth, and it is to be lamented: but he that feareth the King of paradise, shall come out of them all.
CHR. There are strange opinions in the world. I know one that said, it was time enough to repent when we come to die.
GREAT. Such are not overwise; that man would have been loth, might he have had a week to run twenty miles in his life, to defer his journey to the last hour of that week.
HON. You say right; and yet the generality of them who count themselves pilgrims, do indeed do thus. I am, as you see, an old man, and have been a traveller in this road many a day; and I have taken notice of many things.
I have seen some that have set out as if they would drive all the world before them, who yet have, in a few days, died as they in the wilderness, and so never got sight of the promised land. I have seen some that have promised nothing at first setting out to be pilgrims, and who one would have thought could not have lived a day, that have yet proved very good pilgrims. I have seen some who have run hastily forward, that again have, after a little time, run just as fast back again. I have seen some who have spoken very well of a pilgrim’s life at first, that after a while have spoken as much against it. I have heard some, when they first set out for paradise, say positively, there is such a place, who, when they have been almost there, have come back again, and said there is none. I have heard some vaunt what they would do in case they should be opposed, that have, even at a false alarm, fled faith, the pilgrim’s way, and all.
Now, as they were thus on their way, there came one running to meet them, and said, Gentlemen, and you of the weaker sort, if you love life, shift for yourselves, for the robbers are before you.
GREAT. Then said Mr. Great-Heart, They be the three that set upon Little-Faith heretofore. Well, said he, we are ready for them: so they went on their way. Now they looked at every turning when they should have met with the villains; but whether they heard of Mr. Great-Heart, or whether they had some other game, they came not up to the pilgrims.
Christiana then wished for an inn to refresh herself and her children, because they were weary. Then said Mr. Honest, There is one a little before us, where a very honorable disciple, one Gaius, dwells.
Rom. 16:23 Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you. ESV
So they all concluded to turn in thither; and the rather, because the old gentleman gave him so good a report. When they came to the door they went in, not knocking, for folks use not to knock at the door of an inn. Then they called for the master of the house, and he came to them. So they asked if they might lie there that night.
GAIUS. Yes, gentlemen, if you be true men; for my house is for none but pilgrims. Then were Christiana, Mercy, and the boys the more glad, for that the innkeeper was a lover of pilgrims. So they called for rooms, and he showed them one for Christiana and her children and Mercy, and another for Mr. Great-Heart and the old gentleman.
GREAT. Then said Mr. Great-Heart, good Gaius, what hast thou for supper? for these pilgrims have come far to-day, and are weary.
GAIUS. It is late, said Gaius, so we cannot conveniently go out to seek food; but such as we have you shall be welcome to, if that will content.
GREAT. We will be content with what thou hast in the house; for as much as I have proved thee, thou art never destitute of that which is convenient.
Then he went down and spake to the cook, whose name was, Taste-that-which-is-good, to get ready supper for so many pilgrims. This done, he comes up again, saying, Come, my good friends, you are welcome to me, and I am glad that I have a house to entertain you in; and while supper is making ready, if you please, let us entertain one another with some good discourse: so they all said, Content.
GAIUS. Then said Gaius, Whose wife is this aged matron? and whose daughter is this young damsel?
GREAT. This woman is the wife of one Christian, a pilgrim of former times; and these are his four children. The maid is one of her acquaintance, one that she hath persuaded to come with her on pilgrimage. The boys take all after their father, and covet to tread in his steps; yea, if they do but see any place where the old pilgrim hath lain, or any print of his foot, it ministereth joy to their hearts, and they covet to lie or tread in the same.
GAIUS. Then said Gaius, Is this Christian’s wife, and are these Christian’s children? I knew your husband’s father, yea, also his father’s father. Many have been good of this stock; their ancestors dwelt first at Antioch.
Acts 11:26 and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians. ESV
Christian’s progenitors (I suppose you have heard your husband talk of them) were very worthy men. They have, above any that I know, showed themselves men of great virtue and courage for the Lord of the pilgrims, his ways, and them that loved him. I have heard of many of your husband’s relations that have stood all trials for the sake of the truth. Stephen, that was one of the first of the family from whence your husband sprang, was knocked on the head with stones.
Acts 7:59-60 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep ESV
James, another of this generation, was slain with the edge of the sword.
Acts 12:2 He killed James the brother of John with the sword, ESV
To say nothing of Paul and Peter, men anciently of the family from whence your husband came, there was Ignatius, who was cast to the lions; Romanus, whose flesh was cut by pieces from his bones; and Polycarp, that played the man in the fire. There was he that was hanged up in a basket in the sun for the wasps to eat; and he whom they put into a sack, and cast him into the sea to be drowned. It would be impossible utterly to count up all of that family who have suffered injuries and death for the love of a pilgrim’s life. Nor can I but be glad to see that thy husband has left behind him four such boys as these. I hope they will bear up their father’s name, and tread in their father’s steps, and come to their father’s end.
GREAT. Indeed, sir, they are likely lads: they seem to choose heartily their father’s ways.
GAIUS. That is it that I said. Wherefore Christian’s family is like still to spread abroad upon the face of the ground, and yet to be numerous upon the face of the earth; let Christiana look out some damsels for her sons, to whom they may be betrothed, etc., that the name of their father, and the house of his progenitors, may never be forgotten in the world.
HON. ’Tis pity his family should fall and be extinct.
