TFTD - January 2021

[Resource Manager]

01 January 2021

"As we contemplate a new year may we recognise that the truth and faithfulness of God and the constancy of His Word is all we need to sustain us in our journey to His promised Kingdom. We recognise how important it is truly to discern the Lord Jesus Christ in the emblems we share, and in every way in which he influences our lives, when we recall the words of John 6:40: “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” May our shared act of remembrance help us to see with the eye of faith and believe with the heart of faith and so, by God’s grace, may we end our journey sitting down with Abraham in the Kingdom prepared for the faithful from the foundation of the world."

- Graham Cooke 

(1998). The Christadelphian, 135 (electronic ed.), 3.

[Resource Manager]

02 January 2021

 

"Christ was kind, forgiving, loving, understanding, responsive to the varied human needs he encountered. The more we grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18), the more we marvel at the loveliness of his character. And we must be like him, if we are in any real sense to be a part of God’s workmanship (poiēma) in him. When the Lord returns, and his work with the redeemed is completed, how meaningful will be those words:

 

“And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31)."

 

- T.J. Barling

God's Workmanship

(1989). The Christadelphian, 126 (electronic ed.), 215.

[Resource Manager]

03 January 2021

 

"... The Gospel he had come to proclaim was that God had loved men even though they had proved His enemies; blessed them though they had cursed Him; done good to them though they hated Him. Thus he was, on God’s behalf, demanding no more of men than what He was pleased to bestow on them, and they for their part were only too ready to accept from Him. "I say to you", said he, "love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be like your Father in heaven, since he causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." [Matthew 5:44-45]

 

With that indiscriminateness with which God, as Lord of nature, distributes His benefits, regardless of men’s unfitness to receive them, so must the Christian manifest persistent goodwill to all, regardless of how they choose to treat him. In short, the surest way—nay, the only way—for a Christian to give God delight is himself to delight to be like Him.

 

- W.F. Barling
Being a Christian

(1955). The Christadelphian, 92 (electronic ed.), 90.

[Resource Manager]

04 January 2021

 

"The aspect of the love of God as expressed in the gift of the Son of His love, and of the implications it entails, is summarized for us by Peter when he says that though “now for a season, you are in heaviness through manifold temptations”, it is in order “that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: whom having not seen, you love; in whom, though now you see him not, yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls”."

 

- E.J. Green

The Love of God

(1955). The Christadelphian, 92 (electronic ed.), 148.

[Resource Manager]

05 January 2021

 

"Though the nations are in His sight as nothing (cf. Isaiah 40:17), He is the God of love and causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the just and the unjust. There is no variableness in God, no petty favouritism: “Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him” (Acts 10:34,35). This was Peter’s fine testimony at Caesarea in the first century and it has always been true. Those who seek to know God must “follow on to know Him” (Hosea 6:3) so that they may be perfect even as their Father in heaven is perfect. The pursuit of this perfection is the noblest end to which a man can bend his powers. In thus seeking to know God the disciple is helped by the study of Christ, for to see him is to see the Father."

 

- T.J. Barling

The Broad and Narrow Ways

(1963). The Christadelphian, 100 (electronic ed.), 451.

[Resource Manager]

06 January 2021

 

"Our standing in the sight of God does not rest on justice, but on something much finer and grander: on the unthinkable love and tender mercy of a gracious Father. Mere justice is far too mean a thing to be seen among those who have been saved by mercy. The inspired writer James expressed it thus: "He shall have judgment without mercy that hath showed no mercy: and mercy rejoiceth against judgment."

 

We all need to get into the habit of remembering "the manner of spirit we are of": a brotherhood founded not on justice, but on mercy: not on cold calculation but on abounding and compelling love, which truth has, I suppose, never been better expressed than by the Psalmist in Psalm 103: "He hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us." Isaiah expresses it in even more intimate terms: "All we like sheep have gone astray: we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."

 

- Cyril Cooper

Reflection (1958)

[Resource Manager]

07 January 2021

 

"Doctrine is neither abstract nor arid. It should be real, it should be manifested in the life of the believer. So it is that to the undiscerning James appeared to contradict Paul when he stressed the need for works. Yes, he said in effect, you are justified in the sight of God by faith, initially by acceptance of doctrine. But that in itself is insufficient. Faith must be manifested and expressed by a manner of life. Faith is the foundation; the works of life are the building bricks. They will either contribute to the body of Christ in its completion, or they will help develop a structure of clay and stubble."

