The Editor prepares the next issue of TRIUMPH
EDITORIAL
I wish for you, my readers, "heartburn." I don't mean the kind which causes you physical discomfort, but spiritual heartburn. This is the kind Cleopas and his companion had as they walked with the "Stranger" the seven miles to the village of Emmaus.
The "Stranger" turned out to be their Lord, just risen from the grave. When they realized who He was "they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the Scriptures?"
On the way Christ began at Moses and all the prophets and "expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself." If you would have your heart warmed with spiritual nourishment as you travel down life's road, turn often to the Scriptures and seek Him there. Nothing else will set your heart aflame like this.
Jesus wants to speak to you, personally. Won't you take time from your busy life to walk with Him through the pages of your Bible, looking for Him at every turn of the page, listening as He speaks to you concerning Himself? You can't spend time alone with Christ and your Bible and not come away a better person, with a heart filled to overflowing with blessings.
Our sincere desire is that TRIUMPH may be used at least in some small measure to cause your heart to burn within you. We try always to lift Christ up before you, by a faithful presentation of the Holy Scriptures. As you read of Him in our publication, our prayer is that you may love Him more and more.
In Christian love,
Arthur E. Gordon, Editor
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Dear Shut-In . . .
EXCERPTS from
LILLIAN'S LETTERS
To those who have grown discouraged, Lillian says:
The greater your problem, the more you must depend on God. Don't banish faith. The devil will jostle you all he can to mix you up in directions. There is nothing too hard for our Lord. God has the cures for all diseases and accidental things too. He loves you. Let this be a time when you draw closer to Him.
Am saying this because of hearing of several who have grown very discouraged. Do what you can to help yourself, and then let God to His own part of the bargain. Be still and know He is God. The devil gains ground if he can get you to doubting. Don't give that skinflint an inch. When hysteria fastens its grip on you start singing praises unto God. It nauseates the devil. I've done it before and it works. "Will" must not be lazy. It must work. This is, of course, if you have sufficient strength, physically. Instead of screaming nervously at your children (not because they're wrong, but because you're a wreck) sing praises unto God. It will take a little effort, especially at first. Try it, not just a phrase or two either. The devil can't stand a melody of divine Love. It shatters his ego. Let's shatter him good.
If we draw nigh to God, He will draw nigh to us. Stamp that foot, grip the Word of God with all your might, fasten your eyes on Him who will not -- will not -- will not fail. You can't lose by sticking with the Winner. This blesses my soul. Praise God!
Miss Lillian Butt suffers from rheumatoid arthritis. Before her illness she was a nurse.
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HAVE FAITH IN ?
JESUS AND HIS disciples traversed between Jerusalem and Bethany several days in succession. One morning leaving Bethany Jesus hungered. Seeing a fig tree in the distance He approached it, intending to eat of its fruit. But finding none, as it wasn't the season for figs, Jesus pronounced a curse on the tree.
To a sceptic of the Bible this may seem to have been a childish and selfish act. It may be construed to mean that Jesus lost His temper at finding nothing to eat. But to the believer who loves the Lord and His Word we know this was not true.
Note that Jess spoke this curse within earshot of His disciples. Says the account: "And his disciples heard it." He wanted them to hear. In fact He wanted us to hear. He had a lesson to teach. Everything Jesus did was to teach some vital truth.
The story didn't end with Jesus' curse. On a morning following as they again left Bethany for Jerusalem "they saw the fig tree withered away from the roots. And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Rabbi, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God." (Mark 11:20-22)
With this graphic illustration Jesus was teaching His disciples that they too might do such things and even greater things, that they could have power in prayer and prevail with God if they would only "have faith in God." Only God could do what He had done to the fig tree by just speaking a word. This was He who spoke that fig tree into existence at creation. Now with a word it withered away. He was God . . . and was in their midst. He would have His followers know who He was and wherein lay their power. Thus He says to us: "Have faith in God." But how many do?
