All manner of pleasant fruits, new and old

Martin Luther probably did not say, “The Bible is neither ancient nor modern. It is eternal.” Neither did he likely write, “The Bible is not antique or modern. It is eternal.” Both of these statements are frequently quoted unsourced, and almost as frequently quoted sourced to authors who quoted the words unsourced – but never with a distinct reference to some writing of Martin Luther, as far as I can find.

Regardless of who wrote or said it, it seems to contain a kernel of truth, doesn’t it? We might also just as well turn it around and say, “The Bible is both ancient and modern. It is eternal.” The Bible itself is forever settled in heaven. The message of the Bible is timeless and relevant for all people in all places – throughout all generations!

Some folks are obsessed with antiques. Others must have whatever is the newest and most up to date. The Bible is full of surprises; it is ever old and ever new, a faithful and trustworthy friend who reveals to us fresh insights as we travel along life’s highway. It contains “all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old” which God has set in it for us. It is the top-of-the-line Bread of Heaven. Like manna, it provides complete spiritual nutrition. everything you need for life and godliness.

More things I think I thought of

But possibly not first.

“Time flies the older you get, whether or not you are having fun!”

“Which came first, the ‘Doctor’ or the ‘Doctor’s Degree’?”

“If folks with great academic credentials cannot discern the validity or invalidity of a theological argument that I (with lesser or no credentials) make, do we not have a valid reason to question how much good their credentials are doing them?”

“It is well that God can speak through an ass, else He would have little use for many preachers.”

“If baptism is commanded and only immersion is baptism, then immersion only is commanded.”

“Death is not preventable.”

“Many people are not looking for answers. Instead, they are looking for problems. Rather than being under biblical authority, they like being their own authority.”

“Among the worst enemies of the Bible are ‘used-to-be’ and ‘supposed-to-be’ Baptists.”

“Many times we attend to personal comfort and personal preference without any reference or regard to God’s Word.” (I found this written on a piece of paper and could not find a source. Maybe I thought of it and wrote it down, or otherwise just jotted down what someone else said.)

Things I think I thought

...but may have first heard elsewhere in some similar form.

“We cannot disillusion God. God has no illusions.”

“The emphasis of Acts is not only ‘go and tell,’ but also ‘come and gather’.”

“Some folks think more about the name of the king on the cover page of the Bible than the King named in its pages of inspired text.”

“The bridge of the cross spanned the chasm of sin.”

“If you want to ‘rightly divide’ the word of truth, start with the table of contents in your Bible. It has already been done – Old Testament and New Testament!”

“Jesus takes our dirty laundry, washes it whiter than snow, and irons our the wrinkles.”

“Shaped note is the music faw me. Everything else is just so-so.”

Things I thought

Or at least I thought I thought.

“Jesus’s love is higher than the cross on which he hung, stronger than the wood and nails between which he placed his hands and feet, keener than the spear that pierced his side, and deeper than the grave that could not hold him. Jesus’s love is sovereign, eternal, sacrificial, and unfathomable.” [related to Romans 8:38-39 (et al.) 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 creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.]

“If our history hadn’t been our history, what would our history be?”

“Works for salvation does not work for salvation.”

“Some people say that our country needs more tolerance and civility. The Bible does not say, ‘Tolerate your enemies’ or ‘Husbands, be civil to your wives.’ Tolerance and civility often teaches us to pretend each other are right. Love demands that we act right toward those we think are wrong.”

“If we never change, we must already be right about everything, or we are unwilling to admit we are wrong about anything.”

“We should always be careful about arguing about words to no profit.”

“If you have the omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence of God all figured out, you’ve got it all wrong!”

“To be New Testament Christians, we must answer questions with New Testament answers.”

“Death cures all things temporal.”

Our Life Tune on the Harp of Ages

While searching for information on the origin of the phrase “Harp of Ages,” I found this following interesting paragraph. I do not expect this is where A. N. Whitten got his songbook title, but who knows?

Ah, it is a fearful thing to set ourselves to play our life tune on the Harp of Ages. The melody begins so soft and low in the infant’s cradle that the voice can just be heard; but it remains not always thus; alas, too often does it end in one long, harsh, discordant note. But, as I look down the flight of years to come, I think I hear the music of souls yet unknown to us, and it comes like the harmony of the gentle Zephyrs in the mild evening time, and I see the great human throng coming up the narrow way a true united choir. I see the gates of Paradise open, and behold, there stand the Heavenly band. I hear their songs still more melodious, till they thrill the very soul with joy as the two unite in one to chant their praises in the Home above forever.

“Each Life A Tune,” By ‘An Unknown Friend,’ Nassau Literary Review, William E. Lupton, Editor (Volume 23, Number 4, December 1862, p. 173)

Merely possessing a tolerably good ear

In the preface to his 1803 tune book, titled David's Harp, Englishman William E. Miller indicated he didn't think much of us composers who are "destitute of scientific knowledge."

Many persons, destitute of scientific knowledge, and merely possessing a tolerably good ear, think themselves qualified to compose hymns, set them to music, and have them performed in their chapels; but these compositions only expose their authors to ridicule, by the meagre style of their poetry, and the frivolity and indecency of their music.
A number of these effusions of folly and ignorance have lately been brought over from America, which expose an important part of the worship of God to the merited censure of the judicious, and to sorrow of the truly pious, while some of the best hymns and most appropriate tunes in the English language are laid aside, and nearly forgotten.

Oh, well...

Other things I've noticed

There are things that go bump in the daytime!

I don't think about what I don't think about.

Great triumph is often birthed by great trouble.

My "Plan B" (or "Plan Z") is often God's "Plan A".

The faith was once delivered to the saints. Don't accept any late deliveries.

Your adversary the devil

I Peter 5:8 "... your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:"

I listened to a sermon tape of Elder J. F. Poole, which brought to mind this thought. He believed that we may often credit things to Satan when in fact the blame could be put on the flesh, and went on to point out that Satan (or the devil) is not omnipresent (that is, always present everywhere). Satan, unlike God, is a finite being and cannot be everywhere present at once. Now he is also a spiritual being, so he is not limited in mode of travel as those of us in the physical realm and probably can move about pretty fast. But when he is here, he is not over there and vice versa. I think most of us understand that Satan is not omnipresent, but we may be guilty of speaking in such a way that tends to attribute such a characteristic to him. Let us be cautious in our speech and not give credit to Satan that which only belongs to God.