GAIUS. Fall it cannot, but be diminished it may; but let Christiana take my advice, and that is the way to uphold it. And, Christiana, said this innkeeper, I am glad to see thee and thy friend Mercy together here, a lovely couple. And if I may advise, take Mercy into a nearer relation to thee: if she will, let her be given to Matthew thy eldest son. It is the way to preserve a posterity in the earth. So this match was concluded, and in process of time they were married: but more of that hereafter.
Pilgrim's Progress (Illustrated): Updated, Modern English. More than 100 Illustrations.
The Continual Burnt Offering
By H.A. Ironside - 1941
March 7
2 Kings 2:11 And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. ESV
It was a glorious consummation to a noble life. Surely Elijah must have rejoiced in the hour of his ascension that his petulant prayer when he was under the juniper tree was not answered. He prayed to die, but God had something far better for him. He was the only man since Enoch who was carried up to Heaven without passing through death. And so God is often better than our faith and deals with us according to the lovingkindness of His great heart rather than according to our poor thoughts and our just rewards. He would have us learn to trust Him to do the best for us and to know that if He does not grant our exact requests it is because He has something better in store for us.2 Kings 6:17 Then Elisha prayed and said, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
Psalm 68:17 The chariots of God are twice ten thousand,
thousands upon thousands;
the Lord is among them; Sinai is now in the sanctuary.
Psalm 104:3 He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters;
he makes the clouds his chariot;
he rides on the wings of the wind;
4 he makes his messengers winds,
his ministers a flaming fire.
Habakkuk 3:8 Was your wrath against the rivers, O LORD?
Was your anger against the rivers,
or your indignation against the sea,
when you rode on your horses,
on your chariot of salvation?
Hebrews 1:14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation? ESV
He was better to me than all my hopes,
He was better than all my fears;
He made a bridge of my broken works,
And a rainbow of my tears.
The billows that guarded my sea-girt path
But carried my Lord on their crest;
When I dwell on the days of my wilderness march
I can lean on His love for the rest.
--- Anna Shipton
- Our Awesome God
Who Saves - Our Awesome God
Who Died - Our Awesome God
Who Lives
Devotionals, notes, poetry and more
Doodlebugs and gossips
3/7/2018 Bob Gass
‘The words of a talebearer are like tasty trifles.’
(Pr 18:8) The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body. ESV
The doodlebug lives at the bottom of a little cone-shaped hole that he burrows in the sand. He gets down as low as possible so he’s always looking up at everything else. When the ant comes around and gets on the side of this carefully prepared cone, the doodlebug feels a few grains of sand slide down, which signals him that ‘food’ is up there. At that point he begins to throw dirt on his victim. What he’s trying to do is drag the ant down to his level. And that’s what we do when we gossip. We throw dirt on others, hoping to bring them down to our level. It’s why Solomon warned: ‘The words of a talebearer are like tasty trifles, and they go down into the inmost body.’ The ear craves gossip like a hungry stomach craves food. Solomon goes on to give this warning: ‘He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets; therefore do not associate with one who flatters with his lips’ (Proverbs 20:19 NKJV). So, if you have gossipy lips or greedy ears, God says, ‘Don’t do it!’ Here’s something you may not have considered: while you can never be known and judged by what others say about you, you can be known and judged by what you say about them. In most cases it’s illegal to steal or receive stolen goods. That’s why the apostle Paul admonished, ‘Do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses’ (1 Timothy 5:19 NKJV). And one more thought: a gossip must always have an accomplice to commit the crime. So, the word for you today is: don’t receive or repeat gossip.
Numbers 11-12
Mark 5:21-43
UCB The Word For Today
by Bill Federer
On March 7, 1774, the British passed the Boston Port Act, closing the harbor to all commerce to punish the colonists for the Boston Tea Party. The surrounding towns rallied to their aid by secretly sending food to the inhabitants of Boston. William Prescott, who commanded the colonial militia at Bunker Hill wrote: “Providence has placed you where you must stand the first shock… Our forefathers passed the vast Atlantic, spent their blood and treasure, that they might enjoy… liberties… and transmit them to their posterity…. Now if we should give them up, can our children rise up and call us blessed?”
American Minute
Thomas R. Kelly
The problem we face today needs very little time for its statement. Our lives in a modern city grow too complex and overcrowded. Even the necessary obligations which we feel we must meet grow overnight, like Jack's beanstalk, and before we know it we are bowed down with burdens, crushed under committees, strained, breathless, and hurried, panting through a never-ending program of appointments. We are too busy to be good wives to our husbands, good homemakers, good companions of our children, good friends to our friends, and with no time at all to be friends to the friendless. But if we withdraw from public engagements and interests, in order to spend quiet hours with the family, the guilty calls of citizenship whisper disquieting claims in our ears. Our children's schools should receive our interest, the civic problems of our community need our attention, the wider issues of the nation and of the world are heavy upon us. Our professional status, our social obligations, our membership in this or that very important organization, put claims upon us. And in frantic fidelity we try to meet at least the necessary minimum of calls upon us. But we're weary and breathless. And we know and regret that our life is slipping away, with our having tasted so little of the peace and joy and serenity we are persuaded it should yield to a soul of wide caliber. The times for the deeps of the silences of the heart seem so few. And in guilty regret we must postpone till next week that deeper life of unshaken composure in the holy Presence, where we sincerely know our true home is, for this week is much too full.