For some, this should read: "Have faith in good." These, when confronted with adversity, steel themselves, stiffen their lip, set their jaw and bravely declare: "I know the good, will finally win out. This pain and misery will eventually give way to the good. Good, will triumph over evil." They firmly believe that all ills of mankind have a way of righting themselves, So it remains for them to wait patiently until good can get into position to defeat evil. "Have faith in the good," is their cry.
Then for others, this statement should read: "Have faith in yourselves." These are represented by the poet who said, "I am the master of my fate." They believe in the dignity of man, and place their unswerving trust in him. They think that within man lies the power to cope with any and every situation which might arise. And indeed God did commit to man powers beyond all the other earthly creatures. But for man to trust in man, forgetting the God who made him, is like trying to raise oneself by his own bootstraps. Man heaps praise upon himself, not once stopping to realize that all he has, has been given to him by God. The very air which sustains life is given by God, and should He choose to withhold it, poor; weak man would die. But yet they loudly exclaim: "Have faith in yourself, you are sufficient for every situation, just have faith in yourself."
Others may make this statement read: "Have faith in faith." No one actually says it that way, but what they do say amounts to that. Has anyone ever approached your bed of suffering with this: "Just have faith, my dear, and everything will turn out find . . . just have faith?" Did you feel like shouting, "Have faith in what?" What do they mean? If you ask them, they don't know. All they can do is repeat the phrase: "Oh, just have faith." They must mean, have faith in faith.
But there are many who word this just as did our Lord. Say they, "Have faith in God." But do they mean what He meant? Do they refer to one and the same Object as He? What god do they mean? Do they refer to Allah, god of the Mohammedans? or to Father Divine of Philadelphia? or to a god conceived in their own minds?
One young lady in college said she had a mental picture of god. To her he was a fat, jolly old man with a long, white beard, and he smoked a curved-stemmed pipe. He sat somewhere in a rocking chair looking over his creation with a twinkle in his eye.
Maybe you think of god as a great and immense giant, standing above the earth with a large club in his hand, ready to wallop you at the least infringement of his law. And you must be Oh, so careful lest you arouse his anger and receive a death-dealing blow. The heathen of the African bush sympathize with you. They too have such evil gods whom they must constantly appease. Isn't that why you go to church, so you can appease your god?
These type gods only dwell in the imagination. Give them whatever name you like, picture them however you will, they don't exist. See him as a fat, jolly Santa Claus, oozing with love and good-will; or see him as an immense and evil giant, about to bash your head in--he is not real, he doesn't exist, except in your imagination.
Baal in the days of Elijah was such a god. Many were his followers. He had scores of prophets. But when the showdown came, no matter how loudly they pleaded, no matter how viciously they cut themselves (according to their custom), Baal remained silent. Standing by and watching, "Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awakened. And they cried aloud, and cut themselves . . . (but) there was neither voice, nor any to answer nor any that regarded." In the showdown in your life, when you need God most, when floods of adversity sweep over you, when death knocks at your door, may it not be that your cry will go unheard, that your anguish will go unseen because your god is not real--he has been merely a creation of your own imagination?
To whom did Jesus refer when He said: "Have faith in God?" He referred to the true God of heaven, the One of whom Paul affirms, when preaching to the Athenians: "I am here to proclaim to you (the) God who made the world and all that is in it, being Lord of both Heaven and earth, (He) does not live in temples made by human hands . . . he is the one who gives to all men life and breath and everything else . . . Indeed, it is in him that we live and move and have our being." Jesus referred to the One of whom it is said: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him, should not perish but have everlasting life." He referred to the God of the Bible.
If you would have the power of heaven at your command, dwelling in your soul, "HAVE FAITH IN GOD," -- the God who reveals Himself in the Bible, the God who made heaven and earth, the God who sent His Son to save you.
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The godliest mother can pray for you, but you will not be saved unless you pray for yourself. The most believing father may use his faith on your behalf, but you will not be saved unless you yourself believe.
You must each humble yourselves before God and confess your sin and personally look to him who was lifted up upon the cross for our redemption and personally yield yourselves up to God.
