The Editor gets a kiss from his youngest.
EDITORIAL
Just last week a book came to our house as a gift from its author. Its title: HOPE FOR THE STRICKEN. Its author: Alfred H. Thiese.
In his book, Mr. Thiese, a former Iowa farmer, relates his battle as a quadriplegic to become again a useful member of society. The accident which left him paralyzed from the neck down occurred early in 1952, when he fell headfirst from the top of a truckload of baled hay.
I have enjoyed reading this very interesting and inspiring account. The author takes you with him through the unique experiences of a "quad," letting you see the many frustrations which plague one in this condition, but also sharing with you the victories. His faith in God is expressed in the words of Scripture: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God."
In this issue of TRIUMPH is an article for the elderly, and one for youth. May the Holy Spirit instruct and guide you.
Yours in Christ,
Arthur E. Gordon, Editor
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Dear Shut-In . . .
EXCERPTS from
LILLIAN'S LETTERS
TAKE A LOOK at a ball-point pen, says Lillian.
It reminds me so of Mark 16:15: "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel." God holds the pen . . . uses it. We are the ink that flows from behind the scenes. We are not in the front lines, but usually out of sight praying, supporting. The pen wouldn't work without it being there.
Then the ball point is the missionary, pastor, some lay leader. They are at the front lines. The pen itself is the organization that helps unite the efforts, but none of it is any good if the right Person doesn't use it in the right way. The same efforts could be disastrous in wrong hands, but beautiful and of much value with our Savior using such.
Oh, praise His Name for allowing us to be a part. Isn't it wonderful? Let's let our lives flow out for our Lord in whatever way he leads.
Some ink is most disgusting. It doesn't flow consistently. Sometimes it will work and sometimes it won't. Are we like that?
Some ink gets in too much of a hurry. They just can't wait for God to do the using. They go ahead of Him, and oh, what a blot. Why did it do that? Because it wasn't in a healthy condition. It takes the right ingredients, a true and tested recipe: going by the Word of God, the Bible.
Staying in the right atmosphere helps a lot too. Do you try to be where it is best for you, as much as you can? Do you (who can) attend church as faithfully as possible? Are you willing to do the part God wants you to?
Wouldn't it be awful if all wanted to be ball points, and no one ink? or if all wanted to be ink, and no one a point? or all wanted to be casing?
Wherever God has placed you do your best till He leads differently.
Miss Lillian Butt suffers from rheumatoid arthritis. Before her illness she was a nurse.
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DOES HE SAY THIS TO YOU?
Ye call me Maker, and obey Me not.
Ye call Me Light, and see Me not.
Ye call Me Way, and take Me not.
Ye call Me Life, and desire Me not.
Ye call Me Wise, and follow Me not.
Ye call Me Fair, and love Me not.
Ye call me Rich, and ask Me not.
Ye call Me Eternal, and seek Me not.
Ye call Me Gracious, and trust Me not.
Ye call Me Noble, and serve Me not.
Ye call Me Mighty, and honor Me not
If I condemn you, blame Me not
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"PATMOS"
Are you aged . . . suffering . . . lonely?
Then here is a message for you!
"I John . . . was in the isle that is called Patmos." -- Revelation 1:9
JOHN WAS now old. He had spent many years evangelizing the unsaved and edifying the Church. He always zealously contended for the truth. Maybe that is why Christ had surnamed him, along with his brother, Boanerges, which means "sons of thunder." Sometimes his zeal caused him to act rashly; like the time he thought to call down fire upon a village in Samaria because they refused lodging to Christ and His disciples.
Now, older and wiser, John would not act so impulsively, yet the zeal for God's truth still burned in his soul. He in fact was banished to the desolate isle of Patmos for fearlessly proclaiming the Word.
This Patmos experience was not pleasant--far from it. John calls it a time of "tribulation." And yet he recognized that even in tribulation he was "companion . . . in the kingdom and patience (stedfastness) of Jesus Christ." Though physically afflicted and lonely, having been exiled from home and friends, he could confidently affirm: "I was in the Spirit."
This situation which confronts you, difficult though it be, need not deprive you of spiritual blessings. You, like John, are a "companion in tribulation," but you may be also "companion . . . in the kingdom and stedfastness of Jesus Christ."
But first you must be cleansed of your sins. John testified that Jesus "loved us, and washed us from our sin in his own blood." Your troubles will be only troubles unless you are "in Jesus." But to be in Him the kingdom of God looms large in your consciousness, making the troubles appear small. Abiding in Him, stedfastness is all that tribulations can produce. To receive Christ as your Savior is of prime importance.
