EDITORIAL
Featured in this anniversary number is an article by the late Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse entitled "Tragedy Or Triumph." This message was a tremendous blessing to your editor when Dr. Barnhouse delivered it on the radio. It was even more of a blessing as it was read and reread and typed for printing. Not a few times I had to blink back the tears. My prayer is that it may prove a real blessing and benefit to you.
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Not long ago I received a letter from one of our readers who referred to our paper as a "newspaper." This seemed strange at first but as I thought about it, I realized that this designation was not so far off after all.
To be sure, our publication is a "paper." There is no argument here. And it is a "news" paper. In fact it is a "good-news" paper.
In the Bible, the word "gospel" means "good news." It is the good news of Christ Jesus. It is the good news that He came to save man from sin. He did this by dying on the cross of Calvary. Close upon His death was His resurrection and soon afterward His ascension to the Father's right hand. He now lives there awaiting the time when He shall come to receive to Himself all who believe on Him.
This is what we try to faithfully present throughout these pages. We are dedicated to the task of presenting Christ to our readers. We fully realize that He, not our opinions or philosophies, is the answer to man's every need, both here in this life and for eternity.
Thus, our monthly devotional may rightly be called a "newspaper." I trust you have responded to the good news of Christ, or that you will.
Your Editor,
Arthur E. Gordon
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Dear Shut-In . . .
By Lillian Butt
SOMEONE asked if I lived with my parents. Yes, have with few exceptions all my life. One time lived in a nurses home when I used to do general duty nursing at Columbus Hospital in Buffalo years and years and years ago, ha! well it was quite a few. Then a few years ago I was in a Convalescent Home for a little while. Am very grateful for a good Mom and Dad and a home. I desire no other except the one above where there will be no more suffering. It's that Hope that keeps me from giving up.
"It Will Be Worth It All When We See Jesus," as the song writer put it. There is time we must occupy. We may use Hope or Despair as our walking prop. It's our choice. Despair is a limp clinging vine, hard to shake off. The more we use Hope the more scarce becomes Despair. Hope needs the effort of being picked up and held on to. Faith assists here.
Both Hope and Despair are magnetized. Hope makes one look up. Despair is down; so naturally, drooping one's eyes are horrified with things foreboding. When one slumps and does not try. Despair, like a persistent destructive weed resembling an octopus, quickly takes advantage of every opportunity to steal in mercilessly, viciously enveloping its victim. Despair is a deadly enemy not to be taken lightly, and must be purposely dethroned. It will take dogged effort to be victor over that old monster, perhaps even a bit of wrestling to be freed from it.
But, dear one, Hope is not far away. Look up. God loves us, has invested the life of His Son, Jesus, in us. That's a price of the highest, the most prized possession God had to offer. We were not bought cheaply. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that who-so-ever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). Then Hebrews 6:17-19a (read).
Isn't this precious? Keep looking up. Keep praying, praising, walking in the light.
One of these days we'll embrace in Glory-land. Oh this thrills me, glorious Hope.
Miss Lillian Butt suffers from rheumatoid arthritis. Before her illness she was a nurse.
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ALONE WITH GOD
Alone with God, He speaks to me
As friend with friend;
He fills my heart with joy and peace
That has no end.
He tells me of His love for me,
And I rejoice.
Alone with God -- to feel Him near;
To hear His voice!
Alone with God -- the doors all shut --
I see His face;
I feel His love, so strong and true;
I know His grace.
His comfort comes, in strength'ning power,
To fill my heart.
Alone with God -- how blest it is
To come apart!
Alone with God -- how sweet the sound
Of His dear voice!
To seek His face -- in quiet place --
This is my choice!
'Tis good to know that He is there
My need to meet;
Alone with God -- His presence near --
Ah, yes, 'tis sweet!
-- Sylvia R Lockwood
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DEATH . . . CROSS . . . BLOOD
Christ does not save men by His life,
Though that was holy, sinless, pure,
Not even by His tender love,
Though that forever shall endure;
He does not save them by His words,
Though they shall never pass away,
Nor by His vast creative power
That holds the elements in sway;
He does not save them by His works,
Though He was ever doing good --
The awful need was greater still,
It took His death, His cross, His blood!
