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TFTD - October 2015


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01 October 2015 

 

"Our understanding of the Lord Jesus Christ will be greatly aided if we take a full view of his journey from Mary’s bosom to his Father’s. A life of matchless beauty. Despite the weight of the burden to be carried from Nazareth to Jerusalem his whole bearing is one of compassion to the needy and love for the lost. He draws to himself the cause of every contrite heart of former times and prepares for other sheep yet unborn. Meanwhile he lays the pattern of words by which his followers will be guided."

 

- Harry Tennant

They Will Reverence My Son (1963)

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03 October 2015 

 

"The person who congratulates himself on being progressive and up-to-date, needs to bear in mind that with the passage of a century he will be a hundred years behind the times. There are some curious oscillations in fashions of all kinds. What should really matter for the disciple of Christ is not the current vogue, whether it be sartorial or intellectual, but what gives pleasure to God. Such an individual will never be out-of-date but is the heir of eternity."

 

- T.J. Barling

The Broad and the Narrow Ways (1963)

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04 October 2015

 

"Character alone abides: it is the real test and the only true fruit of living. It is life, Christ-likeness, not what we have or what we know, not fame for fame’s sake, for its laurels fade at the grave’s edge, and its voice gives no cheer in the valley of shadows. “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with him in glory” (Colossians 3:24)."

 

- Claud Lamb

An Old Disciple (1992)

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05 October 2015

 

"... the Letter to the Hebrews is full both of exhortation to “go on” and of warning not to “draw back”. We cannot, says the writer, go over again and again the groundwork of repentance to dead works, and those other things which have once and for all been made sure in the death and resurrection of our Lord. When he speaks of the strong meat of the word of God he is referring not to the deeper intellectual appreciation of it, of which all of those for whom Christ died are not capable, but of that by which we all can mature in spiritual understanding; that is, the deeper appreciation of the standards set in Christ, and the more diligent attention to our conduct in the light of them: for “strong meat belongeth to them who are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil”. Increasing spiritual maturity brings a greater, not a lesser, sense of personal inadequacy, but it also brings a greater confidence in the redeeming power of Him from whom all our comfort springs."

 

- Alfred Nicholls

For Which Cause he is Not Ashamed ... (1974)

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06 October 2015 

 

"The Glad Tidings, the Gospel, the Everlasting Covenant of Peace have been brought to us, and by our present possession of it we have as it were a foretaste and earnest of that peace with God that in the Age to Come will be externally over all the earth. We, of all people, may rejoice with the angels, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of goodwill.” “None have such reason to be glad as (those) reconciled to God”, for nothing can again separate us from the love of God and the peace we have received with God—nothing, that is, so long as we abide in our gratitude and obedience to Christ; it is an “everlasting covenant”. “Great peace have they that love your law”, and “You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you” (Isaiah 26:3)."

 

- John H. Plumb

The Peace of God (1976)
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07 October 2015

 

"The glory of God is seen in His salvation and that salvation is made possible by a marriage of grace and truth. Because God is God and not man, He is not willing that any should perish and to this end reveals His “gentleness”, His abounding grace; but in all this His truth is not compromised! The ultimate revelation of this salvation is seen by John in the life of Jesus: “And the word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth.” It is in Jesus that grace and truth are seen to meet and God is able to show limitless mercy and yet uphold His truth; it is through him that God is able to “lift up our heads” from the shame of sin and from the condemnation resulting from it."

 

- Cyril Tennant

Studies in the Psalms (1984)
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08 October 2015

 

"...  the faith of the first Christians was not merely a belief in a great preacher or a great worker of miracles. It was the risen Lord to whom they had given their allegiance. If there had been any doubt in their minds that the words which he spoke were a divine message or that the miracles which he wrought were the evidence of divine power, such doubt was removed when he was raised from the dead. This fact is the climax of the historic truths upon which the Christian faith is founded. In this finally and for ever Christ was declared to be the son of God with power by resurrection from the dead (Romans 1:4 )." 