-- Charles H. Spurgeon
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ADVENTURE IN PRAYER
By REV. HARRY RICKARDS, JR.
(PART 1)
July 13th ('59), 9:15 p.m., the United Airlines plane taxied down the runway at the Philadelphia International Airport, seconds later we were in the air and on our way to Alaska. I could hardly believe it. I sat back in the seat and thought of the past three months and all that our Heavenly Father had done to bring us to this moment. I remembered that verse of Scripture in Psalm 57 where David said: "I will cry unto the God most high, the God that Performeth for me." And He had performed, again and again, step by step, day by day.
One morning, three months earlier, I was in my church in prayer with the Lord, praying for missionaries and the mission fields. Suddenly I found myself asking Him to allow me to visit a field--to see, firsthand, missionaries at work, that I might have a greater vision of "the field white unto harvest." Instantly, I was conscious of His presence in a "different" way. Without being able to tell you just how, He spoke to me and made me know He would have me visit Alaska and, in particular, our own missionaries there.
But where would the money come from? We checked with the airline office and found that the fare for a roundtrip for two was eight hundred dollars. How our Heavenly Father did deal with us and test our faith. And, how weak we found our faith to be. We began by making a list of things we believed necessary for such a trip. The first thing we asked of Him was a new suit. We prayed just two days when God met the need.
A member of my wife's family said to me one day, "Harry, how would you like to have a new suit?" (He knew nothing about my prayer.) I thought he knew of a sale where I might get a suit, reasonably priced. I answered, "I haven't the money just now." He said, "This won't cost you a dime. Take this card to this address in Philadelphia and they'll measure you for an eighty-five dollar, tailor-made suit." I could hardly believe my ears. He went on to say, "I don't know why I ever got into this suit club twenty-six weeks ago, for I don't need the suit." (He didn't know, but I did. My Heavenly Father know I would ask for a new suit just twenty-six weeks later.) I thought of those wonderful words of Scripture: "While we yet call will he answer."
One week after this experience the local tailor in town called me and said, "Rev. Rickards, I have some good news for you. Someone who wants to remain anonymous would like to make a gift to you of a tailor-made suit. Would you stop in and let me get your measurements?" Praise the name of our wonderful Lord! -- not one but two new suits. I had never owned a tailor-made suit in my life, but when I prayed, God did "exceedingly abundantly above all I could ask or think," and gave me the very best.
We thanked Him and moved on, in prayer, to the next item on our list--a camera. We had a very unusual and blessed experience as we waited on Him for this need. A fine Christian asked me if I would like to have the loan of a camera (a very good one) for the trip. We were very pleased with this and accepted the camera, thanking our Heavenly Father for another answer to prayer. But as we thought about it, we began to have an uneasiness within our heart. We had asked God to give us a camera and He had loaned us one. Is this the way God works, we wondered? The offer of the camera was made with much Christian love and we felt guilty to even entertain these thoughts. Yet, they remained. We could not express them to anyone for fear of being misunderstood. It would certainly have looked like we were greedy and unthankful.
One day a short time later, as I walked into a home, a man handed me a package that he was in the act of opening and said, "Here, Pastor, you might as well open this, it's yours." You guessed it--it was a beautiful camera with all the equipment, attachments, film, etc. How my heart did sing its praises to a God who will give the very best if we refuse to be satisfied with second best.
We now began to pray definitely for the money for our transportation--eight hundred dollars. You would say to me, "Pastor, after seeing God give you the suits, the camera, surely your faith would be strong . . ." But, oh, how weak our faith is and how ready Satan is to cast doubts.
One evening I sat in my living room reading the evening paper. I was not, however, thinking about what was on that printed page. My mind was filled with thoughts of the coming trip. We, led of the Holy Spirit, had set the date to leave at July 13th. It was getting nearer and nearer and yet we had no money. My heart, I must confess, was full of doubt. My faith grew weaker and weaker. Could God really send in eight hundred dollars?
