EDITORIAL
The best compliment you could pay us would be to write and say, "Please send your paper, 'Triumph,' to my friend," and then of course include the name and address of your friend plainly printed.
This would be a compliment because we know you want the best for your friend. It would be like saying that you trust us with your friend. It would show that we of "Triumph" are your friends too. We want to be your friend; and your friend's friend.
Our motive for publishing this little paper, however, is not just to win friends, but to introduce you and yours to another Friend. Friend Jesus. And thereby to set up a triangular friendship which will prove a blessing to all involved.
A student once asked a college professor, "What is the Bible all about?" The professor wisely answered, "The Bible is all about Jesus." That's what we want our paper to be all about -- all about Jesus.
So, if this is your first copy of "Triumph," we are pleased to make your acquaintance in this way. If you have been receiving it, we want you to know we are grateful for the opportunity to come into your home by this means month after month. And as we said we would like to meet other of your friends through our paper.
It is our avowed purpose to introduce our Friend, Jesus Christ, to our readers, and to fellowship with them around His Person. Jesus told the healed demoniac, "Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee." We desire to tell all our friends through "Triumph" how great things the Lord has done for us. We would like to tell your friend this too.
When you send us the name and address of your friend or friends you are enacting the role of Cornelius all over again, only with 20th Century variations, who "had called together his kinsmen and near friends" to hear the gospel of Christ from the lips of the Apostle Peter. I don't claim to be another Peter, but I do have the same gospel and the same Saviour to present to your friends, if you'll give me an entrance through "Triumph" to their homes.
It was Jesus who explained and exemplified true friendship. He told His disciples, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Christ went the extra mile to demonstrate His love and friendship toward us, for "when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son." Now He can say "Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." "Henceforth I call . . . you friends." This is the highest kind of friendship -- to be a friend of Jesus. I am glad for His friendship. I know you are too. Let's share His friendship with some of your other friends.
Maybe you have friends who are sick or shut in or otherwise physically afflicted. We would especially like to share our good Friend Jesus with them through our paper. He has the answer to every need. They would be happy to know Him. He desires that they know Him. He wants to be their Friend. "Triumph" can be one means of getting your friends and our divine Friend together. So let's hear from you soon. And let's earnestly pray that your friends will not only admit our paper to their home but Christ into their heart.
Sincerely yours and HIS,
Art Gordon, Editor
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MODERN-DAY DANIELS
By Caroline E. Studdiford
A MISSIONARY AND HIS WIFE in the Sudan, Africa, were walking to another village to preach the Gospel, when, upon turning a bend in the road, they saw five lions coming toward them. They looked about for a tree to climb. There were no trees. If they turned and ran the lions would be right upon them. They had no guns. What could they do?
They continued walking toward the lions, breathing out prayers for protection. (How we need to pray for the safety of our missionaries! We never know what is happening to them.) The lions kept coming closer. Then they stopped. God must have spoken to them. Suddenly they bounded off to the side of the road, and stood roaring at the missionaries as they passed by. These were missionaries I have on my prayer-list, Mr. and Mrs. Sam Burns. They said it was as if some unseen hand held the lions back.
At another time Mr. Burns was on his motorcycle, with an African Christian name Deng on behind him. They had left Yabus Bridge, their Mission Station, early in the morning so they wouldn't have to travel in the fierce heat of the day. Suddenly Deng's knuckles dug into Mr. Burns' side, as he tried to attract his attention, and looking up, Mr. Burns saw four eyes gleaming in the light of the head lamp.
In the middle of the road there were two full grown lions, only about fifteen yards away. One was a hungry looking female, and the other a big male, with his collar of fur bristling fiercely around his head. They put on the brakes, but kept the motorcycle running, and prayed that God would show them what to do.
The male lion disappeared silently into the long grass beside the road; they rather expected him to come up behind they. If they had turned around the lioness would have jumped on their backs. They moved a little closer and blew the horn and flicked the headlight. She stood her ground. Then she put her head close to the road and switched her tail back and forth like a cat ready to spring upon a mouse.