Above the experience of salvation, John, the aged disciple, was privileged to see and hear what many another never saw and never heard. "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him . . . and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John." Too old you say . . . too troubled to be blessed? Not so! He was blessed on Patmos as he never could have been back in his church at Ephesus, among his friends.
Maybe you are bereft of all your friends, and the world passes you by because you can no longer keep up with its mad pace. Maybe you are troubled and ailing. But you may be blessed, wonderfully blessed, blessed as never before, blessed above those who are about you, who are more in the "swing" of things. The secret lies in one direction: the Spirit, the Word, and obedience. John said, "I was in the Spirit." He also said, "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein." As you spend much time in the Word, determined to obey what you read, the Holy Spirit will minister abundantly to your soul.
But not only was Patmos a place of blessing for John, it became, through John, a place of blessing for countless others. "What thou seest," said the Lord to John, "write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia." From Asia it has gone to all nations, through all ages; it has gone to the heathen in dark places, to the dwellers in palaces; it has gone to the well and the sick; and it has gone to the elderly. How many have been blessed because John was exiled!!! But let me make this a question, and ask it of you: How many have been blessed through your tribulations in your "sun-set" years? God can use your Patmos to bless others if you let Him.
You may object, "But I am old and of no more use." Don't be too sure. Someone has said that God never retires His servants. Maybe your field of service, and the nature of your service has changed but God still wants to use you. I can't know what He would have you do. But you will know as you prostrate your soul before Him, humbly seeking His will, trusting the Holy Spirit to lead you, through the Word.
God is not finished with you. You may still be blessed and a blessing to others. When your service is ended He will take you Home to dwell with Himself. But until then, give yourself much to prayer and reading of the Bible. Seek much personal holiness. Live close to the Lord. Do what falls to your hands to do. Do it as unto Him.
Patmos means tribulation; it also means rich and abundant blessing. May it be true for you.
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Gone, they tell me, is youth,
Gone is the strength of my life,
Nothing remains but decline,
Nothing but age and decay.
Not so, I'm God's little child,
Only beginning to live;
Coming the days of my prime,
Coming the strength of my life,
Coming the vision of God,
Coming my bloom and my power.
-- AMY CARMICHAEL
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TO A YOUTH ON THE DEATH OF HIS BROTHER
A Letter by Robert M. McCheyne
St. Peter's, March 1, 1842
I DID NOT THINK I was to have answered your kind letter in the time of bitter grief. But so it pleases Jehovah, whose will must be our will, if we would be happy. It is good for you to bear the yoke in your youth. This is the way God trains His saints, and especially His ministers.
I saw your dear little brother twice on his dying bed, and indeed I could not believe he was dying, except that his calm eye was directed to the hills of Immortality, and he seemed already to breath some of the atmosphere of the world of sinless joy. I do trust and believe that he was a saved boy. You know I am rather slow of coming to this conviction, and not fond of speaking when I have not good evidence; but here, I think, God has not left us in doubt.
At Blairgowrie he used several times to speak to me about divine things, and the tear would gather in his eye when he said that he feared he had never been brought to Jesus. Once, when he had a sore throat, he told me he was not ready to die. But now he was quite different. The veil seemed to be lifted away from his heart, and he saw divine things simply and fully.
Over and over again he told me that he was not afraid to die, for Christ had died. "How kind it was in God to send Jesus to die for sinners."
He seemed tranquil and happy, even when the pain came on in his head and made him knit his brows. You have reason to mingle praise with your tears. Do not sorrow as one who has no hope. Only seek a right improvement of this bereavement. He is not lost, but gone before, and we shall soon put off this clay cottage also. And soon we and he, made new, body and soul, shall meet the Lord in the air, and so be forever with the Lord.
I was at your house on Sabbath night, and saw them all -- sorrowful, yet rejoicing. Your dear little brother lies like a marble statue in the peaceful sleep of death, till Jesus' voice shall waken him. Happy boy! he shall hunger no more, neither shall the sun light on him, nor any heat. The days of his mourning are ended, and his eternity of love and holy joy is begun.
Improve this sharp wind, dear A---, for you will soon lose the benefit, if not carefully sought after. Search out the Achan in your heart at such an hour. Let affliction strike heavy blows at your corruptions, your idolatries, and self-pleasing and worldly schemes.
Learn much of Christ at such an hour. Study Him at the grave of Lazarus (John 11); and at the gate of Nain (Luke 7); and also within the veil (Revelation 1:18). Do not be ashamed to grieve deeply; but let your sadness find relief in the bosom that was pierced with the spear.
"Is any afflicted? let him pray." Strange, Satan often tempts us to restrain prayer at such a time. Be very gentle towards the souls of your kindred now.