Now, call this foolishness if you like, but I know otherwise. As I turned the pages of that newspaper, not really seeing anything on the page, my eyes suddenly caught a picture and a headline over it. Through all that haze of doubt and unbelief, God spoke to me. There was a picture of a large passenger plane (not unlike the one we would be flying in) and the headlines over it read, "Start Taking Your Pictures at the Beginning of Your Trip." Ten thousand hallelujahs!! Laugh at me if you will but the Holy Spirit stepped between me and the devil and all his doubts, and like a bolt out of heaven spoke to me. I dropped the newspaper and fell to my knees before my God, confessed my sin of doubting Him, and from that night on, there was never another doubt. I knew He was going to take us to Alaska.
(To be continued)
From "OUR TRIP TO ALASKA," by Harry W. Rickards, Jr.; Condensed and adapted for TRIUMPH by the Editor.
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SERMON SERIES
THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER
No. 6
THINK RIGHT ---- DO RIGHT
I Peter 1:13-16
" . . . Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ (13); as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance (14): but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation (15); because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy (16)."
IF ONE THING has robbed the Church of her power in our day, it is that her members to not practice what they preach. Especially in the U.S. we have become a bunch of holy talkers, but are not much for holy living.
The Bible presents the Christian as one with a message, but one who has himself been transformed by that message. I must believe that our bent to loose living indicates there is something dreadfully wrong with our type Christianity. In fact what we are want to call Christian here in America may very well prove at the revelation of Christ not to be Christian at all. I fear, many are in for a rude awakening.
Our text calls us who go by the name of Christ to some very practical considerations. It in brief exhorts us to holy thinking and holy living. I have chosen to entitle it: "THINK RIGHT -- DO RIGHT."
Consider with me the first of the propositions:
THINK RIGHT
In a very real sense a person is, what he thinks. The Bible says of the evil man; "as he thinketh in his heart, so is he." Too long have we relegated sin only to the acts of the body. Our Lord taught that before sin is acted out it has already been committed in the mind. "For," said He, "out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: these . . . defile a man."
Our minds are our own private and mysterious world. Public opinion may pretty well check our overt acts of sin, but we may think what we like and no one is the wiser -- no one except God, that is. And this, we must never forget. Though the doors of our mind are closed to man, God knows every thought. It was said of Christ more than once, "And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?" He who knew the inmost thoughts of the scribes whom He addressed, knows ours also, and it is He before whom we shall eventually stand, and then everything that is hid will be brought to light.
"Wherefore," the text exhorts, "gird up the loins for your mind . . ." (13). To get a picture of this expression we go back several hundred years to the land of Egypt. The children of Israel had long been enslaved in Egypt. God was effecting their deliverance, and was now ready to pour out the last of a series of judgments. To escape this judgment the Israelites were instructed to slay a lamb and apply the blood to their doors. Also this lamb was to be eaten on the night of their deliverance. It was to be eaten: " . . . with your loins girded." They were to be ready to move out in a hurry. To gird up the loins meant that they would gather up the bottom of their long, flowing outer garments and tuck it up in under their inner garments so as to give them leg and knee-room to travel.
In similar manner, to gird up the loins of the mind may mean that we are in readiness for a journey--in this case, a mental journey. The aorist tense in the original language would allow us to translate: "Wherefore having girded up the loins of your mind, etc." The journey by thought has already been taken. The mental trip was that which we enjoyed the past few months as we studied the preceding verses of this same chapter in First Peter. The scenes we viewed were wonderful beyond description.
We glimpsed our "lively hope," which is guaranteed by Christ's resurrection. We looked for a fleeting moment at our "inheritance" that is "incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven." We saw that we "are kept by the power of God . . . unto salvation." We were reminded that ours may be a life of testing, but that even in this we shall "be found unto praise and honor and glory," having super-abounding "joy" now, "receiving the end of (our) faith, even the salvation of (our) souls." Taking a long look at our salvation we discovered that here is something in which the most important personalities of the universe are interested. The dividends to its membership are of eternal value. And it has been publicized as nothing else has ever been.