-- The Gospel Herald
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TRAGEDY
or
TRIUMPH
By Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse
SOME YEARS AGO, a young minister in whose church I was holding a series of weekly meetings, said to me, "I may not be able to attend every meeting because we're expecting a baby soon." About three weeks later he was absent from the service, but toward its close I saw him enter the room and sit down in the back. Afterward he motioned me to come to his study; as I entered he was standing with his back to me, and I said "Well, which is it, a boy or girl?" As he turned, I saw tragedy written on his face. He said, "God has given me a son, and I love that boy, but he is a Mongoloid idiot." I said, "listen, at the very outset you must learn that God Almighty has honored you more than He has honored many people. God does not give to every one of His children the privilege of great suffering. And He has chosen you for this purpose."
Then I turned to the fourth chapter of Exodus, where God talked to Moses at the burning bush, and pointed to verse 11. Moses had just said, "I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue." And God replied, "Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I the Lord?" But I read the verse thus: "And the Lord said unto Moses, who has made man's mouth? or who maketh him dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind, or a Mongoloid idiot? have not I the Lord?" He snatched the Bible from me and read it for himself. "Oh," he said, "I never saw this before, but it's true, it's true! It must be true! I believe it!"
GOD PLANS ALL
Now for a man to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor is not so great a tribute as when one of God's children endures great tragedy. This the Bible teaches everywhere. If you do not think that God has planned these things, then you must believe that there is a power greater than God, or that things happen from blind chance. If you have had tragedy in your life; if you have endured a physical defect or deformity God planned it. If you are a man, God planned that you be a man. If you are a woman, God planned for you to be a woman. If you are five feet two, or six feet five, God planned that height for you. If you are blind, God planned that you should be blind.
Some people think that tragedy in a life must be the result of sin, but this is not true. Remember, in the ninth of John, the man who had been born blind? The disciples asked Jesus, "Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" And Jesus answered, "Neither, but that the glory of God might be manifest." Some people will cry out that God has no right to do such a thing. Not only has God the right to do this, but He does do it. When we understand that God has planned suffering and tragedy for His own purposes, life can take on deep meaning.
I have used the word "tragedy" but actually there is no "tragedy" for a Christian. If we are honest we must believe the Word of God that all things work together for good to them that love Him, to them who are the called according to His purpose. The Christian must say, "Lord, you have put me where I am. I want to obey you and fulfill your purpose for me. I am answerable to you alone." God does not make everybody alike. He assigns to each person his place for reasons which He will make clear when we get to heaven.
We allow similar sovereignty to our military leaders. When President Eisenhower was in command of our forces in Europe, he had the right to dispose of a company, a battalion, a regiment, or an Army corps as it suited him. He could say to one officer, "Take some paratroops and destroy a certain bridge, and we'll give the Congressional Medal of Honor to their widows." And he could detail other men to unload trucks and get blisters on their hands. Now if we grant this right to a general in the Army, let us grant it to God Almighty. And even if you do not, it is still His right. God disposes of an individual as it pleases Him, and for His purposes. He never puts a man in circumstances that are too terrible for him to surmount, if he accepts the power that God has made available in Christ.
THE TRIUMPH OF TRUST
Now to return to my friend. The next day, he went to the hospital to tell his wife about the condition of the child. The nurses had been discussing it and wondering why such a thing should happen to one of God's ministers. They had the foolish idea that God must be punishing him. One of the nurses heart him tell the doctor that he was going to see his wife, and she whispered to another nurse, "He's going to tell her!" The word got to the switchboard operator, and a few minutes later she saw the light from that room plugged in. He called his wife's mother, and a moment later the switchboard operator heard the young mother say to her own mother, "Oh, mother, I want to thank you that you led me to Christ. Oh, mother, I love you so much, I never could have taken this if I hadn't had faith. And you brought me to Christ! So it's all right, mother, the Lord has never made a mistake. And, oh mother, I love you so much." The switchboard operator began to cry, and it was ten minutes before they could get the circuits unsnarled.
