Category: document

South Australia has three Conventions. Australia itself has 23. NZ has seven. Fifty miles north of Adelaide, is Kapunda. Just over the hill is where my grandparents and the people of the convention grounds heard the gospel in 1910. It was Sam Jones’ first mission with fruit.

Some of the workers had come to Sydney in 1904. A few had come out to Australia in 1905, 1908 and 1907. I have Sam’s original Bible. In 1907, as he was departing to leave for Australia, he had written in it. (Ps. 27:13) “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord.”

Sometime during the early years, Sam wrote on the back of one of his photos something that gives a picture of his struggles:

The Spirit to continue with Him in His temptations:
This is the Grace and Virtue that I crave.
So much would draw me backward-
So much would pull me downward
And hinder me from being strong and brave.

In Melbourne, before there were friends there, workers would be walking along the road where produce came in from the market gardens. When fruit fell off the vendors’ carts, they would count it as the Lord’s for them.

In 1908, it was the Gold Rush in W. Australia. It was a rough time. Sam was not well. His companion didn’t continue. Sam lay down in a dry creek bed. Gypsies found him and nursed him to health. It was then he wrote, 345. “I Cannot Now Go Back”.

Laura Faulkner and Aggie Hughes went to the gold fields. There they found Syd Maynard digging for gold. He was some of the best gold that was found! He pioneered the work In India, and in Australia, stories of his work are legion.

An old man in his 90’s, Jim Sweetman, identified Aggie Hughes in one of my old photos. In 1908, this old man had been helping to put the railroad through. Convicts from the jail were also helping. In the evenings there would be discussions led by a chairman. One time it was about religion.
Everyone was speaking against churches and pastors. A rough Norwegian jumped up. “All those religions may be wrong, but there’s ONE (?) that’s right.” He told about having heard Laura Faulkner and Aggie Hughes preaching on the Main St. of Kallgorlie! Later when Jimmy heard the Gospel, he remembered what had been said around the campfire that night.

In 1909, at Gladstone, about 50 miles north of my grandparents, Sam wrote 241, “The Truth of God So Precious.” Remember, he didn’t have much to encourage. It makes those phrases “anointed eyes see always Jesus ahead” and “’twas life I got, not theory” seem so real.
One time, they were walking down the line, preaching in each little town, camping in haystacks. They were directed to Bethel, five miles away. There were two churches there that had amalgamated, but they still had “feelings”. The workers found Mr. Geue raking straw. He was the leader and band-master. He said to go and see Mr. Schmidt. If he didn’t give them a hall, they should come back to him. They came back and started meetings in Mr. Geue’s home. The preacher got really mad and spoke out against them. Twenty-four of his congregation walked out on him because they had heard more from Sam than from him.
Twenty years ago, I talked to an old man in that town that could tell me about the history of the church that Mr. Geue and my grandparents and others had come out of. He said that in the 1880’s there was a break in the church. Later there was another breaking out. He said, “Out on Clare Road there was a man called Hermann Geue. He was the leader of our congregation and the bandmaster, and with other elders and members, do you know what happened?” I said “What?” He said, “Two men just came walking along the road, and they believed them!” Mr. Geue lost his reputation as a church leader. He was put out. In 1914, Sam Jones wrote 408, “No Reputation” while staying with Geue’s. Mr. Geue set the music to the words.

Adam Hutchison wrote to Jimmy Vallence in New Zealand in 1908 to join him. Jimmy said he couldn’t preach, but he could hand out hymnbooks and bring in firewood. But before he went back to NZ as a senior worker, 70-80 people had professed in his missions!

Adam and Jimmy came to a fork in the road. They wondered which way to go. They saw a little paper. A little girl was offering a posy to the minister. They thought that this must be a God-fearing area if she had that respect for a minister and they turned in that direction. Every morning Jimmy borrowed the wood barrow from this girl’s mother. And every time he returned it, he thanked her, and reminded her of the meetings. She wearied of this and said he didn’t need to thank her every time. One day she told him he didn’t need to go gathering scrub. A tree had fallen in the churchyard and he could take the limbs off. The preacher said, “See, they are not only sheep stealers, but wood stealers!” She was indignant. She told him that HE wouldn’t have cleaned it up! She was so upset, she decided to go to Jimmy’s meetings. She professed and so did her daughter. That mission was in Woodside.

The second mission in South Australia was in Forest Range, twenty miles out of Adelaide. There are now four churches. A girl from there is just starting in the work this year, Helen Mason. Her uncle and aunt, Trevor and Beverley Loechel are in the work in S. America.

Sometimes when Jimmy was preaching, he would get stumped and couldn’t say any more. Sam would say, “We’ll just sing another hymn while he gathers his thoughts!” Mr. Geue said that it was Jimmy’s sincerity, sweating and struggling that helped him the most.

Mr. Schmidt had remained very crusty. But his daughter, Frieda, was drawn. Otto Schmidt, her cousin, would come back from meetings and tell her all he had heard. She remained captive at home another two years. A few years later she went in the work. There was so much animosity in Frieda’s family that they wouldn’t even shake hands with her. Later they softened.

It is told that during convention, my Grandma would get up at 4 o’clock each morning to go into the valley and invite all the relatives every year. Frieda’s first companion was Olga Hastings (aunt of Clem Geue) in 1920. Olga’s brother died from lightning; another in a buggy crash. Her father too, had been opposed, but now saw the hand of God and relented. Olga and Frieda went to Germany in 1924 and didn’t return to S. Australia to stay till 1978.

Otto Schmidt and Alf Vogt got a message after convention clear-up that Sam and Adam wanted to see them. Sam was writing at his desk; Adam was standing in the bay window. Adam said to Sam, “Which of these boys are you going to have this year?’ That’s how they started in the work!

My mother’s side was Zion Apostolic. They moved 350 miles away to a dry, dry fruit farm, away from their religious relatives. Grandmother prayed and prayed. Jack Annand (who wrote many beautiful hymns) invited them to meetings. Grandmother was expecting at the time and couldn’t go. Later, Fred Quick (who preached in Egypt, Cyprus and Greece) and Harry Morgan (his first year, later went to Sri Lanka) came. Grandmother and others professed. She thought her relatives would love this. But they were involved with Zion City near Chicago, USA. Many had gone there from Australia and Kangaroo Island but were bitterly disappointed and had come back to Kangaroo Island. The gospel went to that Island in 1913. The workers invited a Mr. Bell to meetings. He told them,”I will never follow man again”. They said, “We just encourage you to follow Jesus”. One of Mr. Bell’s great grandsons just went in the work a few years ago.
Mr. Partridge, a lay preacher in Zion City, was devastated. He had lost everything he had. He had

put everything into “Zion dollars”. He hadn’t been invited to gospel meetings but had heard about them. At the same time he was listening to a Mr. Buick in another direction. He was confused. He prayed that if Mr. Buick was wrong, he wouldn’t be able to say anything the next night. Mr. Buick stood up and said, “I don’t know what’s wrong but I don’t have anything to say tonight.” Mr. Partridge came to the workers and said, I want to surrender the rest of my wasted life.” Mr. Partridge’s daughter married a Mr. Morgue in California. Two of their daughters, Thyra and Nita, went in the work.

In Kangaroo Island there were 150 friends within a population of 3500. It is such a high concentration of friends that it is rumored that that is where the Truth started! But there are only about 70 there now, as many young folks have moved away for job reasons. One year the Premier came with his contingent and asked the elders about their faith. Once, a film crew from Italy came to Kangaroo Island. They wanted to do a special part on this unique group and their ways!

There is a place called Amen Corner. This is how it got its name. Mail came only once a week to this area. George then took advantage of the captive audiences to preach to them. When finally the horse came with the mail, they would all say, “AMEN George, AMEN!” Many of our young folk have professed in the Amen Corner Hall.

A little history about some other hymns:
Once Sam Jones was walking along the road, his feet bleeding. It prompted 179, “Thy bleeding feet, Lord Jesus I will follow.”
John Martin wrote 147 hymns. His last one, 37, was written during his last ten days. He was so weak he could not raise his hands to write. He dictated this hymn “Nothing matters but salvation” to Joe Ames. On his headstone is written, “Nothing matters but salvation, was his final exhortation.” He also wrote 251. He and another young man professed the same time. The other did not continue. Not long after, he died. At the graveside, John couldn’t stand the sorrow. He went to the other end of the cemetery, sat on a tombstone and wrote these words, “Don’t Be Led Captive from Zion to Roam”.

John Sullivan went to Australia in 1906. His sister and her husband moved there too. Her husband died. She was left destitute with three or four little boys. John built her a slab hut. It was rough days for him. He thought, “Maybe I can build one for myself.” At that crossroad, he wrote 46, “Lord Jesus Lead”. He died in 1923.

William Carroll was on the ship between Australia and America when word came that WW2 had broken out. He went down to his cabin and wrote 70. “Send Thy Light.”

I was a carpenter, joiner, cabinet maker. When I told the people I worked with that I was leaving all, they thought I was mad. The secretary told me I was a fool, burning my bridges. But it has brought me into wealthy places.

I learned something from the “schools of the air” in the vast spaces of nothingness in Australia. There are 14 of these schools in Australia. The one I was at was transmitting to students in a 1,000,000 mile area. Farms are 100 or more miles apart. Some cattle ranches are as big as England. The motto of the school is “Parted but United”. Students, hundreds of miles apart, report in each morning. They hear one voice, one lesson, every morning. It is a greater school that we are in. Many of us will never meet, but we can all hear the One voice which makes us united though parted.

The 16 who went into the work either directly from the Bethel mission or from later generations are as follows:

Matz Alex – son of Hermann and Martha

Clem and Gladys Geue – children of Hermann and Lydia

Dora Geue – daughter of Sam and Mary

Olga Hastings – sister to Lydia Geue

Otto & Frieda Schmidt (siblings)

Alfred, Benjamin and Hilda Vogt (Hilda married Frank Quick, and both were in the work)

Les, Brian, Peter, Lois and Jeanette Doecke – grandchildren of Hermann and Clara, children of Ted

Robert Doecke – grandson of Hermann and Clara, son of Gary

The families from the Bethel Church:

Matz: *Hermann and *Martha, nee Schmidt. Children: Alex, Delores (Dot – Morrison), Wilson.

Geue: *Hermann and *Lydia, nee Hastings. Children: Clem, Wilfred, Gladys and Lorna (Wilson).

Hastings, Olga – sister to Lydia Geue.

Geue: Samuel (Hermann’s brother) and Mary. Children: Dora, Gertie, Agnes, Alice).

Geue: Papa and Mama; Hermann’s parents. They could not understand English so did not actually profess, but lived peaceably in Hermann’s home all their lives.

Vogt: *August and his *wife; “Papa and Mama”, parents of the Vogts below.

Vogt: *Theodore and *Paula, nee Schmidt (Martha Matz’s sister). Children: Evangeline (White), Wilfred, Margaret.

Vogt: *Walter and *Agnes; nee Schmidt (as above). Children: Eveline (Harris), Leonard, Ronald.

Vogt *Alfred; went into the work in 1911 and laboured in the USA, later married.

Vogt *Benjamin; also went into the work and laboured in NSW for a time.

Vogt: *Gerhardt; known as Gary. Children: Les (father to Graham Vogt).

Vogt *Rudolph; known as Rudy.

Vogt *Martha, married Friederich Schmidt soon after the mission.

Vogt Hilda (aged 13), later married Frank Quick and both were in the work in New Zealand for a number
of years.

Vogt Hettie; later married Harold Wenham of Yankalilla.

Vogt Hertha (aged 9), later married Keith Love of Adelaide.

Schmidt: *Otto; aged 21 when he professed, went into the work in 1911 and took the gospel to Germany with Jim Jardine in 1913. During World War I he laboured in the USA. He returned to Germany afterwards, but his health broke down.
He married and returned to Australia some years later and settled at Mildura, where his son Mervyn now lives.

Schmidt: *Friederich; married Martha Vogt. Children: Bert, Rhoda and Rhinah (Short).

Schmidt: *Frieda. cousin to Otto and Fred. Went in the work in 1920.

Doecke: *Hermann and *Clara; nee Schmidt. Children: *Helena, Conrad, Martin, Louis.

Theodore (Ted), Les, Brian, Peter, Lois and Jeanette (grandchildren of Hermann and Clara, children of Ted
Gerhardt (Gary), Robert (grandson of Hermann and Clara, son of Gary)

Jones: *May, schoolteacher at Bethel. She later married Syd Porker of Marama.

Linke: *Edie, Mrs. Charlie Linke; Charlie did not profess.

Winters: *Mabel, didn’t continue.

An * indicates those thought to have walked out of the Moravian church.

We would like to inform you that the workers and brethren in Venezuela are well, after a night of intense bombing in Caracas that resulted in the departure of Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia.

Given the declaration of state of emergency, it has been recommended to suspend all meetings for tomorrow & until further notice. We are in a situation of uncertainty where prudence is highly advisable. All the workers are in Valencia, in the convention place, except I moved last night to the city of Maracay with the intention of making some visits, which I will not be able to carry out now.

The Rosal family, who lives near Fort Tiuna, where Mr. Maduro was, heard strong detonations and could not sleep after 2 a.m., but the situation has now passed.

We sincerely appreciate your prayers and accompaniment. We trust that everything is in the hands of God, who knows every detail. Have a nice day!

G’day, Excuse me for continuing with this same theme… places whose 2024 study begins with John’s gospel. This surely doesn’t take away from those already studying John (FL) or other lists where it isn’t first. This is what we’ve found regarding places where the first study of the year is John’s gospel. All of these lists begin with John’s gospel, although the rest of the list might not be the same.

US: Montana/Wyoming, Idaho, CA, AZ, NV, Oregon, WA, Hawaii, Baja CA (Mexico), Alaska

Canada:  British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, part of Ontario.

Other countries: China, Taiwan, Japan, Australia, Guam, Panamá, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Belize, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Cuba. French West Africa….

It was when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in HI, that the US entered the 2nd World War. For some years, the US and Australia were fighting Japan in PNG.    Now all three countries are beginning 2024 feeding on the same bread around the same table (at least in God’s family).

In spite of Satan using some to send detracting, murmuring messages, it’s special thinking of God’s people strengthening themselves with John 1:1: In the beginning. We have heard that Satan subtracts and divides; God adds and multiplies.

Five fivers:
In the beginning, God created.
In the beginning, Jesus helped.
In our beginning, Jesus helped.
In our continuing, Jesus helps.
Jesus: Our all in all.

Link to audio

Link to audio

Audio link

Link to audio

I don’t know if God will speak to me today, but my part is to separate some
time to pray! I don’t know if there will be a message for me today from
God’s Word, but my part is to separate some time to read!

We take steps and leave impressions.
We make choices and leave an influence.
We labour and leave an inheritance.
The greatest inheritance one can leave for another is a worthy example.

Ask with humility, seek with sincerity and knock with constancy.

We become great by being small.
We live only by dying.
We become wise by becoming fools.
We possess all things by being nothing.
We are strong when we are weak.
We rest under the yoke.
We reign by serving.

The gospel is the only thing that will give hope in this life, comfort in
death, confidence in the Day of Judgment, joy through all eternity.

RE – those letters form a syllable – it means “again”. RENEW, REDEEM,
REHEARSE, RESTORE, REVIVE, RECONCILE, REPAIR, AND RECYCLE.

In Genesis 49, Jacob had a message for his twelve sons. It is a picture of a fellowship meeting. There was a wonderful cross-section of people. Twelve men, like a fellowship meeting. Who was the feeder? How many feeders are there? Judah is the one who had the sceptre. A picture of
righteousness and truth. Upholding the sceptre. Zebulon was spoken of as a haven for ships, very warm and kind. We appreciate people like that. Others fill a very helpful position. Issachar was the burden-bearer who could take responsibilities.

In that meeting who were the feeders? Four brothers: Asher had royal
dainties, something small, sweet, tasty, come from the King’s table. He had got into the presence of God and got something small and sweet, very
helpful in a fellowship meeting. Naphtali giveth good words but they are not of much use if they do not have a godly life backing them up. Joseph was a fruitful bough whose branches run over the wall for others to feed on. Benjamin, in the morning he would be like a raven, but in the evening he would divide the spoil. He had an appetite to feed in the morning, but at the end of the day he had something he could share with others. At the end of the week, I wonder if we have something to bring and to share with others.

Through the years I have proved the dependability of God. Now I hear the
echo in my heart, “May the Lord depend on you?”

Regarding the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man was buried, and the beggar was carried. (Rich man died and was buried. Lazarus was carried into Abraham’s bosom where there was comfort.)

Miracle of mercy. There is no surgeon’s scalpel that can heal a broken heart or a bruised person.

Get up, get up for Jesus’ sake.
Ye soldiers of the cross,
Sleeping in on a Sunday morning,
Is surely your harm and loss.

If Christians on a weekday,
Can go to work by seven,
They surely can on a Sunday morning,
Be at the meeting by eleven. (or ten thirty!)

This is the 90th year of my life, and I am very thankful still to have enough health to be busy with a companion in a field. Long ago in South Africa I met an uncle of the late Tommy Vincent (South African worker who passed on several years ago.)  If I remember correctly, Tommy’s uncle was 102 at that time. He never married. Upon asking him why he never married, he replied “Because, even though I often lost my heart, I never lost my head!”

I suppose we have all had thoughts at one time or another about whether life would have been easier or more pleasant if we lived in a different time span of the world’s history. In Ecc 7:10 we read “Say not thou, what is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not inquire wisely concerning this.” I am fully convinced that God has carefully planned the time span of our lives.  These are the conditions and circumstances that He wants to use to work in my life. We know that God is very meticulous, and He leaves nothing to chance.

Since I last wrote a general letter we have had conventions, and I am now in the city of Taejeon with Sungdong Pahk. He was with me in 1992 in the city of Kwangju. We have both aged a bit since then! We are really enjoying being together again. Before starting in the work, Sungdong had been a gas specialist in the ship-building branch of the giant Hyundai company. After he professed, when his father found out that he was planning to leave to go into the work, his father told him “If that is your plan, then as you leave this house I will break your leg!”. He knew that his father could very well carry out his threat, and it would not be very practical to start in the work with a broken leg, so he stayed at home until he was able to calm his parents down. Later, when he did leave, he left his whole family in a pool of tears. It took several years, but later he had the joy of seeing both his parents profess, and they died in the truth. Some years after that one of his older brothers professed, and now another older brother is listening to the gospel right here in Taejeon, learning about the way of life from his youngest brother!

The first time I was in Taejeon was in 1969, with Kison Ko, who passed away many years ago already. Some of the friends who were here then have passed away, and some have moved elsewhere, but the others are still steady and a number have been added. We are glad to have a few good listeners in the gospel meetings, and we pray that they may have the same experience as those who accompanied the woman at the well when she told them about Jesus.  They said “Now we are not believing because of what you told us, but because we have heard Him for ourselves”.

I thought of the time that Jesus told of the two greatest commandments “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, your mind and your soul”; and “Love your neighbour as yourself” ~  “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets”. So now the question is, firstly, how can we get to love God more? Twice in 1 John 4 we are told “God is love”. Also in the Song of Solomon 5.16 we read (about our Lord Jesus) “He is altogether lovely”. We can safely say that it is impossible to know God and not love him. So it puts more meaning in what Jesus said in John 17.3 “This is eternal life that we know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Whom Thou hast sent”. The secret to getting to know God (and loving Him) better is simply by spending more time with Him in the secret place. And, of course, we also get to know God by experiences where we can clearly see His hand.

Now how do we get to love our neighbour? When I first came to Korea, arranged marriages were still very common. In some cases they did not even know each other before the wedding day. So there was no love or romance involved. However, they had a very novel way of getting the love started in the bride’s heart. Right after the wedding ceremony the young men from the village would take the new bridegroom and hang him from the rafters in the barn, and then start beating him. The new bride was brought in and had to watch her bridegroom being beaten. They were not pretending either, they really beat him as if he had committed some crime. This continued until the bride began to cry. The idea was that sympathy is the beginning of love. My companion and I were in a field up in the mountains in those early days, and a young lady and her parents and sister were attending our meetings. Then a marriage was arranged for the young lady. However, in this case,  she was highly amused when they started beating her bridegroom, and instead of crying she was laughing!  So the bridegroom had to be beaten more severely to arouse her sympathy. (The poor young man was still in pain the next morning!!)

I suppose we can learn to love others if we feel real sympathy for them.  Since we have the same human nature, we should be able to sympathize.

One thing that I have had to admit about myself is that my own weaknesses are the things that I am quickest to recognise when I see them in someone else. Many years ago Clarence Anderson came to Korea for a special meeting, and he told us “We see our brother through the magnifying glass of criticism, but when we look at him in the mirror of God’s righteousness, we are amazed to find that my brother is so much like me-self!” 

I remember hearing of one child in a family who had only a short while to live. The parents lavished everything on that child as much as they could.  But not one of the other children felt jealous. All they felt was intense sympathy. If we could see the end result of those who live only for themselves, we would probably feel very sympathetic towards them.  Long ago I remember one of our blind friends saying in his testimony, “Sympathy means your pain in my heart”.

I will close here now, with warm greetings and love in our Lord from your brother, 
Ernest

He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches in New Mexico. (Makes it more personal).

When Jonah fled from the Lord, he went 2500 miles in the opposite direction. (Same distance from here, Mountainair to Bangor, Maine, for example.)

God sent a wind, a storm, and a fish to help Jonah fit into the will of God. If we can turn ourselves to God, He can save us. Every one of the workers feels like a fish has spit us out at some point, just like Jonah’s experience. Just press in if anything makes us squirm in this meeting.

What Jesus didn’t say speaks volumes.

What is vain? Something that doesn’t have a lasting future. The work of God is not vain.

Everything living takes work and needs feeding. Your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

Mirage – people give their lives to things only to find there’s nothing there.

Unbelief and disobedience go hand in hand. Who is going to declare His generation?

God is looking for people who are willing. He is not asking if we are able.

No child wants to be a whiny complainer. They weren’t born that way.

Study of “we have” in the Bible. Do a search for it in quotes and you will be surprised by the number of “we haves.”

2 Cor 4:1 We have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not.

We have this treasure in earthen vessels. Do we value this gospel? Do we see it as a gift? Has it been a gift to you? It is a gift that keeps on giving.

Someone asked, “How do I get into this?” You don’t get into this. It gets into you.

1 Jn 3:14 This is how you know you have salvation. “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.”

We don’t have to dye our hair or go out and buy a sports car. As the world is afraid of aging, often they do something to deny their age. We look forward to going home.

The only reality is our life with God. Real life is here. Fantasy is going back to work, school, and so on. God’s people live in two worlds: the present world and the future world. When we pray, we are praying for the future world and enter into that in prayer.

In Revelation: he that overcomes shall no longer go out (re. the door).

When we’ve done all we can, then the grace of God kicks in to help us do what we can’t.

‘I have a friend’, your child may say when they come home from school. Who is your friend? You are interested in what they are like. Sometimes for good, sometimes for evil are their influences. Hymn: Don’t be led captive by friend or by foe. Jas 4:4 Friend of the world. What is the world? World collectively is the souls of men who have said No to God by what they are saying or doing,  choosing their own way. We put ourselves in the enemy camp when we have those friends. Abraham was called a friend of God. He chose wisely to be a friend of God. Genesis 12:1. Just go. I will make of you a great nation. He didn’t even have any children then, but God directed him to “Just go.” It’s not about your family. It’s just me and you. Jesus asked, “Who is my mother, brothers, sisters? Those that do the will of the Father.”

“Stick and stay”, my first coworker would say.

I love you. Lisa VDB started out.

Isaiah 52:7 The workers’ feet. They walk together. They are the lowest part of the body. Washing the feet. They don’t talk but they walk. Just go!

Follow in the footsteps of Jesus. They point forward to our goal. We need each other. Can’t separate the other members without the feet. They help balance the body. Planted on the rock. Align with the head/Jesus. 1 Sam 25:41 Abigail wanted to wash the feet of the servants. There is rest for my feet in prayer. Rom 10:14 Your feet shod with the gospel of peace (shoes). The gospel of good news. Deut 29 The shoes did not wax old of the children of Israel.

We need a live conscience.

What is the purpose of my life on this earth? God has put us here so we can love Him, serve Him and glorify Him.

You can’t sow to the flesh and reap eternal life.

Expectations. Hope is the thing that makes a relationship wonderful. In the Bible, the meaning of hope is stronger. Expectations can cause us joy and sorrow.

Matthew 18 If you have trouble with a brother, there is an expectation to make the fellowship right. First thing, you go talk to him. If that doesn’t settle it, the second thing is take 2 or 3 to talk with him again (witnesses of the visit). There is safety in the group as you have chosen those right in the meeting that are strong with the Lord. If neither of those talks work, you let him go. Our expectations need to be adjusted.

1 Cor 5 Don’t have fellowship with someone who isn’t doing right in the truth. We need to feed them as they are struggling.

Continue, keep going forward.
When I look at Jesus on the cross, I see me. I should be there. We bear our Master’s name.

John 14:14 If you ask anything in my name, I will do it. It must be in the will of God. v15 If you love me you will keep my commandments. To wash another’s feet is to help another. Show that you care. You want to be a refreshing spirit to another. We have no responsibility for washing our brother’s feet if we don’t sincerely care for him. Let the Lord help him heal a little bit until you can have fellowship again.

2 Corinthians 11:27-28 Paul knew the Corinthians well. He took their care personally. He was with them for 1½ years. Acts 18:11 He was in peril with false brethren. There were some that went around to spoil the belief of what Paul had done. Gal 2:2-4 Encourage another by assembling together.

Define grace: The favour and help of God that we don’t deserve. Jesus didn’t speak of grace. Everything about His life was the expression of grace. Paul said by the grace of God, I am what I am.

How we care for one another is how we serve God.

Eph 4:1 Walking worthy of our vocation. We don’t see people fighting for the lowest place. Lk 14:9 Lowest room. Meekness; not an agenda to promote. Moses was meek. Forbearing one another in love. Putting up with one another. Paul said do it because you love someone. Be patient with them in their struggles. Endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. All should be considered a valuable gift to us: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors (shepherds) and teachers.

A young person said, I don’t feel like I’ve heard the voice of God. What should I do? Lk 11:28 Blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.

Mt 5:14 You are the light of the world. Jn 1:4 In him was life and the life was the light of men. Feeding your soul on things eternal. It’s not an option. It’s not an obligation. It feeds the life in your soul. We are a city that can’t be hidden. The candlestick. The focus turned to that IN the house. Fellowship. The closer you are to the light the clearer you will see. Being close to those in the fellowship meeting opens things up.

1 Jn 3:14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.

Being here, I am reassured I have life. I’m alive! Noah. Olive leaf brought by the dove. In the midst of death there was life. I want to keep this life alive.

Dan Helenek (from PA). I love you all! Story of a man who withdrew into himself when he was going to die. He drew away from family as he grew closer to God. When my father died I asked God how I could deal with it as he died outside the faith. God’s answer to me was I loved your father more than you did. After getting that message, I could let go, and let God! It was an answer of peace and comfort to me.

Things God loves and hates. We feel that way too. Prov 6:14 He that soweth discord among the brethren God hates. Heb 1:9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. Right judgment and seek the truth.

