Quotes for Today:
We only know of one duty, and that is to love. by Albert Camus (1913 – 1960)
It is the duty of every citizen according to his best capacities to give validity to his convictions in political affairs. by Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955), ‘Treasury for the Free World,’ 1946
The first duty of a leader is to make himself be loved without courting love. To be loved without ‘playing up’ to anyone – even to himself. by Andre Malraux (1901 – 1976)
I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters and that it is my duty…This is my highest and best use as a human. by Ben Stein, E! Online, 12-20-03
A sense of duty is useful in work, but offensive in personal relations. People wish to be liked, not be endured with patient resignation. by Bertrand Russell (1872 – 1970), Conquest of Happiness (1930) ch. 10
The first duty of a man is the seeking after and the investigation of truth. by Cicero (106 BC – 43 BC)
There are some duties we owe even to those who have wronged us. There is, after all, a limit to retribution and punishment. by Cicero (106 BC – 43 BC)
There is no duty more obligatory than the repayment of kindness. by Cicero (106 BC – 43 BC)
There is no such thing as luck. It’s a fancy name for being always at our duty, and so sure to be ready when good time comes. by Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803 – 1873)
Majesty: when a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares it as his duty. by George Bernard Shaw (1856 – 1950), Caesar and Cleopatra, act III
When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares that it is his duty. by George Bernard Shaw (1856 – 1950), Caesar and Cleopatra (1901) Act III
The reward of one duty is the power to fulfill another. by George Eliot (1819 – 1880)
The paths of glory at least lead to the grave, but the paths of duty may not get you any where. by James Thurber (1894 – 1961)
The strongest is never strong enough to be always the master, unless he transforms strength into right, and obedience into duty. by Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712 – 1778), The Social Contract, 1762
How can you come to know yourself? Never by thinking, always by doing. Try to do your duty, and you’ll know right away what you amount to. by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 – 1832)
Duty is ours, results are God’s. by John Quincy Adams (1767 – 1848)
Life is not so important as the duties of life. by John Randolph (1773 – 1833)
A duty dodged is like a debt unpaid; it is only deferred, and we must come back and settle the account at last. by Joseph F. Newton
When you have a number of disagreeable duties to perform, always do the most disagreeable first. by Josiah Quincy
I take it as a man’s duty to restrain himself. by Lois McMaster Bujold, Ethan of Athos, 1986
The dead cannot cry out for justice; it is a duty of the living to do so for them. by Lois McMaster Bujold, Diplomatic Immunity, 2002
We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow. by Lord Palmerston, Remarks in the House of Commons, March 1, 1848
Do something every day that you don’t want to do; this is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain. by Mark Twain (1835 – 1910)
The first duty of love is to listen. by Paul Tillich (1886 – 1965), O Magazine, February 2004
Duty then is the sublimest word in the English language. You should do your duty in all things. You can never do more, you should never wish to do less. by Robert E. Lee (1807 – 1870)
There is no duty we so much underrate as the as the duty of being happy. by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 – 1894), An Apology for Idlers, 1874
There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy. by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 – 1894)
Be eager to fulfill the smallest duty and flee from transgression for one duty includes another and one transgression induces another transgression. by Talmud, We Have Met the Enemy: Self-Control in an Age of Excess, 2011
Property has its duties as well as its rights. by Thomas Brummond
He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself. by Thomas Paine (1737 – 1809)
Sermon for Today:
Belief In the Resurrection by Charles H. Spurgeon
NO. 3452 PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, APRIL 1ST, 1915. DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON. ON THURSDAY EVENING, SEPT. 15TH, 1870.
“He is risen.”(Mark 16:6)
OUR Lord always told his disciples that he would rise. They were astonished to hear that he would die at all: they could not think it possible that he could die by the terrible death which he often hinted at. Had they understood and really believed that he would rise again, they might not have been so surprised at his death, but often as he spoke of it, their minds seemed to have been like their eyes on some occasions, holden that they should not see, and if they perceived his meaning, it ran so contrary to all their ideas of a kingdom for a Messiah, that they could not somehow grasp it as a reality.
Now one of the first things that strikes the reader of the chapter before us shall furnish us with our first head of contemplation tonight: —
I. THE ALMOST UNIVERSAL POWER OF UNBELIEF IN THE CHURCH.
This is a good instance to illustrate a general fact, for our Savior had to their ears in plain terms told them he would rise again. Yet on the third day not one that we know of expected him to rise. When they were informed that he had risen, by eye-witnesses, by persons whom they had been accustomed to treat as deserving of all credence, persons with whom they had been long acquainted, they, everyone of them, were incredulous: they could not believe it, though it were testified to them again and again. As you read this chapter through, you meet with first one instance and then another of this general incredulity about a thing on which all ought to have been sound believers. You find, first, the women — very tender, very
loving, always accustomed to minister to Christ’s necessities in the days of his flesh: now their very love leads them to an unbelieving act. If he be risen, and he said he would rise, what need of grave-cloths, what need of precious ointments, and spikenard, and spice, in which to embalm him? ‘Twas love that said “Embalm him,” but ‘twas unbelieving love that made them think the thing was necessary to be done.
All through those tender hearts, wherein so much of heavenly ardor for Christ was found, there was also found this leaven of mischief. But the men — the strong sex, will not they also, their hearts being full of love, and having walked with Christ, having strong judgments many of them, having noticed and weighed what he said, will not they believe? No! Peter and John, though they come to the sepulcher come there with heavy hearts, evidently with no expectation such as would have been excited by the belief that Christ had risen. The whole brotherhood of the disciples appear to have gone altogether over to an unbelief of the thought that Jesus Christ would rise. But there were some favored ones — there were the eleven. These were the elect out of the elect, the spiritual lifeguard, the very bodyguard of the Savior. Surely, if faith be extinct everywhere else, we shall find it in them. They were in the garden at his passion, some of them were on Labor at his transfiguration, three of them, at any rate, were in the chamber where he raised the dead. They had seen his miracles, they had themselves distributed the bread which by a miraculous power he had multiplied for the feeding of the multitude. They had seen him walk the sea — one of them had himself trodden on the liquid wave, and found it marble beneath his feet when Christ had bidden him come. They had marked the tempest hushed, they had seen devils expelled, many marvellous displays of divine power had they all of them beheld. These choice ones, especially those three mighty, those chosen three, would believe! Yet they also were tinctured with this same evil; they had not such a faith in their Master as they should have had.
And now this was but, I think, a portrait of what has been ever since the great mischief in the Church of God. This sin of sins — unbelief — is still at this very hour too common among the people of God. Suppose I talk to the mass of God’s people, the quiet, humble people, who go about their business and serve God in their households. Shall I find them all full of faith, giving glory to God? No, I am not long with some of them but I hear their doubts as to whether they are his or not. I hear some of them singing:
“Do I love the Lord or no;
Am I his, or am I not?”
True, I see many of them happy and joyful, contented and trustful, but not always so, even they. Sometimes even these seem to give way to fears and suspicions, and they half think that he has forgotten to be gracious — will be mindful of them no more. Truly is it written, “If the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith upon the earth?” He may look for it, and look for it long,for amongst his own believing people. yet is faith all too rare a thing — hard to be discovered. It is true it is in its essence always in the Church, but yet so feeble that oftentimes the fire is rather that which trembles in the smoking flax, and almost expires, than the spark that seeks the sun, the Father, the flame from which at first it came.
Now suppose I turn away from the mass of Christians, and select for myself those that take once in Christ’s Church, appointed by him, gifted, anti given, as the result of tile ascension, to the Church as the Church’s treasure. My brethren, what shall I say about deacons, elders, and such like in the Church of God? How find I you? Do I not discover oftentimes in church officers a slackness of enterprise, a fear lest this should be too great a thing or that too venturesome? Have I not heard — though certainly I may say I have not experienced have I not heard that sometimes those that should lead the Church have held her back, and those that should be first and foremost to sustain the Christian ministry in every holy effort, have they not been sometimes a very drag upon the wheels to hinder it? And if it be so in their official acting, I fear it is not much better in their own private capacity before God. Alas! O Israel, thy captains are weak; thy mighty men tremble.