But she told the story, and the nurses passed it on. The following Sunday, the nurses who came off night duty and those who were free -- about fifty in all -- went to the church where the young minister was preaching; he spoke on Exodus 4:11, and triumphantly set forth that God is in charge of the universe and nothing can touch a Christian until it has passed through the will of God. In the providence of God, the baby died about four or five months afterwards. But one of those nurses that day was so touched by the power of God in that message that she took the Lord Jesus Christ as her Savior. For she said, "if God can do that in the life of a man who has had such tragedy, he has something I don't have and God can give it to me." Some time later she went to the foreign mission field. Today God is doing wonderful things through that young minister because he learned to say, "Lord, do with me what ever you please."
TWO CASE HISTORIES
From the Word of God and from experience I have learned in some measure why God permits what we call tragedy to come to Christians. One morning in my early ministry, a woman stopped me on the street and said, "Will you come to see my son? He is dying of tuberculosis." I replied, "I'll go home with you now." "Oh, no!" she said, "Don't come with me. He is very bitter. He might curse you, and I don't want him to know that I asked you. Just drop in a little later." So, in about half an hour, I rang the bell in a little row house, and from the hall I could see the young man in bed in the front room. He was emaciated and evidently near death. I introduced myself to his mother as the preacher in the nearby church. Then I said, "Oh there's someone sick here." And I walked in to talk with him. He became very angry, and began to curse. "Why does God make me spit my lungs into this cup? Oh, God is so cruel to me!" He cursed God for his suffering, and became so excited that I saw it would be better for me to leave. In about a week, that young man died.
A similar incident took place some years later when I was holding Sunday night services in a theater in West Philadelphia. After one of these services someone asked, "Will you go to see a young man in this neighborhood who is dying of tuberculosis?" I recalled the other case, and went to see this young man. As in the first case, I found a little row house and a young man in bed in the front room. As I talked with him, he said, "Oh, life is so wonderful since Christ has saved me!" He told me that he had to spend twenty-three hours a day in bed and could be out of bed only one hour. One evening he dressed to take his walk around the block. When he got to the corner, he saw lights in the theater and went in to rest. He listened while I told the story of the love of Christ. At once he received Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. During the months that followed, in his one hour out of bed each day, he visited families in his block and told them about Christ. Now he was too weak to go out. He said, "I have about fifty relatives in this city. Will you come next Sunday night and speak to them about Christ if I invite them in?" The next Sunday night I found a full house. People were seated on the stairs, upstairs, in the Kitchen some even on the floor. In his weakened voice, the young man told how he had been saved, and then asked me to tell the story of Jesus. Although I felt as though I were preaching his funeral sermon, it was a message of triumph. And when I had finished he said, "These words were spoken the night I was saved. This is how I came to trust in Christ. I know that the next time you are all together it will be for my funeral, and I want to witness to you about Christ." A few days later the young man did die, triumphant in Christ.
SPIRITUAL ANTITHESES
As we review these two cases, almost identical in circumstances but so different in outlook, we realize anew that the world is divided into two groups -- those who are born again, and those who are not. People are either the children of God or they are the children of wrath and of disobedience. In order to become a child of God you must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. As a result of searching the Word of God, and of the experiences of my ministry, I believe that God permits whatever happens to an unbeliever, also to happen to a Christian. The unbeliever cries out against God; but the Christian says, "Lord, do to me whatever you please." No matter what your condition in life, if you are not a believer in Jesus Christ, God has a double of you somewhere who is believing in Jesus Christ. If you are in the Home for Incurables, and do not know Christ and think your lot is terrible, someone else in the Home for Incurables is praising God. The devil has his doctors, and God has His doctors who live in simple faith and trust the Lord. The Devil has his lawyers who connive and cheat; God has His honorable, upright lawyers who seek to aid those in difficulty. God has His rich men and the Devil has his.
Describe yourself to me. Tell me how old you are, what is your education, what are your circumstances! I will duplicate them in the life of some Christian. To put it the other way around, whatever happens to a Christian, the same is happening to an unbeliever, and he is crying out, "God, you can't do this to me!" But the Christian can say, "O, God, you can to anything you wish to me. You redeemed me. You bought me with your blood. I am yours, and I know that all things will work together for good because I love you."
During the Korean War a girl received a telegram from the Department of Defense informing her that her husband had been killed in action. She screamed, "God, you can't do this to me!" But in a few weeks she was dating with every man she met. Another girl -- a member of my church -- received a similar telegram telling that her husband had been shot down over Korea. After reading the message the girl said, "Mother, I am going to my room. Please do not disturb me." The mother phoned the father who came home at once and went to his daughter's room. Softly opening the door, he stepped in. She was kneeling by her bed, the telegram and the Bible spread before her, and she was saying, "My Father! oh, my Heavenly Father!" Her father went downstairs and said to his wife, "She is in better hands than mine."