The gospel is about changed lives. My kingdom is not of this world. Aren’t we glad of that? Do you know what scriptures apply to you? Read the Bible with who is this written for? Rightly dividing the scriptures. Jn 18:37 Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice.

Jas 3:1-8 Teachers will face stricter judgment. The tongue, though small, has great power. It can cause a lot of harm, like a fire, and is difficult to control. Our words can be both positive and negative, so we should be careful with what we say.

Jesus is the only one who could perfectly control his tongue. He knew what to say. He knew when to say it, when not to say it. It did not always make people happy, but it was perfect. They didn’t always agree with him, but it was perfect. If you do not offend with your tongue, you are amazing. I have a very special knack for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, and not knowing when to be quiet. I am thankful that Jesus knew when to speak and when to be quiet. I am thankful when he spoke it was true and right.

Jesus told the disciples that offences will come (Lk 17). No matter how hard you try, you are going to suffer offences. You may not have caused it all. You will have a chance to be offended. The disciples responded by saying “Increase our faith.” If our faith is in God, his Son, and his plan, we will never be offended. If we are trusting in them, it will help us never to offend someone else. If we do, we may be able to apologise and set it right.

I had a co-worker several years ago who seemed to offend everyone one evening after our meal. When we woke in the morning there was a note under our door. We thought we’d had a good evening, but we’d had a bad evening. The note was from the man of the home. He didn’t like some of the things my co-worker had said. He wrote this very long nasty note. We left the house and went to the next house. My co-worker was pretty much done with people! We got to the house. We shook hands with this older couple and came into their house. My co-worker said “If I offend you, I am sorry.” The old lady shook his hand and said “Great peace they have which love thy law, and nothing shall offend them” (Ps 119:165). We had a very nice time in that home. We try to be careful with what we say. We also want to be careful with what we hear and how we respond. So we are not giving offence and we’re not taking offence.

“Behold, we put bits in the horse’s mouths that they may obey us.” You put a bit at the very tender part of a horse’s mouth. You pull on the reins and put pressure on the tender part of the mouth and it turns. It is the Master or the rider that turns the horse. A horse without a master and without a purpose is useless. They are useful when they are obedient and under control. The ship has a small helm. The captain does not turn the rudder that is under the ship. He turns the small helm and it affects the direction of the ship. A horse needs a master. A ship needs a captain or it won’t have direction. A horse without a master is useless. A ship without a captain is dangerous. A tongue out of control can kill. It can kill our spirit. It can send us to a lost eternity.

The control for your tongue is in your heart. Lk 6:45 “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil; for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.” If my heart is right with God, he will help me control my tongue. What is in your heart controls your tongue. I was in a home once. Everything in my room was white. Carpet was white. Bedspread was white. I was putting a new cartridge in my printer. The door opened. I was bumped. You know what happened. The cartridge had black ink in it. There was black on the carpet. Black on the bedspread. Black on the pillow slip. The reason I had black everywhere was because the black was in the cartridge and it came out everywhere. When we are bumped, what is on the inside comes out. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

James was very aware of that. He talked about the horse and the ship. Then he said Behold how great a matter a little fire kindles! Another version of the Bible says “Forest fires are started with a little match.” I grew up in the mountains of Colorado. Some years ago, there was a horrible fire. It burnt hundreds of thousands of acres, took lives and burned houses. When they investigated it was discovered it was started by a woman. She claimed she was burning some love letters and got out of control. She thought she would start a fire, put it out and be a hero. She got it started, but she never got it put out. The breeze came up and the fire got out of control. It took lives. It started as a little tiny flame, and it got out of control. With our tongue we can start a huge disaster that will affect lives and souls. James was saying in bold letters: Be careful with your tongue! Be careful with what is in your heart. Be careful with what we text and email. Be careful with what is in here, in our hearts. Because when it comes out it could cause disaster.

Solomon also was aware of that. Prov 21:23 “Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.” If we want to keep our soul from troubles, we can ask for help with our mouth and with our tongue. Prov 18:6 “A fool’s lips ever into contention.” v7 “A fool’s mouth is his destruction.” v8 “The words of a talebearer are as wounds.” v21 “Death and life are in the power of the tongue; and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” In another version: “Those who spend a lot of time talking get the result of it.” So don’t spend all your time talking. Make sure you are saying something worthwhile. We want to be careful what we say and how we say it.

1 Sam 22: After David killed Goliath, he fled from Saul. He came to the priest Ahimelech and asked for some bread. He gave it to David. But there was a man named Doeg who saw that. Saul was feeling sorry for himself. He was giving a speech: “David is against me, blah blah blah.” It is gross. He was wanting sympathy because things were not going his way. Doeg spoke up: “I saw David the other day and he went to Ahimelech”. He was saying that Ahimelech was helping David, and he was on David’s side. They all came to Saul. He chewed them up. Said “What were you doing helping David?” Ahimelech was absolutely innocent. Ahimelech said that David was faithful, the king’s son-in-law, honourable in your house. Ahimelech did not know what was going on. He did not know there was strife between David and Saul. He did not know David was fleeing for his life.

Saul asked his footmen to kill Ahimelech and all his priests. They would not. So then he asked Doeg to do it. That day Doeg started a big fire with his tongue. To make it worse he killed some innocent people. He killed 85 priests. He also killed men and women and children and little babies with the sword. Doeg started a forest fire with his tongue and he assisted with his sword. Many innocent people died. We want to be very careful with our tongue.

Prov 31:26: the virtuous woman “opens her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.” Wisdom and kindness go together. Foolishness and unkindness go together. Prov 12:18 “There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword; but the tongue of the wise is health”. Wisdom and good words go together. Prov 15:1-2 “A soft answer turneth away wrath; but grievous words stir up anger. The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright; but the mouth of the fools poureth out foolishness.” v4 “A wholesome tongue is a tree of life; but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.” A kind tongue encourages, and harsh words crush the spirit. Wisdom and kindness go together, foolishness and unkindness go together.

We were singing hymn number 54. Every verse has some form of kind, kindly or kindness. That is why we sang that. It is speaking about God and his kindness to us. It is easy for us to take God’s kindness for granted. And maybe it is hard for us to be kind to others. There was a man that died. He was a friend of David’s. David said I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father showed kindness to me. So David sent some of his servants to this man to show some kindness and comfort. But when they came, that man’s servants and friend said, David is not sending those men to comfort you. David is not sending those men to show kindness. He sent them to spy out the land. He sent them with ulterior motives. It could have been a nice situation if they had accepted the kindness and comfort of David. Instead he resisted it. He mistreated David’s servants. They cut their beards and removed their clothes. David’s servants disappeared to another city while their beards grew back.

Then the children of Ammon realised that was bad. Instead of saying we’re sorry, we made a mistake, forgive us, they started a fire. They went and hired the Syrians and there was a battle. Many people died in that battle. Because a man did not accept kindness and comfort and listened to wrong advice. 47,000 men died because of a man who wasn’t smart enough to know what kindness was.

James used some pretty descriptive words when talking about the tongue. “And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity; so is the tongue among our members that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and the things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind.” Somehow this little member, our tongue, which is run by the heart, is out of control. It causes so much hurt. So much damage. The plea from James was just be careful with our tongue.

v13-16 “Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? Let him show out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly sensual devilish. For where envying and strife is there is confusion and every evil work.” Check your life with v17: “the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.” Once again wisdom is connected with what comes out of our mouth. You may think you are wise, but you are stirring up envy and strife and that is not from God. Even if you are right, if your words and spirit are wrong, it is still wrong. The wisdom that is from above is pure. It is never selfish. It is first pure. Then it is peaceable, making for peace. It is gentle. That is a little checklist we could use for our tongue before we say something. Is it pure? Is it peaceable? Is it gentle? Is it easy to be entreated? Often when we get our tongue going we are not easily entreated. We cannot be stopped. We get going with our tongue and we are gone. James said if it is from God this is what it is like, and if it is not from God this is how it is.

I used to think kindness was optional. It is not optional for God’s people. It is mandatory. Something you have to have. Col 3:12 tells about things to put on and put off. Put on therefore as the elect of God, holy. That is a description of you. God’s people. Put on bowels of mercy. That means you really feel it. It is not casual to show or feel mercy. Then he says kindness. As the elect of God it is mandatory. Show mercy and kindness.

There was an old man in Colorado who came to meetings with his wife for 54 years before he made his choice. She was an amazing lady. It wasn’t many years after he made his choice that he died. He was in his 80s. We were called to the funeral. The wife asked us to take the funeral, as we were in the mission when he made his choice. Visiting with his wife after the funeral, she said “You probably didn’t notice much change in George.” I didn’t. I knew him as a nice old man. She said “I wanted to tell you something. George was not nice to me for many years. He was unkind with his tongue. He was unkind with his actions. But I want you to know from the day George made his choice until the day he died he never did or said anything unkind to me.” Can your spouse say that about you? Can our companions say that about us? I really hope they can. I hope by the power of God in our hearts that we can let God control our tongue. And we can be kind in everything we do and say.

The virtuous woman opens her mouth with wisdom and in her tongue is the law of kindness. Up in the mountains of Colorado the growing season is not very long. Our crop would be up and growing and looking beautiful. Then we would get frost. The crop would be ruined. I had a very special grandmother where we went to meeting. Granny had a saying about unkindness. She would often say “Harsh words are like a killing frost. There may be some good days after the frost, but the damage is done.” If we could stop the harsh words before they come out, we would not do any damage. Swallow them. Eat them. Put them down. It would be wonderful if they never even came into our minds. If we can keep them inside and never let them out it would keep us from doing damage to someone’s heart or spirit. We want to be careful what we think. We want to be careful what we feed on. Be careful what we love. And we want to be kind in every situation.

A brother worker was out on horseback helping some friends move cattle. He got into a river that was flooded. The horse drowned and so did the brother. Someone mentioned at the funeral that when they were cleaning up after Convention last year they found a notebook. A little boy had written down all the hymns from convention but there were no notes. At the end of one of the days the boy had written this brother worker’s name and “This worker was kind to me today.” That is a pretty good testimony. Sometimes at convention the workers can be a little frantic. They have duties. In this hectic situation he was kind to this little boy. Wisdom and kindness go together. We want to have wisdom from God and kindness with each other.

Eph 4:29-32 Speak only words that build others up, and avoid harmful speech. Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit. Let go of bitterness, anger, and malice. Be kind, compassionate, and forgiving, just as God forgave you through Christ. ~ That is our homework for this year. Don’t say anything that is discouraging or hurtful. Be careful what you are saying. What you are sharing. The spirit you are exhibiting. Be careful it is not against God. What comes out of your mouth should be good for building up, encouraging, ministering grace to those who hear. Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit of God. Don’t let God be sad with your life, your words, what you teach. Remember we belong to God. We have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus. Be kind, forgiving, tender hearted.

Put away bitterness, wrath, anger, and clamour. It shouldn’t be amongst God’s people. We want to be careful in what we think, do, and say. For some reason we think we are smarter than we are. Sometimes we think we understand a situation better than we do, and it motivates us to say something we should never have said. A man was on a train with some little children. The children were not angels. They were not well behaved. They were out of control. The father did not seem to be doing anything. Finally someone spoke up, upset with the noise. They asked the father “Where is the children’s mother?” He said “She is a couple of carriages back in a casket.” Suddenly everyone on the train was willing to help the father with those children. Their attitude changed. They realised there was a loss. We do not know what people are facing. We have no idea. We should not mistreat them. We should be kind to them. When we are tempted to say something sharp, hurtful, corrective, something that is not right, we could consider Jesus. That would help us to be kind, patient, and forgiving.

I am thankful for people who are kind to me. When someone is kind and you are not expecting it and not deserving it, it completely undoes you. I hope with God’s help our hearts can be soft, our tongues can be kind and we can show the spirit of Christ to others.

James 1:26-27 True religion involves controlling your speech, helping orphans and widows, and avoiding worldly corruption. ~ If you claim to be religious but you cannot control your tongue, your religion is absolutely useless. Pure religion is to have feelings for those in unfortunate situations, who have been hurt and treated unkindly. Spending time with them is pure religion.

A few years ago, we had the privilege of meeting the meanest man on what is known as the worst Indian reservation of America. We had some time with that man before he died. After he died, his brother came to some meetings. He took us out for supper after a meeting one night. He asked “Is this a religion?” I was trying to think of this verse. Before I could, he said “This is not religion. I have been watching these people. This is a way of life.” It would be wonderful if people looked at us as God’s people and God’s servants and saw pure religion. That we love. We are kind. We are considerate. We think of others. We meet the needs of others. We have a word to those that are hurt, mistreated, and misunderstood. There is a lot we do not know. There is a lot we do not understand. What we do know is that the tongue can cause a huge fire. A lot of destruction. The tongue can also show appreciation. Thankfulness. Encouragement. It can show comfort. Say something to help people feel loved and make them feel good. This is my assignment this year. To have my heart right, soft and true. So that even if I am hurt or disappointed or mistreated, my words can be gentle, few and kind. Because wisdom from God and kindness go together. I want God’s help to do that. Amen.

Audio

~

Sheet music

Link to PDF

~

Note: Conventions in countries that lack religious liberty are not included on this list.

Link to PDF

Written mid-July 2020. There are others who know the details better and are more qualified to write this. But for now, this is what I’ve pieced together.

In early 2006 some of the workers and friends visited Zinaida and asked her to tell her story. They recorded her account, so I’ve listened to that and tried to put it into writing. I’ve taken a little liberty in how things are worded for the sake of coherency. It wasn’t always easy to hear or make out certain words. There are likely some mistakes. Zinaida had trouble remembering some of the details, names and dates. A lot of it isn’t necessary information to know. But it helped me understand a little better how the situation felt for her. Maybe you’ll find it interesting, too. Since we’re still in relative lockdown over here, there is plenty of time to read and write.

~~~

Beginning of recording.

~~~

[Zinaida speaking]:

My parents met in Odessa, Ukraine. My dad was a doctor there and my mother was a nurse. They decided to move back to Latvia, to the area where my grandfather owned land. Over time he had sold the land, little by little, and it became a village. They’d spend summers there and winters in the nearby bigger town of Daugavpils. Varya Pinka, who listened to the gospel in 1927-28, worked for my family as a cook but became very close to us, like a member of the family. There were no buses or convenient modes of transportation in those days. The only transport was by boat on the river, so that was how they brought food to their home. (Zinaida was born 8 January 1924.)

(Around 1928) One day some people came to the village. Two men. They asked, “Do you have a room that we could rent?” Mom told them, “We don’t have room right here with us but there is room on the second floor that you could use. There is even a separate entrance there.” They agreed and moved in. There were a couple of beds and some chairs and a table. I never was up there myself. We children weren’t allowed to go up to the second floor. I would have been about 4 years old at that time and my brother was three years old. The brothers would sometimes poke candies down through the cracks in the boards of their balcony, to give to us children. I remember Mother saying, “What strange people. They’re always writing, writing, writing. Sending letters all over the place.” Mother was Adventist. She started asking them more questions. What are you doing here? What are you writing? She had thought maybe they were spies. They told her that they were preachers, sharing the Word of God. Mother became interested, as the Adventist religion wasn’t satisfying her. There had been an unpleasant experience in the church where one woman had done something wrong and so the members of the church were asked, after a particular service, to write their opinion, to vote whether this woman should be excommunicated or kept as a member in the church. Mother found this so odd and didn’t think it was right that people would critique others in this sort of manner and decide to exclude someone from faith. During this time she also noticed how these two men would come into the kitchen and would cook some rather unrecognizable things. Mother talked to Varya and said, “Let’s cook for these men and feed them.” We had a small garden next to the house that gave us fresh vegetables. Varya was there, always cooking for someone, so it was no problem to cook for these men, too. Evenings we would sit on the veranda and drink tea. My grandma would come, too, along with her sister. My dad also came on his days off and listened in a bit, even though the relationship between him and mother wasn’t so good at this point. They had drifted apart, having different interests, due to mom being a Christian and he wasn’t interested in Christianity. I don’t remember exactly the very first workers but I do remember Jack Craig, Tom Alexson, Carl Leonhardt, Jack Annand being there those early years. So in the summers they all sat, drank tea and talked at length, sometimes argued, about faith. Mother felt very strongly about the sabbath and keeping the sabbath, so sometimes that was a point of discussion. The brothers rented a room in the town and had gospel meetings. Pihrags (Rody’s family), my mother, Varya Pinka, Zina (and Ilze)

Pinka’s father (Varya’s brother), and my grandmother’s sister went to these meetings. My dad didn’t go to the meetings as he had become more involved with yoga and Indian literature. Aina Kiece’s grandmother also started to attend. There was also an old German lady whose surname was Pfister who came to the gospel meetings, too. So, they went and went and went to the meetings, listened and listened and listened. Then the time came when the workers said in one of the meetings, “If there is anyone who believes this is the true way of God, please stand to make your choice known.” My mother stood. Pihrags, my grandmother’s sister and others made their choice at that time, also. We all were very much a family. Then, along with the gospel meetings, they also started fellowship meetings on Wednesdays and Sundays, in our homes. Sometimes it was at our home, sometimes at Pihrags. Mom and dad ended up divorcing during this time. Zina P’s father and mother had also made their choice but after a while stopped and went back to the Baptist church where they had been going before they met the workers. During this time the workers would make the rounds, spending time with each of us, coming for a meal and a visit.

Sister workers had also started to come to Latvia in those years. Anna Geck and Olga Hastings were the sister workers in our area for a bit. While the sisters were there, Aina’s grandma invited Marianna (Aina’s mother) to the meetings. Marianna felt like she couldn’t come to the meetings because she didn’t have anyone who could look after the children (Aina and her sister at that point). So they asked me to sit with the children, so Marianna could go to the meetings. Marianna was responding to what she heard and felt in the meetings but then her husband was transferred to Rīga. He worked for the railway company and was given a higher position thus bringing about the change in their location. The sisters then started meetings in Rīga. We didn’t go to Rīga but when the sisters were in Latvia, they spent a lot of their time having meetings in Rīga. I think they had the meetings mostly in German. After a few years, our landlord in Daugavpils refused to let us rent from them any longer. They said, “We will not allow you to rent from us any longer because you are having these strange meetings.” So we had to move to a different apartment. But we didn’t live there very long because World War II then started in 1939 in Europe.

I had been in the meetings for a long time by now but hadn’t been listening much at all. I was only there because Mother said that I must be there. I sat there hearing but not listening. I would simply drift off caught up in my own thoughts. But suddenly at one point, while Jack Annand was speaking, I began to truly listen. I realized these are such deep thoughts. I lost my peace. I started to feel that the Lord was wanting me to make some kind of choice. No matter where I went, room to room, with every step, I had this great battle between the flesh and the spirit, although I never said a word about it to anyone. My brother was also in those meetings. He wasn’t interested one whit. Ever. I struggled and struggled. So the time came, I was 15 years old, to make a choice. It actually was very good that that was how it happened because the war had started and the workers left within the year. Jack Kennedy (from Ireland) was a young worker there at that time. We had a lot of chats. He shared how he left his bride to be, his job and he battled it out before going in the work. He told how he felt that the Lord simply wouldn’t let go of Him and eventually he decided to obey the Lord. It made a great impression on my young life. At one point Olga and Anna came for a visit. They took Lessy Pihrag and myself to Rīga with them. They showed us how they lived, how they spent their time, what they cooked for lunch, and we had meetings together. After Lessy and I returned to Daugavpils, I went to the brothers and told them that I wanted to be baptized. I think it was Jack Kennedy who baptized me, but I don’t remember for sure. When I told them that I wanted to be baptized, they said, surprised, “You want to be baptized?” I hadn’t been taking part in the meetings, and hadn’t really expressed a lot of visible interest. They were a bit amazed. They asked “Are you serious about this?” I answered, “Yes.” They asked, “Are you sure that you will serve God?” I answered, “I can’t say anything about the future but today, now, I want to serve God.” Right after that moment, there was a call from Rīga telling the brothers

that they must leave Latvia. I remember the moments right before they left. Everyone was crying. We understood nothing about what was happening. It was likely the embassy that warned them that the war was going to reach Latvia very soon. They probably were aware of the pact between Stalin and Germany, and that soon the Russians would be invading the Baltics. So they left Daugavpils. But not too long after, they came back. Everyone was so thrilled! We asked, “They let you come back to stay?” They said, “No, but we came back to baptize Zinaida and Lessy.” (Around July 1939) That was it, they then left and we saw no more of them. I didn’t see workers again until Jack Craig and Carl Leonhardt came back as tourists several years after the war.

We continued to have the meetings regardless of the events that were taking place. Then Russia invaded and occupied Latvia without any real battle (1940). After that, the arrests started (about the time the Germans were also approaching from the west). They arrested my father, took him right from work. We knew nothing about why they had taken him, where they had taken him or how. We never did know the reason. Several years later we found out that dad had been taken away (incidentally the president of Latvia was in the same company of prisoners), to Orenburg prison and he died there. One day at school, a girl who I studied with who always sat next to me didn’t come to class. I thought I’d go look for her, check on her and see if everything was ok. I knocked and knocked and knocked on the door. No answer. A neighboring door eventually opened and they said to me, “Enough. Don’t come back. They’re all gone. The family were all taken away last night.” Difficult times had begun. We had virtually nothing to live on. It was actually a good thing that the Russians couldn’t stand against the Germans in the first part of the war. Mom got a job as a bookkeeper which took her to Rīga, leaving me and my brother alone at home. Mom had a daughter from her first husband who had died in WWI. She came to us and said, “Why are you just sitting there, doing nothing, when a war has begun? You need to go gather the essentials for living!” So my brother and I scraped together what we had to buy a bit of soap, a few matchsticks… It’s funny to think of it now, what we decided to buy. But then mom came back and got things in order. Not long after that the bombing began in Daugavpils. The building where we were renting our apartment burned down. It was a miracle that we escaped. Mom had suggested that we go to the cellar for the night because the cellar was made of brick as opposed to the rest of the buildings in the area which were made of wood. My brother’s friend was also with us. We were in the cellar when we heard an incredibly loud sound like massive downpour. My brother’s friend decided to open the door and have a look. He said, “What you think is rain, is actually fire.” He jumped out and managed to escape. When I finally got up and was trying to get out I saw a Russian throwing grenades in the neighboring house, which went up in flames, and then in turn, our building caught on fire. We hurriedly started gathering up our things.
Well. What exactly did we have to take with us? It was a bit silly what I had decided to take. Mom had given me a little suitcase and told me to pack what I wanted to take with me. I put my school uniform in there and documents. I took nothing of value. Mom believed that God would save us and that nothing bad would happen to us. But things were happening. And now we needed to get out of the cellar and out of the fire. There were two boards blocking our exit by this time but my brother and I somehow broke the boards and we all got out of the place where danger was most imminent. We stood and watched as our building burned. We didn’t know where to go. We knew that Dad and his second wife had been living in a stone building. Even though they had arrested my father and taken him away, his wife and family were still there in that apartment. We tried to make our way through the burning, smoking wreckage… winding here and there, not knowing which end was up. We saw a big pit or a type of a trench where some soldiers had been hiding. It was covered with leaves, twigs, netting and branches, like camouflage. There weren’t any soldiers shooting though.
Nothing made sense. So we decided to crawl down in the pit or trench or whatever it was, too. The night was horrific. The whole city was burning. People screaming. Children crying. Dogs running about. And so much gunfire. Then the morning came. In the morning we heard this

rumbling. The rumbling stopped right in front of our trench. I decided I wanted to see what this was. So I got up and made my way out to take a look. I saw a young German soldier sitting on this big tank holding a chunk of cheese, his meal. He looked at me and asked, “And what are you doing here?!” “Our house burned down and we ended up coming here for the night,” I explained. The soldier was dumbfounded. “You spent the night in a trench? That’s exactly where they throw the grenades!” “You want a bit to eat?” he asked in German, referring to the cheese. I answered in German, “Yes.” He cut me off a big chunk of cheese.
So that was nice.

I don’t remember exactly how it happened but somehow the brother of my father’s second wife was also with us in the trench that night. He and my brother, Oleg, decided to go and find out how Dad’s second family were and if their stone apartment building was still in one piece. On the way, there was a gunshot and the brother of my dad’s second wife caught a bullet in the stomach and was killed instantly. Somehow Oleg made it to the stone apartment building and found that it was still standing with everyone inside alright. He told them about everything that had happened. Dad’s second wife was a decent lady indeed, and said, “Come. Come and stay the night with us.” So much of the town had burned up. Pihrags’ and Zamyatninas’ homes had burned too. There were now a lot of empty buildings because when the Germans came into the city, many of the Russian soldiers abandoned ship and ran. Many of the Jews had been gathered up and placed in ghettos by the Germans. Dad’s second wife was quite the go-getter, so she was able to get work for both me and my brother. At that time both Lessy and I started to work for the city government.
Because we were working for the city, they gave us apartments first. The apartment we ended up getting was in a stone building, completely furnished with dishes, furniture, bed linen, and other things from the former occupants who had left everything in their hurry to get away. It looked like it had been Soviet people living there previously. My great aunt (grandma’s sister) who was a homeopathic doctor had been living with Dad’s second wife, but then moved in with us. We were very close already and of course we understood what each other believed, so it made sense that she would live with us. We also continued to have meetings in that place. Then the Russians came back and there was intense bombing in Daugavpils. We had no idea what had happened to my dad. Only his wallet and some documents were found, and all sorts of things were being said, like him being taken to prison and executed. We decided to leave for Rīga. My great aunt decided to stay in the area and go to a small village a little ways out of Daugavpils. Others of the friends left for Riga also: Pihrags, Zamyatninas, basically everyone left because the bombing was so bad. The Lord was guiding us. A friend of my mother’s daughter had left for Germany and told us, “You can live in my apartment” When we all arrived in Rīga, we all went to Marianna’s but there wasn’t room for everyone to stay there. Mother, my brother and I ended up living not very far from Marianna and meetings continued at her home. Marianna’s husband had also been arrested by that time, evidently because he was guilty of being a manager in the railway company. At that time they had five children and it was an extremely difficult time for Marianna. They had also been bombed and their building destroyed. Marianna’s mother had decided to go check on her son who was in another part of Rīga but was killed by a bomb at some point during that quest. We heard that the Russians had quickly taken Daugavpils and were now marching toward Rīga. Then one day a German soldier appeared at our door and warned us, “If you don’t agree to leave now with the provided transport, you will be chased down by us on foot.” I had a friend who was friendly with a German official and he was able to get us tickets on a boat to Germany. We had decided that we must leave on the proffered transport by water, as being run out on foot by the Germans didn’t seem to offer much in terms of a future. I remember the boat was a rather utilitarian vessel for hauling some kind of cargo like cattle.

There were no amenities on it whatsoever. Just some mats and straw for us to sit on. It was maybe late 1941 or early ‘42, I don’t remember exactly. We were headed for Germany. We got there and from there they sent us to Konets. It used to be part of Poland but was given to

Germany in an agreement. They placed us refugees with families around that city. We ended up living with a woman who was Russian. She didn’t speak a word of German. I went to look for work in the military hospital. They asked me what I could do. I told them that I only knew how to type, along with being fluent in German. They gave me work as a typist in an office there, since I was fluent in Russian, German and Latvian. After some time I talked to mom and said, “Why don’t we go to where there are friends? Let’s leave and go to the friends.” My mom told me, “Yes, I have one address of some friends here in Germany but [as she understood] Pihrags are already there. They are a family of six.” She felt like it would be too many people to impose on the friends at such a time. We didn’t have any other information of where to go, so we just stayed there. I worked in the military hospital office until frontlines of war again came to our city. They then started to evacuate us. They evacuated the military hospital and all the service personnel in the town. We were taken to another town, Kühlungborn, on the northern coast of Germany. We again found work and continued working there. At last one day we heard that the war had ended. We didn’t yet know what side we had landed on when they divided Germany.