 

- Gareth Davies

The Teaching of the Apostles about Doctrine (1976)

[Resource Manager]

08 January 2021

 

"Our service to Jesus must be modelled on his service to his Father: not the mechanical soulless obedience, which so often characterized fixed and ceremonial offerings, but the spontaneous and gladsome doing of His will, which springs from the knowledge that, if we are the bondservants of the Lord, we are so from choice, since his word has entered our ears and hearts, revealing to us the most excellent way of life and love. To serve him is perfect freedom.

 

"But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:57)"

 

- F.E. Mitchell

Jesus, The Lord (1954)

[Resource Manager]

09 January 2021

 

"The unity of the Old and New Testaments is one of the strong evidences of the truth of the claims that the writers were moved by divine inspiration. That unity is seen, not only in the teaching on great themes, but in countless hidden harmonies. It is as if one mind was behind the whole. This indeed is the fact, although fifteen hundred years separated the earliest and latest contributions to the canon of Scripture."

- John Carter
Delight in God's Law

[Resource Manager]

10 January 2021

 

"God is the source and origin of love–His very nature is love–and the evidence is in the fact that He loved us when we were unlovable, and sent His son to be the propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:10). Since love is God’s supreme characteristic, those who are God’s must needs reflect it to one another."

 

- L.G. Sargent

Faith and Love (1954)

[Resource Manager]

11 January 2021

 

"One thing is needful. Get the spiritual side of life right, and no matter what comes your way, good or 'bad', you’ll see that it has God in it, and so it can’t really be bad. You’ll be able to handle it. It may not go away, but you’ll be able to handle it. You’ll be rightly exercised by it. And you’ll discover you have all you need for a satisfying life. Keep in mind that the Bible says "all things work together for good" in the life of a believer, not that all things are good."

 

- Colin Attridge

The Fruit of the Spirit

[Resource Manager]

12 January 2021

 

"It was from the darkness of the Tomb that our Lord arose to the perfect light of immortality on that first resurrection morn. On the second such morn, as yet in the future, when the “Sun of righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings”, (Malachi 4:2) the rays of light will indeed be brilliant; for by his death our Saviour “brought life and immortality to light through the gospel”, (2 Timothy 1:10) that same gospel to which we are joined in hope, having ourselves been individually called out of darkness into the marvellous light."

 

- K.G. Galvin

Alpha and Omega (1965)

[Resource Manager]

13 January 2021

 

"The habit of thinking that we could do much more if we were something else than we are can be a real stumbling block to doing what we might do where we are, according to our ability. The man who wasted one talent made the one talent an excuse for his failure (Matthew 25:24-25). But he would have wasted five. A life spent in dreaming what might be in other circumstances cannot act for the best in present conditions."

 

- Claud Lamb

Stephen (1989)

[Resource Manager]

14 January 2021

"The figure of a book of remembrance runs through the Scripture. It is a figure, for the Eternal God neither changes nor forgets. But the thought is full of comfort for those who fear God."

- John Carter
Prophets after the Exile 

[Resource Manager]

15 January 2021
 

"A gardener must not be impatient. His seed must go through the normal processes of growth. There is no fruit until the harvest and it would be foolish of him to expect it. There is good promise of it, and he can follow it with delight. So, too, is life. This time is not our inheritance. We are in process of growing until the harvest. Let us not wilt and fade away; let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."

 

- Harry Tennant

Getting Tired? (1960)

[Resource Manager]

16 January 2021

 

"In Christ we see the full revelation of God’s word, the perfect expression of His active truth. Not only does Christ speak truth; he is truth; he is the Word which with unfailing power is accomplishing God’s ends; and so in the last vision, when he is seen going forth with the heavenly armies to subdue all the world to righteousness, he is called “Faithful and True” and his name is called “The Word of God”. How, then, does Christ himself regard the earlier writings? The final answer, as of so much else in Jesus, is the Cross; because it was written in Moses, the Psalms, and the Prophets, it was binding upon him to suffer; because he came to do the will of God, he took upon himself all that was prescribed to him in the roll of the Book, and was obedient even to death, and that the agonizing and shameful death of the cross. We have also his many express declarations of the authority of Scripture; and one such saying must be carefully considered in a study of the Sermon on the Mount."

 

- L.G. Sargent 

The Teaching of the Master

[Resource Manager]

17 January 2021

"When we walk over the waters to meet him, we must not be dismayed by the darkness, the wind or the waves ... faith can only be sustained by keeping our eyes fixed loving and obediently upon him."