But suppose I select those God has especially favored and made the winners of souls. Do I find these at all times confident in the God whose gospel they proclaim? Are they always calmly reliant, upon that eternal power which has ordained them to their work? We must, each man, speak for himself; but I fear the most of us might take up a wailing for ourselves, and confess that we also too often must say, “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” The prayer of the apostles is a suitable prayer for ministers, “Lord increase our faith” For, if our faith be not increased, we cannot expect that the faith of the multitude will be. Christ’s ministers ought to be to Christ’s army a sort of spiritual Uhlans, that ride on ahead to investigate the country. to take hold of it before the main body comes up. They should be the men to lead the forlorn hope; they should be first in the trench whenever a citadel is to be taken by storm. Their hearts should never fail them; they should be men of large conceptions and bold designs: men to fall back upon the Infinite, and rely upon the unseen. Are we always such, or such to such a degree as we ought to be? No, I fear that the chapter church history which is being now written is, in the sight of God, much blotted by the unbelief of all his people. Faith there is — I bless God for it — and in some cases very eminent faith; but taking us all round, alas! we must make up a sorrowful confession of our shortcomings in the matter of our faith in the living God. Now, turning to the chapter again, we shall get our second point of consideration: —
II. THE GREAT CURE WHICH OUR LORD PRESCRIBED FOR THE MATTER OF UNBELIEF.
As far as this chapter goes, it lies in the fact that he is risen He is risen from the dead. You will observe everywhere here, where we meet with the unbelief of man, we meet with the fact of the resurrection of Christ brought in like light to subdue the darkness. Here are the women in difficulties: it is the resurrection of Christ that removes the difficulty. Who shall roll us away the stone? The stone is rolled away because Christ is risen. The angel has taken away the stone door of the prison house because it was time that the captive should go free. Now here the Lord seems to tell us that the best and grandest cure of all our fear about difficulty lies in this, “The Lord is risen.” You serve a living Savior. What is the difficulty? Is it a providential one? the is the Master of providence, for “the government shall be upon his shoulders, and his name shall be called Wonderful, the Counsellor, the Mighty God.” That difficulty, then, which would obstruct you in your pathway to heaven, if you trust in him, must vanish because Jesus lives. If the Captain of the host were dead, it would be an ill thing for us to be serving a dead Captain, but since he dives, girt with omnipotence, difficulties must vanish before him. Does it happen that the difficulty which troubles us is one concerning our Service to our Lord? Have we a hard heart to deal with in the child whose conversion we seek, in our class, in the Sabbath School, or have we prejudices that stop our way in the congregation that we address week by week, and that he hope to convert to Jesus by his Spirit? Are we called to plough an unthankful soil that breaks the ploughshare, Is there something just now before us that looks like a gate of brass and a wall of iron? Here is the one comfort concerning it all. The Lord liveth. “He is not here; lie is risen.” He is not dead; his power lies not paralysed in the tomb; he lives and goes before you, leading the van of all the noble, of those who died for his crown and glory. On with you, then, in the name of God! Be this your might that Jesus lives. henceforth, let difficulties be only rejoiced in as things to be over come, as opportunities for glorifying him by the exercise of your faith in him, which will be followed by the revelation of his power. So, then, that vanishes. If unbelief raises difficulties, “The Lord is risen” is the cure for them all.
Suppose our unbelief takes the shape of fright. It does sometimes. It did in the case of these good women — they were affrighted, we are told in the fifth verse. We are told again in the eighth verse that they fled from the sepulcher, for they trembled. Now we may be frightened at a great manythings. Some persons are so timid that they are frightened at nothing: their own shadow will frighten them. But there may be real matters that should cause us to tremble if we had not something better to fall back upon than ourselves. Now a Christian in a fright is like a man out of his wits. He is pretty sure to do something that will make his danger greater. Self-possession, calm composure, a quiet mind, these have often saved lives, have frequently prevented the destruction of a cause that was just then in peril. If thou canst be calm amidst bewildering circumstances, confident of victory in the end, that will half win the battle itself. If thou canst rest in the Lord. or, to use the words of Moses, “stand still and see the salvation of God,” thou wilt surely come out unscathed the evil. Now the best cure for fright is the fact that Jesus is risen. Why, how am I to be afraid when he who is flying of Kings and Lord of Lords is my shepherd, and will surely interpose for my protection? If my Lord were dead, then were I unsafe, but while Jesus lives I am secure. “Because I live, ye shall live also.” Oh! what a grand sentence is that! “I give unto ny sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand.” Who art thou, then, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man that is but as the moth? Rest thou in thy living Savior “Fear not; I am with thee — I am with thee — be not dismayed, for I am thy God.” “I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. When thou passest through the rivers, I will be with thee; the floods shall not overflow thee. When thou goest through the fire, thou shalt not he burned, neither shall the flange kindle upon thee.” “I am God, I change not; therefore, ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” Come back, then, if you pro tempest-tossed, terrified, trembling, and affrighted, and, because Jesus lives, be quiet, and in patience possess your souls.
I notice in the chapter that the next form of unbelief is amazement. These good women, in addition to being afraid, were amazed — could not make it out. It was too great a mystery. How could it be? It troubled them — it troubled them. Now in all times of our amazement about great gospel truths, we shall find always the best way to get out of the amazement is to hold fast by faith to the veracity and truthfulness of God, and to hold fast to what we can understand — to a fact that has been proved better than other facts of history have been proved, the fact that the Lord Jesus is risen from the dead. It is generally when you are in trouble about some great doctrine; a bad thing to argue about that doctrine while you are troubled about it. Think more of what you do believe, of what you are sure of, than just now of that matter which staggers you. You will find that, if you receive the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and rest in that as being a guarantee of your resurrection, you have the key of many other precious truths; and as one doctrine draws on another as the links of a chain, you will find your amazement at some of the most stupendous mysteries of the faith will be cured by your grasping the first simplicity and fundamental doctrine of the faith of the gospel, that the Lord Jesus, who suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, and dead, and buried, and the third day rose again in very flesh and blood. and ever liveth, sitting on the right hand of God, reigning in exceeding power. You will not be Amazed nor affrighted; you will not be made to tremble, or be bewildered, if you keep close to this — “He lives! He lives! This I know, and on this I rest.”
Further, it seems that these good women were much prevented in doing their duty by their unbelief. They were told to go and speak to the disciples, but, fat any rate for a time, they did not do so, for it is written, “Neither said they anything to any man, for they were afraid.” Those tongues that by-and-bye in calmer moments would bear such a sure testimony were, through their fears which sprang of their unbelief, quite dumb. They could not speak. Oh! arid this is a complaint that is very common in the Church. I know some that could preach, but do not, and it is unbelief that silences them. And you today, perhaps, were in society where you ought to have spoken a loving and an earnest word, and you did not, and it was a wrong timidity that kept you quiet. And you have been many times in your life cast into positions where usefulness would have been very easy, but at the same time you found it hard, because you forgot that Jesus lives — you forgot that he lives to watch his people, lives to render them assistance when they are in the path of service. Oh! if we knew he lived — aye! knew that he was here — knew that he was close to us, and that his heart never forgot us, and his eye was never closed upon us — we should be swift in the ways of duty, and a stammering tongue would begin to speak; and the now unhallowed silence which spoils the Church and robs her of many a triumph, would be broken by our willing testimony and by our cheerful song. The best cure for the dumb devil that sometimes, possesses us is a belief in the living and pleading Savior.
Further on, as your eye glances down the chapter, you will see unbelief connecting itself with wounded affection. When Mary Magdalene came to the disciples, she found them weeping, weeping for sorrow, men and women of God– a very mournful company, all weeping, weeping for a dead Savior — the dearest friend they had ever had, who first had given them spiritual conceptions and lifted them out off their former grovelling state. He was gone: he was dead, and they could not but weep. But they left off weeping, or would have done if they had known or believed that. he was risen. It was the last thing they should have done, to be weeping. He rising, and they weeping! All the harps of heaven ringing out melodious praise, and those most concerned in the glorious fact still weeping! Every angel in heaven bending from the sacred battlements to look down upon a risen Savior with admiring gaze, and yet his own dear people who had known and loved him, sitting down and weeping amidst the universal festival! It was very strange.
Now oftentimes the same mischief happens to us. We lose a friend. Who among us has not? We lose a husband, a wife, a child. Very dear are these associations; and when the ties are snapped our heart bleeds, and sometimes we weep, and weep, and weep again until there is a want of submission to the Savior’s will, there is a want of resignation to his divine purpose and decree. Now if we recollected that he lives we should also remember that they also that sleep in Jesus shall God bring with him: for if Jesus rose from the dead, so must all his people. We sorrow not as those without hope; we commit our precious dust to the earth, but it is only far a while. We lay it low, but we thank God it can go no lower. Corruption shall not consume, but refine this flesh until, when the trumpet sounds, the very body that we wept over shall rise again in sacred lustre, fashioned in the image of Christ’s own glorious body. Death is robbed of all its sting when we remember this — the soul in the company of the living Savior; the body, like Esther, bathing itself in spices to make it ready for the embrace of the all-glorious Lord; the old, worn-out vesture laid aside awhile, until God refits it, and makes it fit to be worn in the high festivals of heaven. Oh! if Jesus lives, we wipe away the tear, and we carry not our dead to their graves with sound of weeping and with the noise of lamentation, but with the sound of holy psalm and shoutings of victory; we lower the conquering champion into his rest in sure and certain hope that he shall rive to participate in his great Captain’s everlasting, victory. “Christ is risen” is the cure for wounded affection, when the wound rankles
through unbelief.
