Gems worth reading
January 10
"Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you, in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God." (Colossians 4:12)
We are all servants of Christ in a sense. If you are a Christian, you are a servant of Christ. What a privilege! There is no such thing as an unnecessary member of the body of Christ, as a useless member. In biology they try to tell us that we have certain things in our bodies that once were functional, but they have ceased to be so - they do not mean anything any more. I am not saying that I agree with the biologists. There are no needless remnants hanging to our bodies. So in the body of Christ, every member has a functional responsibility. We are all servant of Christ - not servants of men, but servants of Christ - and our orders come from up there. You cannot go to a brother and ask him what you should do. You have to get your directions from Christ. Epaphras was a servant of Christ. What did he do? He was a mighty man of prayer. He was a labouring brother in a very special sense, and you can be a labouring brother or a labouring sister in this sense. This is an avenue of service open to every Christian, and it is a most valuable one. (C.H. Brown)
N.J. Hiebert # 3582
January 11
"Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof." (Ecclesiastes 7:8)
Look at David's Lord and Master; see His beginning. He was despised and rejected of men; a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Would you see the end? He sits at His Father's right hand, expecting until His enemies be made His footstool. "As He is, so are we also in this world." You must bear the cross, or you shall never wear the crown; you may wade through the mire, but in heaven walk the golden pavement. Cheer up, then, poor Christian. "Better is the end of a thing than than the beginning thereof." See that creeping worm, how contemptible its appearance! It is the beginning of a thing.
Mark that insect with gorgeous wings, playing in the sunbeams, sipping at the flower bells, full of happiness and life; that is the end thereof. That caterpillar is your self, until you are wrapped up in the chrysalis of death (if the Lord doesn't come first); but when Christ shall appear you shall be like Him, for you shall see Him as He is. Be content to be like Him, a worm and no man, that like Him you shall be satisfied when you wake up in His likeness.
That rough looking-diamond is put upon the wheel if the lapidary. He cuts it on all sides. It loses much-much that seemed costly to itself. The king is crowed; the diadem is put upon the monarch's head with trumpet's joyful sound. A glittering ray flashes from that coronet, and it beams from that very diamond which was just now so sorely vexed by the lapidary. You may venture to compare yourself to such a diamond, if you are one of God's people; and this is the time of the cutting process. Let faith and patience have their perfect work, for in the day when the crown shall be set upon the head of the King. Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, one ray of glory shall stream from you. "They shall be Mine." saith the Lord, "in the day when I make up My jewels." "Better is the end of a thing that the beginning thereof." (Charles H. Spurgeon)
N.J. Hiebert # 3583
