Gems from June 2002

June 11, 2002

"Ye must be born again." (John 3:7)

"When we are born again, it is not that something is born into us, but we are born into a new world. In natural birth the child is born into the physical round of Nature, and begins to function among the things to which it is introduced by its senses; and, in the second birth, we are born into the spiritual world, and begin to function among the things of the Spirit. 'That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.' (John 3:6) Among the most precious results of the natural birth is the gift of the intellect, by which we accumulate and store knowledge; but among the results of our second birth into the realm of the Spirit, is the creation within us of the clean heart and the right sprit. "Create in me a clean heart, O God,' said David, 'and renew a right spirit within me.' This is the direct result of Regeneration. 'The eyes of our heart are opened.' We no longer see men as trees walking, but we see everything plainly. 'Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new (creation); old things are passed away, behold all things are become new.' " (F.B. Meyer)

N.J. Hiebert # 1196

June 12, 2002

"But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him." (John 4:23)

"We hear from many sides the cries for a new religion, for a universal religion. It will surely come; yea, it is almost upon us. The age will not run out irreligiously. The false worship, the Cain-cult is all about us. It is the bloodless religion, the religion which exalts man. And there you may even now go and hear the sweetest music, the finest operatic airs from well-trained singers, often taken from the playhouses of the world. And the magnificent ceremonies and rituals - all great helps to worship - yes, but what kind of worship? A sensuous, soulical worship, but not the worship in Spirit and in truth. The true worship in the Spirit does not need the sweet music of the world." (A.C. Gaebelein)

N.J. Hiebert # 1197

June 13, 2002

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?... we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other (created thing) shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:35-39)

"Suppose a person gives up his state, what good will his standing be? Satan will soon wile him off that; that is just where the Ephesians themselves went wrong, so that we find them in the Revelation as having 'lost their first love.' "

"A title, without means to support it, merely lays a person open to ridicule and censure. It is not now a question of the standing; but the question is, Have you means to support it?"

"Supposing a person goes on carelessly, it does not at all alter the fact of his title, but he will lose the enjoyment of it; and I believe this is one of the reasons why persons want to hear over and over again of the putting away of their sins; it is just that they are not walking blamelessly - that they are not walking up to the standing that they have received."
(Taken from "Food for the Desert")

N.J. Hiebert # 1198 (4)

June 14, 2002

"And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." (Deuteronomy 6:7)

"It is of little use attempting to teach our children the Word of God if our lives are not governed by that Word. We do not believe in making the blessed Word of God a mere schoolbook for our children; to do so is to turn a delightful privilege into a wearisome drudgery. Our children should see that we live in the very atmosphere of Scripture -- that it forms the material of our conversation when we sit in the bosom of the family, in our moments of relaxation. Have we not rather to be deeply humbled in the presence of God when we reflect upon the general character and tone of our conversation at the table, and in the family circle? How little there is of Deuteronomy 6:7! How much of 'foolish talking' and 'jesting, which are not convenient'! How much evil speaking of our brethren, our neighbors, servants of Christ! How much idle gossip! How much worthless small talk!" (Christian Truth January 1962)

N.J. Hiebert # 1553

June 15, 2002

"The Lord will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me." (Psalm 42:8)

"Sherwood Wirt tells how God used a song to assure him of His unfailing love in the midst of overwhelming problems. He was serving as an Air Force chaplain in the Aleutian Islands shortly after World War ll had ended. The troops were bitter and disillusioned. 'I too became discouraged,' Wirt wrote, 'for life "on the chain" (as we called the stormy islands) was not only difficult, it was miserable.'

"Then one day when things seemed 'most abysmal,' a record arrived at the Armed Forces radio station from a gospel broadcast. When Wirt played it, he heard, 'I trust in God wherever I may be, upon the land or on the rolling sea; for come what may, from day to day, my heavenly Father watches over me.'
"Wirt testifies, 'The music found its way down through...my own sin and frustration and self-pity, through the layers of theology, ecclesiology, and military rank and protocol, until it reached my poor shriveled heart. For the first time in weeks, I knew, I knew, that God loved me, and cared for me, and was watching over me. Through the long night of that Aleutian winter, the Lord's song stayed with me.' (Selected)

I trust in God, I know He cares for me
On mountain bleak or on the stormy sea;
Though billows roll, He keeps my soul,
My heavenly Father watches over me. (Martin)

N.J. Hiebert # 1199 (3)

June 16, 2002

"What wilt thou? And he (blind man) said, Lord, that I may receive my sight" (Luke 18:41)

"When a soul owns that he is blind, and gets down at the feet of Jesus to own his need, then he gets the blessing. The last thing the natural heart is willing to do is to own its total poverty toward God.

"I remember Dr. Dashwood's giving an address at St. Louis. He told about a young lady to whom he had spoken as to her soul's salvation. Her reply was, 'I'm not interested.' He replied, 'It is not a question of your being interested, but of whether or not you are willing to be saved.' She admitted that this was the real reason of her indifference. So the Doctor replied, 'Are you willing to be made willing? She said, 'No, I do not think I am.' 'Well, possibly you would be willing to be made willing to be willing.' Again she responded in the negative. Finally, he asked, 'Would you go as far as to ask God to make you willing to be made willing to be made willing to be willing?' She thought a bit, and said, 'Yes, I think I would be ready to go that far.' So the doctor said, 'Let us kneel and tell the Lord what you have just said.' So they knelt, and the Doctor prayed, 'Lord, look upon us. Make this dear soul willing to be made willing to be made willing to be saved. So, Lord, we count on Thee to do this for Jesus' sake. Amen.' As they rose from their knees, the tears were flowing; she was willing. And, of course, the result was, she was brightly saved right there. Yes,
that was the crux of the whole matter." (C.H. Brown)

N.J. Hiebert # 1554

June 17, 2002

"And the Lord said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her Seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel."
(Genesis 3:14-15)

"In this we have the foundation for the establishment of the glory of God in connection with all that the devil has done in this world, or, I might say, in the whole universe of God.

"It was manifest in the Lord's life on earth that Divine love and mercy flowed out freely to all around, and the love and mercy was enjoyed by those who had hearts to receive it by faith. But then there were questions of eternal import that sin had raised which had to be settled by the Son of God.

"The righteousness of God had to be established in connection with the love and mercy that had been flowing from God ever since the Fall. God had said, 'In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.' " (W.M Sibthorpe)

N.J. Hiebert # 1200