‘History teaches us’ claimed the philosopher Hegel, ‘that we never learn anything from history.’ But here, at least, is one person who is determined to learn something from the history of her own son. Let’s ponder with Mary:-
v1f. ‘In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.)’…
Baghdad, July 30th 1919.
Dear Walter,
I’ve got some very sad news to tell you, last night when down at the river bathing poor old Eric was drowned. You must forgive me for putting it so blunt, but I feel too full up with it to say much about it. We were bathing as usual and poor old Eric went down. We dived with ropes round us and swam about for half an hour but nothing was seen of him. …
Our fear must save our hope from swelling into presumption, and our hope must save our fear from sinking into despair. (Matthew Henry)
It has been said that man can live about forty days without food, about three days without water, and about eight minutes without air – but only one second without hope. (Anon)
The future is as bright as the promises of God. (Adoniram Judson)
Everything that is done in the world is done by hope. …
Where do we start with Romans 8? It’s a sumptuous banquet – but which of its dishes do we sample? It’s a glorious symphony – but which of its themes do we to attune our ears to? It’s a lofty mountain range – but which of its peaks do we try to scale?
As always, it’s good to get our bearings from the context. Chapter 5 – in Christ, we have victory over sin and death. …
1 Jn 3:1 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!
The wonder of God’s love in adopting us will appear the more if we consider these six things:
Men adopt because they want children, and desire to have some to bear their name; but that God should adopt us when he had a Son of his own, the Lord Jesus, is a wonder of love.…
Adoption gives us the privilege of son, regeneration the nature of sons. (Stephen Charnock)
Adoption is the highest privilege that the gospel offers. (Packer)
Since God has a Son of his own, and such a Son, how wonderful God’s love in adopting us! We needed a Father, but he did not need sons. (Thomas Watson)
…
The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery has a thought-provoking summary of biblical teaching on silence.
…Silence communicates. It is a basic feature of human relationships, for we must often interpret the silence of others. And by its very nature silence can express a wide variety of things. Usually it is not hard to interpret-the rebellious sullenness of a child, the hush as the school principal or head teacher enters. But sometimes silence is hard to interpret.
It is not surprising, therefore, that silence in the Bible expresses a wide range of emotions, attitudes and states: attentiveness, (Deut 27:9; Job 33:31; Acts 19:33) restraint, (1 Sam 10:27; Ps 50:12 Jer 4:19) respect and awe, (Job 29:21; Hab 2:20) loyalty, (Isa 36:21) deep thought, (Ac 15:12) acceptance of guilt, (Job 13:19; Rom 3:19) rest after tumult or suffering, (Ps 46:10; Mk 4:39) fear of saying something wrong, (Ps 39:2) even wisdom; (Job 13:5; Pr 17:28) more negatively, it can express faithlessness, (Es 4:14) fear, (Job 31:34; Acts 18:9) deep pain, (Job 2:13; La 2:10) rebellion, (Ps 32:2 Mk 3:4) defeat or destruction, (Ps 101:5; 143:12; Isa 47:5) and supremely death.
I wouldn’t presume to tell other lay preachers how to prepare their sermons, or how to use commentaries. But here’s the first in what might turn out to be an occasional series of posts on my own approach.
The best one-sentence defense of biblical commentaries I have seen comes from the excellent C.H. Spurgeon:-
…It seems odd, that certain men who talk so much of what the Holy Spirit reveals to themselves, should think so little of what he has revealed to others.
Forgiveness has not always been valued. Nietzsche, who denounced Christianity as a religion of pity, saw forgiveness as immoral because it glorifies weakness. Others have regarded it as an insipid response to the complexities of responsibility, power and justice. The Briefing #202 (May 1998)
Someone has called forgiveness ‘the most healing force in the world.’
’It would tire the hands of an angel to write down all the pardons God bestows upon true penitent believers. (William Bates)
Where we went with our vicious sins, there we must go with our soiled virtues.’…
I’ve been scratching my head about what it means to forgive and to be forgiven. We hear of people who, after having been terribly wronged, say, “I forgive that person.” We hear of others who say, “I can never forgive that person.” And what of the other person, the person who is considered to be ‘in the wrong’? Do they need to ‘accept’ the forgiveness in order for it to work? What of the person who refuses to believe that they are in the wrong? …
