YOU ARE KEPT
Peter, writing under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, says to the "elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ . . . ," to those begotten again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, that they "are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time" (I Peter 1:2,3,5).
You know if you are one of these elect, foreknown by the Father, sanctified by the Spirit, cleansed by the blood of Christ, and born again. You know you have said your "Amen" to all that God has accomplished through Christ for your salvation. To you the HOLY SPIRIT records the promise: "YOU ARE KEPT!"
This Epistle is written primarily to those who "are in heaviness through manifold temptations . . . sojourners in a strange land . . . undergoing fiery trials. They needed this word from God concerning their security. So may you.
During times of sickness, pain, and sorrow our spirits sometimes sink pretty low. If the time is extended we give way to complaining, doubts arise, even questioning God's purposes. Faith waivers, fears crowd in, apprehension. We may feel God has forsaken us because of our wicked heart of unbelief and impatience.
But Jesus prays for us, as He did for Peter, "that your faith fail not." When we are about to sink into the depths for fear of the storm that rages around and within us, immediately Jesus stretches forth His hand to catch us, and we are kept by the power of God. In fact constantly underneath is that omnipotent hand, "neither shall anyone pluck them out of my hand," says Jesus. "He is faithful that promised."
If you find yourself one of God's afflicted, here is something in which you may greatly rejoice, though now for a season, ye are in heaviness: God reserves something wonderful and glorious for you in heaven -- YOU WHO ARE KEPT by the power of God unto that time and glory. Sometimes you may be too weak to hold Him, but you may be sure He will never let you go. YOU ARE KEPT!
-- The Editor
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"A NAME WHICH IS ABOVE EVERY NAME:
That at the name of JESUS every knee should bow , , , every tongue should confess that JESUS CHRIST is LORD, to the glory of God the Father."
Philippians 2:9-11
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CONTROLLED BY CHRIST
"For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he . . . "
Proverbs 23:7
The way one thinks will eventually determine the way one lives! How important then to have the "mind of Christ" (I Corinthians 2:16). This can be had only through appropriating all of the means of grace available, and by a complete yielding of self to the Person and will of the Holy Spirit!
A person soon becomes like the god he worships! If he places on the throne of his heart: lust, greed, pride, or some other unworthy idol, he becomes increasingly a misshapen soul -- a misfit -- a disgrace to God and man. If, on the other hand, he is tuned by grace to become conformed to Christ, his life grows into a symphony of beauty and blessing.
One who has experienced the new birth and such a holy renewing of his mind through the power of the Holy Spirit -- writes of this broadening power of grace in his life as follows:
"This world, I thought, belonged to me
-- goods, gold, and people, land and sea
-- . . . where'er I walked beneath God's sky,
in those old days, my word was 'I.'
. . . Years passed. There flashed my pathway near,
the fragment of a vision dear;
. . . my former word no more sufficed,
and what I said was -- 'I and Christ."
. . . But, Oh, the more I looked on Him,
His glory grew, while mine waxed dim;
. . . I shrank so small, He towered so high,
all I dared say was -- 'Christ and I.'
. . . Years more, the vision held its place,
and looked me steady in the face;
. . . I speak now in a humbler tone,
and what I say is -- 'Christ alone!' "
The famous Lord Leighton, speaking to a company of his contemporaries who also were interested in the fine arts, put his philosophy of success into six words: "As we are, so we work!" In a higher sense this is also eminently true of each servant of the Lord. As he thinks, so is he; and as he is, so he acts!
Henry G. Bosch in "Our Daily Bread" Radio Bible Class
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JESUS SHALL REIGN
By Isaac Watts
Jesus shall reign where'er the sun
Does his successive journeys run;
His kingdom spread from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more.
From north to south the princes meet
To pay their homage at His feet;
While western empires own their Lord,
And savage tribes attend His word.
To Him shall endless prayer be made,
And endless praises crown His head;
His name like sweet perfume shall rise
With every morning sacrifice.
People and realms of every tongue
Dwell on His love with sweetest song,
And infant voices shall proclaim
Their earthly blessings on His name.
