PRISONERS OF HOPE
This phrase appears in Zechariah 9:12. It made me think of many of you, my readers. You are prisoners in a very real sense. Some of you are imprisoned in paralyzed bodies, or bodies racked with pain. Many are prisoners to four walls, shut-ins. Actually we all are prisoners to some degree. We find ourselves bound to this globe by the force of gravity; limited by time and space.
But let me remind you who have taken Jesus Christ as your Saviour, you are not just a prisoner, but a "prisoner of hope." You will not be forever imprisoned in your present condition. There is hope for the children of God. He "hath begotten us again unto a living hope." There is hope for you.
Christ Jesus is our hope. Zechariah tells us to "turn to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope." That "stronghold" is a Person. Jeremiah recognized this and prayed: "O Lord, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction . . . O Lord, the hope of Israel . . . " Our Lord is the same today; He is our strength and fortress and refuge in the day of affliction, our hope.
We are prisoners indeed, but we are prisoners of hope. Better days are coming. We can count on it. God has promised. It is impossible for God to lie, so that we "have a strong consolation, (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 steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil, where the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus . . . "
Beyond this, we the prisoners of earth are "looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour, Jesus Christ."
I trust no one reading this is a "prisoner without hope." There are those who are without Christ, having no hope, and without God in this world. If you find yourself in this condition, it is time you gave heed to Zechariah's command and "turn to the Stronghold." Then it will be true of you: "But now in Christ Jesus ye who once were far off are made near by the blood of Christ." Then you will be prisoners of hope.
-- Editor
**********
"The Lord is at hand.
Do not worry about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.
. . . And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,
shall guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
-- Philippians 4:5-7
**********
HIS HUMANITY
We have seen that the Word of God presents Jesus Christ as one who is truly God, and that as God He became incarnate in human flesh. We shall now see that this human nature of His was genuine and complete. If the Deity of Christ is important, so also is His Humanity.
The Bible speaks of Christ as of one who is truly human.
He is called by names which imply human nature. "For there is one God, one mediator also between God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus." Jesus said to His enemies, "Ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth." Jesus said that God "gave him authority to execute judgment, because he is a son of man."
Also there are certain expressions referring to Jesus which imply true human nature. Paul says of Him: "Who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh."
Jesus Christ is set forth in the Bible with all the essential elements of a true human being. These elements are: spirit, soul, and body. The "spirit" is that part of man which "knows" -- his mind. Because man is spirit he is capable of God-consciousness, and of communication with God. The "soul" is that part of man which is the seat of the affections, desires, and so of the emotions, and the active will, the self. Because man is a living soul he has self-consciousness. The "body" is that part which houses the spirit and soul, and is made up of bone, flesh, and blood, and communicates with the surrounding world through the five senses. Because man is body he has world-consciousness.
Our Lord has all these elements.
Jesus told His critics, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." "He spake of the temple of his body." As He contemplated His coming passion, Jesus remarked to those standing by, "Now is my soul troubled." On the cross Jesus cried out, "Father, into thy hands I comment my spirit." Our Lord is not only truly God, but He is also truly human in every sense of the word.
In Christ were displayed all the marks of a true human being.
He begins His life as a babe, with a prenatal period. Luke says that Mary was "great with child." The angel told the shepherds: "Ye shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger."
He grows and develops as a human being. (Note, growth does not denote imperfection.) Again Luke says, "And the child grew, and waxed strong, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him." "Jesus advanced in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men."
He displays the emotions formed in a normal human being. It is said of Him that He manifested anger, a troubled spirit, sorrow, grief, love, agony. He displays normal human appetites. "When he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he afterward hungered." On the cross He said, "I thirst."
Jesus displays also certain human limitations. "Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus by the well." "There arose a great tempest in the sea . . . but he was asleep." "And there appeared unto him an angel . . . strengthening him." "Though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered."
He had the appearance of a human being. The woman at the well asked Him, "How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, who am a Samaritan woman?" How did she know He was a Jew? Obviously by appearance.
Finally, Jesus proves He is human by suffering and death. "When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up his spirit." After He succumbed "one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and straightway there came out blood and water." This was indeed the death of a true human being.