We ended up staying there for a time because Mom needed to have an operation.

I was pretty enough to attract the attention of one of the doctors there. He wanted to take me out but I declined because mother had just had an operation and I needed to be with her. Somehow that was enough to quash his interest and he never paid any more attention to me. So there we were, waiting.
Eventually we understood that we were in the Russian zone. We didn’t know where Pihrags were at this time but they, too, had wound up in the Russian zone (eastern Germany) but made a harrowing escape to the American zone and from there they eventually left for Canada, where they started a new life. My father’s second wife and children also ended up in Germany during the war and eventually moved to California. Somehow they must have ended up in the American zone too during that time.

Then they started to tell us, “Ok, time to go back to your own country.” But where to go back to? We didn’t know where to go. We were registered anyway, then were hauled by trucks and trains, sleeping on our suitcases, back to who-knows-where. We traveled through Poland. Stayed for a time in some barracks and camps along the way. Even were shot at by Polish soldiers. Eventually we arrived at the Russian-controlled border. There they separated the men from the women. The men, including my brother Oleg, were sent to northern Russia (Ukhta) to a labor camp there. These men had been in other countries during the war (in most cases it was for reasons out of their control). Therefore the Soviet government automatically found them guilty of some sort of treason or espionage. Therefore they could not be trusted and were sent as prisoners to labor camps for a time.

Mother and I didn’t know where to go. We decided to go back to Daugavpils. We had to pay our own way. We sold bits of produce that we had taken with us, eventually getting tickets for a place in a cattle car. It was there that our last sack of food was stolen. It was so dark in there, you couldn’t tell who was coming or going. Eventually we arrived at Daugavpils to find most everything burned. The only option left was to find my great aunt who had earlier chosen to go live in a nearby village. I don’t remember what we
managed to sell in order to get tickets. Eventually we got on a train and were off. A woman got on and sat next to us. We were chatting and she was asking about our situation. So we told her. She offered us a place to live, a big empty house of her son’s, while it was unoccupied.
We lived there a bit but then a woman who had been in a German concentration camp returned with her two sons. One had been in the Russian army, the other in the German. It was complicated. They had some sort of claim on the house and wanted to live there.
They offered us a smaller house to live in that was nearby. They were actually really good neighbors. They had a horse that we could use. They taught us how to fell trees and chop wood. My great aunt moved back in with us. Because she was a homeopathic doctor

and helped people, they brought her eggs, milk, sour cream, and such as payment. She held onto her faith through it all as well.

Eventually it was my turn to be interrogated, mainly because I wanted to get a passport. Because we still had our birth certificates and we were considered simple farmers [not intelligentsia, therefore considered acceptable and trustworthy by the government at that time], they gave both me and Mother passports. One day my great aunt received a letter from my brother Oleg asking if she had any news of us, how we were. We were overjoyed to hear from him and from that point we would write back and forth. In 1948, Oleg invited us to come up there to live. He explained that it was mostly a big labor camp in that area. There were a lot of opportunities for work as there were very few free people there. It still was mostly prisoners. That way we could be in close proximity. One day a couple arrived from Ukhta. They both were chemists who had been considered “intelligentsia” and thus placed in a labor camp. They had served their sentence and were given leave for a holiday. My brother gave them our address and suggested that they come to us. So they did. They were very kind people who helped us in many ways. I ended up going to Ukhta to see how things were. I liked it there. All the educated intelligentsia of various ethnicities were there. I was there with my brother for a year and found work as a copyist and eventually met my future husband. My husband’s father was a Russian Orthodox priest. My husband read and read and read. He read so much that he stopped believing in God. He said he needed more evidence that God existed. He also had been a prisoner there for a few years. Eventually mom moved up there too. My great aunt had died by the time mother and I decided to move up there to stay.

In the late 50s I was in Rīga a bit, studying, doing a course. While I was there I could go to the quiet meetings at Marianna’s. Stalin died in 1953. A few years later under Khrushchev’s leadership they started allowing foreigners to come to the USSR as tourists. The brothers returned to Latvia for the first time in the early or mid 60s. It was Carl Leonhardt and Jack Craig. I was told that they were coming, so I was able to take my vacation time and go to Latvia while they were there. My husband was always okay with this. We eventually worked out an agreement that he would take his vacation at the Black Sea, and I would go to Rīga. It was fine that way. We didn’t know the exact dates that the brothers were coming but had a general timeframe. So I went and stayed at Marianna’s. But then we waited and waited and waited. I was telling Marianna that I would soon need to leave to go home because I’d be expected at work in a day’s time. Suddenly then they arrived! I was in touch with my boss and explained that I had been delayed in Latvia, had complications with tickets and I’ll need to stay a few days longer. So I got to stay a bit longer with all of them.

When I saw the workers again, I cried. It had been a little over 20 years since seeing them. I asked Carl why they took so long to come. What happened that delayed them? He answered, “You know, we very much were ready to come but we simply didn’t have the means to make the entire trip. We prayed that the Lord would open the way. One day an envelope arrived with the needed provision.” It was very expensive to make the trip and pay for all the necessary tours and places to stay, as they were required to do while visiting the country as tourists.

(Someone asked the question if they had their bibles through all of this): No, our bible burned in Daugavpils. But we did have meetings, so we must have had access to at least one bible. Maybe we all shared one when we were together. I can’t remember that part.

~~~

End of the recording

~~~

Another story Zinaida told us a few times… I’m not sure where this happened— if it was when she and her mother were still in Latvia after the war or if it was in Russia. She told about two men, officials (I suppose KGB officers), showing up at their home one evening. They “offered” her a position as a type of a spy. They told her they’d be back the next day for her answer. Since she knew three languages, that made her good espionage material. It was a desperate moment because even though they presented it as “an offer”, she knew that really there was no choice. She either had to accept or decline and be suspected of some sort of treason. She told us that she was desperate. She wept and prayed and prayed and prayed that night about what to do, asking God for help. She then told us, “You know what? Those men didn’t come the next day. They didn’t come the following day. They just never came back. I know that was the hand of God interceding for me.”

Zinaida lived for many years in Ukhta, in northern Russia. Eventually she and her husband moved back to Voronezh, where her husband was originally from. Voronezh is about 320 miles/515 km from Moscow. I don’t know how able Zinaida was to travel other than get to Moscow for the annual gathering there. But then the time came when she was no longer able to leave the apartment, let alone travel. I think that her last time at a convention was around 2004 or 5. But if one has a massive heart, it’s not going to be confined to being alone in an apartment in a big city. She kept in touch by letter and by phone with so many. The workers and friends, mainly from Moscow, would try to visit her once a month. It was always meeting first and then the meal and visit. Otherwise she had no meetings. Fellowship to her was priceless and as a result our fellowship with her was priceless. She taught us that the bigness of heart will conquer the bigness of any other barrier or difficulty. The bigger the heart, the more it can and will hold.

I first arrived in Russia in late summer 2009. I got acquainted with Zinaida on a Skype phone call. I was with Joyce in St. Petersburg and that autumn Joyce encouraged me to use my very limited, basic Russian to try and chat with her a wee bit. Usually it’s kind of torturous to speak on the phone in a language you are just learning but I’ll never forget what a tonic it was to speak with Zinaida. This was after a couple of months in Russian Language boot camp. Various weekly classes. Relentless barrages of unidentifiable sounds. Unclear-in-meaning voice inflections. Attitudes of “you mean you STILL can’t speak Russian clearly?” And the acute awareness that America was not the most beloved country over here. She was an island of peaceable normalcy and acceptance. I recognized this spirit. The connection was instantaneous because of that Spirit. She herself spoke slowly and clearly. She also gave courage to the feeblest of efforts to communicate. And was discreetly long-suffering with the butchering of words and sounds. She was kind, patient. She wanted us to use the informal you, instead of the formal You that we usually use when speaking to older folks or strangers.
From that first visit she became my dear babushka and friend, like she was to so many others.
She loved all of us because she loved the Gospel so much. —ST

Good morning from Jacmel, Haiti. Thank you for your continued thoughts our way. It is a serious situation.

Still, where we workers are fine and able to continue normal activities. We had meetings/Bible studies as per usual yesterday. In Jacmel life is normal: children going to school on motos or on foot. I went to the supermarket to stock up on some things with one of our friends here
accompanying. Cherline had another friend with her and they were looking
after something else. In the last couple days we have brought in a large number of supplies in case that becomes more difficult. Making the bach more a place of refuge if needed. The feeling inside is of awareness that we are being cared for in a way beyond explanation. It is a rich experience. I feel deeply thankful to be here.

Cherline was able to talk directly to her faithful mother the other day. Her family is still displaced, having fled their area along with everyone else on Sunday. Connection has been made with all of those friends who are
scattered. They are safe. Geographically we are not that far south of Port au Prince, but there is only one road in and out of Jacmel so it is much more easily controlled. And, unlike other places, like Ukraine, the weapons and warfare are not long-reaching or from the sky.

We have gospel meeting this aft at 4. I was asking whether we should go
ahead with that and last night the answer was yes. We are extra careful but when at the supermarket yesterday I saw other foreigners. Even gas being sold from the pumps in the gas stations. That is actually a rare sight here these months.

Our little ones are feeling the undercurrents and are quite concerned that it will mean a change for workers. They are quite clingy and make many loving messages on paper. 4 of them were on their knees beside us last night. Helpful to hear what is in their hearts. Praying that God would put the bandits back in prison so that the workers can be safe to stay here. Praying that God puts words in our hearts so that we can help them. And little Stephen (namesake for my brother, 5) who just said in a muffled voice beside me “I am praying in my heart”. So much need for shepherding here. There are truly no words.

As far as leaving there are no options. No airport operations and the border to the DR is closed. We continue to pray that God will control the doors. He sees the overall picture. Life is not all about natural safety, even though we still feel very safe here. Some thoughts that keep coming to me continually are “peace like heaven’s dew descending under thy wings” Psalm 46. Jesus slept in the boat while the storm raged around Him. Paul mentions things that happened to the furthering of the gospel. It does not feel like a mistake to be here in any way.

Several times this week Cherline and I have found ourselves side by side on
our knees, silent tears and bowed heads. Not from fear. It is a gift.

So many moments could be shared, but this is enough. Hopefully it conveys a picture of contentment. If you would like a couple pictures and a couple recorded hymns from here with the young ones, let me know personally (not here on this chat). Happy to share with you one on one. But not wanting to overload your already full plates unnecessarily.

One last thing. Besides “Under thy wings” another favorite among our little children right now is the Kreyol version of “Blessed homeland I’m returning”. It seems like such a grownup hymn to me. I wondered if they thought it was talking about their own country, so I asked my 5 year old little shadow Lousiara “where is the homeland”. A sweet and confident little voice: “Heaven”.

Yes, heaven, my child. And if God is already putting that desire in a 5 year old, how can we feel this is all about natural safety and creature comforts? As happens many times these days, I bowed my heart.

“Still learning from all need below, depths of the heart of God”

With grateful hearts and daily courage, Cherline and Sara

We are being flooded with queries since Haiti is so much in the news again. Thank you for thinking of us. Cherline and I spent much of this morning weeping together, at times side by side with head bowed beside my bed. Her family, along with our other friends in Cabaret (near the convention grounds) have fled to various parts away from the chaos. Our friends in Port au Prince were not able to have meeting together yesterday morning. But all 3 of us pairs of workers here were able to have meetings and gospel meetings where we were. Jacmel, where Cherline and I are is life as per normal here. Schools, businesses etc… we always touch base with our local friends before doing anything away from the bach, and we are wèl surrounded by willing and capable helpers who keep us supplied in fuel for cooking, water for drinking, garbage take away, and whatever else is needed. Our local doctor friend even made a little car available for our use this past week. There are so many lambs and sheep right here. Little ones with questions, older ones with burdens. We are not at all concerned for our own safety.

Thankful that God’s wings cover our own wherever they are whether we can see/contact them or not.

I video called my family this morning to connect them to both of us. Wanted Cherline to feel their care… and then was sorry because she wept with longing to be able to hear her parents’ voices too. So many, many things are so very unfair for this people. I feel about them as Ruth said to Naomi. It would be an honor to be buried here. Unless Jesus returns for us all before that time.

Thank you for thinking of us all. There is nowhere else we want to be right now.

“Lord we rest in peace abiding under Thy wings…”

This is a story that maybe I am the only one who can tell it because it is about my little niece; she was John and Linda’s first child. She is the first grandchild in our family. She was named after her mother, Linda Jean. Her name was Sarah Jean; a little redheaded girl. She grew up on the farm with her parents and her grandparents, my parents, nearby, and my brothers.

Sarah grew and she loved to play the piano. She loved to run and play. She had a little friend who was born in the city, her name was Susie. Susie had fire engine red hair. Those two little girls, best friends, were the same age. After every gospel meeting they would run to find each other to talk. Susie, the little city girl, would touch Sarah, the little farm girl and say, “pretty baby”, and Sarah would say, “Bull.”

When they were about 10 years old there were sister workers working in their field, and they would talk to them. Then they talked together and said, “One day we will go in the work and we will be companions.” They nurtured that dream every time they were together. They saw that the workers were learning sign language because there was a deaf lady attending the meetings. They got books, and they were learning sign language, so that they could be sister workers one day.

Then one morning Linda noticed that Sarah’s little left hand was not coordinating when she was playing the piano. When she ran with her brother’s, Jack, Pat and Mike, (we came from Ireland 400 years ago), her left foot was just turning and twisting. She was worried. She complained about headaches. They took her to their family doctor and he said, “Tomorrow we need to go to see a specialist.” The specialist said, “Tomorrow we need to put her in the Children’s Hospital in Omaha.” That day all of the family gathered around her. They had her on a little rolling bed. Before they took her away for a CAT scan, with the doctor and nurses standing by, she asked, “Can you sing number seven for me?” As they sang number seven, she screamed and held her head. The doctor and nurses were saying, “Explain to us, explain to us,” as they took her away.

What they did not know was that she had a tumor on her brain stem and at that very moment the tumor hemorrhaged. They kept her through the night on ice to keep her alive. The doctors told John and Linda that it would be better if she died because she would only be a vegetable to you if she lives. They tried to call me in Haiti; I found the message a day later.

As the time went on, she lived, one day, two days, three days. She hung between life and death. Eventually she was able to come back to her room with all of these apparatus attached to her body. No one thought that she knew anything. My sister, who is in the work, came home and she had been trained to never underestimate. She sat at her side and talked to her about Sadie this, and Sadie that. One day the nurse noticed something and said, “That little girl is signing.” With her left hand which had a nervous twinge, she was spelling words. Her intelligence was entirely intact, but she was paralyzed. John and Linda said at noon, “We will go down and get a book.” Sarah signed to the nurse, “Tell them go right now.” So they went and they brought it back and she understood everything perfectly. She would answer with her fingers spelling.

She had told her mother that she wanted to profess at Malcolm, but she was in the hospital that day. The workers came by her room and she professed in her hospital room. She was able to come home, and she had a little wheelchair with a motor on it, and she chased her brothers. She eventually got so she could walk on crutches, and she caught up with her class in school. Her face was badly distorted, paralyzed on one side. In the morning she would say, “Mom, I have been thinking of a verse. Find it for me. I have been thinking of this hymn.” And that is the way she Lived.

Her little brother Jack, who was born prematurely, had a speech impediment. Sometimes his parents could not understand him. Sometimes the only person who understood him was Sarah. She was his best friend and his interpreter in everything. He also was redheaded.

The day came when they noticed something changing. They went back to the hospital and the doctors gave a report, “Yes, the tumor is growing again, and there is just no hope.” Sarah went home and she wanted to tell Jack. She sat on my father’s lap with Jack, and she told Jack what was going to happen. She rubbed his head, and he was crying, and she said to him, “Jack, it is okay. God loves us so much that he knows every hair in your head.” She told her mother that she was not afraid to die, “But I know you are going to miss me”. She told her parents what she had heard in meeting at one time: “There are two important days in life. The first day is when we are like a little canoe crossing a river, and Jesus gets into the canoe with us. And the second important day is when we arrive at the other side and we step out of the canoe together, leave it behind and go on Together.”

The day came when my sister at home was holding her hand as she sat on my brother’s lap, her mother holding her other hand. Her mouth opened and her eyes looked upward. She smiled and she died. This was six months after she had hemorrhaged. Before she died, when she was in meeting and had her part, she would write her testimony on little yellow stickums. She would have John read her testimony. When she passed away Linda gave me some of her things. One of them was one of her little testimonies written in her shaky hand. It said, “I love the shepherd and I love the sheep and I want to be a good sheep. This is my testimony.” It is the best thing we can do once we leave convention to have this written on our hearts.

The story doesn’t end there. Little Sarah was laid away, but from heaven her life and her testimony have been like a beacon. That little meeting has grown. Little Susie is in the work. She has had several years in the work now, a lovely sister worker. Her brother Jack is finishing his fourth year in the work now, and her little brother Mike is finishing his first year in the work. Her cousin Dirk is finishing his first year in the work. There are other young people that have been influenced, some married and well married and kingdom minded; others following on.

In Christ there is no loss. It is all gain. God has a perfect, perfect plan. Whatever the year holds for you, remember, He is waiting there for you and it will only be a blessing as long as we keep that in our hearts: I shall prove, no matter what it costs, that I am a child of God.

Gen 49:1-2 Jacob called unto his sons and said, gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days. Gather yourselves together and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.

God has gathered us here because we are his children. God gathers us together because he wants to do us good. Jacob was at the end of his days. He told his sons, Gather together that I may tell you what will befall you in the last days. Gather yourself together. It is a wonderful thing for us to feel that God wants and cares for us and urges us to pull together. It is because we are his children and that is why Jacob wanted to gather his sons. Coming from so many different paths, he wanted them to be gathered together because he had things he wanted to tell them. God has gathered us together because he has things to tell us and we want to take heed. We do not want to miss what God has for us. It will not be all wonderful for our human nature, and it may not be what we are expecting to hear and it is a message from God and a message from the Father. Our Father knows what is best for each one of us. Unlike our natural father, God sees from the beginning to the end, and God sees a future ahead of us and wants to prepare us for the days ahead. We do not understand what the days ahead will be for any one of us, but we know we can trust God is there before us, and God wants to prepare us now for what lies before us in the future days.

The first one he spoke to was the firstborn he said “Reuben thou art my firstborn.” We need to feel grateful Reuben thou art my firstborn born and then he continues. “My might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellently of dignity and the excellently of power” Then there is a pause “Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy Father’s bed, then defildest thou it; he went up to my couch.” The firstborn nature would love to hear those things that Jacob spoke, thou art my firstborn my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellently of dignity and the excellency of power and doesn’t human nature love to hear that? It wasn’t until I started thinking about it in the first book of the Bible, that God made it so clear about the firstborn nature. The firstborn Adam and Eve fell from the grace of God. They had to seek again the favour of the Father. They had to come to him and realise “We have fallen”. We are unclean, we are unclothed and we are naked and right from then God has been wanting us to understand that the firstborn nature is not the nature he wants to see within us.

We go to the next generation of Cain and Abel. Cain had strong words spoken to him, there was great hope given to Cain and he did not desire it, and he did not want to take the opportunity, the firstborn does not want to take the opportunity. Thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellently of dignity and the excellency of power. It does not satisfy the Father it is as unstable as water and Jacob and Esau had to learn the same. Jacob came right down and bowed himself and they gathered his feet onto the bed and gave up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people. Who was his people? His people were the people of God. Our only hope is we want to be gathered unto the Father. And here Jacob was saying gather yourself together.

The firstborn nature needs putting down. In the world this firstborn nature is so mighty, and so powerful and has done great things, it will all come to an end. It will all come crashing down. The second-born nature that God wants to put within us is the only nature that will find favour in the eyes of the Father. The firstborn nature wants to be in everything. The new Christ nature realises that the firstborn nature is as unstable as water.

The difference between conforming and transforming. To conform means we go down to the lowest level, and to transform means we are brought up to the highest level, and God wants to transform us into the image of his Son. I wondered what those other men were thinking when they started to listen. When we begin to listen, there is nothing in us. What will my Father say about me? We long to listen, we long to get what the Father has to say to us.

Then it says of Simeon and Levi they were “instruments of cruelty in their habitation. O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour be not thou are united.” Don’t get into something that will destroy us, don’t get taken up with things that we think are good on the surface and have no substance of Christ. Has no substance from the Father. It might have been instruments of jealousy, and jealousy is as cruel as the grave, we need it dealt with and it is just another part of the horrid human nature and it must be dealt with.

I was reading of the blessing when Moses gathered the people together and Moses blessed the children of Israel before his death. Deut 33:2-3 “And he said the Lord came from Sinai and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from Mount Paran and he came with ten thousand of saints; from his right hand went a fiery lawful for them. Yea, he loved the people, all his saints are in thy hand, and they sat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of thy words.” That is the blessing Moses wanted to tell the people who cried. They had become families. They had become tribes. God wanted to tell them. These are the blessings. And it says a fiery law went from God’s right hand for them.

When we read through the blessings, we read Simeon had not stood the fire, he did not withstand the fire. Levi went on and became a different man and he took the fire to himself and dealt with the things that were in his human nature. Simeon was not mentioned in the blessings and maybe he felt when Moses wound it all up and gave them all the blessing and he may have felt that is all for me, we want to be careful what we cling to, we want to cling to the things that have come to us and help us to understand this is for me. It says that he loved all his people and all his saints united and they had sat down at thy feet. Everyone shall receive thy word; it is a beautiful thing. I was thinking of it yesterday everyone shall receive of thy word, how gracious is our Father and he loved every one of us will receive a message.

And then Judah comes into the picture V 8, 9 10 “Judah thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise; thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before thee. Judah is a lion’s whelp; from the prey, my son thou art gone up; for he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.” Judah the lion of the tribe of Judah, giving a foretaste of our Saviour. Judah thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise, if we want that Christ nature within us. It’s not that we want praise of the brethren. A little like Naphtali in Deut 33:23 And of Naphtali he said, O Naphtali satisfied with favour, and full with the blessing of the Lord; process thou the west and the south. Isn’t that what we want? Satisfied with the favour of God? Satisfied that the blessing of the Lord falls upon us?

Judah is a lion whelp from the prey. The lion whelp is just like the little lions, satisfied with whatever comes to them, the mother and the father bring the prey to them and they feed upon it and are satisfied. The Father has great things to bring to us these days from the will of God, from the heart of God and it is wonderful if we are like the lion’s whelp and we will be satisfied with what comes to us and we will take it, we will feed upon and we will mature. Becoming an old lion who shall rouse us up. It is a beautiful thing to me about our elderly people. I have been privileged to see a number of them here and to see the elderly ones gathered in to convention and who shall rouse them up. There is a beauty in just being settled, a beauty in just being satisfied. There will be a whole thing out in the jungle that would rouse up the old lion, they would see something and go after that, they will see something else and go after that and I will go fast and I will get that.

And old lion and who shall rouse him up. Such a blessing to see the old people settled. To see this is just another storm that is passing, and that is another wave that will wash over us. Someone was telling us about talking with an elderly couple. They were sharing from 25 years back about a huge storm that had come. That is what storms do: blow different doctrines, blow up different circumstances, thundering and lightning and showing up other things. And concerning this storm 25 years ago we made it through. Storms pass and they put goodness into the earth, storms take away the dead things, storms do a lot of good and we made it through. I often heard it when I was young you cannot put an old head on young shoulders. God can give wisdom to the youth, he can help them to be settled, to see this is something that will pass. We don’t need to be troubled; we don’t need to be stirred and we have had one who has fed us all our life-long days.

Thinking about another convention. It is like a convention to me. At the end of Matthew 4, a great multitude followed Jesus. And then in the beginning of chapter 5: seeing the multitude he went up into the mountain, and when he was set, his disciples came unto him, and he opened his mouth and taught them. Jesus opened his mouth and taught them. They did not have to say anything. They were settled. When Jesus was settled, they were all settled. We have heard so much about just being settled. And last night about coming in and being quiet and sitting down, and only God can do that. And only God could bring a company of over 300 people quietly, and sit together for 10 to 15 minutes and not say anything. And they might not have seen each other for a long time, and they just come in and sit quietly and that is the power of God. And you go to any other place there is a lot of noise, and it won’t stop until whatever it is gets started. Not God’s people they are waiting. And when Jesus sat, his disciples came unto him, and he talked to them.

One thing I want to share is in chapter 6 of Matthew v 13 and the last part of it. “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen”. For thine is the kingdom. He was not talking about himself. It was the Constitution of the kingdom. He is addressing the Father and Son. Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever. We do not want to forget that. Why are we here? Why has God gathered us? He has gathered us because we are his children. Children of the kingdom. Children of the highest. In Luke’s account, Jesus said “Love thine enemies, and do good and lend, hoping for nothing again, and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the highest.” We are children of the highest. Children of the highest kingdom. We have dealt with all the animal kingdom that is in us. That is what Jacob was trying to tell his sons. Deal with the things of human nature. We are children of the highest kingdom, of the highest one of God himself.

Last night we heard about the kingdom of priests and that was beautiful. We have been given access to the holiest of all. God knows we will make sacrifices, and we will handle sacrifices, the sacrifice of ourselves, and the sacrifice of others and he knows that is what he has given us, for thine is the kingdom. And how will we manage all this? And Mary said How will all this be? She could not cope with it. I will bear the Son of God. How will it be? The angel answered and said unto her the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the highest shall overshadow you. How will we manage, the power of the highest will be given to us. The kindness of God wants to give us the power of the highest to bear the name of his Son. To have him in our lives, and to nurture him. All glory be to God, no glory to self. And all glory to God we have come here, all glory to God that we have come this far, all glory to God that he has enabled us and kept us and shown us and humbled us and proved us that we might be the children of the highest.

There was another convention and I think it was held in heaven. And it’s in the early chapters of the book of Revelation. And John was in the spirit on the Lord’s Day. Up in heaven God was considering his people and he gathered them all together the 7 churches of Asia. And he had them in his heart, and he was holding them close to his heart, close in his hand. Some have not been able to get a convention this year, but they will get the message, they will get notes, they will get a letter and maybe they have heard, but convention comes to them in the end. Some elderly we saw the other day were content that they could not get to Convention. Convention came to them one by one. He gave each Church the same message and they received something different, but they all got the same message and the message was he that hath an ear let him hear what the spirit says unto the churches and he that overcometh. If we get no other message God help us get that message, listen and get the message that God speaks to your heart. Hear what the Spirit says. Maybe not in words. Maybe not in something you write down. It has nothing to do with what the person is saying. It is the feeling that has overcome you at the time. That is the Spirit speaking. He who has an ear let him hear what the spirit will speak to us these days. May God help us to go out and be overcomers. And all that is shown might be the life of our Saviour. All glory be to him. For Jesus’ sake.