But we must not spend precious time merely stating the problem. And although we all enjoy feeling sorry for ourselves, we must not linger long, bewailing the poverty of life induced by the overabundance of our opportunities. Nor must we rush hastily at a. solution, breathlessly anxious for once to get something, this day, to show for the time we've spent upon our problem. Prune and trim we must, but not with ruthless haste and ready pruning knife, until we have reflected upon the tree we trim, the environment it lives in, and the sap of life which feeds it.
Let me first suggest that we are giving a false explanation of the complexity of our lives. We blame it upon the complex environment. Our complex living, we say, is due to the complex world we live in, with its radios and autos, which give us more stimulation per square hour than used to be given per square day to our grandmothers. This explanation by the outward order leads us to turn wistfully, in some moments, to thoughts of a quiet South Sea Island existence, or to the horse and buggy days of our great grandparents, who went, jingle bells, jingle bells, over the crisp and ringing snow to spend the day with their grandparents on the farm. Let me assure you, I have tried the life of the South Seas for a year, the long, lingering leisure of a tropic world. And I found that Americans carry into the tropics their same mad cap, feverish life which we know on the mainland. Complexity of our program cannot be blamed upon complexity of our environment, much as we should like to think so. Nor will simplification of life follow simplification of environment. I must confess that I chafed terribly, that year in Hawaii, because in some respects the environment seemed too simple.
We Western peoples are apt to think our great problems are external, environmental. We are not skilled in the inner life, where the real roots of our problem lie. For I would suggest that the true explanation of the complexity of our program is an inner one, not an outer one. The outer distractions of our interests reflect an inner lack of integration of our own lives. We are trying to be several selves at once, without all our selves being organized by a single, mastering Life within us. Each of us tends to be, not a single self, but a whole committee of selves. There is the civic self, the parental self, the financial self, the religious self, the society self, the professional self, the literary self. And each of our selves is in turn a rank individualist, not co-operative but shouting out his vote loudly for himself when the voting time comes. And all too commonly we follow the common American method of getting a quick decision among conflicting claims within us. It is as if we have a chairman of our committee of the many selves within us, who does not integrate the many into one but who merely counts the votes at each decision, and leaves disgruntled minorities. The claims of each self are still pressed. If we accept service on a committee on Negro education, we still regret we can't help with a Sunday-school class. We are not integrated. We are distraught. We feel honestly the pull of many obligations and try to fulfill them all.
A Testament of Devotion
Compiled by Rick Adams
At the bottom of enmity between strangers lies indifference.
--- Soren Kierkegaard
Fear and Trembling (Penguin Classics)
Solitude is a chosen separation for refining your soul. Isolation is what you crave when you neglect the first.
--- Wayne Cordeiro
Leading on Empty: Refilling Your Tank and Renewing Your Passion
Love is not consolation, it is light.
--- Simone Weil
Gravity and Grace (Routledge Classics) (Volume 41)
Every man alone is sincere. At the entrance of a second person, hypocrisy begins.
--- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Self-Reliance & Other Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson
... from here, there and everywhere
University of Virginia Library 1994
An epistle went forth from this Yearly Meeting which I think good to give a place in this Journal. It is as follows.
From the Yearly Meeting, held at Philadelphia, for Pennsylvania and New Jersey, from the twenty-second day of the ninth month to the twenty-eighth of the same, inclusive, 1759.
TO THE QUARTERLYAND MONTHLY MEETINGS OF FRIENDS BELONGING TO THE SAID YEARLY MEETING: --
DEARLY BELOVED FRIENDS AND BRETHREN, -- In an awful sense of the wisdom and goodness of the Lord our God, whose tender mercies have been continued to us in this land, we affectionately salute you, with sincere and fervent desires that we may reverently regard the dispensations of his providence, and improve under them.
The empires and kingdoms of the earth are subject to his almighty power. He is the God of the spirits of all flesh, and deals with his people agreeable to that wisdom, the depth whereof is to us unsearchable. We in these provinces may say, He hath, as a gracious and tender parent, dealt bountifully with us, even from the days of our fathers. It was he who strengthened them to labor through the difficulties attending the improvement of a wilderness, and made way for them in the hearts of the natives, so that by them they were comforted in times of want and distress. It was by the gracious influences of his Holy Spirit that they were disposed to work righteousness, and walk uprightly towards each other, and towards the natives; in life and conversation to manifest the excellency of the principles and doctrines of the Christian religion whereby they retain their esteem and friendship. Whilst they were laboring for the necessaries of life, many of them were fervently engaged to promote pity and virtue in the earth, and to educate their children in the fear of the Lord.
If we carefully consider the peaceable measures pursued in the first settlement of land, and that freedom from the desolations of wars which for a long time we enjoyed, we shall find ourselves under strong obligations to the Almighty, who, when the earth is so generally polluted with wickedness, gives us a being in a part so signally favored with tranquillity and plenty, and in which the glad tidings of the gospel of Christ are so freely published that we may justly say with the Psalmist, "What shall we render unto the Lord for all his benefits?"