Further, remark that this blessed doctrine, that Christ is risen cures us of the difficulties we have as to intercourse with heavenly things. It is earlier in the chapter, though I mention it last. The angel appeared unto the women — two angels appeared to certain other women, according to Luke, and instead of speaking to the angels, they ran away. They were afraid and amazed. “Fear not ye,” said the angels, “for we know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not l here, for he is risen.” Now I think if you and I were in a state of full faith in the risen Savior, if we met an angel, we should not be amazed. If we saw an angel — if once again the spirits could put on the semblance of bodies and soon appear to the organs of our vision I think if we revere full of faith, we should avail ourselves of the opportunity to learn some thing about them, and about the heaven they dwell in, and, most of all, about their Lord.
Oh! methinks I would like an hour with some bright spirit to question him about some of those mysteries that, as yet, eye hath not seen. If it were lawful for him to utter what, perhaps, he might not tell — if it were lawful for him to tell of some of the glories within the veil, and some of the mysteries of those streets of gold, and those walls of twelve foundations calf precious stones, our inquisitiveness might take a holy turn. Act any rate, if we might not ask questions, we would hold fellowship; we would be glad to see these spirits that are so near akin to us, for even now — even we — we are not strangers to them. They bear us up in their hands lest we clash our foot against a stone, and we are come to the general assembly and Church of the firstborn — we are come to the host of angels, and to those whose names are written in heaven: we are come to that innumerable company, even now, by faith, and if we could get a glimpse of them, we should not be afraid. Now it is a fact that Christ is risen that makes an open door between us and the spiritual world. A man in flesh and blood is gone into the skies: a man who ate a piece of a broiled fish, and of a honeycomb — a man that said, “Handle me and see that it is I myself”: a man of whom it is written, “He showed them his hands and his side”: a man who said to one of his acquaintance, “Reach hither thy finger behold my hand, and reach hither thy hand and thrust it into my side” — such a man is gone into the excellent glory, and he has opened a living way by which our intercourse with angels, and with the angels’ Master, is complete. Oh! herein there is subject for spiritual minds greatly to rejoice at, and the difficulties which unbelief would put in our way are swept away by the full conviction that the Lord is risen — is risen indeed.
But I must not dwell longer on that. The great power of unbelief receives its antidote in the blessed and well-ascertained fact that Jesus is risen. Now let us see still further: —
III. SOME OTHER CONSEQUENCES OF OUR LORD’S RISING.
We observe in the chapter that one of the first consequences of his rising was a more general, a more intense, a more universal activity in the Church. He said to them, “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” We see again, “He was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God, and they went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them.” From which I gather that, if we did more fully perceive that Christ is risen, we should be all of us more active. It is very hard to get up enthusiasm for an idea — certainly in England it is — it may not be in some more mercurial clime among a more sensitive and responsive people — but here we do not generally get into a state of enthusiasm for an idea. But what men are there that are not moved to enthusiasm for a person? A man, a person, will always command more fully the activity of human hearts than will a mere doctrine or dogma. Bring before me in history the leading principles, and you will generally find that the principles did little or nothing until they wore embodied in a man, and when some bold man represented the principles, then the principles opened the man’s way to human hearts.
It is so in the Church. I suppose some people are enthusiastic about creeds and about dogmas. I don’t know, but I know this: that the most enthusiastic people in all the Church are those that know him, and love him, and live with him, and serve him. The enthusiasm of heaven seems to be about them. They cast their crowns at his feet, and they sing “Hallelujah” when they behold God and the Lamb. There is an adoration of persons, and their souls are moved by the presence of blessed and divine persons, and so in the Church should it be. We have a living Savior, a living Captain. He is not out of the fight: he still looks down upon us: he still is fighting with us in the grand old cause. Oh! who of us will be a laggard when the Captain’s eye is upon him? Jesus is looking on — Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, is looking on the course. Let us run with patience, because we look at, and are looked upon by, him. May this principle of Christian patience move every person here to do something, and continue to do something for the honor and glory of his Master.
But, in addition to this cause, we find that the presence of Christ gave to the church at that time miracles. The risen Savior endowed them with unknown tongues, and they spoke, though they were uninstructed men, so that men understand them from every clime: they began to work wonders Our faith leads us not to these, nor will it. This is wisely denied us. At the same time, though we work not miracles in the outer world, all true preaching is miracle working. Commonly to declare a doctrine, commonly to speak a thing well — all this may be no preaching as God would call it— eloquence, oratory, refinement, the putting of words well together — this is common to all mankind. After their measure, all may speak — after some sort. This is not God’s work; but true preaching, soul-saving preaching, the Spirit’s voice speaking through man — this is miracle working. You know, my brethren, there are some who cannot preach — they say they cannot preach the gospel. I mean this: they will preach sermons to God’s living people, to God’s quickened ones, and then they say, “As for you that are dead in sin, I have nothing, to say to you.” That is their notion. They are very candid. God never set them to preach the gospel, and they own they cannot do it.
Well, a pity that they should try; but another man whom God sends knows, as the other did, that the hearer who is unconverted is dead in trespasses and sins. He knows that ordinarily to speak to such people would be a very idle thing. He knows he dare not attempt it in his own strength, and that to say to the dead, to the spiritual dead, “Live,” is in itself the extreme of folly. But he, feels that God is with him, that God has sent him, and looking, like Ezekiel of old, upon the congregation of sinners, as in the valley full of dry bones, he does not say, “I have nothing to say to you; you are dead”; but bursting out in his Master’s name, he says, ‘Ye dry bones, hear the Word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord, ye dry bones, ‘Live.’” God sent the man, and while he prophesies thus upon the bones, they come together, bone to his bone, and live. The two apostles at the beautiful gate of the temple did not say to the lame man. “You are lame; we trust in God’s time you will get cured of your lament — we have nothing to say to you”; but they said, “In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” They bid the man do what he could not do, but as they bade him do it, the strength came to him to do it.
And while we say to the sinner, “Believe and live,” God sends the power of the gospel command, and they do repent, do believe, do live, do fly for refuge to the hope set before them in the gospel; and to this day each Christian is a miracle worker in his own sphere, in the sphere of spiritual things. He opens blind eyes by God’s power, and unstops deaf ears by Jesus’ might. He, too, raises the dead; he, too, casts out devils, still in the higher realm, the realm of mind, the realm of spirit; and our ascended Lord has given us this — this power — we receive it entirely from him because all power is given unto him in heaven and in earth. Therefore, go we and teach all nations, and that teaching works results.
I must not detain you longer, except to notice that, in consequence of our Lord’s resurrection, there is divine power, the highest degree of power concentrated in the person of Jesus Christ. He was ever God, and now as God — man Mediator all power is concentrated in him. And this power is not laid up there to be idle — not as so much stored up ammunition never to be expended, for if you notice the last verse, “The Lord working with them.” Is it not a delightful thought that Jesus is not a sufferer, but he is a worker still?” The Lord working with them. “Redeeming work is done; saving work is going on. “The Lord is working with them.” We do not see it, but he is working. Often that power which is least seen is most mighty, and certainly in the Church that which is not perceptible by the senses is the strongest power.
Believer, if the conversion of the world rested with the Church, if the outgathering of the elect depended upon us, it never would be done; but God makes us work for this end, and so he works first in us, and then lie works with us. How this ought to encourage us to work! This little arm, what can it do? But that eternal arm, what can it not do? This tongue, how feebly can it speak; but the voice of him who spake as never man spake, how persuasively can it speak? Our spirits, narrow and limited, what can they effect? But his unbounded Spirit, what cannot he perform? Oh! let everyone here who has been serving his Master bid farewell to everything like a discouraging or desponding thought. The great army of God is not defeated; it never can be, in the long run it must conquer. And even those parts of the divine strategy of our great Commander. which looked like retreat, are only portions of his perpetual victory. He is fighting on, and will win the battle, even to the end.
It is a great consolation to the believer to know that Jesus lives, and lives in triumph. I do remember, and I cannot help repeating what I have told you before — I do remember, when in an hour of the most overwheming sorrow through which a mind could pass, this one thing restored and comforted me. After that dreadful catastrophe in the Surrey Gardens, when my mind gave way, and my sorrow was extreme — when I had almost lost my reason for some three weeks. and was desponding and brokenhearted, I was alone, walking in solitude, mourning, and weeping as I did day and night and on a sudden there came into my mind, as though it dropped from heaven, this text, “Him hath God highly exalted and given him a name which is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow”; you know the rest. The thought that crossed my mind was this, I am one of his soldiers, and I am lying in a ditch to die. It does not matter: the King has won the victory— Christ has won the victory — Christ is to the fore. If I die like a dog, I care not. The crown is on his head. He is safely exalted.” In a moment I was happy; my trouble was gone; I found myself perfectly restored; I fell on my knees in a solitary place, praising God who, in infinite mercy, had made that text to be a balm to my spirit. Now there may be someone here who feels much as I did — disconsolate, cast down If you really love Jesus, there is not a nobler balm for your care than this: he reigns, he is glorious; the government is not taken from his shoulders. Our King is no captive; our Emperor has not yielded up his sword: our Prince Imperial is not banished: our Empire never fails, the city of Jerusalem is not besieged: there shall be no straitness of bread in her streets. “God is in the midst of her: she shall not be moved; God shall help her, and that right early.” Let the heathen rage: let the people and nations be moved: let the whole earth rock and reel, and the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, God is our refuge and strength, our very present help in time of trouble. God reigneth, and the kingdom of Jesus is settled by an unchangeable decree.
