Rutherford: conscience

Saturday, May 7, 2022
Meditation:
    But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.
    —1 Peter 3:15 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It is true, terrors of conscience cast us down; and yet without terrors of conscience we cannot be raised up again.
    ... Samuel Rutherford (1600-1664), Letters of Samuel Rutherford, Edinburgh: William Whyte & Co., 1848, letter, Feb. 2, 1632, p. 166 (see the book)
    See also 1 Pet. 3:15-16; Rom. 2:14-15; 2 Cor. 1:12; 1 Tim. 1:3-5; Heb. 10:19-22
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You alone hold out new life for Your people. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Patmore: the heart

Friday, May 6, 2022
Meditation:
    Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.
    —Ephesians 5:25-27 (NIV)
Quotation:
    God has declared to us His mystic rapture in His Marriage with Humanity in twice saying, “[This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased].” He expressly and repeatedly calls this marriage, and pronounces the marriage of Man and Woman to be its symbol. This is the burning heart of the Universe.
    ... Coventry Patmore (1823-1896), The Rod, the Root, and the Flower [1895], London: G. Bell and Sons, 1907, p. 212 (see the book)
    See also Eph. 5:25-27; Matt. 3:17; 17:5; Mark 1:11; 2 Pet. 1:17-18
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are the true lover of mankind. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Machen: the fruits of indolence

Thursday, May 5, 2022
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?”
    —Matthew 7:16 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Modern culture is a mighty force. It is either subservient to the gospel or else it is the deadliest enemy of the gospel. For making it subservient, religious emotion is not enough, intellectual labor is also necessary. And that labor is being neglected. The Church has turned to easier tasks. And now she is reaping the fruits of her indolence. Now she must battle for her life.
    ... J. Gresham Machen (1881-1937), The Princeton Theological Review, v. 11, 1911, p. 13 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 7:15-16; Prov. 18:9; Isa. 56:10; Rom. 16:17-18; Phil. 1:27; 1 Tim. 6:12; Jude 1:2
Quiet time reflection:
    Strengthen Your church, Lord, for the battle ahead. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Underhill: faith is reality

Wednesday, May 4, 2022
    Feast of English Saints & Martyrs of the Reformation
Meditation:
    You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
    —1 John 4:4 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Faith is not a refuge from reality. It is a demand that we face reality, with all its difficulties, opportunities, and implications. The true subject matter of religion is not our own little souls, but the Eternal God and His whole mysterious purpose, and our solemn responsibility to Him.
    ... Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941), The School of Charity, New York: Longmans, Green, 1934, reprinted, Morehouse Publishing, 1991, p. 105 (see the book)
    See also 1 John 4:4; Hab. 2:4; Luke 12:22-32; 17:6
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, rebuke my self-centeredness. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Maclaren: Christ dwelling in your heart

Tuesday, May 3, 2022
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.”
    —John 6:56 (NIV)
Quotation:
    To begin with, let me say in the plainest, simplest, strongest way that I can, that that dwelling of Christ in the believing heart is to be regarded as being a plain literal fact... It is not to be weakened down into any notion of participation in His likeness, sympathy with His character, submission to His influence, following His example, listening to His instruction, or the like. A dead Plato may so influence his followers, but that is not how a living Christ influences His disciples... God means and wishes that Christ may continuously dwell in our hearts.
    ... Alexander Maclaren (1826-1910), Christ in the Heart: and other sermons, Macmillan, 1887, p. 16-19 (see the book)
    See also John 6:53-56; Zech. 2:10-11; John 14:16-17,23; 17:22-23; Rom. 8:9-11; Eph. 3:16-17; Col. 1:27; 1 John 4:4; Rev. 3:20
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have opened my heart to receive You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Athanasius: the divine body

Monday, May 2, 2022
    Feast of St. Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, Teacher, 373
Meditation:
    The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ.
    —Galatians 3:16 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The Word was not degraded by receiving a body... Rather, he deified what he put on; and, more than that, he bestowed this gift upon the race of men.
    ... St. Athanasius (293?-373), from Contra Arianos, i.42, in The Early Christian Fathers, Henry Scowcroft Bettenson, London: Oxford University Press, 1969, p. 384 (see the book)
    See also Gal. 3:16; Rom. 9:5; John 10:34-36; Col. 1:15; 1 Tim. 3:16; Heb. 1:1-3; 10:5-7; 1 John 1:1-3; 4:2-3
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are the heir to all, and by Your grace, we are co-heirs with You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Bayne: sending missionaries

Sunday, May 1, 2022
    Feast of Philip & James, Apostles
Meditation:
    Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account. I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.
    —Philippians 4:17-18 (NIV)
Quotation:
    As long as I live, I will never appeal for money for the mission of God in this world. This is a degradation of God and of ourselves, which has pauperized us in every way over the centuries. God has no need, and if the mission is God’s, then we do not ask for help to give God a boost; therefore we do not appeal for funds. We allow people to take a share in God’s work, and this is a very different thing.
    ... Stephen F. Bayne, Jr. (1908-1974), Comments on “Mutual Responsibility and Interdependence in the Body of Christ,” included in Anglican Congress 1963: Report of Proceedings, Eugene Rathbone Fairweather, ed., Editorial Committee, Anglican Congress, 1963, p. 130 (see the book)
    See also Phil. 4:11-19; Luke 10:2-7; Acts 4:33-37; 13:2-3; 2 Cor. 5:7-9; 8:1-2; 9:10-13; 11:9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, make us good stewards towards the Gospel. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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