Read Philippians 2:5-11
JESUS CHRIST is LORD over all the universe and every part of it. He is the Creator. By Him it is sustained. He is Lord both of the living and of the dead, of things in heaven and things in earth, and things under the earth. "For, lo, He that formeth the mountains, and created the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, who maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, the LORD, The God of hosts, is His name." He is "the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords."
However, some people will not recognize Him as such. They reject His rule, rebel at His sovereignty. They say in effect, "We will not have this Man to reign over us." They spurn His love and refuse His mercy and abuse His grace. And they dare to think that this is the end of the matter. But let all be assured, Jesus Christ is Lord over all. This shall be proven eventually. Those who reject Him now shall face Him as the final Judge and hear Him say, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels," sealing their doom.
But there are many who have owned Him as their Lord and gladly so. Jesus says to them, "Ye call me Master and Lord; and ye say well; for so I am." These bow the knee and heart willingly to His Lordship. They are of those who have responded affirmatively to His proposition "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus (or, Jesus as Lord), and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." These shall one day face Him, not as Judge to cast them away from His presence, but as Saviour, Advocate, and co-Heir of eternal life and glory. They shall hear Him say, "Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."
Jesus Christ is Lord. But the decision is yours whether or not you will have Him to reign over you. This decision determines your eternal destiny. You may be sure that "every knee shall bow" sooner or later, willingly or against their will, and every tongue "confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God, the Father." But how much better for everyone involved if we do this sooner rather than later. It is later than you think. What you do you must do quickly.
-- Editor
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Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
-- Read St. John, chapter 3.
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THE BEATITUDES -- NO. 2
by Geoffrey T. Bull
"Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted."
-- Matthew 5:4.
What a sombre sentiment! Is that what we feel about it? "Let's forget it!" says the world. "It will be all the same in a thousand years. It's no good crying over spilt milk. After all, that's life and what can you do about it? Have a good time while you can. I admire the happy-go-lucky fellow. Nothing worries him. Laugh and the world laughs with you; weep and you weep alone. If you try to carry the world's cares on your shoulders you'll be a nervous wreck before you are thirty! Come on let's have a night out! A good drink and you'll feel better!"
That is what they say at sea level but we are on the Mount with Jesus now and He does not talk like that. He is the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
"Verily, verily," He says, "ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice; and ye shall be sorrowful but your sorrow shall be turned into joy."
Men may try to make all life a comic strip or treat it as a variety program but this bespeaks a race without perspective. There will be no laughter when the curtain falls.
Think for a moment of the starvation, disease, illiteracy and destitution of millions on the earth and then take stock of the selfishness in our own callous hearts. Is it not enough to make us weep? The Master who proclaims the blessedness of His Kingdom, but a few sentences later speaks of the reality of hell. Is it not enough to snatch the smirk from our faces and sober us?
In the Orient I have seen infants abandoned, lepers clothed in rags and despair, people sleeping on the streets, men and women rotting to pieces because of sin. I have seen idolators sell their little ones to the devil, and hatred trample people in the dust.
As Jesus climbs Mount Calvary, He says, "Weep not for Me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children." This is the confirmation of the prophet Jeremiah's words, "Let tears run down like a river day and night: give thyself no rest . . . Arise, cry in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord: lift up thy hands towards Him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger in the top of every street."
Today is the generation of a wolf-eyed youth, and a bleary-eyed parentage. Few are the eyes that weep in prayer. Few are the men and women who mourn for their own sin and the iniquity of their generation. Few are those who care for the myriad moral casualties of our age. Yet Jesus says there is comfort for the mourner when the derision of the Almighty shall sweep iniquity from the earth.
Laugh if you dare laugh, but do not be ashamed to cry. The riches of the mourning spirit are the tears in his eyes. They are counted as pearls in Heaven. They are priceless, because so rare. From the Tibetan borderland I pen again the words God gave me then:
O Lord, I have not learned to cry,
Perhaps I laugh too oft, for true conformity
To Thee and Thy rough cross, or try
To love Thee without sorrowing --
Talk, but touch not, thus they heed not.
What heart, O Lord, moved through the garden?
I too have slept, but wake me Lord,
E'en though it be to love with tears.
In "The Sky Is Red," published by Moody Press, Chicago.
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THE GOOD BLACK DOCTOR
In the Franco-Prussian war there was then a great International Hospital in the town, at the head of which was a distinguished doctor from St. Bartholomew's Hospital. He died there from smallpox caught from a patient, and was so much beloved that he was given a military funeral, which was followed by the troops of both armies and headed by the Mayor of Sedan.