Therefore. lift up your heads, ye saints, for your redemption draweth nigh, and even now clap ye your joyful hands, and go ye back again to the conflict of life until your Master galls you home like true heroes, that henceforth shall know no fear, and shall never turn your backs in the day of battle. God grant it may be so for his name’s sake. Amen.
Hymn for Today:
“Infant Holy, Infant Lowly” by Polish carol; translated by Edith M.G. Reed, 1885-1933
1. Infant holy, infant lowly,
for his bed a cattle stall;
oxen lowing, little knowing,
Christ the babe is Lord of all.
Swift are winging angels singing,
noels ringing, tidings bringing:
Christ the babe is Lord of all.
2. Flocks were sleeping, shepherds keeping
vigil till the morning new
saw the glory, heard the story,
tidings of a gospel true.
Thus rejoicing, free from sorrow,
praises voicing, greet the morrow:
Christ the babe was born for you.
Through the Bible in One Year:
Judges 21
1 The men of Israel had sworn this oath at Mizpah, ‘None of us is to give his daughter in marriage to Benjamin.’
2 The people went to Bethel and stayed there until evening, sitting before God and raising their voices, made a great lament,
3 and exclaiming, ‘Yahweh, God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel that a tribe should be missing from Israel today?
4 The next day the people got up early and built an altar there; they presented burnt offerings and communion sacrifices.
5 The Israelites then said, ‘Out of all the tribes of Israel, who has not come to Yahweh, to the assembly?’ — for they had sworn a solemn oath that anyone who did not come to Yahweh at Mizpah would certainly die.
6 Now the Israelites felt sorry about Benjamin their brother. ‘Today’, they said, ‘a tribe has been amputated from Israel.
7 What shall we do to provide wives for those who are left, since we have sworn by Yahweh not to give them any of our own daughters in marriage?’
8 They then asked, ‘Out of the tribes of Israel, who is it that has not come to Yahweh at Mizpah?’ It was discovered that no one from Jabesh in Gilead had come to the camp for the assembly;
9 for, a muster having been called of the people, none of the inhabitants of Jabesh in Gilead was present.
10 The community then despatched twelve thousand of their bravest men there, with these orders: ‘Go and slaughter all the inhabitants of Jabesh in Gilead, including the women and children.
11 This is what you are to do. All males and all those women who have ever slept with a man, you will put under the curse of destruction, but the lives of the virgins you will spare.’ And this they did.
12 Among the inhabitants of Jabesh in Gilead they found four hundred young virgins who had never slept with a man, and brought them to the camp (to Shiloh in the territory of Canaan).
13 The whole community then sent messengers to offer peace to the Benjaminites who were at the Rock of Rimmon.
14 Benjamin then came home: they were given those of the women of Jabesh in Gilead whose lives had been spared, but there were not enough for all.
15 The people felt sorry about Benjamin, Yahweh having made a breach in the tribes of Israel.
16 And the elders of the community said, ‘What shall we do to provide wives for the survivors, since the women of Benjamin have been wiped out?’
17 They went on, ‘How can we preserve a remnant for Benjamin so that a tribe may not be lost to Israel?
18 We cannot give them our own daughters in marriage’ — for the Israelites had taken an oath, ‘Accursed be the man who gives a wife to Benjamin!’
19 ‘However,’ they said, ‘there is the feast of Yahweh, held every year at Shiloh.’ (The town lies north of Bethel, east of the highway that runs from Bethel up to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.)
20 So they told the Benjaminites to do as follows, ‘Put yourselves in ambush in the vineyards.
21 Keep watch: when the girls of Shiloh come out in groups to dance, you then come out of the vineyards, each of you seize a wife from the girls of Shiloh and make for Benjaminite territory.
22 If their fathers or brothers come and complain to us, we shall say, “Let us have them, since we could not take wives for everyone in the battle; and you could not give them to them, or you would then have been guilty.” ‘
23 The Benjaminites did this and, from the dancers whom they caught, took as many wives as there were men and then, setting off, went back to their heritage, rebuilt the towns and settled down in them.
24 The Israelites then dispersed, each man to rejoin his tribe and clan, each leaving that place for his own heritage.
25 In those days there was no king in Israel, and everyone did as he saw fit.(New Jerusalem Bible)
Daily Office for Thursday, January 26, 2012:
Psalm 50
1 [Psalm Of Asaph] The God of gods, Yahweh, is speaking, from east to west he summons the earth.
2 From Zion, perfection of beauty, he shines forth;
3 he is coming, our God, and will not be silent. Devouring fire ahead of him, raging tempest around him,
4 he summons the heavens from on high, and the earth to judge his people.
5 ‘Gather to me my faithful, who sealed my covenant by sacrifice.’
6 The heavens proclaim his saving justice, ‘God himself is judge.’Pause
7 ‘Listen, my people, I am speaking, Israel, I am giving evidence against you, I, God, your God.
8 ‘It is not with your sacrifices that I find fault, those burnt offerings constantly before me;
9 I will not accept any bull from your homes, nor a single goat from your folds.
10 ‘For all forest creatures are mine already, the animals on the mountains in their thousands.
11 I know every bird in the air, whatever moves in the fields is mine.
12 ‘If I am hungry I shall not tell you, since the world and all it holds is mine.
13 Am I to eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?
14 ‘Let thanksgiving be your sacrifice to God, fulfil the vows you make to the Most High;
15 then if you call to me in time of trouble I will rescue you and you will honour me.’
16 But to the wicked, God says: ‘What right have you to recite my statutes, to take my covenant on your lips,
17 when you detest my teaching, and thrust my words behind you?
18 ‘You make friends with a thief as soon as you see one, you feel at home with adulterers,
19 your conversation is devoted to wickedness, and your tongue to inventing lies.
20 ‘You sit there, slandering your own brother, you malign your own mother’s son.
21 You do this, and am I to say nothing? Do you think that I am really like you? I charge you, indict you to your face.
22 ‘Think it out, you who forget God, or I will tear you apart without hope of a rescuer.
23 Honour to me is a sacrifice of thanksgiving; to the upright I will show God’s salvation.’(New Jerusalem Bible)
Psalm 59
1 [For the choirmaster Tune: 'Do not destroy' Of David In a quiet voice When Saul sent men to watch David's house in order to have him killed] Rescue me from my enemies, my God, be my stronghold from my assailants,
2 rescue me from evil-doers, from men of violence save me.
3 Look at them, lurking to ambush me, violent men are attacking me, for no fault, no sin of mine, Yahweh,
4 for no guilt, they come running to take up position. Wake up, stand by me and keep watch,
5 Yahweh, God of Sabaoth, God of Israel, rise up, to punish all the nations, show no mercy to all these malicious traitors.Pause
6 Back they come at nightfall, snarling like curs, prowling through the town.
7 Look how they rant in speech with swords on their lips, ‘Who is there to hear us?’
8 For your part, Yahweh, you laugh at them, you make mockery of all nations.
9 My strength, I keep my eyes fixed on you. For my stronghold is God,
10 the God who loves me faithfully is coming to meet me, God will let me feast my eyes on those who lie in wait for me.
11 Do not annihilate them, or my people may forget; shake them in your power, bring them low, Lord, our shield.
12 Sin is in their mouths, sin on their lips, so let them be trapped in their pride for the curses and lies that they utter.
13 Destroy them in your anger, destroy them till they are no more, and let it be known that God is Master in Jacob and the whole wide world.Pause
14 Back they come at nightfall, snarling like curs, prowling through the town,
15 scavenging for something to eat, growling unless they have their fill.
16 And so I will sing of your strength, in the morning acclaim your faithful love; you have been a stronghold for me, a refuge when I was in trouble.
17 My strength, I will make music for you, for my stronghold is God, the God who loves me faithfully.(New Jerusalem Bible)
Psalm 60
1 [For the choirmaster To the tune 'The decree is a lily' In a quiet voice Of David To be learnt When he was at war with Aram-Naharaim and Aram-Zobah, and Joab marched back to destroy twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt] God, you have rejected us, broken us, you were angry, come back to us!
2 You made the earth tremble, split it open; now mend the rifts, it is tottering still.
3 You have forced your people to drink a bitter draught, forced us to drink a wine that made us reel.
4 You gave a signal to those who fear you to let them escape out of range of the bow.Pause
5 To rescue those you love, save with your right hand and answer us.
6 God has spoken from his sanctuary, ‘In triumph I will divide up Shechem, and share out the Valley of Succoth.
7 ‘Mine is Gilead, mine Manasseh, Ephraim the helmet on my head, Judah my commander’s baton,
8 ‘Moab a bowl for me to wash in, on Edom I plant my sandal. Now try shouting “Victory!” over me, Philistia!’
