IN THE SAME COUNTRY
King Herod feasted through the night,
And danced long to the lyre.
How should he see a heavenly light
Or hear an angel choir?
The Scribes by flickering lamps bent low
And at their books sat long.
Why should such learned men as they
Care ought for simple song?
Out on the hills of Bethlehem
Watched shepherds through the night.
To them the heavenly chorus sang;
On them shone heaven's light.
And Magi saw God's glory, too,
So early Christmas morn.
A guiding star was given them
To find the Christ new-born.
What difference palace, school, or hill,
Or high or low degree?
Who tunes his heart will never fail
To hear God's melody.
But only those who listen well,
Who look with faith-rimmed eyes,
Can hear the Christmas song today
And view the cloven skies.
-- Cosa Elizabeth Reynolds
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DEAR SHUT-IN
EXCERPTS from
LILLIAN'S LETTERS
CONCERNING those who have gone on to be with the Lord, Lillian says,
I, for one, am glad not to think of them any longer in terms of pain and agony, but of great joy, flawless joy. Instead of saying of a saint, "they died such and such a day," we should say, "so and so graduated to real life such and such a day , , , really ALIVE now." That's the way I look forward to the Great Beyond for myself. It will be LIFE in the fullest sense of the word. Can we really say we live, with this sweat, toil, pain, misery, tears? These are attributing signs of a decaying mortal body.
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She writes of a picture of a sunset,
My heart still thrills at the thought of its beauty: the sky so dark with clouds, but for the break that showed great, white, delicately accented, puffy, billowy cotton clouds, more delicate than an angel's hair, with heavenly sunshine bringing out the delicate details of angel-like artistry. "Tis beauty that puts one in awe and worship of a great Creator. Oh, if He dashes these brief scenes of divine super magnificence, what, pray-tell, will heaven be like? I get so blessed thinking about it. Oh, you artists, heaven will surely be one place of artistry you must not miss. That will be the grand finale of artistry. You'll never see anything to surpass it.
Can't you just see all the artists with brushes in hand and mouths wide open, too struck with awe to move? I can, Ha! Top artists are busy for us up there now. I'm so excited about going. Whew! Glory! Glory! Glory! Just think, the glow of Jesus will bring out the highlights there. Oh, dear ones, if you're not ready, give your hearts to Jesus now. He loves you . . . wants the best for you. God gave His best--His Son--that you might enjoy glorious splendor in a land where there will be no sorrow nor suffering.
Miss Lillian Butt suffers from rheumatoid arthritis. Before her illness she was a nurse.
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FOR YOUR COMFORT
"Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Jehovah . . . . "
"My son, regard not lightly the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art reproved of him; for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth."
(Psalm 94:12 -- Hebrews 12:5,6 ASV)
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Self-justification by works is the common ground of all heathen religions.
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The preacher who constantly takes exception to the Bible ought certainly to take up another profession.
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PHYSICAL HANDICAP
BROUGHT ME CLOSER TO THE LORD
By LILLIAN M. SPEAR
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not to thine own understanding; in all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." (Proverbs 3:5, 6)
The Lord often uses adverse circumstances and difficulties in our lives to train and perfect us. In my life it was through a physical handicap that the Lord brought me closer to Himself and taught me the truth of my life text, given above.
During my grade and high school days I was very active in Sunday school, church and Youth Fellowship. We often heard the gospel preached, and during my teens I professed Christ as my Savior.
However, it was not until I attended Houghton College in 1945 that I really surrendered to the Lord. Being at a Christian college was a wonderful experience, and I felt the Lord had surely led me there.
In 1947 I had to leave school as a result of rheumatoid arthritis which had crept up on me gradually. Though I left at Christmastime I was able to complete my final exams at home so received full credit for the semester's work.
That winter and spring the Lord proved His faithfulness to me while I rested in Florida and in a New York hospital. The poem, "God Hath Not Promised," by Annie Johnson Flint, was a great comfort to me. Also the book, SO GREAT SALVATION, given me by a friend, helped me think through what I really believed, and why.
It was not until the fall of 1949 that I began to grow in the Lord. I realized later that until that time I was very much a "babe in Christ." As someone has so well described it, I was a "bottle-fed" and "spoon-fed" Christian. I had not yet learned to feed on the Word of God for myself.
