Chesterton: the sword

Saturday, February 8, 2014
Meditation:
    Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
    Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
    —Matthew 18:21-22 (KJV)
Quotation:
    Christianity ... came in startlingly with a sword, and clove one thing from another. It divided the crime from the criminal. The criminal we must forgive unto seventy times seven. The crime we must not forgive at all. It was not enough that slaves who stole wine inspired partly anger and partly kindness. We must be much more angry with theft than before, and yet much kinder to thieves than before. There was room for wrath and love to run wild.
    ... Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936), Orthodoxy, London, New York: John Lane Company, 1909, p. 175 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 18:21-22; Pr. 28:13; Matt. 5:48; 6:12; Mark 11:25; Luke 3:8-14; 19:2-10; Acts 5:1-5; Rom. 12:21; 1 Cor. 6:9-11; Eph. 4:28; Heb. 4:12
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, teach me Your justice and mercy. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Newton: the school of Christ

Friday, February 7, 2014
Meditation:
    The humble shall see this, and be glad: and your heart shall live that seek God. For the LORD heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners.
    —Psalm 69:32-33 (KJV)
Quotation:
    I am persuaded that love and humility are the highest attainments in the school of Christ and the brightest evidences that he is indeed our master.
    ... John Newton (1725-1807), in a letter, 1757, The Works of the Rev. John Newton, v. II, New York: Williams and Whiting, 1810, p. 62 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 69:32-33; 25:9; Isa. 61:1-3; Matt. 5:5; John 13:34-35; 1 John 2:10; 4:20-21
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You enable Your church to follow You in love and humility. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Davidman: violating the tenth

Thursday, February 6, 2014
Meditation:
    [God:] “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.”
    —Exodus 20:17 (KJV)
Quotation:
    Can we reasonably expect happiness from an insatiable appetite which, no matter how it stuffs its belly, is still psychologically like Oliver Twist in the poorhouse, holding up an empty bowl and begging, “I want some more”? Isn’t it possible that our dream of the good society contained, from the beginning, a hidden violation of the Tenth Commandment—“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods”?
    ... Joy Davidman (1915-1960), Smoke on the Mountain, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1955, reprint, Westminster John Knox Press, 1985, p. 119 (see the book)
    See also Ex. 20:17; Ps. 119:36; Luke 12:15; Rom. 7:7; Phil. 3:18-19; Col. 3:5; 1 Tim. 6:6-10; Heb. 13:5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, quell my hunger for things. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Pinnock: new light

Wednesday, February 5, 2014
    Commemoration of Martyrs of Japan, 1597
Meditation:
    We live by faith, not by sight.
    —2 Corinthians 5:7 (NIV)
Quotation:
    I have no remedy for those who wish to walk by sight because they find the way of faith too unnerving, or for those who wish to freeze theological development at some arbitrary point in past history. I have no comfort for those who, afraid of missing eternal truth, choose to identify it with some previous theological work and try to impose it unchanged on the present generation or desire to speak out of the past and not to come into contact with the modern situation. I have no answer for those who are frightened to think God may have more light to break forth from his holy Word.
    ... Clark H. Pinnock (1937-2010), The Grace of God and the Will of Man, Zondervan, 1989, p. 28 (see the book)
    See also 2 Cor. 5:7; Rom. 8:24-25; 1 Cor. 13:12; 2 Cor. 4:18; Gal. 2:20; Heb. 10:38; 11:1; 1 Pet. 1:8-9; 2 Pet. 3:15-16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your word is trustworthy above that of any man. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Kierkegaard: easy to understand

Tuesday, February 4, 2014
    Commemoration of Gilbert of Sempringham, Founder of the Gilbertine Order, 1189
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”
    —Matthew 5:39 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It is all too easy to understand the requirements contained in God’s Word (“Give all your goods to the poor.” “If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the left.” “Count it sheer joy when you meet various temptations” etc.)... The most limited poor creature cannot truthfully deny being able to understand the requirements—but it is tough for flesh and blood to will to understand it and to have to act accordingly.
    ... Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), For Self-examination: and, Judge for Yourselves! And Three Discourses [1851], Oxford University Press, 1941, p. 34 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 11:30; 5:39; 18:21; Rom. 7:18-19; 8:3; 1 Cor. 9:27; Gal. 5:16-17; Jas. 1:2-3; 1 John 5:3-4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I confess my weakness to You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Guyon: no love to give

Monday, February 3, 2014
    Feast of Anskar, Archbishop of Hamburg, Missionary to Denmark and Sweden, 865
Meditation:
    Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
    —1 John 4:8 (NIV)
Quotation:
I love, my God, but with no love of mine
    For I have none to give;
I love Thee, Lord, but all that love is Thine,
    For by Thy life I live.
I am as nothing, and rejoice to be
Emptied and lost and swallowed up in Thee.
    ... Mme. Guyon (1648-1717), included in Masterpieces of Religious Verse, James Dalton Morrison, ed., New York: Harper & Bros., 1948, p. 100 (see the book)
    See also 1 John 4:8; Acts 20:24; Rom. 7:18; 1 Cor. 2:2; 2 Cor. 12:11; Gal. 6:3; Phil. 2:5-7; 3:8-9; 1 John 4:19
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your love is all I can give. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Calvin: the sufficiency of Scripture

Sunday, February 2, 2014
    THE PRESENTATION OF CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE
Meditation:
    [Peter:] “We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”
    —Acts 5:32 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Scripture will ultimately suffice for a saving knowledge of God only when its certainty is founded upon the inward persuasion of the Holy Spirit. Indeed, these human testimonies which exist to confirm it will not be vain if, as secondary aids to our feebleness, they follow that chief and highest testimony. But those who wish to prove to unbelievers that Scripture is the Word of God are acting foolishly, for only by faith can this be known.
    ... John Calvin (1509-1564), The Institutes of the Christian Religion, v. I [1559], tr. John Allen, Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath-School Work, 1921, I.viii.13, p. 90-91 (see the book)
    See also Acts 5:32; Ps. 143:10; Jer. 6:10; Matt. 22:43; Luke 16:31; 24:45; Acts 1:8; Rom. 8:13-16; 1 Cor. 1:18; 2 Cor. 1:21-22; 5:5; Gal. 4:6; 5:25; Eph. 1:13-14; 4:30; 2 Tim. 3:16; 1 John 4:13
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I pray that You will bring _____ and _____ to faith and trust in You, knowing and understanding the story of Your grace in Scripture. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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