Alexander: the assessment of society

Saturday, April 18, 2015
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
    —Matthew 5:20 (NIV)
Quotation:
    For Jesus, a realistic assessment of human society in general flowed directly from his radical analysis of human nature. He held out no glib hopes for this world. He saw the problems of society as being rooted in the selfishness of man. The problems of society are like large-scale paintings of the problems of each individual... The teaching of Jesus was centred not on vague recommendations for mankind at large, but on specific remedies for the needs of individuals.
    ... Denis Alexander, Beyond Science, Berkhamsted: Lion Pub., 1972, reprint, A. J. Holman Co., 1973, p. 166-167 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 5:20; Ps. 51:10; Isa. 55:7; Eze. 18:31; Matt. 23:12,25-26; Luke 6:41-42; 14:11; 18:10-14; Jas. 4:8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, erase the selfishness in my heart. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Owen: our treasure

Friday, April 17, 2015
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
    —Matthew 6:19-21 (NIV)
Quotation:
    If our principal treasure be, as we profess, in things spiritual and heavenly, (and woe unto us if it be not so!) on them will our affections, and consequently our desires and thoughts, be principally fixed.
    ... John Owen (1616-1683), The Grace and Duty of being Spiritually Minded [1681], in Works of John Owen, v. VII, London: Johnson & Hunter, 1852, p. 302 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 6:19-21; Ps. 62:10; Pr. 16:16; Luke 12:16-21,33-34; Col. 2:2-3; 1 Tim. 6:8-10; Heb. 12:2; 13:5; 1 John 2:15-16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, fix my eyes on You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Williams: Christian liberty

Thursday, April 16, 2015
Meditation:
    Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
    —Ephesians 4:3 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Paul, in matters of Christian liberty, commendeth the unity of their faith in the Holy Spirit, giving order that we should not judge nor condemn one another, in difference of judgment and practice of such things where men live to God on both sides, even though there were some error on one side. How much less in things indifferent, where there may be no error on either side.
    ... Roger Williams (1603?-1683), The Bloudy Tenent [1644], London: J. Haddon, 1848, p. 224 (see the book)
    See also Eph. 4:3; Rom. 14:1-6,21; 1 Cor. 1:10; 12:12-13; Gal. 5:1; Col. 3:13-15
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, assist me to set aside all objections about style and superficialities. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Mascall: the shrunken Gospel

Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Meditation:
    For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.
    —Hebrews 4:2 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Enough has... been said to show that the impoverished secularised versions of Christianity which are being urged upon us for our acceptance today rest not upon the rigid application of the methods of scientific scholarship nor upon a serious intuitive appreciation of the Gospels as a whole in their natural context, but upon a radical distaste for the supernatural.
    ... E. L. Mascall (1905-1993), The Secularization of Christianity, London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1966, p. 282 (see the book)
    See also Heb. 4:2; Isa. 59:1-2; Matt. 13:58; Mark 6:5-6; 9:23
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, help me against unbelief. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Robertson: the purpose of prayer

Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Meditation:
But I, by your great mercy, will come into your house;
    in reverence will I bow down toward your holy temple.
    —Psalm 5:7 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The Divine Wisdom has given us prayer, not as a means whereby to obtain the good things of earth, but as a means whereby we learn to do without them; not as a means whereby we escape evil, but as a means whereby we become strong to meet it.
    ... Frederick W. Robertson (1816-1853), Sermons, v. IV, Leipzig: Tauchnitz, 1866, p. 34 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 5:7; 85:8; Luke 22:43; Rom. 8:34; 2 Cor. 12:10; Eph. 3:16; 2 Thess. 3:3
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, make my heart into a heart of prayer. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Hammarskjold: listening?

Monday, April 13, 2015
Meditation:
Yet I am always with you;
    you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
    and afterward you will take me into glory.
    —Psalm 73:23-24 (NIV)
Quotation:
    How can you expect to keep your powers of hearing when you never want to listen? That God should have time for you, you seem to take as much for granted as that you cannot have time for Him.
    ... Dag Hammarskjöld (1905-1961), Markings, tr. Leif Sjöberg & W. H. Auden, (q.v.), New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1964 (post.), p.12 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 37:7; 73:23-24; Hab. 2:1; John 1:1-2; Eph. 2:17; Heb. 12:25
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, make me to be patient like You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Hudson Taylor: where the pressure lies

Sunday, April 12, 2015
Meditation:
    We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.
    —2 Corinthians 1:8-9 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It doesn’t matter, really, how great the pressure is; it only matters where the pressure lies. See that it never comes between you and the Lord—then, the greater the pressure, the more it presses you to His breast.
    ... J. Hudson Taylor (1832-1905), Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret, Dr. & Mrs. Howard Taylor, Moody Publishers, 2009, p. 127 (see the book)
    See also 2 Cor. 1:8-9; 3:5; 4:7-11; 12:7-10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, increase my my reliance on You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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