This sheet lists a number of questions you may be asked by people curious about your faith. In the interest of always being prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have (1 Peter 3:15), it may be helpful for you to be meditating, studying, and praying about these questions. You will get more benefit out of answering these questions if you write a paragraph to answer each one, including a number of scripture references. Since the answer to each question depends on personal conviction, and each individual must come to that conviction before God, please do not make copies of your own answers to pass around to others. We will certainly be glad to discuss your answers with you, if you wish to do so.

1. What is the name of your church/religion/faith?

2. What does it mean to be “saved”?

3. Are you saved? Explain why you feel that you are or are not.

4. If your answer to the above question is yes, how did you get saved? If your answer is no, do you know how you can be saved?

5. If a person is once saved, can they ever lose their salvation? Explain why or why not.

6. How many ways are there to be saved?

7. What does it mean to be saved by grace? Do you believe in being saved by grace or by works?

8. Do you think that people in your church/religion/faith are the only ones that are saved? Why or why not?

9. How do you know that God exists?

10. If God really does exist, why is there so much suffering in the world?

11. How do you know that the Bible is true?

12. What version of the Bible should we read? Is it okay to read other Bibles besides the King James Version?

13. What’s the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament? Which one should we read?

14. Do you keep the Ten Commandments?

15. Who is Jesus?

16. Is Jesus God? Explain what you mean.

17. Why is it so important to know about Jesus? Wasn’t He just one of many good teachers?

18. What happens to people in places where they’ve never read the Bible or heard of Jesus?

19. Who (or what) is the Holy Spirit?

20. Is it more correct to refer to the Holy Spirit as “He” or “it”? Why?

21. What do you believe about the Trinity?

22. What is sin?

23. Is there really such a place as heaven and hell?

24. If God were really good, why would He make people go to hell?

25. What does it mean to be born again?

26. What is baptism all about?

27. Is it right to baptize by sprinkling or pouring? Why or why not?

28. Is it right to baptize infants and children? Why or why not?

29. Can you be saved without being baptized? Why or why not?

30. What do you mean by passing around bread and grape juice in your meetings on Sunday mornings?

31. Why do some people take the bread and grape juice and others don’t?

32. Doesn’t it say in the Bible that you’re supposed to use wine? Why do you use grape juice?

33. Is Sunday more special than other days? Why or why not?

34. Are there rules about what you can and can’t do on Sunday?

35. When did the Sabbath get changed from Saturday to Sunday?

36. Do you believe in divine healing? Why or why not?

37. Do you believe in speaking in tongues? Why or why not?

38. Is it right to receive blood transfusions? Why or why not?

39. Do you have to keep a certain diet (i.e., not eating meat or other things) in order to please God? Why or why not?

40. Why are people supposed to get married?

41. Is it okay to get a divorce?

42. Can people who get divorced and remarried be saved?

43. How does God feel about abortion?

44. What do you believe about the rapture/the Lord’s return?

45. Why do men in your church have short hair?

46. Why do women in your church have long hair?

47. Why do you dress the way you do?

48. Why are there so many religions in the world?

49. When/where/how did your church start? Who started it?

50. What makes your church/religion/faith different from others?

51. Why do you belong to the church/religion/faith you belong to?

52. Why don’t you build church buildings?

53. Why does your church have some meetings in homes and other meetings in public buildings?

54. Why don’t your preachers have their own houses?

55. How do your preachers get paid? Why don’t they have a salary?

56. Is it necessary to tithe? Why or why not?

57. Why do your preachers usually go two together?

58. Can your preachers get married? Why or why not?

59. Why do you have women preachers?

60. Why do women speak in your meetings when the Bible says women should keep silent?

There are two battles that have been in my mind and I would like to speak about them this afternoon. I very often feel that I don’t think nearly enough of the great victory that Christ gained in Gethsemane, in the judgement hall and then out on Calvary’s hillside, and I have purposed in this convention to think more and more of this. There is ample evidence that the victory at Calvary is best understood by our own experiences. We do learn a great deal from the world around us. Eighteen months ago, Kathleen and I were in Belgium and were taken to the battlefield of Waterloo, just a few miles away from the convention ground. There, Napoleon in his great desire for world power, was defeated. Ever since that day I find Christ’s battle and Napoleon’s battle making a comparison in my mind; one a battle because of a love for power and the other a battle because of the power of love, and fought in entirely different ways.

We saw a scene of waxwork figures in a little farmhouse the night before Waterloo, setting the battle in array in their minds. The first error Napoleon made was that he was going out to fight on an entirely unknown battlefield. His first General had failed to let him know that those fields were crossed with many brooks, so the next day many were bogged down in the mud of the field. When Jesus knew that the time of the battle had come, He went to the most familiar spot in all the world to Him. He crossed Kedron and went into the garden, that place of prayer where all through His lifetime He had fought the battles out, and there He set the battle in array in His own heart. He went a little further, always going a little further in His life, and made Himself a stone’s cast away from the other disciples. I think that stone’s cast away brought Him out of earshot of their voices. He would remember the day when He first mentioned Calvary to them and Peter said, “Be it far from thee, Lord,” or “Pity thyself.” And the day when James and John suggested that fire would come down from heaven (Luke 9:54). He felt that it wasn’t going to be like that. Our battles must be fought alone, in the presence of God. No human voice is needed there.
Napoleon had planned that the reinforcements would arrive at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, when he would make the last assault against the enemy, but something happened and the reinforcements never arrived in time and when they came the battle was in wild disarray. Jesus never asked for reinforcements but the Father knew when He needed it most in Gethsemane. Just one angel was sent and then Christ settled it in His heart that the battle was going to be set as His Father would have it. Battles go in stages, and the next stage was when that wild rabble of soldiers came in with swords. Peter was quickly on the defensive and struck the first blow. Christ said so clearly and definitely, “Put up thy sword into its place, for they that take the sword must perish with the sword.” They knew from that moment that it would be a different battle. He knew that all Heaven was on His side and had He wished, those angels could have arrived, but He knew it wouldn’t have gained the victory for poor mankind.

The next stage of the battle of Christ was in the judgement hall. He always appears to me here as such a lonely figure. Peter and the other disciples were gone from Him and He stood alone before the rulers. Death by crucifixion was reserved for the lowest criminal, and the terrible indignities of the crown of thorns, the spitting and so on were completely illegal. They were the work of the Roman soldiers and should never have taken place at all. A spirit of resentment is stirred up when anything is illegal. Here, I feel Christ could easily have lost His spirit, but He held it. He had promised His disciples that one thing He had to leave for them was His peace, and He knew if He lost His spirit He would lose His peace and then have nothing to leave the disciples. It is often such a little thing, such a stinging little thing that causes us to lose our spirit. I remember learning this verse at school just to teach us how a very little carelessness or a little mistake can cause us to lose a battle.

For the want of a nail a horseshoe was lost, for the want of a horseshoe a horse was lost; For the want of a horse a rider was lost, for the want of a rider a leader was lost;
For the want of a leader a battle was lost, and all through the loss of a horseshoe nail.

Christ stood firm and did not allow anything to arouse His spirit so that He would lose His peace. The control of a lifetime came out. After we had seen that room where Napoleon had drawn up his plan of action, we were taken into a large room. All around the walls was the scene of the Battle of Waterloo, with just a little space between us and the scene, like one of those brooks. We could see the whole panorama of the battle. We looked for the leader first and could not see him at all but finally someone found him. He was right at the back of the battle, giving directions with his bodyguards around him. Earthly battles, of course, have to go like that. You don’t put the leader at the front, but oh, how different is the story of Christ! They led Him away to Caiaphas, to Pilate, to Calvary. They thought they had to lead Him and guard Him in that way but He was being led by the hand of God. He took all the battle on Himself.

Napoleon came out of the battle unscathed, with lost ambitions and broken pride, but how sorely wounded in the battle was Christ! Even after death a Roman sword pierced His side. Those marks of wounding in the battle became later the sure impressions of wonderful victory. Christ went on alone to Calvary and I seem to see more than ever what strength He had there. From Calvary’s tree His eyes were not dim with pain and He did not close them, for He looked down and saw His mother standing there. He was still clear in His mind, and gave those two simple sentences for the direction of the rest of her days. “Behold thy mother,” and “Woman, behold thy son.” Just two simple sentences which made an assurance for the rest of Mary’s life. When I make my own plans they take such a lot of arranging and so much thought and if it isn’t of God they just fall to pieces, but this arrangement was made according to the will of God with two simple sentences. The will of God is very quickly and easily explained to us.

One other thing Jesus was able to do on Calvary, and He must by now have been terribly weak but He had the strength to gather one more lost sheep into His fold. That was all a part of His victory. That poor thief was gathered into Christ’s fold. “Today thou shalt be with me in paradise.” The last sheep was gathered home before that final end came. The hymn “Through Good Report” always appeals to me with the thought that it belongs to that forgiven thief. Had he known it in his day he would have enjoyed it so much. “With enemies on every side, we lean on Thee, the crucified.” That is exactly what he did that day. He saw in the crucified One, who was suffering as he was, the One he could lean on. Another line says, “Thou hast passed on before our face, thy footsteps on the way we trace.” Christ was the first to leave Calvary. The thief followed, into paradise.
As we looked at that scene of Waterloo and saw all those men and horses writhing in pain on the battlefield I couldn’t help but think what terrible, lingering deaths must have occurred there. I used to think of Christ’s death like that with those hours of darkness, but once He had taken the place of the sinbearer, once the full work was done I don’t think He lingered there a second longer. God immediately, hearing those words at the finish, took Him to Himself and the victory was gained.

At the closing of the Battle of Waterloo it was amazing how quickly the news of the victory of the other side was carried. But more than that, the beacons were lit on the hillside and the news of the victory was just the news of the defeat of the great man who had this love for power. Isn’t it amazing to think that after Christ had died and was laid in the tomb no banners flew over Jerusalem and no beacons were lit, in fact His victory wasn’t published until three days had passed. It was all in God’s plan that He should be in the grave those three days and as the sun rose on the first day of the week the great victory was proclaimed by one angel to two of the most humble of Christ’s followers. As they took the road home again, going hastily that they might tell His disciples that He was risen, the glorious conqueror Himself met them. To those with broken spirits He greeted them, “All hail.” It was a different battle. In battles of olden days it was the liberated people who proclaimed the conquering hero with the words, “All hail” and here was the conquering One greeting those two humble followers with the words of that victory. On the mountainside that day just eleven men gathered together and were told the great extent of the victory. Only eleven were there to hear it, one already gone, but Christ came and said, “All power is given unto me in heaven and on earth.” It was a victory for all time by Christ, the Man of Sorrows.

He went on to tell them, “Go ye into all the world and teach all nations.” We all have a part in spreading the victory of Christ. Great security: “I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” I felt that this is the end of the story, but I thought of Napoleon being defeated at Waterloo and just a few months ago we heard that the workers in Belgium have obeyed God’s commands in going out to preach and a mission is being preached at Waterloo, the scene of that battle. A letter from one of the friends told of the interest that still holds there.
Another thing happened. That great emperor was banished to St Helena, a rocky little island off Africa, and there he sadly finished his days. About three years ago the Gospel message was taken to that little island. It is far out in the sea, no plane can land there and very few boats go there. But Tess shared with us some letters she had received from the little company of friends there. Every year as the lists come out they look in hope that workers will still come to St Helena. They have it in their hearts that others may still be gathered in there. I wonder if that makes an appeal? Have we not the feeling in our hearts that the harvest is great and the labourers are few? Isaiah 6: God is still asking, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then said I, “Here am I, send me.”

Last year I had much to do with sickness and I learnt much about infection. Things which cause problems and can take lives.  (Bernard had heart surgery.) Spiritual life brings new joys, appetites, desires. But there are ways in which we can become ill and lose the love, the joy, the appetite.

If there is some infection, a part of the body is not as it should be. It is not under control of the rest of the body.  It could be something small, but it could cost a life. A root of bitterness seems a small thing. But like an infected finger, if neglected it could cost us our life. In my case, I must be very careful. Even an infected tooth could affect the heart.

A little thing. Maybe we didn’t notice it till we got to Convention, where we saw it in the light of Jesus. As well as showing us the heavenly goal and God’s Son, the light shows us ourselves.

We are told to cut off this right hand, which we love so much, if it offends.  Forgiving others is a small price to pay for forgiveness. But it is not enough to forgive most people. We may forgive all but one brother. It seems a small thing, but it could cost one’s life. Some lose a hand or foot to save natural life, which is short. So what price for eternal life?

However, we know that “He must be Lord of all or else He is not Lord at all”. I find some surprising things in my heart which I must cast out. Ps 119:2, “Blessed are they that keep His testimonies and that seek Him with the whole heart.” Verse 58 “I entreated Thy favor with my whole heart.” Can we say that? Well, that’s God’s desire. Jesus said, “Ye are clean though not all.” Judas was the problem. If we could have seen into their hearts all would have been in order. But if hearts are in order today it doesn’t say that they’ll be in order tomorrow. Because the enemy also is sowing seeds. If I entertain the thought, “Well, I could steal that, but of course, I won’t.” If I say “I could” it might be an infection setting in. In the end I might do it!

God is a jealous god. He will not tolerate anything else taking His place in our lives. He is just like a jealous husband who will not tolerate another man. He is “Lord of all or not Lord at all”. We may have a surprise in eternity if we say “Have we not done wonderful works in Thy name?” and the Lord answers, “I never knew you”. If we were godless, there would be no surprise. We would expect to be rejected. But the surprised will be those who have said, “Lord, Lord” but have not done the will of the Father. Those who built on the rock and on the sand had both heard the Gospel. Those on the sand thought all was in order. But Satan had done his work of deceit. Black became white. Wrong became right. Lies became truth.

God is a jealous god. He wants to be the Lord of all hearts. Even little things are to be subject to His will. If we are not submitted in the little things, infection will spread.

A little leaven (yeast) rises the whole lump of dough. If we confined the rising to only one part, the unrisen part would be hard and tough. Not bread at all. If we confine the Spirit to just one corner of our hearts, the heart will be of no use to God. He wants His Spirit to go into the last corner of our hearts. Giving Him first place always.

That man seeking good pearls had sold all. There was nothing he had not invested in the “goodly pearl”.

In the case of the treasure in the field, what had the man invested? Again, everything. This heart investment that God wants is to make us His. The promise of the gospel: 100% for 100%. Our all, our 100%, is so little, yet it opens the way to 100% of the promises of God. It opens the way to all the riches in Jesus. This is the call of love, not of human reasoning.  Mary gave her best. The odor of the ointment was the odor of Christ’s sacrifice as he gave His best. The sacrifice of the ointment was according to Christ’s reasoning. It was not according to Judas’s reasoning.

Paul wrote that to some we are the “savor of death” while to others we are the “savor of Life”. Like Mary’s sacrifice, the Lord’s sacrifice “filled the house”. He was giving His best. We like to see people giving their best – for example by going in the Work.  Seeing the sacrifice of a person giving their best encourages us to give our best. But Judas didn’t see it that way. Mary’s sacrifice didn’t encourage him to give his best. Instead, it encouraged him on his way to the priests.

I have wondered if he thought he could both get the silver and be with Christ. Did he think he could compromise? Satan doesn’t tell me to give up all. He just tells me to compromise a little. Infection caught hold of Judas and it overcame him.

To have the savor of Christ requires 100% submission. It only takes a few little flies to make the ointment stink. If there is something wrong in our life there will be a smell. A small infection can grow and destroy. Even a small disagreement grows and grows.

In the world, when an inheritance is divided, sometimes one beneficiary gets more than another. It is not his fault. He did not make the bequest.  But hard feelings arise. Often they won’t go away.

When I am wrong I want to point at others. Yet what we are criticizing is often one of our own failings.

Judas could say the ointment was worth 300 pence. He could see the price, but he could not see the value.  Mary’s memorial was an investment but Judas did not see it that way. He thought it was a waste. The Devil helps us to see the price but the Lord can let us see the heavenly prize.

Aaron and Miriam went wrong. They developed a spirit of criticism. An infection which spoiled the fellowship.  When we ourselves are wrong we may try to cover up by criticizing others. That is the way of Satan in our lives.

We need to have a single, not divided, heart. Because where our treasure is, is where our heart is. The light of the body is the eye. And if the eye is single the body is full of light. If the heart and eye are not single then we have mixed motives. Luke 11: when the eye is evil, the whole body is full of darkness. Take heed that our light is not darkness. If the body is full of light there will be no infection. We will shine as a bright candle. I need the help of the light of God. I need that candle. I want my eye to be single. I need God’s light. How can I find the way? I need God’s help on this journey.

Like the poor widow who had only two mites, we have very little to give. She brought two mites. Although it was very little, it was divisible. One could have been given to the treasury of the Lord’s temple and the other kept for herself. According to Romans 12 that would have been a reasonable, logical, rational service. But the Lord was sitting there watching others also casting into the treasury. Some were contributing a lot. It was not what others cast in that counted. It was what they withheld. In a deeper sense, it was their hearts.

Using God’s reasoning, Jesus said, “She cast in more.” The Pharisees would have said Jesus was wrong – that others had cast in more. That would have been human reasoning. Even the best human reasoning does not produce the best result. According to human reasoning the Pharisees were right. According to God’s reasoning Jesus was right. We need the mind of Christ to see things as He does. Judas had good human reasoning when He said, “Why this waste?” May the Lord save me from my reasoning! The widow’s offering was divisible but she chose not to divide it. Even according to scripture she could have withheld part of it. But she gave it all. The Lord could not have used the retained mite for eternity. Yet we can be sure she ate the next day because God honors all who give their all.

The boy had 5 loaves and 2 fish. He could have divided them. That would have been a reasonable service,  humanly speaking. Two loaves for me. Three for Jesus. One fish each. Very reasonable! Perhaps that boy had been sitting close to Jesus there on the grass, but he was also close in a deeper sense. He gave it all to Jesus. Not thinking that he would receive his own, and more, back again.

When the 5,000 ate that sacrificed bread, each tasted the same flavor.  The fish likewise. Each tasted the flavor of sacrifice. All in that crowd had been “foolish” enough to sit down to eat when there was no food to be seen. There is not enough in all the world to satisfy one man, but there is enough in one man to satisfy all the world. All the world, had they been there, could have eaten bread that day.

A satisfied man is one who will not change his place for any other. He is satisfied with his place near the Lord, despite it seeming foolish to sit to eat where there was no food.

Romans 12: Present your bodies as a living sacrifice … which is your reasonable service.” That boy’s mind had been changed to love the Lord. He did things which proved he loved Him. Only the Lord can change our minds, and then we can see that a living sacrifice is reasonable. That is, reasonable according to our new reasoning. (And yet we are still unprofitable whereas a slave was purchased as an investment. The Lord paid so much to purchase us but whatever we do we are a bad deal.

Matthew 7 tells of people who had not given themselves wholly. They had not come to the point where the seed fell into the ground, dying in secret.  Either we die or we don’t die. We either say we yield to all God’s will, or we don’t. These things are indivisible.

We cannot be 100% perfect but our desires can be right and we can be asking, “Show me what’s wrong and I’ll put it out of my life be it big or small. Help me put it out so that I can have a single eye and be a person with one heart – wholly integrated, a person in “one piece”.

Satan wants to put something into our hearts so that he can have a handle to grasp onto. In Judas’s case money was the handle.

In Acts it is nice to read that “they (the churches) continued daily with one accord and “did eat… with gladness and singleness of heart…. Praising God …. And the  Lord added to the church daily…”.

With “gladness and singleness of heart”. When we are infected we are not glad. We can even envy people who are healthy. Spiritually, we may want to criticize others but we can take this infection to the great Physician. We can go to a brother and say “I was wrong.” Then we can have singleness of heart and have a song of praise.

I think of Ananias and Sapphira. Their division of the funds was the result of division in their hearts. If there is division in the heart it brings problems. Are we wanting to give with our whole heart? Some do come to meetings and call Him Lord. But it is better not to call Him Lord if He is not Lord of all that is in our lives.

The great Physician wants to make us whole. Then we will be healthy and have an appetite for the right things and we will follow His steps. We will even be able to bear a burden in His Way.

To avoid infection, I may need to cut some things off. I may fear natural death but that is a small event compared to eternal death. We want to be with the Lord for eternity.

Heb 7:25 He is able to completely save those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them.

This thought of intercession has been on my mind. I need to value it more. I need to know more about it in my own life. To value the fact that Christ is interceding. He’s interceding for those who come to God by Him. He can save to the uttermost those who come to God by Him.

Verse 24 Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, which is only a copy of the true one. He entered heaven itself, now to appear in God’s presence on our behalf.
I thought of Him there in the presence of God, living to intercede for us. We have heard of the cost at which this has come to us. That we would not be able to grasp it. But He is there, always interceding for us.

Paul wrote to the Romans, Who is he that condemneth? Someone once expressed the thought that while we are criticizing someone, if we are criticizing or condemning somebody, or accusing somebody, and that while that person is coming to God and pleading with God at that very moment.  Can you think that while Christ is interceding for that person, we are condemning and criticizing that person? Do you know what punishment we would be worthy of? I just realise that I have no right whatsoever to criticize or accuse. You know, accusers aren’t intercessors. We are either an accuser or an intercessor. Intercessors will be interceded for and accusers will be accused. Recently I have been trying to watch myself. Watch my tongue, watch my thoughts, knowing that Christ is interceding for everyone that comes to God through Him. Every moment Christ is interceding for them. And He is pleading for them. He is interceding and waiting upon God for them.

In Isaiah, there is a portion there in chapter 53 and the last verse, we know it well. Wherefore I will divide Him a portion with the great and He shall divide the spoil with the strong because He hath poured out His soul unto death. He was numbered with the transgressors and he bears the sins of many and made intercession for the transgressors. I looked up that last portion of this verse in many different Bibles, Bibles of different languages, and they all say just the same. He made intercession for the transgressors. It says in the first portion that He was numbered with the transgressors. In two different gospels, it refers to that verse. In Matthew’s gospel it refers to the time that Peter had a sword and He said that When you had no purse did you lack anything? He said “No I didn’t lack anything” Then the Lord said “He that hath no purse go and get one and he that hath no sword, go and get one, that I may be numbered amongst the transgressors.” So, they would be doing wrong to do that. Peter was wrong to have a sword. In Mark’s gospel, it says when He was crucified He was between those two malefactors, two transgressors. So, He was numbered amongst the transgressors, but here it says He made intercession for the transgressors. I can’t be sure of what that entirely means and my mind cannot grasp fully the price that He paid so that He could make intercession. Is it the time that He forgave His disciples? Is it the time that He helped the man on the cross? Is it the time that He prayed on the cross “Father forgive them for they know not what they do”? We don’t know but it is also for us. He was numbered amongst the transgressors and every one of us is a transgressor. And He is making intercession for us.  Here He is giving His life, that He can make intercession for us. Then how easy it is for us just to recklessly and carelessly accuse or condemn another.

We heard that one who is a child will not look down on someone else. I just like to think of the price that Jesus paid for every child of God, every one of us.

In John’s letter, there is a verse in the 2nd chapter that we are all familiar with, it says. My little children, these things I write unto you that you sin not and if any man sins we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. I looked that up in many Bibles and I like the Afrikaans where it says “ ‘n Voorspraak”. But an advocate is one who intercedes for us. The important thing for us is to be honest, honest with our advocate. It is no use, a person trying to intercede for us if we are not going to be honest, honest with our advocate. We need to tell Him everything: our faults, mistakes and failings and we need to be repentant and remorseful about it, broken about it and honest with Him. Then He can be an advocate for us and intercede for us. If we are not willing for that then He can’t intercede for us. He won’t be interceding for us because He is interceding for those who come to God by Him, willing for His life.

In thinking of this matter of interceding I would just like to mention sometimes when Jesus was on earth and interceded for His own disciples. In that prayer that we have in John 17. It was a very special prayer. He must have prayed it audibly for His disciples to hear it and in that prayer, He said “I pray for my disciples.” Then he also said in the 20th verse He said “I pray not only for them but also for those that will believe on me through their words.” That is when He was on earth He said that He was praying for those who would believe through the preaching of the gospel and would accept it. That was when He was on the earth before He paid the price for interceding at God’s right hand, He was already interceding for us. “For them that will believe” He also spoke to Peter “Satan has desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat but I have prayed for you that your faith fail not.” He didn’t say that he had prayed for him that he would not go through this experience. “I have prayed for you” isn’t that a wonderful intercession for Peter while He was still on this earth. I enjoyed that very much.

It has also been much on my mind, this matter of faith. We say that we have faith but do we really have the faith? This is going off my thoughts altogether but we read that Jesus healed those 10 lepers. They came to Him and asked for help and He said to them “Go and show yourself to the priest. “But they were lepers so what is the use of going and showing themselves to the priest? But they all went because they believed. They believed that very moment and as they went they were healed. We say we believe but I know for myself there are times when I question my own belief.

That woman taken in adultery in John 8. They quoted the law out of the Old Testament and you know, Jesus could have said many things that day. He could have said, “Well get on with it, if you want to get on with it.” He could have said, “Where is the man?” He just said “He that is without sin throw the first stone.” Jesus was without sin, He could have thrown the first stone. He could have but He said to that woman,” I don’t condemn you, go and sin no more.” He interceded for that woman that day. There is no condemnation where there is intercession.

You remember Mary falling at the feet of Jesus for her brother’s sake? Her brother had already died. She wept and the people wept and when Jesus saw her weeping at His feet weeping and interceding for her brother who was now dead. Saying “If you had been here he would have lived.” It says that Jesus wept. To intercede for someone else we must feel for someone else.

I just thought of the three angels coming to Abraham in Genesis 18, They told Abraham about Sodom and Gomorrah and they left. It says that Abraham stood yet before the Lord. Then it says that Abraham drew near and he interceded for Sodom. He started with 15 and he went down to 10 people. When we intercede for somebody we draw awfully close to God. Jim Chaffee said that there is no time when we are more like Christ than when we intercede for somebody. So, he interceded and came to 10 and God left.

Abraham continued to intercede till God was no more there. Wonderful that he didn’t leave before God left. He waited before God and he was interceding for Lot and his family. We know that Sodom was not spared but that family was spared.
There are many other occasions. Paul in Ephesians 6 he encourages prayers and supplications for all saints and persevering for ALL saints, in the spirit. Then he goes a step further when he writes to Timothy. 1 Timothy 2nd chapter. I exhort therefore that prayers and supplications be made for all men, for kings and all that are in authority that we might live a quiet life in all godliness.

I just realise that I need to value Christ’s intercession for me more and I need to know more about it because it is the purest form of service. I need to know more about interceding for others. May God help us in these things.

There are five widows mentioned in Luke who are pictures of what God’s people should be.

The first widow was a praying and serving widow.

Luke 2:36-38 Anna, a prophetess and an elderly widow, spent all her time in the temple worshiping, fasting, and praying. When she saw baby Jesus, she thanked God and spoke about him to everyone who was looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

The second widow was a serving and obedient widow.

Luke 4:25-26 Jesus said that during Elijah’s time, when there was a severe famine, there were many widows in Israel, but Elijah was sent only to a widow in Zarephath in Sidon.

1 Kings 17:8-16 God told Elijah to go to Zarephath, where a widow would take care of him. Elijah went and asked the widow for water and bread. She said she had very little food left, but Elijah reassured her that God would make her food last until it rained again. She trusted him, and her food supply miraculously lasted for many days, just as Elijah had said.