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CHRIST ALONE
The Sole Revealer of God
The prophet Isaiah said, "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light." Don't you think that this is an inexpressible light which enables us to see the heart of God and the depth of the Godhead? And that we may also see the thoughts of the Devil and what sin is and how to be freed from it and what death is and how to be delivered. And what man is, and the world, and how to conduct oneself in it. No one before was sure what God is or whether there are devils, what sin and death are, let alone how to be delivered. This is all the work of Christ, and in this passage He is called Mighty and Wonderful.
The Sole Redeemer of Man
He is the sole redeemer of man from the thralldom of sin and the gates of death. He alone is the hope of any enduring society upon earth. Where men do not know Bethlehem's Babe they rave and rage and strive. The angels proclaimed peace on earth, and so shall it be to those who know and receive this Babe. For what is it like where Jesus Christ is not? What is the world if not a perfect hell with nothing but lying, cheating, gluttony, guzzling, lechery, brawling, and murder. That is the very Devil himself. There is no kingliness nor honor. No one is sure of another. One must be as distrustful of friends as of enemies, and sometimes more. This is the kingdom of the world where the Devil reigns and rules. But the angels show in their song that those who know and accept the Child Jesus not only give honor to God but treat their fellow men as if they were gods, with peaceable demeanor, glad to help and counsel any man. They are free from envy and wrangling, for the Christian way is quiet and friendly in peace and brotherly love where each gladly does the best he can for another.
Martin Luther in "Here I Stand"
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THE NAME OF JESUS
It remains when all else disappears; it endures when everything else perishes; and retains fame, prestige and lustre in the midst of transitory fading splendour.
Amongst living kings, queens, princes and princesses it is reverently honoured and esteemed, and whilst the authority of such is great, its dominion and power is infinitely vaster than theirs. The influence it exercises for good in an evil world far exceeds that questionable dominion of all combined dictators in the earth.
Angels, keeping their own estate, know it and worship whilst they rejoice together in seeing it apprehended in the faith of men's hearts.
Fallen angels, devils, demons also know it, confess it, but fear and tremble.
Many sober minded leaders amongst men recognize it, commanders of armies and Navies, defenders of fortresses and outposts.
It has flashed into the vision of falling air pilots and stirred the memories of stricken seamen in ocean depths, of dying miners in the dark tombs of the earth.
Many a doctor has been fortified by it, whilst nurses have whispered its wonderful music to the weak and dying.
It has been a power for hope and comfort to the despairing in concentration camps, in dread dungeons and cruel prisons.
Perish it cannot -- endure it will, for the immutable will of the everlasting God has decreed it.
Schemes, plans, conspiracies, ambitions hold sway for a while but the sway of the wonderful name of JESUS continues on and on forever.
In favour and disfavour, in honour and dishonour, in fervent adoration and in cavilling reviling, in loving appreciation and in neglectful indifference, amongst believer and unbelievers, around kingly thrones and in nomadic encampments, in colleges and in workshops, amongst white races and coloured, around the belt of the Equator and on Arctic icefloes, by Indian river sides and in Canadian forests -- this strangely magnetic name -- JESUS -- is the one power to move the hearts of men.
Its unfailing testimony has echoed in the theatres and palaces of ancient Rome -- it was carried to the limits of its far-flung empire. When that empire fell the Name remained, reached Gaul and Goth, Briton and Celt, and on to Northern lands, ever spreading. It travelled with and into history, reached the Dark Ages, shone in cloister and cell, wood cabin and cave, east, west, north and south, always the same in unfailing attractiveness, arising afresh for every new generation in renewing hopefulness and power for blessing. In an unceasing effort to eradicate it from the earth Satan has employed every agency, all his cunning, all his hate.
By persecution and destruction, by flattery and fraud, by patronage and promises, by corruption and violence he has never slept in his campaign to blot it out, but here it is yet. It sounds in the silence of the night, awakes with the dawn and comes into speech in the daytime. At every turn and angle it confronts us and is forced upon our attention.
It lives because He lives, and because He lives to the ages of ages His name shall likewise endure.
Listen, reader! Is there known to you any other name like it, however great it be? Do you know any name-word in the whole vocabulary of man of which we can truly say such wonderful things?