9 Who will lead me against a fortified city, who will guide me into Edom,
10 if not you, the God who has rejected us? God, you no longer march with our armies.
11 Bring us help in our time of crisis, any human help is worthless.
12 With God we shall do deeds of valour, he will trample down our enemies.(New Jerusalem Bible)
Psalm 8
1 [For the choirmaster On the . . . of Gath Psalm Of David] Yahweh our Lord, how majestic is your name throughout the world! Whoever keeps singing of your majesty higher than the heavens,
2 even through the mouths of children, or of babes in arms, you make him a fortress, firm against your foes, to subdue the enemy and the rebel.
3 I look up at your heavens, shaped by your fingers, at the moon and the stars you set firm-
4 what are human beings that you spare a thought for them, or the child of Adam that you care for him?
5 Yet you have made him little less than a god, you have crowned him with glory and beauty,
6 made him lord of the works of your hands, put all things under his feet,
7 sheep and cattle, all of them, and even the wild beasts,
8 birds in the sky, fish in the sea, when he makes his way across the ocean.
9 Yahweh our Lord, how majestic your name throughout the world!(New Jerusalem Bible)
Psalm 84
1 [For the choirmaster On the . . . of Gath Of the sons of Korah Psalm] How lovely are your dwelling-places, Yahweh Sabaoth.
2 My whole being yearns and pines for Yahweh’s courts, My heart and my body cry out for joy to the living God.
3 Even the sparrow has found a home, the swallow a nest to place its young: your altars, Yahweh Sabaoth, my King and my God.
4 How blessed are those who live in your house; they shall praise you continually. Pause
5 Blessed those who find their strength in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
6 As they pass through the Valley of the Balsam, they make there a water-hole, and — a further blessing — early rain fills it.
7 They make their way from height to height, God shows himself to them in Zion.
8 Yahweh, God Sabaoth, hear my prayer, listen, God of Jacob.
9 God, our shield, look, and see the face of your anointed.
10 Better one day in your courts than a thousand at my own devices, to stand on the threshold of God’s house than to live in the tents of the wicked.
11 For Yahweh God is a rampart and shield, he gives grace and glory; Yahweh refuses nothing good to those whose life is blameless.
12 Yahweh Sabaoth, blessed is he who trusts in you.(New Jerusalem Bible)
Genesis 16:15-17:14
15 Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave his son borne by Hagar the name Ishmael.
16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old Yahweh appeared to him and said, ‘I am El Shaddai. Live in my presence, be perfect,
2 and I shall grant a covenant between myself and you, and make you very numerous.’
3 And Abram bowed to the ground. God spoke to him as follows,
4 ‘For my part, this is my covenant with you: you will become the father of many nations.
5 And you are no longer to be called Abram; your name is to be Abraham, for I am making you father of many nations.
6 I shall make you exceedingly fertile. I shall make you into nations, and your issue will be kings.
7 And I shall maintain my covenant between myself and you, and your descendants after you, generation after generation, as a covenant in perpetuity, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
8 And to you and to your descendants after you, I shall give the country where you are now immigrants, the entire land of Canaan, to own in perpetuity. And I shall be their God.’
9 God further said to Abraham, ‘You for your part must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you, generation after generation.
10 This is my covenant which you must keep between myself and you, and your descendants after you: every one of your males must be circumcised.
11 You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and that will be the sign of the covenant between myself and you.
12 As soon as he is eight days old, every one of your males, generation after generation, must be circumcised, including slaves born within the household or bought from a foreigner not of your descent.
13 Whether born within the household or bought, they must be circumcised. My covenant must be marked in your flesh as a covenant in perpetuity.
14 The uncircumcised male, whose foreskin has not been circumcised — that person must be cut off from his people: he has broken my covenant.’(New Jerusalem Bible)
Hebrews 10:1-10
1 So, since the Law contains no more than a reflection of the good things which were still to come, and no true image of them, it is quite incapable of bringing the worshippers to perfection, by means of the same sacrifices repeatedly offered year after year.
2 Otherwise, surely the offering of them would have stopped, because the worshippers, when they had been purified once, would have no awareness of sins.
3 But in fact the sins are recalled year after year in the sacrifices.
4 Bulls’ blood and goats’ blood are incapable of taking away sins,
5 and that is why he said, on coming into the world: You wanted no sacrifice or cereal offering, but you gave me a body.
6 You took no pleasure in burnt offering or sacrifice for sin;
7 then I said, ‘Here I am, I am coming,’ in the scroll of the book it is written of me, to do your will, God.
8 He says first You did not want what the Law lays down as the things to be offered, that is: the sacrifices, the cereal offerings, the burnt offerings and the sacrifices for sin, and you took no pleasure in them;
9 and then he says: Here I am! I am coming to do your will. He is abolishing the first sort to establish the second.
10 And this will was for us to be made holy by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ made once and for all.(New Jerusalem Bible)
John 5:30-47
30 By myself I can do nothing; I can judge only as I am told to judge, and my judging is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me.
31 Were I to testify on my own behalf, my testimony would not be true;
32 but there is another witness who speaks on my behalf, and I know that his testimony is true.
33 You sent messengers to John, and he gave his testimony to the truth-
34 not that I depend on human testimony; no, it is for your salvation that I mention it.
35 John was a lamp lit and shining and for a time you were content to enjoy the light that he gave.
36 But my testimony is greater than John’s: the deeds my Father has given me to perform, these same deeds of mine testify that the Father has sent me.
37 Besides, the Father who sent me bears witness to me himself. You have never heard his voice, you have never seen his shape,
38 and his word finds no home in you because you do not believe in the one whom he has sent.
39 You pore over the scriptures, believing that in them you can find eternal life; it is these scriptures that testify to me,
40 and yet you refuse to come to me to receive life!
41 Human glory means nothing to me.
42 Besides, I know you too well: you have no love of God in you.
43 I have come in the name of my Father and you refuse to accept me; if someone else should come in his own name you would accept him.
44 How can you believe, since you look to each other for glory and are not concerned with the glory that comes from the one God?
45 Do not imagine that I am going to accuse you before the Father: you have placed your hopes on Moses, and Moses will be the one who accuses you.
46 If you really believed him you would believe me too, since it was about me that he was writing;
47 but if you will not believe what he wrote, how can you believe what I say?(New Jerusalem Bible)
Timothy, Titus [& Silas]:
Psalm 112:1-9
1 Alleluia! How blessed is anyone who fears Yahweh, who delights in his commandments!
2 His descendants shall be powerful on earth, the race of the honest shall receive blessings:
3 Riches and wealth for his family; his uprightness stands firm for ever.
4 For the honest he shines as a lamp in the dark, generous, tender-hearted, and upright.
5 All goes well for one who lends generously, who is honest in all his dealing;
6 for all time to come he will not stumble, for all time to come the upright will be remembered.
7 Bad news holds no fears for him, firm is his heart, trusting in Yahweh.
8 His heart held steady, he has no fears, till he can gloat over his enemies.
9 To the needy he gives without stint, his uprightness stands firm for ever; his reputation is founded on strength.(New Jerusalem Bible)
Isaiah 42:5-9
5 Thus says God, Yahweh, who created the heavens and spread them out, who hammered into shape the earth and what comes from it, who gave breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk on it:
6 I, Yahweh, have called you in saving justice, I have grasped you by the hand and shaped you; I have made you a covenant of the people and light to the nations,
7 to open the eyes of the blind, to free captives from prison, and those who live in darkness from the dungeon.
8 I am Yahweh, that is my name! I shall not yield my glory to another, nor my honour to idols.
9 See how the former predictions have come true. Fresh things I now reveal; before they appear I tell you of them.(New Jerusalem Bible)
Acts 15:22-26,30-33
22 Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose delegates from among themselves to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas, known as Barsabbas, and Silas, both leading men in the brotherhood,
23 and gave them this letter to take with them: ‘The apostles and elders, your brothers, send greetings to the brothers of gentile birth in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia.
24 We hear that some people coming from here, but acting without any authority from ourselves, have disturbed you with their demands and have unsettled your minds;
25 and so we have decided unanimously to elect delegates and to send them to you with our well-beloved Barnabas and Paul,
26 who have committed their lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
30 The party left and went down to Antioch, where they summoned the whole community and delivered the letter.
31 The community read it and were delighted with the encouragement it gave them.
32 Judas and Silas, being themselves prophets, spoke for a long time, encouraging and strengthening the brothers.
33 These two spent some time there, and then the brothers wished them peace andwent back to those who had sent them.(New Jerusalem Bible)
Acts 16:1-5
1 From there he went to Derbe, and then on to Lystra, where there was a disciple called Timothy, whose mother was Jewish and had become a believer; but his father was a Greek.
2 The brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him,
3 and Paul, who wanted to have him as a travelling companion, had him circumcised. This was on account of the Jews in the locality where everyone knew his father was a Greek.
4 As they visited one town after another, they passed on the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem, with instructions to observe them.
5 So the churches grew strong in the faith, as well as growing daily in numbers.(New Jerusalem Bible)
John 10:1-10
1 ‘In all truth I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold through the gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a bandit.