It may have seemed Elijah’s request to be first was selfish, but the Lord had told Elijah that He had already commanded her. Somehow, she was prepared by the Lord. When she obeyed, there was a blessing.

Obedience is something God has asked for from the beginning. In Genesis 3, Satan attacked two things: Eve’s faith and obedience.

We’re not saved by the works of the law, but obedience is essential.

To be ready for His return, two things are necessary: to love God and to know Him.

The parable of the five wise and five foolish virgins. When foolish virgins returned from buying oil, they knocked. Asking to open up to them. But the bridegroom refused. Saying he did not know them. He only knew those that were prepared in advance to his coming.

To know the Lord and have fellowship with Him is vital. He’ll come for those who love and prepare for His appearance.

The third widow was a weeping widow.

Luke 7:12-15 When Jesus approached the city gate, he saw a funeral procession for a widow’s only son. Moved by compassion, he told her not to cry. He then touched the coffin and told the young man to get up. The young man sat up and started talking, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

These five widows in Luke are pictures of what it means to be His: serving, obedient, weeping. Not mourning all the time, but because of sin of our own or others.

Every chapter of 1 Peter tells us of Jesus leaving an example of how to suffer.
Three places in Hebrews tell us why we can trust Jesus when we’re suffering.

Hebrews 2:17-18 Jesus had to become like us in every way so he could be a merciful and faithful high priest, helping to reconcile us with God by dealing with our sins. Because he suffered and was tempted, he can help those who are being tempted.

Hebrews 4:15-16 We have a high priest (Jesus) who understands our weaknesses because he was tempted in every way we are but did not sin. Because of this, we can confidently approach God’s throne to receive mercy and find grace to help us when we need it.

Hebrews 5:7-8 During his time on earth, Jesus prayed earnestly with deep emotion to God, who could save him from death. Jesus’ prayers were heard because of his reverence. Although he was God’s Son, he learned obedience through his suffering.

The fourth widow was a praying widow.

Luke 18:1-5 Jesus tells a story to encourage people to always pray and not give up. He describes a judge in a city who didn’t fear God or care about people. A widow repeatedly came to him, asking for justice against her enemy. At first, the judge refused, but eventually, he decided to help her because he was tired of her constant requests.

She was constant in praying because she had an adversary and no one else to turn to.

1 Samuel 1: Hannah’s prayer. She had an adversary too.

An elder asked to give up the meeting in his home, because he had lost his faith. They asked if he prayed. “I used to.” But he had stopped three years before.

It can be hard to know what to pray for. In 1 John it tells us God hears when we pray according to His will. So we can pray when we’re moved as we read.

The fifth widow was a poor widow.

Luke 21:1-4 Jesus saw rich people donating money and then noticed a poor widow giving two small coins. He said that the widow gave more than the others because they gave from their surplus, but she gave all she had to live on.
I wondered if those two pence were loving God and our neighbor. Those commandments are never together in the Old Testament. Christ gave them together and increased the second. If we love with our all, and as Christ loved us—to lay down our lives for one another—that’s all our living.

Even the smallest members have a part in the body.

God’s people are a serving people, an obedient people, a mourning, praying, sacrificing people.

Brooke ~
I was once asked what my favourite verse was; many came to mind, but I was not sure of my favourite. Psalms 27:13 “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” – this verse changed the way I read the scriptures. This [believing in the goodness…] was the only reason David hadn’t fainted. Seeing the Lord gives us courage. We can look for the goodness of the Lord in the scriptures.
Luke 15 – the prodigal son was encouraged when he saw the goodness of his father in the land of the living. He had spent all he had and was in want. V.17 “How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!” – he thought about his father’s kindness, and it gave him courage. Lev 25:39-40 The hired servant was not as a bond servant, but a brother or neighbour who had a need that he couldn’t meet himself, and so would serve, but could be redeemed. The prodigal saw others in the situation he was in, with decisions that led to poverty and captivity. He realised he had nothing to offer, but saw the goodness in the father’s house.
Mark 7:26 – the Greek lady brought her daughter to Jesus; she wasn’t Jewish, but she had a deep need for her daughter – she knew she wasn’t of the Children of Israel, but she knew there was something for her. The Lord has kindness to the stranger. Deut 24:19-22 – the sheaves, olives and grapes were to be left for the stranger, the fatherless and the widow; for those without an inheritance. The Moabites weren’t kind to the Children of Israel, but Ruth [a Moabitess] gleaned what was left in the field. There is goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
~~~
Rachel ~
Colossians 1:21-22 “…you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight.”  Jesus can present us faultless before God – His working can make us faultless. V..23 “If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled…” – much can be ours if we continue trusting.
[Matthew 8:23-7, etc] The disciples were in the boat in the storm, but Jesus was settled and asleep; His words settled them [and the storm]. When we are feeling unsettled, read about Jesus.
Psalms 42:11 “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise Him…” When I was unsettled I wondered how to get out? [The answer was] Go back to the basics – feeding on the Lamb was the remedy. The simple words of Jesus were what we, and the disciples, need so that we can go on; we can not plan or know where it will end, but just need to follow. The simplicity of the Gospel is to be with Jesus and His Father.
Paul endured sufferings for the Gospel’s sake, and was able to encourage others. Finding Jesus in the storm is to have calm within it. Meetings can be as the calm in the midst of the storm. When God called Paul it wasn’t because he was worthy, but it was the right time. Paul’s writings were based on the teachings of Jesus – He will carry the burden of sin for us. The continuing is the part we have to do: be assured, keep believing. What God gives from His Word is real, and living. Following is the end of building on the rock: keep building and following – the foundation is sure and steady. Jesus understands, for He had a human nature too.

In Luke’s Gospel, chapter 17, beginning with verse 22, we read of things Jesus talked to His disciples about, “The days will come when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man and ye shall not see it.” That told them they were going to see difficult times.  The days will come when they would wish for the Lord’s return.
I don’t think too many here have exactly got there yet, but things got so difficult, and the world got so evil, they wished for the Lord’s return.  But He said, “You shall not see it in your day.   He said, “They will desire to see ONE of the days of the Son of Man.
The Bible teaches us there are two days of the coming of the Son of Man.  The first is when He comes for His Own, to take them away from what is going to fall upon this old earth.  The next day is when He returns with His own and His angels to reign here.
There is a great contrast between those two days.  The first day will come like a thief in the night, and it will happen like lightning; it will happen at a time when they think not!  The thief doesn’t send out signs and signals that he is coming.  Jesus said it would be like that, His first coming.
He gives them many warnings so they would not be caught unaware.
But then the Second Coming, when He comes with His own and with His angels, all the world will know when He is coming.  There will be signs in the sun and in the moon and in the stars and men so aware that their hearts would be failing them for fear, and they would be calling on the rocks and mountains to fall on them and hide them.  That is a great difference to coming as a thief in the night.
He said, “As it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man.” In one sense that is a great consolation. I have heard different people say, “The world is worse today than ever it was”, but that is not true.  Jesus said in the day of His return “As it was in Noah’s day, so it would be.” That is a consolation in this sense: that it tells us we have assurance that the God that kept them, in those times in the past, will keep us in the future.
You could not make the world any worse than it was in those days.  It had reached the limit, because it says, “The world was filled with violence.”  When something is full, it will not hold any more.  It says, “Every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart was only evil continually.”  You cannot make it any worse; that is the limit!
Jesus said it is going to be just like that when He comes.  It is heading that way pretty fast.  With all the evil these computers are going to bring into people’s homes, it is not going to take long to accomplish that.  But the God that kept those people in Noah’s day, and the God that kept His family, can keep His people still.
He said as it was in Lot’s day, so it will be then. Verse 28, “As it was in the days of Lot, they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went OUT of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.”
Then He went on to say some other things.  “In that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.  Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.”
I remember one day it dawned on me what that suggests. That suggests to us that the Lord won’t come on Sunday, the first day of the week, because two men would not be working in the field on the Lord’s Day; two women would not be grinding in the mill on the Lord’s Day!
It would be nice if He did come on the Lord’s Day! Maybe we would be in a better condition, but He suggested most people would be found at their worst!  They would be taken from their work.  He talked about three different parts: the one part in their bed, the other two parts at their work.
We know that at any given moment there are some parts of the world in bed; it is night for example, right now. Most parts of Europe are in their bed, and the British Isles are in their bed, and a given part of the Americas, in North, Central and South America, quite a number of them are in bed right now, because it is nighttime there now. At any moment that is the situation.
Jesus said some would be taken from their bed, and some would be taken from their work, and then as Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, others would be taken from the grave, or rather that the graves of the dead in Christ, first of all would be opened. “The dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” When the dead are raised up in the air, then the living would be taken to be with Him.
Now that is going to be a very real identification of the Lord with His people – the Lord taking His people out of the world and showing to all the world that “they are Mine”.  You think of those three men in Daniel’s day who were cast into the fiery furnace and the king saw a fourth, like the Son of God with them.  He showed clearly that those three were His.  He was not ashamed to be seen with them.
Many years later, Daniel, as an old man, his turn came.  That was in another empire in the days of another king.  He was thrown into the den of lions, and the king came trembling in the morning and asked, “Is thy God whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee?” Daniel said, “Yes, He sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths”. He said the reason for that was “because before God I have done no evil, and also before thee, Oh King, I am blameless”. God was not ashamed to be identified with Daniel.
Now we think of Christ coming to claim His own.  It would be a very real identification with them, just like in those days.  As the New Testament teaches us, God’s people need to be harmless and blameless as the Sons of God.  Think of God taking somebody from their workplace.  They are there at their work desk and the next minute they disappear.  The manager, the director and the people in the workplace are wondering what has happened.
Slowly they get to understand the Lord has taken His people out of the world.  Individuals are missing in the world here and there.  Certain graves in the cemeteries are opened, and then they realize the Son of God has come.  What kind of person need they have been?  You know if that person had not been working honestly in his work place, and if those that worked with him would say, “I knew that person. Let me tell you something; he worked very well when the manager was around, but when he was not there it was a different story!”  Do you think God could identify Himself with that?
If somebody was working for the public construction contractor or somebody else, and he was taken, and some of his customers had some bad experience with his work, that he overcharged them, or he promised to put certain materials into the work and they discovered very inferior materials had been used, do you think God could identify Himself with that?
If somebody was taken away from their business and one of his partners came in and discovered that the books are irregular and things that should have been declared were not declared, and they discovered it, do you think that God could identify Himself with a person like that?
You know you can keep those things hidden from friends, or from workers, but on that day nothing will be hidden.
People are taken away from their homes and the neighbours and the authorities come in and they find things in their homes that don’t belong to a child of God – a small TV hidden there, some magazines and books that don’t belong to the children of God!  The neighbours say, “They profess to be Christians, but look what is here!  Do you think our God, our Holy Righteous God, would identify Himself with that?
Paul and Peter and the writers of the New Testament admonished God’s people to be holy and harmless, pure and blameless in this evil world.  Peter used an expression, “What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and Godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God.  Wherefore beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of Him in peace, without spot and blameless!”
The same thing would apply whether we are alive that day or whether we are in the grave.
The graves would be opened and the dead in Christ would arise first, it says.  Generally, people about the area would know who would be buried in the graves; it is often on the tombstone and it is always recorded.  It is not that the Lord wants anything of the grave, because all that goes into the grave is what belongs to this earth.  It returns to the earth.
It is a human body and a human nature – all that was human goes back to the earth from whence it came. The Creator does not want anything out of the grave, but He is letting the world know that there is resurrection as the Bible taught, and that Christ, as He promised, has come back for His people, and He is letting them know that they are not alone, those who were taken out of the grave, the Lord showing that they were “Mine”.
But what manner of people would they need to have been in their lifetime for that?  They would also have needed to live blameless and spotless and harmless in this world, and to have left a testimony that God would not be ashamed of.
Jesus showed us there would be many who would miss it.
Jesus talked about the problem of the young virgins in Matthew 25:1.  He said, “Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.  And five of them were wise and five were foolish”. He is talking about the same mixture.  Some are taken, others are left.  They had the same home life, living in the home; they had the same struggles and problems.  Two grinding at the mill – the same work life with its problems and difficulties.  Two working in the field – they have the same work life too, but in each case one is taken and the other left.
Some people say that is suggesting a lot, but that is what Jesus said.
I was thinking of the messages that came to the seven churches in Asia, and maybe you can read those messages again.  You begin to think, if the Lord had returned at that time, what would the situation have been?  Do you think it would have been five wise and five foolish?  If you read those messages, it would seem like there would be three wise and seven foolish!
But there were some soul-saving messages that came from Heaven.  The Christ that promised to return for them was interested in them; He was interested in helping them.  He could see they were going astray and were going to miss it, and He sent His judgments and His corrections, as we heard.  We don’t read the results of those messages.  It would be interesting to know how many had ears to hear and how many paid attention, how many made the corrections that were necessary.
If He had come at that time, it would have been less than five among the ten!
But you can see the kindness and interest of our Saviour looking down on them and sending them messages that were so important for their salvation.  We know the first message that we heard in the Gospel was very important for the salvation of our soul, but there have been messages I have heard during the years, and they were also soul-saving messages, and those messages that came to the seven churches were soul-saving messages.
John was to send them to the seven churches.  We read he addressed them to the seven churches.
I remember an old couple, a brother and sister, many years ago; they were old, but they had professed when they were young.  She had been a school teacher in her day and she knew her Bible very well, but later in life she became blind, and her brother used to read the Bible to her every day.  She would correct him if he read a word wrong.  She had a good memory of the Bible.
But the time came when they did not feel their need of coming along to the meetings any more.  They talked continually of the first mission they attended and the first messages they heard, and they were quite satisfied they had met Truth and entered into the Truth, and they felt all they needed to do now was to continue reading and praying at home.
When you think of those messages that were sent to the seven churches, maybe if there was somebody like them, not attending the meetings, they would never have heard those messages, and those messages were vital, vitally important.  That is God’s plan. To attend meetings is God’s plan and it is in the interest of our soul.
Well, Jesus talked about different things here.  He talked about the days of Noah, in verses 26 and 27, and in the next verses, 28 and 29, He talks about the days of Lot.  He talks about “THEY”.  In the days of Noah, they did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage. Who was He talking about?  That is a very different description to the description we get of the people of the world in those days in Genesis.
I don’t think Jesus was trying to describe the same people.  In Genesis 6, we read that the earth was filled with violence, and their every imagination was evil continually, and they had corrupted God’s way upon the earth.  Jesus is talking to His disciples and He is talking about those who ate and drank and married and were given in marriage.  He is giving those disciples a warning, but He is talking about a different group here, and there was another group we read of in Genesis 6.
They are referred to as the sons of God but it says they got their eyes on the daughters of men, and they married those whom they chose.  It doesn’t say anything worse about them than that, and Jesus didn’t lay any charge worse than that against them either, but they were not in the ark!
They were an example of the foolish!  They were so busy with social life and family life and they had no time for anything else.  They seemed to think it was alright for Noah to build the ark, but not necessary for them to be concerned about it.
In the days of Lot, they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded!  They were totally legal and lawful things.
Who were they? It is obvious it was not the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, but there were another group of people in Sodom and Gomorrah.  Remember Abraham pleaded for a group of people there.  He began with 50, didn’t he?  He continued reducing that number till he got to ten, then he was satisfied.  Surely there were ten there serving God!  But finally there were only three who came out.  What happened to the rest?
I think Jesus is referring to that group.  He was warning His disciples lest the same thing would happen to them – just taken up with the lawful, legal side of life to such an extent that they missed the purpose of life.
Jesus clarified that even further in Matthew 25.  He talked about the five foolish and what He will say to them.  He didn’t say there was anything illegal about them either!  The only charge He laid against them was, “I know you not!”
And they were numbered among the wise when they all came.  I remember a young friend of ours speaking in a meeting many years ago.  He said he had been reading that portion of Scripture during the week.  He said the way it appealed to him was this:  He said, “It seems the five wise were friends of the Bridegroom, but the five foolish were just friends of the friends”.  I never forgot that, because that is just how it was.  They were satisfied because they were in the right fellowship.  They were amongst the right people and going to the meetings with the right people, with God’s people, but they didn’t have a relationship with the Bridegroom.
It is obvious those sons of God didn’t have a relationship with God like Noah had!  And the same thing with those in Sodom – they allowed the lawful things of life to rob them of their communication and fellowship with their Bridegroom.  You think of a young couple thinking of getting married and the bridegroom observing that the intended bride is very happy to have communication with his family but not happy to have communication with him!  That would not be very satisfactory, would it?
Jesus said about the foolish, “I know you not”.  Jesus gave His disciples many warnings.
Jesus had come down from Heaven to be our Saviour and die for us and He rose again, and He is going back to intercede for us.  He could have appointed one or two angels to do that too, to intercede, but He is interceding personally.  He is continuing to take a personal interest in our salvation.
We see His personal interest in those seven messages that John was given to give to the angel of the seven churches – a little glimpse of His activity on our behalf behind the curtain, and He is coming back personally to collect His own.  He could have left the angels to do that but He has personal interest right to the finish in those that He died to save.
He gave them a little advice, “Watch ye therefore and pray always that ye might be accounted worthy to escape these things.”  There is the secret.  Praying is continual communication with Him.
I know many treat prayer as a kind of remedy, something especially for when you get into difficulties and you want to pray, when you are having problems you can’t handle, you go to pray, but Jesus told us prayer is not a remedy, it is for a preventative.  He told His disciples to “rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.”
That was not a solution or a remedy for temptation; it was a preventative. It’s like when people clean their teeth every day, once, twice, three times – that is not a remedy; that is for prevention and they do that continually and faithfully.  Their teeth may be perfect and not a sign of any problem, but they are brushing their teeth for prevention; that is the way Jesus taught about prayer.
We can avoid or escape many things if we are faithful in prayer.
He also said, “Men ought always to pray and not to faint.” Isaiah taught the same thing – that again for prevention.  I like the way Isaiah said, “They who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
We think of prayers as talking, talking, talking, asking and asking from God.  If you had the privilege of being in the presence of a king or the presence of a president, how would you behave?  Would you start talking the minute you entered his presence and keep on talking, talking, and talking and then say, “Excuse me, I have to catch a bus.”  I think you would be sitting very quietly, waiting to hear what he has to say.
You know these prayers Jesus taught were very short.  Even John 17, – that whole chapter is a prayer – you can read it in three minutes without any pressure. What an example prayer, and what we call the Lord’s prayer is less than two minutes!  We have needs, but our God knows our needs better than we do.
Prayer is waiting on God to change our attitude, our thoughts and our spirits.
Paul wrote in Romans 12 about presenting ourselves before Him and transforming ourselves by the renewing of our mind.  It is nice when we wait till we can get the door shut, till we find our attitude and our thoughts change.  That is when we are getting somewhere.
Jesus said to “Watch and pray always”.  There is a lot to watch, but the best place of all to watch is to watch our thoughts!  When a nation is afraid of the enemy entering the land, do you know what they watch?  They watch at the point of entry, to catch them on the way in before they get in.
If we watch at the point of entry, if we keep watch on our thoughts, we won’t have a problem with our words; we won’t have a problem with our actions; we won’t have a problem with our feet.
There are many things we are taught to watch!

First: Neglecting to read the Word of God, which endureth forever, I Peter 1:25, “But the word of the Lord endureth forever,” and so they cannot grow and remain, (I Peter 2:2,) as “newborn babes” and are unable to save themselves and others, unable as it says in I Timothy 13-16, to give heed to sound doctrine, to meditate and to continue, so to help themselves and others.
We also remain ignorant, imperfect and unprofitable and cannot perform good works, missing out on what is described in II Timothy 3:15-17, being wise unto salvation, instructed in righteousness and “thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” We are exhorted in Titus 3:8 “… that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works.”
We also become easy prey for the adversary if we do not know the Truth of God, as it says in Ephesians 6:14 of having, “your loins girt about with truth.” His word maketh us rich in wisdom which is from above, (Colossians 3:16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom…1 sanctifies us (John 17:17, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”) and makes us clean (John 15:3, “Now are ye clean…” also Hebrews 10:22 with hearts sprinkled and bodies washed etc).
God’s truth is our shield and buckler (Psalm 91-4). It cleanses our way and saves us from sinning, Psalm 119:9, “Wherewith shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word,” and keeps us from the path of the destroyer. (Psalm 17:4, “By the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.”)
We should not allow one day to pass without reading God’s word. It has meant inestimable sacrifice to produce that word for our benefit. Until the days of Jesus it was spoken by holy men of God as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, (II Peter 1:21.) those who sacrificed every earthly product so that God could use them. And in the fullness of time, God did not spare Heaven’s best so that the truth, which was from the beginning, should be made manifest to us.
Jesus sacrificed so that God’s word might be made flesh and dwell among us; and to neglect the reading of His precious word, which is, as it were, dipped in the blood of sacrifice as it says in Revelation 19:13, “And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God” ; to neglect this is indeed a serious crime in the sight of God and all the Holy angels.
It is base ingratitude and black disloyalty to Him whom we profess to love and serve. And to make matters worse, many make the excuse, “We have no time,” or “I wish I could spare the time” and so on. They forget that God did not spare Heaven’s best so that we might have life and salvation and so they undervalue His sacrifice. They must be careful and troubled about the many things that perish and the one thing needful is neglected and their loss is eternal.
Second: Lack of Meditation. Meditation means that we seek to extract all the sweetness and food from what we read. Reading reveals God’s requirements and His eternal purpose and will for us, and to neglect meditation we are kept poor as well as weak; inclined to blindness and so disobedience is encouraged; and so the Lord is unable to make us prosperous and successful in the things of God. Joshua 1:8, “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth: but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”
Without meditation His purpose is frustrated in our lives. He cannot fulfill in us the good pleasures of His will and much failure and defeat, want of purpose, want of stability, want of sweetness and want of fruitfulness is the result, and we remain unprofitable. I Timothy 4:15, “Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear unto all.” On meditations read: Psalm 1:2, 19:14, 77:12, 63:6, 143:5, 104:24, 119:15, 23:28.
Third: Failure to Pray, which leaves us strengthless, wearied and ready to faint in our minds, filled with cowardice and ready to turn back in the day of battle like the children of Ephraim in Psalm 78:9, because our armour is incomplete.
The part we lack is all prayer mentioned in Ephesians 6:18, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.”
Reading and meditation show us God’s purpose and provision for us and what He requires, also our extreme need and destitution; our poverty, want and nakedness, all that we lack where we come short of the Pattern. The realisation of these things produces prayer. As it were, it drives us to pray. We cannot live spiritually without it.
Prayer unites us to God, the source of all power, strength and good. Jesus is the medium by which we can approach unto God and abide in His presence and it is only as we continue in the Son and in the Father (I John 2:24) that we become rooted and grounded in love and grow in grace and are made partakers of every good and perfect gift that, “is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights…” (James 1:17). We also get His own divine nature (II Peter 1:4).
Prayer is one of the secret roots by which we are fed and nourished and by which every virtue and good fruit is produced. The model prayer of Jesus in Matthew 6 is perfect and contains all that we need. We should remember every day before God, in the secret of our hearts, that we are on the earth surrounded by sin and wickedness and that we cannot possibly survive without the help of our Father, our God in Heaven, who is our salvation and that unless we humble ourselves before Him, rendering our reverence and respect, and allow His Kingdom to come in us, that we must be overthrown and come to naught.
He is our daily bread from Heaven and without this we must weaken and die. We should imbibe the spirit of this prayer and make it our daily experience. The seven things that Jesus taught His disciples to pray for, we should pray for too. We are admonished to pray always and with all prayer I Thessalonians 5:17, “Pray without ceasing.” Pray about everything. Philippians 4:6, “.. in everything by prayer and supplication…”
Jesus spent much time in prayer, whole nights. Daniel (Daniel 6:10) prayed three times a day and in Psalm 55:17 David said, “Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud..” God’s ears are open to the cry of His people (I Peter 3:12).
Fourth: Failure to avail ourselves of the provision God has made for His people in the way of fellowship as it says in Hebrews 10:25, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together … but exhorting one another..” To forsake this is wilful sin and we are despising God when we refuse the means whereby we may be provoked to love and good works and he able to exhort one another, and thus kept alive, healthy and strong to walk in the more excellent way described by Paul in I Corinthians 13.
Hebrews 10 speaks of the sacred and holy relationship we have been brought into through God’s merciful provision for us in Jesus. Verse 19, “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.” To in any way despise or neglect this or wilfully forsake the assembly of ourselves together is a sin that produces death.
Verses 28-29 speak in strong terms of those who despise and do despite to the Spirit of Grace.
How possible it is to despise the pleasant land as the people of Israel did, Psalm 106:24, “Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word,” and in our hearts turn back into Egypt, described by Stephen in Acts 7:39, “To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt.”
Fifth: Partaking of the most sacred emblems unworthily, not discerning the Lord’s body. That is, we fail to see that His body was used for one purpose only and that He lived to one end: to glorify God. He was the bread of God which cometh down from Heaven to give life unto the world. His body was broken so that we might be fed and receive life, and live by Him, to be lived to one end, to manifest His life and to show forth His praises, seeking to glorify Him in our bodies and spirit which are His (I Corinthians 6:19-20).
Failure to discern this with a true Godly desire in our hearts to practise it in our lives makes us mere pretenders and brings God’s condemnation or judgement. We also need to remember that His death speaks to us of the salvation and eternal redemption that He has secured for us, so that we might be delivered out of the hands of our enemies, inwardly and outwardly, and made free as His sons and daughters, to serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.
Not discerning this and failing to stand fast in this liberty (Galatians 5) and walk and live in this clear light (I John 1:7) leaves many spiritually sick and many sleep; that is, they are unconscious of their condition, and what they are doing. They have a name that they live but they are dead. (1 Corinthians 11; Revelation 3:1)
Sixth: Failure to abide in Him who is our life, and the only true course of blessing and fruitfulness, and though we may profess much, nothing is produced and there is no manifestation to the world and to others that we are of a truth His disciples (John 15:6-7).
Deceit is deeply rooted in the human heart and the tendency is to be content with the good and not reach forth beyond this until we are brought into living harmony and contact with the supreme good which is God alone.
Reading, meditation, prayer, fellowship and communion are good and profitable as a means to an end. The end is God and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent, becoming one with Him, who is the spirit of truth, living in Him who is our sole source of life and Godliness as John 15 teaches, also Corinthians 17 and II Peter 1:3 where it says, “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.” Apart from this, we are without life and can do nothing. (John 15:4-6)
Seventh: There is not the separation from the world and all its fashions, follies and evil; not the marks which brand us as His own peculiar people. I Peter 2:9, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” (Also I Peter 4:4-5, James 4:4, John 15:9)
The want of separation robs all of us of vitality. We are inclined to blindness, forgetfulness and lack of diligence. We cannot see afar off, beyond the things of time. We are not fully persuaded of the precious promises of God. We feebly embrace the shadow of truth, assenting mentally to the written word, but failing to lay hold on the substance; that is, we do not make it our own by walking in it and allowing it to become spirit and life to our souls. The marks of the stranger and pilgrim are not seen in our eyes. Hebrews 11:13 for example, says, “These all died in faith, not having received the promises … and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” (Also I Peter 2:11, II Peter 1:9-10.
We are earthly minded; our manner of life is not in Heaven. Philippians 3:19-20, “Whose end is destruction … For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.” We do not sit in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus as it says in Ephesians 2:6. The wall of separation is broken down and we are often left to the devourer. Proverbs 25:28, “He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.” (Also Proverbs 24:30-31)
Our separation is our own safety. We should aim at being the solitary in families as it says in Psalm 68:6, those whom God has singled out to be His own peculiar treasure, the quiet in the land mentioned in Psalm 35:20 and the undefiled in the way spoken of in Psalm 119:1, as blessed; those whose lives are hid with Christ in God as in Colossians 3:3, dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world as in Colossians 2:20.
May God in His infinite mercy cause us all to seek unto Him for grace which will enable us to so yield unto Him that He may be enabled to fulfil in us all the good pleasure of His Will, for His name’s sake, Amen.

Some of the women in the Bible who proclaimed God’s message:

Miriam ~ Exodus 15:20

Deborah ~ Judges 4: 4-7

Huldah ~ 2 Kings 22:14-20; 2 Chron 34:22-28

Noadiah ~ Nehemiah 6:14

Anna ~ Luke 2:36-38

Mary Magdalene ~ John 20:17-18

Philip’s daughters ~ Acts 21:9

Priscilla ~ Acts 18:26

Pride causes us to be stubborn and self-righteous, pursue fleshly things and prevents us from admitting our need.
Absalom’s humility helped David: I Samuel 25
Namaan put aside his own thoughts, obeyed and was cleansed.

God won’t compete for space and time in our lives. It has to be our choice to give Him space and time.

Luke 13:11-13 A wrong spirit produced an  infirmity in a woman for eighteen years. Jesus released her from her infirmity and this caused her to glorify God. She realized God’s miracle in her life and she lifted up God through her thankfulness.

Who is our help? It is not an option to rely on ourselves as we are helpless and hopeless in and of ourselves. God is well able to help us. We should make Him our surety, help and strength everyday.

Abraham lived beyond the sacred page before we had the sacred pages.

When we abide in the right place we can live in the atmosphere of an open heaven. We need to give more time to prayer.

Hebrews 11:3 God through faith creates something visible. Through faith God can create the express image of Jesus in our lives.

John 10:27 My sheep follow me. It is safe to trust and safe to follow Jesus. Whose voice am I listening to and following?

Thankfulness comes with peace and joy.

We need to look at others with God’s care, love and hope for them.

Isaiah 6: There are woes that should be like check stops in our heart as they can hinder our judgement.
v8 Ambition and wealth
11 Pleasure
18 Doubt
20 Compromise
21 Pride
22 Dishonesty

When we allow the King to conquer our hearts He will bring us light and joy and produce a beautiful work in our lives.

Our relationship with God is through the lamb slain.

Unwillingness comes from a lack of acknowledging the worthiness of Christ. He is worthy of our best. Our unworthiness shouldn’t affect our willingness. Do we deserve what God has done for us? No. Have we earned it? No. Don’t limit God’s power in our lives as that is a negative use of our energy. We can make ourselves unworthy.

The chosen of God are those who choose to be chosen. God gives faith to those who want to believe.

All dogs have the same nature. They are not fussy eaters.
There are three dogs mentioned in the Bible:
1. Matt 15:25 The starving dog that was willing for crumbs was desperately persistent.
2. II Samuel 9 Mephibosheth was as a dead dog but he saw
the opportunity to be elevated to the king’s table.
3. Luke 15:11-24 A runaway dog ate some humble pie and
accepted the graciousness of his father.
               
We need to focus on the one who is worthy and who makes us
worthy. The lamb’s perfection should prompt full commitment from us.

Life brings us joy & sorrow, death & life, crucifixion and resurrection
John 5:28-29 After death we receive either resurrection of life or resurrection of damnation depending on how we have lived.
Our focus should be on our life after death. We can have eternal joy as we are willing to die to our own will.
John 19:41 to 20:9 tells us of Jesus’ crucifixion and his being raised after three days – his resurrection. He had told his apostles about this happening – Matt 16:21-23 but they missed the miracle due to their fear of man. 
Romans 6:3-4 We are to walk in newness of life as we die to our own will. Our lives become more meaningful as we have  a new nature and purpose.
John 9:1-9 Our lives are changed  as we become new creatures and others may not recognize us as in the case of the man blind from birth.
We need to be concerned about what God thinks.        
~~~
John 16:23 Jesus is our avenue to God
Prayer is a two-way activity – conversing with God both talking and listening to him.
Jesus went apart to pray to God. We need to get alone with Him.
Watching and praying are vital. We need to hear God’s voice.
We can do things to make our prayers to God more effective.
Luke 18:1-8 Come continually to God and pray from our heart
v 11-14 be humble and honest
Mark 11:24-26 Pray believing in God and be forgiving to others
1 John 5:14 Ask according to God’s will. As we ask in faith he hears us.
Acts 10:1-33 The story of Cornelius, a devout, prayerful man.