From that time on, however, I drank in the Word, receiving much help from my college Bible notes, the Back to the Bible Broadcast, the Old Fashioned Revival Hour and the Radio Bible Class. Oswald Chamber's book, MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST, gave me my first taste of the deeper life.
In the spring of 1952 I had my first opportunity to serve the Lord. Two neighborhood girls asked me to start a Bible Club. At first I refused, but neither the girls nor the Lord would give me peace about it. We had our first class that May, and it has continued ever since. Many of my boys and girls have trusted in the Lord, and it has been a deeply rewarding experience to teach them the Word of God.
In 1953 the Rev. C. E. Pedersen of the Christian League for the Handicapped asked me to prayerfully consider becoming a representative for the League. As I was now in a wheelchair and had a definite burden for this work, I accepted. Since then I have been corresponding with more and more handicapped people across the country, and the Lord has revealed to me what an important ministry this is. As we share the blessings of the Lord I have often been reminded of Second Corinthians 1:3 and 4 which speaks of our encouraging others as we have been encouraged.
As I look back over these past few years I can truthfully say that I am thankful the Lord has led me just as He has. Knowing Him has given my life purpose and fullness. It is my prayer that all who read these lines may also know Him--whom to know aright is life eternal.
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A Letter by Robert M. McCheyne
TO ONE COMPLAINING OF THE PLAGUES OF THE
HEART
Dundee, Scotland, March 8, 1843
I SEND A FEW lines to you in answer to yours. You complain of the plague of your own heart, and so you will till you die. You know little yet of its chambers of imagery. All that is ours is sin. Our wicked heart taints all we say and do; hence the need of continual atonement in the blood of Jesus. It is not one pardoning that will serve the need of our souls. We must have daily, hourly pardons. I believe you are in the furnace, but for a short time. Soon the Bridegroom will come and we shall be with Him, and like Him, and God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes. I burst through all the cobwebs of present things, and, His Spirit anointing my eyes, look at Jesus as one beside me. Blessed Elder Brother, with two natures--God and man--ever-living, never-dying, never-changing!
I was preaching last Sabbath on Hebrews 9:13, 14: "He through the eternal Spirit offered himself." It was very sweet to me. In the afternoon I preached on Revelation 2:4, 5: "I have this against thee that thou has left thy first love." I fear many of my people have done so; therefore it was very suitable. Several I see have felt it very deeply. In the evening I preached on Psalm 78:41: "They turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel"--on the sinfulness of limiting God. It was a very sweet and solemn day.
Meantime, stay your soul on God. "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee." A few more trials, a few more tears, a few more days of darkness, and we shall be forever with the Lord! "In this tabernacle we groan, being burdened." All dark things shall yet be cleared up, all sufferings healed, all blanks supplied, and we shall find fullness of joy (not one drop wanting) in the smile and presence of our God. It is one of the laws of Christ's kingdom. "We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God." We must not reckon upon a smooth road to glory, but it will be a short one. How glad I am that you have "received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost!" Cleave closely to Jesus that you may not have to say in a little, "Oh that I had affliction back again to quicken me in prayer, and make me lie at His feet!"
Trials make the promise sweet,
Trials give new life to prayer;
Trials bring me to His feet,
Lay me low, and keep me there.
. . . I must add no more, as I have work before me. May you experience more and more, that "when he giveth quietness, none can make trouble"--even as you once experienced the other, "When he hideth his face, who then can behold him?" Soon we shall see Him as He is; then our trials shall be done. We shall reign with Him, and be entirely like Him. The angels will know us by our very faces to be brothers and sisters of Jesus.
Remember Jesus for us is all our righteousness before a holy God, and Jesus in us is all our strength in an ungodly world. Persevere even to death; eternal life will make up for all. Remember Barnabas' advice, "Cleave to the Lord"--not to man, but to the Lord. May He perfect all that concerneth you. Do not fear the face of man. Remember how small their anger will appear in eternity.
From "Memoirs of McCheyne" by Andrew A. Bonar. Used by permission of Moody Press, Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois.
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"McCHEYNE QUOTES"
Whenever Satan accuses you, send him to the stripes of the Lord Jesus.
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If you had an angel's righteousness, you might well lay it down and put on Jesus. The robe of a blood-washed sinner is far whiter than that of an angel.
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Seek much personal holiness and likeness to Christ in all the features of His blessed character.
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Don't be cast down, except for sin.