Our own real good, and the good of our posterity, in some measure depends on the part we act, and it nearly concerns us to try our foundations impartially. Such are the different rewards of the just and unjust in a future state, that to attend diligently to the dictates of the spirit of Christ, to devote ourselves to his service, and to engage fervently in his cause, during our short stay in this world, is a choice well becoming a free, intelligent creature. We shall thus clearly see and consider that the dealings of God with mankind, in a national capacity, as recorded in Holy Writ, do sufficiently evidence the truth of that saying, "It is righteousness which exalteth a nation"; and though he doth not at all times suddenly execute his judgments on a sinful people in this life, yet we see in many instances that when "men follow lying vanities they forsake their own mercies"; and as a proud, selfish spirit prevails and spreads among a people, so partial judgment, oppression, discord, envy, and confusions increase, and provinces and kingdoms are made to drink the cup of adversity as a reward of their own doings. Thus the inspired prophet, reasoning with the degenerated Jews, saith, "Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backsliding shall reprove thee; know, therefore, that it is an evil thing and bitter that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God of Hosts." (Jeremiah ii. 19.)
The God of our fathers, who hath bestowed on us many benefits furnished a table for us in the wilderness, and made the deserts and solitary places to rejoice. He doth now mercifully call upon us to serve him more faithfully. We may truly say with the Prophet, "It is his voice which crieth to the city, and men of wisdom see his name. They regard the rod, and Him who hath appointed it." People who look chiefly at things outward, too little consider the original cause of the present troubles; but they who fear the Lord and think often upon his name, see and feel that a wrong spirit is spreading amongst the inhabitants of our country; that the hearts of many are waxed fat, and their ears dull of hearing; that the Most High, in his visitations to us, instead of calling, lifteth up his voice and crieth: he crieth to our country, and his voice waxeth louder and louder. In former wars between the English and other nations, since the settlement of our provinces, the calamities attending them have fallen chiefly on other places, but now of late they have reached to our borders; many of our fellow-subjects have suffered on and near our frontiers, some have been slain in battle, some killed in their houses, and some in their fields, some wounded and left in great misery, and others separated from their wives and little children, who have been carried captives among the Indians. We have seen men and women who have been witnesses of these scenes of sorrow, and, being reduced to want, have come to our houses asking relief. It is not long since that many young men in one of these provinces were drafted, in order to be taken as soldiers; some were at that time in great distress, and had occasion to consider that their lives had been too little conformable to the purity and spirituality of that religion which we profess, and found themselves too little acquainted with that inward humility, in which true fortitude to endure hardness for the truth's sake is experienced. Many parents were concerned for their children, and in that time of trial were led to consider that their care to get outward treasure for them had been greater than their care for their settlement in that religion which crucifieth to the world, and enableth to bear testimony to the peaceable government of the Messiah. These troubles are removed, and for a time we are released from them.
Let us not forget that "The Most High hath his way in the deep, in clouds, and in thick darkness"; that it is his voice which crieth to the city and to the country, and O! that these loud and awakening cries may have a proper effect upon us, that heavier chastisement may not become necessary! For though things, as to the outward, may for a short time afford a pleasing prospect, yet, while a selfish spirit, that is not subject to the cross of Christ, continueth to spread and prevail, there can be no long continuance in outward peace and tranquillity. If we desire an inheritance incorruptible, and to be at rest in that state of peace and happiness which ever continues; if we desire in this life to dwell under the favor and protection of that Almighty Being whose habitation is in holiness, whose ways are all equal, and whose anger is now kindled because of our backslidings, -- let us then awfully regard these beginnings of his sore judgments, and with abasement and humiliation turn to him whom we have offended.
Contending with one equal in strength is an uneasy exercise; but if the Lord is become our enemy, if we persist in contending with him who is omnipotent, our overthrow will be unavoidable.
Do we feel an affectionate regard to posterity? and are we employed to promote their happiness? Do our minds, in things outward, look beyond our own dissolution? and are we contriving for the prosperity of our children after us? Let us then, like wise builders, lay the foundation deep, and by our constant uniform regard to an inward piety and virtue let them see that we really value it. Let us labor in the fear of the Lord, that their innocent minds, while young and tender, may be preserved from corruptions; that as they advance in age they may rightly understand their true interest, may consider the uncertainty of temporal things, and, above all, have their hope and confidence firmly settled in the blessing of that Almighty Being who inhabits eternity and preserves and supports the world.
In all our cares about worldly treasures, let us steadily bear in mind that riches possessed by children who do not truly serve God are likely to prove snares that may more grievously entangle them in that spirit of selfishness and exaltation which stands in opposition to real peace and happiness, and renders those who submit to the influence of it enemies to the cross of Christ.
To keep a watchful eye towards real objects of charity, to visit the poor in their lonesome dwelling-places, to comfort those who, through the dispensations of Divine Providence, are in strait and painful circumstances in this life, and steadily to endeavor to honor God with our substance, from a real sense of the love of Christ influencing our minds, is more likely to bring a blessing to our children, and will afford more satisfaction to a Christian favored with plenty, than an earnest desire to collect much wealth to leave behind us; for, "here we have no continuing city"; may we therefore diligently "seek one that is to come, whose builder and maker is God."
"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things, and do them, and the God of peace shall be with you."
(Signed by appointment, and on behalf of said meeting.)
John Woolman's Journal
by D.H. Stern
but the roots of the righteous will never be moved.
4 A capable wife is a crown for her husband,
but a shameful one is like rot in his bones.
Complete Jewish Bible : An English Version of the Tanakh (Old Testament) and B'Rit Hadashah (New Testament)
A Daily Devotional by Oswald Chambers
Undaunted radiance
Nay, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.
--- Romans 8:37.