IS IT WELL WITH YOUR SOUL?
Are you a believer in Christ? Have you been struck by blindness, or cancer? Has death taken a loved one? Has your child been crippled by polio? Oh, today look up to God and say, "Lord, it's all right. I pray that this will bring honor and glory to You in Jesus' name." You see, God is taking out of this world a people for His name and showing that He is able to keep His own in any circumstances. A Christian goes through everything that an unbeliever suffers: cancer, polio, the automobile wreck, the scars, the blemishes, and God says, "I am trusting you to suffer this for me." Don't forget that Jesus understands what it is to be physically unattractive, for Isaiah 53:2 says, "He had no form or comeliness that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him." If you had passed the Lord Jesus on the street in Jerusalem, you would not have noticed Him. Only by the revelation of His power, and by the love that He poured out, did men become attracted to Him.
WHEN PLANS ARE SPOILED
Perhaps some of your most cherished plans have been disrupted, and you have had to follow quite a different course. God's hand is in that too, and for your good. On an apple farm in Michigan one spring day, some men had been pruning an orchard and made a great pile of branches, about 100 yards from the farmer's barn. One morning the farmer saw a bird carrying materials for a nest to that pile of prunings, so he marked the spot with a stick. At sundown, while the bird flew about chirping wildly, the man reached into the pile and tore the nest apart. I suppose the bird was thinking, "How cruel this man is!" Next day he saw the bird trying to build at another place in the pile. Again he marked it with a stick and at night he destroyed all the work that the bird had done. No doubt the bird's wild flutterings and chirpings were bird language for, "This evil man! How terrible he is to destroy my nest." On the third day the farmer noticed that the bird was building in a rose bush near the house. He smiled and let the bird alone. The nest was finished and the eggs were laid; but before they hatched, all of the branches had been burned. If the farmer had allowed the bird to build among them, the nest would have been destroyed. So in great kindness he tore it apart.
Sometimes God reaches down and spoils our plans. We chirp and protest, "God, don't do this to me!" But he knows what He is doing. Instead of fighting against His will, say, "Lord show me where to build." And He will. That is God's way with His children. This is the Christian life. This is the sovereignty of God in daily life. Most people live in the valley of the humdrum, in a daily round of ordinary activity which becomes boring, but it can become noble if you will say, "Lord, you have set the boundaries of my life. Wherever I am, whatever I do, I want to be faithful to you." This is the triumphant life of the Spirit. This is not tragedy, but triumph, when you say to Him, "You are my Lord. Do with me whatever it pleases You to do."
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BILLY SUNDAY'S BIBLE
TWENTY-TWO YEARS ago, with the Holy Spirit as my guide, I entered the wonderful temple of Christianity. I entered at the portico of Genesis, walked down through the Old Testament art galleries where pictures of Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joseph, Isaac, Jacob and Daniel hung on the wall. I passed into the music room of the Psalms where the Spirit swept the keyboard of nature until it seemed that every reed and pipe of God's great organ responded to the tuneful heart of David, the sweet singer of Israel. I entered the chamber of Ecclesiastes where the voice of the preacher was heard, and into the conservatory of Sharon where the lily of the valley and sweet scented spices filled and perfumed my life. I entered into the business office of Proverbs, and then into the observatory room of the prophets where I saw telescopes of various sizes pointed to far off events, but all concentrated upon the bright and morning star. I entered the audience room of the King of kings and caught a vision of His glory from the standpoint of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, passed into the Acts of the Apostles where the Holy Spirit was doing His work in the formation of the infant Church. Then into the correspondence room where sat Paul, Peter, James and John, penning their epistles. I stepped into the throne room of the Revelation where towered the glittering peaks, and got a vision of the King sitting upon His throne in all His glory. And I cried, "All hail the power of Jesus' name. Let angels prostrate fall, Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all."
-- Billy Sunday
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SERMON SERIES
THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER
No. 24
THE END IS NEAR
Therefore . . .