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A WORD TO THE WELL
"Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them." Hebrews 13:3a.
You who are well, let me remind you of one of your solemn duties. Remember those who are in bonds. Remember them, not just calling them to mind occasionally, but, as bound with them. Think how you would like to be treated if you were in the same condition.
Here is an opportunity to make practical the Golden Rule. Do unto others (who are in affliction,) as you would have them do unto you (if the situation was reversed.) James points out the inconsistency of saying without doing, when he says, "If a brother or sister be naked and in lack of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Go in peace, be ye warmed and filled; and yet ye give them not the things needful to the body; what doth it profit?"
"To do good and to communicate forget not." Especially do good to the household of faith. But don't forget the others. Take not lightly the Words of our Lord to those who do good and communicate: "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry, and ye gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me."
But, Lord, when did we see you like this and minister unto you?
"Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my brethren, even these least, ye did it unto me."
If you give of your abundance to another's poverty, if you give of your strength to another's weakness, you will gain your brother, you will win the lost, you will please the Lord, and you yourself will profit in many ways.
Pastor, it is your special responsibility to minister to those in bonds, as bound with them. It will be time and energy consuming. You will need a compassionate heart. But for Christ's sake, and their sake, do it. They may not be potential members, for they cannot leave the house; they may not be financially able to support your work, but they have precious souls which need nurturing--can you deny them because they can't pay?
Some day they will rise up to accuse us before God for our failure to minister to their needs. Of course you hate to see them in their pitiful condition. But you cannot excuse yourself on this point. It may (most likely will) take real grace and grit to make that first visit; you may have to push yourself up the steps, but show yourself friendly and before long you will reap in your sowing. You may think there is little you can do. Why don't you try, and see? You may be surprised what the Lord will enable you to do for them. "Remember them . . . as bound with them."
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SERMON SERIES
THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER
No. 4
THE PROOF OF YOUR FAITH
I Peter 1:7-9
" , , , That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ (7): whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory (8): receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls (9)."
THE BIBLE SAYS that "without faith it is impossible to please God." It is very important, then, to have faith. But just any kind of faith will not do. You have heard it said: "Mr. So and So is of a different faith." The Bible nowhere presents different kinds of faith. On the contrary, it says that "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith." It is important to have faith, but even more important to have Bible faith.
Our text presents five proofs of true, Bible faith. When these proofs are examined it will be up to you to determine whether or not your faith is of the right "stuff." If you find it is, you will have cause to rejoice. If it isn't, you will have reason to re-examine and reconstruct your thinking, upon Bible truth.
FAITH'S TEST (7a)
"That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire . . . " The believer's faith is proven in the furnace of affliction. Peter uses gold to illustrate. Gold is impure when brought from the mine. Terrific heat is applied to refine it. The gold melts, thus making it possible to remove the foreign particles. It is refined not to determine whether it is gold, for the trained eye knows it is gold, but to remove the impurities that it might be usable. And you might say that it is refined to prove to the untrained eye that it is genuine. Gold is brittle and unfit for the mint or the manufacturer before the foreign metals are removed.
And so it is with you as a Christian, and your faith. The great Miner of the universe has reached down into this mine (earth) and chosen you as a lump for His own pleasure. He planted in your heart faith which is more precious than gold. There is no doubt that you have faith, and you are not placed in the furnace to see if you do, the Miner's trained eye knows you do, but you have been placed in the fire to prove to the untrained eyes of the world that your faith is genuine.
Your faith may be like the impure gold, brittle and of little use for the Father's glory. The furnace is necessary to extract the impurities. They will come out in no other way. It is a painful process, we all agree, but the finished product will please our Father, and this should be our aim.
When your faith is proven by fire, think not that the purpose is to destroy you. It is to make of you something better. The purifying shall soon enough be over, and faith shall usher the faithful into eternal consolation. But such shall not be the case with the faith-less. Theirs will be an eternal furnace. Rejoice, then, you who are being proven by fire.
FAITH'S REWARD (7b)
"That . . . your faith . . . might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ." Every person with true, Bible faith looks for the wonderful day when our dear Lord makes His appearance to gather home His blood-bought ones. Then, faith will turn to sight.