Like a lone mountain peak rising high in gleaming majesty far above all other heights, this one unique Name of unsurpassed wonder and significance soars upward in sublimity in its own great testimony to men. God intends that it shall be so in order that men universally shall look to Him -- JESUS.
"There is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved."
"Thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins."
"Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved."
Where else can we look with hope? It is a time of unparalleled fear and anxiety amongst men; new powers for death and destruction have been discovered and developed, and that coveted peace for which men have looked, toiled, fought and died is further away than ever, and yet it is there, all of it, in JESUS.
Who has not heard of the Good Samaritan? Who does not know of the Good Shepherd? Who has not read or heard of Him who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with Him?
Some names are loathsome to men, others inspire courage, others fear and terror, but the name of JESUS had a winning charm of holy attractiveness which no other name ever could have. Nobody fled from Him in fear, but great crowds came near to hear His wonderful speaking. With what intense yearning He cried to men: "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink."
He has not changed. What He was He is; and the same words of earnest and loving entreaty still hold good today, coming in all their heavenly charm and sweetness from JESUS now crowned with glory.
His name is the finest credential possible. It is an imperishable commendation to every man whatever his colour, race or nationality, of that marvelous grace of God which would have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth.
H. R. Wilkinson in "Things Concerning Himself"
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EMMANUEL -- JESUS
"Thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins." -- Matthew 1:21
"They shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, 'God with us.'" -- Matthew 1:23
The mystery of the person of Jesus is altogether beyond creature comprehension. Men cannot say how the divine and human -- Godhead and Manhood -- are united in Christ Jesus, "for no man knoweth the Son but the Father." But we may own Him as very God and very Man, and worship and adore Him who, in becoming Man, never ceased to be God.
Miraculously conceived by the Holy Ghost, Jesus was truly born of the Virgin. He took part in flesh and blood and became that which He was not before, yet He never ceased to be that which He always was. In incarnation He was not God in human form merely -- a theophany, a man in outward appearance only -- as He appeared to Manoah and Abraham, but a man with body, soul and spirit as we have. He was weary in body at Sychar's well. He groaned in spirit at the grave of Lazarus, was troubled in soul in Gethsemane in anticipation of Calvary's sorrow. He was sensitive to neglect, contumely, ingratitude, misunderstanding -- He deeply felt these things, though bearing all in a meek, and lowly spirit; He was a real man in every sense of the word. His perfect human affections went out toward the home in Bethany; He delighted to turn thither after the day's toil, and found repose among those who loved and appreciated Him.
He delighted in the society of His own disciples. He took them into the holy mount that they might behold His glory, and into the death chamber of Jairus' daughter that they might witness the power of resurrection which declared Him to be the Son of God. He desired their companionship, and looked for their sympathy in the distress of His soul in Gethsemane; they failed Him, and His words to them, "Could ye not watch with me one hour?" prove how keenly He felt this.
He was ever dependent upon God. He lived by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God. He exercised no will apart from the Father. He sought not His own glory, but the glory of the One who sent Him. His meat was to do His will and finish His work.
In Him we see a man -- a true man -- in all that man should be for God and all that man should be to man, for He loved the Lord His God with all His heart and His neighbour as Himself, and yet He never ceased to be God! Herein is the wonder of wonders, the marvel of marvels, the great mystery, and here we bow and worship.
This is altogether beyond our comprehension, beyond definition and explanation; the Father only grasps the complex mystery of the person of the Son. All the fulness of the Godhead dwelt in Him, when as a lowly man He trod the earth, died, and rose from the dead, and dwells in Him still, the now glorified Man on the throne -- a real man. He was heard, seen, handled by His disciples after His resurrection; He ate and talked with them, and while in the act of blessing them, He ascended into heaven, and is still the Man Christ Jesus, the one mediator between God and men; though He sits by right at the right hand of the Majesty on high, He is, and ever will be, the Man Christ Jesus; He is the Firstborn among many brethren. Yet in Him also we shall eternally behold the affulgence of God's glory, the exact expression of His substance.