But as we affirm that Jesus Christ has every essential characteristic of true human nature, we must not forget that sin is excluded. Sin is an abnormality in human nature, not an essential part of it. He lived in human nature without sin. He was the most perfect -- in fact the only perfect -- human being that ever lived.
The practical value of this truth of the humanity of Christ is that man's yearning for a mediator who is truly human has been satisfied. The age-old problem of the ancient Job that "there is no umpire (mediator) betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both," has been fully met in Christ Jesus, "for there is one God, one mediator also between God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus" (I Timothy 2:5).
"Since then the children are sharers in flesh and blood, he also himself in like manner partook of the same; that through death he might bring to nought . . . the devil; and might deliver all them who . . . were all their lifetime subject to bondage" (Hebrews 2:14-15).
**********
LEAVE IT ALL IN JESUS' HAND
Do you wonder why the blessing -
That you prayed for is delayed,
While others seem to get theirs
Before request is made?
It's not for us to understand,
But leave it all in Jesus' hand.
Do you wonder why your loved one
Was taken Home to stay,
While other folks were left here
Who are only in the way?
It's not for us to understand,
But leave it all in Jesus' hand.
Do you wonder why you suffer pain
While others are so healthy,
Or why you have to skimp and save,
While other folks are wealthy?
It's not for us to understand,
But leave it all in Jesus' hand.
Just lean upon the Saviour,
Just rest at His dear feet,
His strength will prove sufficient
For the testing you must meet.
It's not for us to understand,
But leave it all in Jesus' hand.
-- Contributed by reader.
**********
LITTLE SHIMMABUKE
It was an obscure little community of only a few hundred native Okinawa's. Thirty years before, an American missionary on his way to Japan had stopped here. He had not stayed long -- just long enough to make a couple of converts, leave them a Bible and then pass on.
One of the converts was Shosei Kina, the other was his brother Mojon. From the time of the missionary's visit, mind you, they had seen no other missionary, had no contact with any other Christian person or group. But in those thirty years Shosei Kina and his brother Mojon had made that Bible come alive. Picking their way through its pages, they had found not only an inspiring Person in whom to trust and to pattern a life, but sound precepts on which to base a society.
Aflame with their discovery, they taught the other villagers until every man, woman and child in Shimmabuke was a Christian. Shosei Kina became head man in the village; his brother Mojon, the chief teacher. In Mojon's school the Bible was read daily. To Shosei Kina's village government, its precepts were law. This Book was their literature, their moral code, their final court of appeal for all the problems of living. And under the impact of the Book pagan things had fallen away. In their place, during these thirty years, there had developed a Christian community. It was one that Japanese occupation forces, moving in to fortify the island, could neither understand nor shake.
Then after thirty years came the American Army, storming across the center of the island Little Shimmabuke was directly in their path and took some severe shelling. When our advance patrols swept up to the village compound, the GI's, their guns levelled, stopped dead in their tracks as two little old men stepped forth, bowed low and began to speak.
An interpreter explained that the old men were welcoming them as fellow Christians. They had heart the Americans were on their way; they remembered that their missionary had come from America. So, though these Americans seemed to approach things a little differently than had the missionray, the two old men were overjoyed to see them.
The GI's reaction was typical. Flabbergasted, they sent for the chaplain.
The chaplain came, and with him officers of the Intelligence Service. They toured the village and were astounded at what they saw -- the spotlessly clean homes and streets, the poise and gentility of the villagers, the high level of health and happiness, intelligence and prosperity of Shimmabuke. They had seen many other villages on Okinawa -- villages of unbelievable poverty and ignorance and filth. Against these Shimmabuke shone like a diamond in a dungheap.
Shosei Kina and his brother Mojon observed the Americans' amazement and took it for disappointment. They bowed humbly and said: "We're sorry if we seem a backward people. We have, honored sirs, tried our best to follow the Bible and live like Jesus. Perhaps if you will show us how . . . " Show them?
