Feast of Lucy, Martyr at Syracuse, 304 Commemoration of Samuel Johnson, Writer, Moralist, 1784 A student may easily exhaust his life in comparing divines and moralists without any practical regard to morals and religion; he may be learning not to live but to reason... while the chief use of his volumes is unthought of, his mind is unaffected, and his life is unreformed.
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Feast of Mary, Martha & Lazarus, Companions of Our Lord The practical problem of Christian politics is not read more
Feast of Mary, Martha & Lazarus, Companions of Our Lord The practical problem of Christian politics is not that of drawing up schemes for a Christian society, but that of living as innocently as we can with unbelieving fellow-subjects under unbelieving rulers who will never be perfectly wise and good and who will sometimes be very wicked and very foolish. And when they are wicked, the Humanitarian theory of punishment will put in their hands a finer instrument of tyranny than wickedness ever had before. For if crime and disease are to be regarded as the same thing, it follows that any state of mind which our masters choose to call 'disease' can be treated as crime, and compulsorily cured. It will be vain to plead that states of mind which displease the government need not always involve moral turpitude and do not therefore always deserve forfeiture of liberty. For our masters will not be using the concepts of Desert and Punishment but those of disease and cure. (Continued tomorrow).
It seems that Paul is here [I Cor. 4:2] outlining the very ultimate degree of Christ's self-identification with us, the read more
It seems that Paul is here [I Cor. 4:2] outlining the very ultimate degree of Christ's self-identification with us, the very lowest point to which he condescended when he took the form of a slave. He allowed himself (God allowed him) to be accounted sin by the Law. He refused to do what orthodox Jews of his day thought God had commanded them to do, (i.e.) seek to gain credit with God by keeping the Law. He lived by faith, not Law, and therefore repudiated the Law and the path of self-justification.... He stripped himself even of that claim to moral goodness which would have distinguished him from sinners. Short of becoming a sinner (and Paul shows that this idea is repudiated), how could God come closer to us sinners?
It is Truth which we must look for in Holy Writ, not cunning of words. All Scripture ought to be read more
It is Truth which we must look for in Holy Writ, not cunning of words. All Scripture ought to be read in the spirit in which it was written. We must rather seek for what is profitable in Scripture, than for what ministereth to subtlety in discourse.
Commemoration of Martyrs of Japan, 1597 The man who will and can go to our Lord in all freedom... read more
Commemoration of Martyrs of Japan, 1597 The man who will and can go to our Lord in all freedom... must be such that his love for the Sacrament and for our Lord grows more and more by this [Holy Communion], and that the reverence is not diminished by frequently approaching it. For often what is one man's life may be another's death. Therefore you should observe yourself, whether your love for God is growing and your reverence is not destroyed. Then, the more frequently you go to the Sacrament, the better you will become, and the better and more profitable it will be. And therefore be not turned away from your God by words and sermons.
Beginning a short series on education: The history of our student movement [Inter-Varsity] has demonstrated that a prayer-less read more
Beginning a short series on education: The history of our student movement [Inter-Varsity] has demonstrated that a prayer-less chapter is a fruitless chapter. Prayer spells all the difference between working for God in our own strength and wisdom or being fellow laborers together with Him in the work that He is seeking to do in the University.
It is spoke as a Christians ought to speak.
It is spoke as a Christians ought to speak.
It is no hard matter to adhere to God while you are in the enjoyment of His comforts and consolations; read more
It is no hard matter to adhere to God while you are in the enjoyment of His comforts and consolations; but if you would prove your fidelity to Him, you must be willing to follow Him through the paths of dryness and desertion. The truth of a friend is not known while he is receiving favours and benefits from us; but if he remain faithful to us when we treat him with coldness and neglect, it will be a proof of the sincerity of his attachment.
The discussion of prayer is so great that it requires the Father to reveal it, His firstborn Word to teach read more
The discussion of prayer is so great that it requires the Father to reveal it, His firstborn Word to teach it, and the Spirit to enable us to think and speak rightly of so great a subject.
Feast of Charles Simeon, Pastor, Teacher, 1836 By constantly meditating on the goodness of God and on our read more
Feast of Charles Simeon, Pastor, Teacher, 1836 By constantly meditating on the goodness of God and on our great deliverance from that punishment which our sins have deserved, we are brought to feel our vileness and utter unworthiness; and while we continue in this spirit of self-degradation, everything else will go on easily. We shall find ourselves advancing in our course; we shall feel the presence of God; we shall experience His love; we shall live in the enjoyment of His favour and in the hope of His glory... You often feel that your prayers scarcely reach the ceiling; but, oh, get into this humble spirit by considering how good the Lord is, and how evil you all are, and then prayer will mount on wings of faith to heaven. The sigh, the groan of a broken heart, will soon go through the ceiling up to heaven, aye, into the very bosom of God.