 

- E.J. Newman

The Fact of Revelation (1942)

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09 October 2015

 

"As Brethren in Christ we have to strive to live as Christ in all our ways. We need to follow him in his refusal to compromise on those things which are essential for salvation, yet do so with the same understanding and compassion which he manifested in his dealings with the vagaries of human nature. May God grant that in this spirit we might all follow after the things which make for peace, that the Ecclesia of Christ might be built up and that we might aspire to that condition for which Paul prays in Romans 15:5:

 

“To live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

- Graham Cooke

Liberty Expressed in Love (2000)
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10 October 2015 

 

"... Paul in his thought in the letter to the Philippians, to which always we return when we think about the sacrifice of Christ, where he exhorts the Philippians to have lowliness of mind and humility and reminds them of the Lord Jesus Christ, "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took on him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient to death, even the death of the cross." (Philippians 2:6-8). It is that sacrifice, the discipline of humble obedience, which must inspire our lives, and not only so, but its very nature displays the nature of the sacrifice which we are asked to make: taught by the word of God, esteeming others better than ourselves, seeking not our own ends but seeking always the good of others and the upbuilding of the body, letting love exercise its utmost restraint on all our words and actions and striving patiently and quietly to overcome evil with good."

 

- E.J. Newman

A Living Sacrifice (1953)

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11 October 2015

 

"God takes a different view of us when we become in Christ. He becomes a loving Father. We begin trying to serve Him rather than ourselves. We move from being slaves to sin, to being sons and daughters of God: a shift from slavery to a harsh tyrant to adoption by a loving  parent. So, “the truth shall make you free”—but only if you’re meek. Only if you surrender your self-reliance and self-concern, and replace them with God-reliance and concern about Him. Only then will living the Truth be a truly liberating experience. It frees us from uncertainty, doubt and fear, and all other major and minor anxieties. It removes insecurity from our thinking. When we trust God as much as He wants us to, and invites us to; there is no place for fear and insecurity. We are free."

 

- C. Attridge

The Fruit of the Spirit

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12 October 2015    

 

"Effort, not attainment, remained the motto of his life in Christ: “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12). Similarly, when he exhorts the Ephesians to unity, holiness and love, he points to the time when “we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the fulness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13)."

 

- Claud Lamb

Reaching Forward (1992)
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13 October 2015

 

"God must be acknowledged to be “just and the justifier” of those who believe in Jesus. Neither Jew nor Gentile could be justified by the deeds involved in keeping the Law of Moses. “All have sinned” and so should feel the need of “being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus”. “Therefore”, says Paul, “we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law” (Romans 3:20-28; Galatians 2:16). Again, he says, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:12). “Just men” are therefore men related to Christ through baptism into the death of Jesus, upon their belief in God’s covenant with Abraham; that is, through their faith."

 

- Edmund Green

The Light of the World (1981)

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14 October 2015
              
"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem", knowing that in so doing we pray for the Kingdom of God, and for the consummation of that divine Will which was expressed in the creation. Prayer for Jerusalem, literal and spiritual, becomes the channel of communion with the Lord God, King of Ages, who is our heavenly Father. Through it we approach to Him in faith in His eternal purpose; through it He reaches down to us in grace and love. It is our connecting link, our nexus of relationship with Him. And while we pray, we live bodily in the world, separate from the world yet expressing the spirit in our bodily life in its needs and demands, and in the obligations it brings to others. Yet always our life now, our standards, our choices, our judgments, are governed by an added dimension, the reality of the future: the future which is summed up for us in the name of that Holy City, the city of the Great King: "They shall prosper that love thee."

- L.G. Sargent
Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem (1966)
 

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15 October 2015

 

"The Bible is a book of action, designed to be a guide to us. A guide’s duty is not to deliver lectures to tourists telling them of the richness of the country that lies beyond the hills, describing the path that leads to it and vividly painting the beautiful scenery along the way. A guide’s duty is to take the party along the path, leading them safely through all dangers and conducting them to the beautiful country that their own eyes may see it. The word of God is like that; every lesson we are to learn, not intellectually alone, but by doing what the lesson teaches."

