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03 March 2012

 

"Let your humour always be good-humour,

in the double sense of the phrase:

if it comes from a bad humour,

it is almost sure to be bad humour."

- A.W. Hare and J.C. Hare

Guesses at Truth, by Two Brothers

 

"Do nothing in a spirit of factiousness or of vainglory,

but, with true humility, let every one regard the rest

as being of more account than himself;"

Philippians 2:3

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06 March 2012

 

"The greatest truths are the simplest:

so likewise are the greatest men."

- A.W. Hare and J.C. Hare

 

"Whoever has my commands and obeys them,

he is the one who loves me.

He who loves me will be loved by my Father,

and I too will love him and show myself to him."

John 14:21

 

"Loving God means keeping his commandments,

and his commandments are not burdensome."

1 John 5:3

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15 March 2012

 

"The Bible is God's chart for you to steer by,

to keep you from the bottom of the sea,

and to show you where the harbor is,

and how to reach it without running on rocks or bars."

- Henry Ward Beecher

 

"Be my guide and teacher in the true way;

for you are the God of my salvation;

I am waiting for your word all the day."

Psalm 25:5

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17 March 2012

 

"A day hemmed in prayer is less likely to unravel."

- Unknown

 

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication

with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension,

will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:6-7

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18 March 2012

 

Whit Tuesday At the Lickey Hills

 

THE last stage of the Fraternal Gathering was certainly not less pleasant than the earlier days.

 

Birmingham has long been noted for its parks and open spaces. Wise purchases and generous gifts have put the city in possession of a great natural park of entrancing beauty - the Lickey Hills - at a distance of about eight miles from the city centre. Trams run every few minutes along the Bristol Road, a good example of road designed for modern traffic. Down the centre the tram track has been laid on sleepers, grass verges are planted with lime trees, and on either side of this a wide road has been provided for fast one-way traffic.

 

At 10-30 a.m., about five hundred brethren and sisters travelled along this road to the Hills - some by car, others by ordinary tram, and mostly by specially reserved trams. Upon reaching Rednal, the village nestling at the foot of the hills, the company assembled at the Bilberry Hill Tea Rooms. They joined together in singing Hymn 50, with fervour.

 

"Thy goodness, Lord, our souls confess;

Thy mercy we adore,

A spring whose blessings never fail,

A sea without a shore.

 

Sun, moon and stars Thy love attest,

In every golden ray;

Love draws the curtain of the night,

And love brings back the day.

 

Thy bounty every season crowns

With all the bliss it yields;

With joyful clusters loads the vines,

With strength'ning grain the fields.

 

But chiefly Thy compassion. Lord,

Is in the gospel seen;

There like a sun Thy mercy shines,

Without a cloud between."

 

After this, Brother W. J. Owen, who presided, read Psalm 104, which showed God's care for all his creatures, and seemed particularly suitable for such an occasion. It was then explained that the arrangements for the day were quite informal. Brethren and sisters would make up parties and walk in different directions, enjoy each others' company in the pleasant surroundings the hills provided, and then meet at those rooms again for tea at four o'clock. The assembly then sang:

 

"A rose shall bloom in the lonely place,

A wild shall echo with sounds of joy,

For heaven's own gladness its bounds shall grace,

And forms angelic their songs employ.

 

And Lebanon's cedars shall rustle their boughs,

And fan their leaves in the scented air:

And Carmel and Sharon shall pay their vows,

And shout, for the glory of God is there."

 

The meeting was brought to a close with prayer by Brother John Carter, of Halifax. As one walked over the hills, or through the woods, happy groups were seen eating their lunch, reading the portions for the day, or singing the praises of God. When the voices of one group became silent, those of another in the distance were heard to break with:

 

"When shall the voice of singing

Flow joyfully along?

When hill and valley, ringing

With our triumphant song,

 

Proclaim the contest ended,

And Him, who once was slain,

Again to earth descended,

In righteousness to reign!"

 

As that concluded, from another direction there came:

 

"Hark ten thousand, thousand voices,

Sing the song of Jubilee;

Earth through all her tribes rejoices,

Broke her long captivity.

Now the theme in pealing thunders,

Through the gladsome air is rung;

Now in gentler tones, the wonders,

Of redeeming grace are sung.