2 He who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the flock;
3 the gatekeeper lets him in, the sheep hear his voice, one by one he calls his own sheep and leads them out.
4 When he has brought out all those that are his, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow because they know his voice.
5 They will never follow a stranger, but will run away from him because they do not recognise the voice of strangers.’
6 Jesus told them this parable but they failed to understand what he was saying to them.
7 So Jesus spoke to them again: In all truth I tell you, I am the gate of the sheepfold.
8 All who have come before me are thieves and bandits, but the sheep took no notice of them.
9 I am the gate. Anyone who enters through me will be safe: such a one will go in and out and will find pasture.
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full.(New Jerusalem Bible)
2 Samuel 7:18-19,24-29
18 King David then went in, sat down in Yahweh’s presence and said: ‘Who am I, Lord Yahweh, and what is my lineage, for you to have led me as far as this?
19 Yet, to you, Lord Yahweh, this seemed too little, and now you extend your promises for your servant’s family into the distant future. Such is human destiny, Lord Yahweh.
24 for you constituted your people Israel your own people for ever and you, Yahweh, became their God.
25 ‘Now, Yahweh God, may the promise which you have made for your servant and for his family stand firm forever as you have said,
26 so that your name will be exalted for ever and people will say, “Israel’s God is Yahweh Sabaoth.” Your servant David’s dynasty will be secure before you,
27 since you, Yahweh Sabaoth, the God of Israel, have disclosed to your servant, “I am going to build you a dynasty.” Hence, your servant has ventured to offer this prayer to you.
28 Yes, Lord Yahweh, you are God indeed, your words are true and you have made this generous promise to your servant.
29 What is more, you have deigned to bless your servant’s dynasty, so that it may remain for ever before you; for you, Lord Yahweh, have spoken; and may your servant’s dynasty be blessed with your blessing for ever.’(New Jerusalem Bible)
Psalm 132:1-5,11-15
1 [Song of Ascents] Yahweh, remember David and all the hardships he endured,
2 the oath he swore to Yahweh, his vow to the Mighty One of Jacob:
3 ‘I will not enter tent or house, will not climb into bed,
4 will not allow myself to sleep, not even to close my eyes,
5 till I have found a place for Yahweh, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob!’
11 Yahweh has sworn to David, and will always remain true to his word, ‘I promise that I will set a son of yours upon your throne.
12 If your sons observe my covenant and the instructions I have taught them, their sons too for evermore will occupy your throne.’
13 For Yahweh has chosen Zion, he has desired it as a home.
14 ‘Here shall I rest for evermore, here shall I make my home as I have wished.
15 ‘I shall generously bless her produce, give her needy their fill of food,(New Jerusalem Bible)
Mark 4:21-25
21 He also said to them, ‘Is a lamp brought in to be put under a tub or under the bed? Surely to be put on the lamp-stand?
22 For there is nothing hidden, but it must be disclosed, nothing kept secret except to be brought to light.
23 Anyone who has ears for listening should listen!’
24 He also said to them, ‘Take notice of what you are hearing. The standard you use will be used for you — and you will receive more besides;
25 anyone who has, will be given more; anyone who has not, will be deprived even of what he has.’(New Jerusalem Bible)
Thursday, 26 January 2012
Saint Timothy and Saint Titus, bishops – Memorial
Saint(s) of the day:Ss Timothy and Titus, Bishops – Memorial
Titus 1:1-5
1 From Paul, servant of God, an apostle of Jesus Christ to bring those whom God has chosen to faith and to the knowledge of the truth that leads to true religion,
2 and to give them the hope of the eternal life that was promised so long ago by God. He does not lie
3 and so, in due time, he made known his message by a proclamation which was entrusted to me by the command of God our Saviour.
4 To Titus, true child of mine in the faith that we share. Grace and peace from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Saviour.
5 The reason I left you behind in Crete was for you to organise everything that still had to be done and appoint elders in every town, in the way that I told you,(New Jerusalem Bible)
Psalm 96
1 Sing a new song to Yahweh! Sing to Yahweh, all the earth!
2 Sing to Yahweh, bless his name! Proclaim his salvation day after day,
3 declare his glory among the nations, his marvels to every people!
4 Great is Yahweh, worthy of all praise, more awesome than any of the gods.
5 All the gods of the nations are idols! It was Yahweh who made the heavens;
6 in his presence are splendour and majesty, in his sanctuary power and beauty.
7 Give to Yahweh, families of nations, give to Yahweh glory and power,
8 give to Yahweh the glory due to his name! Bring an offering and enter his courts,
9 adore Yahweh in the splendour of his holiness. Tremble before him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, ‘Yahweh is king.’ The world is set firm, it cannot be moved. He will judge the nations with justice.
11 Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad! Let the sea thunder, and all it holds!
12 Let the countryside exult, and all that is in it, and all the trees of the forest cry out for joy,
13 at Yahweh’s approach, for he is coming, coming to judge the earth; he will judge the world with saving justice, and the nations with constancy.(New Jerusalem Bible)
Luke 10:1-9
1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them out ahead of him in pairs, to all the towns and places he himself would be visiting.
2 And he said to them, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to do his harvesting.
3 Start off now, but look, I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.
4 Take no purse with you, no haversack, no sandals. Salute no one on the road.
5 Whatever house you enter, let your first words be, “Peace to this house!”
6 And if a man of peace lives there, your peace will go and rest on him; if not, it will come back to you.
7 Stay in the same house, taking what food and drink they have to offer, for the labourer deserves his wages; do not move from house to house.
8 Whenever you go into a town where they make you welcome, eat what is put before you.
9 Cure those in it who are sick, and say, “The kingdom of God is very near to you.”(New Jerusalem Bible)
Commentary of the day:
Saint Cyril of Jerusalem (313-350), Bishop of Jerusalem, Doctor of the Church
Catechesis before baptism no.18, § 23-25
Timothy and Titus spread the faith of the apostles throughout the world
The Church is called catholic (or universal) because she exists throughout the world, from end to end of the earth, and because she teaches universally, without fail, every doctrine we need to know concerning both visible and invisible, heavenly and earthly realities. Besides this she is called catholic because she submits all humanity, both leaders and subjects, learned and unlearned, to the true religion; because she tends and heals throughout the world every kind of sin committed by soul or body; and finally, because she possesses in herself every kind of virtue, in deed or word, whatever names they bear, and all the various sorts of spiritual gift.
This name ‘Church’ – which means ‘assembly’ – suits it perfectly since she assembles and gathers everyone together as the Lord commands in Leviticus: «Assemble the whole community at the entrance of the Meeting Tent» (Lv 8,3)… And in Deuteronomy. God says to Moses: «Assemble the people before me; I will have them hear my words» (Dt 4,10)… The Psalmist also says: «I will give you thanks in the vast assembly; in the mighty throng I will praise you» (Ps 35[34],18)…
But subsequently the Savior instituted a second assembly from among the gentiles: our own holy Church, the church of Christians, concerning which he said to Peter: «Upon this rock I will build my Church and the power of death shall not prevail against it» (cf Mt 16,18)… When the first assembly that used to be in Judaea was destroyed, the churches of Christ were multiplied through all the earth. It is of these that the Psalms speak when they say: «Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the saints» (Ps 150[149],1)… And it was of the same holy, catholic Church that Paul writes to Timothy: «You should know how to behave in the household of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth» (1Tim 3,15).
1st Thought for Today:
My Utmost for His Highest
Reading for Thursday 26th January 2012
LOOK AGAIN AND CONSECRATE by OSWALD CHAMBERS
If God so clothe the grass of the field . . . shall He not much more clothe you?(Matthew 6:30)
A simple statement of Jesus is always a puzzle to us if we are not simple. How are we going to be simple with the simplicity of Jesus? By receiving His Spirit, recognizing and relying on Him, obeying Him as He brings the word of God, and life will become amazingly simple. “Consider,” says Jesus, “how much more your Father Who clothes the grass of the field will clothe you, if you keep your relationship right with Him.” Every time we have gone back in spiritual communion it has been because we have impertinently known better than Jesus Christ. We have allowed the cares of the world to come in, and have forgotten the “much more” of our Heavenly Father.
“Behold the fowls of the air” – their main aim is to obey the principle of life that is in them and God looks after them. Jesus says that if you are rightly related to Him and obey His Spirit that is in you, God will look after your ‘feathers.’
“Consider the lilies of the field” – they grow where they are put. Many of us refuse to grow where we are put, consequently we take root nowhere. Jesus says that if we obey the life God has given us, He will look after all the other things. Has Jesus Christ told us a lie? If we are not experiencing the “much more,” it is because we are not obeying the life God has given us, we are taken up with confusing considerations. How much time have we taken up worrying God with questions when we should have been absolutely free to concentrate on His work? Consecration means the continual separating of myself to one particular thing. We cannot consecrate once and for all. Am I continually separating myself to consider God every day of my life?
