ARE YOU READY?
Are you ready to meet what the new year of '63 may offer?
A new year. Actually it will not be new. There will be the same old troubles. One world crisis after another. Each imposing upon the world more danger. Maybe a lessening of tension in one place, but increasing tension in another. Nothing on the world scene can get any better, neither can it get much worse without an all-out world war.
As long as there are two world powers, with entirely opposite ideologies, each awesomely powerful, and one trying to conquer the world, the situation cannot improve appreciably until one or the other capitulates.
Nothing can save us from a too-horrible-to-imagine thermo-nuclear war, nothing except the God of the universe, that is. The United Nations can't save us, though it tries ever so nobly. More and more armament can't save us. Even if we were to strike first with our nuclear weapons, this would not save us.
Literally, actually, surely (and whatever other adverb you may use), the situation in the world is hopelessly hopeless. Sounds pessimistic, but true. We won't escape the truth by burying our heads in the sand and hoping it will all go away. We have, with our explosive discoveries, passed the line of no return. We have reached the end times.
That's why I ask you earnestly, sincerely, pointedly, urgently: Are you ready to meet the events of this new year? If not, then you better get ready. I don't know how to say it any more pointedly. I am at a loss for words to describe the awful urgency of this matter. I want to awaken you, even startle you into an awareness of your peril if you have not prepared for eternity. This very year may well be the year which ushers us all into eternity.
All who face this new year without proper preparation, as God would have us prepare, are utterly and absolutely without hope for eternity, and to say the least are very, very foolish. The Bible speaks of those who are "without Christ . . . having no hope, and without God in the world." I fear some of you reading this are in this condition. So I warn you in the words of Scripture: "Flee from the wrath to come."
But maybe with the Psalmist you ask: "Whither shall I flee?" The Bible's answer is: Flee to Christ. If those who are without Christ, are without hope of eternal life, then those WITH Christ, HAVE the hope of eternal life.
If we would be near God and far removed from eternal calamity, then know beyond doubt that this is the way: "Now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes (or once) were far off (from God and safety) are made nigh (to Him) by the blood of Christ." "For Christ also hath once suffered (and died on the Cross) for sins, the Just for the unjust (Christ for us), that he might bring us ('nigh') to God . . . "
So where to flee in this perilous age? To our fall-out shelters, to our missiles, to our churches? Flee to the Saviour, unashamedly confessing your sinfulness and receiving Him as your own personal Saviour and enthroning Him Lord of your life.
In this Refuge there is hope. God has sworn by an oath that in Christ we shall be eternally secure from any and all peril. It is "impossible for God to lie, (so) we . . . have a strong consolation (or encouragement), (we) who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast . . . "
"Christ in you, the hope of glory." Jesus our forerunner has already entered into that within the veil, into Heaven itself; we, too, who have Christ as our Saviour, have the promise of God (who cannot lie) of entering in. This is our only hope.
It is simply this: With Christ -- Hope for a bright future; Without Christ -- No hope at all. What will it be for you? I wouldn't dare face the "new" year without my Saviour, I trust neither will you.
Sincerely yours and His,
Art Gordon
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ANOTHER DAY IS DAWNING
Another day is dawning,
Dear Master, let it be,
In working or in waiting,
Another day with Thee.
Another day of progress,
Another day of praise,
Another day of proving
Thy wondrous works and ways.
Another day of service,
Of witness for Thy love;
Another day of training
For holier work above.
Another day is dawning,
Dear Master, let it be,
On earth, or else in heaven,
Another day for Thee!
-- Frances R. Havergal
PRECIOUS CHILD
"Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you." -- James 4:8
Precious child, this day draw near to Jesus;
How well He knows each problem, great or small;
How much He longs to have you nestle closely,
And there in His embrace, forget them all.
He walks beside thee, He will never leave thee,
There's not a moment He's not very near;
And like an eagle hovers o'er her eaglets,
He tenderly doth guard and watch you, Dear.
Just like a Shepherd takes the shivering lamb
And holds it close and safe from all alarm,
So He will bear you up, so sweetly, gently,
And hold you near and close within His arm.
