Latest Gems
September 21 - 23
". . . whatsoever things are pure . . ." (Philippians 4:8)
Our school motto was: "Beati Mundo Corde:" the Latin for, "Blessed are the pure in heart." It would be hard to find a more suitable, or a more beautiful, motto for a boy's school. How did we measure up to it, bearing in mind that purity begins with our thoughts? How do we today measure up to it, when we think of it in this way? As we look around on all the filth about us in this filthy world, through which we must pass, we might be utterly discouraged, and say that God had set before us an impossible standard, that He does not expect us to meet. Let not such a thought find lodgment with us.
In the days of old there were various creatures which the people of Israel might not eat, for they were unclean: there were others that were clean. There were two marks by which a clean fish was known: it must have both fins and scales. The fins let it swim against the stream. There is a spot on the Columbia River where you may stand and watch the great fish leap up rapids, or small falls, several feet high. Similarly God has provided a power whereby you and I may "swim against the stream." But there are times when a fish must swim through filthy water: and to protect it, God has given it scales: which I suppose are 'shut up together as with a close seal. One is so near another, that no air can come between them. They are joined one to another, they stick together that they cannot be sundered.' (Job 41:15-17). And, fitted with this armour, the fish can pass in safety through the filth. So God has provided a way for His Own to pass unscathed through all the filth around us: as well as the power to go against the stream. (G. Christopher Willis -Sacrifices of Joy)
N.J. Hiebert # 2742
"Let this mind be in you, which was also in
Christ Jesus. . . ." (Philippians 2:5)
"Kenosis." This title comes from the Greek expression, rendered in our Authorized Version, "made Himself of no reputation" - an expression which really means "emptied Himself," or "divested Himself."
Doctrines are never presented in Scripture merely as dogmas to be accepted by the faithful on pain of expulsion from the Christian company. The most important doctrines are brought in by the Holy Spirit in what we might call an exceedingly natural way. I do not use the word "natural" here in contrast to "spiritual," but rather in the sense simply of sequence to the subject, introduced without special emphasis. In this particular instance before us, the doctrine of our Lord's self-emptying comes in simply as the supreme illustration of that lowliness of mind which should characterize all who profess to be followers of the Saviour.
(H.A. Ironside in Notes on Philippians)
N.J. Hiebert # 2743
"Come now therefore, and I will send thee (Moses) unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth My people the children of Israel out of Egypt. And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh . . ." (Exodus 3:10,11)
When God tells me to do a thing, do I have to turn around for human help? When God told Moses that he should go down and deliver His people, was it an honour to God or obedience to God for Moses to plead and plead until He gave him Aaron as his helper? Did it not show weakness in Moses? And wherever you find that the Word of God commands your obedience, and you turn to human support, you may know at once that the seed of weakness has been introduced, and it will develop into more manifest failure. (S. Ridout - Overcoming in Days of Ruin - Lectures on the Book of Judges)
N.J. Hiebert # 2744