Paul is speaking of the things that might seem likely to separate or wedge in between the saint and the love of God; but the remarkable thing is that nothing can wedge in between the love of God and the saint. These things can and do come in between the devotional exercises of the soul and God and separate individual life from God; but none of them is able to wedge in between the love of God and the soul of the saint. The bedrock of our Christian faith is the unmerited, fathomless marvel of the love of God exhibited on the Cross of Calvary, a love we never can and never shall merit. Paul says this is the reason we are more than conquerors in all these things, super-victors, with a joy we would not have but for the very things which look as if they are going to overwhelm us.
The surf that distresses the ordinary swimmer produces in the surf-rider the super joy of going clean through it. Apply that to our own circumstances, these very things—tribulation, distress, persecution, produce in us the super joy; they are not things to fight. We are more than conquerors through Him in all these things, not in spite of them, but in the midst of them. The saint never knows the joy of the Lord in spite of tribulation, but because of it. “I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation,” says Paul.
Undaunted radiance is not built on anything passing, but on the love of God that nothing can alter. The experiences of life, terrible or monotonous, are impotent to touch the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
My Utmost for His Highest
the Poetry of R.S. Thomas
Easter
Easter. I approach
the years' empty tomb.
What has time done with
itself? Is the news worth
the communicating? The word's
loincloth can remember
little. A thin, cold wind
blows from beyond the abysm
that I gawp into. But supposing
there were bones; the darkness
illuminated like a museum?
In glass cases I have
peered at the brittle bundles,
exonerating my conscience
with mortality's tears.
But here, true to my name, v
I have nothing to hold on
to, an absence so much richer
than a presence, offering
instead of the skull's
leer an impaled possibility
for faith's fingertips to explore.
R.S. Thomas - circa. 2000.
Walking in fellowship
Many of the features of Old Testament Law, particularly those having to do with dietary and other elements, had no underlying moral basis. The people were given those laws to help establish a distinction between them and all the other peoples of the world. Such laws reminded Israel that she was a people of God, and because of that relationship, was to be different from others.
In the latter part of Leviticus we discover regulations that do have deep moral roots: regulations that are designed to create a just and moral society.
How vital to note that included are regulations concerning the feasts and festivals at which one is to worship God. It is impossible to have a truly just society without a deep faith in and a commitment to the Lord God.
Separation: Way of Fellowship
Rules for people 18–20
Rules for priests 21–22
Rules concerning feasts 23–24
Rules concerning Canaan 25–27
Separation. The key Hebrew term is badal. It means to remove from something, and thus to make a distinction between them. In Genesis 1 God separated light from dark, land from sea. Now God separated Israel from all other nations of the world to be His own covenant people. A separation to God linked everything in Jewish life to her Lord.
We noted in the last unit that many of the regulations under the Mosaic Law had no “logical” purpose. We cannot try to explain the dietary laws, for instance, by arguing that flesh Israel was forbidden as food is somehow intrinsically “dirty.” These and a number of other Old Testament regulations that structured the lifestyle of Israel were designed to underline this people’s separation from all other people. Israel was in covenant relationship with Almighty God, and the life lived in the nation was to be different from life as it was lived in other lands.
The Teacher's Commentary
Berakhot 17b, 19a
Some of the things that people do are almost mechanical in nature. When the salesperson in the store says: “Thanks, and have a nice day” or “How are you doing today?” we assume that they are giving a conventional greeting. We do not really expect that person to hear the story of our day. We do not foresee a merchant who hardly knows us to take a sincere interest in our lives. The greeting is perfunctory at best.
Yet, when we receive a greeting card for a birthday or anniversary, we do expect that it was given with “every good intention.” That is, we assume that the sender truly hoped that we have a happy birthday or anniversary. None of us would want to receive a card that was sent without proper intention, even if we received only a standard greeting card with a simple signature and no personal greeting added. Thus, it appears that even in our lives, some things can be done mechanically, requiring little thought or purpose, while other actions need our focus and attention.
The Rabbis, in discussing the recitation of the Sh’ma, were also talking about the problem of Jewish worship. Does every prayer require our specific intention? Must we totally concentrate on what we are doing? Clearly, by saying that some mitzvot do not require proper intention, the Rabbis were allowing for the fact that not every action, every minute of the day, can be so focused. By saying that the Sh’ma requires specific intention, the Rabbis were also saying that those things which are the most important to us should be the object of our attention.
A mitzvah like niḥum aveilim, comforting mourners, is the type of important experience that needs our attention. We may say a ritualized formula that is provided by our tradition—“May God comfort you among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem”—but we need not say it in a mechanical or cursory way. Even a ritual can be done with feeling.
Every so often, we read the story of a famous actor, powerful politician or world-renowned scientist who, despite little or no parental attention or direction, became a successful, qualified, distinguished adult. We know this to be possible but it is the exception, rather than the rule. In general, good outcomes require our concentration and attention along the way. As parents, we know that our actions require intent. It is possible, but not likely, that our children will learn the values we want them to learn without our focus and efforts. It is more likely that they will become the type of adults we envision if we have the proper intention.
Some mitzvot can be performed accidentally, while others require specific and formal intention. What seems clear and unambiguous is the message of the Gemara: As an ideal, before the fact, we should pay proper attention to our actions.
A person should never give Satan an opening.
Mishnah (3:1): One whose dead relative has not yet been buried is exempt from reciting the Sh’ma, from the Tefillah [Amidah] and from tefillin, and from all the mitzvot stated in the Torah. The pallbearers and all those who take over for them—whether in front of or behind the bier: those who are in front of the bier, are exempt; those who are behind the bier, if they are needed, they are obligated; and both are exempt from the Tefillah.
