Rees: the Holy Spirit (IV)

Saturday, June 24, 2017
    Feast of the Birth of John the Baptist
Meditation:
    I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done—by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.
    —Romans 15:18-19 (NIV)
Quotation:
    [Continued from yesterday]
    As the Christian life in the individual is the work of the Spirit, it follows that the corporate realisation of that life, in the Church built upon the foundation of apostles and prophets, is also His creation... The great creative acts and significant turning-points were recognised, either by the Church or by its historian, as determined by the Spirit. The Spirit confirmed and preserved the community from the outset, by the descent at Pentecost (Acts 2:4). The extension of the Gospel beyond Judea and the first mission to the Gentiles were commanded and approved by the Spirit (Acts 8:29; 10:19, 44; 13:2, 4). Paul, on his journeys, was led by the Spirit (Acts 16:6, 7). He himself was especially conscious that his whole ministry was inspired by the Holy Ghost (Rom. 15:18,19). All the apostles were conspicuously men of the Spirit. [Continued tomorrow]
    ... Thomas Rees (1869-1926), The Holy Spirit in Thought and Experience, New York: C. Scribner’s Sons, 1915, p. 82-83 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 15:18-19; Acts 2:4; 8:29; 10:19,44; 13:2,4; 16:6-7
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, with Your Spirit, I can go anywhere You send me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Rees: the Holy Spirit (III)

Friday, June 23, 2017
    Feast of Etheldreda, Abbess of Ely, c.678
Meditation:
    Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
    —2 Corinthians 1:21-22 (NIV)
Quotation:
    [Continued from yesterday]
    [The Spirit] was the power manifested in the resurrection of Christ (Rom. 1:4), in the inner life of man (Rom. 15:13; Eph. 3:16), and in the preaching of the word (I Thess. 1:5; 1 Cor. 2:4). He is the Spirit of life, both now and hereafter (I Cor. 15:45; Gal. 6:8); and the Spirit of assurance, the guarantee of the new life, whereby man obtains confidence towards God and courage in the face of the world’s evil (II Cor. 1:22; Rom. 5:5; 8:16, 23; Eph. 1:13; 4:30). Man, therefore, as the dwelling-place of the Spirit, is the inalienable possession of God (I Cor. 3:16, 17; 6:19). [Continued tomorrow]
    ... Thomas Rees (1869-1926), The Holy Spirit in Thought and Experience, New York: C. Scribner’s Sons, 1915, p. 82 (see the book)
    See also 2 Cor. 1:21-22; Rom. 5:5; 8:16, 23; 15:13; 1 Cor. 2:4; 3:16-17; 6:19; 15:45; Gal. 6:8; Eph. 1:13; 3:16; 4:30; 1 Thess. 1:5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have made Your home in me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Rees: the Holy Spirit (II)

Thursday, June 22, 2017
    Feast of Alban, first Martyr of Britain, c.209
Meditation:
    I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.
    —Ephesians 1:17 (NIV)
Quotation:
    [Continued from yesterday]
    That Paul regarded the subsequent development of Christian life and character as in its totality the work of the Spirit is not questioned. All the Christian virtues are the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22,23). He is the Spirit of holiness (Rom. 1:4), of sanctification (II Thess. 2:13), and of a new life (Rom. 7:6). Love, the greatest of Christian graces, is the pre-eminent gift of the Spirit (I Cor. 13; Col. 1:8; Rom. 15:30), not only as a grace of character, but also as the principle of unity in the Church (Eph. 4:1-6; cf. Eph. 2:18, 22). The Spirit bestows wisdom and knowledge on the individual and in the Church. Paul spoke “God’s wisdom in a mystery... through the Spirit, for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God” (I Cor. 2:7-10). “For to one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom, and to another the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit” (I Cor. 12:8). All Christian knowledge was derived from the Spirit both by Paul and by [the Apostle] John (Eph. 1:17, 23; 3:16-19; John 16:13; I John 2:20, 27; cf. James 1:5; 3:15, 17). [Continued tomorrow]
    ... Thomas Rees (1869-1926), The Holy Spirit in Thought and Experience, New York: C. Scribner’s Sons, 1915, p. 82 (see the book)
    See also Eph. 1:17; John 16:13; Gal. 5:22,23; Rom. 1:4; 7:6; 15:30; 1 Cor. 2:7-10; 12:8; 13; Gal. 5:22,23; Eph. 1:23; 2:18, 22; 3:16-19; 4:1-6; Col. 1:8; 2 Thess. 2:13; Jas. 1:5; 3:15, 17; 1 John 2:20, 27
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I receive the gifts you ordain from Your hand. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Rees: the Holy Spirit (I)

