Andrew Murray
And God Created Woman
Difference between Anabaptists and Evangelicals
Kingdom
Mysteries
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The Writings of Ulrich Stadler
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The Anabaptist Voice
07/15/2009
Proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom of
God: Love, Joy and Peace in Jesus.
Dear friends in
Christ,
How are you? We pray you are well under the grace of our
wonderful Father in Heaven. It is getting rather hot. The air conditioner is
going even during the night time. It is over 100 F degrees these days. Since
it is the monsoon season here, we get rain some times, and the flowers are
blooming and they are so beautiful. We are all fine. Don went yesterday to his
heart doctor for his 6-month check up. The doctor told him that he is doing
fine. His blood pressure is normal, too. Thank you, Lord.
Our friend Mary Matchin came to pick Naomi up after her shopping
yesterday. Naomi had a wonderful time again at her house, crocheting with her.
Her daughter Donna had just worked long hours as a nurse with only a couple
hours sleep since the day before. We pray that she recovers quickly.
Yesterday our neighbor lady
came with tomatoes and zucchinis from her vegetable garden in her back yard.
What a treat! Since we moved here, Michi has tried to raise vegetables in our
backyard, but all she could do was raise green onions in a pot.
Before we go to sleep each night, Don and Michi pray together. Last
night Don asked the Lord to give us rain. As soon as he prayed, even before he
finished praying, we heard the sound of rain! It was a wonderful surprise. We
heard thunder and saw lightning also. Thank you, Lord.
Tomorrow, July 16th, will be 40 years since the Apollo XI, the
first lunar landing mission, was launched. Four days later, July 20, 1969, the
spacecraft landed on the moon. This was a big event for the world, and for Don,
he supported the mission as a technician at the Apollo ground station on the
island of Antigua in the Caribbean (see photo above). During this eight day
lunar mission Don and his co-workers ate and slept at the ground station. The
entire mission was ‘live’ to them. You too can see it ‘live’ at
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1416393771637021814.
Our stay on the island of Antigua was interesting for us. We lived with
our five children part of the time in a house on the beach with a coral reef
about 100 yards out so that our private beach was a peaceful place. Above is a
photo the Apollo XI poster recognizing Don’s contribution to the mission. And
below is a photo of Michi on the island holding baby Jim.
Last Friday Don got an interesting tech support call from a psychologist
who is a long time user of our medical billing software. He was having a
problem so Don showed him what to do. The doctor said he did that but it didn’t
work for him. Don told him that the computer must have known that Don was on
the phone so it behaved properly. The doctor said that he would place a picture
of Don in front of his computer so that it would continue behaving. We laughed.
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the
fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you. (2 Cor 13:14)
Your brother and sisters in Christ,
Don, Michi & Naomi Murphy
Tucson, AZ, phone 520-297-1639
www.AnabaptistChurch.org
Jesus said, “People will know that you are my disciples
by your love for one another.” (John 13:35)
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THE
THREEFOLD GRACE
by
Leonhard Schiemer 1527
(continued from last week)
Concerning
the first grace – The Light of Christ
In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was
God. He was in the beginning with God, all things were made through Him and
without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life
was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has
not overcome it.
To help us to an even better understanding, the Lord put it this way.
The eye is the lamp of the body. Hence, if your eye is healthy, your whole body
will be full of light, but if your eye is not healthy, your whole body will be
full of darkness. If then, the light in you is darkness, how great is the
darkness!
The Lord says further: If your body is full of light so that it has no
particle of darkness in it, it will be full of light and will illuminate you
like a bright flash of lightning. From all this I conclude that God illuminates
every man who comes into this world. Those, however, who do not want to accept
this light but put it out, shall not blame God for their condemnation.
It is certain, then, that every man bears a light within him which shows
him what is good and what is evil. The children, however, even though the
Light shines within them before they know what is good and evil, are innocent
and will enter the promised land.
Now the thing this divine light does in a man is to show him what sin is
and what is not sin.
Concerning the second grace - Righteous
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.”
They shall be justified immediately "for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are
those who weep and wail, for they shall be comforted."
The second grace, then, is called righteousness. It is a great
work of God to create a man from nothing. It is an equally great work to
justify a sinful man. But this cannot and will not happen outside Christ. He
is our righteousness through His conception, birth, death, and resurrection;
yes, if all this happens in us!
Christ says, "He who wants to be my disciple let him follow me," and
further, "Without me you can do nothing."
Peter says, "He who suffers in the flesh will cease from sinning."
The first light was our teacher (custodian) to lead as to the second
light, to Christ, who is the Light of the world. If His Spirit comes into me, I
am no longer under the teacher (the law) but under grace. Here the law of (our
own) works, the law of sin, the law of death and of our members (our flesh)
comes to an end, and the law of the Spirit begins, the law of life and of faith
or of the inner movement of the heart.
This Spirit will be given to no one, however, unless he first surrenders
himself under the cross and under the discipline of the Lord. It is impossible
to graft a branch into a tree unless as many branches as necessary are cut off
first. It is equally impossible for God in His omnipotence to give me salvation
without the cross, for this is salvation, this is God Himself,
that is if I love nothing except God, if I seek no joy and comfort, no security
and life in anything else but in the one God; if my heart does not seek itself
anymore in the creatures in any kind of way. If God allowed me to have comfort,
joy, happiness, and love in Him, and to have love, comfort, happiness, and
enjoyment in the creatures as well, He would allow me to commit adultery by
loving something else besides Him. God cannot do such a thing, and it would not
be good either if He were to allow it.
Concerning the third grace – The Oil of Joy
The Lord speaks clearly in His parable concerning the man who started out
from Jericho and was attacked by murderers who left him half-dead, a priest came
by, but did not show mercy to the wounded man, and neither did a scribe. But a
simple Samaritan came to help him, pouring wine and oil into his wounds, etc.
Now I will speak about the oil of joy. About this oil John speaks
as follows, “You have been anointed by Him, who is holy, and knows all things.
I write to you not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it,
and know that no lie comes from the truth.” A little further he continues, "The
anointing which you received will abide with you, and you have no need that
anyone should teach you as His anointing teaches you about everything and it
the truth, and is no lie and just as it has taught you, abide in Him."
The Lord speaks about this oil when He says, "The counselor, the Holy
Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and
bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” This oil is the Holy
Spirit. He teaches no one, however, unless he despaired of all human comforting
and wisdom first. He does not comfort or strengthen anyone unless he feels a
horror and turns away from all comforting and power of man. This is why the
Lord says, "Do not be called masters.” But this master, Christ, does not accept
anyone as His pupil or disciple, unless he renounces and hates everything that
he has, and follows Him and carries his cross daily. In doing this, one has to
trust in the Lord's comforting and keep still, as the Scriptures say in many
passages.
The strength of all Christians consists in keeping still, by not
forsaking the words of the Lord so quickly, by not losing courage so soon, but
by being patient, waiting for the comfort of the Holy Spirit, in the midst of
the greatest desolation and misery. This is true weakness of which the
Scriptures speak, in particular Paul when he says, "For when I am weak I am
strong."
(Glaubenszeugnisse oberdeutscher Taufgesinnter, written by Leonhard Schiemer in 1527, translation from Lydia Müller, pp. 58-71, EAHD 42, edited and condensed by Don Murphy)