devotional Hie in modern times
r\.„ not aPPe<" l " r h e y S ¿ ¡Ap rv I before the Lot
Timothy Fetter9 V h .i t . Professor of Philosophy, Bible Institute of Los Angeles The hove of God
' When the Children of Israel first celebrated the Feast of Taber n a c le s ,th e h arvest thanksgiving of God’s people, they were com manded : “ Every man shall give as he is able accord ing to the blessing of t h e L o r d t h y G o d which he hath given thee” Deuteronomy 16:17
S ometimes we become so involved in our theological analyses that in separating doctrine from doctrine we tend to miss that which is cen tral and indispensable in practical Christianity. This is especially evi dent as we study the teaching of St. Paul. Though he deals with many as pects of various doctrines, these have meaning to him only in terms of that which is central and crucial to his own life, namely his “Union with Christ”—“ I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” It is only in conjunc tion with this union that we can correctly understand the various doc trines and the operation of the fruits of the spirit. This way we are able to understand the results of grace and escape the ban of legalism and self-induced effort. Those who put a strong emphasis on the purely ethical aspects of Christianity would naturally tend to define the fruits of the Spirit, and particularly their- most important manifestation, love , in terms of the sum of ethical endeavor. The deny ing of one’s self, the living for others, the continuous efforts on behalf of others, these are love in its true meaning. But though these attitudes are certainly involved in love, love is much more. It is substantial in it self, it is also an inner transforming experience and an eternal aspect of God Himself. As St. Augustine ex claims: “What do I love, when I love Thee? Not beauty of bodies, nor the fair harmony of time, nor the bright ness of the light, nor sweet melodies of varied song, nor the fragrant smell of flowers, nor limbs acceptable to embracement of the flesh. None of these I love when I love my God. And yet I love a kind of light, and melody and fragrance, and meat, and embracement, when I love my God, the light, where there shineth into my soul what space cannot contain, and there soundeth what time bear- eth not away, and there smelleth, what breathing disperseth not, and there tasteth, what eating, diminish- eth not. This is what I love, when I love my God.”
The overemphasis on a purely doc trinal and not experimental grace, in which the factual union with Christ is not central, has led even in evan gelical circles to the tolerating of all types of self-projection. As Tozer aptly comments: “The grosser mani festations of the self-sins, egotism, exhibitionism and self-promotion are strangely tolerated among Christians even in circles of impeccable ortho doxy. Promoting self under the guise of promoting Christ is currently so common as to ejfcite little notice.” But the fruits of the Spirit are nothing else but the virtues of Christ, and these are impossible without that fellowship which comes from union with Christ, in which Christ’s attitudes to sin become our attitudes, His love for God becomes our love and His passion for holiness our pas sion. What glory it is to know that the love of God is not a poetic idea but a fact of experience, that the love of God is a pursuing love, man once conscious of it cannot evade it. As Evelyn Underhill expresses it: “ 0 taste and see, ours is an experimental science. We come to you not as thinkers, but as doers. Leave your ignoble ease, your clever prattle, your absurd attempts to solve the apparent contradictions of a whole too great for your useful little minds to grasp. The self resists the pull of spiritual gravitation, flees from the touch of eternity, and the Eternal seeks it, tracks it ruthlessly down. Man once conscious of God’s love cannot evade it. For a time his sepa rated spirit, his disordered loves, mav willfullv frustrate the scheme of,things, but he must be conquered in. the end. Love triumphs, and the purpose of God fulfills itself in the individual life.” “For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor prin cipalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love 'of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”— St. Paul.
DOES THISCOMMAND APPLY less to us Christians who have been granted a harvest of blessings more than the children of the old dispensa tion ever knew? Shall we appear emptyhanded to thank our Lord for His bounties? The Friends of Israel Missionary and Relief Society ministers in the name of the Lord Jesus to the burdened, hardpressed, shepherdless, Jewish people. The hungry are fed, the ragged clothed, and the poor hear the glorious gospel of salvation proclaimed by consecrated witnesses in Israel, India, Europe, America and Brazil. HERE IS AN OPORTUNITY TO GIVE THANKS: “According to the blessing of the Lord thy God which He hath given thee.”
FREE: Read thrilling reports of Jewish evangelism in our maga z i ne I SRAEL MY GLORY . Y o u r s f o r the asking.
The Friends of Israel MISSIONARY AND RELIEF SOCIETY, INC. U.S.A. Headquarters 728 K Witherspoon Bldg Philadelphia 7, Pa. President Joseph M. Steele
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Canada
Rev. Bruce Millar 1066 Avenue Road Toronto 12, Ontario General Secretary Rev. Victor Buksbazen
Dear Friends of Israel: I am sending enclosed for your ministry $ ______________ NAME_______________________________________ __ ADDRESS— _______________________________ _
N O V E M B E R 1 9 5 3
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