This distinguished physician was Dr. Davis, generally known as the good black doctor. He came from Barbados, his father was a European, his mother a Barbadian, he himself was as black as ebony, a tall and distinguished looking man. A few days before his death he sent me the following account of his last journey, one week before he succumbed to the fatal disease.
He had been staying with friends in Yorkshire, and came up to London to cross over by the tidal express from Folkestone harbor, there being then no pier. At Charing Cross he walked slowly along the platform looking for a seat, for the train was very full. At last he found one next to the platform and facing the engine in a first-class carriage. Opposite to him sat a little old lady with very bright eyes, busily engaged in knitting. Next to her was her somewhat stolid and burly husband. In the far corner a gentleman sat reading The Times, while at Dr. Davis' side were two elderly and prim ladies.
The doctor, being tired with his long journey from the North, put his hat upon the rack, and donned a dark velvet smoking cap, whose blue tassel and gold embroidery gave him a striking appearance. He leaned back in the seat, and with closed eyes heard the following conversation, for the train had hardly cleared the platform when the little lady opposite began, turning to her husband:
"What a handsome man, John!"
"Hush, my dear, he may hear what you say."
"And what if he does?" retorted the lady, "he can't understand a single word."
"Don't be too sure of that."
"Oh, John, you are so foolish. Cannot you see who he is?"
"Well, no, my dear; I cannot say that I do."
"Why, he's one of those African princes you read about that have come over to see the Queen. He's as black as coal."
"You can't be sure, my dear, who he is," said John feebly
"I tell you he's an African Prince," said his little wife with decision. "Isn't it awful John, to think that that poor heathen is now leaving this country, and probably doesn't even know he's got a soul? I call it disgraceful."
Just then the train was passing the Crystal Palace on the right. Its panes of glass were shining like diamonds in the rays of the afternoon sun.
The lady remarked, "These huge places of amusement do a lot of harm. Boys and girls do pretty much as they like now; while as for morality, the less said the better."
Dr. Davis saw his opportunity, and in the purest English, said, as he slowly opened his eyes, and leaned forward, "Morality, ma'am?"
The little lady nearly had a fit. She sprang right off her seat, and as she came down again, said faintly, "Oh, sir, I'm so sorry. I'd no idea you understood our language. I don't know what you must think of me!"
"I think you said 'morality,' ma'am?" repeated Dr. Davis.
"Yes, sir, I did."
"And what is morality, ma'am?"
"Morality, sir, is a very good thing. We couldn't do without it. Could we, John?"
"Well, no, my dear, I don't think we could. At any rate, sir, we are not going to try."
"Morality, sir, is a very good thing for both worlds," added his wife.
"For both worlds?' he inquired.
"For both worlds, sir. There is another besides ours--indeed, there are two; one is called Heaven, and the other is called Hell."
"And what are they like Ma'am?"
"Heaven, sir," replied the woman, delighted that she had now actually gotten into conversation with "the African Prince," "is where the angels are, and where all the good people go--all gold and glass, and harps and happiness; and Hell, sir, is where the Devil is and is a dreadful place, where all the bad and wicked people are--all flames and horrid darkness; and we must go to one or the other when we die."
The "African Prince" leaned forward, full of interest, "And how can we get to Heaven, ma'am?"
"Well, sir," said the little lady, with a triumphant look at John, "it's quite easy. Of course, you must be good, and kind to all, and forgive every one their offences. And you must be baptized and sorry for your sins, and go to Church and take the sacrament, and love your enemies, and help the poor, and do as you would be done by, and--and that's the way to Heaven, isn't it, John?"
"Quite right, my dear"; and then in a low voice, "but if you go on with this conversation you're sure to get into a mess."
And then to Dr. Davis, who was still politely listening, he said, "I might say, sir, if you wish any further information on these matters, we have a most excellent clergyman at Folkestone, who will tell you all you wish to know. I can give you his address."
"Sir," replied the black doctor, "we are traveling at fifty miles an hour, and I should like to be sure now of the way to Heaven."
"Well, sir," interposed the little lady, rather irritated, "haven't I just told you word for word, just as it's written in the Bible?"
"The Bible, ma'am?"
"The Bible, sir. The Bible is God's Book, written to tell us the way to Heaven. You'll find it all there exactly as I've said, and of course, as my husband told you, if you would like to see our clergyman, you will find he knows all about it as well."
