Owen: following Jesus

Saturday, April 23, 2022
    Feast of George, Martyr, Patron of England, c.304
    Commemoration of Michael Ramsey, Archbishop of Canterbury, Teacher, 1988
Meditation:
    Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.
    —Hebrews 12:4 (NIV)
Quotation:
    If ever we intend to take one step towards any agreement or unity, it must be by fixing this principle in the minds of all men,—that it is of no advantage to any man whatever church or way in Christian religion he be of, unless he personally believe the promises, and live in obedience unto all the precepts of Christ; and that for him who doth so, that it is a trampling of the whole gospel under foot to say that his salvation could be endangered by his not being of this or that church or way, especially considering how much of the world hath inmixed itself into all the known ways that are in it.
    ... John Owen (1616-1683), “A Vindication of the Animadversions on ‘Fiat Lux’” [1664], in Works of John Owen, v. XIV, London: Johnson & Hunter, 1851, p. 312 (see the book)
    See also Heb.12:14; John 10:27,28; Tit. 2:1-13
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You alone can lead Your people to unity. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Auden: the force of spiritual law

Friday, April 22, 2022
Meditation:
    For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.
    —Romans 7:22-23 (NIV)
Quotation:
    All theological language is necessarily analogical, but it was singularly unfortunate that the Church, in speaking of punishment for sin, should have chosen the analogy of criminal law, for the analogy is incompatible with the Christian belief in God as the creator of Man.
    Criminal laws are laws-for, imposed on men, who are already in existence, with or without their consent, and, with the possible exception of capital punishment for murder, there is no logical relation between the nature of a crime and the penalty inflicted for committing it.
    If God created man, then the laws of man’s spiritual nature must, like the laws of his physical nature, be laws-of—laws, that is to say, which he is free to defy but no more free to break than he can break the law of gravity by jumping out of the window, or the laws of biochemistry by getting drunk—and the cons equences of defying them must be as inevitable and as intrinsically related to their nature as a broken leg or a hangover.
    To state spiritual laws in the imperative—Thou shalt love God with all thy being, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself—is simply a pedagogical technique, as when a mother says to her small son, “Stay away from the window!” because the child does not yet know what will happen if he falls out of it.
    ... W. H. Auden (1907-1973), A Certain World, London: Faber and Faber, 1971, p. 180-181 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 7:14-23; Deut. 6:4-5; Rom. 8:1-2; Gal. 5:17; 1 Pet. 2:11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have told us what is good for man. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Anselm: Awake!

Thursday, April 21, 2022
    Feast of Anselm, Abbot of Le Bec, Archbishop of Canterbury, Teacher, 1109
Meditation:
    I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
    —Isaiah 61:10 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Awake, I beseech thee, O my soul, and let the fire of a heavenly love be kindled in thy heart, and wisely consider the beauty which Thy Lord God hath bestowed upon thee, and in considering love it, and in loving do it reverence with the service of a holy conversation. For doth not He who maketh thee to abide in Him, and hath condescended to dwell in thee, clothe thee, cover thee, adorn thee with Himself?
    ... St. Anselm (1033-1109), Devotions of Saint Anselm, Meditation I.iv (see the book)
    See also Isa. 61:10; 1 Cor. 1:30; Gal. 3:26-27
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You make me welcome in Your kingdom. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Ellul: the reference miracle

Wednesday, April 20, 2022
Meditation:
    The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
    —Romans 4:23-25 (NIV)
Quotation:
    All miracles are simply feeble lights like beacons on our way to the port where shines the light, the total light of the resurrection. All miracles finally refer to this one and find their explanation in it. It is the miracle.
    ... Jacques Ellul (1912-1994), The Judgment of Jonah, tr. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1971, p. 65 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 4:23-25; Deut. 4:33-35; 29:3-6; Amos 4:6-11; Matt. 12:28; John 2:11; Acts 2:22; Rom. 1:4; 2 Cor. 13:4; 1 Thess. 4:14; 1 Pet. 1:21; Rev. 1:18
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, we praise You for Your great mercy. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Law: goodness towards all

Tuesday, April 19, 2022
    Commemoration of Alphege, Archbishop of Canterbury, Martyr, 1012
Meditation:
For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
    his faithfulness continues through all generations.
    —Psalm 100:5
Quotation:
    As the light of the sun has only one common nature towards all objects that can receive it, so God has only one common nature of goodness, towards all created nature, breaking forth in infinite flames of love, upon every part of the creation, and calling everything to the highest happiness it is capable of.
    ... William Law (1686-1761), Christian Regeneration [1739], in Works of Rev. William Law, v. V, London: G. Moreton, 1893, p. 156 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 100:5; 31:19; 33:5; 34:8; Isa. 63:7; Matt. 7:11; Luke 6:35; 1 John 4:8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are love. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Calvin: salvation from Christ

Monday, April 18, 2022
Meditation:
    It is because of [God] that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.
    —1 Corinthians 1:30 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We see that our whole salvation and all its parts are comprehended in Christ. We should therefore take care not to derive the least portion of it from anywhere else. If we seek salvation, we are taught by the very name of Jesus that it is “of him.” If we seek any other gifts of the Spirit, they will be found in his anointing. If we seek strength, it lies in his dominion; if purity, in his conception; if gentleness, it appears in his birth. For by his birth he was made like us in all respects that he might learn to feel our pain. If we seek redemption, it lies in his passion; if acquittal, in his condemnation; if remission of the curse, in his cross; if satisfaction, in his sacrifice; if purification, in his blood; if reconciliation, in his descent into hell; if mortification of the flesh, in his tomb; if newness of life, in his resurrection; if immortality, in the same; if inheritance of the Heavenly Kingdom, in his entrance into heaven ; if protection, if security, if abundant supply of all blessings, in his Kingdom; if untroubled expectation of judgment, in the power given to him to judge. In short, since rich store of every kind of good abounds in him, let us drink our fill from this fountain, and from no other.
    ... John Calvin (1509-1564), The Institutes of the Christian Religion, v. I [1559], tr. John Allen, Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath-School Work, 1921, II.xvi.19, p. 475-476 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 1:30; Acts 4:12; 8:6; Heb. 2:17; Gal. 3:3; Heb. 2:18; 4:15,16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord Jesus, I see all virtues and powers in You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Updike: Let us not mock God

Sunday, April 17, 2022
    Easter
Meditation:
    [Paul:] “For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.”
    —Acts 17:31 (NIV)
Quotation:
Let us not mock God with metaphor,
analogy, sidestepping, transcendence;
making of the event a parable, a sign painted in the
    faded credulity of earlier ages:
let us walk through the door.
    ... John Updike (1932-2009), from “Seven Stanzas at Easter”, in Telephone Poles and Other Poems, New York: A. Knopf, 1963, p. 72 (see the book)
    See also Acts 17:31; Matt. 28:1-10; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-8; John 20:1-17; 1 Cor. 15:12-14,17
Quiet time reflection:
    Hallelujah! CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth