From The Editor's Desk:
Hello!
Are there children in your home? Maybe your own, or grandchildren, nephews or nieces, or maybe you know some neighbor children. In this issue is a message especially for youngsters, by a powerful preacher of the last century. Would you like to be a missionary? Here is your opportunity. I'm sure you are concerned about the souls of your young people. So I am counting on you to see to it that at least the "Guest Sermon," gets into their hands. It may result in their eternal salvation. Pray with us that thus many may be turned to the Saviour.
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The word "triumph' in the Bible is an interesting word. It immediately brings into focus an enemy, a battle, and victory. Thirteen of the fourteen times it is used in the Bible, God is given the credit for its realization by the children of God, "for," sang Moses and the people of Israel, fresh redeemed from Egyptian bondage, "He hath triumphed gloriously."
And so with us, our God came down to fight for us. He came into enemy territory. The battle was joined. A cross loomed on the horizon. The cross was endured. Death, the grave, and hell boasted another victim. But such a Victim they had never swallowed before. The Lord God Almighty spoke and they were made to disgorge Him. In resurrection power He burst forth victorious over His enemies, "and having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it."
What at first seemed victory for His enemies and defeat for His friends, was in reality the opposite. "For He hath triumphed gloriously . . . triumphing over them in it." His death dealt the final blow which would send His enemies reeling to destruction. His resurrection proved it so. Sin, death, and hell, and Satan himself were defeated once and for all by this Heavenly Warrior, which victory will be finally realized by everyone who marches under His banner.
So, Christian warrior, where does this find you? On the battle field? Of course; that's where we all are. Some advance on the front line, some stay by the stuff. But ours is not a funeral dirge, rather a song of triumph. The victory is assured. Our Captain has come, conquered, and now contains the enemy until their final imprisonment in the Lake of Fire. The war is over, only skirmishes remain. Battles to be fought, but the war is won.
Our song: -- "Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." Yes, "thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ . . . "
Sincerely yours & HIS,
Art Gordon, Editor
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"Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." I Corinthians 15:57
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The sixth in a series on
HIS CLOTHES
"GRAVECLOTHES"
"And He bowed His head, and delivered up His spirit." Many stood around the cross witnessing the death of this illustrious Individual. Some of His own disciples stood at a distance looking on.
One of these was a rich man of Arimathea named Joseph, who later went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. "And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and rolled a great stone to the door . . . " (Matthew 27:59,60).
So ended the life of the greatest man who ever lived. Or was this the end? Doubters think so. Believers know this was not the end of the story.
Indeed it was necessary that the eternal Son of God should come to this point -- graveclothes -- for He came to die. He came to die for us. He wore graveclothes that we might not have to. It was either this -- His wearing graveclothes for three days and nights -- or us wearing them for all eternity. Eternal death was to be our just end, but Jesus Christ took it in our place. He bore in three days what it would have taken us an eternity to bear.
But this was not His end. "Because," prays the Son to the Father, "thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption." It is true "that He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth," but "He that descended is the same also that ascended . . . "
On the first day of the week came some of His followers to the tomb. When they arrived they found the huge stone door rolled back and Jesus' body missing. Two men in shining garb stood there who told the perplexed party, "Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen."
Peter and the others were skeptical upon hearing this report, and he and John made a dash for the tomb. John got there first, "and stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in.
"Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie . . . " The empty graveclothes bore mute evidence that truly this Jesus was indeed the very Son of God, Redeemer and Messiah, and that He had risen from the dead as He had promised. John testifies that "he saw, and believed."
"Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed," avowed Jesus later. And John wrote of these things, "that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name."
Yes, Jesus came to wear graveclothes, but they could not hold Him forever. Death could not long hold the Prince of Life. "In Him was life." "I am the Life," declared He. And what is more, "He that hath the Son hath life . . . he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." But just as true, "he that hath not the Son of God hath not life . . . he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."
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WHEN I SEE HIM
"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is." I John 3:2
What rapture, Oh, what glory I shall know
When Jesus calls for me; I do not care
If it be through death's valley I must go,
Or if I glimpse Him in the air.
What joy unspeakable for me 'twill be
To look upon the face of Him I love,
To worship at His feet eternally,
Forever safe with Christ my God above!
What ecstasy untold; my heart will thrill
When Jesus takes me by His nail-scarred hand;
What praise, what worship will my being fill
When in His likeness I before Him stand.
I'll look into the dearest eyes I know,
I'll clasp the hand of Him Whom I love best,
And thank Him o'er and o'er He loved me so,
As lovingly He holds me to His breast.
I do not know how long I yet must wait,
I only know I yearn to see my Lord;
I know one glimpse of Him will compensate
For any little pain life doth afford.
I only know till then 'tis mine to tell
The lost and dying that He loves them too,
And that He died to rescue them from Hell,
That they may there Above my Saviour view.
Today may be the day for Him to come,
Today may be the final day of grace;
'Ere I fall asleep He may call me Home,
What a joy today 'twould be to see His face!
-- Yvonne Virginia Smith
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The sixth in a series on
HIS NAMES
"JEHOVAH-NISSI"
What do we know about God? What is He like? Actually we know very little about Him outside of the revelation in the Bible. In the Bible God's character is revealed, for instance, by the names that are ascribed to Him. One such name is found in Exodus 17:15 and 16.
"And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi: for he said, Because the Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation."
Israel was a nation greatly blessed of God. God had chosen her to be His own special inheritance through whom to manifest to the world His grace and power.
When He found her in Egyptian bondage He redeemed her by blood and a mighty, stretched out arm. When He found her trapped at the Red Sea He made a path through the midst of the sea to effect her deliverance. When He found her without water and without food in the desert He miraculously supplied refreshment and nourishment.
"Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel . . . " Out of the frying pan into the fire. Delivered from Egypt only to encounter a long-lost cousin who would be a thorn in the flesh from generation to generation. Troubles. Trials. Affliction. Defeat. Thought we were done with these things when saved. Not so. Life is no bed of roses on either side of the cross. But on this side we have Jehovah-nissi, and that makes all the difference in the world.
Jehovah-nissi means "Jehovah my Banner." Israel had Jehovah on their side. He would go with them, fight for them, and conquer. They had but to look above the camp and see His glory in the cloud by day and the fire by night. He would never leave nor forsake them. He was their Banner over them.
And so He is to all who trust in Him. Jesus has promised, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the age." "He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."
When He found us lost in the world and in bondage to sin He redeemed us with His precious blood and saved us by His resurrection power. When He finds us hungering and thirsting after righteousness He satisfies us with the rivers of living water, His Spirit, and the bread sent down from heaven, Himself.
When He finds us confronted by the enemy, faint and confused, ready to succumb, He speaks words of encouragement reminding us that His grace is sufficient, that He will deliver the foe into our hands, and that victory is assured since the battle is His.
So look up embattled saint! Jehovah-nissi, Jehovah my Banner, is on your side. Behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, and run with patience the race that is set before you, looking unto Jesus. Consider Him! He is with you to fight for you. He is our Banner, By this Banner conquer!!
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Jesus lives a life of watchful work. He rests not night and day. His outstretched hands are ever pleading, and ever pouring down supplies of grace. He purchased all heaven's blessing, that His people may never want. And as each need arises. He is all vigilance to see -- all bounty to bestow. -- Things Concerning Himself.
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A LONELY ROAD
Are you called to walk a lonely road? Many of our readers are elderly and sometimes in their letters confide to us their loneliness. If this is your case, let me suggest something which may be of some encouragement.
Remember the story of Philip in Acts eight? Philip was one of the first deacons. He was preaching in Samaria when "an angel of the Lord told Philip, 'Rise up and about midday go down the road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza, -- a lonely road.' So he got up and went . . . " (26 and 27a -- Berkley Version). It was a lonely road because Philip was obliged to leave the fellowship of other Christians and to strike out on a path all by himself.
Is that your lot? Have you had to withdraw from Christian activity to an inactive, lonely, desert road, cut off from the mainstream of life? The world passes you by -- which may be just as well -- but so does the church and her people, and you are, so to speak, left by the side of the road to eat their dust.
But this road is not as desolate as you may think. At first it might seem you are its only traveler, but there are at least two others on the road.
God is there. On Philip's lonely road the presence of God was very evident. The angel of the Lord led him onto the road. The Spirit led him on the road. And the Spirit of the Lord translated him from the road.
God always accommodates Himself to any situation into which He leads His own. If He has led you onto a lonely road, you may be sure He will lead you on that road, and He will eventually rapture you from it.
The Greek word translated "caught away" in our text, where it is said "the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip," is the same word translated "caught up" in First Thessalonians (4:17), where we are promised, at the return of the Lord, to "be caught up" . . . to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." At the end of the road is the rapture. With all loneliness left behind we shall be caught up and away to fellowship as we have never known it before, not only with Christian brethren, but with our Lord Himself.
There is also another traveler on our lonely road, a lonely stranger. He is lonely because of an unfulfilled need in his heart. And what he needs, we have. He needs Jesus. Our loneliness resulted from a lack of fellowship with other believers; his loneliness results from a lack of fellowship with God. He is religious, as evidenced by the fact we meet him returning from church, and he is reading his Bible. But after a short conversation it becomes apparent he has no knowledge of what he reads.
Philip asked the stranger on his lonely road, "Understandest thou what thou readest?" "How can I?" he asked, "except some man should guide me." And Philip began where he was reading and told him simply of Jesus the Saviour.
Could it be that God has led you onto this road to contact some needy soul? He is lonely for lack of a Saviour. You have met the Saviour and been reconciled to God. You have sweet and daily communion with the Saviour, which shall culminate in even sweeter, more wonderful. and eternal communion with Him. Yours is a lonely way, but not without God. His way is lonely without God.
Philip told his fellow traveler about Jesus. The man responded with faith, "and he went on his way rejoicing." If God has led you to this place for this purpose, and you rise to the occasion by telling others what you know of Jesus, it is certain that you will be God's instrument in changing someone's lonely road into a road of rejoicing, at the end of which is the rapture. You may even find your own road transformed from a lonely to a lovely way.
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GUEST SERMON
WHY CHILDREN SHOULD COME TO CHRIST WITHOUT DELAY
By Robert M. McCheyne
Saintly Scotch preacher of the 19th Century.
"O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days." -- Psalm 90:14
The late Countess of Huntingdon was not only rich in this world, but rich in faith, and an heir of the kingdom. When she was about nine years of age she saw the dead body of a little child of her own age carried to the grave. She followed the funeral; and it was there that the Holy Spirit first opened her heart to convince her that she needed a Saviour.
My dear children, may the Holy Spirit bring you to the same conviction; may the still small voice say in your heart, Flee now from the wrath to come. Fly to the Lord Jesus without delay. "Escape for thy life: look not behind thee."
I. Because life is very short. -- "The days of our years are three-score years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be four-score years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow, for it is soon cut off, and we fly away."
Even those who live longest, when they come to die, look back on their life as upon a dream. It is "like a sleep." The hours pass rapidly away during sleep; and when you awake, you hardly know that any time is passed. Such is life.
It is like "a tale that is told." When you are listening to an entertaining story, it fills up the time, and makes the hours steal swiftly by. Even so "we spend our years as a tale that is told."
You have noticed the mist on the brow of the mountain early in the morning, and you have seen, when the sun rose with its warm, cheering beams, how soon the mist melted away. And "what is your life? It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away."
Some of you may have seen how short life is in those around you. "Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?" How many friends have you lying in the grave? Some of you have more friends in the grave than in this world. They were carried away "as with a flood," and we are fast hastening after them.
In a little while the church where you sit each Lord's Day will be filled with new worshipers, a new man of God will fill the pulpit. It is an absolute certainty that, in a few years, all of you who read this will be lying in the grave. Oh, what need, then, to come to Christ without delay! The longest lifetime is short enough. "Oh, satisfy me early with thy mercy, that I may rejoice and be glad all my days."
II. Because life is very uncertain. -- Men are like grass: "In the morning, it groweth up and flourisheth: in the evening, it is cut down and withereth." Most men are cut down while they are green. More than one-half of the human race die before they reach manhood. In the city of Glasgow alone, more that one-half of the people die before the age of twenty. Of most men it may be said, "He cometh forth as a flower, and is cut down." Death is very certain, but the time is very uncertain.
Some may think they shall not die because they are in good health; but you forget that many die in good health by accidents and other causes.
Again, riches and ease and comforts, good food and good clothing, are no safeguards against dying. It is written, "The rich man also died, and was buried."
Kind physicians and kind friends cannot keep you from dying. When death comes, he laughs at the efforts of physicians, he tears you from the tenderest arms.
Some think they shall not die because they are not prepared to die; but you forget that most people die unprepared, unconverted, unsaved. You forget that it is written of the strait gate, "Few there be that find it." Most people lie down in a dark grave, and a darker eternity.
Are you prepared to die? Have you fled your refuge to Jesus? Have you found forgiveness? "Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth."
III. Because it is happier to be in Christ than out of Christ. -- Many that read these words are saying in their heart, It is a dull thing to be religious. Youth is the time for pleasure -- the time to eat, drink, and be merry; to rise up to play. Now, I know that youth is the time for pleasure; the foot is more elastic then, the eye more full of life, the heart more full of gladness. But that is the very reason I say youth is the time to come to Christ. It is far happier to be in Christ than to be out of Christ.
1. It satisfies the heart. -- I never will deny that there are pleasures to be found out of Christ. The song and the dance, and the exciting game, are most engaging to young hearts. But ah! think a moment. Is it not an awful thing to be happy when you are unsaved? Would it not be dreadful to see a man sleeping in a house all on fire? And is it not enough to make one shudder to see you dancing and making merry when God is angry with you every day?
Think again. Are there not infinitely sweeter pleasures to be had in Christ? "Whoso drinketh of this water shall thirst again; but whoso drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst." "In thy presence is fulness of joy: at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore."
To be forgiven, to be at peace with God, to have Him for a Father, to have Him loving us and smiling on us, to have the Holy Spirit coming into our hearts, and making us holy, this is worth a whole eternity of your pleasures. "A day in thy courts is better than a thousand." Oh, to be "satisfied with favor, and full with the blessing of the Lord!"
Your daily bread becomes sweeter. You eat your meat "with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God." Your foot is more light and bounding, for it bears a ransomed body. Your sleep is sweeter at night, for "so he giveth his beloved sleep." The sun shines more lovingly, and the earth wears a pleasanter smile, because you can say, "My Father made them all."
2. It makes you glad all your days. -- The pleasures of sin are only "for a season"; they do not last. But to be brought to Christ is like the dawning of an eternal day; it spreads the serenity of heaven over all the days of our pilgrimage.
In suffering days, what will the world do for you? "Like vinegar upon niter, so is he that singeth songs to a heavy heart." Believe me, there are days at hand when you will "say of laughter, It is mad; and of mirth, What doeth it?" But if you fly to Jesus Christ now, He will cheer you in the days of darkness.
When the winds are contrary and the waves are high, Jesus will draw near, and say, "Be not afraid; it is I." That voice stills the heart in the stormiest hour.
When the world reproaches you, and casts out your name as evil, when the doors are shut for fear, Jesus will come in, and say, "Peace be unto you." Who can tell the sweetness and the peace which Jesus gives in such an hour?
One little girl that was early brought to Christ felt this when long confined to a sickbed. "I am not weary of my bed," she said, "for my bed is green, and all that I meet with is perfumed with love to me. The time, night and day, is made sweet to me by the Lord. When it is evening, it is pleasant, and when it is morning, I am refreshed."
Last of all, in a dying day, what will the world do for you? The dance, and the song, and the merry companion, will then lose all their power to cheer you. Not one jest more; not one smile more. "Oh, that you were wise, that you would understand this, and consider your latter end!"
But that is the very time when the soul of one in Christ rejoices with a joy unspeakable and full of glory. "Jesus can make a dying bed softer than downy pillows are." You remember, when Stephen came to die, they battered his gentle breast with cruel stones; but he kneeled down and said, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." John Newton tells us of a Christian girl who, on her dying day, said, "If this be dying, it is a pleasant thing to die."
Another little Christian, of eight years of age, came home ill of the malady of which he died. His mother asked him if he were afraid to die. "No," said he, "I wish to die, if it be God's will: that sweet word, Sleep in Jesus, makes me happy when I think on the grave."
"My little children, of whom I travail in birth again till Christ be formed in you," if you would live happy and die happy, come now to the Saviour. The door of the ark is wide open. Enter now, or it may be never.
(From Memoirs of McCheyne -- Moody Press, Chicago; adapted for "Triumph" by the editor.)
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