THANKS TO GOD
It is our THANKSGIVING to God in whatever circumstances we find ourselves that brings glory to God and triumphant victory in our own lives. The following hymn was a blessing to me. May this be our heartfelt prayer at this Thanksgiving Season.
Thanks to God for my Redeemer,
Thanks for all Thou dost provide!
Thanks for times now but a mem'ry,
Thanks for Jesus by my side!
Thanks for pleasant, balmy springtime,
Thanks for dark and dreary fall!
Thanks for tears by now forgotten,
Thanks for peace within my soul!
Thanks for prayers that Thou hast answered,
Thanks for what Thou dost deny!
Thanks for storms that I have weathered,
Thanks for all Thou dost supply!
Thanks for pain, and thanks for pleasure,
Thanks for comfort in despair!
Thanks for grace that none can measure,
Thanks for love beyond compare!
Thanks for roses by the way-side,
Thanks for thorns their stems contain!
Thanks for home and thanks for fire-side,
Thanks for hope, that sweet refrain!
Thanks for joy and thanks for sorrow,
Thanks for heav'nly peace with Thee!
Thanks for hope in the tomorrow,
Thanks thro' all eternity!
-- Anon. (Swedish)
Tr. C. E. Backstrom
Sincerely,
Art Gordon, Editor
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"There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus." "He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life."
Romans 8:1 & John 3:36
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HEAVENLY HEALING
By Frieda Schneider, Litt. D.
All of this human suffering, and infinitely more, Christ endured so as to make our burdens easier to bear. Now, as when He walked the earth, He is touched by our infirmities. Every moan of misery stirs His sympathy and arrests His affection. He NEVER misunderstands our misery.
THIS ALSO goes for mental disorders. Having been declared one of the most nervous types by doctors at the world-famous Mayo Clinic I know whereof I write. In January, 1951, two local neurologists were baffled by my seemingly incurable condition. Their verdict called for Faradic stimulation at our Community Mental Health Center. Resorting to their psychiatric experimentation resulted in twitching and trembling for days. I lost considerable weight. Further electro-convulsive therapy and a brain operation and psychotherapy was advised at our State Hospital. There I was to be admitted as a voluntary patient.
Weeks of horrible mental torment followed. Was I actually losing my mind? Must I soon make my abode with the mentally deranged? I was desperate! I needed help. Fearfully and reluctantly I started packing a suit case, feeling I would soon enter a new world -- a world of crazy people! Eventually I would enter an Institution that was looked down upon by most people. Wild dreams haunted me during brief snatches of sleep at night. Unbidden tears of dread and dismay flowed freely throughout the day. Visions of being cast among the insane, the schizophrenic, pulling their hair while making strange sounds, appeared on my horizon.
"Oh, Lord, why must this happen to me?" Losing mother a few months before was hard enough. "Oh, how can I go through with this added trial?" With Job I could say, "The thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me" (Job 3:25). Sensing a deep need of opinions and advice, I timidly discussed the matter with close associates and our family pastor. Everyone consulted fully agreed that St. Peter was no place for me. "There's nothing wrong with your mind," they assured. I didn't think so either, but one never knows!
Nevertheless, this mental anguish was worse than anything I have experienced before or since. Trustingly I clung to this precious promise: "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day" (II Timothy 1:12). The Great Physician was and is my only help in mental matters as well as in every other situation. If you are among those suffering with nervous and mental disorders you have my sincerest sympathy. Dear contemporary cross-bearer, do not despair. Your needs will all be satisfied when you doctor with Jesus, the everpresent Physician. He alone can dispel your despondency and depression. Train yourself for trials, tests and tribulation! Let the Healer of men give you mental sustenance. Do not surrender to depressed feelings. A troubled mind retards recovery. You can either help or hinder in the hold on health.
Be assured that nothing can befall you except by God's permission. And when He does permit something of an unpleasant nature, remember, it is designed as a blessing. Being thus convinced performs wonders toward restoration to health. Take an interest in other patients. As you lose yourself in their problems you lose more of your own. By helping our fellowmen we unconsciously help ourselves. "Deal thy bread to the hungry and . . . bring the poor that are cast out to thy house; when thou seest the naked . . . cover him." "Then," as a result, "shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily . . . Then shall thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry," not in your own behalf, but in behalf of others more needy, "and he shall say, Here I am . . . and thou shalt be like a watered garden and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not" (Isaiah 58).