Wednesday, June 21, 2017
Meditation:
    Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba , Father.”
    —Galatians 4:6 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The experiencing of divine sonship, of adoption, is the act of the Spirit in our hearts crying Abba, Father (Gal. 4:6; Rom. 8:15,16)... Liberty, peace, and joy are correlative factors in the same moment of experience, and they are all attributed to the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:2,6; 14:17; Gal. 5:22; 1 Thess. 1:6). In the allegory of Abraham’s two sons, Paul contrasts the state of bondage under the law with that of liberty under grace, and defines the one as being after the flesh, but the other after the Spirit (Gal. 4:21-29)... The first great moment of the new life, whether it be called justification by faith, the realisation of sonship, or peace with God, is a work of the Holy Spirit, through the preaching of the word. But [Paul] does not indicate... the exact logical or historical sequence of the various elements in the experience, and it may be doubted whether he would have entertained any idea of sequence within the complex experience of justification. [Continued tomorrow]
    ... Thomas Rees (1869-1926), The Holy Spirit in Thought and Experience, New York: C. Scribner’s Sons, 1915, p. 81-82 (see the book)
    See also Gal. 4:6; Rom. 8:2,6,15,16; 14:17; Gal. 4:21-29; 5:22,23; 1 Thess. 1:6
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I now know my Father. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Babcock: the inside of the cup

Tuesday, June 20, 2017
Meditation:
    I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
    —Philippians 4:10-13 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Contentment is not satisfaction. It is the grateful, faithful, fruitful use of what we have, little or much. It is to take the cup of Providence, and call upon the name of the Lord. What the cup contains is its contents. To get all that is in the cup is the act and art of contentment. Not to drink because one has but half a cup, or because one does not like its flavor, or because somebody else has silver to one’s own glass, is to lose the contents; and that is the penalty, if not the meaning, of discontent. No one is discontented who employs and enjoys to the utmost what he has. It is high philosophy to say, we can have just what we like if we like what we have; but this much at least can be done, and this is contentment,—to have the most and best in life by making the most and best of what we have.
    ... Maltbie D. Babcock (1858-1901), Thoughts for Every-day Living, New York: C. Scribner’s sons, 1901, p. 54 (see the book)
    See also Phil. 4:10-13; Gen. 28:20-22; Matt. 6:31-34; Luke 3:14; Phil. 3:8-9; 1 Tim. 6:6-9; Heb. 10:34; 13:5-6
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me contentment with what You have given me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Singh: the world's ways vs. God's way

Monday, June 19, 2017
    Commemoration of Sundar Singh of India, Sadhu, Evangelist, Teacher, 1929
Meditation:
    [Paul:] “About noon, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’
    “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’
    ”‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’”
    —Acts 26:13-18 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Many people despise those who spend their health, strength and money for the salvation of others, and call them mad. And yet it is they who will save many and be saved themselves.
    ... Sadhu Sundar Singh (1889-1929), The Message of Sadhu Sundar Singh, B. H. Streeter & A. J. Appasamy, New York: The Macmillan Company, 1922, p. 170 (see the book)
    See also Acts 26:13-18; Rom. 15:2-3; 1 Cor. 9:19-23; 10:24,33; 2 Cor. 5:13
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, send me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Law: the purpose of revelation

Sunday, June 18, 2017
Meditation:
    May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
    —2 Corinthians 13:14 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is wholly practical; it is revealed to us, to discover our high original and the greatness of our fall, and to show us the deep and profound operation of the triune God in the recovery of the divine life in our souls: that by the means of this mystery thus discovered, our piety may be rightly directed, our faith and prayer have their proper objects, [and] the workings and aspiring of our own hearts may cooperate and correspond with that triune life in the Deity, which is always desiring to manifest itself in us.
    ... William Law (1686-1761), An Appeal to All that Doubt [1740], in Works of Rev. William Law, v. VI, London: G. Moreton, 1893, p. 82 (see the book)
    See also 2 Cor. 13:14; Matt. 28:19; John 3:35; 5:20; 6:46; 14:9-11,16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, lead me to know You more deeply. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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