[Link to WFP]

KRISTA LYNN SLAWINSKI Krista Lynn Slawinski (formerly of McCreary, MB) passed away suddenly in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at the age of 35 years. Having spent a number of years in the ministry in the Caribbean, Krista died there on January 17, 2012, following a bus accident. She leaves with special memories, her parents Murray and Lynda Slawinski; five brothers, Scott, Werner, Ryan, Donald and Tyler and their families, all of the McCreary area. Funeral service will take place on Saturday, January 28, 2012 at 10:30 a.m. in the Yellowhead Centre, Neepawa, MB. Clarke’s Funeral Home, Gladstone in care of arrangements.

Dear friends, family and co-workers,

The pathologist told the sisters today that Krista’s injuries were so severe that even doctors on the scene immediately would not have been able to save her. Her broken body will be laid aside but her Christ-like spirit and purified soul will live on forever. We are very grateful that her face and head are not injured, allowing for an open-casket service tomorrow here in Santo Domingo at 3PM (Noon Alberta time).

Our dear sisters and two of our friends stood by for 6 hours (8 AM to 2PM) waiting for Krista to be released by the Pathologist and transferred to the funeral home. Last night, they selected some of their own clothes, ironed them up for Krista and gave them to the funeral home. Today, the two suitcases that she had on the bus were also recovered from the bus terminal which is a small miracle. The fire chief gave us Krista’s purse, wallet, phone and driver’s license at the hospital.

She has a simple wooden, light grey casket with silver colored handles. White interior. There will be a flower arrangement with a wide ribbon that will say, “Amada Hermana” (Beloved Sister).

We 9 workers and about 40 friends gathered at Rosita’s home this afternoon at 4PM. Rosita was the first to profess here in 1971. There were a few friends from Nagua and Moca as well. This was an informal memorial meeting. As we sat down in our places, 4 sisters on the left side and us 5 brothers up front, I felt for the first time a very keen absence of Krista. I guess it was because it was the first time we all sat down quietly together since convention. It was like I would look up and see her sitting beside Maritza on the end of their row – intently looking at her Bible.

Glen Yung chose 410- Called Home to Rest. One of the friends chose 64 – Christ For Me. Here it is sung to the tune of Just As I Am. Ruthie Bickford chose 351 – God in Heaven Has a Treasure…saying it was the hymn Krista chose on Sunday in her last meeting. Then Brenda Lang chose Spanish number 6 that speaks about serious moments when we realize life is short and passing, we see the setting sun on the horizon. Then all 9 workers prayed. Then Rosita chose 30 in the Spanish book. It speaks about us as a little boat on the rough seas. But Jesus is the faithful pilot in whom we need to trust. Even though the storm is rough, He can tame it.

Then all 9 workers spoke:

Brenda Lang (Guatemala)- Job 1:12. Mourning with a spirit of worship. “There is a treasure in this experience.”

Benigno Morales (Guatemala) – I Corinthians 15:59. Thorn in death but hope in the grave. Krista’s present is better than ours. Not just ready to battle but finishing the battle. Hope lifts our eyes to heaven. In death there can be a message of life. Often too good of times can cause hard hearts. Rest our pain in Him.

Ruthie Bickford (Maine USA) – I Thessalonians 4:13. Hope abounds in this experience. Don’t be sad like others. We are sad but we are not consumed by it. I Corinthians 15. Death is like sowing. There is joy in it. So obvious that Krista had so much joy. Krista had said many times recently, “We have the best place.” There is joy in hope. She had undeniable joy.

Yocelyn Diaz (Dominican Republic) – Krista spoke to us in lifetime but even more in her death. A guard at the hospital saw Krista being brought in and treated and then later asked about Krista’s life. He said, “She died in the Lord’s peace.” Yocelyn is glad for 6 months she had with Krista before Krista’s home visit. Jesus lost a friend, too. He understands.

Maritza Martinez (Dominican Republic) – Maritza’s first thought was, “She reached the goal.” She lived on the Rock. When she arrived in the DR she had limited Spanish. Maritza was recovering from an operation. Krista read her Psalms 23 saying, “This is to encourage you.” Recently, Krista said so often, “This is the best life! Just think about what we have! (in the work)” She had soft words, soft life. Krista had said in a meeting recently, “We shouldn’t share a message we are not living.” She copied Christ. Krista was often heard softly singing hymns to herself early in the AM in the bach. Last Sunday when she chose 351 she said, “This is what I want to be.” She spoke to encourage. Sometimes she would softly call Ruthie and then Maritza to come to the window. “Come and see the beautiful horizon.” These past 2 weeks the three of us sisters were in Bani together, walking quickly off to meeting, joyfully going along. We must have been a sight! The people would see this elegant young lady walking through the streets. Why don’t they follow us? You think they would be moved to follow us. Krista said our life speaks more than we know. Glad for Krista’s life kept on the altar. She never gave up. The light of Christ was evident in her life.

Erick Losias (Haiti) – We can comfort one another. Christ took away pain. John 11. Around preps in the kitchen or on the grounds, you wouldn’t hear Krista but she was there. Always so quietly present. Here at Convention, Krista spoke about God bringing Abraham out of the tent to look up.

Derek Hurlburt (Alberta) – I Thessalonians 2:7-8. Just like Krista. Not just preaching but willing to give her soul for the friends. A good, balanced combination of courage and tenderness. Often when someone dies we think about when we first met them. Krista and I were both parked out along the lane at Didsbury, Sunday in July 1997. I was miserable and moping because God was calling me into the work. Went out to my car between meetings. Krista did the same. She was two cars over. Got chatting. She knew my cousin Melonie Stinson. Chatted – but not about the work. “Wonder why she’s out here?” A year later we started in the work a month apart. A joy for me. Several years later, she came to the DR. Another great joy for me. We have chuckled about our car-moping days at Didsbury. Oh, what they have led us into. On Tuesday night, as we traveled down to Santo Domingo en route to the hospital, we stopped at the grounds. By then we had spoken to Jim and Merlin. The sisters had identified Krista. Lots of feelings, mind buzzing. We got out of the van and I looked up into the sky and just this thought came clear and quick into my mind, “Heaven has gained. Heaven has won.” Want to even have a portion of the joy that Krista had. MANY have mentioned Krista’s purity in spirit.

Edward Beasley (Ohio) – I don’t have a line-up of verses. We lost our youngest sister. I thought I would be one of the first to go on this present staff. I had 5 conventions with Krista last year and each time she got up on the platform, I thought, “This young lady has the face of an angel.” Someone wrote that Krista reminded them of a servant, others of an angel. Jesus’ mother Mary said, “Hear I am a servant of the Lord…” Surely Mary thought she would die before Jesus. Acts 26. Stephen being stoned. Face of an angel is the absence of the human. I Corinthians 13, you can substitute “Charity” with “Krista.” It fits every time in every verse.

Glen Yung (Nebraska) – I Corinthians 15. This isn’t just about death, it is about a resurrection! verse 50. Revelations – eternal rest. 14:12

Antonia chose 101 – Only One Life.

I certainly felt uplifted by the meeting.

Thanks for all you have sent. We are all very grateful and the Dominican friends send condolences to the family.

Your brother, Derek

Dear loved ones,
Krista Slawinski’s death in a bus accident has been a terrible shock to me. I am glad for that beautiful life taken home, but sad for those of us left behind. I am sure God is saddened also for our sake and a needy world, but He allowed it and is accepting the results and we must too. Heaven is richer; earth is poor. There is one less Apostle, Messenger, Worker and Servant in this World of great need where labourers are few. Who will fill the gap? Ezk 22:30 “And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.”
This Hymn [attached hymn, O Parents, Pray – Link to PDF] was written by a man I know well and highly regard. I phone him when I need a boost! They had two children and both went into the work. I am sure they prayed for their children and the need of the harvest. He was from the outside world (so understands the lost experience), but received the Gospel as well as his siblings. Their parents held back. I was very aware of what both my parents were praying for in regard to my life. The Work is the greatest privilege God has ever granted to man. It is what He planned for his own son. Krista saw that privilege very soon after she professed. I didn’t for years, sorry to say. Maybe it took some tragic experiences for me to fully understand this. I’m so glad for the years I had and wish for more, however I understand my infirmities. I accept that and am content. This hymn is some of the best advice that could ever be given to parents and possibly addresses part of the cause for the lack of Harvesters today. Please send it on to young couples and any that care deeply for the Kingdom.
I wanted this brief, as I’m not feeling very verbose these days. Still mourning and also glad our sister is safely home also.

