Pastoral Resources

God’s fatherly relationship with Jesus implies four things. First it implies authority. The father commands and disposes; the initiative which he calls his Son to exercise in resolute obedience to his Father’s will. Second, it implies affection; third, fellowship; fourth, honor: God wills to exalt his Son.

All this extends to God’s adopted children. In, through, and under Jesus Christ their Lord, they are ruled, loved, accompanied, and honored by their heavenly Father.

As Jesus obeyed God, so must they (1 John 5:1,3). As God loved his only-begotten Son, so he loves his adopted sons (John 16:27). As God had fellowship with Jesus, so he does with us (1 John 1:3). As God exalted Jesus, so he exalts Jesus’ followers, as brothers and sisters in one family (John 12:32; 17:24).

In these terms the Bible teaches us to understand the shape and substance of the parent-child relationship which binds together the Father of Jesus and the servant of Jesus.

In Luke 15 Christ related to the people one of the most poignant stories in all literature, that of the prodigal son. Nearly everyone can relate to one of the characters, the prodigal son, the elder brother, or the father. Each of the characters teaches important lessons for Christians to learn. In verses Luk 15:20-24 we learn some things about the father that Christian fathers need to imitate as they try to raise their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

He was patient-Although the son had been gone a long time (long enough for a famine to ravage the land), the father was still looking. He "saw him a great way off." His eyes never tired of looking for his wayward son. Fathers, how patient are you with your children when they falter on life's pathway?

He was loving-When he saw his son coming, he ran to him. He could not wait for his son to come to him. He immediately hugged and kissed his son. The father did not even ask for an explanation of where he had been or what he had been doing. He did not give him a lecture on "you should have known better," or "I hope you have learned your lesson." Fathers, how loving are you toward your children when they make mistakes?

He was forgiving-We know he was forgiving because his actions demonstrated it. So anxious was he to forgive his son that he did not let him finish his plea. (In Luk 15:18-19 the son plans to ask his father to make him a servant. But the father cuts him off before he gets that far, Luk 15:21-22). The father restored his wayward son to his original place and treated him with the highest honor. Fathers, how forgiving are you of your children when they do wrong?

He had his priorities in the right place-The most important thing was not that his son had sinned, not that he had taken advantage of his father, not that he had caused his father untold grief; the most important thing was that his son was alive and had come home.

Why do men shy away from the thought of God as a judge? Why do they feel unworthy of him? The truth is that part of God’s moral perfection is his perfection in judgment. Would a God who did not care about the difference between right and wrong be a good and admirable being? Would a God who put no distinction between the beasts of history, the Hitlers and Stalins (if we dare use names), and his own saints be morally praiseworthy and perfect? Moral indifference would be an imperfection in God, not a perfection. And not to judge the world would be to show moral indifference. The final proof that God is a perfect moral being, not indifferent to questions of right and wrong, is the fact that he has committed himself to judge the world.

It is clear that the reality of divine judgment must have a direct effect on our view of life. If we know that retributive judgment faces us at the end of the road, we shall not live as otherwise we would. But it must be emphasized that the doctrine of divine judgment, and particularly of the final judgment, is not to be thought of primarily as a bogeyman, with which to frighten men into an outward form of conventional righteousness. It has its frightening implications for godless men, it is true; but its main thrust is as a revelation of the moral character of God, and an imparting of moral significance to human life.

God worked through the testimony of a young new believer named Florrie Evans. When Pastor Jospeh Evans asked for testimonies, Florrie arose and with a trembling voice said, “I love Jesus with all my heart.” God used this to melt the hearts of many others.

The London Times reported remarkable changes that took place in the public spirit. For example, in Swansea people who had left their parents in the “workhouse” for the poor came to take them out. Entire congregations were on their knees in prayer and “for the first time there was not a single case of drunkenness at the Swansea County Petty Sessions.”

The Bible Society saw orders for Scriptures multiply to three times the level for the previous year. At Bangor

University revival fires were spreading in January of 1905. There were “only a third or a fourth of the students attending some of the classes…Beginning with a spontaneous outburst of praise andprayer among the men students, the movement spread . . at a united prayer meeting…some…broke down sobbing.”

David Lloyd George, who later became Prine Minister of England, saw one of his political rallies taken over by the Welsh revival. On January 11th, 1905, he said the Welsh revival gave hope “that at the next election Wales would declare with no uncertain sound against the corruption in high places which handed over the destiny of the people to the terrible brewing interest…”

The Times reported on January 16th, 1905, that “At Glyn-Neath a feud had existed for the past ten or twelve years between the two Independent Chapels, but during the past week united services have been held in both chapels, and the ministers have shaken hands before the congregations.”

The fires of spiritual awakening crossed the ocean. In 1904 the Atlanta newspapers reported an amazing revival of prayer sweeping the city. On November 2nd the Supreme Court of Georgia closed so people could attend prayer meetings. Stores, factories, offices and even saloons followed suit.

“For two hours at midday all Denver was held in a spell . . . The marts of trade were deserted between noon and two o’clock this afternoon,” the Denver Post reported on January 20th, 1905.

One Kentucky pastor died of overwork after receiving 1,000 new members in two months. Out of a population of 50,000 only fifty unconverted adults remained in Atlantic City, New Jersey!

Revival came to north China in 1932 in answer to several years of prayer. At one point, Norwegian missionary Maria Monsen wondered what good her praying could do. She longed to see God’s river of life flood spiritually dry China. Then she realized that the mighty Yangtze River began when the tiny drops of rain came together in the top of the mountains.

Maria sought a prayer partner who would join her in claiming the promise “that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven” (Mt. 18:19). When she finally found someone she exclaimed, “The awakening has begun! Two of us have agreed!” The rain drops of revival prayer were coming together.

In November of 1930 Maria announced, “A great revival is coming soon and it will begin in the North China Mission.” She was convinced that the missionaries had fulfilled the conditions for revival found in 2 Chron. 7:14.

In 1932 about forty Christians were meeting in a town in North China for prayer four times a day beginning at 5:00 a.m. Believers were convicted of sin. Two men repented of hating each other. Love was strong and deep. Joy abounded.

When revival came more people were born again than in any previous year in North China. One missionary estimated that 3,000 people came to Christ in his town. Pastors, missionaries, and Bible women experienced a deeper Christian life than they had ever known before.

A spirit of prayer was poured out on the church. People loved to pray. Many times prayer meetings lasted two or three hours. The prayers were short, fervent, and sometimes tearful. Children’s prayers led to the salvation of their parents and teachers.

In 1936 revival fires broke out on the campus of Wheaton College west of Chicago. A senior named Don Hillis arose in chapel to voice a plea for revival. Students responded with an all-day prayer meeting on Saturday. Both faculty and students confessed sin and made things right with one another.

The Wheaton campus was touched again in 1943 following a message on confession of sin during special services. The captain of the cross-country team arose to confess that he had violated college policy by leading his team in a Sunday race. Pride, criticism, and cheating were confessed by other students. Lunch and dinner slipped by unnoticed while the meeting continued into the evening service.

“Stop the bus!” a member of the Wheaton College Glee Club shouted. The Glee Club was touring in Florida in 1950. A revival that had broken out on the campus in Illinois had touched this student hundreds of miles away. He confessed he had broken the rules and other students began to turn to God.

God’s promise is still true. If we seek Him with all our heart, we shall surely find Him ready to pour the riches of His grace and love into the lives of His people (Jer. 29:13).