 

- Melva Purkis

A Life of Jesus

[Resource Manager]

18 January 2021

"The words of Jesus contain the life, and they must be assimilated day by day. Today’s manna will not do for tomorrow; we must seek fresh supplies daily. The daily reading and study of God’s word is the only way to partake of the hidden manna in Christ Jesus. Our life is hid with Christ in God. Of ourselves we are dead. But the continual partaking of the hidden life in Christ by association through the word will ensure that when Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall we appear with him in glory. He will appear as dew upon the herb, which when the morning sunlight arises, will disclose that hidden manna, that we may eat of it, and live for ever."

 

- H. Lander

The Hidden Manna (1949)

[Resource Manager]

19 January 2021

"Our life is a loom, a means given us to make a pattern of righteousness like the pattern given us in the Lord Jesus Christ, the great example. The Lord God is the master weaver who sets the patterns. Before we take up our task we must needs consider this advice: "Before you turn to God and stretch out your hands to him, get rid of your sins and leave all iniquity behind" (Job 11:13-14)."

 

- John J. Morgan

Web of Eternal Life (1980)

[Resource Manager]

20 January 2021   

 

"For us the days are short: the turning of the calendar can only bring this home more closely to us. But for us the doors are still open: the opportunity to prepare ourselves to "go in with him to the marriage", before the door is shut; the opportunity to unite together in the work of opening the door of faith to as many as the Lord will still call, either by personal activity or by prayer for those who can be active; perhaps even the opportunity to make the last pages of our history as a community less full of strife ... "These things said he that is holy, he that is true, he that has the key of David, he that opens, and no man shuts; and shuts, and no man opens; I know your works: behold, I have set before you an open door, and no man can shut it: for you have a little strength, and have kept my word, and have not denied my name" (Revelation 3:7-8). Could we make those words as true of us as they were of the ecclesia in Philadelphia?"

 

- Alfred Nicholls

An Open Door (1970)

[Resource Manager]

21 January 2021

 

"True holiness having love for its essence, we can examine ourselves, and see whether we are possessed of this grace. How can we determine? Are we bearing the fruits of the Spirit? We cannot do this unless we are as closely associated with Christ as the branch is to its parent vine. Jesus said to His disciples that He is the vine, and they are the branches, and as the branches cannot bear fruit of themselves, neither can we unless we abide in Him, for a corrupt tree cannot bear good fruit. Much has been said, at times, of our being in Christ. And so we are, or have been. As a branch of a vine may be taken away–­as a man may lose his garment, so we may be severed from Christ, and lose his protective covering. So Paul’s care was to “be found in him.” And Jesus said, “Severed from me, you can do nothing.” “I in them, and they in me” is the way in which he expressed our relationship. The branch is imbedded in the vine, and the latter furnishes sap and life to it, and in this way it is enabled to bear fruit."

 

- J.T. Irwin

Holiness (1922)

[Resource Manager]

22 January 2021

 

"Christ has, in a manner, already "entered in," having entered into his rest. Here is our calling. Are we living up to it, as members of "the righteous nation which keeps the truth"? (Isaiah 26:2) These are the conditions under which peace obtains, "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you: because he trusts in you." (Isaiah 26:2)"

 

- C.C. Walker

“The Prince of Peace” (1914)

[Resource Manager]

23 January 2021

"There is much intellectual pride in the world today, and intellectual pride is inimical to the truth of God. Let us be ready always to accept truth but beware of pride, for pride is the ultimate sin. It can come to us in many forms, and none is more insidious than the appeal to intellect and the authority of scholarship. Where facts are concerned we must recognise the claims of scholarship, but in many ways bearing especially on faith in the Bible, fact and judgement or opinion are so interwoven as to be very difficult to disentangle. The “wisdom of the world” starts its thinking from presuppositions which govern its conclusions, and where the presuppositions are false the conclusions will be also, no matter how learnedly and persuasively they are presented."

 

- L.G. Sargent

A Sound Mind

[Resource Manager]

24 January 2021

"Humility is an attitude of subjection out of love for the King’s goodness. How can understanding men and women ever be proud in the presence of the God of eternal time, of unlimited space, of unchangeable character-God infinite in grace and matchless in love? It is the knowledge of God which generates the birth of humility in the soul."

 

- Dennis Gillett

The Genius of Discipleship

[Resource Manager]

25 January 2021

"Our God is able to save us if we have set our hearts to know His will, to seek an understanding of His word. This must be our one most anxious concern. We can live only by His word, the true bread from heaven. "If any lack wisdom let him ask of God and it shall be given him." Let us plead the promise of His grace and believe that it will be sufficient to keep us from falling. Let us come boldly to the throne of grace. Not boldness because of feeling that we deserve His kindness, for we are not worthy of the least of His mercies; but boldness in the sense of having faith and confidence in His love and mercy."

 

- Ron Styles

God’s Discipline (1961)