Simeon Sarmiento was a Filipino worker for 60 years, many of them in Indonesia. He composed this email shortly before he passed away, a few days before his 86th birthday.
~~~
My dear Fellow labourers and friends far and near,
The following message has been in my heart for some time now. Some of you may know that I have had time in the hospital in Manila these past two weeks. The reason for this is my prostate problem which has flared up to the extent that I have to be hospitalized. Tomorrow the doctors will perform a procedure to find out what to do next. I’m glad for the brothers taking turns to be with me in the
hospital to assist me in what I need. Quite a few friends old and young in Manila and around Manila have come to visit, cheer and comfort me. A clear demonstration of what is written in the Scripture. When a member suffers, the rest of the body suffers with it. Over the years, we have proven that when a member suffers, all the members of the body suffers with it, also. I feel deeply thankful for this clear demonstration of this truth in the
Bible. Long ago, I found out that ‘no man is an island’, we need the help of one another. Over the years, one way or another we need each one to help us along in God’s way. Old or young contributes to the well being of another. Whether we are workers in the fields or saints in the homes we need the help of one another. And God has faithfully provided us the help that we need at any given time. In all my 86 years, it has just been the last couple of years that I have been poorly in health and I have experienced deeply the help of both workers and friends when I needed assistance during my bouts of sickness. Their visits and help in so many ways have meant a lot to me.
There is not enough time and space to mention each one by name and in details but the God of Heaven who forgets not, remembers each individual loving act and rewards the doer. Thank you very kindly for your help, for your comfort, for your fellowship and for every act of kindness that I have been on the receiving end of. I wish I could thank each one personally but each of you is known of the Lord. And I would like to say thank you very kindly for all that you have been to me in my lifetime. Please overlook my many shortcomings in this note.
Your grateful brother, Simeon Sarmiento

Note: Uncle Simeon’s final message comes from the deepest part of his heart.
I remembered him composing this email with tears.

Hymn 1
Exodus 15:23-25 And when they came to Marah they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter; therefore, the name of it was called Marah. And the people murmured against Moses saying, what shall we drink? And he cried under the Lord; and the Lord shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet; there he made for them a statue and an ordinance, and there he proved them.
For many years I have heard about the sheep industry in Australia. I have heard there are millions of sheep being raised in your country. I have heard something is changing and sheep farmers are not so interested in sheep anymore, the money is just not in it. I have been told since coming here there is no money in raising sheep anymore. There is no value in a sheep. And there is no value in a lamb. And people are turning to something else that has value in it.
I thought about Jesus the Lamb. Could it be that people are feeling like there is no more value in the Lamb, no longer any value in Jesus? We are finding that in the world. The world is pushing the lamb out of the picture. Because people no longer see any value in the Lamb. They are looking at something else that has value to them. Looking for something else to fill their time. I fear within my own heart and the heart of the Lord’s people that we would ever feel there is no longer any value in the Lamb. That would be sad if that was in my heart.
Did you ever notice in that hymn the five things it says about Jesus? In verse two it says he was despised and afflicted, homeless, rejected and poor. None of those things are desirable, and none of those things are a pleasant situation to be in. And Jesus had them all. Homeless and poor was more by choice, because he was setting the standard and the example for the New Testament ministry, and he himself was homeless and poor for the gospel’s sake. He was also afflicted and that means he faced experiences that were hurtful. He faced experiences that left him hurting. Being rejected means he was being cast out and he was a castout. Then there is this word despised. And that means he was treated as of little value. Despised not worth very much. And it would be a terrible thing if I despised God’s Lamb. And what I hoped for myself and for all of us that we could just really see clearly the value of the Lamb. To see the tremendous value of Jesus the Lamb. And I would hope that Jesus is more precious to me than he was a year ago and he will even be more precious a year from now.
Here in these verses I read they came to this pool and they were all thirsty, they had travelled through the wilderness and they came to this pool of water and they thought At last we have found some water! They went to the pool of water with their cup and they dipped their cup into the pool of water and they took a sip and the water was bitter. Have you ever had bitter water in your cup? We have just heard about Jesus having bitterness in his cup. We do not like to drink bitter water, and we do not like experiences of life that are bitter. Like taking a sip out of our cup and it is bitter. That is what it was like with these people and the water was bitter.
They came to Moses and said What are we going to drink? Moses cried to the Lord. God showed him a tree and when he had cast the tree into water the water was made sweet. Who would have thought that would be a solution?
Isaiah 11:1-2 There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of God shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.
It is talking about Jesus and it calls him the branch with B. You could think of Jesus being like a branch cut off from heaven, cut off from his place in heaven. Actually, cast down to the earth where the problem was bitterness. Because of his coming, bitter things can be sweet. We face the bitter experiences of life and we wonder what could be a solution, what could bring comfort? What we need to do is to bring Jesus into the picture, bring the branch into the picture. That will be the solution. Bitter things will be made sweet.
Matthew 2:16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceedingly wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children who were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men. That was fulfilled which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet saying, In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and would not be comforted, because they are not.
I cannot even imagine this experience, that someone like Herod, so selfish and cruel, could come up with such a decree to cause all these little children to die. I cannot imagine being one of the soldiers that was given the job of doing it. Probably just young men themselves. Maybe a lot of them young fathers. They came into the homes looking for the little children. No wonder it says there was weeping! There were mothers and there were fathers. I cannot grasp it. Where would you find comfort in such a terrible experience? Those parents facing that tragedy. There would be a tragedy a lot worse for those parents. That would be if those parents themselves came to the end of life and died and appeared before God and they found out they are not saved. That their soul was not saved. That would be a far worse tragedy.
What was the comfort for all these parents? The only thing I can think of: yes, we have gone through this terrible tragedy, but Jesus has come. Jesus has come. We don’t need to lose our souls. In the tragedy of life, the cup is full of bitter water. We don’t know how we can drink it. Maybe the only comfort is that Jesus has come. When we go out into another year, we don’t know what mixture will be in our cup. What bitterness there may end up being. If Jesus comes into the picture, the Branch will bring comfort.
Luke 2:8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
Here are some shepherds who see the value in the flock. They are keeping watch over the flock by night. The shepherds are awake so the sheep can rest and be at peace. The shepherds are watching. They are watching for the enemy that might come. The shepherds have learned something about the enemy. They have learned that the enemy usually attacks at night. We read about bears and wolves and lions being enemies to the sheep. The bears and wolves and lions have learned if we attack at night there is a better chance of success. The evening comes and the shepherds gather all the flock together and get all the sheep into a little sheep fold for the night. The shepherd puts his bedroll across the door into the sheepfold. If anything happens to come in at night, he has to deal with the shepherd before he can get to the sheep.
We are the sheep. Jesus is the shepherd. The devil is the enemy. Our enemy likes to attack in the dark. Sometimes we call bitter experiences dark experiences. The enemy will attack in a dark experience. Maybe it is because he has had success sometimes. Maybe the devil has attacked you just like he has attacked me in the darkness. Somehow, we have survived and we are here. I don’t know how many times the Lord and Jesus have stepped in this year and have beaten off an attack of the enemy when I knew nothing about it. We are thankful we are here.
What would happen if the enemy attacked the sheep? We have an account of this from the shepherd himself in 1 Samuel 17:34-36 David said to Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep. There came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock. I went after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth. When he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defiled the armies of the living God.
Here we have the account of what happens when the enemy attacks the sheep. In David’s experience there was a bear and a lion. We don’t have many details about the bear attacking. All he did was slay him. But when the lion attacked, the lion got a lamb. And the lamb was in the lion’s mouth.
So the enemy of the lamb became the enemy of the shepherd. David went and smote the lion. The lion dropped the lamb. Then the lion rose up against the shepherd. Did you notice what the shepherd did? David said when he rose against me, I took him by his beard. I don’t think you do that with lions unless you are a shepherd, you love your sheep, and the enemy has taken one of your lambs.
We are like sheep. Jesus is like our shepherd. The lion is like our sin. Our sin gets a hold of us and is on the way to destroying us. David got very close to that lion. Took him by the beard. That is getting very close to those snapping jaws! Jesus got very close to our sin. He took it upon himself. More than that. He lost his life. He gave his life for our sin. He got very close to our sin. That is what took care of our sin. He smote our sin. He took care of it. It is no longer a threat to us.
David killed the lion. The lion lay dead. No longer a threat. What did David do next? It doesn’t tell us. But you could guess. The next thing the shepherd does. He turns to that little lamb that is lying there bleeding and wounded. Then the Shepherd bends down and scoops up that little lamb. Holds it to his breast and comforts it. How have we been treated by God and Jesus when we have sinned? He has treated us so gently and so kindly.
Amos 3:12 Thus saith the Lord: as the shepherd takes out of the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch.
Turning to that little wounded lamb, all that is left are two legs and part of an ear. I would look at that and see it as hopeless. That is all that is left. The sin has finished with us. Sometimes we are left an awful wreck because of sin. If all that is left are two legs and a piece of an ear, they are still two legs that can walk and a piece of an ear that can hear. We are so thankful that in the Lord’s eyes there is still wonderful hope, if that is all that is left.
The little gathering in John 12. Lazarus was there. He had just been raised from the dead. Lazarus, Mary and Martha. They were good friends of Jesus. Lazarus got sick. Perhaps he got sick because he sinned. The Jews had the connection between sin and sickness. If they sinned, they could expect to get some kind of sickness. Somehow the lion got hold of him and was destroying him, and because of sin Lazarus got sick. The sickness was so severe that Lazarus died.
When Jesus came, they took him to the grave. There is Lazarus all wrapped up in the grave clothes and the door is sealed. Jesus said Where is he? They said In there. Then Jesus wept. I don’t think Jesus was weeping because of that friendship bond. Perhaps he was weeping because of where sin had taken Lazarus. What Lazarus was wrapped up in. It was where sin had taken him. Somewhere Lazarus would never have expected to be bound. That is what sin will do to us. It will leave us wrapped up. Entangled in things we never thought we could be so entangled in. Sin will leave us entangled. Sin will take us to places we never wanted to go and we never thought we would go. Jesus was there and he was able to speak a message: Lazarus, come forth! Everything depended on Lazarus responding to that voice. Lazarus came forth. He was untangled from the mess. Wonderful relief to be released from that. Are we released from what entangled us? Released from where sin has taken us?
In chapter 12 there is this little gathering: six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany. There was Lazarus who had been dead, whom he had raised from the dead. There they made him a supper. Martha served. Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him.
Sunday morning meeting is all about Him. Sometimes I get taken up with what I am going to say. If we can, keep that in our mind when we go to the fellowship meeting: it is all about Jesus. So after the meeting Jesus will be satisfied. This little gathering place was in Simon the leper’s home. How could you have a gathering in the leper’s home? There is only one way: that is if the leper has been cleansed.
So in this gathering there is Simon the leper, Lazarus who was raised from the dead, Martha who was serving in someone else’s home, Mary with her ointment she is sacrificing, and 11 disciples who are trying to follow.
Think of all the songs that were bursting from their hearts.
Simon’s song is He has made me clean.
Lazarus: He has given me new life.
Martha: I want to be a help where I can.
Mary: I want to express my love to him.
Those 11 faithful disciples: I want to follow.
Imagine how that would feed the heart of Jesus. The wonderful spirit each one of them shared at that little meeting. We can contribute to the little meeting we are in by the spirit that we bring and by the song that we bring.
Don’t bring anything discouraging to the meeting. Maybe you have had a hard week and lots of discouraging things. Don’t bring that into your testimony. That is not going to encourage anyone. Judas was in a meeting and it brought a sour spirit. I say to myself, Don’t bring a sour spirit to the meeting, it will spoil everything.
I may just have enough time to say something about the emblems. The bread. Jesus said This is my body which is broken for you. That is the part of Jesus that was human. This is the part of me that was human and broken for you. That part of Jesus that was human was broken many times before he got to Calvary. Every time his will was denied. Every time he resisted temptation. Every time he cast out the wrong thought. Subdued a wrong spirit. It was like his body being broken. The part of him that was human. When we take a little piece of bread we are saying I am willing for the part of me that is human to be broken. I am willing to deny myself, I am willing and I want to resist every temptation and I want to cast out every wrong thought and subdue every bad spirit.
The cup. This is my blood which I shed for you. The scripture teaches us there are two conditions for forgiveness. One is that we repent. The other is that we forgive. When we take that cup, we are saying I have fulfilled the conditions for forgiveness. I have repented from anything I need to repent from. I have forgiven everybody I need to forgive. They are the two conditions for forgiveness.
When we partake of those emblems we remember Calvary. Likely not everyone in the meeting is qualified or has the privilege of partaking of those Emblems. That doesn’t mean the emblems can have no meaning. We sang in that hymn 391: As we look upon the emblems we remember Calvary. Those of you who are in a Sunday morning meeting and it isn’t your privilege to partake of the emblems yet, I hope you will use the opportunity as you look upon the emblems that you will still remember Calvary. You might consider the emblems as if you were partaking of them. For all of us it could have a deeper meaning. I hope this will make the Lamb more precious to you this coming year. Amen.

Cois expressed what I’m sure we all feel. We wish we didn’t have to leave. We wish this wasn’t already the last meeting. But we have to leave, and when we leave, we are going through the door of responsibility. We are going to be responsible for what we have heard, and especially we are going to be responsible for what we have said in our own testimonies. So as you can see we workers are going to be in the most trouble!

In a convention in America, a brother got up, and in his testimony he said, “Every year when I have been coming to Convention, I’ve been aiming and aiming and failing to do better. But this year, I am going to go home and I am going to pull the trigger.” So that is what we need to do.

I don’t know if you are like me – we are mostly made of the same stuff. But after Convention we go out and we are so filled with a zeal and a new purpose, that for a while we are like a jet plane. But it is not so very long, it may be a few weeks, and sometimes it’s only a few days, and we are back like an old creaking ox wagon. It seems to happen time and again, but we don’t want that to happen again.

So, I wonder if I may make a little suggestion? If we don’t want that to happen again, remember what Paul said: “I don’t fight as one that is beating the air.” Know what it is that you are hitting. Not just, ‘I am going to do something’ vaguely, or that ‘I am going to do better’. But aim at something. Know what it is that you are going to hit. Aim at something.

Could we suggest something that you are going to aim at? I think that everyone at convention has been conscious that God has been pressing especially on one thing. One special need in your life – one area where you really need to be different. I am sure every one of us has felt that, that God has specially been putting his finger on one thing. So, now let us aim at that. And as you leave this convention, concentrate on that and make up your mind that that ONE THING, if I do nothing else, I am going to take care of that ONE THING. If you do, you are going to find there’s going to be a big difference. You will also find that each victory will help you some other time to win.

I just want to read one verse that’s in Ecclesiastes chapter 10 and verse 4. It says, “If the spirit of the ruler rises up against thee, leave not thy place, for yielding pacifieth great offences.” If you will excuse me, I would like to tell you what this says in the Afrikaans Bible, because it means a lot more to me. It says, “Bedaardheid voorkom groot foute.” That’s what I want to speak about today – Bedaardheid voorkom groot foute. Now that word, we don’t have a good word for it in English, I don’t think? But if we put a few words together, maybe we can get it? It’s keeping calm, sensible, collected in our minds, and not impulsive; not doing anything by impulse. Calm and sensible. So, we will just use one word, and I think you will understand what I mean more than that word, but we are going to use this word STEADY. Calm, steady, not impulsive – steady. We sang in that hymn, and that’s why I wanted to sing that verse again, “sure and steady in the race.” Luke 21:19 Jesus said, “in your patience you are going to win your souls.” Keep steady.

I thought of Job. If there was ever a man who had every reason to lose his balance, it was Job. When you think of the things that happened to him, we can hardly imagine it. Sometimes we have one tragedy after another and we wonder how much more? But think of Job. He said, when his wife even said to him, “After all this, can you still keep your faith? Curse God and die, man.” He said, “Thou speakest as a foolish woman speaketh. Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? God gave; He has the right to take it away again.” At one time he said, “When he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” So in it all, he had enough faith to believe that “all this that God is allowing, is not because he has this against me. It’s not because I have done any terrible sin, that all He is allowing is only refining the gold.” If there is somebody sitting here today perhaps, and a lot of things have happened, and it seems like one tragedy after another, and one difficulty after another, and you wonder if you can take any more, and you hardly think you can take this, and you wonder, “Is God against me? Have I sinned so badly?” No, no. If Job were here today he would whisper in your ear: “It’s not because you have sinned. It is not because God is against you. He is only refining the gold.”

I was writing a letter one day, and a little ant started crawling over the page, and I did exactly the same as what you would do if the ant crawled over your page. I tried to blow him away. But I was quite surprised. You know, I couldn’t blow that little ant off the page! I don’t know if I looked under a microscope, what claws he would have had? But honestly, I tried harder, and to him it would have been a veritable hurricane, but he stayed there. You know, I learned a very valuable thing from that little ant. You know what I learnt and noticed? Every time that hurricane came, he didn’t worry about trying to make progress. He just clung fast, that is all. He wasn’t worried about trying to go forward, trying to make any progress. I learnt an important thing from that little ant. You know, there are times when we maybe feel we are not getting anywhere, but, if you are just holding fast – Hold fast thy confidence. If you are only just holding fast, that’s no small thing.

Now I thought of somebody who could easily have been blown away. Have you ever thought much about that Canaanite woman who came to Jesus to plead for her daughter? And the answer that she got? My, I don’t know how you would have reacted if you got an answer like that. He said, “It’s not fit to take the children’s bread and cast it to the dogs.” If ever there was a reason anybody could take bitter offence, calling me a dog. I am not even worthy of what the dogs have. She could have taken bitter offence. But that woman just kept her place, calm and collected and steady. She said, “But the dogs eat the crumbs that fall off the table.” Do you know why that was? I think we can learn something there too. It was because her need was so great that she could not afford to take offence. And that is where you and I and all of us are standing. We are all in that need.Our need is so great that we absolutely cannot afford to take offence. So she got the blessing she was asking for.

We have heard this before: We walk by faith, and NOT by feelings. Many years ago in Korea my young companion and I were sent to a certain area where workers had not been before. There was a tremendous army camp. We were in a little village beside that camp. I don’t know if I have ever felt so depressed in my life. I don’t usually suffer from depression, but I was depressed when I got there, because all you saw was soldiers, rough old soldiers. And talk about wind. It was the windiest place I have ever been in. And stones, nothing green, there were just stones. In those days it was like that. And bleak little grey houses, very simple little grey houses like huts. Nobody could afford paint in those days. It was the most drab and dreary looking place I remember feeling so depressed and thinking, whatever do we think we are going to do here? Well, maybe you will be surprised if I tell you that in that place I had the privilege of working one of the best missions of my life. That place was a gold mine. I never could have guessed it. We got some of the most wonderful gold nuggets out of that place. And two of them went into the Work, and since then they still are finding a lot more gold nuggets. So that was a time I learned, We don’t walk by feelings; we walk by faith. We just keep steady, calm, and collected.

One of the hard things for all of us is when time goes by and we pray, and it seems that God is not answering and we cannot find Him. We feel He has forsaken us. It’s a very difficult time to go through. I think a lot of us here would remember Uncle Mattie Stark? I remember what he told us one time. He went and he unexpectedly visited a home where he was well known. He hadn’t expected to go, but something happened and he turned up there. It was just a little while before the little girl would be coming home from school. This little girl, they knew, loved Uncle Mattie. So, before she came in Uncle Mattie hid himself. I don’t know where he hid, but in that house he found a pretty good hiding place. When the little girl came in, the mother said, “Do you know that Uncle Mattie is here? See if you can find him.” Well, she was excited and she ransacked that house and couldn’t find him. But you know, she wouldn’t give up. She just would not give up, and she looked in the most impossible places. Where could he be? But finally she did find him, and there were squeals of glee! Uncle Mattie told us, he would have been so disappointed, if she had just looked a little bit and then gave up. But she wouldn’t give up. She looked until she found him. And then he told us, “Sometimes the Lord is hiding Himself. He just wants to see how much we love Him,” if we love Him enough to be desperate and to keep on, until we find Him. I think that is good to remember. I think He is very disappointed if we say, “Oh well, He is not answering,” and we give up.  He will be very disappointed.

At Queenstown convention many years ago, when I was still very young, in one meeting I got quite a shock. Uncle George Absalom was speaking from the platform. Many of you remember him? Many, many people are rejoicing because of him. He was known as the “Hellfire preacher”. With him you either sink or swim! But he helped many people. But in this convention, from the platform, do you know what he said? He said, “There have been times when I have stood preaching the gospel and feeling that I am telling these people how to get to heaven, while I am going to the other place myself.” Can you understand that? This older worker, already with a white beard, standing and saying that! Well, it was a shock! But you know what he added? He said, “But even though I was so low, and so discouraged, I am so THANKFUL that I just KEPT ON GOING.” That was his favourite hymn. He often told us, “Help me to keep on going, with heart and purpose true.” He said, “I am so thankful that I kept on going.” Just keep on going, no matter how we feel.

We all know the story, the children know it too, of the hare and the tortoise. You know what was the crux of the whole thing? Simply just the fact that the tortoise KEPT ON GOING! The hare left him in its dust. He couldn’t run so fast. But it doesn’t matter in the end. The tortoise won, simply because he kept on going. I don’t know if you have ever had this feeling?  I’ve had it many times. You see some others, servants of God and some of God’s people. I must say there are some people who give me an inferiority complex, because when I am with them they seem so – well, you know what I mean, I don’t need to find words, and you almost feel like a worm next to them. They seem so far developed. I don’t know if you have ever felt like that – I am so far behind – feel that I am retarded? But anyway, just keep on going. Remember the hare and the tortoise. It doesn’t matter if you are left behind in the dust, but just keep on going, keep steady. Don’t get discouraged. I have to tell you this: there have been some that have been like that to me, made me feel like a worm. But today they are no longer with us. You never know, so just keep on going.  If we could leave one thought at this convention: No matter what happens and how you feel, just keep on going. You will win in the end. God will help.

I was in Canada for a convention several years ago, and there was a sister worker there named Mildred. She told us something that I have not forgotten. She mentioned the danger of choosing between two wrongs. She said, “The devil is going to try to get you to choose between two wrongs.” Then she gave the example of a man who came to her and said to her: “I know that I am just a disgrace to the Testimony. I know that my life, my actions are just a disgrace to the Testimony. So I have decided it would be more honourable of me to quit. Rather than be a disgrace to the Testimony, more honourable of me just to quit. She said, “The devil got hold of him, getting him to choose between two wrongs. It’s wrong for him to be a disgrace to the Testimony. It’s very wrong. It’s also a wrong thing to quit. And if you are choosing between two wrongs, how can you come out well?” She explained it so simply. There was only one thing for that man to do, and that was to stop being a disgrace. That’s common sense. But the devil gets us thinking we are doing something honourable when we are making a grave mistake. “Bedaardheid voorkom groot foute”. Being calm, sensible, collected, and keeping steady can save us from making some very serious mistakes.

Not long after I got to Korea I got a letter from Uncle Fred Alder, whom many would remember. I don’t know why he wrote that, but in the middle of his letter was a sentence – just one sentence – that had nothing to do with what he was writing in the rest of the letter. What he wrote was this: ‘Nothing gained from fainting, only precious time wasted.’ I’ve never forgotten that – very, very sound words.

I have had the experience myself, when I used to have to travel so much, working for the Shell Oil Company. Sometimes you are going on a long road. You get a bit tired, or you get a bit careless, and before you know it, you are traveling at high speed and you hear the sound of the gravel on the side of the road! The wheels on the gravel, and that wakes you up fast! What do you do then? You say, “Oh dear, I have gone wrong.” What do you do now? Say What is the use now? and just let go of the steering wheel? No! That makes no sense at all! What you do then is you really pull yourself together, and get a firmer grip on that wheel, and you can ease that car carefully back on the tar. Yes. That is not the time to let go. We need to be very careful. The devil would like to tell you, “You have gone wrong now, so what is the use? You may as well give up.”

I am quite sure that the devil would have been very busy with David. He would have told him, “When you have gone this far wrong, it’s finished. He went very far wrong. He wasn’t just landing on the gravel. He was right off! He went very far wrong. But he kept calm. He kept his faith. If you read Psalm 51 you will read how, from even there, wherever it was, he was able to guide that vehicle back on to the tar, so much so that he actually ended up with the wonderful testimony of being a man after God’s own heart. So you see, don’t give up. That’s the time to get a firmer grip, and you can get back on the right track again. Don’t give up. Never, never give up.

I wonder what a shock it would have been to the other disciples when they found out what Judas did. You know, that was no small thing. The Master whom they loved so much, to see this man who was supposed to be a worker. Can you imagine such a thing? This man who was in the Work with them all that time – selling Jesus for money! It must have been a shocker! But you know, they didn’t feel, because of what he did, that they were too disillusioned because of what he did, that they were going to give up. They are going to leave Jesus too. No!

It’s a hard thing to understand, but there are people who do that because of what somebody else does. They take offence, and they turn their backs on God. Now, isn’t that common sense, if you have a brother or a sister, and they did something very bad, and maybe against you too. Does that mean you are going to turn your back on your father or your mother? It doesn’t even make sense. Yet that is what people are doing sometimes. We have seen that. Why turn your back on God because of what a brother or sister has done?

I like what is written in Psalm 119:165. If you’d like to look at it later, it’s very, very helpful. It says there, “Great peace have they that love thy law and nothing shall offend them.” Nothing shall offend them. Do you know why? They love this Truth so much that they are willing to put in anything, just to keep their liberty in this household of God. I’ll say again, nothing shall offend them because they love this Truth so much, that they will forgive anything in order to keep their liberty in this household of God.

Sometimes we can get off balance a little bit, and quite discouraged. It’s happened to me too, I must admit. Sometimes I have got mixed up with some of these Jehovah Witnesses, They can talk the hind leg off a donkey. I must say that I have not been able to really convince them. I have come away feeling bad and thinking, “Well, I have got the Truth. Why could I not even answer when I should have answered?” Can I tell you something? If we were always able to flatten anybody like that in an argument, we would not be lambs among wolves at all. We would be lions among wolves. And Jesus didn’t send His disciples out as lions among wolves. He sent us as lambs among wolves.

I’d like to tell you a little story that might help you to understand that. There was a Jehovah Witness in Korea. He was a special pioneer and he could talk, and he was a very intelligent man. He visited a batch of one of our workers whose name was Dick Owen. He was from America, a man with an excellent spirit, but by no means a talker, and not a great brain either. I am not disparaging him in any way. He passed away many years ago, but he had a lovely spirit, that man.He had a struggle even learning the language, but what a lovely spirit. Anyway, this Jehovah Witness virtually ran rings around him, and went away feeling that person couldn’t answer anything, I suppose. But not so long after that, that Jehovah Witness was a man who studied his Bible very carefully, and he started realising that what he thought was the only Truth of God, he was finding big loop-holes in it. Big holes in it and big discrepancies in it. He became so discouraged, that he began to believe that the Truth of God is not in the world any more. “There isn’t such a thing anymore. If it’s not this, then it is nothing.” So he decided, “So what to do? – may as well enjoy life!” So of course, he left them and went out into the world and he tried to enjoy everything. But the more he tried, the more unhappy he became. He became absolutely miserable. He found no joy in anything. Finally he sat down and he had a little meeting with himself, and he came to a very sensible conclusion. He came to this decision that it is impossible for this human heart, really, to find true happiness apart from two things. The first is: you must know the purpose of life. And the second is, you must have the assurance that that purpose is being fulfilled in your life. Do you know what happened then? He remembered Dick. Do you know why? Because he had never in his life met a man with a spirit like that. That man listened to the gospel, and he professed. So you see, don’t worry if you can’t answer everything and can’t beat them in an argument. You show them the spirit of the Lamb. There is nothing more powerful than that, to draw an honest heart. It doesn’t work with arguments and winning arguments – not at all.

I might take a minute… Our hearts go out to the young people, and those who have to mix amongst other young people in the world, and at university and so on. It’s dangerous. And we have seen time and again, faithful young people in this land and other lands, faithful young people going to university and losing their balance, getting influenced by these things in the world. Things like the theory of evolution, which is now being taught as being no more a theory, being taught as a fact, and things like that. I will just tell you two little things. I am not trying to get into that at all, but I will just tell you two little things.

You have all heard of Einstein. So far the most amazing brain that ever was, as far as science is concerned. In fact, they have kept his brain on ice so that maybe someday if better medical knowledge develops further, they may find out what was the secret of his amazing insight. One day he was asked: “Do you believe in God?” Do you know what he answered? He said, “Anybody who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science must eventually come to the realisation that there is a Being manifest in the universe, with an intellect far greater than that of man, before whom we can all bow our heads.” Then he was asked the question, “Why? Why can you say that?” And he said, “I will answer this in one word: order. There’s order in the universe.” We will leave you to think about that.

I want to tell you something else that I have found so interesting, almost amusing. Quite a number of years ago I found an article in the Newsweek magazine and I cut it out. I’ve still got it. It was written about astronomy. It said there, that the science of astronomy has been turned upside-down, right on its head, because they have now discovered a star, and with all their most accurate calculations, this star is older than the universe. They said, “This has thrown the whole science of astronomy into complete confusion. It is the same as discovering that you are older than your grandfather!” So you can imagine! Anyway, the writer had a bit of a sense of humour, and he added this: “It reminds me of what was written by Mark Twain: ‘The researches of many experts have thrown much darkness onto the subject, and if they keep doing it at the present rate, we shall very soon know nothing about it at all!’” I just mentioned this so perhaps you can understand why I don’t feel too bad if all these wonderful, amazing figures of billions of years old, if I take that to the big picture tonight.

Anyway, I want to tell you something about Dale Benjamin’s country. He comes from Montana in America. It’s much the same subject. But there was a young man who wanted to go to university, and he had to get this degree to become a doctor, or whatever it was that he wanted to be. He knew that the influence there was deadly. But he made up his mind: “I’m going to university and I am going to study, and I am not going to be influenced by all this.” So he went. But he found quite soon that he was a lot weaker than he had thought and the influences were more deadly than he had thought, and he was getting swept up in it in spite of himself. He was feeling miserable. One day he was sitting in the university tearoom having something to eat. He was sitting there feeling so troubled: “What can I do? I don’t want to be carried away by this university. Why am I so weak?” Another young man who was sitting at another table got up and came over and sat opposite him and he got talking about the same thing. He was not one of our friends. But he said, “I came to this university, determined that I was not going to get taken up with all this influence. I am so weak; I need help. What can we do?” Well of course, that helped our friend. He started telling him about the gospel meetings, He said, “There is help.” Howard Mooney was having meetings 30 or 40 miles from there. So he invited this boy and they started going to those meetings. Then when he heard the gospel, he said to our friend, “You know, I have other friends here who are feeling like we do. Would it be alright if they go with us?” Of course, they are welcome! Howard noticed these young people coming. But sometimes they would miss because of classes, because of the distance. Do you know what he did? Howard went and saw the Dean of that
University, and he said to him, “Listen, here you have got these young people crying out for help. Isn’t it our responsibility to help them?” The Dean said to him, “You have no idea what a headache this is to us and we do have a responsibility to protect them. But how? This is the problem, and if you can do something, we will be only too glad. Here is the auditorium free any time you like.” They started gospel meetings there, and several of them have professed, and at least one of those is in the Work. So there is help. Don’t lose your balance. Just keep steady, just keep going.

I’ve only half a minute left! There are two things that I decided long ago in my life that have helped me be steady all along. One of them is, I made up my mind, I am so small and God is so great, and in future, I am no longer going to doubt anything, simply for the reason that I don’t understand. I made up my mind about that. That has been a help to me.

Something else I made up my mind about at times when I was low. I decided this: even though I feel now that I am completely hopeless, if I go to a lost eternity at the end it is not going to be because I gave up. If God throws me out, that is it, but it is NEVER going to be because I gave up. Do you understand what I am trying to say?


So please, no matter whatever happens, and even if you feel like a worm, and even if you can’t run and can’t walk any more, you can still crawl. Don’t stop. Just keep on going. There is a big main road between the two biggest cities in Korea. Just before you get to the end, there is a big sign over the road that says, “You are nearly there now. Please keep steady right to the end.” You know, there are some elderly people amongst us here, and could we say the same to them. The devil still has a few tricks up his sleeve. We are nearly there now.


Please keep steady right to the end.  We sang in that hymn, “We will reap golden sheaves when our sowing is done, if we only keep steady and true.” Shall we sing another hymn?  We will close with 376: Be ye Immoveable

Song

~

Sheet music

[Links will open in separate tabs]

Anna was born in 1938 and was in her early teens when she and her mother professed, in the early 50s. The family was living in Port Said, Egypt, where the Suez Canal meets the Mediterranean. Her father George was a dentist, her mother Evangelia a society lady. Anna (they called her Nitsa then) had a younger brother, Makis, who also practiced dentistry later.

Before the 1956 war, there was a thriving and prosperous Greek community in Egypt. They all were forced to leave the country, some went to Australia, some to Greece, leaving all their possessions behind. King Farouk was exiled and Nasser was the new ruler who soon ousted all foreigners – mainly English, French, Greeks- from the country where they had lived for years/generations, and seized their properties.

Anna’s parents were living a worldly life, partying, theaters, etc. Her mother Evangelia felt a deep disappointment in all this. She could see the vanity and falsehood behind everything and had also been disappointed by her own husband’s disloyalty. But George loved this life.

(Anna once told me about a certain occasion when her parents had to attend a social event and her mother was not able to find nylon stockings to wear. It must have been during – or soon after-  WWII?  So George applied a thick layer of face powder on her legs and drew the seam line, achieving the visual effect of nylons.)