During the World's Fair in Chicago many years ago, Mr. Dwight Moody was carrying on a campaign which cost a great many thousands of dollars. A little group met one day to plan and assist and pray with Mr. Moody about the work. As they sat down to eat, Mr. Moody said, "We need ,000 today for the work. I have already received ,000, but before we eat I propose that we pray and ask God for the other ,000." So with simple childlike faith, Mr. Moody presented this problem to the Father.

About an hour later after the little group had finished their luncheon and completed their plans for the day, a boy came in with a telegram in his hand. Mr. Moody read it and handed it to Reuben Torrey to read aloud. This was what it said: "Mr. Moody, your friends in North Field had a feeling that you needed money in Chicago. We have just taken up a collection and there is ,000 in the basket." North Field is nearly a thousand miles from Chicago. That morning, as a service was coming to a close in North Field, someone proposed that they take a collection for Mr. Moody's work in Chicago.

God lives! The believers know He is alive by their intimate experience of Him.

It is not only a consecration of abilities that God wants, but of our inabilities also.

An invalid was told that she could never escape from her prison of pain and weakness. “Oh, well,” she replied quickly, “there’s a lot of living to be found within your limitations, if you don’t wear yourself out fighting them.”

“Young lady,” the doctor replied, “I wish I could have you preach to about a hundred of my patients a year.”

The lady was Helen Keller who said, “Face your deficiencies and acknowledge them, but do not let them master you.”

At the Pan American Games, Greg Louganis was asked how he coped with the stress of international diving competition. He replied that he climbs to the board, takes a deep breath, and thinks, EVEN IF I BLOW THIS DIVE, MY MOTHER WILL STILL LOVE ME. Then he goes for excellence. At the beginning of each day, how good it would be for each of us to take a deep breath, say, EVEN IF I BLOW IT TODAY, MY GOD WILL STILL LOVE ME, and then, assured of grace, go into the day seeking a perfect 10!

When the author walks onto the stage, the play is over. God is going to invade, all right; but what is the good of saying you are on His side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else comes crashing in? This time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature. It will be too late then to choose your side. That will not be the time for choosing; It will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realized it before or not. Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side. - C.S. Lewis

By the aid of that most perfect scientific instrument, the ophthalmoscope, with its condensing mirror and myriad of little lenses, the ophthalmologist can look into a person's eye and not only determine approximately the necessary strength of glass required to give perfect vision, but also the existence of tumors pressing on the brain tissue, the condition of the general nervous system, the presence of disease in various organs, and the richness of the blood current as they are clearly traced on the sensitive plate of nature's camera.

What the ophthalmoscope is to the ophthalmologist, revelation from Scripture is to our higher nature-a test and criticism of supreme value. One of the ways by which we can prevent the darkening of our spiritual eyesight is to look daily at the Word of God so that the Word may become the mirror to which we are exposed. "The Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of thoughts and intents of the heart" (Heb_4:12). If we wish to see clearly, we must test and purge our vision. Here is the radical cure for spiritual cataracts and color blindness. To see truly we must see life in God's light. After the dust and fog and mirage of a day that we have lived in our town or city, it is a wonderful restorative to cleanse the eyes with the eye salve of the Word of God.

Scientists have discovered a variety of uses for the laser beam. We once thought it a design of science fiction. Now lasers are used for many industrial, medical, navigational and communicative purposes.

The difference between lasers and a light from an ordinary bulb is direction. A regular bulb diffuses light in all directions. A laser sends powerful parallel beams.

God's Word is like a laser. It can pierce into the very heart and soul of everyone on earth. It can separate the soul from the spirit. It can discern the highest and lowest thoughts. It can speak to our attitudes and intentions.

Are you allowing God's laser, His Word, to work in you?

A man once rose up in a meeting to give his testimony to the saving grace of God. He told how the Lord had won his heart and given deliverance from the guilt and power of sin. He spoke of Christ and His work but said nothing of any efforts of his own. The leader of the meeting was of a legalistic mind, and when this man's testimony was ended he said, "Our brother has only told us of the Lord's part in his salvation. When I was converted, there was a whole lot I had to do myself before I could expect the Lord to do anything for me. Brother, didn't you do your part first before God did His?" The other was on his feet in an instant and replied, "Yes, sir, I clean forgot. I didn't tell you about my part, did I? Well, I did my part for over 30 years, running away from God as fast as ever my sins could carry me. That was my part. And God took after me till He ran me down. That was His part."

A group of atheists were criticizing the Bible. One of them spoke about creation. He said, "What man with any common sense could believe that several thousand years ago, God stooped down and picked up a piece of mud, breathed on it, and changed it into a human being?" A Christian man standing by overheard the conversation and responded by saying: "I cannot answer all the questions about creation, but this I know: One night God stooped down and picked up the dirtiest piece of mud in this city, breathed upon it by His Holy Spirit, and changed a gambling, thieving, drinking wretch into a peace-loving man of God. I was that man."

The most common verb used in the Greek New Testament to refer to God’s compassion is splanchnizomai. This verb is used twelve times. Once it is used of the Samaritan’s compassion for the wounded man (Luke 10:33). The other eleven uses refer to God’s compassion. In two separate parables Jesus uses this verb to refer to God’s compassion in saving and forgiving sinners (Matt. 18:27 and Luke 15:20). The remainder of the uses of this verb all refer to compassion as the major motivation for Jesus’ healing and miracles. So in nine out of eleven occurrences where this verb is used of God’s compassion it refers to the compassion of the Lord Jesus Christ as his motivation for healing!

What is the meaning of splanchnizomai when it refers to God’s compassion? The nominal form of this word originally referred to the inner parts of a man, the heart, liver, and so on. It could be used of the inward parts of a sacrificial animal, but it became common to use this word in reference to the lower parts of the abdomen, the intestines, and especially the womb (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, eds. Gerhard Kittel and Gerhard Friedrich [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1971] 7:548).

Some theologians have felt that this term was too rough or graphic to be used in reference to God’s compassion. Using the word for “intestines” to refer to God’s compassion is akin to our using the word “guts” for courage in modern English, as when we say, “He really has guts.” However, I think the New Testament writers meant to do exactly this. They were impressing on the readers the power and the force of God’s compassion. They may also have had in mind a physical feeling associated with compassion. Sometimes a sharp pain in the abdomen will accompany intense feelings of compassion or pity for those we love. The choice of such a graphic word served to impress the New Testament Christians that God’s compassion for them was rooted in his deep love for them and his sensitivity to their pain.

Near the end of his life, Jean-Paul Sartre told Pierre Victor: “I do not feel that I am the product of chance, a speck of dust in the universe, but someone who was expected, prepared, prefigured. In short, a being whom only a Creator could put here; and this idea of a creating hand refers to God.

Protested fellow philosopher and long-time companion Simone de Beauvoir: “How should one explain the senile act of a turncoat?”

You’re worried about permissiveness—about the way the preaching of grace seems to say it’s okay to do all kinds of terrible things as long as you just walk in afterward and take the free gift of God’s forgiveness. . .While you and I may be worried about seeming to give permission, Jesus apparently wasn’t. He wasn’t afraid of giving the prodigal son a kiss instead of a lecture, a party instead of probation; and he proved that by bringing in the elder brother at the end of the story and having him raise pretty much the same objections you do. He’s angry about the party. He complains that his father is lowering standards and ignoring virtue—that music, dancing, and a fatted calf are, in effect, just so many permissions to break the law. And to that, Jesus has the father say only one thing: “Cut that out! We’re not playing good boys and bad boys any more. Your brother was dead and he’s alive again. The name of the game from now on is resurrection, not bookkeeping.”

