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July 2003 I Must, I Must, I Must
September 2003 Heirs of the Kingdom
December 2003 Perfect Protection
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"So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." May each day begin and close in fellowship with our heavenly Father through prayer ; including a period of pause to hear what He shall say to us. May the common toil of each day bear evidence that the increase of God's kingdom is the highest aim of our daily service. May each day be enriched by sacrificial giving, so that we may learn to lay up our treasure in heaven. By a daily plan such as this "May we apply our hearts unto wisdom."
Rev. J. Rauch Stein, D.D. |
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"Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except yeExcept ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, Except ye eat the fleshand drink his blood, no life ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day." How can I share this life, and attain to this resurrection? By no mastication of material elements, but by personal trust in an ascended Saviour. Jesus' words, being spirit and life, impart life wherever received. Hence His deepest complaint is, "There are some of you that believe not." He has the words of everlasting life. Here He speaks them. You may accept them! You may reject them! You cannot alter them!
Rev. A. B. Mackay, D.D. |
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"Blessed are the peacemakers: peacemakers peacemakersfor they shall be called the children of God." For this peace He was "slain from the foundation of the world." For this peace, in God's love for the world, His only begotten Son was given. For this peace as the only able one, He made the only propitiation for the sins of the world, and thus bought us, one and all, and thus became as the God-man our Lord under the exaltation of God, who gave Him a name above every name as a reward of His infinitely humble, acceptable, and profitable work, that every tongue should confess Jesus Christ as Lord to the glory of God the Father. For this peace the Master sent His ministry forth and the Holy Ghost to bless them in the establishment of His Church for the salvation of men. For this peace He ascended into heaven to carry on His work in the presence of God, as the great Intercesor, with the marks of His love in His hands, with wounds in His feet, and with the open door in His side to His heart; and so He lives in the smile of heaven to the end of His mediatorial kingdom. And now as is the tree so are the branches and fruit; they cannot help being blessed. It is in the very nature of things in the providence of God. And so we naturally read our text and learn our lesson, each in our own degree, as we faithfully apply its use.
Rev. C. F. Hoffman, D.D. |
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"My sheep hear my voice, my voice and I know them, and they follow me; and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." Me, My hands." give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish." And here are the Two Hands: The hand of Jesus and the hand of the Father ; the eternal hands of God beneath us to bear us up at all times, and we are safe. Under the comfort of the above passage there have been a great many sons and daughters of our Lord and Savior that have found peace and rest in dire troubles. Comfort that the world can not comprehend.
Rev. F. W. Hofman, |
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"And the Lord smelled a sweet savour."
Just so God has His favorite perfume. Nothing is so sweet to Him as the sincere, grateful worship of His Children. Noah's sacrifice was the expression of his grateful trust in God. Have we any cause for praise? Let our thanksgivings rise like sweet incense. "His name, like sweet perfume, shall rise with every morning sacrifice." Let us bring to our family altar our sincere thanksgivings, trusting for acceptance in Him who "hath loved us and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour."
Rev. Irving Maxwell, Jesus ChristPsalm 141: 2 |
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and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me,dwelleth in me he doeth the works." Christianity is a science, not a dream, because it is established in part like law and history, upon abundant and reliable testimony; in part, like gravitation and the roundness of the earth upon a proved hypothesis that alone includes and harmonizes all the facts; in part, like medicine and chemistry, upon experiments and experiene. No hypothesis but that of Christianity explains how an unlettered carpenter of Nazareth has become the best known, the most beloved, and the most obeyed of any being "that e'er wore earth about him." But there is yet stronger evidence in experience. Christ Jesus "Come and see!"
Rev. W. F. Crafts, Jesus ChristI Timothy 3: 16 |
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wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" There was a great urge in the heart of Jesus, unknown even to His mother. Every Christian life should feel the compulsion of such a purpose. When the appeal of reason and faith desert us, we must depend upon the "I must." Good purposes, high ideals, Christian faith, life's greatest achievements are not always to be pursued because of pleasure and allurement. They have their dead spots of discouragement and temptation. When the fog obscures the true perspective of life, when fatigue threatens our vitality, the compulsion of "I must" may furnish the additional necessary push over the goal. For the sake of others, for the sake of right, yes above all for the sake of my Lord, "I must" be Christian in my faith, in my service.
Rev. Calvin P Swank, D.D., |
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shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall and they shall walk, and not faint." This glorious promise offers me a precious privilege of His Holy Presence. Here I may contemplate His Fatherhood末 His sacrificial Saviorhood. Bow in humble, happy worship, O my soul, before your Father, your Savior and your constant Companion! In His Presence are joy and peace末 also, admonition and commission. "Come末wait" gives place to "Go末serve." Now I may rise and radiate the power of His Presence through loving service 末yea, even through trying, difficult service, in the program of this day of grace. Waiting upon Him gives me the strength of His comradeship for every duty and disappointment of life.
Rev. William C. Ney, |
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for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you Father's pleasure to give the kingdom." "Fear not." "Your Father knoweth" your foes and your needs. It is His pleasure to give you the kingdom. His heart's joy is in it. His hand will accomplish it. "Fear not, little flock." You may think I am sending you "as sheep in the midst of wolves," which rush with open mouth upon their prey. Seek and fear not; "for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." "Fear not." Your Father gives. Ye are His children. Where should the sons and daughters of the King dwell but in the kingdom of their Father? How can the Father do otherwise than give you the kingdom? "Fear not." Yea rather, rejoice and be glad. Have confidence and expectation. Look for the coming of the King. Await the bestowment of the kingdom, with the throne and the crown, the sceptre and the glory everlasting.
Rev. Giles H. Mandeville, D.D. |
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and the LORD heard, and saved him out of all his troubles." PRAYER will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer. THE Greek is a metaphor taken from hunting dogs that never give over the game till they have got their prey. |
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salt but if the salt have lost his savour, lost his savour wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men." of men Christ Jesus Matthew 5: 13 What an illustration is this of the absolute worthlessness of the form of godliness when the power is utterly lacking! "If the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted?" How can its salting, conserving property be recovered? What can you do with it? So your savorless religion is not only worthless in its influence on others, but of no good to yourselves. It will save niether them nor yourself from corruption. How sad for one to have lost the power that belongs to the Christian calling, and instead of being the instrument of saving others, becoming a means of their perdition! Well does the Saviour say in another place, "Have salt in yourselves."
Rev. D. D. Demarest, D.D. |
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and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid Christ Jesus Psalm 91: 4, 5 During the war a son who had been under sharp fire comforted his parents in this country with this, "It is not where you are, but who is looking after you." If we could only get rid of the terror that surrounds so many of us. "Peace and safety." We find them in Him. Living in constant dread is no way for a child of God. Soft, gentle protection and strong, unbreakable defense. Why be afraid while protected against the subtile evils that creep in silently or the evils that make bold attack? Start each day with this assurance of perfect protection guaranteed in His many "exceeding great and precious promises" which never fail.
Rev. W. Courtland Robinson, D.D., |
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