"Oh God, help us now," Mr. Burns prayed. Then he opened the throttle wide and headed the motorcycle straight at the lioness. Suddenly she turned around and ran down the road. The motorcycle roared behind her. Then she wheeled off into the grass and disappeared. They went on their way thanking God for His deliverance.
Are you facing lions of disappointment, discouragement, illness, sorrow, despair? Are there obstacles in your path -- trials and troubles which would swallow you up? Do as the missionaries did regarding the lions -- face them and go straight forward. Do not try to evade them. Do not run from them, but keep praying that God will make a way through for you, and He will.
Do not give up; do not try to hide from them or escape them, or the "lions" will be upon you. The Psalmist said: "When my heart was overwhelmed within me, then Thou knowest my path." Job said: "He knoweth the way that I take and when He hath tried me I shall come forth as gold." Then forget not to praise Him for a great deliverance.
(Sunshine Letter No. 22, Fall of 1962)
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HE LOVES ME
For the love of Christ constraineth us . . . 2 Corinthians 5:14.
FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS I laboured for God believing I was spending myself in His service because I loved Him. I told my heart that "the love of Christ constrained me." I could do nothing else but serve Him because I loved Him so much.
Now I have learned a delightful secret. I love Him; oh, how I love Him! But I am able to serve Him only because He loves me. "The love of Christ constraineth me." It is His love for me that constrains, literally, holds me together (holds me fast) that I may do His will, whatever the cost. It will hold you too. Forever.
(LIFE OF FAITH)
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ARE YOU
PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED?
By Edwin Raymond Anderson
THE ADDRESS ON THE ENVELOPE was written with such a jagged scrawl as to be almost unreadable. In fact, it was not "written" at all; at least not in the usual sense of the word. These lines of the envelope were made by a 16 year old girl by means of the stub of a pencil tightly clenched between the teeth. She was born without arms. She is physically handicapped. So am I, as the result of an accident which occurred some years ago. You to whom these lines are addressed are also laboring under a physical handicap. I can understand and sympathize.
But humans are quite often higher than their handicaps. This young lady is sailing through high school with an "A" average, and already is planning to attend college by means of correspondence. She is not the least depressed nor discouraged.
You may learn to live with your handicap. Through the process of rehabilitation, the means of physical therapy, both of which have made tremendous advances within the last few years, many can be brought back in large measure from the land of uselessness and be taught to do things for themselves.
But there is one hurdle which, by yourself, you can never overcome. There is no system of therapy which can successfully bridge the gap, try as one might.
Let the living Word of the Eternal God describe it, in far better language than mine:
"As by one man SIN entered into the world, and death by sin . . . so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" (Romans 5:12).
"All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).
None of us are free of the indicting verdict:
"Dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1).
I have been at physical therapy centers and have seen men and women, boys and girls, slowly, painfully make the long road back. I have seen handicapped people, by sheer grit - and - will, fight against almost impossible odds. I have seen poor, twisted bodies made useful, eventually going back to work, supporting their families, earning a living.
But SIN cannot be overcome in that manner. The hurdle is too deep, the gap too great. When it comes to the vital things of eternity, the Lord has counted every single one of us as
"without strength" (Romans 5:6).
We all
"do fade as a leaf" (Isaiah 64:6).
Is all lost? Is there no hope? Shall our souls be crippled for eternity after our ruined frame is laid in the silent dust?
No! I bear good tidings of great joy! Your precious soul may be SET FREE from the crippling clamps of sin! Not by rehabilitation, but by redemption; not by therapy, but by the far greater application of the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
"For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed" (Romans 10:11).
"Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13).
The blessed Lord Jesus has Himself bridged the great gap; what a glorious truth!
"Christ died for our sins" (I Corinthians 15:3); "his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree" (I Peter 2:24).
By the simple exercise of saving faith in His finished work one may here and now experience the blessedness of Psalm 40:2,3:
"He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto my God."
I am physically handicapped, and I know that I shall never be the same while in the flesh; the accident has left its mark. But I do rejoice that I am not a spiritual cripple, nor need you be.
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MY CHILD
"Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love . . . " Jeremiah 31:3
My Child, just now look up to Me.
I'm standing, Oh, so close, so near to thee;
And, Child, I love thee, Oh, so tenderly: --
Look up, dear Child, look up to Me.