In the N. T., Peter asks how many times he should forgive his brother and Jesus tells him, “I don’t say 7 times, but 70 times 7” which is a way of saying “infinitely.” If God commands that of us, then how does He get away with not being infinite in His forgiveness?

Dramatic loss of national morality after 1963:

Unwed birth rates 15-19 yr. olds shot up

Unwed birth rates 10-14 yr. olds shot up 553% by 1983.

Sexually Transmitted Disease rates 15-19 yr. olds shot up 226% by 1975.

Divorce had been declining for 15 consecutive years prior to 1963. After, the number of divorces tripled every year until 1983.

SAT scores declined for 18 consecutive years after 1963; unprecedented in our history. We are now graduating a generation of students that, academically, knows less that their parents.

Violent crime up 544%.

“Paul begins here to extend as it were his hand to restrain the audacity of humans, in case they should clamor against God’s judgments. We cannot by our own faculties examine the secrets of God, but we are admitted into a certain and clear knowledge of them by the grace of the Holy Spirit. And just as we ought to follow the guidance of the Spirit, so where He leaves us, we ought to stop there and fix our standing.

“If anyone will seek to know more than what God has revealed, he shall be overwhelmed with the immeasurable brightness of inaccessible light. But we must bear in mind the distinction between the secret counsel of God and His will made known in Scripture.

“For though the whole doctrine of Scripture surpasses in its height the mind of man, yet an access to it is not closed against the faithful, who reverently follow the Spirit; but with regard to God’s hidden counsel, the depth and height of it cannot be reached.”

- John Calvin

So popular and effective was Campbell Morgan’s ministry that he was given all kinds of offers from many different places and people. John Wanamaker, the great merchant of Philadelphia, offered to build Morgan a million dollar church if he would become its pastor. Morgan turned him down, something the wealthy Wanamaker was not accustomed to in his dealings with people.

“I am God’s man,” said Morgan. “If I did that I would become John Wanamaker’s man.”

“God’s mercy ... goes before the unwilling to make him willing;

it follows the willing to make his will effectual.”

Adonai—Lord of All

Means Lord or Master, occurs 449 times in the O.T. Emphasizes the servant/master relationship, and suggests God’s authority as Master; one who possesses absolute authority. What can we learn from this name of God?

1. The Master, Lord has the right to expect obedience: “Then Moses said to the LORD, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since Thou hast spoken to Thy servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”

2. The slave may expect provision

Elohim—The Strong One, Above all others who are called god

Used 2550 times in the O.T. First used of God’s creative activity. God is the absolute and supreme source of everything that is.

El Shaddai—The God of Strength

Probably related to the word “Mountain” and suggests the power or strength of God. This name also emphasizes God’s covenant keeping nature (Gen 17:1). “Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. 2 “And I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.”

Some feel Shaddai is derived from a root that refers to a mother’s breast, sustaining a newborn infant. If so, it conveys love, tenderness, mercy, all that a mother is to a dependent newborn, God is to his children.

Examples:

1. Jacob fleeing from Esau.

God comforts his own and makes them fruitful.

Gen 28:3-4 “And may God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. 4 “May He also give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your descendants with you; that you may possess the land of your sojournings, which God gave to Abraham.”

The God of strength and power is also able to comfort the weary and protect the weak

Ps 91:1-2. He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!”

2. Job chastened by God

God often corrents His own to make them fruitful. Used this way in the book of Job 31 times. Job was a “perfect” man. God wanted to refine him still more, make him even more fruitful. And by the end of the book, God had given to Job more than he had to begin with.

El Elyon—The God Most High

God is supreme above all other gods

Gen 14:18-22 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. 19 And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; 20 And blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And he gave him a tenth of all. 21 And the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give the people to me and take the goods for yourself.” 22.And Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have sworn to the LORD God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth,

He possess everything else. Satan sought to ascend to the heights and belike the Most High God. He failed. There is no one else, nothing else that can or ever will challenge God’s rulership over His universe.

El Olam, Everlasting God

Stresses the unchangableness of God

Gen 21:33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called upon the name of the LORD, the Eternal God.

El Olam is all His people will ever need, from generation to generation, (Ps 100:5, 103:17).

Times change, people change, governments change, everything changes. But God doesn’t. He never has. He never will. He has been who He currently is and who He will be. In a world that is spinning so rapidly, nothing seems to be dependable, constant, God doesn’t change. People will fail you. Disappoint you. Make and break commitments. Betray you. God never will.

Isa 40:28-31 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. 29 He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power. 30.Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, 31 Yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.

El Roi, The God Who Sees

Only used once in the Bible, Genesis 16:13, on the lips of Hagar. Sarah had given Hagar to Abraham to have children. This was according to custom in those days, but not according to God. After Hagar bore Ishmael, Sarah treated her so harshly, Hagar ran away. She fled into the wilderness. Think with me about her situation: She was removed from family. She was removed from friends. She was alone and away from shelter, food, water, help, sustenance, everything that she needed. Then the Lord’s angel appeared to her, and rescued her.

Gen 16:13Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “Thou art a God who sees”; for she said, “Have I even remained alive here after seeing Him?”

God sees your heartache. God sees your struggles with your disobedient child. God sees your

Yahweh—The God who Is

Used 6828 times in the O.T. Likely related to the verb, To Be. This name was uniquely revealed to Israel, and emphasizes God’s faithfulness to His covenants with His people.

Yahweh Jireh, The Lord Will Provide

Used only once in the O.T. God asked Abraham to offer his only son as a human sacrifice. The pagan nations around them practiced human sacrifice regularly. God was in essence asking Abraham, “Is your love for me, the true God as great as their love for their false gods?” Abraham was willing to surrender his son to God, and to God’s will. Abraham was willing to surrender hsi son, not fully understanding, but fully trusting. What about you?

14 So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”

Yahweh Nissi, The Lord Our Banner

The Israelites had just exited from Egypt when they encountered the Amelekites. They weren’t ready for battle, but God told Moses to fight them. Moses went up on a mountain to pray while Joshua led the battle. The more Moses prayed, the better the Israelites did. Afterwards, Moses built an altar and called it Yahweh Nissi, the Lord our Banner. It was a reminder that their strength, their strategy didn’t win the victory. God did. Israel couldn’t defeat her enemies in her own strength. Israel’s source of victory, Israels’ banner, was her great God. God fought on her behalf, and He does the same today, fighting on behalf on His people, winning their battles for them.

15 And Moses built an altar, and named it The LORD is My Banner;

Yahweh Shalom, The Lord is Peace

22 When Gideon saw that he was the angel of the LORD, he said, “Alas, O Lord GOD! For now I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face.” 23 And the LORD said to him, “Peace to you, do not fear; you shall not die.” 24 Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD and named it The LORD is Peace. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. Judges 6:24

Yahweh Sabbaoth, The Lord of Hosts

“Sabbaoth” means “to assemble.” The idea seems to be warfare, warriors. They are assembled for battle. This name of God is used repeatedly in the prophetic books, usually indicating some great national crisis. This term was also used of angels. What can we learn? Yahweh who rules the hosts of heaven, is able to mobilize them in an instant on behalf of his child. He is your guardian, protector. There is no battle you face that is overwhelming for Him and His hosts.

1 Sam 17:45 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

Ps 24:8-10 Who is the King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. 9 Lift up your heads, O gates, and lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in! 10 Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah.

Ps 46:10-11 “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” 11 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

Yahweh M’qaddishkhem, The Lord Your Sanctifier

Appears first in Ex 31:13, in conjunction with keeping the Sabbath.

