Bernard: the beginning of the Gospel

Saturday, April 14, 2018
Meditation:
    The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
    —Mark 1:1 (NIV)
Quotation:
    No literary fact is more remarkable than that men, knowing what these writers knew, and feeling what they felt, should have given us chronicles so plain and calm. They have nothing to say as from themselves. Their narratives place us without preface, and keep us without comment, among external scenes, in full view of facts, and in contact with the living person whom they teach us to know... Who can fail to recognize a divine provision for placing the disciples of all future ages as nearly as possible in the position of those who had been personally present at “the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God?”
    ... T. D. Bernard (1815-1904), The Progress of Doctrine in the New Testament, London: Macmillan, 1864, p. 37 (see the book)
    See also Mark 1:1; Luke 24:48; Acts 1:8,21-22; 2:32; 3:15; 5:32; 10:41; 1 Cor. 15:3-8; 1 Pet. 5:1
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have brought me into Your cosmos. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Danielou: satanic powers

Friday, April 13, 2018
Meditation:
    One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast. Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?”
    —Revelation 13:3-4 (NIV)
Quotation:
    There is an evil power, a Satanic power, which holds souls in error, and which persists.
    It is interesting to note that in the first centuries of the Christian era many demoniacal phenomena appeared in countries in the course of being converted from idolatry to Christianity. The same is true of pagan civilisation today. In my research into the fourth century, I was surprised to find a great recrudescence of magical practices at the very moment when Roman civilization under Constantine was about to be snatched away bodily from paganism and enter... into the kingdom of the Son; at that time, all the rites of sorcery took on an incredible virulence.
    ... Jean Daniélou (1905-1974), The Salvation of the Nations, London: Sheed & Ward, 1949, p. 42 (see the book)
    See also Rev. 13:3-4; 2 Thess. 2:3-4; 1 Pet. 5:8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are our sole defender against the enemy. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Reindorp: the unenlightened conscience

Thursday, April 12, 2018
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “All this I have told you so that you will not go astray. They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me.”
    —John 16:1-3 (NIV)
Quotation:
    To say of an act done, “My conscience is quite clear,” sounds smug and satisfactory. It does not by any means follow that the speaker’s conscience ought to be clear. It may simply show that [it] is sadly unenlightened.
    ... G. E. Reindorp (1911-1990), Punch, v. 240, Mark Lemon, et al., Punch Publications Ltd., 1961, p. 670 (see the book)
    See also John 16:1-3; Rom. 9:1; 1 Cor. 4:4; 1 Tim. 4:2; Tit. 1:15
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, inform my conscience according to Your law. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Miller: the unforgivable sin

Wednesday, April 11, 2018
    Commemoration of George Augustus Selwyn, first Bishop of New Zealand, 1878
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”
    —Matthew 12:31-32 (ESV)
Quotation:
    A man may blaspheme against the Son of Man and be forgiven; ... but the sin against the Spirit of Truth—what can God Himself do with or for the man who will not acknowledge the truth he knows, or follow the light he sees?
    ... Alexander Miller (1908-1960), The Renewal of Man, New York: Doubleday, 1955, p. 137 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 12:31-32; Mark 3:28-30; Luke 12:10; John 7:37-39; Heb. 10:26-27
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I acknowledge Your Spirit within me and ask for help in submitting myself to Him. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Law: reading Scripture

Tuesday, April 10, 2018
    Feast of William Law, Priest, Mystic, 1761
    Commemoration of William of Ockham, Franciscan Friar, Philosopher, Teacher, 1347
    Commemoration of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Priest, Scientist, Visionary, 1955
Meditation:
Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
    but my ears you have pierced;
    burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require.
Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—
    it is written about me in the scroll.
I desire to do your will, O my God;
    your law is within my heart.”
    —Psalm 40:6-8 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Read what chapter, or doctrine of Scripture you will, be ever so delighted with it, it will leave you as poor, as empty and unreformed as it found you, unless it has turned you wholly and solely to the Spirit of God, and strengthened your union with and dependence upon Him.
    ... William Law (1686-1761), Works of Rev. William Law, v. IX, London: G. Moreton, 1893, p. 6 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 40:6-8; 1 Sam. 15:22; Ps. 51:16-17; Jer. 7:21-23; Hos. 6:6; Matt. 9:13; John 4:34; Rom. 7:22; Heb. 10:5-12
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, let Your word draw me towards You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Bonhoeffer: evaluating one's meditation

Monday, April 9, 2018
    Feast of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Teacher, Martyr, 1945
Meditation:
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand.
    When I awake, I am still with you.
    —Psalm 139:17-18 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Furthermore, [the unchristian environment] is the place where we find out whether the Christian’s meditation has led him into the unreal, from which he awakens in terror when he returns to the workaday world, or whether it has led him into a real contact with God, from which he emerges strengthened and purified. Has it transported him for a moment into a spiritual ecstasy that vanishes when everyday life returns, or has it lodged the Word of God so securely and deeply in his heart that it holds and fortifies him, impelling him to active love, to obedience, to good works? Only the day can decide.
    ... Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), Life Together [1954], tr. Daniel W. Bloesch & James H. Burtness, Fortress Press, 2004, p. 92 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 139:17-18; 1:2; 104:34; 119:11; Isa. 55:8-9; 1 Tim. 4:15
Quiet time reflection:
    Remain within me, Lord, throughout the day. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Bruce: the New Testament documents

Sunday, April 8, 2018
    Commemoration of William Augustus Muhlenberg of New York, Priest, 1877
Meditation:
    Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.
    —Romans 10:4 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The evidence for our New Testament writings is ever so much greater than the evidence for many writings of classical authors, the authenticity of which no one dreams of questioning. And if the New Testament were a collection of secular writings, their authenticity would generally be regarded as beyond all doubt. It is a curious fact that historians have often been much readier to trust the New Testament than have many theologians.
    ... F. F. Bruce (1910-1990), The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?, Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1949, reprint, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2003, p. 10 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 10:4,17; Isa. 53:1; Luke 16:31; John 5:39-40
Quiet time reflection:
    Living Word, I thank You for Your written word. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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