Having thus girded up the loins of your mind,
"Be Sober."
These wonderful and eternal truths ought surely to have a sobering effect on the mind of anyone. But what is it that constitutes a sober-minded individual? What is he like?
Among other things he is a man who is not given to outbursts of anger; nor is he chained by haunting fears. He makes no rash decisions. In fact he lets moderation govern every action. And what is more important he religiously prepares for the future. And so should it be with the Christian. Anger and fear should be foreign to him. Moderation should be a strong governing factor in his life. Above all else he should be concerned with the future, not taken up -- intoxicated -- with the things of here and now.
"And Hope
to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you etc . . . "
Or: "rest the full weight of your hopes on the grace that will be yours when Jesus Christ reveals himself." Ours is indeed a "living hope," but not to be realized immediately. Those being addressed in this epistle, you remember, found themselves in the throes of affliction. No doubt they often hoped for an easier existence, but they knew too well that earthly hopes have a way of being dashed to pieces on the hard rocks of disappointment. And neither are we guaranteed our earthly hopes and aspirations, but we do have an abiding and eternal and glorious hope, reserved for us and to be ours when Jesus Christ reveals Himself. Oh, suffering Christian, rest your hopes on this. His grace has come to you even in the midst of your affliction, but greater grace awaits you yonder.
Let's see now the second of our two propositions:
DO RIGHT
Negatively: "As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance" (14). Once we were characterized by ignorance. We were ignorant, not by the World's standards, perhaps, but, of God, of His will and ways, of His salvation. Maybe you are there today. You may be ever so intelligent -- worldly-wise, but until you come to a true understanding of God you are abiding in ignorance. So were we all, once.
Those days were spent catering to the desires of our lower nature. The works of our hands were of chief concern, occupied our time. But now as "children of obedience" we must not fashion ourselves according to those fruitless days. Lust characterized our ignorant days; obedience must now characterize our present enlightened state in Christ.
Now, positively: "But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy" (15,16).
"As obedient children" we must not pattern ourselves after "our former lusts." but after God who is holy. He "hath called" us out of darkness into light; walk, then, as children of light. He has called us from sin unto holiness; "so be ye holy." Be holy "in all manner of conversation." Live holily in every department of your life. Make every relationship a holy one. This means in the home and at the shop as well as in the church.
The quote comes from Leviticus in the Old Testament. The context presents it in the negative; "ye shall be holy; for I am holy; neither shall ye defile yourselves." God is wholly separate from earthly defilement and would have us be the same. So to live a holy life involves abstinence -- abstinence "from every form of evil." "Dearly beloved," exhorts Peter, "abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul."
But to live a holy life involves also the positive, that of doing right. The Bible is filled with exhortations to do right. And here lies the secret of practical holiness. Jesus prayed the Father concerning us: "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth." Rather than throwing a shroud of mystery about the word "holy," let us give ourselves to frequent, systematic and earnest reading and study of the Bible, depending upon the Holy Spirit (who has sanctified us -- First Peter 1:2) to instruct and empower us. Having read and studied it, it only remains for us to obey. And how can "obedient children" do otherwise?
But we have gotten so used to seeing Christians (?) live carnal lives, somehow we have come to imagine that this is normal and that the Biblical standard is too extreme and unattainable. When a Christian does live by Bible standards he is labeled a fanatic and everyone in the church steers clear of him. Oh, what poor, ignorant, selfish, unholy creatures we are . . . always preaching, never living what we preach . . . condemning others who do.
Whether we like it or not God is our pattern for holy living, and since we claim to be His children we must also be holy in all our manner of living. Whether in thought, then, or in deed may we be holy . . . THINK RIGHT -- DO RIGHT.
But, lest some unconverted reader should misunderstand, let me remind you that all efforts to think and do right are vain until you have received Christ who then imputes to you His own holiness, "without which no man shall see the Lord." But having His holiness we must then live accordingly, and we shall, for we love Him.
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