Hail, Emmanuel, great Deliverer,

Hail, Emmanuel, praise to Thee."

 

And so on, throughout the day.

 

At four o'clock about three hundred brethren and sisters assembled at the Tea Rooms for tea. Thanks was offered by Brother J. E. Bamford, of Oldham, and after an excellent tea, all joined in singing:

 

"Lord, dismiss us with Thy blessing,

Fill our hearts with joy and peace;

Let us each, the truth possessing,

Bear its fruits and run the race,

O, refresh us,

Travelling through this wilderness.

 

Thanks we give and adoration,

For Thy Gospel's joyful sound:

May we gain Thy great salvation,

And in Christ approved be found.

May Thy blessing,

'Mong us evermore abound."

 

After this the Gathering was brought to a close with prayer by Brother J. F. Smith, who voiced the thanks of all for the great blessing vouchsafed to the assembly of so many, and prayed that the great gathering of the redeemed may not be far distant.

 

Christadelphian Fraternal Gathering -

Whitsuntide, England, May1928

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19 March 2012

 

Galatians 6:9 - "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."

 

"It looks as though not to be weary is not to faint. We must understand what weariness is. It is not tiredness. Tiredness is a blessed thing which comes from working and which makes us rest so that we are restored and ready to work again. But weariness is different - it is not a blessing but a curse. It is losing heart. It is a feeling that things are not worth doing. It means beginning each task with a sigh instead of a smile. It is being dispirited, without motivation. It is losing hope.

 

The Alternative is Prayer -

 

Luke 18:1 - "And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;"

 

Jesus says that if disciples desire to avoid fainting they must pray. He does not seem to admit of any middle position. It is one thing or the other. If men pray they will not faint and if they do faint it will be because they have ceased to pray."

 

- Dennis Gillett

The Genius of Discipleship

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20 March 2012

 

"If we are united with Christ - that is, if in Biblical language we are "in Christ Jesus" - then nothing can separate us from the love of God. Increasing knowledge of God's ways brings all who are taught of God by the revelation of His word to say with Paul, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out " (Romans 11:33). For the gospel has been found to be "the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, The just shall live by faith" (Romans 1:16-17)."

 

- John Carter

God's Way

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21 March 2012

 

"1 Corinthians 13:8 "Love never faileth".

 

That which never fails is constant.

 

The Bible word for constancy is: Faithfulness

 

Faithfulness: This has to do with integrity. It is another word for fidelity. It means being faithful to your word: true to your accepted responsibility, whether in business, in marriage, in the ecclesia. It outlaws the thought of shirking or shedding your duty, be the reason ever so plausible. It means being very careful about your promises and about your relationship with others. It means being ready to give up your own special preferences, your own scruples, your own strong opinions, if they may hinder your brother or sister or cause them to sin. It means loyalty to the Truth, even if it means a diminution of your rights, an interference with your progress, risking your reputation. It will garrison a disciple against the possibility of filling his mouth with other people's faults when he ought to ponder his own. How on earth will people behave faithfully in the face of these temptations? - only through love, love of God, love of the truth, love of God's other children."

 

- Dennis Gillett

The Genius of Discipleship

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22 March 2012

 

"FELLOWSHIP is an important Bible word. It is particularly prominent in the New Testament. Fellowship means sharing, partaking and having in common. The word is translated in all of those ways as the following, fully representative selection of passages will indicate:

 

"Then they that gladly received his word were baptized ... and they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers." (Acts 2:41-42)

 

"That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." (1 John 1:3)

 

"God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord." (1 Corinthians 1:9)

 

"The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? for we being many are one bread and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread." (1 Corinthians 10:16-17)

 

"If there is any ... participation in the Spirit ... complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind." (Philippians 2:1 RSV)

 

"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?" (2 Corinthians 6:14)

 

"If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth but if we walk in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." (1 John 1:6-7)

 

"That I may know him (Christ) and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead." (Philippians 3:10,11, RSV)

 

"And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased ..." (Hebrews 13:16 NIV)

 

"Command those who are rich ... to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share." (1 Timothy 6:17,18 NIV)

 

"Our hope of you is steadfast, knowing that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation." (2 Corinthians 1:7)

 