13 “But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘You shall surely observe My sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.

God set His people apart for his own purposes and glory. They were to be a holy people because they served a holy God. The same is still true today.

Heb 10:10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

1 Pet 1:15-16 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

Yahweh Raah, The Lord My Shepherd

Psa 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.

Yahweh Tsidkenu, The Lord our Righteousness,

Jer 23:6 “In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely; and this is His name by which He will be called, ‘The LORD our righteousness.’

Jer 33:16 ‘In those days Judah shall be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell in safety; and this is the name by which she shall be called: the LORD is our righteousness.’

Yahweh El Gemolah, The Lord of Recompense

Jer 51:56 For the destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon, and her mighty men will be captured, their bows are shattered; for the LORD is a God of recompense, He will fully repay.

Yahweh Nakeh, The God Who Smites

9 ‘And My eye will show no pity, nor will I spare. I will repay you according to your ways, while your abominations are in your midst; then you will know that I, the LORD, do the smiting.

Yahweh Shammah, The God Who Is Present

35 “The distance all around will be 18,000 cubits. “And the name of the city from that time on will be: THE LORD IS THERE.”

Yahweh Rapha, The God Who Heals

Exod 15:22-26 Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. 23 And when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter; therefore it was named Marah. 24 So the people grumbled at Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” 25 Then he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree; and he threw it into the waters, and the waters became sweet. There He made for them a statute and regulation, and there He tested them. 26 And He said, “If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the LORD, am your healer.”

I doubt very much whether you have heard of Frank Wimproy, He was one of God’s “nobodies.” But God did a great work through him. Frank Wimproy was one of the workers at the Radnor Street Mission, Shoreditch, London.

One Sunday in 1912, Wimproy felt led to speak to a young lad in the Sunday School, a thirteen-year-old boy. “Now, Will,” he said, “would you like to be a Christian? Have you given your heart to Christ?” “No,” said Will. “Do you want to?” Wimproy asked. “Yes, I think I do,” came the reply. Wimproy took the lad by the hand, led him into the prayer room, prayed with him, and pointed him to the Saviour. Young Will handed the reins of his life over to the Saviour and became a Christian. Will’s full name as an adult was Dr. W. E. Sangster—a man God used to reach many thousands of people with the Gospel of Christ.

Catholic scholars coined the phrase “God’s preferential option for the poor” to describe a phenomenon they found throughout both the Old and New Testaments: God’s partiality toward the poor and the disadvantaged. Why would God single out the poor for special attention over any other group? I used to wonder. What makes the poor deserving of God’s concern? I received help on this issue from a writer names Monika Hellwig, who lists the following “advantages” to being poor:

1. The poor know they are in urgent need of redemption.

2. The poor know not only their dependence on God and on powerful people but also their interdependence with one another.

3. The poor rest their security not on things but on people.

4. The poor have no exaggerated sense of their own importance, and no exaggerated need of privacy.

5. The poor expect little from competition and much from cooperation.

6. The poor can distinguish between necessities and luxuries.

7. The poor can wait, because they have acquired a kind of dogged patience born of acknowledged dependence.

8. The fears of the poor are more realistic and less exaggerated, because they already know that one can survive great suffering and want.

9. When the poor have the Gospel preached to them, it sounds like good news and not like a threat or a scolding.

10. The poor can respond to the call of the Gospel with a certain abandonment and uncomplicated totality because they have so little to lose and are ready for anything.

In summary, through no choice of their own—they may urgently wish otherwise—poor people find themselves in a posture that befits the grace of God. In their state of neediness, dependence, and dissatisfaction with life, they may welcome God’s free gift of love.

As an exercise I went back over Monika Hellwig’s list, substituting the word “rich” for “poor,” and changing each sentence to its opposite. “The rich do not know they are in urgent need of redemption….The rich rest their security not on people but on things….” (Jesus did something similar in Luke’s version of the Beatitudes, but that portion gets much less attention: “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort….”).

Next, I tried something far more threatening: I substituted the word “I.” Reviewing each of the ten statements, I asked myself if my own attitudes more resembled those of the poor or of the rich. Do I easily acknowledge my needs? Do I readily depend on God and on other people? Where does my security rest? Am I more likely to compete or cooperate? Can I distinguish between necessities and luxuries? Am I patient? Do the Beatitudes sound to me like good news or like a scolding?

As I did this exercise I began to realize why so many saints voluntarily submit to the discipline of poverty. Dependence, humility, simplicity, cooperation, and a sense of abandon are qualities greatly prized in the spiritual life, but extremely elusive for people who live in comfort. There may be other ways to God but, oh, they are hard—as hard as a camel squeezing through the eye of a needle. In the Great Reversal of God’s kingdom, prosperous saints are very rare.

I do not believe the poor to be more virtuous than anyone else (though I have found them more compassionate and often more generous), but they are less likely to pretend to be virtuous. They have not the arrogance of the middle class, who can skillfully disguise their problems under a facade of self-righteousness. They are more naturally dependent, because they have no choice; they must depend on others simply to survive.

I now view the Beatitudes not as patronizing slogans, but as profound insights into the mystery of human existence. God’s kingdom turns the tables upside down. The poor, the hungry, the mourners, and the oppressed truly are blessed. Not because of their miserable states, of course—Jesus spent much of his life trying to remedy those miseries. Rather, they are blessed because of an innate advantage they hold over those more comfortable and self-sufficient. People who are rich, successful, and beautiful may well go through life relying on their natural gifts. People who lack such natural advantages, hence underqualified for success in the kingdom of this world, just might turn to God in their time of need.

Human beings do not readily admit desperation. When they do, the kingdom of heaven draws near.

V. Bingham, founder of the Sudan Interior Mission, was once seriously injured in an automobile accident. He was rushed to a hospital in critical condition. The following day, when he regained consciousness, he asked the nurse what he was doing there.

“Don’t try to talk now, just rest,” she replied. “You have been in an accident.” “Accident? Accident!” exclaimed Dr. Bingham. “There are no accidents in the life of a Christian. This is just an incident in God’s perfect leading.”

The Lord prefers common-looking people. That is the reason he made so many of them. - A. Lincoln

Catholic scholars coined the phrase “God’s preferential option for the poor” to describe a phenomenon they found throughout both the Old and New Testaments: God’s partiality toward the poor and the disadvantaged. Why would God single out the poor for special attention over any other group? I used to wonder. What makes the poor deserving of God’s concern? I received help on this issue from a writer names Monika Hellwig, who lists the following “advantages” to being poor:

1. The poor know they are in urgent need of redemption.

2. The poor know not only their dependence on God and on powerful people but also their interdependence with one another.

3. The poor rest their security not on things but on people.

4. The poor have no exaggerated sense of their own importance, and no exaggerated need of privacy.

5. The poor expect little from competition and much from cooperation.

6. The poor can distinguish between necessities and luxuries.

7. The poor can wait, because they have acquired a kind of dogged patience born of acknowledged dependence.

8. The fears of the poor are more realistic and less exaggerated, because they already know that one can survive great suffering and want.

9. When the poor have the Gospel preached to them, it sounds like good news and not like a threat or a scolding.

10. The poor can respond to the call of the Gospel with a certain abandonment and uncomplicated totality because they have so little to lose and are ready for anything.

In summary, through no choice of their own—they may urgently wish otherwise—poor people find themselves in a posture that befits the grace of God. In their state of neediness, dependence, and dissatisfaction with life, they may welcome God’s free gift of love.