Finally, realize the value of creative work. A rest cure is good, but we need more. Merely resting offers too much time for morbid thinking. This often magnifies our symptoms and lowers our morals, resulting in melancholy. If we can't find life worth living then we need to make it worth living. Following occupational therapy, suitable to our ability and strength, works wonders. It should be on the curative schedule of every convalescent. It turns lonely, unproductive days into means that help make our individual contributions to human society. Being sparked with spiritual motivation arouses self-confidence, a sense of personal worth and adds new zest to living.
Let your constructive imagination be turned to this end. Then, like a dynamo it will generate a current of reviving and refreshing thoughts. Then your faith will have force as well as form. There is much that is soothing and restful in creative work. It pays dividends in contentment; it offers high spiritual and cultural value; it helps us to achieve, in spite of pressing problems. Coordinating mind and hands produces manuscripts for me. More than that, it promotes poise, stabilizes the mind, and helps me find a fuller happiness in life. With God's help, plus personal effort, we can all make a seemingly impossible situation into something of beauty and inspiration.
Here we see why Christ does not always remove repressions even though He shares and bears them, namely, that we may share and bear with Him and with fellow-sufferers. Yes, there is a definite purpose in personal pain. No one should deny this fact. Hope and healing come from realizing that in the army of the afflicted God has multitudes of Christian heroes. Those who serve their country are first examined to make sure they are physically fit. Such requirements are not necessary for soldiers of the Savior. Often His best and most valiant warriors are the physically handicapped. In Christ's army it is the spirit and not the body that needs to be strong, courageous and steadfast. Who knows what fruits Christ desires to find in us as He waits and watches month after month, year in and year out, while watering us with fresh mercies and crowning us with new grace. Should we not be more concerned about bringing abilities out of disabilities, inspiration out of infirmities rather than about getting healing for our handicaps? Verily so!
Even though I am able to stay at it only a few minutes at a time, I am primarily interested in writing something that will stir, strengthen and satisfy souls; I am more interested in this than in having a body which would enable me only to enjoy the normal pursuits of life. The will and the work of God are more valuable to me than the alleviation of affliction. May His purging me through personal afflictions produce more profitable projects for the Prince of Peace! May His presence be felt in every paragraph and in every poem I write.
Finally I want to emphasize this fact: that God can heal is apparent; that He does heal is certain; but that He will heal in every case is contrary to fact. It is presumptuous for us to dictate to God as to what means or methods He should use. It may be with or without doctors. It may be with medication, or without, or both. During recent surgery I relied on and testified beforehand, to this theory: I have a wonderful Savior, hundreds of praying friends, a couple of top surgeons and efficient nurses. If their combined efforts do not bring me through successfully nothing else will, "My mouth shall praise Thee with joyful lips when I remember Thee upon my bed, and meditate on Thee in the night watches. Because Thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice" (Psalm 63:7).
If invalidism and infirmities continue in spite of vain attempts at being healed, be not disturbed by the persistent claims of "faith" healers. Some precious shut-in saints have become so confused and frustrated by the healing hoax of religious racketeers that they are now skeptical of all Scriptural truths. Disrepute has come to the cause of Christ because of this. From this may not be inferred that the efforts of sincere "healers" are not appreciated. A correspondent in Windsor North Carolina, acknowledging my tract, entitled, "I am the Lord that healeth thee" (Exodus 15:26), writes:
I have been prayed for many times and still I am not healed. Your tract has lifted me up. I would love to hear from you because I know you understand how it is to be sick and afflicted. I am sure you know a lot of people who try to help and a lot of times they discourage more than they help. They don't seem to understand.
How many of us have not experienced the same. A local lady optimistically delights in repeating to me: "You will soon be well again. There's no reason why you won't. Others worse off than you have gotten back to normal." There can be only one answer:
I'll always do my best,
And trust God for the rest.
Yes, it is easy enough for a normal healthy individual to say, "Rise up and walk." It is similar to the well-fed man, remarking to a penniless, undernourished person, "Eat, drink and be merry." The sympathy, the understanding and the wherewithal are sadly lacking in both cases.
I do not belittle, condemn or criticize all faith healers. Some get immediate results for and from the Redeemer. They, no doubt, have something I am lacking.
In summary I conclude: "Healing for the spirit and soul is our present possession because of Calvary; healing for the body is included in the work of the cross. We will not actually come in possession of it until we see the Lord's face."
Only after the resurrection can we expect to have perfect bodies. There we shall be completely restored. Take comfort, ye invalids. It will soon be over. Someday, perhaps in the very near future, our bodies shall be free from the infirmities which have bound them here below. Then, we heartily hope, the Lord may say of our service this simple word of commendation, "She hath done what she could" (Mark 14:8). "Then thou shalt forget thy misery, and remember it as waters that pass away" (Job 11:16). In that Better Land our treasures are safe; there "the inhabitants shall not say: I am sick" (Isaiah 33:24).