I Peter 4:7-9
IT IS THE eleven o'clock hour. The hands on God's timepiece approach twelve. " . . . the end of all things is at hand" (7a). Things as we know them are coming quickly to a consummation. The age of grace will soon be history. "The day of the Lord will come . . . in the which the heavens shall pass away . . . the elements shall melt . . . the earth also . . . Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be . . .?"
" . . . be ye therefore sober (-minded)" (7b).
Stop and think! It's time for some serious thinking. But upon what shall we think?
In view of the shortness of time, Peter sets forth some subjects which are worthy of our serious consideration.
PRAYER
" . . . and watch unto prayer" (7c).
I can imagine I hear some lonely shut-in saying, "But what can I do for the Lord, shut in as I am in this little room? Someone is always having to do for me! What could I possible do?"
Here is something you can do. Here is a ministry you can perform. It requires no special training, endowment, talent or equipment. You don't need a healthy body. It may be performed from any position, even a supine position. This is the ministry of prayer.
"Watch unto prayer." Be awake to the practice of prayer. When you were in darkness you slept the spiritual sleep of death. Then you had no desire to pray. You couldn't pray. But one day the blinding veil was rent from your eyes, your spiritual eyes were opened, you came awake spiritually, you were transported in a moment of time from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God and of light. Then for the first, the Spirit who came to dwell in you cried out from the depths of your heart, "Abba, Father." You came awake to prayer. Now continue in the practice thereof.
Have you ever stopped to consider the tremendous possibilities in prayer? You can through intercessory prayer span this globe on which we live. Even confined as you are to your small room you can be a world crusader by prayer. Indeed the world is your field.
There in your little room you can pray down God's power and blessing upon a mission station in the heart of the African jungle, a congregation behind the bamboo or iron curtain, and evangelist as he travels from country to country. The possibilities are without limit.
In Ohio, one Saturday evening, a blacksmith sat down to his supper. He was supporting a girl in a mission school in India. On his plate had been placed a letter just received from India. He began to read, but soon said, "Wife, I must pray." The letter in question told that this girl was not only resisting Christ for herself, but was standing seriously in the way of others accepting Him. Unless a change should come very shortly in the girl, the missionary wrote, they would be obliged, for the sake of the other girls, to send her from the school altogether.
The blacksmith entered into his closet and prayed. Saturday night in Ohio is Sunday morning in India. On that Sunday morning the missionary gathered with her class of girls in Sunday school as usual. The lesson, however, had not proceeded far until this incorrigible girl leaped from her seat, flung herself in tears at the feet of the missionary, and wept her way to the Saviour. The other girls were deeply moved. One by one they followed her example, and salvation came to the whole class that morning. Vital energy had been put forth by prayer in Ohio, and, as a result, great things came to pass in India.*
There is a place where thou canst touch the eyes
Of blinded men to instant perfect sight;
There is a place where thou canst say, "Arise,"
To dying captives, bound in chains of night;
There is a place where thou canst reach the store
Of hoarded gold and free it for the Lord;
There is a place -- upon some distant shore --
Where thou canst send the worker or the Word --
There is a place where heaven's resistless power
Responsive moves to thine insistent plea;
There is a place -- a silent, trusting hour --
Where God Himself descends and fights for thee.
Where is the blessed place -- dost thou ask where?
O Soul, it is the secret place of prayer.*
LOVE
"And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins" (8).
"Above all," or before every other Christian virtue "have fervent charity (love)." This is the most important principle in all of God's Word. The whole civil and moral law of the Old Testament is fulfilled in it. Paul says, "Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." You will have no trouble with adultery, murder, theft, perjury, covetousness, or any of the other commandments where love reigns in the heart.
Love is paramount to all God's other gifts to His Church. "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels," says Paul, "and though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith . . . and though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, (I am nothing), it profiteth me nothing."
"And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love."
Thus Peter exhorts: " . . . have fervent love." The word for "fervent" literally means "stretched out." It refers to a love that extends to the one loved. It is not self-centered but has the other person's interest at heart. It involves sacrifice. The greatest example of this is God's love for us. "For God so loved . . . that he gave." "He loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." All that remains to be said is: "Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another" -- with a love that reaches them. A love that doesn't effectually touch our brother for his good is not love at all. In other words, "let us not love in word . . . but in deed."