As an exercise I went back over Monika Hellwig’s list, substituting the word “rich” for “poor,” and changing each sentence to its opposite. “The rich do not know they are in urgent need of redemption....The rich rest their security not on people but on things....” (Jesus did something similar in Luke’s version of the Beatitudes, but that portion gets much less attention: “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort....”).

Next, I tried something far more threatening: I substituted the word “I.” Reviewing each of the ten statements, I asked myself if my own attitudes more resembled those of the poor or of the rich. Do I easily acknowledge my needs? Do I readily depend on God and on other people? Where does my security rest? Am I more likely to compete or cooperate? Can I distinguish between necessities and luxuries? Am I patient? Do the Beatitudes sound to me like good news or like a scolding?

As I did this exercise I began to realize why so many saints voluntarily submit to the discipline of poverty. Dependence, humility, simplicity, cooperation, and a sense of abandon are qualities greatly prized in the spiritual life, but extremely elusive for people who live in comfort. There may be other ways to God but, oh, they are hard—as hard as a camel squeezing through the eye of a needle. In the Great Reversal of God’s kingdom, prosperous saints are very rare.

I do not believe the poor to be more virtuous than anyone else (though I have found them more compassionate and often more generous), but they are less likely to pretend to be virtuous. They have not the arrogance of the middle class, who can skillfully disguise their problems under a facade of self-righteousness. They are more naturally dependent, because they have no choice; they must depend on others simply to survive.

I now view the Beatitudes not as patronizing slogans, but as profound insights into the mystery of human existence. God’s kingdom turns the tables upside down. The poor, the hungry, the mourners, and the oppressed truly are blessed. Not because of their miserable states, of course—Jesus spent much of his life trying to remedy those miseries. Rather, they are blessed because of an innate advantage they hold over those more comfortable and self-sufficient. People who are rich, successful, and beautiful may well go through life relying on their natural gifts. People who lack such natural advantages, hence underqualified for success in the kingdom of this world, just might turn to God in their time of need.

Human beings do not readily admit desperation. When they do, the kingdom of heaven draws near.

There is no attribute more comforting to His children than that of God’s sovereignty. Under the most adverse circumstances, in the most severe trials, they believe that sovereignty has ordained their afflictions, that sovereignty overrules them, and that sovereignty will sanctify them all. There is nothing for which the children ought to more earnestly contend to than the doctrine of their Master over all creation—the Kingship of God over all the works of His own hands—the Throne of God and His right to sit upon that throne...for it is God upon the Throne whom we trust.

During his days as guest lecturer at Calvin Seminary, R. B. Kuiper used the following illustration of God’s sovereignty and human responsibility.

“I liken them to two ropes going through two holes in the ceiling and over a pulley above. If I wish to support myself by them, I must cling to them both. If I cling only to one and not the other, I go down.

“I read the many teachings of the Bible regarding God’s election, predestination, his chosen, and so on. I read also the many teachings regarding ‘whosoever will may come’ and urging people to exercise their responsibility as human beings. These seeming contradictions cannot be reconciled by the puny human mind. With childlike faith, I cling to both ropes, fully confident that in eternity I will see that both strands of truth are, after all, of one piece.”

I know you will apply hard to German, but do not forget the culture of the inner man—I mean of the heart. How diligently the cavalry officer keeps his sabre clean and sharp; every stain he rubs off with the greatest care. Remember you are God’s sword, His instrument—I trust, a chosen vessel unto Him to bear His name. In great measure, according to the purity and perfection of the instrument, will be the success. It is not great talents God blesses so much as likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God.

I am not sent a pilgrim here,

My heart with earth to fill;

But I am here God’s grace to learn,

And serve God’s sovereign will.

He leads me on through smiles and tears,

Grief follows gladness still;

But let me welcome both alike,

Since both work out his will.

No service in itself is small,

None great, though earth it fill;

But that is small that seeks its own,

And great that seeks God’s will.

Then hold my hand, most gracious Lord,

Guide all my doings still;

And let this be my life’s one aim,

To do, or bear thy will.

As a lawyer, as a congressman, as Governor of Ohio, and as President of the United States, William McKinley had a close relationship with his mother. He either visited her or sent a message to her every day.

When she became seriously ill, he arranged to have a special train standing by, ready to take him to her bedside. Mrs. McKinley died December 12, 1897, in the arms of her 54-year-old son. Her gentle, Christian virtues helped mold the President’s character, for when he was gunned down in Buffalo, New York, about 4 years later, he showed no bitterness toward his assassin. With Christian courage he said, “God’s will be done.” Before he died, he asked to hear once again the hymn “Nearer, My God, to Thee,” which his mother had taught him.

After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park, forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the inferno's damage. One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched statuesquely on the ground at the base of a tree. Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick. When he struck it, three tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother's wings.

The loving mother, keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and had gathered them under her wings, instinctively knowing that the toxic smoke would rise. She could have flown to safety but had refused to abandon her babies. When the blaze had arrived and the heat had scorched her small body, the mother had remained steadfast. Because she had been willing to die so that those under the cover of her wings would live...

"He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge;..." (Psalm 91:4)

Being loved this much should make a difference in your life. Remember the One who loves you and then, be different because of it.

Conscience tells us that we ought to do right, but it does not tell us what right is—that we are taught by God’s word. H.C. Trumbull

Isaiah 55:11

In a letter from Mils and Sandy Becker, April, 1995

“In the 1920s Stalin ordered a purge of all Bibles and believers. In Stavropol, this order was carried out completely. Thousands of Bibles were taken and believers were sent to the gulags, where so many died for being enemies of the state.

“Last year a Commission team was sent to Stavropol. They didn’t know about the history of the city at that time. But when the team had difficulty getting Bibles shipped from Moscow, someone mentioned that they knew a warehouse existed outside the town, where these Bibles had been stored since Stalin’s time.

“The team prayed together and one member had the courage to go to the warehouse and ask the officials if the Bibles could be removed and distributed again to the people in Stavropol. The answer was, ‘Yes’.

“The next day the Commissioners returned with a truck and several Russians to help load the Bibles. One helper was a young man - a skeptical, hostile, agnostic university student, who came only for the day’s wages. As they loaded the Bibles one man noticed that the student had disappeared. Finally they found him in a corner of the warehouse weeping.

“He had slipped away, hoping to quietly take a Bible for himself. What he found pierced him deeply. The inside page of the Bible he picked up had the handwritten signature of his own grandmother. It was her personal Bible. Out of the thousands of Bibles still left in that warehouse, he stole the one that belonged to his grandmother - a woman persecuted for her faith all her life.

“No wonder he wept. God was real. His grandmother had prayed for him and her city. His discovery of the Bible was only a glimpse into the spiritual part of his person. And now this young student is in the process of transformation by the Bible that his grandmother found so vital. God is making Himself known to people around the world.”

God’s sovereign working out of his purposes in the affairs of nations and in individual lives. God predestines those who are saved (Rom. 8:28-29; Eph. 1:4-5). He does not stand on the sidelines, a helpless spectator (so to speak), until we, with our repentance and conversion, give him permission to do something. Unless our names were written “in the book of life from the creation of the world—(Rev. 17:8) we would not even make the motion of turning from sin. Predestination means that our salvation, from first to last, is God’s work. See also Election.

In Scripture, God’s strong and vigorous opposition to everything evil. There is a Greek verb that can be used both of anger and of the swelling of buds as the sap rises. It points to the kind of anger that results from a settled and consistent disposition, and not to a losing of one’s temper. God’s wrath is like that, rather than like human anger on a grand scale. With us, wrath always has elements of passion, lack of self-control, and irrationality. The wrath of God does not.

