Bunyan: Valiant-for-truth

Saturday, August 31, 2019
    Feast of Aidan, Bishop of Lindisfarne, Missionary, 651
    Commemoration of Cuthburga, Founding Abbess of Wimborne, c.725
    Commemoration of John Bunyan, Spiritual Writer, 1688
Meditation:
    When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
    “Where, O death, is your victory?
        Where, O death, is your sting?”
    —1 Corinthians 15:54-55 (NIV)
Quotation:
    After this it was noised abroad that Mr. Valiant-for-truth was taken with a summons, by the same post as the other; and had this for a token that the summons was true, “That his pitcher was broken at the fountain.” When he understood it, he called for his friends, and told them of it. Then, said he, I am going to my Father’s; and though with great difficulty I have got hither, yet now I do not repent me of all the trouble I have been at to arrive where I am. My sword I give to him that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage, and my courage and skill to him that can get it. My marks and scars I carry with me, to be a witness for me that I have fought His battles who will now be my rewarder. When the day that he must go hence was come, many accompanied him to the river-side, into which as he went, he said, “Death, where is thy sting?” And as he went down deeper, he said, “Grave, where is thy victory?” So he passed over, and all the trumpets sounded for him on the other side.
    ... John Bunyan (1628-1688), The Pilgrim’s Progress [1678] The Whole Works of John Bunyan, v. III, London: Blackie, 1862, p. 243 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 15:54-55; Ps. 98:4-6; Eccl. 12:6; Luke 15:7; Heb. 10:35; 11:6; Rev. 22:12
Quiet time reflection:
    In You, Lord, is final and complete victory. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Van Rooy: beauty from ashes

Friday, August 30, 2019
Meditation:
The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
    because the LORD has anointed me
    to preach good news to the poor.
    He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim freedom for the captives
    and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the LORD’S favor
    and the day of vengeance of our God,
    to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
    to bestow on them a crown of beauty
    instead of ashes,
    the oil of gladness
    instead of mourning,
    and a garment of praise
    instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
    a planting of the LORD
    for the display of his splendor.
    —Isaiah 61:1-3 (NIV)
Quotation:
    I know there are many who have pitied my beginnings, thinking it tragic that I had to endure such traumas both as a child and throughout my life, but I confess that I have rather pitied those who have never tasted the bitterness of a trial “too severe.” For how is one to appreciate the contrast of light’s dawning hope if his soul has never trembled through the dark hours of a nightmare’s watch? Or how can one prove God’s faithfulness if he never is granted the privilege of wandering through a barren desert, where only pools of Christ’s Presence can possibly provide survival? It is a great honor to be apportioned pain. Christ Himself, though God incarnate, learned obedience through what He suffered. Dare we assume that we as His children can be taught by any wiser or kinder instructor than the severity of unwanted pain? We dare not steel ourselves against our trials, running away from the fires where our pruned branches crumble to ashes. For if we escape those flames, we will risk barrenness of soul and will miss out on the beauty that only is born through the ashes of yesterday’s grief.
    ... Cammie Van Rooy (b. 1979), "Beauty From Ashes" [2002] (see the book)
    See also Isa. 61:1-3; 50:5-6; Matt. 16:21; 17:12; Mark 8:31; Luke 9:22; 24:25-26; John 4:34; Phil. 1:29-30; 2:5-8; Heb. 5:7-10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I thank you for all blessings. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Saphir: teaching the unity of God

Thursday, August 29, 2019
Meditation:
    “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
    When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.
    —Mark 12:32-34 (NIV)
Quotation:
    In the absence of so many vital points—the spiritual understanding of the Law, and the consciousness of sin, the unity and all-sufficiency of Scripture, and the expectation of the Messiah—we cannot wonder that the idea of God, as it lived in faithful Israel of old, was also obscured. Instead of the living, loving, self-manifesting God of the Old Testament, Israel now took hold of the abstract idea of the unity, or rather the unicity, of God, as if that were God. Before—when they lived in communion with God, when God was known to them as a Person, speaking, acting, blessing, who had chosen them, who was educating them, and who was going to fulfill His promises—they declared, in opposition to the idolatrous nations that surrounded them, that this God of Israel was one God, that there are not many gods; but when they lost communion with God, in order to show what distinguished them from the nations of the earth, and especially from Christians, they emphasized that God in Himself was only one Person, and not as He is revealed to us in the Scripture: Sender, Sent, and Spirit. It is the boast of the modern Jewish synagogue that their great mission is to testify to the world the unity of God. But it is a striking fact that the Gentile nations who have, since the dispersion of Israel, been converted from idolatry, have been influenced, not by the synagogue, but by the congregations of Jesus Christ, and were baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost... It is one thing to believe in justification by faith, it is another thing to be justified by faith; and so it is one thing to believe in God, who is One, and it is another to believe in the numerical abstraction, in the mere idea of unicity.
    ... Adolph Saphir (1831-1891), Christ and Israel, London: Morgan and Scott, 1911, p. 72-73 (see the book)
    See also Deut. 6:4; Mark 12:29-32; Rom. 7:14; 1 Cor. 8:4-6; 1 Tim. 2:5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are not remote from Your creation and Your people. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Augustine: Thou art God