Precious child, this day draw near to Jesus,
And you will find that He'll draw near to thee;
And as He holds you very closely to Him --
He'll just be all you wish that He would be.
-- Yvonne Virginia Smith
THE PATH I TREAD
"When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee . . . " -- Isaiah 43:2
The path that I must tread today,
Is not a strange untrodden way,
For this same path my Jesus knew
And He now leads me safely through.
I know though hard may be the test,
I can securely, safely rest
On Christ, my never-failing Friend,
Who'll keep me strong unto the end.
And through the darkest spot of all,
I know I shall not swoon or fall,
Because my Saviour will be there,
To strengthen and my load to bear.
I know that death has not a sting,
For Jesus from the tomb did bring
Victory o'er the grave and death,
And glory comes with life's last breath.
And so, in Christ, I can be strong,
For later on will come a song,
And soon that blest Eternal Home
Will find us all around God's Throne.
-- Yvonne Virginia Smith
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PERHAPS THIS YEAR
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
They did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.
Joshua 5:12
ISRAEL'S weary wanderings were all over, and the promised rest was attained. No more moving tents, fiery serpents, fierce Amalekites, and howling wildernesses: they came to the land which flowed with milk and honey, and they ate the old corn of the land.
Perhaps this year, beloved Christian reader, this may be thy case or mine. Joyful is the prospect, and if faith be in active exercise, it will yield unalloyed delight. To be with Jesus in the rest which remaineth for the people of God, is a cheering hope indeed, and to expect this glory so soon is a double bliss.
Unbelief shudders at the Jordan which still rolls between us and the goodly land, but let us rest assured that we have already experienced more ills than death at its worst can cause us. Let us banish every fearful thought, and rejoice with exceeding great joy, in the prospect that this year we shall begin to be "for ever with the Lord."
A part of the host will this year tarry on earth, to do service for their Lord. If this should fall to our lot, there is no reason why the New-year's text should not still be true. "We who have believed do enter into rest." The Holy Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance; He gives us "glory begun below."
In heaven they are secure, and so are we preserved in Christ Jesus; there they triumph over their enemies, and we have victories too. Celestial spirits enjoy communion with their Lord, and this is not denied to us; they rest in His love, and we have perfect peace in Him; they hymn His praise, and it is our privilege to bless Him too.
We will this year gather celestial fruits on earthly ground, where faith and hope have made the desert like the garden of the Lord. Man did eat angels' food of old, and why not now? O for grace to feed on Jesus, and so to eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan this year!
(From Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, published by Zondervan Publishing House,
Grand Rapids, MI)
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MY ALABASTER BOX
By Yvonne Virginia Smith
It may have been for years this spikenard, she
Had treasured till that day she longed for, when
Some love would claim her heart, and she was free
Its worth and fragrant costliness to spend.
It may have been she kept it hidden there,
Unviewed by human eyes, save hers alone;
And could it speak, her inmost soul 'twould bare,
And her most treasured dreams would then be known.
For latent in that box was all her love,
The hopes, the wishes of each girlhood year,
The joys and blessings sought from God above,
And all the promises by one held dear.
And then one day she heard a Stranger speak;
"I am the Life," she heard Him clearly say;
"I am the Truth for all of those who seek,
And unto God, I am the only Way."
And on that day, with tend'rest love He met,
The hidden longing seen by Him alone,
Until all else save Him she did forget,
And Jesus Christ became her very own.
And now a longing burns within her breast;
"How can I tell Him what I feel within?
How much I love Him cannot be expressed --
My precious Jesus, Saviour from my sin.
"What can I do? I love this Jesus so;
I have not much, it seems so very hard
To thank Him in a way real love to show."
And then she thought, "I have my box of nard."
"I've saved it, kept it for my very own;
And all my dreams I lovingly embrace
Are hidden deep within this box of stone;"
And turning then -- she looked into His face.
And as she looked, she knew that only He
Was worthy, more than worthy of her all;
And taking up the spikenard eagerly,
She let the box of alabaster fall.
And then she poured it on His feet and head,
Nor kept back any of its fragrance sweet,
She only knew her very heart had bled,
Had she not poured her all there at His feet.