Let us remember that wisdom never imposes itself, but it woos the hearts of others. It is true that we are anxious to help God accomplish His work in the hearts of people, but sometimes we are like the little girl who, after being out for a while, was asked by her mother where she had been. She said, "In the garden, Mother." "What were you doing in the garden?" "I was helping God," the child replied. She explained that she had found a rose almost blossomed and had "blossomed" it. She had only ruined the rose.

A farmer was known for his generous giving, but his friends could not understand how he could give so much away and yet remain so prosperous. One day a spokesman for his friends said, "We can't understand you. You give far more than the rest of us and yet you always seem to have more to give." "Oh, that is easy to explain," the farmer said. "I keep shoveling into God's bin and God keeps shoveling into mine, but God has the bigger shovel!" Here was a man whose ethics of giving were controlled by the power of an indwelling Lord.

"Happy is the man whom God correcteth" (Job 5:17).

Happy, because the correction is designed to bring him into paths of blessedness and peace.

Happy, because there is no unnecessary severity in it.

Happy, because the chastisement is not so much against us, as against our most cruel enemies-our sins.

Happy, because we have abundant words of consolation.

Happy, because whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth.

Happy, because our light affliction is but for a moment.

Imagine a family of mice who live all their lives in a large piano. To them in their piano-world came the music of the instrument, filling all the dark spaces with sound and harmony. At first the mice were impressed by it. They drew comfort and wonder from the thought that there was Someone who made the mu sic-invisible to them-yet close to them. They loved to think of the Great Player whom they could not see.

Then one day a daring young mouse climbed up part of the piano and returned very thoughtful. He had found out how the music was made. Wires were the secret; tightly stretched wires of graduated lengths which trembled and vibrated. They must revise all their old beliefs: none but the most conservative could any longer believe in the Unseen Player. Later, another explorer carried the explanation further. Hammers were now the secret, numbers of hammers dancing and leaping on the wires. This was a more complicated theory, but it all went to show that they lived in a purely mechanical and mathematical world. The Unseen Player came to be thought of as a myth. But the Pianist continued to play.

By the aid of that most perfect scientific instrument, the ophthalmoscope, with its condensing mirror and myriad of little lenses, the ophthalmologist can look into a person's eye and not only determine approximately the necessary strength of glass required to give perfect vision, but also the existence of tumors pressing on the brain tissue, the condition of the general nervous system, the presence of disease in various organs, and the richness of the blood current as they are clearly traced on the sensitive plate of nature's camera.

What the ophthalmoscope is to the ophthalmologist, revelation from Scripture is to our higher nature-a test and criticism of supreme value. One of the ways by which we can prevent the darkening of our spiritual eyesight is to look daily at the Word of God so that the Word may become the mirror to which we are exposed. "The Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of thoughts and intents of the heart" (Heb 4:12). If we wish to see clearly, we must test and purge our vision. Here is the radical cure for spiritual cataracts and color blindness. To see truly we must see life in God's light. After the dust and fog and mirage of a day that we have lived in our town or city, it is a wonderful restorative to cleanse the eyes with the eye salve of the Word of God.

It is said that Dr. Theodore Cuyler and Mr. Spurgeon were once out in the fields enjoying God's sunshine and the beauties of nature. Dr. Cuyler told a story at which Mr. Spurgeon laughed until his sides shook. Suddenly Mr. Spurgeon said, "Theodore, let's get down on our knees and thank God for laughter." And these two happy Christian preachers knelt in the field and thanked God for His great gift of laughter.

A convict, who has just finished his term of penal servitude, wishes to lead an honest life. He comes to a man who has a large jewelry establishment and who requires a night watchman. He is engaged to watch this building through the quiet hours of the night when he has everything under his care and every opportunity to rob his employer. On the first evening, he meets one of his old companions, who questions him, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm the night watchman."

"Over this jeweler's shop?"

"Yes."

"Does he know what you are?"

"No, keep quiet; if he knew, I should be dismissed."

"Suppose I let it out that you are a returned convict!"

"Oh, please don't; it would be my last day here, and I wish to be honest."

"Well, you have to give me some money to keep quiet."

"Very well, but don't let anyone know."

Thus the poor man would live in fear, lest it should come to the ears of his employer what his previous character had been.

Let us suppose, however, that instead of the employer's engaging the man in ignorance of his character, he went to the convict's cell and said, "Now I know you-what you are, what you've done, every robbery you've committed, but I am about to give you a chance of becoming honest. I'll trust you as my night watchman over my valuable goods." The man is faithful at his post. He meets an old companion who threatens to inform his employer about his past. He asks, "What will you tell about me?"

"That you were the ringleader of thieves."

"Yes, but my master knows all that; he knows me better than I know myself."

Of course, this silences his companion forever. Jesus Christ is the only Master who is "full of grace and truth." Jesus Christ is gracious to you and me because He knows the truth about us, that we deserve nothing but hell. But through His grace heaven can be our share, if we personally and by faith appropriate His grace.

There were two brethren who differed on the question of the believer's safety in Christ. They were discussing the question, and one said to the other: "I'll tell you, a child of God is safe only so long as he stays in the lifeboat. He may jump out, and if he jumps out he is lost." To this the other replied, saying: "You remind me of an incident in my own life. I took my little son out with me in a boat. I realized, as he did not, the danger of his falling or even jumping into the water. So I sat with him all the time, and all the time I held him fast, so he could neither fall out nor jump out of the boat." "But," said the first speaker, "he could have wriggled out of his coat and got away in spite of you." "Oh," said the other, "you misunderstood me if you supposed I was holding his coat; I was holding him."

King Olaf of Norway was the bloody foe of heathenism. He reigned twenty five years, the scourge and terror of his own people, and never made a friend. Their maimed bodies, burned homes, and plundered property were a perpetual memorial to his merciless zeal. He called to his aid robbers and vagabonds and enrolled them in his army, requiring only one condition, that they should be baptized in the name of Christ. He had white crosses painted on the shields and helmets of all his soldiers. He gave a battle cry, "Forward, Christian men! Crossmen!" With all this, his last battle was a sad defeat in which he was slain in a.d. 1030. He justified himself and his horrible barbarities by saying, "I had God's honor to defend." The question is, does God's honor really need our defense, a defense that harms others? We can be sure any zeal that harms others is evil, no matter how we try to justify it.

Scientists have discovered a variety of uses for the laser beam. We once thought it a design of science fiction. Now lasers are used for many industrial, medical, navigational and communicative purposes.

The difference between lasers and a light from an ordinary bulb is direction. A regular bulb diffuses light in all directions. A laser sends powerful parallel beams.

God's Word is like a laser. It can pierce into the very heart and soul of everyone on earth. It can separate the soul from the spirit. It can discern the highest and lowest thoughts. It can speak to our attitudes and intentions.

Are you allowing God's laser, His Word, to work in you?

A shipbuilder steps out into his yard and looks around him. There are the vast skeletons of ships just commenced; there are others advancing to completion. But there is nothing in the scene to satisfy. The big hulls are at present good for nothing. A thousand hammers are tapping in vexatious discord. The miry ground is strewn with wood and metal. Yet the owner stands content amid the imperfection. He never thinks of even doubting the process he beholds. In his mind he carries the ideal of a perfect ship, and he justifies the imperfect ships by imputing to them that ideal. God is like that great shipbuilder. The ideal man exists in His mind. He has the blueprint; man is like the ship being built. When God looks at it He does not despair, because He knows what He can do with the imperfect man.