Gemara: The Rabbis taught: “Those who are involved with the eulogy when the dead has not yet been buried slip away one by one and recite [the Sh’ma]. If the body is not in their presence, they sit and recite it, and he [the mourner] sits silent. They stand up and pray [the Amidah] and he stands up and accepts the judgment and says: ‘Lord of the Universe! I have greatly sinned before You, and You did not punish me one-thousandth part. May it be Your will, Lord our God, that You repair our breaches and the breaches of all Your people, the house of Israel, with mercy.’ ” Abaye said: “A person must not talk this way, since Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said, and so it was taught in the name of Rabbi Yosé: ‘A person should never give Satan an opening [open one’s mouth to Satan].’ ” And Rabbi Yosef said: “Where in the text do we get this from? As it says: ‘We should be like Sodom’ [Isaiah 1:9]. What did the prophet answer them? ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you chieftains of Sodom’ [Isaiah 1:10].”
Tefillin are often called phylacteries. This term is based on the Greek translation of tefillin, meaning “a protection” or “amulet,” and is found in the Christian Bible, Matthew 23:5. The Rabbis sometimes refer to the tefillin as an amulet of sorts as well. The Torah prescribes tefillin not as a preventative but “as a sign on your hand … as a symbol on your forehead” (Deuteronomy 6:8). In reality, the Torah talks of “sign” and “symbol” (or “frontlet”) but does not specify what kind. The Rabbis were well aware that the exact nature of this mitzvah is not given in the Torah, and they justify the tefillin as an enactment “of the Scribes,” that is, a rabbinic law based on oral tradition. Apparently, many Jews did not wear tefillin during the time of the Talmud, and this mitzvah was not widely observed in medieval France and Spain. Moses of Coucy reprimanded the Jews of Spain in 1296, and—according to his account—thousands accepted the duty of putting on tefillin. While tefillin has been largely a male ritual throughout the ages, some women today have accepted this mitzvah. There is reference in the Talmud to a woman, Michal, daughter of Saul, putting on tefillin. (Eruvin 96a).
The original discussion in the Mishnah and Gemara is on exemptions from reciting the Sh’ma while occupied in the burial of the dead. Sh’ma is a central prayer in Jewish worship. It consists of three paragraphs from the Torah and is recited twice daily, morning and night. The word Tefillah is used in modern Hebrew for prayer or worship. In the Talmud, it refers to the prayer par excellence, the Amidah, literally “the standing” prayer. Tefillin are boxes with leather straps, worn during weekday morning prayer and containing four sections of the Torah on parchment.
This topic leads to the question of what the mourners should say while involved in the burial of the dead and which of the usual prayers they are exempt from reciting. The text presents an anonymous source that holds that the mourner should accept God’s judgment, admitting that God has given better than was deserved. But this approach presents a problem to Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish and Rabbi Yosé. In their eyes, the mourner’s admission of being spared from even a small part of the punishment is “giving Satan an opening,” an invitation to Satan to speak, in other words, asking for trouble. Why tell God that you deserve more punishment than you have received?
In Jewish sources, Satan sometimes appears as an actual personality, the chief devil who opposes God. Satan (in Hebrew, the accent on the second syllable and the definite article is used: ha-Satan, the Satan) means “the adversary,” that which obstructs, and has come to symbolize the sum total of the evil forces in the world.
Rabbi Yosé agrees that one is exempt from reciting Sh’ma while occupied with the dead. (The reason for this exemption is partly based on the rule that “one who is doing one mitzvah is freed from doing another mitzvah.”) At the same time, he feels that you should never say or do anything that would be the cause of your own calamity.
“The breaches” refers to the destruction of the Temple. Rabbi Yosef expands on Rabbi Yosé’s idea by finding a prooftext from Isaiah. In actuality, Rabbi Yosef takes Isaiah slightly out of context. Isaiah’s exact words (translated) are: “Had not the Lord of Hosts left us some survivors, we should be like Sodom, another Gomorrah. Hear the word of the Lord, you chieftains of Sodom; give ear to our destruction, you folk of Gomorrah!”
Rabbi Yosef attempts to show that the Israelites gave Satan an opening and brought their own fate upon themselves. The Israelites said: “We should be like Sodom.” By comparing themselves to Sodom and giving Satan an opening—says Rabbi Yosef—they created a self-fulfilling prophecy, for Isaiah then calls them “You chieftains of Sodom” (without the word “like”). Their own words are thrown back in their faces; their own image becomes their fate!
Swimming in the Sea of Talmud: Lessons for Everyday Living
Thomas A Kempis
Book Two / The Interior Life
The Tenth Chapter / Appreciating God's Grace
WHY do you look for rest when you were born to work? Resign yourself to patience rather than to comfort, to carrying your cross rather than to enjoyment.
What man in the world, if he could always have them, would not readily accept consolation and spiritual joy, benefits which excel all earthly delights and pleasures of the body? The latter, indeed, are either vain or base, while spiritual joys, born of virtue and infused by God into pure minds, are alone truly pleasant and noble.
Now, since the moment of temptation is always nigh, since false freedom of mind and overconfidence in self are serious obstacles to these visitations from heaven, a man can never enjoy them just as he wishes.