My Child, just now lean on My heart,
My arms are holding thee, so dear thou art;
My hands are sheltering from the Tempter's dart: --
Lean now, dear One, upon My heart.
My Child, just now rest in My love,
I long to teach you things you know not of;
To give you peace that cometh from Above: --
Rest now, dear Heart, rest in My love.
My Child, just now I hold your hand,
Your cares, your weariness, I understand;
A precious rest for thee I've planned: --
Be still, dear Child, I hold your hand.
And now, dear Child, I ask of thee,
To tell Me of the love thou hast for Me,
And I will make it stronger, brighter be;
Speak now, dear one, thy love for Me.
My Child, just now look up to Me,
I'm standing, Oh, so close, so near to thee;
And, Child, I love thee, Oh, so tenderly: --
Look up, dear Child, thy God you'll see!
-- Yvonne Virginia Smith
BENEATH HIS WINGS
"Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of Thy Wings" --
Psalm 17:8.
"He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust." --
Psalm 91:4.
There is a place where I delight to hide,
A place where joy abounds, where my heart sings,
A restful place, where love and peace abide;
It is beneath the shadow of God's wings.
This place is always waiting for His own,
Each hour of the day or night 'tis there;
And every feather that life's wind has blown,
He here doth smooth and tenderly repair.
Beneath His wings, I'm nearest to His heart,
Where all is still, and I am hushed to hear
The whispers of His love -- till teardrops start;
And telling Him my love, He draws so near.
And bending low, He holds me just so tight,
I almost can His arms about me feel,
And I see nought save Christ, my One Delight;
And all else fades and He alone is real.
Beneath His wings, against His heart He'll keep
His child, with tender, never-failing care;
And never will He tire, nor ever sleep;
And Beneath His wings! -- His child is happiest there!
-- Yvonne Virginia Smith
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WRITE THEM DOWN
WRITE DOWN your individual sins, one by one. (Not that, surely! Some one might find the paper, and what a mess it would be.) Write them down, nevertheless. Your sins, your own sins; just like a merchant going over his books.
Ingratitude. Did you always thank God for His favors? Write it down! And as you write, a thousand places where you rewarded His love and care with thankless heart will rise like stern accusers. Write it down!
Lack of love. Go over all the places where objects that perished with the using obscured His face. Go over all the instances where you gave your love to others.
Neglect of the Bible. Record such times as you remember when for days you had no real pleasure in the Word. And as you deal with the vivid examples, memory will fill the pages with a thousand forgotten times of shameless disobedience.
Neglect of Prayer. Write it down; How often have you stood in the Tower of the Flock without waiting in His Presence? Write it down!
Envy. You wanted a revival, but you wanted to be the star of its appearing.
Neglect of the Home Altar. (Behold now, thy servant cannot write. The page is wet with tears.)
Lack of Concern for the Lost. Be truthful, now. Write it down!
Write it all down! Slander, lying, cheating, hypocrisy, bad temper, filthy mind. Write it down and as you write, a thousand shades of shame arise . . .
You say you wanted a revival.
Now you can see why you never had one.
(From Biography of Charles G. Finney by Richard Ellsworth Day.)
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SERMON SERIES
Romans 8:28
No. 11
(Joseph)
"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." (AV)
NEXT TO JOHN 3:16, I suppose this verse is the most beloved in all the Word of God. It has been a pillow for many a weary head, a stay for many a wavering heart, a compass for many a bewildered pilgrim.
This verse is not a promise; it is a fact. Often promises are accompanied by conditions. If we fulfill the conditions, the promises will come to pass. But here the fact is stated "that all things work together for good." This is a glorious fact that belongs to "them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." The child of God may count on its truth. It comes to us without any condition on our part, except that of being a child of God, and shall prove true eventually and conclusively.
Actually this verse needs no explanation. All it needs, to be enjoyed, is to be believed. Our attitude, as with all Scripture, should be: God said it; I believe it; that settles it. But our believing mechanism needs prodding from time to time. And since faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God, we shall look into the Sacred Writings for some illustrations of this fact of our verse. This month we want to review the story of Joseph with Romans 8:28 in mind.