Remember D--- and H--- at the throne of grace. If God had taken them, where would they have been? Learn also that ministers must care for lambs. "Preach the gospel to every creature."
Pray for me, also, that I may do so, that I may be made a better man and a more faithful pastor of old and young.
From "Memoirs of McCheyne" by Andrew A. Bonar. Used by permission of Moody Press, Moody Bible Institute, Chicago, Illinois.
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"A PRAYER"
Not for more, or longer days, dear Lord
My Prayer shall be,
But rather teach me how to use the days,
Now given me.
I ask not more of pleasure or of joy,
For this brief while,
Rather let me, for the joys I have
Be glad and smile.
Nor shall I ask that life should give to me,
Another friend,
Just to keep true to those I have, dear Lord,
Until the end.
-- Author Unknown
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THIS, NOT THAT
A message for those upon whom adversity has suddenly fallen.
This was a lightning-flash cleaving straight across the road on which you walked. You shut your eyes instinctively; when you opened them the road looked different. And it was different. Nothing will ever be again as it was before that lightning-flash. This, and this, and this you will never do again. And the road will grow duller and darker with every mile you go--is that your thought?
A Voice speaks within you:
"Things will never be as they were before? That is true; for they will be better.
"You will never do this and this again? That also is true; for I have other things for you to do.
"They are not what you would choose? But they are indeed the best that Love can choose for you.
"The road will grow duller and darker with every mile you go? The path is like a shining light; like the sun that you have watched on many a lovely morning coming out of his chambers and rejoicing as a strong man to run a race. Does the light on that shining race-course of the sky grow less and less? No, it shineth more and more. So shall the path of My beloved be, not darker, but brighter as it nears the perfect day. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord. This, not that."
And yet--O Lord, forgive; the things I cannot do are looking in through my window now, and beckoning me, and calling me.
"But I am here in the room with you: I am nearer than those beckoning, calling things. I come between them and you. You have nothing to do, now, but to please Me." Then though you may have been trained in the noblest liturgy on earth, you echo the simple words as a young child might, "I have nothing to do, now, but to please Thee." And Thou are not hard to please, O blessed Lover of us all.
From "Gold By Moonlight"
By Amy Carmichael
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WORD AND PEN OF HOLY MEN
God's Truth was spoken long ago
By word and pen of holy men
Upon whom God did then bestow
His Spirit. Although 'twas not for them to understand
The implications of their word,
They took in hand
To prophecy what they had heard;
And what they said was true,
And just as truly meant for you.
The preachers, too, of early date
With word and pen--these holy men
Forthtold the same. They let not fate
Decide the outcome of the Word (old yet always new).
But preached they it throughout the earth,
Until it grew
And grew, and thus it proved its worth;
And what they said to you,
Was found in every detail true.
The message which was then foretold
By word and pen of holy men,
They have with humble speech, yet bold,
Made known to us. It was that Jesus died, that we
Who were so long ensnared by sin
Could now go free,
And have a work of grace within;
And what they said, still true,
Can now by faith be true of you.
-- a.e.g.
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SERMON SERIES
THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER
No. 7
You Belong To Another
I Peter 1:17-21
"And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear (17): forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers (18); but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot (19): who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you (20). Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God (21)."
IN THIS DAY of divided allegiance we Christians need to consider the fact that we belong to Another. The world nor the devil has any claim on our lives. Neither have we any claim on ourselves. "Ye are not your own."
Our text points out the One to whom we belong and the transaction which makes us His. The transaction is mostly His; partly ours.
Let's see first the One to whom we belong --
THE FATHER (17)
"If ye call on the Father . . . "
Jesus said, "No man cometh unto the Father, but by me." And again: "if ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also . . . He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." And: "The Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me." "When ye pray, say, our Father . . . " Paul adds: "Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba (Father), Father."
Let it here be known, no one can call on God as Father who has not personally encountered and yielded to Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. All true Christians know whereof I speak.
We do indeed belong to the Father. But no thanks to us. There was no merit in us that He should desire us. He judges "without respect of persons . . . according to every man's work." One day some people approached Jesus with the question: "What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?" he replied: "This is the work of God that ye believe on whom he hath sent." This is the very first "work" you must do to please God. Believe in His Son; put your trust in Him as your Saviour. This is that which determines your eternal destiny.
But having trusted the Son and having become a child of the heavenly Father, your life must now be spent in His service. The Father judges your work. That which passes the test is that which has been done by His enabling and for His gory. Everything else will be burned up as so much dross. His judgment is not based on what we claim to have done, nor on appearances, but on the actual worth of the work and our motives. He can judge motives (something we are not permitted to do), for He sees the heart of the worker. May not many of us stand before His judgment seat empty-handed, all our works having been consumed in the flame, ourselves saved "so as by fire?" Pride of race, place, and face will do us no good then.