I strolled through Shimmabuke one day in company with a tough old Army sergeant. As we walked he turned to me and whispered hoarsely, "I can't figure it, fellow -- this kind of people coming out of only a Bible and a couple of old guys who wanted to live like Jesus!" Then he added what was to me an infinitely penetrating observation: "Maybe we've been using the wrong kind of weapons to make the world over!"
(In the magazine, Things Concerning Himself, published by Charles Nunnerley, Bucks, England.)
**********
REALITY
Reality, reality,
Lord Jesus Christ, Thou art to me!
From the spectral mists and driving clouds,
From the shifting shadows and phantom crowds;
From unreal words and unreal lives,
Where truth with falsehood feebly strives;
From the passings away, the chance and change,
Flickerings, vanishings, swift and strange,
I turn to my glorious rest on Thee,
Who art the Grand Reality.
Reality in greatest need,
Lord Jesus Christ, Thou art indeed!
Is the pilot real, who alone can guide
The drifting ship through the midnight tide?
Is the lifeboat real, as it nears the wreck,
And the saved ones leap from the parting deck?
Is the haven real, where the barque may flee
From the autumn gales of the wild North Sea?
Reality indeed art Thou,
My Pilot, Lifeboat, Haven now.
Reality, reality,
In brightest days art Thou to me!
Thou art the sunshine of my mirth,
Thou art the heaven above my earth,
The spring of the love of all my heart,
And the fountain of my song Thou art;
For dearer than the dearest now,
And better than the best, art Thou,
Beloved Lord, in whom I see
Joy-giving, glad Reality.
Reality, reality,
Lord Jesus Christ, is crowned in Thee.
In Thee is every type fulfilled,
In Thee is every yearning stilled
For perfect beauty, truth, and love;
For Thou art always far above
The grandest glimpse of our Ideal,
Yet more and more we know Thee real,
And marvel more and more to see
Thine infinite Reality.
Reality, reality
Of grace and glory dwells in Thee.
How real Thy mercy and Thy might!
How real Thy love, how real Thy light!
How real Thy truth and faithfulness!
How real Thy blessing when Thou dost bless!
How real Thy coming to dwell within!
How real the triumphs Thou dost win!
Does not the loving and glowing heart
Leap up to own how real Thou art?
Reality, reality!
Such let our adoration be!
Father, we bless Thee with heart and voice,
For the wondrous grace of Thy sovereign choice,
That patiently, gently, sought us out
In the far-off land of death and doubt,
That drew us to Christ by the Spirit's might,
That opened our eyes to see the light
That arose in strange reality,
From the darkness falling on Calvary.
Reality, reality,
Lord Jesus Christ, Thou art to me!
My glorious King, my Lord, my God,
Life is too short for half the laud,
For half the debt of praise I owe
For this blest knowledge that "I know
The reality of Jesus Christ," --
Unmeasured blessing, gift unpriced!
Will I not praise Thee when I see
In the long noon of Eternity,
Unveiled, Thy "bright Reality!"
-- Francis Ridley Havergal.
**********
**********
THE SOVEREIGN GOD
A. W. PINK
"Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all." -- I Chronicles 29:11.
Ours is peculiarly an age of irreverence, and as the consequence, the spirit of lawlessness, which brooks no restraint and which is desirous of casting off everything which interferes with the free course of self-will, is rapidly engulfing the earth like some giant tidal wave. The members of the rising generation are the most flagrant offenders, and in the decay and disappearing of parental authority we have the certain precursor of the abolition of civic authority. Therefore, in view of the growing disrespect for human law and the refusal to "render honor to whom honor is due," we need not be surprised that the recognition of the majesty, the authority, the sovereignty of the Almighty Law-Giver should recede more and more into the background, and that the masses have less and less patience with those who insist upon them. And conditions will not improve; instead, the more sure Word of Prophecy makes known to us that they will grow worse and worse . . . Present-day conditions call loudly for a new examination and new presentation of God's omnipotency, God's sufficiency, God's sovereignty. From every pulpit in the land it needs to be thundered forth that GOD STILL LIVES! that GOD STILL OBSERVES! that GOD STILL REIGNS! Faith is now in the crucible, it is being tested by fire, and there is no fixed and sufficient resting-place for the heart and mind but in THE THRONE OF GOD.