LIFE OF JOSEPH
The life of Joseph may be read in the first book of the Bible, Genesis, beginning in chapter 30 and continuing from chapter 37 thru 50.
Joseph's life began in Padan-aran or Syria, in the little town called Haran. He was born to Jacob and Rachel. When he was yet a youth the family moved back to Canaan where his father had lived previously. We pick up the story proper, then, in the land of Canaan.
Joseph is seventeen, when we first see him with his half-brothers feeding their father's sheep. Jacob loved Joseph more than his other sons, because he was the son of his old age and because he was the son of Rachel whom he loved dearly. Joseph's brothers were jealous of him and hated him.
One day Joseph told his brothers of a dream he had. In the dream his brothers had done obeisance to him. This was the straw that broke the camel's back. They wanted to kill him. Their chance came one day when Joseph was sent by his father to Dothan to bring back a report of his brothers and how they were fairing. They had gone ahead to find grazing for the sheep. Joseph was sent later to find them.
As the lad approached, the brothers hatched a plan to get rid of "this dreamer." All of them, except Reuben, Jacob's first-born, were in favor of killing him on the spot and dumping his body into an empty cistern nearby. Reuben objected. So they threw him in alive and left him to die of hunger and thirst. Reuben planned to rescue him later.
But while Reuben busied himself elsewhere, a caravan of Ishmaelites came by, headed toward Egypt with their wares. Judah suggested they sell their brother to these traders. Which they promptly did. The brothers concocted a fabrication of the truth to tell their father, leading him to believe Joseph had been torn to pieces by a wild animal. Jacob was heartbroken.
JOSEPH IN EGYPT
Joseph was brought to Egypt. Potiphar, captain of Pharoah's body guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites. But we read, "the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man . . . " Recognizing his capabilities, Potiphar soon made him manager of his whole estate. But Joseph's troubles weren't over.
Potiphar's wife was an adulterous woman. She saw this well-formed and handsome Hebrew through lustful eyes. She flirted with him and spoke endearingly to him. Before long she was asking him to commit the grossest of sins. Joseph refused, saying that the captain had put everything into his hands, but certainly not his wife.
One say when all the other servants were out of the house, Mrs. Potiphar asked Joseph again to sin with her, and as she did she grabbed hold of his coat. At this, Joseph tore loose from her grasp and bolted out of the house, leaving his coat in her hands. Since she couldn't have from the Hebrew what she wanted, she decided to fix him, but good! She took the coat into her chamber and when hubby came home accused Joseph of trying to force his attention upon her, showing the coat as proof.
So our friend finds himself in prison, bound hand and foot. But again we read, "the Lord was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison." The warden saw his potentialities and promoted him to a position of responsibility over the other prisoners.
Presently the king's chief butler and baker were committed to prison. Supposedly they had tried to poison the king. Later it was proven that only the baker was guilty, and he was executed. The butler was acquitted and restored to his butlership. But while they were yet in prison each of them had a dream. The interpretation of their dreams puzzled them, until Joseph volunteered with God's help to interpret them. He interpreted correctly in each case, and as the dreams predicted, the baker was hanged and the butler freed. Before the butler took his leave of the prison Joseph requested of him that he would put in a good word for him with the king, that if possible he might get out of prison.
But in his ecstasy of being free again, the butler forgot about Joseph. Joseph remained behind bars another two years. But the king had a dream, and no one was found who could interpret it. This jogged the butler's memory and he thought of his former fellow-prisoner. "I know a man who can tell the king the meaning of his dream," said the butler. And he related the story of the incident which occurred to him in prison two years before. Pharoah hopefully summoned the prisoner to appear before him.
JOSEPH EXALTED
Upon hearing the king's dream, Joseph, giving the glory to God, interpreted it. He also offered the king some good advice as to how to effectively deal with the situation that was the subject of the dream. The dream was from God and was a prediction of coming events in Egypt. There were to be seven years of prosperity in the land, followed by seven years of famine. The famine of those latter years would be so severe that Egypt would not survive unless something was devised to meet the crisis. Joseph suggested to the king a plan that could save the country. Pharoah was so impressed he made Joseph Prime Minister of all the land of Egypt, put him in charge of all that pertained to the kingdom, entrusted to him the plan to save Egypt from calamitous ruin. He placed on his finger the official signet ring which authorized him to act in the king's name and with his power.
