Phelps: knowledge

Saturday, July 1, 2017
    Commemoration of John & Henry Venn, Priests, Evangelical Divines, 1813, 1873
Meditation:
    How can you say, “We are wise, for we have the law of the LORD,” when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely? The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the LORD, what kind of wisdom do they have?
    —Jeremiah 8:8-9 (NIV)
Quotation:
    A knowledge of the Bible without a college course is more valuable than a college course without the Bible.
    ... William Lyon Phelps (1865-1943), Human Nature in the Bible, New York: Scribner, 1922, p. ix (see the book)
    See also Jer. 8:8-9; John 9:41; John 5:39-40; Rom. 1:22-23; 1 Cor. 1:19-23; 3:18-20
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, send Your Spirit to fill me with Your word. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Tillotson: dealing with other's faults

Friday, June 30, 2017
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you...”
    —Luke 6:27 (ESV)
Quotation:
    He is not a good Christian, that is not heartily sorry for the faults even of his greatest enemies; and, if he will be so, he will [lay them bare] no further than is necessary to some good end.
    ... John Tillotson (1630-1694), Works of Dr. John Tillotson, v. III, London: J. F. Dove, for R. Priestley, 1820, Sermon XLII, p. 268 (see the book)
    See also Luke 6:27; Ex. 23:4-5; Matt. 5:11,43-45; Luke 6:22,35; 23:34; Rom. 12:17-18; Gal. 6:10; Eph. 4:31; Tit. 3:2; 1 Thess. 5:15; Jas. 4:11; 1 Pet. 2:1; 3:10; 3 John 1:11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grow pity in my heart for my enemies and Yours. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Tozer: the irrelevance of proof

Thursday, June 29, 2017
    Feast of Peter & Paul, Apostles
Meditation:
    It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience. Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”
    —Hebrews 4:6,7 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The unbelieving mind would not be convinced by any proof, and the worshiping heart needs none.
    ... A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), The Knowledge of the Holy, Harper & Row, 1975, p. 65 (see the book)
    See also Heb. 4:6-7; Luke 16:27-31; John 12:10-11; Acts 28:23; Rom. 8:6-8,16; 2 Cor. 4:3; 5:11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have placed the only proof I need within my heart. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Irenaeus: beholding God

Wednesday, June 28, 2017
    Feast of Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, Teacher, Martyr, c.200
Meditation:
    No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.
    —John 1:18 (RSV)
Quotation:
    The glory of God is a living man; and the life of man consists in beholding God.
    ... Irenaeus (c.130-c.200), from Adversus Haereses, The Writings of Irenaeus, v. I, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1868, IV.xx.7, p. 444 (see the book)
    See also John 1:18,14; 14:9-10; 2 Cor. 4:6; Heb. 1:1-4
Quiet time reflection:
    Father, in Jesus have I known You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Huxtable: the authority of Christ

Tuesday, June 27, 2017
Meditation:
    And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
    —Matthew 4:19 (ESV)
Quotation:
    The basis of our Lord’s appeal was himself. “Follow me,” “come unto me,” and “ye will not come unto me,” indicate sufficiently that what he offered to men was himself. He seeks to win men’s acceptance of the truth that had come in him. His words and deeds served to indicate what manner of man he was and what kind of work he had come to do; and all the time it is a person addressing persons, seeking to gain their recognition of and their self-commitment to himself. He sought to exercise no authority over men that was not personal, both in the way it was exercised and in the way in which it was recognized and accepted.
    ... John Huxtable (1912-1990), The Bible Says, London: SCM, 1962, p. 82 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 4:19; 8:22; 9:9; 16:24; 19:21; Mark 2:14; 10:21; Luke 5:27; John 1:14; 7:17; 8:47; 18:37; 1 John 4:6
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant a personal knowledge of and commitment to You in _____ and _____. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Denney: a simplified taxonomy

Monday, June 26, 2017
Meditation:
    More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
    —1 Corinthians 15:15-17 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Even in a day of overdone distinctions, one might point out that interpretations are not properly to be classified as historical or dogmatic, but as true or false. If they are false, it does not matter whether they be called dogmatic or historical; and if they are true, they may quite well be both.
    ... James Denney (1856-1917), The Atonement and the Modern Mind, London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1903, p. 7 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 15:13-17; Matt. 15:2-6; Mark 7:5-9; Acts 26:8; Gal. 1:14; Col. 2:8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your Spirit leads me into all truth. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Rees: the Holy Spirit (V)

Sunday, June 25, 2017
Meditation:
    I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard?
    —Galatians 3:2 (NIV)
Quotation:
    [Continued from yesterday]
    The Spirit guided the Church in the creation of organisation and officers (Acts 6:3; 20:28). The first three gifts of the Spirit which God had set in the Church were apostles, prophets, and teachers, in addition to which the whole Church had a gift of government (I Cor. 12:4, 28). The decisions of the first council of the Church were first of all the decrees of the Spirit (Acts 15:28). Paul had preached and created churches by the power of the Spirit (I Cor. 2:4; 1 Thess. 1:5,6; Gal. 3:2). In one Spirit were all believers baptized into one body (I Cor. 12:13: cf. Phil. 1:27). The Spirit therefore dwells in the Church as the principle of its entire united and common life (Eph. 2:18, 22; cf. I Cor. 3:16).
    ... Thomas Rees (1869-1926), The Holy Spirit in Thought and Experience, New York: C. Scribner’s Sons, 1915, p. 83 (see the book)
    See also Gal. 3:2; Acts 6:3; 15:28; 20:28; 1 Cor. 2:4; 3:16; 12:4,13,28; Eph. 2:18,22; Phil. 1:27; 1 Thess. 1:5-6
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, send Your Spirit to us, that we may speak the truth boldly. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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