He is portrayed as God manifest in the flesh by the four Evangelists. Matthew tells us that the Virgin's son is "Emmanuel" -- God with us; Mark, that Jesus is the Lord whose paths are to be made straight, the beloved Son in whom the Father's pleasure is found; Luke presents Him as the Son of Man whose genealogy can be traced to Adam, and yet declares Him to be the "Son of the Highest"; whilst John goes back to the beginning, and affirms that then He, the Word was not only with God, but was God, the first great Cause from which all creation emanated, and yet -- wonder of wonders! -- became flesh, a real man, and tabernacled amongst men.
Jesus grew up from infancy to manhood, experiencing perfectly every vicissitude of that growth apart from sin; this had no place in His being; He was not only sinless but incapable of sinning.
Godhead glories and human perfections center in Him; He is the "I am," the self-existing One, David's Lord as well as David's Son. We cast our crowns at His feet and worship before Him who is Son of God and Son of Man. Worship is His by right, hence He accepted without reserve the homage rendered to Him in the days of His flesh. The Magi bowed before the young Child, present those offerings which betokened His kingly glory, priestly grace, and prophetic office. The angelic hosts celebrated His first advent, fulfilling the word, "Let all the angels of God worship Him."
Again and again during His sojourn here voice after voice was raised to celebrate His praise and ascribe glory to Him. The disciples in the boat -- impressed with His almighty power -- worshipped Him, saying, "Of a truth thou art the Son of God" (Matthew 14:33); the cleansed leper, falling at His feet, gave Him thanks and thus gave glory to God (Luke 17); whilst the blind man in John 9, in the light of the revelation that Jesus is the Son of God, "worshipped him."
After He was risen Thomas owned Him as Lord and God; the woman -- prostrate at His feet -- worshipped Him (Matthew 28:9); the disciples, as they beheld Him carried up into heaven, also worshipped Him (Luke 24:52). During His present session at the right hand of God, Paul, Peter and John render Him direct homage, ascribing "glory for ever and ever" (2 Timothy 4:18); "glory both now and forever" (2 Peter 3:18); "glory and dominion for ever and ever" (Revelation 1:6).
In the glorious future He will be universally worshipped, every part of the universe will own His authority; the elders, bowing before Him, will cast their crowns at His feet, ascribing to Him those qualities which it would be blasphemy to attribute to any one who is not "over all, God blessed for ever!"
The "young child" carried by His parents into Egypt to escape the persecution of Herod is the same holy Babe whom the Magi worshipped, placing their treasures at His feet as His by right. The "hungered" Man who met Satan's temptation with the Word of God and overcame by perfect dependence is the same who spoiled Satan during His life and annulled his power in His death. The wearied Man fatigued with constant service, who laid His tired head on a pillow in the hinder part of the ship and peacefully slept while the storm raged, is the same Jesus who proved that He was God by commanding the winds and quelling the storm by a word from His lips. The sympathetic Man who wept at the grave of Lazarus is the almighty Being whose voice of power awoke the dead to life. The thirsty Man at Sychar's well asking there for a draught of water is the Giver of a fountain whose waters are ever springing up into everlasting life.
His death, equally with His life, demonstrates the wonderful complexity of His being. He was crucified through weakness, and yet He had power to cry with a loud voice at the very moment of His death. His life was taken from the earth, and yet no one could have taken His life apart from His own voluntary will; no mere man could dismiss His spirit, yet He dismissed His, whilst in the perfection of dependence as a man at the same moment He commended it to the care of God His Father in perfect confidence.
He was taken from the cross and laid in the tomb, His body guarded in every possible way that the malice of Satan and the ingenuity of man could devise, yet the empty tomb with the napkin laid by itself and the clothes folded in order demonstrate Him to be superior to every foe, more powerful than man and Satan combined. During His life He had witnessed by calling others back to life that resurrection power was bound up with His person, but His own resurrection was the full and final declaration that He is the Son of God with power, the mighty Conqueror over death and the grave.
As we contemplate the marvels found in His person we rejoice to know that He will never cease to be man, real man, in whom we shall contemplate for ever the fulness of the Godhead, and bow before Him, extol and bless for ever the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us; and yet ever was, before the world, in the world, and will be throughout the ages of ages the eternal God, Jehovah's Fellow -- coequal with the Father and the Holy Ghost.
Henry Nunnerley in "Things Concerning Himself"
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