"Oh, ma'am," said the doctor, "I should much like to see it in the Bible."
"And so you shall, sir," replied the little lady, who proceeded to hunt in her bag. After she had rummaged it for some time without success, she turned to the unsympathetic John, "have you got a Bible anywhere?"
"No, my dear, I haven't; and you had much better leave the genleman alone."
Nothing, however, could daunt the lady's missionary zeal. "Excuse me, sir," addressing the gentleman in the corner, "Have you a Bible?"
"No, I have not, ma'am; and I consider these religious conversations in railway carriages most improper."
"Have you a Bible?' pursued the little lady, nothing daunted, turning to the two spinster ladies in turn.
"No," replied each one in succession, "I'm afraid we have not."
"Dear me," said the little lady, "I fear, sir, we haven't a Bible in the carriage. I'm so sorry. But I have told you word for word the way to Heaven; and as John, my husband, sir, says, our vicar will be most pleased to see you at Folkestone,"
"I wish I could see the passage now," said Dr. Davis, with a sigh, as he leaned back again and closed his eyes.
The little lady gazed for a time earnestly at her hearer, and then she gave a little sigh, as she took up her knitting once more, and retired from the mission field. There was a silence once more in the carriage as the train roared through the dusk of the evening. After a while Dr. David, slowly felt in his coat pocket, and drew out a small book. Leaning forward once more, and holding it out, he said to the lady, "Was that what you were looking for?"
"Oh, dear, yes, sir. Why, that's the Testament--the very book."
"The Testament, ma'am?"
"Yes sir. The Bible had two Testaments; there is the Old Testament and the New."
"And which is this, ma'am?
"This, sir, is the New."
"And which tells us the way to Heaven?"
"Why, the New, sir; that's the very book."
"Would you kindly show me the passage yo spoke of, ma'am?"
"With pleasure, sir" said the lady, bright again with the missionary zeal, taking the book in her hand.
She then rapidly turned its pages first one way and then the other. Then, after casting her gaze on the ceiling for inspiration, turned them over again; the doctor's eyes being fixed on her all the time.
After fumbling in vain for some minutes, and getting very red, she turned to her husband, "John!"
"Yes, my dear."
"Do you know where that passage is that tells us the way to Heaven?"
"No, I don't, Maria; and you see what a mess you've got into. I haven't the least idea where it is."
In despair, the lady rapidly turned over the pages once more, but all in vain. "I'm afraid, sir, I can't lay my hands on the exact passage. I know it's just about here. My poor head is not so young as it once was, and I can't think of the verse. But it's all there, sir, exactly as I told you, for I know it by heart."
"Would you allow me, ma'am?" said Dr. Davis, very politely, gently taking the Testament out of her hands, and turning the leaves over to the Gospel of St. John, chapter 3, verse 16, which he indicated with his finger. "Was that the passage?"
"Oh, dear, yes, sir; why, they are the very words. Just as I said. Now, sir, you can read it for yourself, and see it's all true," and she lay back triumphantly.
"Would you allow me to read this passage aloud, ma'am?"
"Certainly, sir, do."
So Dr. Davis read: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
"There, sir," said the lady, in high spirits and evidently without any suspicion of the storm about to burst, "the very words I told you. I'm so glad you've found it. I knew it was there."
"One moment, ma'am. I should first like to say a word to the gentleman in the corner. 'Sir, I don't know who you are, or what you call yourself, but one thing I am sure. The man that says that a British railway carriage is not a place where a supposed heathen (which I thank God I am not) may learn the way to Heaven is unworthy of the name of Englishman'!"
The little lady quietly applauded.
"But as for you, ma'am," he continued, "you are ten times worse. I came into this carriage and you believed me to be a heathen Prince, and seemed anxious to tell me the way to Heaven; so I asked you and you told me I had to do this, and that, and the other, and you have never opened your mouth to tell me one word of what Christ has done for me. Not one syllable of all you told me is to be found in this glorious text; and no word that it contains has passed your lips. You have utterly misled me. Your religion is two letters short. It is 'D-O'; and mine is 'D-O-N-E,' and this makes all the difference.
The poor missionary collapsed, while the supposed heathen proclaimed the glorious Gospel of the Cross to a now attentive audience, until the train drew up at Folkestone Harbour Station.
