Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to Thy Word. (Psalm 119:9) For we have not followed cunningly devised fables. (2 Peter 1:16)
Some tell me that the Bible is not God's sacred Word,
And brand as cunning fables the records of the Lord;
That Moses is a fiction, that prophets never spake,
And e'en the blessed Gospels as myths I must forsake.
There was a time I listened to those old serpent lies,
My foolish heart sore tempted the Bible to despise;
Its holiness rebuked me, its precepts, crossed my will,
I wished to silence conscience, and thus my lusts fulfil.
I cared not for the Saviour, this present world I loved,
Its lusts, and wealth, and glory, alone my passions moved;
I cared not for a heaven, I hoped there were no hell,
I wished for no hereafter, I loved my sins too well.
His mercy still pursued me, while wandering far away,
His hand with sickness smote me, to wound, but not to slay;
His Spirit then convinced me, and brought my guilt to light;
I saw my lost condition, how awful was the sight!
The serpent's crafty teachings, the heart's deceitful lies,
The skeptic's subtle reasonings, all vanish from my eyes.
Naked, and lost, and guilty, beneath God's searching eye,
Eternity before me, Oh! whither could I fly?
Oh, then what beauteous sunshine burst on my raptured sight!
It chased away the darkness, and all was life, and light.
I saw how grace and glory in God's free gospel shone,
Before the cross, my terrors and unbelief were gone.
I love the blessed Bible, I know it all is true;
It is a faithful mirror in which myself I view;
It shows me all my weakness, my folly and my shame,
But makes thereby more precious my Saviour's grace and Name. The Remembrancer 1897
N.J. Hiebert - 10102
And brand as cunning fables the records of the Lord;
That Moses is a fiction, that prophets never spake,
And e'en the blessed Gospels as myths I must forsake.
There was a time I listened to those old serpent lies,
My foolish heart sore tempted the Bible to despise;
Its holiness rebuked me, its precepts, crossed my will,
I wished to silence conscience, and thus my lusts fulfil.
I cared not for the Saviour, this present world I loved,
Its lusts, and wealth, and glory, alone my passions moved;
I cared not for a heaven, I hoped there were no hell,
I wished for no hereafter, I loved my sins too well.
His mercy still pursued me, while wandering far away,
His hand with sickness smote me, to wound, but not to slay;
His Spirit then convinced me, and brought my guilt to light;
I saw my lost condition, how awful was the sight!
The serpent's crafty teachings, the heart's deceitful lies,
The skeptic's subtle reasonings, all vanish from my eyes.
Naked, and lost, and guilty, beneath God's searching eye,
Eternity before me, Oh! whither could I fly?
Oh, then what beauteous sunshine burst on my raptured sight!
It chased away the darkness, and all was life, and light.
I saw how grace and glory in God's free gospel shone,
Before the cross, my terrors and unbelief were gone.
I love the blessed Bible, I know it all is true;
It is a faithful mirror in which myself I view;
It shows me all my weakness, my folly and my shame,
But makes thereby more precious my Saviour's grace and Name. The Remembrancer 1897
N.J. Hiebert - 10102
October 21
For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell; and, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. Colossians 1:19-20
At the birth of the Lord the earth was saluted with words of peace. "Peace on earth," the angels proclaimed in the fields of Bethlehem. (Luke 2:14)
This, however, was but a salutation. It was not the authoritative pronunciation of peace. It was like the word which the Lord afterwards put into the lips of the seventy, in Luke 10:5 when sending them out. He then told them, into whatsoever house they entered first to say, "Peace be to this house." This was a salutation, a wishing them well, the proclamation of good will towards the house, not an authoritative pronunciation of peace: that would rather follow on its being found that the Son of peace was there.
Upon the resurrection of the Lord, however, we have the other thing. "Peace be unto you," the risen Saviour said to His disciples, being thus returned to them--and when He said that, He showed them His hands and His side. (John 20:19-20) He gave them to read their title to peace. Peace was not now merely wished, but authoritatively pronounced, conveyed to them on the warrant of the cross. Jesus now gave peace to them, because He had already made it for them.
And this is the peace that we, who have it, may testify to our fellow-sinners. We do not, like the commissioned seventy, merely say, "Peace be to this house," as saluting it, or wishing it well, but we proclaim to it the sure, settled, purchased peace which sinners have title to in the blood of the cross.
J.G. Bellett
N.J. Hiebert - 10103
At the birth of the Lord the earth was saluted with words of peace. "Peace on earth," the angels proclaimed in the fields of Bethlehem. (Luke 2:14)
This, however, was but a salutation. It was not the authoritative pronunciation of peace. It was like the word which the Lord afterwards put into the lips of the seventy, in Luke 10:5 when sending them out. He then told them, into whatsoever house they entered first to say, "Peace be to this house." This was a salutation, a wishing them well, the proclamation of good will towards the house, not an authoritative pronunciation of peace: that would rather follow on its being found that the Son of peace was there.
Upon the resurrection of the Lord, however, we have the other thing. "Peace be unto you," the risen Saviour said to His disciples, being thus returned to them--and when He said that, He showed them His hands and His side. (John 20:19-20) He gave them to read their title to peace. Peace was not now merely wished, but authoritatively pronounced, conveyed to them on the warrant of the cross. Jesus now gave peace to them, because He had already made it for them.
And this is the peace that we, who have it, may testify to our fellow-sinners. We do not, like the commissioned seventy, merely say, "Peace be to this house," as saluting it, or wishing it well, but we proclaim to it the sure, settled, purchased peace which sinners have title to in the blood of the cross.
J.G. Bellett
N.J. Hiebert - 10103
October 22
October 23
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