Reflecting God-Enemy In A Friend’s Clothing
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Scripture-Psalm 55:12-23
12 Were it an enemy who insulted me, that I could bear; if an opponent pitted himself against me, I could turn away from him.
13 But you, a person of my own rank, a comrade and dear friend,
14 to whom I was bound by intimate friendship in the house of God! May they recoil in disorder,
15 may death descend on them, may they go down alive to Sheol, since evil shares their home with them.
16 For my part, I appeal to God, and Yahweh saves me;
17 evening, morning, noon, I complain and I groan. He hears my cry,
18 he ransoms me and gives me peace from the feud against me, for they are taking me to law.
19 But God will listen and will humble them, he who has been enthroned from the beginning; no change of heart for them, for they do not fear God.
20 They attack those at peace with them, going back on their oaths;
21 though their mouth is smoother than butter, enmity is in their hearts; their words more soothing than oil, yet sharpened like swords.
22 Unload your burden onto Yahweh and he will sustain you; never will he allow the upright to stumble.
23 You, God, will thrust them down to the abyss of destruction, men bloodthirsty and deceptive, before half their days are spent. For my part, I put my trust in you.(New Jerusalem Bible)
Enemy In A Friend’s Clothing by Gerald Crispin
Have you ever been betrayed? Did that betrayal come from a friend, someone you trusted? It is bad enough when we are disregarded or suffer abuse from a stranger, but if you have ever been betrayed by a friend, someone you loved and trusted, then you can understand David’s despair. The one who “reproaches me”(verse 12, NASB) is his “familiar friend” and “companion.” You can feel David’s disappointment at the betrayal. This was an enemy in friend’s clothing.
Maybe, like David, you have become angry and tempted to call down on those who have hurt you. I know I have. David does something spectacular: he casts his burden on the Lord, the only one in heaven and earth who will hear his cry and save him. As a result, God ransoms David unharmed from the battle waged against him (verse 18).
God will do the same for us if we will only cry out to him. Even though we may have enemies dressed in friend’s clothing we can cast our cares on the Lord. “He will never let the righteous fall”(verse 22).
Hymn for Today:
“All Your Anxiety” by Edward Henry Joy
1. Is there a heart o’er bound by sorrow?
Is there a life weighed down by care?
Come to the cross each burden bearing.
All our anxiety leave it there.
Refrain:
All your anxiety, all your care,
Bring to the mercy seat leave it there;
Never a burden He cannot bear,
Never a friend like Jesus.
2. No other friend so keen to help you,
No other friend so quick to hear.
No other place to leave your burden;
No other one to hear our prayer.
Refrain:
All your anxiety, all your care,
Bring to the mercy seat leave it there;
Never a burden He cannot bear,
Never a friend like Jesus.
3. Come then at once; delay no longer!
Heed His entreaty kind and sweet.
You need not fear a disappointment;
You shall find peace at the mercy seat.
Refrain:
All your anxiety, all your care,
Bring to the mercy seat leave it there;
Never a burden He cannot bear,
Never a friend like Jesus.
2nd Thought for Today:
“Reality, sincerity, and integrity are available to us through our Redeemer-God”(Neil B. Wiseman).
Prayer Needs:
Many people in the United Kingdom will come to know Christ and receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
Shalom,
In the last few weeks, Arab countries have launched an all out cyber war
against Israel and its citizens.
First, Saudi hackers stole the personal information of 15,000 Israeli citizens
from an Israeli sports website.
And last week, the Saudi computer hackers disrupted access to the online
websites of three Israeli banks, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, and El Al airlines.
Yesterday, the websites of two Israeli hospitals, the Assuta Medical Center
in Tel Aviv and the Sheeba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer and, were
attacked, although the hospital security systems reportedly held back the
attack and patient information wasn’t compromised.
Shortly afterwards, the websites Dan Public Transportation company, the
Israel Festival, the Cinematheque and the Haaretz newspaper were
simultaneouly attacked.
It makes one wonder if we are just another step closer to embedding
personal information in a chip implanted in the forehead or hand to make it
more secure.
“No one could buy or sell anything if he did not have this mark. This mark is
the name of the beast or the number of its name.” (Revelations 3:17)
Traditional Military Response in the Face of the Privatization of War
Ever since the 9/11 (September 11, 2001) terrorist attacks on the United
States, military and political analysts have been warning about “the
privatization of war.”
In other words, instead of a massive attack against a country’s infrastructure
or civilian population by another country, the war would be waged by small
group of individuals.
Al Qaida showed the world on 9/11 that massive attacks against the civilian
and military infrastructure of a foreign country can be carried out by a small
terrorist group that did not have the support of a government.
Cyberspace: New Frontier for Waging War
One of the most important new battlefields in privatized war is the Internet.
Hackers are private, anonymous individuals with Internet skills that enable
them to break into government and corporation websites, databases and
networks to steal, manipulate or change the data stored there, including
personal information, email passwords, documents, financial information, etc.
And hackers can be, literally, anywhere on earth.
All they need is a connection to the Internet, and they can access any
computer anywhere else in the world.
They could be anyone, from a 12-year-old kid living in a one room
apartment down the hall to a soldier trained and sponsored by a government.
Most countries including the US, Israel, Russia, China, and Iran, have
recruited professional hackers for the purpose of fighting in cyberspace
and defending themselves against other hackers.
Cyberspace War in the Middle East
This current “Middle East” cyberspace war has erupted between hackers
from Arab countries and Israel.
It started a few weeks ago after a group of Saudi hackers dubbed
“Group-XP” posted personal information of thousands of Israelis on a
public website.
OxOmar, who identified himself as a member of the group, urged people to
cause Israel economic pain by using the numbers to make online purchases
in order to damage the economy of Israel.
In an email to the Jerusalem Post, OxOmar, who said he was a 19-year-old
from Saudi Arabia, explained that he “wanted to hurt Israel” any way he could.
He also said that a group of like-minded Pro-Palestinian hackers called
“Nightmare” had joined the Group XP battle against the Jewish State.
More attacks followed, including denial of service attacks against the
personal websites of Israeli government officials, the Fire and Rescue
Service, and others.
But OxOmar didn’t know what he’d started.
Israel Retaliates in Cyberspace
In the days following the attacks on Israeli websites, a group of hackers
calling itself the “IDF Team” (Israel Defense Team) launched attacks on
two large financial websites in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia,
promising that it was just the beginning unless the cyber attacks against
Israeli institutions stopped.
“We will not attack without a reason. We are waiting to see if there are
more attacks on Israel,” one member of the Israeli team told the Jerusalem
Post. “Our next steps will be taken slowly… the message we wish to pass
[along] is that we are not frightened to retaliate and we will not be
frightened of continuing with the attacks.”
But the attacks against Israel didn’t stop, nor did the Israeli retaliatory attacks.
In addition to the economic and even physical damage the conflict has
caused, thousands of helpless individuals in Israel and the Arab world had
their personal data, including medical records and other confidential items,
posted online for the whole world to see.
All of this was done (and continues to be done) without any government
anywhere being able to affect the course of events because it’s being done
by “private” hackers.
Further east, in a similar cyber conflict, Iranian hackers invaded
neighboring Azerbaijan, an ally of Israel, as well as the community of
Shiloh in Samaria.
There is a growing list of similar incidents all over the world.
Hamas (the Palestinian government of Gaza), seeing the value of an
electronic war against Israel, has called for an escalation of hacking Israeli websites.
To deal with these new threats, the Israeli Defense Ministry has announced
that it will establish a special cyber warfare administration.
Lawlessness Increases as War becomes a Hobby for Individuals
War, once the exclusive domain of governments, has become a hobby for
private individuals.
The barriers that once existed to give life in this world, if not exactly
stability, at least a certain amount of predictability, have slowly begun to
disappear. What we’re left with is a growing regime of pandemonium,
chaos and disorder.
In other words, lawlessness.
As Believers, we know who benefits from lawlessness.
“Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy
comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of
worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself
as being God.” (2 Thessalonians: 2: 2–3)
Time is indeed short.
The only hope for anyone is the Prince of Peace, the Son of God, Yeshua
HaMashiach (Jesus Christ).
“But you, O Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, even to the time
of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.”
(Daniel 12:4)
In our generation, and specifically with the Internet, smart phones, and
Google in the last 10 years, more than any time previously recorded in
history has knowledge increased to this extent!
The people of Israel, who often seem the primary focus of attacks in these
end times need to know about the prophecies about Yeshua in the book of
Daniel, Isaiah, Zechariah, Nehemiah, and Micah.
The best way they can learn about Yeshua and the prophetic Scriptures is
through reading the Messianic Prophecy Bible.
Will you help us bring this knowledge of the Word of God to them?
“I will bless those that bless Israel.” (Genesis 12:3)
3rd Thought for Today:
Thursday 26 January 2012
Maturity
What is a mature man or woman? What does it mean to be fully human? We are focused much more in terms of success and diplomas, and so we have to re-find the language of human maturity. What does it mean to be fully human? by Jean Vanier
Belonging: The Search for Acceptance
Windborne Production Video
1.26.12 – “Honor God with your body” from The Church of the Resurrection-United Methodist in Leawood, Kansas, United States
Daily Scripture: 1 Corinthians 6:12 “‘For me everything is permissible’; maybe, but not everything does good. True, for me everything is permissible, but I am determined not to be dominated by anything.