God does well in giving the grace of consolation, but man does evil in not returning everything gratefully to God. Thus, the gifts of grace cannot flow in us when we are ungrateful to the Giver, when we do not return them to the Fountainhead. Grace is always given to him who is duly grateful, and what is wont to be given the humble will be taken away from the proud.
I do not desire consolation that robs me of contrition, nor do I care for contemplation that leads to pride, for not all that is high is holy, nor is all that is sweet good, nor every desire pure, nor all that is dear to us pleasing to God. I accept willingly the grace whereby I become more humble and contrite, more willing to renounce self.
The man who has been taught by the gift of grace, and who learns by the lash of its withdrawal, will never dare to attribute any good to himself, but will rather admit his poverty and emptiness. Give to God what is God’s and ascribe to yourself what is yours. Give Him thanks, then, for His grace, but place upon yourself alone the blame and the punishment your fault deserves.
Always take the lowest place and the highest will be given you, for the highest cannot exist apart from the lowest. The saints who are greatest before God are those who consider themselves the least, and the more humble they are within themselves, so much the more glorious they are. Since they do not desire vainglory, they are full of truth and heavenly glory. Being established and strengthened in God, they can by no means be proud. They attribute to God whatever good they have received; they seek no glory from one another but only that which comes from God alone. They desire above all things that He be praised in themselves and in all His saints—this is their constant purpose.
Be grateful, therefore, for the least gift and you will be worthy to receive a greater. Consider the least gift as the greatest, the most contemptible as something special. And, if you but look to the dignity of the Giver, no gift will appear too small or worthless. Even though He give punishments and scourges, accept them, because He acts for our welfare in whatever He allows to befall us.
He who desires to keep the grace of God ought to be grateful when it is given and patient when it is withdrawn. Let him pray that it return; let him be cautious and humble lest he lose it.
The Imitation Of Christ
March 7
As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.
--- Psalm 103:13.
How the compassion of a father comes out to his child in the matter of pain! ( Spurgeon's Sermons, 5 Volumes ) With what exquisite tenderness a child’s pains are soothed by a parent! It is very hard to stand by the bedside and see a dear child suffer. Haven’t some of you felt that you would gladly take your children’s pains if they might be restored? You have one dear one at home now, the tear is in your eye as I mention it—a life of suffering she has. Well, it may be others of you have children who have mental troubles; the body is healthy, but the little one has a fret and a worry. I hope you sometimes have seen your children weeping because of sin; it is a blessed grief, and the sooner it comes the better. In such a grief as that, as indeed in all others, I am quite sure you feel compassion for your children. So ever does your Father feel compassion for you.
Broken heart, God’s heart is longing to heal you. Weeping for your transgressions, the Father longs to clasp you to his bosom. Tried child of God, you who are often despondent and always ailing, God would not send this to you if there were not a necessity for it, and in sending it he shares it as far as this text goes, and it goes blessedly far, for he feels compassion for you. Sometimes hardhearted persons do not pity those who suffer, and some forms of suffering do not awaken sympathy, but all the sufferings of God’s people touch the heart of Jesus, and sympathy comes to them at once.
I know some of you say, “I am quite alone in the world, and I have much sorrow.” Please revise that hard saying! You are like your Master, of whom it is written that he said, “You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me” (John 16:32). Your Father is with you. I wish you had some Christian friend to speak with you as a companion, but in the absence of such a social confidant “there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Prov. 18:24), and there is One above who is a Father to you. Believe it; there is no poverty, there is no reproach, there is no sorrow of heart, there is no pain of body in this world among those who fear God but what the Lord sees it and knows all about it and has compassion on those who endure it.
--- C. H. Spurgeon
Take Heart: Daily Devotions with the Church's Great Preachers
Perpetua
Human affections, dear as they are, must always yield primary allegiance to Christ. This day in church history belongs to Perpetua who so inspired the early Christians that Augustine warned against viewing her story as equal to Scripture. Perpetua was born about 176 in Carthage, North Africa, growing up in a well-to-do family. Her father wasn’t a Christian, but her brothers and mother were devoted to Christ. Perpetua, bright and attractive, gained a good education and a husband, then a baby boy.
In 202 Emperor Septimus Severius issued an edict against Christians, and presently Perpetua was placed under house arrest. When her father begged her to recant, she pointed to a waterpot and asked, “Father, do you see this vessel? Can it be called by any other name than what it is? So also I cannot call myself by any other name than what I am—a Christian.”
She was moved to prison where her father again visited her, begging her with sobs to renounce her faith. She refused. Perpetua and a handful of other believers were then tried in the marketplace where, again, her father appeared, carrying her infant son and begging her to free herself.
Sentenced to torture and execution, the Christians were dragged back to prison. When she asked to see her baby a final time, she was refused. But on the eve of her death, Perpetua wrote of God’s sustaining presence: I saw that I should not fight with beasts but with the devil; I knew the victory to be mine.
On March 7, 202 the Christians were marched into the arena where Perpetua was gored and thrown by a savage heifer. Surviving the first encounter, she crept to the aid of a companion. Shortly thereafter, a gladiator pierced her with his sword. When the trembling youth came at her again, she helped guide his shaking sword to her throat.
Her devotion to Christ so inspired the Christians in North Africa that she personified Tertullian’s famous quote, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” Indeed, through the power of her witness, her chief jailer, Pudens, committed himself to the Lord Jesus.
My dear friends, I want you to know that what has happened to me has helped to spread the good news. The Roman guards and all the others know that I am here in jail because I serve Christ. Now most of the Lord’s followers have become brave and are fearlessly telling the message.
