Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Gems from October 11- 20, 2017

October 11


“And they remembered His words.”
(Luke 24:8)

How much mischief do we get into by not remembering God’s words!

When the Lord Jesus was tempted He had the word of God at hand, 
and by that simple word He could claim the
victory in the battle.
(J.G. Bellett)

N.J. Hiebert - 6866

October 12


”Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded:
and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded,
God shall reveal even this unto you.”
(Philippians 3:15)

We are responsible for the way our minds work: and this is a serious matter, for  
As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7).

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 2:5)    

If only we would obey this single injunction, we would all be be of one mind:
our strife and our quarrels would all disappear.

You remember Christ said, “I am meek and lowly in heart.”
That tells us the mind of Christ.

Another has said,—“Meekness never takes offence, and lowliness never gives offence.” 

It is “only by prIde cometh contention.”
Notice the big “I” in the centre of that word.  That is the one who causes the trouble.

So the Apostle after saying:
Let us be thus minded," continues: "and if in anything ye be otherwise minded, 
God shall reveal even this unto you.”  
(Christopher Willis)

N.J. Hiebert - 6867

October 13


There is nothing that forms the heart, breaking down the will in us,
like the delight that we have in Christ in 
fellowship with the Father.

Whenever I act in my own will in anything, I am wronging God of His own title
through the blood of Christ.

The breaking of the will is a great means of opening the understanding.

It is only when the will mixes itself up with the sorrow that there is any bitterness in it,
or a pain in which Christ is not.

So it seemed good in Thy sight” (Matthew 11:26).
was the hinge of the Lord’s comfort.

Liberty of will is just slavery to the devil.
(J. N. Darby)

N.J. Hiebert - 6868

October 14


I MUST DECREASE

"THE JEWS . . . ASKED HIM, WHO ART THOU?
(John 1:19)

“And he [John] confessed, and denied not; but confessed", 
"I AM NOT THE CHRIST.”
(John 1:20)   

“Art thou Elias?”
I AM NOT."

“. . . Art thou that prophet?  And he answered", 
NO".

Careless of human praise or blame
Eschewing self-display;
The more men asked him of himself
The less he had to say.
(Bells & Pomegranates)

N.J. Hiebert - 6869 

October 15


"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof,
for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God 
may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”
(2 Timothy 3:16-17)

We believe that the Bible, as written in the original Hebrew and Greek languages, is the very word
of the only wise and the only true God, with whom one day is as a thousand years,
and a thousand years as one day, who saw the end from the beginning, 
and not only the end, but every stage of the way.

We therefore hold it to be nothing short of positive blasphemy to assert that we have arrived at a stage
of our career in which the Bible is not sufficient, or that we are compelled to travel outside 
its covers to find ample guidance and instruction for the present moment, 
and for every moment of our earthly pilgrimage.

The Bible is a perfect chart, in which every exigency of the Christian mariner has been anticipated.
Every rock, every sand-bank, every shoal, every strand, every island, 
has been carefully noted down.

All the need of the Church of God, its members, and its ministers, has been most fully provided for.
How could it be otherwise, if we admit the Bible to be the Word of God?

Could the mind of God have devised, or His finger sketched an imperfect chart?  Impossible.
We must either deny the divinity or admit the sufficiency of THE BOOK.
We are absolutely shut up to this alternative.  There is not so
much as a single point between these two positions.

If the book is incomplete, it cannot be of God; if it be of God it must be perfect.  But if we are
compelled to betake ourselves to other sources for guidance and instruction, as to the
path of the Church of God, its members or its ministers, then is the the Bible 
incomplete, and, being such, it cannot be of God at all.
(C. H. Macintosh)

N.J. Hiebert - 6870  

October 16


“Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power,
unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness.”
(Colossians 1:11)

There are two great forces at work in the world today:
the unlimited power of God and the
limited power of Satan.

So when we have surrendered our lives and hearts to Jesus Christ,
we need never be overcome.
(Corrie Ten Boom)

N.J. Hiebert - 6871

October 17

“Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.”
(1 Corinthians 12:3)

The hypocrite seems hot in prayer, but you will find him cold enough at work; he prays
very fiercely against his sins, as if he desired them to be all slain upon the place;
but doth he set himself upon the work of mortification?
Doth he withdraw the fuel that feeds them?

Hypocrisy in religion springs from the bitter fruit of some carnal affection unmortified.
So long as thy prey lie below, thy eye will be on the earth, when thou seemest, 
like an eagle, to mount in thy prayers to heaven.

God is in the hypocrite’s mouth, but the world is in his heart, which he expects to gain
through his good reputation. . . .  No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
(1 Corinthians 12:3)    

A man may say the words, without any special work of the Spirit, and so may a parrot: but to say 
Christ is Lord believingly, with thoughts and affections comporting with the greatness 
and sweetness thereof, requires the Spirit of God to be in his heart.
(The Christian in Complete Armour - William Gurnall)
1617-1679

N.J. Hiebert - 6872

October 18

“Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance.”
(Matthew 3:8)

A friend had come to Christ and wished to consecrate himself and his wealth to God.
He had formerly had transactions with the government and had taken advantage of them.

This thing came up when he was converted, and his conscience troubled him.
He said, “ I want to consecrate my wealth, but it seems as if God will not take it.”

He had a terrible struggle; his conscience kept rising up and smiting him.
At last he drew a cheque for fifteen hundred dollars and sent it to the United States Treasury.
He told me he received such a blessing when he had done it!

That was bringing forth “fruits meet for repentance.”

I believe a great many men are crying to God for light,
and they are not getting it because they are not honest with themselves.
(D. L. Moody)

N.J. Hiebert - 6873

October 19

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I,
but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now 
live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the 
Son of God who loved me, and
gave Himself for me.”
(Galatians 2:20)

Paul was not as a vessel broken, and another formed by the potter out of the same clay.
No; it was a new thing altogether.  He was a new creature in Christ;
old things had passed away.

Nothing as regards the flesh was changed in Paul, but the mastery of flesh was. 
The law of sin and death is not taken out of the flesh, 
but I am delivered from it, brought out of the 
position where all is death into that 
where all is life.

I have eternal life in me to give me power to live unto Christ.
“I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me;
is that not a blessed truth?

Are you walking in the power of that life, in the light of eternity?
(Gleanings From The Teaching of G. V. Wigram)

N.J. Hiebert - 6874   

October 20


SHARPENING THE AXE

“If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge,
then must he put to more strength. . . .”
(Ecclesiastes 10:10)

A dull axe means harder work and we lose no time when we sharpen the edge.

The Christian in particular and the Church in general both need 
to stop chopping wood long enough to whet the blade.

Hours spent reading the Word and in prayer and a week out from 
regular work to revive the saints is a wise investment.
We save time that might be spent in a hospital
later if we had a check up now.

It is poor business to add more wheels to the machinery and
increase the work load when the power is low.

When we are too busy to sharpen the axe, we are too busy!
(All the Days - Vance Havner)

N.J. Hiebert - 6875 


No comments:

Post a Comment

Gems from May 11- 20, 2024

  "The light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of  Jesus Christ." (2 Corinthians 4:6) The disfigured face of Jesus ...