(From AFFLICTION WORKETH by Frieda J. Schneider;
reprinted by permission of Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids MI.)
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HE KNOWS
He knows it all -- the winding path,
The sky o'ercast and grey,
The steepness of the mountainside,
The roughness of the way.
He knows it all -- the haunting fear,
The doubtings and distress,
The wond'rings and perplexities
And all the strain and stress.
He knows it all -- each troubled thought,
Each anxious wave of care,
And every burden, every grief,
Or cross that thou dost bear.
He knows it all -- thy weight of woe,
Thine often tear-dimmed eye,
The stabbing pain, the slow, dull ache
And sorrow's broken cry.
He knows it all -- but His to choose,
and thine to take His choice!
He knows it all! He planned it so!
Then trust Him and rejoice.
-- E. Margaret Clarkson
HE LEADS
The steps of the way I know not,
But my Leader I know full well;
My hand is in His, I fear not --
In the depths of His peace I dwell.
He knows where He leads; I know not,
But I trust in His love each day:
My heart is His own; I fear not,
For the way is my Lord's highway.
The hours may seem dark and dreary,
But His presence my life shall cheer;
The night may seem sad and weary,
But I know that my Lord is near.
One step at a time He shows me,
And I know that the rest He hides,
That love may the better show me
How in safety His mercy guides.
I wait, in His will abiding;
I rejoice, for His strength sustains;
I trust in His Word confiding;
And of doubt not one trace remains.
And never comes pain or sadness
But to hasten the sunlit morn;
Then grief shall give way to gladness,
Then never a sigh be born.
-- E. G. Wellesley -- Wesley
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DAVID IS ELEVEN
the doctor is 66
By Louis Paul Lehman, D.D., LL.D.
THIS IS A true story. It was told by the Doctor's wife. The Doctor of a small West Virginia town stands as the community's lone symbol of defense against disease and death. He sees patients all day, often works all night, and has built a small hospital, the only hospital for miles around. Yet he tries to live like normal people. There are two paramount rules: First, the Doctor is home for dinner in the evening. (Rarely at breakfast, never at noon). Second, he does not bring the hospital and his patients home with him. He comes home to be husband and father.
At the dinner table one evening the Doctor was unusually quiet; his face wore an unfamiliar frown and strain of anxiety. Said Mrs. Doctor, "Come on, dear, let's get it out in the open."
"No, no -- this is professional. I don't want to worry you with it, I'm just concerned about a boy."
"Well, what about the boy? Can I help?"
"No, I'm afraid not, he's going to die. No one can help. And if I ever wanted to save a boy, I want to save this boy. His name is David."
It took a few minutes to repeal Rule Number Two, and then came the story: "His name is David, and he's a remarkable little chap. And he's going to die -- pernicious anemia. I got him much too late. But he's quite a boy. I usually stop in his room in the mornings to talk to him. Bright, cheerful boy, with a nice personality. This morning he caught me off guard."
"Say doc," he asked, "would you change places with me if you could?"
"No," I said quickly without thinking, and then tried to cover it up. "David," I said, "how old are you?"
"Eleven"
"Well, David, I'm sixty-six; six times older than you, and if I had to go back and be eleven all over again, I don't think I could stand it. Youth is beautiful, but a little trying on us older folks."
David smiled: "That's O.K. Doc, but you're not foolin' me. I know I'm not going to get well, but I'll tell you somethin' -- I wouldn't trade places with you either."
That surprised me. "Well, why not, David?"
"Doc, I'm eleven years old, and I've got eleven souls to bring to Jesus, one for every year I've lived, and I'll bet you haven't got that."
The Doctor sat down by the boy's bedside. "Tell me about it, David."
"Well, you see, it's like this," and David turned to look right at the Doctor. "Nobody in our house was a Christian, but we got to listening to a gospel radio broadcast and liked it. I was the first one saved in our house. Then I got my mother, then my brother, my dad, my sister, and some of the kids in the neighborhood. Well, when I came to the hospital I had ten souls I'd won for Jesus. So I said, 'Now, Lord, you know I probably won't get out of this place, and I've got ten souls, but I'd like one more so that it could be eleven -- one for every year I've lived!' And Doc, last night I got the night nurse -- so that makes eleven. One for every year. That's why I wouldn't trade places with you -- guess you'd have to go some to make it one soul for every year you've lived."
"Yes, David, I'd have to go some," said the Doctor, "but I surely wish that I could say that too - one soul for every year."
The shrill, insistent bell of the telephone cut across the quiet. The doctor arose. "I'll get it, it might be about David."