On his way to the boat in his raincoat, for a fine rain was falling, Dr. Davis felt a slight tug at his coat. Turning around, he found the two spinster ladies at his heels. "Oh sir," said the one who had given the pull, "you will excuse us, but we could not let you go without thanking you for the blessing your words have been to us."
"We always thought we had to do our best to get to Heaven, and never understood that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ had done all the work of atonement for us, and that we can now know that we are saved."
"Sir," she continued, her eyes full of tears, "we shall have to thank God to all eternity for this afternoon."
In a week Dr. Davis himself had passed away to his eternal rest.
In "Things Concerning Himself," published by Charles Nunnerley, Buckinghamshire, England
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Dear Christian Friends:
Many have written long books endeavoring to explain what PRAYER is--how, when and where to do it and sometimes WHY. Again others have said it is but the subjective impulse of uncultured minds. However, at some time in life, every human does pray. The important points are: to whom we pray, and for what or why.
I am satisfied when I realize that my blessed Lord and Saviour prayed. As I look back over the more than 53 years since I received the Lord Jesus as my own personal Saviour and realize all that He has done for me, in me, and through me since then, I cannot but praise Him for all His marvelous working, grace, kindness, and guiding during these many years.
Since we came home from Tanzania just about a year ago, we have found that many dear friends whom we loved and longed for have passed on to Glory. This makes us just a bit more homesick for Glory too. I do not care much for this present evil worldly existence. If I depended on my own goodness, works, thoughts, wisdom, and above all, prayer, I certainly fear I would have very little to look forward to. So many trust in themselves and their achievements, saying, "I'm not so bad. I try to treat my neighbor right and do the best I can. I guess I'll make out alright." Well, you can have it. I do not want it.
I know I am a sinner and haven't done alright. I had not treated my neighbor right, nor even myself, let alone others. But when I saw that the Lord Jesus came into this wicked world to take my place and die for me and bear my very own sin, that settled it. Since then, all the goodness, good works, good thoughts, good desires, yes, anything good at all, that we dare claim as ours, are all gifts from Him. Until we realize that, we will never be saved, will never enter into heaven, will never know God as our Father nor any of His goodness. The Lord Jesus gave His all for me, and unless I receive it, I have no part with Him. But I have done just that. He IS my Saviour, my Lord and my God, and I want Him to be glorified in everything I think, do, or say. Only thus can I find peace.
Since coming home, we have found many who tell us that our letters have been a blessing to them and that they pray for us every day. Isn't that WONDERFUL! And when you realize that in nearly every case those very people never send even a postal card--that shows why I do believe in prayer. I am sure that these more than 41 years since we first went out to Tanzania have had some measure of fruitfulness, joy, satisfaction, because of these dear friends who have been praying for this needy, hell-deserving sinner-saved-by-grace. Yes, I marvel at the kindness of these dear friends and God's great mercy and grace in keeping me. I come so far short of what I myself believe is best for me and short of all that I would like to be, do and know, that if I were a person to be discouraged, I would have folded up long ago. But, thank God, I do have a wonderful Saviour, who knew all about me and still was willing to die for me. Hallelujah!
We met one man who said our lives touched him in 1941 and I did not know it until February of this year ('68). In July we met another one who was touched in 1944 and I did not realize it until July of this year. We have met a number of friends who have told us this so we go on seeking "to lift lost souls to eternity's joys."
Many say, "you have done your stint. Why don't you rest now? You have a nice home. Let the young folks do it." Ah YES, let the young folks do it! BUT, they don't! and they don't want to. And neither do many of the older ones. However, there are parents and older relatives and older friends (being now retired) of many missionaries who are coming out to see their dear ones on the mission field. Some of them have done a wonderful job helping their children and friends on the needy places of the earth. I invite any and all who want to come, to visit us and we will be glad to have you help us.
I wanted to get this letter off last month; but Laura (my wife) was to have surgery on her right eye on November 5, so I am waiting to see how it comes out. On the 19th of November, the fine doctor took out the stitches and he says that all has gone well, and we hope soon her sight will be good and then after the first of 1969 we will make arrangements to return to Tanzania.
We hear that thieves have broken into our house and the Pastor reports that they have "spoiled badly" what we left in the house. Pray that what others are keeping for us on the field will be kept. We appreciate all your love and kindnesses, and wish you all a blessed and fruitful New Year.
In His Name,
Charles E. Hess
John 3:30
Brother Hess and his wife serve the Lord in Tanzania, under the Africa Inland Mission.
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