What would He say? She wondered, kneeling there,
While all its costly fragrance filled the room;
And some, because this love they did not share,
Considered this a waste of rare perfume.
What would He say? She stayed there frightened, crushed,
Then Jesus spoke words tenderly and sweet;
"Let her alone," and all the room was hushed;
And Mary, trembling, clasped His precious feet.
"That which she could, she did." the Saviour said;
And oh, His heart was filled with joy, for one
Had counted all her treasures, hopes as dead,
In love for Him -- God's own anointed Son.
And I, like Mary, too, would break the flask,
And pour it on His head, His feet so scarred!
For this is what His loving heart doth ask --
That I love Him above my precious nard.
That I love Him, the fairest of the fair,
And give Him all -- no less can I afford;
And so my box I break with Mary there,
And worship at the feet of Christ my Lord.
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GOD IS RIGHTEOUS
WHAT MAN HAS NOT wanted to say to God, as Jeremiah did, "Let me talk with thee of thy judgments?" We all have times when we think we know more than God does about how to run the world. We all have had the question on our lips, Why? when something has occurred that does not seem right to us.
Oh, we do not say that we know more than God does, but that is the implication of our reasoning. We admit that God is all-wise and all-powerful, except when something goes wrong in our lives. Then we begin to wonder if, after all, there is a loving Father in Heaven.
We get impatient when things do not happen the way we desire, or when our service for the Lord does not meet with great success. We wonder why the wicked seem to prosper more than we do, or why some believer suffers so much. We despair at the shallowness and hypocrisy we see all around us and so we complain.
We cannot bear the thought that perhaps in the final analysis we do not have all the answers, and so we begin to wonder and wonder and wonder until we blurt out, "Lord, I've got some things to take up with you! Things aren't working out as I expected. What's wrong?"
If we are honest with ourselves, we probably think like this more than we would care to admit. Why do we think this way? Probably because we are still on the throne. Probably because we expect a personal vindication. Probably because none of us likes to admit that possibly there is something wrong with us. Probably because we cannot bear the thought of failure, so we look for excuses. We are impatient, immature babes, unwilling to say, "I am not skilled to understand what God hath willed, what God hath planned."
But there is a way to avoid this situation. There is nothing wrong with taking our questions and pleas to the Lord; in fact, that is where we should take them. We should bare our hearts before Him and tell Him all that troubles us, all that we cannot understand.
However, before we say to God, "Let me talk with thee of thy judgments," we must affirm with strong faith, Righteous art thou, O Lord" (Jeremiah 12:1). That is where we must begin if we are to escape the pitfall of presuming to question God and the sin of rebelling against His will. Even though the prophet had serious questions about God's providence, he fortified his mind and heart beforehand by justifying God -- even before he received any answers from the Lord.
God is righteous. He need not account to us for His ways, but we shall have to account to Him for ours. We cannot presume to judge or question God in the light of our finite reason and understanding. We must yield the authority of our minds to Him.
Even when there seems to be no satisfactory explanation, there is always the final answer, God is righteous, and we must rest in this fact, no matter what comes into our lives -- suffering, sorrow, weakness, or conflict. Let us admit our frailty and keep our hearts open to His love, wisdom, and righteousness.
(Copyright by The Sunday School Times and used with Permission.)
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Say: "This trial is His appointment;"
Whose? The Lord's Who loves thee best;
Understands and knows thee fully,
Who thy faith and love will test.
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I cannot work my soul to save,
For that's already done,
But I can work just like a slave,
For love of God's dear Son.
-- Jim Carter
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The man who is full of himself is empty of Christ.
-- Geoffrey T. Bull
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"IT IS I"
A great wind blowing, tossing sea,
And rowers toiling wearily,
Far from the land where they would be.
And then One coming; drawing nigh.
What care they now for starless sky?
The Light of Life says, It is I.
What care they now for toil of oar?
For lo, the ship is at the shore,
And their Beloved they adore.
Lord of the Lake of Galilee,
Who long ago walked on the sea,
My heart is comforted in Thee.