But the faith we have down here, and which brought us to this place, will not go unrewarded. It seems Jesus says the same as our verse, in His discourse on Olivet, when He likens the kingdom of heaven to a man on a journey. The man gave talents to his servants, according to their ability, expecting at his return to receive the talents with interest. To his joy two of the servants presented him with the increase he expected. But one did not. Our interest lies with the faithful ones. In Matthew 25:21 are recorded the words to the first of the two faithful: "His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."
Our faith will be found unto praise: "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." Our faith will be found unto honour: "thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things." Our faith will be found unto glory: "enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." This short time of testing will be completely forgotten when we gain our reward.
FAITH'S OBJECT (8a)
Here is the main difference between true, Bible faith, and all other kinds. Here is where you can determine whether your faith is of the right sort. The object of faith makes all the difference. It means the difference between victory and defeat, gain and loss, heaven and hell. The object of genuine faith--that is, faith which comes through the fires more precious, faith which will be unto praise, honour, and glory--is a Person. Jesus Christ is His name. "Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing ..."
But He's invisible, someone says. And so He is. That's why we need faith. If we had seen Him, or we could see Him, there would be no need of faith. One day we shall see Him, but until then faith must be our eyes to behold Him, our arms to enfold Him, our feet to walk with Him. We have not seen Him but we love Him; we do not now see Him but we believe in Him. Let me remind you, those of you who would prove your faith genuine or not, that if you do not love Jesus Christ (which as a fruit of genuine faith), if you do not believe in Him (I didn't say, believe about Him), your faith is NOT of the right sort. Jesus emphatically says of Himself: "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." Elsewhere the Bible gives testimony to Him: "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Jesus Christ is the object of genuine faith.
If you are a stranger to this kind of faith, won't you drop to your knees, even before you read another line, and confess your sin and receive Christ by faith as your Savior and Lord? "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." He is worthy of your love and faith. He is your only hope.
FAITH'S FRUIT (8b)
Faith in Christ produces joy in the believer. " . . . ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory." says the text. This joy may be likened to the pot of water which is at the point of boiling, the sponge at the saturation point, the balloon at the bursting point. It may be compared to the little boy who has just been told by his father they are going to the circus: he literally jumps up and down for joy. The one who has believed in Christ, jumps for joy in the inner man. His whole being exults and thrills with joy "unspeakable." This is something impossible to put into words. It must be experienced to be understood. This joy is "full of glory." It is a heavenly joy we experience on earth. It will only be exceeded by the joy of actually entering heaven itself. Do you want this triumphant, heavenly joy? It comes through faith--faith in Jesus Christ.
The world may sometimes manifest a semblance of joy. It is somewhat like that manifested by Israel in the desert. Moses delayed his return from the mount. The people grew restless. They demanded Aaron to make gods for them. Aaron complied and fashioned a molten calf from their gold earrings. When the idol was finished they worshipped it, "and they sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play." The New Testament expresses it thus: "And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands."
Sounds like today. Rejoicing is not of the inner man, a well of joy springing up from the depths of the soul as a result of vital union with Christ, but "in the works of their own hands." Paul says of these: "When they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations . . . and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man . . . who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator." Everywhere is the exaltation of the creature and his accomplishments. Oh, yes, they go to church. They spend one hour in church worshipping (so they say) the Creator, and the other 167 hours of the week worshipping the works of their own hands.
They have a joy, but it is short-lived. It has no roots in glory. Its roots are sunk in "things" of this world. When the "things" are gone, so is the joy. Fleeting pleasures at best, are they not? and they will eventually lead you to the pit. Why not come to Christ where are joys for ever more?
FAITH'S OUTCOME (9)
" . . . receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls." The end result of faith in Jesus Christ is the salvation of your eternal soul. Your soul will live forever either in heaven or in hell. What you do with Christ now determines which it will be. The Bible says, "He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already."
The word "receiving" is in the present tense. This implies that the end or outcome of our faith, the salvation of our souls, can be had and enjoyed right now. It also implies that it is constant throughout our life and until its completion and perfection in Glory. Salvation is a present and continual and final blessing. If you have the beginning, you have the end. If you have the end, you have the beginning. All in between will be consistent with the beginning and end. But may not our faith fail and we lose the end salvation? For answer we go back to the object of our faith, Jesus Christ, of whom the Bible declares: He is "the author (originator) and finisher (perfecter) of our faith."
You have read the message, now it is your obligation to appraise your own faith. But remember, you are also determining your destiny.
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