Sherrill: a classless church?

Saturday, August 8, 2015
    Feast of Dominic, Priest, Founder of the Order of Preachers, 1221
Meditation:
    Then [Jesus] turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”
    —Luke 7:44-47 (NIV)
Quotation:
    With our heads, we believe that the church ought to be one truly “classless society,” with all men standing on a plane of perfect equality at the foot of the Cross. But if in our hearts we do not genuinely want it, the unwanted know it well enough, count us as their enemies, and turn to other faiths. [Continued tomorrow]
    ... Lewis J. Sherrill (1892-1957), Lift Up Your Eyes, Richmond: John Knox Press, 1949, p. 159 (see the book)
    See also Luke 7:44-47; 18:10-14; Acts 10:34-35; Rom. 2:9-11; Eph. 6:9; Col. 3:25; Jas. 2:3-5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, forgive my arrogance. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Adam of St. Victor: In the Law the types lay shaded

Friday, August 7, 2015
    Commemoration of John Mason Neale, Priest, Poet, 1866
Meditation:
    So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
    —Genesis 3:23-24 (NIV)
Quotation:
In the Law the types lay shaded:
    In the promised End they faded,
    CHRIST, Who all things consummates;
    CHRIST, Whose Blood aside hath turned
    That devouring sword which burned,
    Waving wide, at Eden’s gates.

    Jonah, by the tempest followed,
    Whom the whale of old time swallowed,
    Type of our True Jonah giving,
    Three days pass’d, is rendered living
    From that dark and narrow space.
    Now the myrrh of Cyprus groweth,
    Widelier spreadeth, sweetlier bloweth;
    Law its withered blossoms throweth
    That the Church may take their place.
    ... Adam of Saint Victor (d. 1146) & John Mason Neale (1818-1866), Mediaeval Hymns and Sequences, London: Joseph Masters, 1863, 119,121 (see the book)
    See also Gen. 3:23-24; Jon. 1:17; Matt. 11:27; 12:40; Luke 10:22; John 1:3; 13:3; Rom. 5:14; 1 Cor. 8:5-6; Eph. 1:22-23; Col. 1:16-17; Heb. 1:1-2; 9:24
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your grace has made a new way.

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Brent: the use of silence

Thursday, August 6, 2015
Meditation:
    But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor.
    —Matthew 27:14 (NIV)
Quotation:
    God is never silent excepting when silence speaks more clearly than a voice.
    ... Charles H. Brent (1862-1929), With God in the World [1899], London: Longmans Green, 1914, p. 38 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 27:14; 1 Kings 19:11; Ps. 22:1-2; 35:22
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, in You is my silence. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Trueblood: the truth that makes men free

Wednesday, August 5, 2015
    Feast of Oswald, King of Northumbria, Martyr, 642
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
    —John 8:32 (NIV)
Quotation:
    For the searchings of those who are weary of a meaningless freedom, which becomes so easily the bondage of self-centeredness, this faith is likewise an answer. They find that Christ offered peace, not in the sense of freedom from disturbance, but in the midst of the disturbance, and that he offered it at the price of the glad acceptance of discipline. The truth which makes men free is not a gift, but comes as a result of abiding in his word. “Take my yoke upon you,” he said, “and learn of me...and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” Our tragedy, and even our stupidity, is that we think we can have peace without wearing the yoke.
    ... Elton Trueblood (1900-1994), The Life We Prize, New York: Harper & Brothers, 1951, p. 207-208 (see the book)
    See also John 8:32; Ps. 23:5; Matt. 11:29; John 14:27; 16:33
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your peace is worth all I can give. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Brainerd: a glimpse

Tuesday, August 4, 2015
    Feast of John Vianney, Curè d’Ars, 1859
Meditation:
    In [Christ Jesus] and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.
    —Ephesians 3:12 (NIV)
Quotation:
    In the evening [I] enjoyed some comfort and satisfaction; and especially had some sweetness in secret prayer. This duty was made so agreeable to me, that I loved to walk abroad, and repeatedly engage in it. Oh, how comfortable is a little glimpse of God!
    ... David Brainerd (1718-1747), Memoirs of the Rev. David Brainerd, New Haven: S. Converse, 1822, p. 377 (see the book)
    See also Eph. 3:12; Mic. 6:8; Eph. 2:13; John 1:18; 1 John 4:12
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are always present that I may turn to You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Owen: hiding His face

Monday, August 3, 2015
Meditation:
“But if I go to the east, he is not there;
    if I go to the west, I do not find him.
When he is at work in the north, I do not see him;
    when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.
But he knows the way that I take;
    when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.”
    —Job 23:8-10 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Why doth the Lord Christ, at any time, thus hide himself in his glory from the faith of believers, that they cannot behold him? ... Though what he doth is supposed an act of sovereign, unaccountable wisdom, yet there are many holy ends of it, and consequently reasons for it. I shall mention one only. He doth it to stir us up in an eminent manner unto a diligent search and inquiry after him. Woful sloth and negligence are apt to prevail in us in our meditations on heavenly things. Though our hearts wake, in a valuation of Christ, his love, and his grace, yet we sleep as unto the due exercise of faith and love towards him... He knows that those with whom he hath been graciously present,—who have had views of his glory, although they have not valued the mercy and privilege of it as they ought, yet can they not bear a sense of his absence and his hiding himself from them.
    ... John Owen (1616-1683), The Glory of Christ [1684, 1691], in Works of John Owen, v. I, London: Johnson & Hunter, 1850, p. 391 (see the book)
    See also Job 23:8-9; Ps. 89:46; Song of Solomon 5:2; Isa. 45:15; 55:6-7; Matt. 6:33; John 14:22
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, though You are hidden, yet will I see You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Gordon: redemption of the body

Sunday, August 2, 2015
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.”
    —John 5:28-29 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It is taken for granted by many that this house of clay was never intended either to be repaired or beautified by the renewing Spirit. The caged-eagle theory of man’s existence is widely prevalent—the notion that the soul is imprisoned in flesh, and is beating its bars in eager longing to fly away and be at rest—all of which may be very good poetry, but is very bad divinity... The redemption of the body, not its dissolution, resurrection not death is set before us in the gospel as the true goal of victory.
    ... A. J. Gordon (1836-1895), The Ministry of Healing, Boston: H. Gannett, 1883, p. 194 (see the book)
    See also John 5:28-29; Acts 4:2; 1 Cor. 15:12-14,49; 2 Cor. 5:1-4; Phil. 3:10-11,20-21; 2 Tim. 2:18; 1 John 3:2
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I will rise to be with You forever. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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