A little girl and her mother were reading the New Testament one morning when they came to Joh 3:16, "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." Stopping for a moment in the reading the mother asked, "Don't you think it is wonderful?" The child, looking surprised, replied in the negative. The mother, somewhat astonished, repeated the question, to which the little daughter replied, "Why, no, Mommy, it would be wonderful if it were anybody else, but it is just like God." The little girl was absolutely right. It is God's nature to give freely of His grace and of His mercy.

The fact remains that God does keep many secrets, and it seems to me that there are some secrets that every good government ought to keep to itself for the good of its citizens. Responsibility demands a certain amount of reserve. God is certainly responsible and He exercises authority. But He keeps secrets. These are both for His glory and the glory of those who have become His children through faith in Christ. This is not understood by unbelievers, even as some unrealistic citizens do not concede the necessity of a certain amount of secrecy on the part of their government. Sometimes men cultivate the habit of concealment so that they may circumvent opposition and accomplish their own crafty aims more adroitly. This reflects an attitude of contempt for others. But God's reserve is always noble. It is always in favor of man. And the mystery of mysteries is that it is both for His glory and the believer's glory.

Picture a table set with delicious food. Hungry people are gathered around it. God has prepared the food. It is free. If there are some who sit at this table and do not taste the food, it is their own fault. To be in the midst of plenty and to go hungry is certainly unreasonable behavior. Yet that is what is happening all the time. God's bounty is not taken advantage of. God provides spiritual food, but He will not force it on anyone. Man must reach out and partake of it.

A man once rose up in a meeting to give his testimony to the saving grace of God. He told how the Lord had won his heart and given deliverance from the guilt and power of sin. He spoke of Christ and His work but said nothing of any efforts of his own. The leader of the meeting was of a legalistic mind, and when this man's testimony was ended he said, "Our brother has only told us of the Lord's part in his salvation. When I was converted, there was a whole lot I had to do myself before I could expect the Lord to do anything for me. Brother, didn't you do your part first before God did His?" The other was on his feet in an instant and replied, "Yes, sir, I clean forgot. I didn't tell you about my part, did I? Well, I did my part for over 30 years, running away from God as fast as ever my sins could carry me. That was my part. And God took after me till He ran me down. That was His part."

Have you ever watched a little boy learning to use a hammer? The lad grasps the hammer near the head of the shaft and is merely able to go "tap, tap, tap," hardly working the nail into the wood. He has the right tool but no power.

Compare the craftsman carpenter as he holds his hammer down at the bottom of the shaft gaining all the leverage he can. His arm goes "bam, bam, bam," driving nails home using a few swift hard strokes without damaging the surface of the wood. He holds the tool to get the power.

The open-air theater in ancient Corinth attracted great crowds of people. The people who played in the theater were often quite famous. In our day we call them stars. Popularity and theater performances are almost synonymous. Paul told the Corinthians that God's theater is larger than theirs-that it extends under the vault of heaven. But the apostles were not leading the lives of popular theatrical stars. Their lives were not rich or famous. They were last on the social and economic ladder. Yet they performed with an audience larger than those who were swimming in pleasure. They had an audience above as well as an audience before them. Angels from above watched them, and men from every walk of life.

A group of atheists were criticizing the Bible. One of them spoke about creation. He said, "What man with any common sense could believe that several thousand years ago, God stooped down and picked up a piece of mud, breathed on it, and changed it into a human being?" A Christian man standing by overheard the conversation and responded by saying: "I cannot answer all the questions about creation, but this I know: One night God stooped down and picked up the dirtiest piece of mud in this city, breathed upon it by His Holy Spirit, and changed a gambling, thieving, drinking wretch into a peace-loving man of God. I was that man."

A little boy asked, "Why is it that when I open a marigold it dies, but if God does it, it's so beautiful?" Before anyone could answer him, he said, "I know! It's because God always works from the inside." That's God's wise way of working with men-from the inside.

Here is an illustration of how to find God's will that has been useful to many: There was a certain harbor that was treacherous and dangerous. In order for the captain to guide his ship safely into this harbor, he had to be very attentive to the three lights that were used to guide him. When all three lights lined up as one, he knew it was safe to proceed. Then, and only then, would he be able to bring his ship safely to port.

As we seek guidance, we, too, have to be attentive to three lights that are used to guide us into the harbor of His will: the Word of God, outward circumstances, and inner conviction. When all three of these lights line up, we can proceed with assurance that we will be led safely into the harbor.

A lady had a little gold cross, on the upright part of which the words, "God's will," were engraved. On the crossbar were the words, "My will." At the touch of a spring the cross disappeared and left only a straight beam bearing the words, "God's will." Thus, when our will is lost in God's and we are indeed dead unto sin, it is no longer a cross to follow Christ. We shall no longer complain that we do not get our own selfish way, because we shall not have any. When our will is contrary to God's will, then we have a cross to bear.

God give us men…ribbed with the steel of Your Holy Spirit…men who will not flinch when the battle’s fiercest…men who won’t acquiesce, or compromise, or fade when the enemy rages. God give us men who can’t be bought, bartered, or badgered by the enemy, men who will pay the price, make the sacrifice, stand the ground, and hold the torch high. God give us men obsessed with the principles true to your word, men stripped of self-seeking and a yen for security…men who will pay any price for freedom and go any lengths for truth. God give us men delivered from mediocrity, men with vision high, pride low, faith wide, love deep, and patience long…men who will dare to march to the drumbeat of a distant drummer, men who will not surrender principles of truth in order to accommodate their peers. God give us men more interested in scars than medals. More committed to conviction than convenience, men who will give their life for the eternal, instead of indulging their lives for a moment in time. Give us men who are fearless in the face of danger, calm in the midst of pressure, bold in the midst of opposition. God give us men who will pray earnestly, work long, preach clearly, and wait patiently. Give us men whose walk is by faith, behaviour is by principle, whose dreams are in heaven, and whose book is the Bible. God give us men who are equal to the task. Those are the men the church needs today.

I know my God is able to deliver;

Able to save from direst human ill;

Able, as when He saved the Hebrew children—

Almighty still.

But if, perchance, His plans are not my plans;

If hid in darkness should my pathway be;

If when I plead He does not seem to answer,

Nor care for me—

Then, though men scoff and bitterly deride me—

Listen! I fling my challenge to the sky!

God may deliver, but if not, I’ll trust Him,

And trusting, die!

- M. Mannington Dexter

A businessman once gave the reasons why he knew there was a God. He had been earnestly considering the wonders of the stars and planets, their system and order. Then he said, "It takes a girl in our factory about two days to learn to put the seventeen parts of a meat chopper together. Some may believe that these millions of worlds, each with its separate orbit, all balanced so wonderfully in space-that they just happened; that by a billion years of tumbling about they finally arranged themselves. I am merely a plain manufacturer of cutlery. But this I do know, that you can shake the seventeen parts of a meat chopper around in a washtub for the next seventeen billion years and you'll never make a meat chopper."

Government: Rom 13, 1 Pt 2:17

Employer: Eph 6, 1 Pt 2:18

Husband: 1 Pt 3:1, Col 3:18, Eph 5:22

Parent: Eph 6

Elders: Heb 13:17

Around the turn of the century in rural Tennessee an old man crippled with arthritis was very faithful in his assembling with the saints. Twice on Sunday and on Wednesday nights a little girl watched from her window as the old man with his cane painfully made his way down to the little church on the corner. One Sunday morning following a snow storm, the little girl ran to her window and looking out exclaimed, "Surely the old man will not go to church this morning." But there he was, right on schedule, plodding very cautiously through the snow.