--- Philippians 1:12-14.
On This Day 365 Amazing And Inspiring Stories About Saints, Martyrs And Heroes
Daily Readings / CHARLES H. SPURGEON
Morning - March 7
“Have faith in God.” --- Mark 11:22.
Faith is the foot of the soul by which it can march along the road of the commandments. Love can make the feet move more swiftly; but faith is the foot which carries the soul. Faith is the oil enabling the wheels of holy devotion and of earnest piety to move well; and without faith the wheels are taken from the chariot, and we drag heavily. With faith I can do all things; without faith I shall neither have the inclination nor the power to do anything in the service of God. If you would find the men who serve God the best, you must look for the men of the most faith. Little faith will save a man, but little faith cannot do great things for God. Poor Little-faith could not have fought “Apollyon;” it needed “Christian” to do that. Poor Little-faith could not have slain “Giant Despair;” it required “Great-heart’s” arm to knock that monster down. Little faith will go to heaven most certainly, but it often has to hide itself in a nut-shell, and it frequently loses all but its jewels. Little-faith says, “It is a rough road, beset with sharp thorns, and full of dangers; I am afraid to go;” but Great-faith remembers the promise, “Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; as thy days, so shall thy strength be:” and so she boldly ventures. Little-faith stands desponding, mingling her tears with the flood; but Great-faith sings, “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee:” and she fords the stream at once. Would you be comfortable and happy? Would you enjoy religion? Would you have the religion of cheerfulness and not that of gloom? Then “have faith in God.” If you love darkness, and are satisfied to dwell in gloom and misery, then be content with little faith; but if you love the sunshine, and would sing songs of rejoicing, covet earnestly this best gift, “great faith.”
Evening - March 7
“It is better to trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in man.” --- Psalm 118:8.
Doubtless the reader has been tried with the temptation to rely upon the things which are seen, instead of resting alone upon the invisible God. Christians often look to man for help and counsel, and mar the noble simplicity of their reliance upon their God. Does this evening’s portion meet the eye of a child of God anxious about temporals, then would we reason with him awhile. You trust in Jesus, and only in Jesus, for your salvation, then why are you troubled? “Because of my great care.” Is it not written, “Cast thy burden upon the Lord”? “Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication make known your wants unto God.” Cannot you trust God for temporals? “Ah! I wish I could.” If you cannot trust God for temporals, how dare you trust him for spirituals? Can you trust him for your soul’s redemption, and not rely upon him for a few lesser mercies? Is not God enough for thy need, or is his all-sufficiency too narrow for thy wants? Dost thou want another eye beside that of him who sees every secret thing? Is his heart faint? Is his arm weary? If so, seek another God; but if he be infinite, omnipotent, faithful, true, and all-wise, why gaddest thou abroad so much to seek another confidence? Why dost thou rake the earth to find another foundation, when this is strong enough to bear all the weight which thou canst ever build thereon? Christian, mix not only thy wine with water, do not alloy thy gold of faith with the dross of human confidence. Wait thou only upon God, and let thine expectation be from him. Covet not Jonah’s gourd, but rest in Jonah’s God. Let the sandy foundations of terrestrial trust be the choice of fools, but do thou, like one who foresees the storm, build for thyself an abiding place upon the Rock of Ages.
Morning and Evening
March 7
BRIGHTEN THE CORNER
Ina Duley Ogdon, 1877–?
Christ gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good. (Titus 2:14)
“Do not wait until some deed of greatness you may do … but brighten the corner where you are!” These words were born out of frustration when the talented speaker, Mrs. Ina Ogdon, was selected to be on the Chautauqua Circuit. This would give her the opportunity to reach thousands around the country with her brilliant oratory. Just before she was to leave on the tour, her father was injured seriously in an automobile accident. Ina felt it necessary to cancel her plans so she could take care of her father.
At first Mrs. Ogdon felt much anger and resentment against God for allowing this tragedy to happen. Gradually, however, she determined that she would be happy and remain “true to the many duties near” her. She would do her best to “brighten the corner” where God had placed her. Ina completed this poem in 1913. Later it was set to its lilting music by the well-known musician, Charles Gabriel, and it became the popular theme song of the Billy Sunday-Homer Rodeheaver campaigns. Interestingly, Mrs. Ogdon no doubt ministered effectively to more people with these challenging words, born out of despair, than she would have done with her speaking tours on the Chautauqua Circuit.
Do not wait until some deed of greatness you may do. Do not wait to shed your light afar. To the many duties ever near you now be true; brighten the corner where you are.
Just above are clouded skies that you may help to clear; let not narrow self your way debar. Tho’ into one heart alone may fall your song of cheer, brighten the corner where you are.
Here for all your talent you may surely find a need, here reflect the Bright and Morning Star. Ever from your humble hand the bread of life may feed; brighten the corner where you are.
Chorus: Brighten the corner where you are! Brighten the corner where you are! Someone far from harbor you may guide across the bar; brighten the corner where you are!
For Today: Matthew 5:16; Acts 26:20; 1 Timothy 6:16; Titus 2:7; Titus 2:14; James 2:20.
Resolve that regardless of the frustrating and mundane duties you may face, you will, with God’s help, do them cheerfully as unto the Lord, seeking to bring some spark of joy and kindness into the life of another. Carry this little musical reminder with you throughout the day ---
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Brett Meador
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