-- Amy Carmichael
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"Forgetting what is behind and reaching out for what lies before, . . . push on to the goal for the prize of God's heavenly call in Christ Jesus." -- Philippians 3:13,14
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SERMON SERIES
Romans 8
No. 9
In this text we observe the close kinship between ourselves and the rest of creation. The Apostle Paul would draw from nature a picture of mankind and especially of the Christian. He would show our present state as compared to our future. He uses creation to illustrate.
THE CREATION
The present condition of creation is described thus:
(1) The earnest expectation of the creation waiteth (19).
(2) Creation was subjected to vanity (20).
(3) Creation is in the bondage of corruption (21).
(4) Creation groaneth and travaileth in pain (22).
As to its future:
(1) Creation waiteth for the revealing of the sons of God (19).
(2) Creation waits in hope (20).
(3) Creation shall be delivered into the liberty of the glory of the children of God (21).
(4) Creation awaits our adoption or redemption (22, 23).
Have you ever invited someone to church only to have him say that he could worship God just as well out in the open, in God's great outdoors? He could look at the trees and feel closer to God than he could seated in a church building. I wonder about such worship, but in a sense this might be true. If the person would see in nature a picture of himself, of his present condition and his future prospects, and apply the truth to his own heart, then his "nature study" would be worthwhile. This is what Paul does in our text. May we learn the lesson well.
Paul, on his many journeys, must have walked through wooded areas at times. As he looked about he saw a creation that was caught in the iron grip of corruption, one subjected to vanity, one that was groaning and travailing in pain, while it waited with earnest expectation for something better. Over here he saw a dwarfed tree; over there a crooked and gnarled one; here one that was tall but spindly; there another that was decayed and dying; still another that had fallen and was no more than a dry, lifeless log. The larger trees cut out the sunlight from the smaller ones, preventing normal growth. Some trees suffer attack from blight and insects. So what have we? We have all about us a creation subjected to vanity, groaning and travailing in pain, anxiously awaiting deliverance.
All of these trees, from the smallest to the tallest, stand seemingly with their arms stretched heavenward, as in a petitioning manner. They appear to be looking to heaven for their deliverance. They are, you might say, waiting breathlessly and expectantly "for the revealing of the sons of God." They anxiously wait to "be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God."
THE CHRISTIAN
And what is true of nature is true of us. Not only creation, "but ourselves also, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for our adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body." Those "who have the first-fruits of the Spirit," are those who have Christ, and through Him salvation with all its by-products.
"Even we ourselves groan within ourselves." In our heart we are, to say the least, not satisfied with our present moral state. We are indeed exhorted to be content with such material things as we have, but we are never to be content with out spiritual stature. The true and honest Christian will recognize and readily admit that he comes short of the glory of God every day of his life. That's why he groans within himself. And this drives him daily to the bleeding side of his Redeemer, who "is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness," and where in daily fellowship "the blood of Jesus . . . keeps on cleansing us from all sin."
It wouldn't do for us to be content with our present state, lest when our Lord appears to take us to be with Himself we cry out, No, Lord, I am happily content where I am, let me be. If this life were perfectly satisfactory, then why desire another? But our present state is far from perfect or satisfactory. Thus we groan. We must confess with the Preacher of Ecclesiastes: "Vanity of vanities, all (under the sun) is vanity." We too look heavenward for better things.
What specifically do we look for? Like the rest of creation we wait with bated breath, earnestly expecting "the revealing of the sons of God." We anxiously anticipate our unveiling in glory as full-grown sons of God when we shall at last inherit our inheritance. With every passing day we become more and more weary with our comparative immaturity in spiritual matters. "For (now) we (only) know in part . . . but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away. (Like in the natural realm,) when I was a child, I spake as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child: now that I am become a man, I have put away childish things . . . NOW I know in part; but THEN shall I know fully even as also I was fully known."
Also we anticipate our ultimate deliverance "from the bondage of corruption" and our entrance "into the liberty of the glory of the children of God." For indeed we were, with all of creation, "subjected to vanity" and were all our "lifetime subject to bondage." But complete freedom of body, soul, and spirit shall be ours maybe momentarily and surely soon. "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." The Son HAS made us free; we SHALL be free!