He turned to the table slowly, his head bowed, but after seating himself, suddenly sat erect. "Well, David . . . David's gone, but what a reward for a little boy. One soul for every year! I wish I could say that."
The next Sunday was the Doctor's birthday, and his wife noticed that when they passed the offering plate in church the Doctor gave an unusually large roll of bills. He was always generous, but this was a trifle above and beyond the ordinary. On the way home Mrs. Doctor inquired: "I'm not at all disapproving dear, just curious. How much was in that roll of bills?"
"Sixty-six dollars," said the Doctor tenderly, "a dollar for every year, but what a shallow kind of a substitute for David's gift: a soul for every year. Surely wish I could say that."
If every Christian were a David, it would not take long to reap the field for God. "He that winneth souls is wise" (Proverbs 11:30). "They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever" (Daniel 12:3).
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SERMON SERIES
Romans 8
No. 7
WE ARE OBLIGATED
(THE REASON)
"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear; but ye received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified with him." -- Romans 8:14-17
WE ARE OBLIGATED but not to our own sinful lower nature to live according to its earthly dictates. To live thus would indicate something radically wrong with the inner man, in fact that death is at work -- eternal death with its accompanying misery beginning here and lasting throughout eternity with ever increasing fury (verses 12,13a).
On the other hand we are obligated to God, in the power of the Spirit, to put to death the sinful deeds of the body. This kind of living would indicate that all's well with the inner man, that life is at work -- eternal life with all its consequent blessings starting here and continuing with increasing magnitude throughout eternity (13b).
We are obligated to God to live unto God in God's strength. Out present text continues this theme, showing us some reasons we are thus obligated. We are obligated to God --
I. BECAUSE THE SPIRIT OF GOD LEADS TO MATURITY (14-15).
"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear; but ye received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba Father."
The heavenly Father's purpose in saving us is that He might conform us to the image of His only begotten Son. The Son's work and desire is that He might present us faultless before the Father. Likewise the Spirit works to this end. Without doubt it is the will of the Godhead that we become adult-sons of God. This is the implication of the phrase "sons of God." Not just children of God but mature children of God, adult-sons, grown-up sons. It is not the will of God that we remain in a state of infancy after we are saved but that we mature spiritually. But the question is, do we will this for ourselves? If not, then some serious introspection is necessary. May the Spirit of God through this text impress upon us the importance of maturing into adult-sonship.
It is stated categorically that "as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God." The difference between a baby and a young man in the natural realm is the difference between a babe in Christ and the mature Christian. The baby cannot in any way care for himself, he must be constantly waited on by others. He is almost entirely selfish, wanting what he wants when he wants it and will put up a howl till he gets it. Of course this is natural and to be expected at first, but if this continues for years it becomes pathetic. Before too long the child is expected to fill his place in society and make a constructive contribution.
Paul's words of rebuke to the Christians at Corinth may be needed by some of us today. "And I, brethren," says Paul, "could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, as unto babes in Christ." He goes on to say that he had to feed them with a light diet of the milk of the Word as they couldn't bear a good heavy diet of the meat of the Word. He knew they were still baby Christians by the way they behaved. "There is among you jealousy and strife." I want what I want and I'll squall till I get it. Our jealousy and strife brand us as immature Christians and prove to everyone looking on that we are not led by the Spirit of God. "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are adult-sons of God."
We have no excuse to remain babes in Christ. God wants us to grow up. He has provided the means. The Spirit of God is present to lead us into adult-sonship. If we remain infants in the faith it is because we refuse to follow His leading. The Spirit always leads to maturity all who will follow. This is as sure as the Word of God is sure. "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these ARE adult-sons of God." It is God's will for us; may it be our will. Let us follow our Leader.
"For ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear; but ye received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father."
Here we see the difference between the old economy and the new, the Old Testament and the New. Israel was all her lifetime "subject to bondage." Her story may be summarized in these words from Exodus: "there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount (Sinai), and the voice of a trumpet exceeding loud; and all the people that were in the camp trembled." The holy God was revealing Himself to His sinful people. They must learn of His holiness and their sin. However, provision was made that they might approach God through the offering of an animal substitute in sacrifice. And this foreshadowed the coming of the Lamb of God who by His death on the cross would take away the sin of the world and would bring about true reconciliation between God and man.