The little girl could not contain herself any longer. She just had to visit the little church to see what possibly could be there that would bring the old man out on such an inclement morning. The rest is history. The little girl was impressed by the services there that morning and a short time later became a Christian. After high school she enrolled in a Christian college and while there she met a fine young Christian boy whom she later married. To this union a son was born who was to become one of the finest gospel preachers. This brother during his ministry has literally led thousands to Christ.

The old man went to his reward never realizing just what an impact he had made for the cause of Christ. Because of his godly influence many will go into heaven with him. There can be no greater joy than to reach heaven and to her someone say, "I am here because you have shown me the way."

The need for godly leaders has been a popular topic in the Christian community. And rightly so. Leadership has often been sadly lacking within the church. But “followship” also needs attention. When believers aren’t prepared to follow, they cast doubt on their status as believers.

The following account comes to us from E. Stanley Jones. He told of a missionary who lost his way in an African jungle. He could find no landmarks and the trail vanished. Eventually, stumbling on a small hut, he asked the native living there if he could lead him out.

The native nodded. Rising to his feet, he walked directly into the bush. The missionary followed on his heels. For more than an hour they hacked their way through a dense wall of vines and grasses. The missionary became worried: “Are you sure this is the way? I don’t see any path.”

The African chuckled and said over his shoulder, “Bwana, in this place there is no path. I am the path.”

Many godly men of the past have been richly blessed by what they learned from their mothers. Consider the biblical characters Moses, Samuel, and Timothy. The maternal influence experienced by these spiritual leaders bore rich fruit in their lives. Think too of men like Augustine, John Newton, and the zealous Wesley brothers. Their names would probably never have lighted the pages of history if it hadn’t been for the godly women who raised them in homes where the law of love and a Christian witness were their daily guide and inspiration.

Susannah Wesley, for example, spent one hour each day praying for her 17 children. In addition, she took each child aside for a full hour every week to discuss spiritual matters. No wonder two of her sons, Charles and John, were used of God to bring blessing to all of England and much of America. Here are a few rules she followed in training her children:

(1) Subdue self-will in a child and thus work together with God to save his soul.

(2) Teach him to pray as soon as he can speak.

(3) Give him nothing he cries for and only what is good for him if he asks for it politely.

(4) To prevent lying, punish no fault which is freely confessed, but never allow a rebellious, sinful act to go unnoticed

(5) Commend and reward good behavior.

(6) Strictly observe all promises you have made to your child.”

Let us honor our godly mothers today, not only with words of praise, but with lives that reflect the impact of their holy influence! - H.G.B.

A minister must be learned, on pain of being utterly incompetent for his work. But before and above being learned, a minister must be godly. Nothing could be more fatal, however, than to set these two things over against one another.

God’s unmerited favor. The Greek words for joy and grace are related; grace causes joy. In the Christian understanding, nothing brings joy like the good news of what God has done in Christ to bring us salvation. Salvation by grace is “through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works...” (Eph. 2:8-9). God’s grace also brings about qualities of conduct in the believer (2 Cor. 9:8; 12:9; Eph. 4:7). The word grace came to be used as a kind of prayer (“grace to you”) in Christian greetings at the beginning and end of some of the New Testament letters (2 Cor. 1:2; 13:14).

A boy was walking along a dusty country road, a rifle slung over his shoulder. A man in a car saw the boy, stopped and asked him what he was hunting. “Don’t know,” said the boy. “I ain’t seen it yet.”

William Sangster visited a young girl in the hospital who was going blind. “God is going to take my sight away,” she told the pastor.

After a long pause, Sangster said, “Don’t let Him, Jessie. Give it to Him. Try to pray this prayer: ‘Father, if for any reason I must lose my sight, help me to give it to you.’”

When Jessie returned to church she had a guide dog with her. The dog used to sleep during the first 20 minutes of the sermon and then wake up and howl. When it saw that its howling did not silence the preacher, it went back to sleep!

A small company in the early days of gold mining in South Africa sank shaft after shaft in different locations, finding only a small amount of gold in each shaft. Ultimately, the prospectors discovered that all they needed to have done was to go deeper in the first shaft for, as they did so, they found gold in abundance.

Roy Hession writes that he has found this to be true in the spiritual life also.

"I testify that although I have tried all sorts of different shafts, hoping for greater results in my life, Christ has now become the end of all my searching. Revival for me has meant coming back to the place where I first began, and I intend to stay there. Tell me not of any other way. I need to go deeper at His cross-much deeper."

A fisherman had planned a special fishing trip for several months. He made out a list of essentials and scratched each item off as he packed. He had his car checked and serviced. All of his appointments were under control. Everything was ready. He even made sure to leave his wife and family well stocked with whatever they might need. The long awaited time finally arrived, and he eagerly bid them goodbye, hopped in his car and left.

He arrived at his fishing cabin that evening, got things tidied up and his food in order, set the alarm for 4 AM, then went to sleep dreaming of the fish he would catch on the morrow.

He arose hurriedly at the first sound of the alarm, quickly ate eggs and bacon, almost gulping the food down in his anxiety to get out on the lake. Just as he was getting into his boat, he made a startling discovery: he had not brought along any bait-the bait box was empty!

Many people prepare to meet God in a similar way.

People who practice their religious faith regularly may be getting some earthly benefits: They appear to be healthier compared to people who never attend a house of worship. A study conducted by sociologists at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., found that 4 percent of those who regularly went to church or synagogue reported poor health, compared with 9 percent of those who did not attend a house of worship. And 36 percent of weekly worshippers reported they were in excellent health, compared with 26 percent of non-attenders. Why the difference? Researchers aren’t sure, but they say the reason may be that people attending weekly services may be more likely to see friends who ask about their health and can recommend a doctor.

A number of years ago, a Navy jet fighter plane shot itself down over the deserts of Nevada while testing a new cannon mounted on its wing. The plane was flying at supersonic speeds, but the cannon shells were subsonic. What happened was crucial. The fighter actually ran into the shells it had fired seconds before. The jet was traveling too fast.

Sometimes we travel too fast for our own spiritual good. God speaks and we are going too fast to hear Him.

Don't be guilty of traveling so fast with your life that you run past the sound of the Word of God. Be in the center of His will.

Everywhere the perpetual endeavor of the enemy of souls is to discourage. If he can get the soul “under the weather,” he wins. It is not really what we go through that matters, it is what we go under that breaks us. We can bear anything if only we are kept inwardly victorious...

If God can make His birds to whistle in drenched and stormy darkness, if He can make His butterflies able to bear up under rain, what can He not do for the heart that trusts Him?

Let thy gold be cast in the furnace,

The red gold, precious and bright;

Do not fear the hungry fire,

With its caverns of burning light;

And thy gold shall return more precious,

Free from every spot and stain;

For gold must be tried by fire,

As a heart must be tried by pain!

In the cruel fire of Sorrow

Cast thy heart, do not faint or wail;

Let thy hand be firm and steady

Do not let thy spirit quail:

But wait till the trial is over

And take thy heart again;

For as gold is tried by fire,

So a heart must be tried by pain!

I shall know by the gleam and the glitter

Of the golden chain you wear,

By your heart’s calm strength in loving,

Of the fire they have had to bear.

Beat on, true heart, forever!

Shine bright, strong golden chain!

And bless the cleansing fire,

And the furnace of living pain!

- Adelaide Anne Proctor