"I (Peter) ... am ... a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed ..." (1 Peter 5:1)

 

"He has granted to us his precious and very great promises, that through these you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of passion, and become partakers of the divine nature." (2 Peter 1:4 RSV)

 

"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all." (2 Corinthians 13:14 RV)

 

From the foregoing it will be seen that fellowship has many elements. Some parts seem to be the foundation for the others. Let us set out these different parts under the headings of foundations and life:

 

Foundations

 

The apostles and their teaching

The promises of God

The forgiveness of sins and the blood of Jesus Christ

 

Life

 

The Body of Believers

The Breaking of Bread (Communion)

The Unity of believers in love, purpose and mind

The life of the individual believer in association with Christ

Living close to the Father and the Son

 

In addition to these two parts, there is the promise of ultimately sharing the divine nature by being blessed with immortality.

 

Fellowship becomes a very practical and living thing when based on these principles. It embraces all that it means to be a disciple Discipleship is fellowship.

 

Let us suppose that someone outside this fellowship came alone and asked how he might share it. What would the answer be? We could at once assure him that such fellowship is possible for anyone, because the way has been made known for us in the Bible. We could say also that it is not a mysterious process by which we wait for God to impart something to us from heaven. Some people have burdened themselves with this latter notion, and have waited for God to act directly upon them. This is not the process described in any of the verses we have quoted. Fellowship is made possible through the Word of God.

 

To be specific, the way to fellowship is through the apostles' doctrine or teaching. This teaching is the challenge to our existing fellowship outside Christ. When we learn of the great and precious promises of God made certain by the sacrifice of Christ, the moment of choice comes along sooner or later. Am I to remain walking in darkness in fellowship with the world? Am I to stay in the fellowship of death? Or, shall I step into the light in response to the call of the Gospel, and come to the new fellowship in Christ? Fellowship comes by enlightenment and belief, by repentance and baptism, and by commitment to the new way of life. In this way the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin and we enter into the fellowship of God and His Son. We share the apostles' doctrine and the hope which they proclaimed.

 

The believer's fellowship is both inclusive and exclusive. He does not choose his companions in the fellowship; they are chosen by the very process which brought him into a relationship with God. There can be no artificial barriers of sex, colour, race, class or caste. All who hold the same faith in truth and submit to its discipline by baptism share a common heritage. They are members of the commonwealth of Israel and have a common hope. The Lord makes believers one in him:

 

"There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither bond nor free, there can be no male and female: for ye all are one man in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28 RV)

 

"There is one body and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." (Ephesians 4:4-6)

 

From these declarations, it follows that there should be one united Christian community throughout the world. Throughout history this unity has suffered from the ravages of false doctrine and the human lust for power over one's fellow men. This evil was already at work or threatened in New Testament times:

 

"And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers ... and all that believed were together, and had all things common ... and they, continuing daily with one accord ... did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God." (Acts 2:42-47)

 

"Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgement. For it hath been declared unto me ... that there are contentions among you." (1 Corinthians 1:10-11)

 

"But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?" (1 Corinthians 15:12 NIV)

 

"Do not be misled: 'Bad company corrupts good character. 'Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God - I say this to your shame." (1 Corinthians 15:33-34 NIV)

 

"For I (Paul) know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them." (Acts 20:29-30)

 

"I marvel that ye are so quickly removing from him that called you in the grace of Christ unto a different gospel; which is not another gospel: only there are some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ." (Galatians 1:6-7 RV)

 

"For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ ..." (Philippians 3:18)

 

"They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us." (1 John 2:19)"

 

- Harry Tennant

Fellowship

The Christadelphians - What they Believe and Preach

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23 March 2012

 

"Early Christians refused to look at representation of Christ on the cross because they had seen men crucified. Our hearts fail and our pen falters as we force ourselves to look at the events of the next six hours. It is a sight too terrible to gaze upon for long: yet to refuse to look at him steadily for a few moments before we wait for the first day of the week, is to deny ourselves the consolation of his love. We cannot linger in the shadow of the cross, but we must approach, lift our reluctant eyes steadfastly to his, and pass on our way with bleeding but strengthened hearts determined that for us, that sacrifice shall not be in vain."

 

- Melva Purkis

A Life of Jesus

 

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

John 3:16

 

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

John 15:13

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