13 Foods are for the stomach, and the stomach is for foods; and God will destroy them both. But the body is not for sexual immorality;
14 it is for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body. God raised up the Lord and he will raise us up too by his power.
15 Do you not realise that your bodies are members of Christ’s body; do you think one can take parts of Christ’s body and join them to the body of a prostitute? Out of the question!
16 Or do you not realise that anyone who attaches himself to a prostitute is one body with her, since the two, as it is said, become one flesh.
17 But anyone who attaches himself to the Lord is one spirit with him.
18 Keep away from sexual immorality. All other sins that people may commit are done outside the body; but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.
19 Do you not realise that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you and whom you received from God?
20 You are not your own property, then; you have been bought at a price. So use your body for the glory of God.”(New Jerusalem Bible)
Reflection Questions:
Sexual immorality was common in Corinth. Many Greek and Roman thinkers said that humans are done with their bodies at death, so what they do with them in life doesn’t matter. Paul totally rejected that view: “The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20, The Message).
“Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you?” Paul asked (verse 19). In what ways does knowing that God wants to dwell in you all the time help you make better choices about what you do with your body, and how you think about it?
Scholars debate whether “I have the freedom to do anything” was the Corinthians’ opinion or Paul’s view of a Christian’s freedom before God. In either case, Paul did not directly dispute it. Instead, he said, in effect, “Some things [like the sexual immorality common in Corinth] are not good for you, are not smart.” In what ways have you seen sexual immorality have hurtful results in your own life, your family of origin or friends?
Weekly Prayer:
Lord God, “a man embraces his wife, and they become one flesh”? Wow—Genesis said the first human couple were really strongly attracted to each other! Sometimes I have that sense, too, but so many things (grief, illness, betrayal, unresolved childhood hurts, even just human brokenness in one or both partners) can go wrong. This week, teach me about the joy, bonding and sharing of life that “good sex,” sex as you intend it to be, can bring to our lives. Amen.
Wednesday 1.25.12 Insight from Angela LaVallie
Angela LaVallie is the Member Connection Program Director at The Church of the Resurrection. She provides oversight to our member connection efforts through the Connection Point, the Weekday Hospitality Team, Coffee With the Pastors, the New Member Team and our Spiritual Gifts Placement Team.
In this passage, the Apostle Paul is not writing as an enforcer of rules or laws. He’s not trying to keep people from having a good time. He’s writing because knows that by living a holy lifestyle, people will have an even better time, a more fulfilling life.
In verse 19, he writes of “people who lack all sense of right and wrong, and who have turned themselves over to doing whatever feels good and to practicing every sort of corruption along with greed.” These people are being selfish, doing whatever they want to do, regardless of the consequences for themselves and for others. Sometimes the results of our actions may not be immediate, so we have to take time to consider the long-term effects of what we are doing. It is so easy to justify one small action, not ever intending to take a step further down the path away from right living, then another step, then another.
When I was in high school, my youth minister explained to the youth group that we needed to think through possible situations that might come up in which we would be tempted to do something contrary to what we knew or felt we shouldn’t be doing. In doing this exercise, we were training ourselves on how to resist the temptations. The more determined we were ahead of time, the more likely we were to make wise choices if and when the situations did arise. Of course, he also taught us that the closer to God we were, the more we knew the Bible’s teachings, the better the chances were that we would be open to God’s guidance and would be more apt to live a life that was more closely aligned to the life God designed for us.
Thursday 1.26.12 Insight from Janelle Gregory
Janelle Gregory serves on the Resurrection staff as a Human Resources Specialist.
Many would assume that a good sex life and a strong faith in God are mutually exclusive. We have this view that God and the church are anti-sex. Butch Hancock said that he learned this about the church’s view on the subject matter:
“sex is the most awful, filthy thing on earth and you should save it for someone you love.”
Seems a bit silly when you read it, but it’s a warranted misconception. But the truth is that God isn’t anti-sex at all. We’re talking about the inventor of sex here. Let’s face it, if you read beyond what they put in most small group curriculum, you’d know that should certain parts of the Bible were ever made into a movie, it would only be shown in seedy theaters.
But as the inventor, God does provide a few guidelines. Because He, better than us, knows what sex is capable of doing.
I’d like to think of sex as like fire. Given the right parameters-
It can provide warmth.
It can be powerful.
It can be beautiful.
But it’s interesting how that same beautiful fire can be so destructive just outside the bounds of where it should be.
It can destroy lives.
It can wreck homes.
It can leave scars.
These painful images are reminders that if we play with fire, we cannot only burn ourselves, but that the blaze and smoke damage may destroy those around us as well. Which of us would knowingly burn the ones we love?
But then just as, if not more, horrifying is that Paul reminds us that our bodies are not our own, but they belong to God. Would you take a match to your Savior?
I am a firm believer that God can bring beauty out of ashes, and I don’t want to give any other impression. But I would be doing nobody a favor by painting a less vivid picture. We need to grasp consequences.
So appreciate the fire where the fire should be, but if you should see sparks start to fly, go find a bucket of cold water immediately.
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, TODAY’S NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society®. Used by permission of International Bible Society®. All rights reserved worldwide.
4th Thought for Today:
Thursday January 26, 2012
Forgiveness, the Way to Freedom
To forgive another person from the heart is an act of liberation. We set that person free from the negative bonds that exist between us. We say, “I no longer hold your offense against you” But there is more. We also free ourselves from the burden of being the “offended one.” As long as we do not forgive those who have wounded us, we carry them with us or, worse, pull them as a heavy load. The great temptation is to cling in anger to our enemies and then define ourselves as being offended and wounded by them. Forgiveness, therefore, liberates not only the other but also ourselves. It is the way to the freedom of the children of God. by Father Henri J. M. Nouwen
The Upper Room Daily Devotional
Thursday, January 26, 2012
After the Fire
Suggested Bible Reading:
Read 2 Corinthians 4:8-14
8 We are subjected to every kind of hardship, but never distressed; we see no way out but we never despair;
9 we are pursued but never cut off; knocked down, but still have some life in us;
10 always we carry with us in our body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus, too, may be visible in our body.
11 Indeed, while we are still alive, we are continually being handed over to death, for the sake of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus, too, may be visible in our mortal flesh.
12 In us, then, death is at work; in you, life.
13 But as we have the same spirit of faith as is described in scripture — I believed and therefore I spoke -we, too, believe and therefore we, too, speak,
14 realising that he who raised up the Lord Jesus will raise us up with Jesus in our turn, and bring us to himself — and you as well.(New Jerusalem Bible)
You died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.(Colossians 3:3 (NIV))
Today’s Devotional
Exploring a wildfire-ravaged area in Victoria, Australia, I never became accustomed to the sight of skeletal trees blackened by fire or ghost-like forests where the scorched bark had peeled away from the trees. However, amazing signs of renewed life made the greatest impression. Passing one hollow remnant of an ancient tree — blackened both inside and out — I was astonished to see a new tree emerging from a gash in this corpse-like stump; it was a vivid illustration of resurrection.
I can relate to this because I have been devastated by circumstances. When bereavement, illness, depression, or doubt leaves us feeling lost, abundant life seems a thing of the past. Simply believing in Jesus, hanging on by our fingernails, may take all the energy we have.
That burned-out tree appeared to be lifeless, yet deep down — hidden from sight — life waited, ready to burst forth again. No matter what we may feel, no matter how unlikely it may seem at times, resurrection is possible. by Carol Griffin (Shropshire, England)
5th Thought for the Day: Go to www.upperroom.org to see a picture of the blackened tree.
Prayer: God of compassion, send your Spirit to strengthen those who have no strength, to bring peace to those who have no peace, and to give hope to all in despair. Amen.
Prayer Focus: Those overwhelmed by despair
The scripture quotation, unless otherwise indicated, is from the NEW REVISED STANDARD VERSION of the Bible, copyright © 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright ©2012 by The Upper Room, a ministry of GBOD. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce or redistribute without written permission from the publisher.
Daily Meditation: Wisdom — January 26, 2012
Center for Action and Contemplation
WISDOM
“I begged and the spirit of Wisdom came to me.”(Wisdom 7:7)
People’s willingness to find God in their own struggle with life—and let it change them—is their deepest and truest obedience to God’s eternal will. We must admit this is what all of us do anyway, as “God comes to us disguised as our life”! Remember, always remember, that the heartfelt desire to do the will of God is, in fact, the truest will of God. At that point, God has won, and the ego has lost, and your prayer has already been answered.
To sum up the importance of an alternative mind, this message from an unknown source says it all:
Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.
From Breathing Under Water: Spirituality and the Twelve Steps, p. 103
Starter Prayer:
Grant me wisdom. by Father Richard Rohr