What is needed now, as never before, is a full, positive, constructive setting forth of the Godhood of God. Drastic diseases call for drastic remedies. People are weary of platitudes and mere generalizations -- the call is for something definite and specific. Soothing-syrup may serve for peevish children, but an iron tonic is better suited for adults, and we know of nothing which is more calculated to infuse vigor into our frames than a scriptural apprehension of the full character of God. It is written, "The people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits" (Daniel 11:32).
Without a doubt a world-crisis is at hand, and everywhere men are alarmed. But God is not! HE is never taken by surprise. It is no un-expected emergency which now confronts Him, for He is the One who "worketh all things after the counsel of His own will" (Ephesians 1:11). Hence, though the world is panic-stricken, the word to the believer is, "Fear not"! "All things" are subject to His immediate control: "All things" are moving in accord with His eternal purpose, and therefore, "all things" are "working together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28). It MUST be so, for "of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things" (Romans 11:36).
**********
THE THORNS
"There was given to me a thorn in the flesh" -- 2 Corinthians 12:7.
Paul prayed three times that the thorn in the flesh be removed. This thing which "was a messenger of Satan" was made to be a servant of God. Paul's prayer was answered but not in the manner he wanted. The reply was, "I'll not remove your thorn, but I will give you grace to bear it." This denial of Paul's request did not mean destitution, but a new way of deliverance: the weight of his burden was not diminished, but his strength to carry it was increased. If the thorn had been removed, the rose would have died, for these two things are inseparable in the Christian life. We thank God for the blood-red rose of some exquisite joy, but fail to thank Him for the thorns of some pain, grief, sorrow, or loss. How good it is to know that every rose that will bloom in the garden of Heaven, will be there because of thorns . . . the thorns which HE wore.
Paul asked for strength to achieve, but he was made weak to obey. He asked health to do great things, he was given infirmity to do better things. He asked riches to be happy, but he was given poverty that he might be wise. He asked power to have persuasion with men, he was given weakness to feel his need of God. He asked all things to enjoy life, he was given life to enjoy all things. He received nothing that he asked for, but got all that he hoped for. His prayer was answered, to his blessing and to God's eternal glory.
-- Dr. G. R. Paterson.
**********
THERE'S POWER IN PRAISE
Nathanael Olson
Christian Friend, there's power in praise! Praising God for everything is the key to a happy, victorious Christian life. An unknown author wrote this factual, forceful formula for happiness:
"The shortest, surest way to all happiness is this: Make it a rule to thank and praise God for everything that happens to you, for it is certain that, whatever seeming calamity comes to you, if you thank and praise God for it, you turn it into a blessing. Could you, therefore, work miracles, you could not do more for yourself than by this thankful spirit, for it needs not a word spoken and turns all that it touches into happiness."
Christian, do you thank God for the unpleasant things as well as the pleasant things which come your way? Complaining will drag you down into the darkness of despondency; praise will lift you into the glorious light of God's presence. Don't smile weakly and say, "I'm not doing too bad under the circumstances," when praise can lift you above the circumstances!
A poor man, with just a fifty-cent piece in his hand, was on his way to buy his last meal. Suddenly, he stumbled, and the money slid down under the board sidewalk. Instead of complaining, this thankful man said, "Well, praise God! I still have my appetite!"
When the Psalmist David didn't see a very pleasant present, he thanked God for the blessings of the past. Have you praised God recently for all His past benefits? Are you so busy asking, "Please give me this," that you have no time to say, "Thank you for that"?
Remember, there's always something for which to be thankful. So praise God:
When you're weak, "for His strength is made perfect in weakness."
When you're tried "for (you) shall come forth as pure gold."
When you have to wait, "for they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength . . . "
There's power in praise! Therefore, obey the Biblical command, "In everything give thanks." You have the power to decide whether you will be a grumbling, defeated Christian or a praising, triumphant Christian. You must make that decision. Oh friend, decide to praise God for everything, -- pleasant or unpleasant. Begin that life of praise, and begin it, -- NOW!
(From a tract by Good News Publishers, Westchester, IL)
**********