 

- Anthony Higginson

Learning Our Lessons (1976)
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16 October 2015
 
"Belief in God is the foundation of faith and the light of life. God is known through His revelation of Himself in words and in acts. Both acts and words are placed on record in the inspired Word of God. Hence the word must hold the prime place in the life of the believer."

- L.G. Sargent
Magnifying the Lord (1956)

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17 October 2015   

 

"Oh, that we could the oftener communicate to others the joy of our possession of this most wonderful thing in the world, our Father’s love; the most exciting prospect in the world, which is His Kingdom on earth; and the most thrilling event of all time, which is the coming of our Lord and Friend, Jesus. Whilst the light of the Sun attracts us, it is its warmth that satisfies us. When the light of the Son of Righteousness attracts our friends, let us make their response to our preaching certain, by bathing them in the warmth of his love, through us. This is the responsibility of every one of us, and this is something which we may not leave to others."

 

- John Marshall

Reflections on the Way (1960)
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18 October 2015

 

"Prophecy is not the purposeless prognostication which the mockers would insinuate. The Bible’s prophets were not crystal gazers plying for hire, and their words were not the frivolous utterances of the necromancer. For the Scriptures testify to the existence of a firm and constant purpose with the earth, which God is working out, a God who knows the end from the beginning. The predictions which they contain dovetail into that purpose, and cannot be considered apart from it. But the purpose must not be considered without the predictions. We do well that we take heed to them, and if we appeal to those which have been fulfilled already, as evidence to the unbeliever, we do so in the confidence that the whole body of prophecy, fulfilled and awaited, stands as counsel to the believer also."

 

- A.D.  Norris

Believing the Bible 

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19 October 2015

 

"The Most High God still rules in “the kingdom of men”, is still supreme in majesty; He has not changed: he still calls for honour from all men; He still demands the worship of all His creatures. The believer, above all, must honour and worship his Creator and Saviour, and where the world is concerned he must be seen to worship Him in heart and lip."

 

- John Marshall

The Living Ecclesia (1971)

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20 October 2015

 

"Every word of God is living! A whole range of passages convince us of this: Hebrews 4:12-13; Hebrews 11:3; 2 Peter 3:5; Isaiah 55:10,11; Psalm 33:69. Everything God purposes is effectually carried out, and all God’s perceptions are directed, not merely to what we can learn from the Scriptures, but to what God, by the mighty contemplations which we call His Word, knows about us."

 

- Alfred Norris

Jesus Christ: The Living Word of God (2000)

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22 October 2015

 

"The training of Christ’s followers is related to higher purposes and to more enduring things than any human society can offer. The whole idea of God’s kingdom on earth and of eternal life in the service and fellowship of God may appear to many fantasies by which only the gullible can be misled; but the frank believer will always acknowledge with Paul: "... we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18)."

 

- T.J. Barling

The Broad and the Narrow Ways (1963)

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23 October 2015

 

"Let us take care that among all our objects in life, before all material furnishings of any and every kind, the furnishing of the mind occupies and retains the first and foremost place. The question put by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount is indeed a penetrating one: "Is not the life more than meat and the body than raiment?" (Matthew 6:25) To the same effect also was the Lord’s declaration during his temptation, a profound declaration which we do well continually to ponder, that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4)"

 

- E.W. Newman

Fleeting Fashions of the World (1971)
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24 October 2015 

 

"The references to his suffering were specific; those that concern God’s discipline of His other children are general. He saw all before; we only see the particular application of any circumstance when it comes to us. But if we have fed our minds on God’s word we may meet and use adversity to our good and so be more than conquerors through him who loved us."

 

- John Carter

Searchings of Heart (1954)

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25 October 2015

"By the Scriptures we learn of God, of His character and of His work, and of His ways. From the Bible we reach an understanding of the facts of life, of the evils that afflict us, of our own inability to provide a remedy; and we find in the same Word of God a revelation of a God who has come near to us in our need with a redemption that we can understand and appreciate, and which evokes in us the response of gratitude and love. In this way, we can say with humility and with truth that we know God."

- J. Carter
The Faithful God (1950)

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