Along with creation we anxiously anticipate "our adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body." We are saved in soul and spirit, but what of the body? It is yet to be redeemed. We are living in a tent while we wait for our eternal house from heaven. This is what Paul wrote to the Corinthians. "For we know that if our earthly house (tent-house) of this tabernacle (bodily frame) were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." He speaks of the body we now have and the one we shall have. The second so much better than the first, as heaven is so much better than the earth.
"For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven . . . We that are in this tabernacle (bodily frame) do groan, being burdened . . . that mortality might be swallowed up of life . . . and to be present with the Lord." How can we be satisfied with the narrow confines of a tent when a mansion lies just beyond the horizon, prepared just for us. Jesus said, "In my Father's house are many mansions . . . I go to prepare a place for you . . . that where I am, there ye may be also."
Abraham knew of this happy anticipation. "By faith he became a sojourner in the land of promise, as in a land not his own, dwelling in tents . . ., for he looked for the city which hath the foundations, whose builder and maker is God." Abraham's eyes were habitually fixed on his heavenly home. He could never be satisfied with the tents. Neither can we be truly be satisfied with our "tent-house," when we have the promise of a better and eternal abode above. This is why the Christian groans in the inner man, desiring, not that he should die or be "unclothed" (this is too negative). but that he should be "clothed upon with our house which is from heaven."
OUR HOPE
"For in (this) hope were we saved." This is the blessed hope of the child of God -- his bodily redemption. "But hope that is seen is not hope: for who hopeth for that which he seeth? But if we hope for that which we see not, then do we with patience wait for it." The fact that we HOPE for our bodily redemption indicates that we do not as yet possess it. There is no doubt that we shall possess it, however. But we, along with the whole of creation, "WAITETH for the revealing" and "the glory," "WAITING for our adoption . . . redemption," and "with patience WAIT for it."
We do envision eternal things somewhat now, but only ever so dimly. "For NOW we see in a mirror, darkly; but THEN face to face." The ancient polished his metal mirror carefully and thoroughly to assure himself of the best reflection of his image. But at best the image came back blurred, dim, and imperfect. The face he saw in the mirror was not nearly as clear as what his neighbor saw when looking directly into his face. Now we see very imperceptibly, dimly that which shall be ours in God's future. But the day shall come when we shall see "face to face." This is our hope as children of God. Hope like faith will one day pass away, when that which we hope for and that which we have faith in becomes ours in actuality.
Hope, like faith, is a fine and commendable, God-given virtue. But how much better will it be to see Him whom our soul desires, in whom we trust, whom we love. What young bride can be satisfied with only her thoughts or even a picture of her husband while he is far away. How can we, the bride of Christ, be satisfied with anything less than His actual physical presence? Yes, we have the Sacred Scriptures, a love-letter from His own hands, our mind is filled with blessed thoughts of Him continually, our heart goes out to Him at every mention of His name, but our heart aches with anticipation to behold Him face to face. The Mirror has served us well, our remembrances of Him have kept us looking up, we love Him more each day, but we long with bated breath and earnest expectation our joining Him in glory.
"If we hope for that which we see not, then do we with patience wait for it." The word "patience" may be translated "steadfastness." Someone says that if we get too heavenly minded we become of no earthly good. But this is not so. The greater our hope, the greater our steadfastness here. "Beloved, NOW are we children of God, and it is not yet made manifest what we SHALL be. We know that, if (when) He shall be manifested, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him even as He is." Blessed truth; blessed hope! "And every one that hath this hope set on Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure."
Do you need an anchor for your soul in this uncertain and perilous age in which we live? Certainly you do; we all do. There IS such an anchor. It is the hope we have in our Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ. May you who read these words do what thousands upon thousands of others have done through the ages, flee "for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us ('Christ in you, the hope of glory'): which we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast."
NOW
(1) Earnest expectation
(2) Vanity
(3) Bondage of corruption
(4) Groanings and travail
(5) See not
THEN
(1) Revealing of the Sons of God
(2) Hope
(3) Deliverance
(4) Adoption, redemption
(5) "Face to face"
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