With this prospect in view, Peter warns: " . . . pass the time of your sojourning here in fear." At best our time on earth is very short--just a sojourn. The time should be spent "with eternity's values in view." Our constant concern should be to please our Father. Too many are obsessed with fun rather than reverential fear. May we, the children of God not be found in worldly frivolity; rather let us soberly consider our duty to the One to whom we belong.
Our relationship with the heavenly Father comes about
BY REDEMPTION (18-20)
"Forasmuch as ye know that ye were . . . redeemed . . . with the precious blood of Christ."
Israel had suffered abject slavery in Egypt for nearly four hundred years. God witnessed their misery and heard their cry for deliverance.
He sent them a deliverer in the person of Moses. But their final freedom could not come except by the slaying of a sacrifice. Thus, God instructed: "In the tenth day of this month they (Israel) shall take to them every man a lamb . . . Your lamb shall be without blemish . . . And the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take the blood, and strike it on the door post . . . And when I see the blood, I will pass over you . . . Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians."
And a similar story may be told of the children of God. One day we awoke to the fact that we were enslaved to sin. We found that God had sent our Deliverer in the Person of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. He gave Himself as a spotless lamb to die on a cross to effect our deliverance. We applied His blood by faith to our sin-stained hearts. Immediately we experienced wonderful freedom from our vain manner of living, which we had inherited from our forefathers. No longer would sin reign in our mortal bodies, enslaving us, keeping us in bondage.
How many times in the past had we tried with inferior things, such "as silver and gold," to effect our own deliverance, only to find that such things were "corruptible," and unable to deliver! "The precious blood of Christ" remained our only hope. And it is your only hope of redemption. Maybe till now you have thought to buy your way into the good graces of God, or to earn your way. But God's way is through the blood of His Son. Don't insult God by presenting Him with some little bouquet of your own creation. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. You can become a son of the Father only by purchase. The purchase price: "the precious blood of Christ."
Redemption was no afterthought of God, as though man's rebellion and enslavement by sin took Him by surprise, and then He had to prepare a way of deliverance. Christ "verily was foreordained before the foundations of the world." God knew beforehand the need and laid the plans for our redemption through Christ, even before our world was created. "But (He) was manifest in these last times for you." Christ was "manifest" by virgin birth, a sinless life, and crucifixion. He was displayed to the world as no other man has ever been. But best of all, He "was manifest . . . for you." That's why He came: FOR YOU. That's why he died: FOR YOU. Many who passed Him that day as He hung on the cross wagged their heads and cast insults at Him. Will you do the same or will you receive Him as your Redeemer?
You may belong to the heavenly Father, by virtue of Christ's redemption, but on your part it comes about
THROUGH FAITH (21)
"(You) by him do believe in God." Faith it is that brings you to the Father. It is faith that acquires your redemption. It is faith in God, not only the God of creation, but, the One who sent Christ to be your Savior. It is faith in Christ--that He died for you. It is personal faith. What good will it do you, though many of your acquaintance are children of God, if you do not believe in Him? What makes the difference if all those about you can call upon God as Father? -- their faith cannot save you. Redemption has indeed been wonderfully planned and executed, but to you, if you don't believe, it is of no avail. And the tragedy: many seem not to care. But how wonderful have we found redemption by faith to be; those of us who have believed!
And how sure is our ultimate salvation! It is as sure as our Savior. God "raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory." And God raised us up spiritually from sin unto newness of life and gave us glory in Christ. And we shall be one day raised up physically as was our Lord: " . . . Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming." But even now we are as good as in heaven. "God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us (made us alive) together with Christ . . . and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus."
In this message I have pointed out what I felt was the central thought of the passage: that we Christians belong to the heavenly Father by redemption through faith. However, one cannot overlook another thought which runs like a gold thread throughout these verses, and which I suggested in the introduction: that the transaction which makes us His is mostly His doing. The planning and the processes of redemption are of God. All He asks of us is that we believe; and having believed, that we work at His work. And even in this, when the final accounting is done, we shall find that the faith we had was His gift to us, and the work we did which brought Him glory, was in reality His Holy Spirit working in us and through us. Where is boasting, then? It is excluded. Everything you have of any worth has been given you by God, "that your faith and hope might be in God."
For you who are yet unredeemed this means that you must put your faith in Christ as Savior. Your own efforts to save yourself are useless. Your money will perish with you. Your good deeds will disappear in the flame of judgment. Christ is your only hope.
For you who are redeemed this means that you must be thankful to Him who has dealt so graciously with you, taking no credit to yourself, but giving Him all the praise. "What? know ye not that . . . ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."
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