The seven years of prosperity came and went, during which Joseph stored up very much grain in the cities. The years of famine followed and continued with awful tenacity for their appointed duration. But Joseph's foresight (Divinely given) saved the day. The people in Egypt, as well as the surrounding peoples, including his own family in Canaan, were saved from certain death.
At the height of the famine Joseph's brothers appeared on the scene to buy grain from the Egyptians for their starving families. Joseph recognized them immediately; they didn't know him. They prostrated themselves before this the second highest official in Egypt. It's interesting to remember the reaction of these same brothers years before when Joseph related his dream to them, in which they bowed down to him in recognition of his sovereignty over them. They had recoiled in disgust at such a suggestion. "Shall (we) indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?" they protested. But here they were on their knees touching their proud foreheads to the ground, with their arms outstretched in an attitude of obeisance to this Governor of Egypt who, unbeknownst to them, was brother Joseph.
Before long Joseph made himself known to them. Jacob was overjoyed to find his beloved son alive. Pharoah gave an official invitation and welcome to Joseph's kin, to come and dwell in Egypt and to live off the fat of the land. The family consisted of 70 souls who came down to be sustained of their long-lost brother in Egypt. The children of Israel flourished and prospered in Egypt. Joseph completed the remaining years of his life there in great honor and wealth.
RETROSPECT
Since we know the end of the story and that it turned out for good, we may be tempted to forget the years of affliction this man of God endured. Although we can see the end, we must not forget, Joseph in the midst of his trials could not see the end. These were frightful years. His strait circumstances must have caused him much grief of spirit and soul, though we never hear him complain. His afflictions were just as real and just as burdensome as yours and mine. Hated by his brothers . . . thrown into a pit and left to die . . . sold into slavery . . . lied about and cast into prison, all of these things were very real to this young man living as an alien in a foreign land. He didn't know the outcome.
The one thing that Joseph could -- and did -- rely upon was that God was with him to help him and to bring everything out right. It is evident throughout the account that he loved God and trusted Him, and that he was indeed called of God to fulfill a special God-ordained purpose in life. By the time we finish the story it has become very clearly true that "all things (DO) work together for good to them that love God." Joseph's life proves it so. Even the afflictions along the way.
Joseph's sufferings were not for naught, but were for a higher purpose, which even Joseph couldn't see at the time. But he could look back in retrospect, after the trials were over, and declare to his brothers: "Ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good; to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive."
Have you ever thought of your afflictions in this light? Possibly God has a higher plan and purpose for you. Maybe through your sufferings someone else will be blessed, or even saved. I received a letter recently from one who spends her days in a wheel chair, and carries on a correspondence with needy ones around the world; she said: "Well, I had to spend more time in the hospital . . . Of course my mail got far behind, and I am buried in letters to answer. Some came to me while I was in the hospital asking that I tell them more about God, and what they must do to be saved." God sent Joseph down into Egypt to save many people. Could it be He has sent you down into the land of affliction for the same reason? We are convinced that this little paper, "Triumph," which was born in affliction, is part of the Divine plan to bring life to many people.
Joseph named his two boys, born to him in Egypt after his exaltation, Manasseh and Ephraim. Manasseh means "forgetting," and Ephraim means "fruitful." The meaning of these names sums up Joseph's life story in Egypt, as he looks back in retrospect. He could look back without regret and say, "God has made me forget my hardships . . . " and "God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction."
You and I may be sure, as we submit to God's sovereign will for our lives and trust Him throughout, that at the end of the journey, as we look back in the light of obtained glory, we shall have ample cause to testify with Joseph that truly God has made us forget the hardships of the way and that He did make us fruitful in the midst of our afflictions. Then we shall know as never before "that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose."
Let me say this in conclusion, Jesus became our Joseph. He came down into the world, sent of God, to obtain salvation for us. He submitted to the death of the cross, bearing there our sins in His own sinless body; He arose from the dead; He ascended and is exalted at the Father's right hand. Through His suffering He "saved much people alive." "Whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life."
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