Gems for the Week
September 10 - 12
"The Lord said unto Joshua . . . ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days. . . . the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times . . . make
a long blast with the ram's horn . . . all the people shall shout with a great
shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat . . ." (Joshua 6:2-5)
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It may be said, why not simplify the path? Why all these complications? Why go around the city every day, and seven times the seventh day? Why this procession with the ark and trumpets? Faith does not ask why? It does not reason as to the means God chooses to employ; it accepts them, enters into them, and obtains the victory instead of being beaten by the enemy. It was thus at the Passover and at the Red Sea. Do you say: Then faith is without intelligence? Not at all; it first submits and then understands. Faith will tell you the reason of the seven days, the ark, the procession, the trumpets, and the shouts of joy, but it will only tell you after submission to them, otherwise it would be intelligence and not faith. (H.L. Rossier - Meditations on the Book of Joshua)
N.J. Hiebert # 2731
"And the Spirit and the bride say, Come." (Revelation 22:17)
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Every "come" in the Bible is the call of the Spirit. For "all Scripture is given by inspiration of God," and the "holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." And every time that a still small voice in your heart says "Come," it is the call of the Spirit. Every time the remembrance of the Saviour's sweetest spoken word floats across your mind, it the Holy Spirit's fulfillment of our Lord's promise that "He shall bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." The last time those words, "Come unto Me," came into your mind, whether in some wakeful night hour, or suddenly and unaccountably amid the stir of the day, did you think that it was the very voice of the Holy Spirit speaking in your heart? Or did you let other voices drown it, not knowing that the goodness of God was leading you by it? (Francis Ridley Havergal - Opened Treasures)
N.J. Hiebert # 2732
"The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared unto
Simon (Peter)." (Luke 24:34)
"I (Judas) have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent
blood." (Matthew 27:4)
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Two men in the apostolic band sinned deeply - Peter and Judas; but how vastly different were the issues that flowed from their sins. Peter was a backslider; Judas was an apostate. The enemy tripped Peter; but he trapped Judas. Later on, the broken-hearted fisherman wept tears of repentance, and sobbed out his sorrow on the bosom of the Master Whom he so deeply revered. Judas, in the bitterness of remorse, hanged himself.
However deeply you may have fallen - despair not. If God were strict to mark iniquities, not one of us could stand; but there is forgiveness with Him that He may be feared and loved (Psalm 130:3-4). "Him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out," John 6:37) says our Saviour. He is not willing that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9). He frankly forgives (Luke 7:42). He abundantly pardons (Isaiah 55:7). Whitfield summed it up in one tremendous statement, when he said that God will receive even the devil's castaways. (Henry Durbanville - His Last Words)
N.J. Hiebert # 2733
