Seven principles for eradicating selfish ambition in the fellowship: 6. the ministry of proclaiming Where Christians live together read more

Seven principles for eradicating selfish ambition in the fellowship: 6. the ministry of proclaiming Where Christians live together the time must ultimately come when in some crisis one person will have to declare God's Word and will to another. It is inconceivable that the things that are of utmost importance to each individual should not be spoken by one to another. It is unchristian consciously to deprive another of the one decisive service we can render to him... The more we learn to allow others to speak the Word to us, to accept humbly and gratefully even severe reproaches and admonitions, the more free and objective will we be in speaking ourselves. The humble person will stick to truth and love. He will stick to the Word of God and let it lead him to his brother... Reproof is unavoidable. God's Word demands it when a brother falls into open sin. Where defection from God's Word in doctrine or life imperils the fellowship... the word of admonition and rebuke must be ventured. Nothing can be more cruel than the tenderness that consigns another to his sin. Nothing can be more compassionate than the severe rebuke that calls a brother back from the path of sin. It is a ministry of mercy, an ultimate offer of genuine fellowship, when we allow nothing but God's Word to stand between us, judging and succoring.

The now wherein God made the first man, and the now wherein the last man disappears, and the now I read more

The now wherein God made the first man, and the now wherein the last man disappears, and the now I am speaking in, all are the same in God, where this is but the now.

Feast of Oswald, King of Northumbria, Martyr, 642 To have faith is to rely upon Christ, the Person, read more

Feast of Oswald, King of Northumbria, Martyr, 642 To have faith is to rely upon Christ, the Person, with the whole heart. It is not the understanding of the mind, not the theological opinion, not creed, not organization, not ritual. It is the koinonia of the whole personality with God and Christ, ... This experience of communion with Christ is itself the continual attitude of dependence on the Saviour which we call faith.

For the Christian, heaven is where Jesus is. We do not need to speculate on what heaven will be like. read more

For the Christian, heaven is where Jesus is. We do not need to speculate on what heaven will be like. It is enough to know that we will be for ever with Him. When we love anyone with our whole hearts, life begins when we are with that person; it is only in their company that we are really and truly alive. It is so with Christ. In this world our contact with Him is shadowy, for we can only see through a glass darkly. It is spasmodic, for we are poor creatures and cannot live always on the heights. But the best definition of it is to say that heaven is that state where we will always be with Jesus, and where nothing will separate us from Him any more.

Feast of English Saints & Martyrs of the Reformation We must not encourage in ourselves or others any tendency read more

Feast of English Saints & Martyrs of the Reformation We must not encourage in ourselves or others any tendency to work up a subjective state which, if we succeeded, we should describe as "faith", with the idea that this will somehow ensure the granting of our prayer. We have probably all done this as children. But the state of mind which desperate desire working on a strong imagination can manufacture is not faith in the Christian sense. It is a feat of psychological gymnastics.

If you were to rise early every morning, as an instance of self-denial, as a method of renouncing indulgence, as read more

If you were to rise early every morning, as an instance of self-denial, as a method of renouncing indulgence, as a means of redeeming your time, and fitting your spirit for prayer, you would find mighty advantages from it. This method, though it seem such a small circumstance of life, would in all probability be a means of great piety. It would keep it constantly in your head, that softness and idleness were to be avoided, that self-denial was a part of Christianity... It would teach you to exercise power over yourself, and make you able by degrees to renounce other pleasures and tempers that war against the soul.

This was the fullness of time, when Christ Jesus did come, that the Messiah should come. It was so to read more

This was the fullness of time, when Christ Jesus did come, that the Messiah should come. It was so to the Jews, and it was so to the Gentiles too... Christ hath excommunicated no nation, no shire, no house, no man; He gives none of His ministers leave to say to any man, thou art not redeemed; He gives no wounded or afflicted conscience leave to say to itself, I am not redeemed.

Commemoration of Wilson Carlile, Priest, Founder of the Church Army, 1942 A man's physical hunger does not read more

Commemoration of Wilson Carlile, Priest, Founder of the Church Army, 1942 A man's physical hunger does not prove that that man will get any bread; he may die of starvation on a raft in the Atlantic. But surely a man's hunger does prove that he comes of a race which repairs its body by eating and inhabits a world where eatable substances exist. In the same way, though I do not believe (I wish I did) that my desire for Paradise proves that I shall enjoy it, I think it a pretty good indication that such a thing exists and that some men will. A man may love a woman and not win her; but it would be very odd if the phenomenon called `falling in love" occurred in a sexless world.

Commemoration of Richard Meux Benson, Founder of the Society of St John the Evangelist, 1915 Continuing a short series on read more

Commemoration of Richard Meux Benson, Founder of the Society of St John the Evangelist, 1915 Continuing a short series on Romans 8: [Of vv. 26,27] Nor are we alone in our struggles. The Holy Spirit supports our helplessness. Left to ourselves we do not know what prayers to offer or how to offer them. But in those inarticulate groans which rise from the depth of our being, we recognize the voice of none other than the Holy Spirit. He makes intercession; and His intercession is sure to be answered. For God Who searches the inmost recesses of the heart can interpret His own Spirit's meaning. He knows that His own Will regulates Its petitions, and that they are offered for men dedicated to His service.