Wednesday, August 28, 2019
    Feast of Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, Teacher, 430
Meditation:
Praise awaits you, O God, in Zion;
    to you our vows will be fulfilled.
    —Psalm 65:1 (NIV)
Quotation:
    [Continued from yesterday]
    Thou lovest, without passion; art jealous, without anxiety; repentest, yet grievest not; art angry, yet serene; changest Thy works, Thy purpose unchanged; receivest again what Thou findest, yet didst never lose; never in need, yet rejoicing in gains; never covetous, yet exacting usury. Thou receivest over and above, that Thou mayest owe; and who hath aught that is not Thine? Thou payest debts, owing nothing; remittest debts, losing nothing. And what have I now said, my God, my life, my holy joy? or what saith any man when he speaks of Thee? Yet woe to him that speaketh not, since mute are even the most eloquent.
    ... St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430), Confessions [397], Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1886, I.iv, p. 4 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 65:1; Ex. 20:5; Jer. 42:10; Heb. 6:7-8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, we dare to pronounce Your Name. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Augustine: Who is God?

Tuesday, August 27, 2019
    Feast of Monica, Mother of Augustine of Hippo, 387
Meditation:
For who is God besides the LORD?
    And who is the Rock except our God?
    —Psalm 18:31 (NIV)
Quotation:
    What art Thou then, my God? What, but the Lord God? For who is Lord but the Lord? or who is God save our God? Most highest, most good, most potent, most omnipotent; most merciful, yet most just; most hidden, yet most present; most beautiful, yet most strong; stable, yet incomprehensible; unchangeable, yet all changing; never new, never old; all-renewing, and bringing age upon the Proud, and they know it not; ever working, ever at rest; still gathering, yet nothing lacking; supporting, filling, and over-spreading; creating, nourishing, and maturing; seeking, yet having all things. [Continued tomorrow]
    ... St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430), Confessions [397], Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1886, I.iv, p. 3-4 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 18:31; Gen. 1:1; Ex. 34:14; Isa. 43:19; 55:8-9; Mal. 3:6; Luke 19:10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You alone are God. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Lang: what is in ruins?

Monday, August 26, 2019
Meditation:
    “But what about you?” [Jesus] asked. “Who do you say I am?”
    Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
    Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”
    —Matthew 16:15-18 (NIV)
Quotation:
    What is in ruins? The invisible church, composed of all Spirit-baptized persons, is indefectible, it cannot be ruined; against it “the gates of Hades shall not prevail.” The local assembly may indeed be sadly ruined; but it can be restored, as, by the grace of God, has been seen times without number—at Corinth, for example. The only other institution in question is that agglomeration of sects that is called “Christendom.” But that is unrecognized by the New Testament—it is not of God at all: and that it is “in ruins” is no matter for our regret.
    ... G. H. Lang (1874-1958)
    See also Matt. 16:15-18; Acts 2:46-47; 8:1; Eph. 3:10-11; 5:25-27; Col. 1:18; 1 Tim. 3:15; Heb. 12:22-24
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, against Your church, no resistance is possible. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Brooks: faith in God

Sunday, August 25, 2019
Meditation:
    Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the LORD swore to their forefathers to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”
    —Deuteronomy 31:7 (NIV)
Quotation:
    I hear men praying everywhere for more faith, but when I listen to them carefully and get to the real heart of their prayer, very often it is not more faith at all that they are wanting, but a change from faith to sight... Faith says not, “I see that it is good for me, so God must have sent it,” but, “God sent it, and so it must be good for me.” Faith walking in the dark with God only prays Him to clasp its hand more closely.
    ... Phillips Brooks (1835-1893), The Light of the World, and Other Sermons, New York: E. P. Dutton, 1904, p. 351-352 (see the book)
    See also Deut. 31:7; Dan. 10:19; John 20:29; Eph. 6:10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me a heart that is secure in Your promises. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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