The family circle, it seems to me, is a beautiful picture of the type of love that is referred to. The ideal family is knit together by love. The father, mother, children, all share in it. This is not to say there aren't differences of opinion occasionally, and sometimes violently expressed. But the bond of love which is the stronger, before long wins the day, the argument is forgotten, the difference submerged, and harmony restored. So should it be in the Christian family.
We who have believed in Jesus are in God's family. God is our Father, Christ our elder Brother, and all other believers vitally and spiritually related. Paul writes to Timothy concerning our relationship to one another. "Do not chide an older man, but address him as a father, and those younger as brothers; older women as mothers and the younger as sisters . . ." If we would keep this relationship constantly in mind, I think we would find it easier to "have fervent love among ourselves."
Again this is not to suppose there will never be any differences. But they will soon dissolve under the greater binding influence -- love. Discord cannot long abide where true and fervent love prevails.
Why should we thus love? The text answers: "for charity (love) shall cover the multitude of sins." Even though we may have differences in the family circle, there is one thing we never do, and that is to broadcast it to the community. Love never gossips family secrets.
But what happens all too often in the church? If one brother differs with another in a church meeting, the whole community knows it the next day; the unbeliever rolls the juicy morsel around on his iniquitous tongue and spews it forth to the next greedy listener, and so it spreads from mouth to mouth.
But how did it leak out? Some believer (or pretended believer) let it out. Someone who lacked "fervent love" gave it its start. the "grapevine" did the rest. Our concern is that we make sure we aren't that loveless creature which started the "ball" rolling. For love, rather than exposing, covers our brothers faults.
HOSPITALITY
"Use hospitality one to another without grudging" (9).
"Use hospitality," may be more literally translated, "be friendly to strangers." In our local paper the following letter, addressed to the Editor, appeared --
Dear Sir:
Last evening, while driving home through your community I had a very pleasant experience. Just opposite the S-------- farm lane my car stopped due to lack of gasoline. Mr. S-------- very willingly supplied me with a gallon of gasoline. After going out to my car I discovered I could not pour the gas in my tank due to the type of can, so decided to walk to the near-by village.
Mr. R-------- happened to be driving by in the opposite direction and decided to turn around and see if he could be of any help. He took me up to the village for gasoline, and brought me back to my car. Upon getting back to the car I learned Mr. S-------- had observed my plight and had brought an additional can of gasoline out to my car.
Just thought these few lines would express my sincere appreciation.
Sincerely, J. T. D.
This, to me, was a practical demonstration of hospitality.
God's will for us in these last days is that we, in the most practical way, show ourselves friendly to strangers, and especially to those of the household of faith.
"And it fell on a day (around 895 B.C.), that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman . . ." What made this woman great? May it not have been because of what follows?
" . . . and she constrained him (Elisha) to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread. And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually. Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither. And it fell on a day, that he came thither, and turned into the chamber, and lay there."
This may seem to us but simple fare, just a small room, a bed, a table, a stool, and a candlestick, but here was a humble woman sharing her meager belongings with a stranger in need. And as it turned out the hospitality she offered returned to her three-fold. The stranger she befriended was indeed a "holy man of God," and her humble home was never the same again, having been visited by this servant of God.
The Bible enjoins us: "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." You can't entertain angels, or as in the case of the Shunamite woman, a servant of God, without receiving abundant blessing in return, both to yourself and to your household. But whether we receive anything or not, is beside the point, our responsibility under God is to do what is here enjoined: "use hospitality one to another . . ."
And this is to be done "without grudging," or murmuring. God looks not only at the act but also at the motives and attitudes behind the act. Our hearts must line up with our hands in being friendly to strangers. Then God is glorified, needs are met, friendships established, and blessings flow to all concerned.
But now a word concerning hospitality to you who are not saved. There is a Holy Stranger knocking at your heart's door, wanting entrance into your life. He says, "Behold I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup (dine) with him, and he with me." If you let this Stranger come into your life, you will find Him to be the best Friend you ever had. Throw open your heart's door to Him. Let Him in. Show yourself friendly to Him, and He will befriend you throughout eternity. His name is Jesus Christ the Lord.
*From "Three Thousand Illustrations," by Walter B. Knight;
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan.
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