So the New Testament was instituted. Under the Old, the people would not so much as whisper God's name; under the New, and as sons in God's family, having been placed as sons by the Spirit through faith in God's only begotten Son, we have the great privilege of conversing with God in the most intimate terms -- "Abba (that is), Father." No longer Mount Sinai with its awesome spectacle of holiness bringing the sinner into a bondage of fear; but Mount Calvary where the Saviour died to redeem us and by grace to bring us to the Father. We have not received "the spirit of bondage again unto fear;" that is all behind us, left at the cross. The Spirit we have received is "the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." Our Lord taught us to pray: "Our Father which art in heaven . . . " "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God."
So we are obligated to God because it is He, in the Person of the Spirit, who leads us to Christian maturity. Again, we are obligated to God --
II. BECAUSE THE SPIRIT OF GOD GIVES ASSURANCE (16,17).
Yes we may have assurance in a day of unprecedented uncertainty. "The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified with him."
The Spirit Himself (thus) testifies together with out own spirit. (assuring us) that we are children of God" (Amplified). Of this we may be sure: "that we are children of God . . . and . . . heirs of God." It is the Spirit of God who gives this assurance.
The word "children" literally means "born-ones" and has to do with relationship to the Father, partaking through the new birth of His nature. Whereas the word "sons" in verse 14 means "adult-sons" and has to do not so much with relationship as with position in the family, with all the rights and privileges and responsibilities therefrom.
Before the Spirit can witness with our spirit that we are indeed children of God, we must indeed become children of God. How do we become children of God? "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." "As many as received Him, to them gave he the right to become children of God."
I dare say many of you before you were saved read and heard these verses maybe many times but they never rang a bell, somehow they never registered, never really meant much to you. When was it they came to mean something to your heart? When the Spirit of God made them plain and meaningful. It was when the Spirit revealed our sinfulness and lost condition and revealed Christ as the answer to our need that we placed our faith in Christ, receiving Him as our Saviour, and became the children of God. From that moment the Spirit of God became co-witness with our renewed spirit that we were indeed children of God.
How is this assurance explained? It can't be explained. All we can do is testify to it. Like Paul we can say, "For I KNOW whom I have believed." "Believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may KNOW." This assurance cannot be explained to non-Christians for it is something that must be experienced to be understood. And the only way to experience it is by believing in Jesus Christ. When you believe in Christ the assurance that you are actually a child of God will be yours through the instrumentality of the Spirit of God.
But assurance does not stop here. With some Christians it may. But it need not. If we are the children of God, and the Spirit of God says we are after we believe in Jesus, then something else, most wonderful, is also true of us. "And if children, then heirs."
Don't hurry over this truth. "If children . . . then heirs!" Not just any ol' heirs; not just heirs of any ol' inheritance; but "heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ." This is enough to stagger the imagination. We are to inherit all that is God's. Think of it. And He owns everything, for "everything was made by Him and for Him." We are to inherit all that Christ inherits.
In Ephesians we get a glimpse of what is ours as children of God. God has made us ALIVE with Christ; RAISED us UP with Him; ENTHRONED us with Him in the heavenlies; and all of this "that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." It is His avowed purpose that as He "spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all . . . also with Him (to) freely give us all things."
Again, how do we become children of God? By faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. How do we become heirs of God? By becoming children of God. The inheritance belongs to ALL of God's children. We are not talking about rewards for faithful service, that is another subject. We are talking about the inheritance. That which comes to the individual as a result of simply believing in Christ. Maturity doesn't enter into the picture at this point. What we DO or do NOT do, has no effect upon our inheritance, we shall have it because of what Christ has DONE, and our believing in Him, and being born into God's family.
The lawyer who questioned Jesus erred in this respect. He asked: "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" DO? Who ever heard of inheriting by doing? You can DO nothing to INHERIT from God. This is a contradiction of words. You inherit not by doing but by being -- being born into the family. That's why Jesus told Nicodemus, "Ye must be born again." It is not possible to inherit or even see God's kingdom unless you are born of God, a child of God through faith in the Lord Jesus.
How sure can we be of this inheritance? Just as sure as we are sure of our God. If He cannot fail, then the inheritance is ours. He promises to keep it for us, and to keep us for it. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy begat us again unto an INHERITANCE incorruptible, and undefiled and that fadeth not away, RESERVED in heaven for YOU, who by the power of God are GUARDED" until you enter into it.
"The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are . . . heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ." It is yours, oh child of God, believe it, lay hold of it, rejoice in it, let the Spirit convince you of it.
But in the meantime we are also joint-heirs with Christ in His suffering. "If so be that (or inasmuch as) we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified with him." This is as it should be. The servant is not above his Master. If the Master was persecuted, so shall His servants be persecuted. We are appointed thereunto. So think it not strange when fiery trials come, but rejoice that you are counted worthy to share His suffering. And remember, it is only that you might share His glory.
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