While Evangelia was feeling this sadness and disappointment, she visited a friend of hers, (Catherine thinks this was a professing lady named Vasso, originally from Crete, who had met the workers through Zampeta Hajidakis. [Zampeta was a widow from Rethymnon, cousin of my grandma. She had professed at the same time with my grandparents in the mid-20s. In her wish to settle a family tangle between two of her relatives, sister & niece, she went to Egypt, reconciled them, both her sister and niece professed, as well as quite a few others. She was a great zealot for the Gospel and the cause of salvation for many). In that visit Evangelia met the sister workers Amalia Bouzakis and Georgina Georgiou, she was attentive and impressed, and so she invited them to her home. Her husband was very much against all this. When Evangelia made her choice and totally changed her ways, he became furious and locked his wife and Anna in a room. Evangelia thought that he would relent and soften out of compassion for his daughter, but he was adamant and kept them there for three days. Mother and daughter were firm in their decision, so he angrily gave up.
On a certain day, Evangelia gathered all her jewelry and makeup stuff in a handkerchief, took Anna along, walked to the edge of the canal, and dropped the bundle in the water.
There was a certain day with heavy air-bombing and a warning for people to stay inside. But Evangelia took Anna and went to the meeting anyway. They returned home safely.

The family moved to Athens, rented an apartment downtown and Anna’s father opened a dental office there. Many workers and friends used his services. The place was very central (Omonoia Square) and a good meeting point. Her father had given up his harsh opposition but kept his distance.

Anna started in the Work in Greece when she was 20 years old (1958?) while her family was still in Egypt (?). A very vivacious girl, totally devoted to her mission. Tireless, never seeking prominence, always offering to do the humblest of services, despite her strong personality and ‘pampered’ upbringing.

Like almost all our workers, she had to face persecution several times.  In 1968(?) she was on a mission with Emily Golfinopoulos and Kety (later Catherine Papafotis) in Aigion, near Patras. We had two friends there, Andreas and Alexis. The neighbors of Andreas reported the girls to the priests, who in turn called the police to arrest them for proselytism. Emily had been suffering then from her chronic and serious back pain, and the overseer asked her to come to Athens for recuperation. So she wasn’t there at the time.

A trial followed, and a sentence for 3 months imprisonment.

They were brought to a Patras prison where they seized the opportunity to speak to the women inmates.   The Athens workers visited Anna and Kety in prison, then continued on their way to Maneteika.

In the prison, Anna was reading to the women from Acts12, about Peter’s miraculous release and his unexpected night-visit to the praying friends. One inmate commented, “Do you really believe that something like this can happen today?” to which Anna emphatically responded, “Yes, absolutely!”

It so happened that the next day the strongman of the junta that held power over Greece at that time, announced that because of the upcoming Easter celebrations, all prisoners with up to 3-month terms may be set free. Everyone marveled at this development, of course… The girls then went to meet the workers and friends at Maneteika. and it was a great surprise. They all found it hard to believe their own eyes.

In the late 60s, Anna decided to devote her care to her ailing parents. Her mother was suffering from heart problems, her father was unable to help. Her heart was always in the work, but she felt this was her duty for that time. She rented a comfortable home in Galatsi, an airy Athens suburb, and managed to start a successful business from scratch! She made puff pastry at home, packaged it frozen, and distributed it to a few well-known supermarkets. She was a pioneer in a business that has become very profitable since then. Her brand name was “Pat Flat”. She became known in the supermarket circles as “The Nun with the Pastry”. This period lasted four years.

Her mother passed away at the age of 62. Catherine told me she was with Anna by Evangelia’s side at that moment. The sweet lady died so peacefully, like a little bird. Evangelia was always gentle, soft-spoken, patient, faithful. Yet firm in her choice to love God first.

Anna’s father, the man who had treated his wife with such harshness, lived for a while longer. He suffered a severe stroke and was brought to a clinic. But his heart softened and he expressed his desire to go where his wife was. Made his choice before the end, such great comfort for Anna.

As soon as Anna was free, she sold out everything and returned to the Work, proving for a second time where her heart belonged.

For a couple of years, in the mid-80s, she labored in France. Anna was fluent in French, English, and Arabic even though this ability has faded now.

Her brother died in Athens a few years ago. Anna kept in touch with his family all through the years. Maki’s wife Irini is still living. Their daughter, Lilly, had come close to making her choice but Makis was very much against this and stopped her. She always had a close relationship with her aunt Anna, gave her lovely outfits, and loved her. For years she had a successful fashion atelier in Athens, I am not sure if she is still active.

There must be a lot more about Anna’s testimony. Actually, our real testimony will be revealed by God, nobody knows it. Nobody knows the inner struggles, the victories, the defeats, the successes, the failures. Anna is to me an example of devotion and willingness to serve. Always very brave.

[Link to PDF of lyrics]

Were you standing by God’s side, When He spoke and brought forth life, When the light and darkness met for the first time?

Did you watch those waters roar, As the seas and earth were formed? Did you hear the first wave crash upon the shore?

Was it you who sent the rain, Made the thunder roll across the barren plains? Is it you who’ll make the wind and sea obey?

How can man be so proud, As creation doth surround? It’s majesty, a subtle quiet shout.

Yes, to all it does cry out, It’s beauty doth pronounce, Oh, the greatness of God is so profound.

Why must we be so proud, Use the mind He gave to us to feed our doubts? Oh, the day will come when every knee will bow.

Was it by a man’s advice, That the sun was placed just right, With the earth, the moon and stars in changeless flight?

Did you form the reasons why, Every season is aligned, Give each living thing a purpose, place and time?

Did you make the lions roar, Make the eagle glide above the canyon’s floor? Is it man or God who did all this and more?

Do you have the answers why, We push God from our mind, The very One holding the keys of life?

Is it all because of pride, Or is man afraid to try, Go against the crowd who all believe a lie?

How is courage defined? Those who stand alone when all have compromised. Will you be the one still standing with Christ?

Did you program living seed, To bear grass, an herb or tree, Make the look and taste of fruit unique to each?

How did man come to be, Come to think, to feel and see, Have dominion over every living thing?

Is it man who made the womb? Is it man who turns their destiny from doom? Was it man who raised a body from a tomb?

See the curse before your eyes, And the blessing most despise, He has given each the choice of death or life.

Why does man run from light, And embrace the darkest night? Is it not because they have so much to hide?

Will you turn left or right, Choose to walk with those who stumble through the night? Will you choose to walk in God’s perfect light?

No, the truth needs no platform, No fame or great fortune, It’s the lies that hide behind that empty noise.

Is the truth afraid of time? Behind the rush must it hide? No, it’s lies that are afraid of passing time.

“What is truth?” some have asked. It’s the One this evil world has made outcast. It’s the One that brings to light the lies they mask.

See the Truth behind the crowd, See Him hidden from the proud, See the world seek to snuff His flicker out.

But to God’s faithful few, Who have come to know the Truth, Oh, their humble, honest hearts a shining proof.

But the indifferent, oh, what will be their lot when life is spent, When their hope is gone and Truth, doth sink in?

Have you found the precious few, Those who live and speak the Truth, Heard the honest testimonies of God’s youth?

Have you seen their unity, Heard them pray and heard them sing? Oh, a harmony this world has never seen.

Have you witnessed God’s Kingdom, felt its glory kiss those joined around His Son? It’s immensity so far beyond man’s tongue.

See His children gather round, A quiet humble crowd, Those who sought the Truth and love what they have found.

See the smile in their eyes, See the peace, the joy and life, Oh, their love for one another cannot hide.

Lift your eyes above the tide, Look beyond the flesh and foolish, empty pride, Come to love and walk with those who love Christ.

Hymn 391: “Calvary”

The hymn we have sung is one of the most often sung hymns in our book. Two weeks ago at a convention on a Sunday morning, we sang this hymn, like other times, and I am ashamed to tell you. But I know that hymn off by heart like most of you do. We sang that hymn through. I wasn’t thinking very much about what we were singing. I do not know if you have ever done that. It reminded me of the terrible threat to our faith, sincerity and fellowship. It is this thing of familiarity. We get so familiar with some things that we lose their value. Lose the real respect and reverence that we once had. And this would be a sad thing for us. I purposed that day: if we sang that or other hymns, I would do my best to sing it from my heart, or I would rather not sing at all.

We sang:
“Lord we gather round Thy footstool,
Bowed in deep humility,
As we look upon the emblems,
We remember Calvary”.

I asked myself, “What do you remember when you remember Calvary?” What is it that you remember when you remember Calvary?

This is a memorial service this morning. Every first day of the week, when you gather to break bread with your brethren, it is a memorial service. Just because we break bread at the end of the meeting does not mean it is any less important.

We pray to God in the audience of our brothers and sisters. When we give our testimony we are speaking to each other before God. “Every idle word that men will speak, they will give account thereof in the day of judgment”. An idle word is something we would dare to speak before God and never fulfil. It is a serious thought.

As we sing, pray and testify together, it is so that the Spirit of God can work and soften our hearts. And give us fresh gratitude and purpose. Despite what the past has been, again we re-consecrate our lives to God. And as much as is possible for us, we are willing for all the will of God. Do you know that makes you worthy to take the bread and wine?

If you have been professing for one year or 60 years, you will never feel worthy to partake of the bread and wine. You will be afraid of the day when you feel worthy. I hope we understand that Christ has made us worthy. Remind ourselves about the time that Jesus introduced this. This helps us to understand what it means to partake unworthily and worthily.

You remember that in that meeting, Judas was there. Judas never left until they had broken bread. But already he had the money in his bag where he had made a covenant with the chief priests and elders to sell his Master. He broke bread that morning without any intention of doing the will of God, and he drank damnation to his soul.

There was another one in that meeting, his name was Peter. He told Jesus before that meeting “I am ready to go to prison or death with you”. He said, “I would rather die than betray you”. The very purpose of his heart was that he would go out from that meeting and would rather die than betray his Master. With fresh gratitude in his heart for all the cup and bread represented. And with the purpose in his heart that he would do better than ever before. He went out from that meeting and denied that he ever knew Jesus. But he partook worthily. Because in his heart was the purpose that he would rather die than betray his Master.

Jesus reminded them that “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak”. Don’t ever let Satan convince you that you are not to partake of the bread and wine because you feel you are not worthy. We can partake worthily even if we feel unworthy. In eternity we are not going to feel worthy. If we are on the right side of Jesus when He says “Come ye blessed of my Father”, we will not feel worthy. Those people did not feel worthy. It is the sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary’s cross that these emblems represent that makes us worthy. It is the only sacrifice that God can accept.

After you have committed your life to God, and then you sin, there remains no more sacrifice for sin (Hebrews 10:26). It doesn’t say there is no more forgiveness. It says there is no more sacrifice because there is only one sacrifice! It doesn’t depend on us improving our human nature and getting better as we walk with God. If it depended on that, you and I would never partake of the emblems of the shed blood of Jesus and His spent body. He paid the price that we never would pay. He has made us worthy. For all eternity we will gather around the throne and sing that song “Thou art worthy”.

I hope this morning there will be fresh gratitude in our hearts. True gratitude for all He has done for us. That when we leave this place – from today we will be true. May God help us to be true. He can make us worthy even though we will never feel worthy.

“We remember Calvary”. I tried to think of what I remember when I remember Calvary. I have broken bread and have never even given a thought to the message that Jesus spoke on Calvary. Have you ever noticed that the message Jesus spoke from the cross is meant for you and me? Jesus didn’t speak those seven or more utterances for His own sake.” Never. It was for the sake of those within hearing of His voice and for the sake of you and I that will follow. Have you ever sat down and read what Jesus spoke on Calvary? This morning we will spend the next few minutes to help you remember what Jesus said on Calvary. I hope every time we break bread, we remember part of the message is for us. One week it might be one of those things that He said, another week it could be another. I am sure that the message that Jesus spoke from Calvary is a message for you and me. I have prayed that I wouldn’t break bread without remembering the message from Calvary.

The first thing He ever spoke was to His Heavenly Father. Those Roman soldiers had laid Him down on the cross. Spiked His hands and feet to that cross, and raised it until the weight of His body was hanging on those nails. And as His life’s blood trickled from those wounds, Jesus lifted His voice to His Heavenly Father. He prayed “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do”. I cannot fully grasp that kind of love.

Everything Jesus spoke from the cross confirmed what He taught during His lifetime. This is the thing that made the message of Christ living and real. We could learn to say some words. Some people have learned to speak eloquently about the Scriptures, and are as dead as dead can be. Because they have never made them living in their daily lives. His living word only becomes living when we practice it in our daily lives. Every word Jesus spoke that day was a confirmation of what He taught. He taught them to love their enemies. Pray for them that despitefully use them and persecute them. To do good to those who hate us ensures that we are the children of our Father in heaven. This assurance comes when our hearts are filled with the strength and love only God can give. Enabling us to love even those who hate us.

One day Peter asked, “How often do we have to forgive our brother? 7 times?” Jesus said “Not 7 times, but 70 times 7”. 490 times. If your brother comes and asks for forgiveness, we must forgive him. I heard one friend say “I can forgive those times, but it is asking too much for me to forgive so-and-so again”. Do you know what was happening? That person was cutting himself off from the forgiveness of God. If you ever think that it is asking too much to forgive a brother or sister, remember Calvary. Remember Jesus prayed on the cross: “Father forgive them for they know not what they do”. Do you know that those cruel men were the instigators of Jesus’ crucifixion? Of all the sins they may have to give account for someday, amongst them will never be that they put Him on the cross. Because Jesus prayed for the Father to forgive them. And the Father never denied Jesus anything that He asked of Him.

Some of us are plagued not so much by the sins of our past before we met the Truth, but after we committed our lives to God. After we began to walk in this way of God. After we tried our best, we failed again, even repeating it. In repentance, regret and real grief we prayed that God would forgive and forgive again. I don’t know if you are like me. I have prayed “If you can only forgive me this one more time, I will never do it again.” Only to find that I did it again. And then was plagued with this terrible plague. That Satan would try to convince us “How can you expect that God would forgive you again?” And he would like you to think you have gone too far, you have sinned too much. Friends, if you are ever tempted to think that, remember that prayer on Calvary.

Do you think that God could forgive those who put Jesus on the cross? If you could find in your heart again the spirit of true repentance. “I am going to rise again and be true again this time to the vow and every vow I have made to Him.” As we remember Calvary, it will help us to have fresh gratitude and purpose to rise and try again. And we will not be satisfied with anything less than our best.

There is another reason that Jesus prayed that prayer: on either side of Him was a thief. You know that one of them reviled Him, and said “If you are the Son of God, why can’t you deliver yourself and us? Show us you are the Son of God”. The other man, on the other side, was shocked, and said “Do you not fear God? We are here because of wrongdoing, the just reward for what we have done. This man Jesus has done nothing wrong”. That man somewhere in the past knew Jesus or someone who was following Jesus, we do not know. But hope had sprung up in his heart when he turned and talked to Jesus. Because he heard that prayer, “Father forgive them”. If God can forgive them..! He said “Lord”. Where did he learn that? Somewhere in the past.

The second thing Jesus said, “Today you will be with me in Paradise”. Oh, we can’t understand the emotions in the heart of that one criminal as he heard that prayer! “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” But in his heart, new hope sprung up. And he dared to beg for mercy, when he knew that in minutes, in an hour, that he would be in eternity. He begged, “Lord remember me”. I hope we remember those wonderful words “Today you will be with me in Paradise”.

Zacchaeus was so anxious to see Jesus when He was passing by. He found that Jesus even knew his name. Jericho was no small town, a city of not less than 600,000 people. But there was not one man who cared except Zacchaeus. That tax collector that everyone called a sinner. He had a reputation for being rich because of fraud. He waited in the tree. He saw Jesus look up. Jesus called him by name – wonderful when we can be conscious of God speaking to us and speaking by name. Jesus said, “Today I must abide at thy house”. As he continued to listen to those wonderful words, there was a tremendous change in his heart. He didn’t care who was listening. He confessed his faults, and he wanted to make things right, not only with Jesus but with others. Jesus saw that repentant spirit. He said “Today is salvation come to thy house”, the same as He spoke to that thief on the cross at Calvary.

In John’s gospel, we find the 3rd time He spoke. It was not to His Father in heaven, nor the thief. It was to His mother. I have always been glad that on the cross before Jesus died, He remembered His mother. She wasn’t much for talking. Her lips were silenced that day at the wedding. She came to Jesus, her little boy. She nurtured him and watched him grow up at the carpenter’s bench. She saw Him leave all that and go out into this ministry. I don’t know the circumstances on that wedding day. The mother of Jesus, when she found out there was no wine, didn’t go to the governor of the feast, nor the landlord. She came to Jesus and said, “They have no wine”. Jesus said “Woman, what have I to do with thee?” As far as I know, after Mary said “You do what Jesus says”, there are no recorded words that she ever spoke to her Son again. From that day there was a complete full surrender and resignation. That little boy was not hers any more. He was her Saviour, the Son of God, to take away the sins of the world. She had heard Simeon when he picked Him up and embraced Him, that little child. She heard those wonderful words “Yes, a sword will pierce your soul also”. She didn’t know what he meant. Jesus had taught “Who is my mother? Those who do the will of my Father in Heaven are my brother and sister and mother”. Some of you parents of workers might understand the heart of Mary better than I do. I am glad Jesus called those fishermen to leave their families and occupations. He never meant that they should be forsaken. And on Calvary’s cross, He looked down and saw His mother. Do you know how many friends were there? Four of the friends and John, one of the disciples: only five. Another little group was standing afar off, too far away to hear Him. We don’t know the encouragement it was to Him that these five souls dared to follow Him right to the foot of the cross. Right at the foot of the cross where He could converse with them. He looked at His mother and said to John “Behold your mother”, and to His mother, “Behold your son”. This family fellowship the Gospel calls us into does not stop at the grave. Isn’t that a wonderful thing? Family ties, no matter how precious, end at the grave. But this wonderful family that the Gospel has called us into goes on and on. And in all eternity we will be brothers and sisters to Him who gave His life’s blood on Calvary’s cross that we might be worthy.

The next thing that Jesus said was not to His Father nor His mother, nor the thief. He was looking down. He looked down and saw that angry mob. They didn’t know, they were doing it in ignorance. He wondered if there was one of them who would still respond to an invitation. Do you know what He said? “I thirst”. Anyone around the cross who heard could have lifted a cup of cold water to those parched lips. Had they been willing, their reward would never have been lost. He was hoping that there would be one more. There wasn’t one.

Maybe you are feeling “If I were there”. Would we be willing to be identified with Him then? Would we have dared to take a cup of cold water and lift it to Him?

When He met that Samaritan woman she indignantly said “Would you dare to ask of me, a Samaritan, a drink of water?” (John 4). He said, “Woman, if you knew the gift of God, you would ask and receive”. That is the gospel invitation. The Gospel that goes out into the world. If we only knew, we would ask and we would receive. He said, “The water I give you will be a well springing up unto eternal life”. We find that Samaritan woman now asking Jesus for this water. “Give me this water that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw”. Do you know what that woman found in that simple gospel story that day? Salvation.

He asked her to go and call her husband. You know the story. She went and told her neighbours and friends. “Come and see this man that has told me everything I ever did”. And they came and heard and saw for themselves. When she invited them to a gospel meeting, they came to listen. They said, “Now we believe because we have heard Him ourselves”. It resulted in those people asking Jesus to stop with them for a while. He said “I will” and stayed with them for a few days. In Samaria, He left a little group, a little church worshipping Him in spirit and truth. Soon after, every first day of the week they would be taking a little sip of wine as they remembered Calvary. And remembered when they first began to drink that water. Think of all the blessings brought into their lives as a result of Jesus saying “Give me to drink”. Think of all those other people gathered at the cross. They would have the same privilege of being brought into that family of God. Meeting with others who had also embraced the same message. There wasn’t one! You remember those soldiers mocking Him, they filled a sponge with vinegar and put it on a stick. He refused. I hope we remember the wonderful gospel story that brought us into this wonderful family. It will enlarge our hearts. Fresh gratitude and purpose will fill our hearts to be true to Him who loved and gave Himself for us.

The next thing He said was not to the mob, His Father, His mother, or His disciples. He said only three words and I believe He said it to Himself – when there wasn’t one left that would give Him a drink. He said, “It is finished”. There is nothing more that I can do. I have done everything. I never appreciated the significance of those three words until one day when I was reading John 17. He was praying to the Father. In that prayer, He said, “I have finished the work thou gavest me to do”. It was the night before the work that the Father gave Him to do was finished. We could say everything after that until He hung on the cross and His spirit went back to God, it was voluntary. Even beyond what the Father had asked Him to do. Now when there wasn’t even one left that would do something as little as give Him a cup of cold water, He said “It is finished”. I cannot do anything more.

You know this wonderful Spirit of service, it is like a hallmark of this fellowship. It is like a stake holding this tabernacle. We can remember those wonderful words and what they mean. There is nothing more that I can do. “It is finished”. It was in His life and in those who embraced Him too.

In Genesis 24, when the servant of Abraham went to seek a bride for his master’s son, he came to a well. There he prayed and said “Let it be the one I ask for a drink of water, and she will say ‘Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also”‘. I don’t know if he knew what he was saying. But he hadn’t finished speaking before Rebekah ran out and drew that water up and filled that pitcher. She met that total stranger and he said “Can you give me a drink?” and she said, “I will draw water for you and your 10 camels”.

Do you know how much water camels can drink? I asked a man in Pakistan who knew about camels. He said, “You see that container there, a camel can almost any time drink what it holds, 30 gallons”. There were 10 camels – 300 gallons. Suppose they drank 20 gallons. But they had just come across that desert. After 6 days without water, they drink 50 gallons. It is like a picture of the six days between our fellowship meetings.

Let us suppose they drank 20 gallons. That man stood there in awe and watched her fill that little pitcher and run up and down, 200 times until she stopped. He stood amazed that there were still people in the world with this kind of spirit of service. He was very convinced that this one was worthy to be the bride for my master’s son.

As the family and fellowship grow, remember our privilege in the spirit of service, like we see at this convention. Jesus said when we have done all that we are commanded to do, you say in your hearts we are unprofitable servants. We have done that which was our duty to do. The Kingdom of God was never preserved by people doing their duty and that is all. The Kingdom of God is maintained and extended by those who do more than their duty. May this spirit that filled Rebekah that day be among us.

The next thing Jesus said was after those terrible three hours of darkness. For three hours the sun was dark. There was never a darker time than that time after the world had put the Son of God on the cross. After those 3 hours, He cried “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Jesus could stand any amount of physical suffering. He never cried out when they spat in His face, when they smote Him or when they put that crown of thorns on His head. If you have never been able to appreciate the horrors of a lost eternity, remember the cry on the cross of Jesus. “My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” He couldn’t stand even a minute outside of the presence of God, away from God.

The last thing He said as He looked up into the face of His Father: “Into thy hands, I commend my spirit”. Would you remember Calvary? Remember the spirit that Jesus returned to His Father. That spirit of forgiveness. That spirit of compassion, service, love, triumph. We could go on and on, and you remember that it is only your spirit that would ever go back to God when you die. The spirit that we manifest in our service, the spirit that we have will go back to God. There is no chance to change it. May we have a spirit that dares to pray as Jesus prayed at the end. “Father into thy hand I commend my spirit.” Because all His lifetime He had committed His life into His Father’s hands. In the end, He knew there was no safer place than in the hands of His Father. When you remember Calvary remember the message that Jesus spoke to you from Calvary.

Right is right even if no one is doing it and wrong is wrong even if everyone else is doing it!

We must never put a question mark where God has put a period.

Precious memories must be arranged ahead of time.

It is the clouds that make a beautiful sunset.

In the Garden, Jesus fought the greatest battle ever fought and won. Napoleon fought a great battle at Waterloo and lost. Napoleon fought because of the love of power and Jesus fought because of the power of love.

Said of the Roman army: They never became over-elated with victory, nor too cast down with defeat.

Truth never hurts unless it has to!

The Gospel is good news for bad people and bad news for good people.

Pardon has no value unless the person to whom it is offered will accept it. (A convict on “Death Row” preferred to die.)

What Jesus preached on the mountain, He practiced on Calvary.

To do wrong is to sin, to defend wrong is iniquity.

One pound of pottery clay is worth more than one ton of ordinary clay.

Roses are gathered for perfume at the darkest time of the night because, at that time, there is twice the fragrance.

Farmers know they will never get all the grain but God will not let one kernel fall to the ground (Amos 9:9)

Christ is our Standard of Righteousness: the Plumbline (Amos 7:7-8). When some are confronted with the Lord’s message, they see the wall; honest hearts see the plumbline. As one woman said, “It is SO right”.

Scientists cannot explain the Gulf Stream: where it begins, etc. But they know this warm water in a cold ocean affects every country it touches. This is like God’s love and God’s way in a cold old world.

I don’t have a subject, but I hope I have an object.

God gathers us together because He loves us, but He sends us forth (as from convention, etc.) because He loves the world.

A harbour is a safe place for ships but staying in the harbour is not what ships were made for; we must sail on. A ship that is sailing empty is sailing dangerously, and so is a ship that is overloaded (load could be the cares of life, etc.)

God without man is still God but man without God is nothing.

Signs don’t tell us of a smooth road ahead but warn of the pitfalls: the hills, the curves, or the rough spots. We need to heed God’s warnings.

The help we can give someone today might be the very help we will need from someone else tomorrow.

There will be no pride in Eternity. Who could be proud in a lost eternity? And who could be other than humble in the presence of God?

Instead of looking at the world and wishing we had what they have, we should realize it is all vanity, and wish they had what we have!

God loved His Son so much that He wanted a whole family just like Him.

True compassion is when your pain is in my heart.

The world seeks satisfaction in pleasure; the Lord’s people find pleasure in their satisfaction.

If we are near to God, it is easier to look at life the way He does.

If I should be arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict me?

The heart of us is the part of us that tells us whether we are right or wrong.

He is not a fool who gives what he can never keep to gain that which he can never lose.

Because Jesus took our place on the cross, he wants us to do some of the things he would be doing if he were here.

A friend knows all about us and loves us just the same.

A wise person will give up anything for Him, but won’t give up Him for anything.

We can’t begin too soon because we don’t know how soon it will be too late.

Death is part of the plan of life.

People’s lives can be UNused, MISused, or WELL used.

Our salvation and our influence cannot be destroyed by death.

Steam, as it rises from the kettle, is of no use. But steam controlled can run locomotives, much as the control of Christ in a life.

Despite all we hear these days about inflation, our life ‘buys’ as much today as it ever did. God wants us to use it to purchase a safe place in Eternity.

Life is hard by the yard, but it’s a cinch by the inch.

Death is not an exit, it’s an entrance.

Instead of living for things ‘under the sun’, we should live for the things ‘beyond the sunset’. (Not like the baseball star who went from ‘hero to zero’ in one year!)

Just think of touching another shore and finding it Heaven; of taking a hand and finding it God’s hand; of going beyond the storm and tempest and finding an unbroken calm; and of waking up and finding it HOME!

Some older people make choices that spoil their past, and some younger people make choices that spoil their future.

When God speaks, you can’t speak back!

[Jack Oliver labors in Madagascar]
I have been thinking about something I spoke about in a convention not too long ago. You don’t forget what you speak at a convention, do you? You don’t forget your testimony. You continue to think about it and you continue to feed on it. It will become a little clearer, a little more real to us. I was talking last evening about God speaking to our hearts; that is far deeper than common knowledge or speaking to our minds.
A verse in Ephesians speaks about the love of Christ that goes beyond knowledge. That kind of sums up what has been in my mind these last few days. We sing in that hymn “Christ is coming; Christ is coming Let us lift our eyes on high, For the final, great fulfilment of all things is drawing nigh.” I wonder what the final great fulfillment is. Revelation chapter 19:6 says, “And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come and his wife hath made herself ready.  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.” Could this be the last final fulfillment? The Bridegroom united with His Bride, His people forever. That is the day that is ahead of us. That is what has been on my mind, the Bridegroom and the Bride.
I think that everything God has given us in creation and in life is a type of the spiritual world. When God made this world, He gave us everything to help us understand His thinking. It’s impossible for us with our finite mind to understand God’s mind, but in as much as He could, He gave us so much in nature, so much in this life. The longer I live I see He did the most to show us things which we can understand with our human mind concerning the Kingdom of Heaven. That is why the Lord Jesus was able to speak about so many things in parables. Things like this, a man went out to sow and a woman making bread and treasures hid in a field. It was just the things in everyday life that teach us the truths of His spiritual kingdom. Maybe the best or most real is just this matter of the Bridegroom and the Bride.
Really this space of time in which we live between two Eternities, Eternity before the world began and the Eternity that will continue after the world began, this space of time can be summed up in a very simple sentence: it is about a Father seeking a Bride for His Son. This is the whole purpose of creation. The whole purpose of our meeting today and the purpose of the Scriptures is about the Father seeking a Bride for His Son. There is no other reason for creation. It is a love story, and that is what I would like to try to talk about a little bit this morning: this matter of the world and everything we are engaged in. Really, from us up here on the platform and from you out there giving your testimony, it is the same thing – it’s just being said in a different way, the message is being spoken continually but just in a different way to help us understand.
This matter of the Bridegroom and the Bride is the most wonderful love story ever told. It was planned in heaven and is being lived out here on earth, and it will finally be accomplished in heaven. This matter of God the Father finding a Bride for His Son: God’s love is beautiful, human love is beautiful. There is nothing more beautiful than pure human love. The world has corrupted love. The world so often mixes love with lust but human love is beautiful. It is a picture of God’s Divine love. Human love is sacrificial, human love is enduring, human love is powerful. Divine love is so much more sacrificial and everlasting. If we could just forget for a little while this matter of male and female and the human aspect of love. God is a spirit and the spirit is neither male nor female. We talked about the Father seeking a Bride for His Son but we could equally say a mother seeking a bridegroom for her daughter as a spirit is neither male nor female. God is a spirit. The human kingdom is the highest kingdom that is male and female. It is not that way with the Angels which is a higher kingdom than ours, and there is not that in the spirit. So, God is a spirit and we can set some examples.
Let us go back to the beginning of creation and see what happened. We know well enough what happened: God created man in His own image. That means that man has the capacity to have the same feelings God has. Man has the capacity to love the same as God has. Animals do not. When a mother hen protects her little chicks it’s not love, its instinct, but we have the capacity to love in the same way God does, and we have the capacity to have compassion and mercy and be angry – the same attributes God has. Because we are made in God’s image, it is the same, in a measure. When God made man in the beginning, man was God’s masterpiece. He was the very final piece of God’s creation. God was able to talk to Adam and beginning in Genesis 2:18 the Lord God said it is not good that man should be alone so I will make a helpmeet for him. The modern translation says “a suitable help for him”. God wasn’t only talking of Adam, he was talking about Jesus. God said it is not good for my Son to be alone. This is a Father with one Son who was looking forward to the time when His Son would have a Bride. When God said it is not good for man to be alone, He was equally saying it is not good for the Lord Jesus to be alone, so I am going to make a helpmeet for Him.
God was able to talk with Adam. He called all the animals to Adam and told him to give them names. Adam named all the cattle and the fowls of the air and the beasts in the field. God brought these animals to Adam and Adam said this is a camel and this is an ox, and so on until all the animals that were there at that time were named. It also tells us there was not found an help meet for man. All these animals God brought to Adam were made from the same dust as Adam was made but a suitable helpmeet for Adam could not be found. That is a little picture of the world. I was told a little while ago that there is about 7.2 billion humans living in this world and God is looking down from heaven at this mass of humanity for a Bride for His Son. He is looking for those who would be a suitable help for His Son, Jesus. Out of this mass of humanity there is not one person humanly who is a suitable bride for the Lord Jesus. This is like all the animals brought to Adam – not one was a suitable helpmeet for Adam. So, what did the Lord do? We know what He did, He put Adam to sleep and while he slept He performed a surgical intervention. He took a rib from Adam and made a woman. Adam did not feel a thing.
Some years ago I had major surgery. They took me to the operating theater in the morning and I didn’t know anything else. I woke up a little while later in the ward where they had taken me from. Everything was done and I felt comfortable. That is exactly how Adam would have felt. God put him to sleep then took a bone from Adam and from that bone made a helpmeet suitable for Adam – that is just what happened. The Lord went to the cross but God didn’t put Jesus to sleep on the Cross. The Lord, because of a love that we cannot possibly understand, suffered an agony we will never know, a physical agony, an agony of soul, an agony of mind when put on the cross. He accepted that. When He was put on the cross He gave His life, He simply died before the Roman soldiers came to kill Him; He gave His life. You remember the story – the Roman soldiers came along and the Jews said take these bodies down from the crosses because the Sabbath is coming. They broke the legs of one but when they saw the Lord Jesus in the middle, He was already dead; He had already given His life, so they broke the legs of the other. The Roman soldier didn’t know what he was doing; he said I will make sure He is dead and he took his spear and thrust it into His side. John the apostle was there and told us definitely he was there and saw this so we would believe. He saw the blood flow from the side of the Lord Jesus. Through the blood of the Lord Jesus on the cross, God made a Bride for His Son – just the same as God taking a rib from Adam and making a bride for Adam, then God took the blood from His Son and made a Bride for Him. No one in this world has ever been nor ever will be a suitable bride for Christ except they be purified through the blood of Christ. This is a wonderful opportunity we have. Let me read this verse in Corinthians. Paul was writing to the Corinthians and said, “I am jealous of you with a godly jealousy for I have espoused you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” Think of those words, “that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ”, sinners, sinners, as chaste virgins, pure, no sin, no nothing. That is the way our Father is going about to prepare a Bride for His Son.
Let us go back to Adam. It tells us that God prepared Eve and gave her to Adam. Well, this was a new experience for Adam, wasn’t it? He had never seen a woman. He didn’t know. He had seen animals. He had fellowship with God and could talk to Him before this woman came. They had talked together about the animals and so on. He had to learn, how do I cope with this new situation? He had to woo his wife, and that was something quite new to him. She was quite different – she had a different mind than man, different thinking, different in many ways. Adam had to learn this. I will read a little verse in Hebrews about the Lord Jesus, “though he were a son yet learned he obedience by the things that he suffered and being made perfect he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.” What does that mean, being made perfect? Jesus was always perfect. What does it mean, being made perfect? Well, in the same way Adam had to learn to live with and respect this helpmeet God had given him. The Lord Jesus could not possibly understand humans until He came to the earth and took upon Himself the form of a servant. He took upon Himself a human nature and because of Him taking upon Himself a human nature, He had to learn obedience. He had to learn what it was for us humans to obey God. He always knew what it was to obey God. In the same way, Adam knew what it was to have fellowship with God. The Lord Jesus knew what it was to have fellowship with His Father. He always obeyed His Father but now He had to learn what it means as a human being to obey God. He came down to this earth for 33 1/2 years and took upon Himself our form and nature. It says in one place that He was tempted in all points like as we are. And that was so He could understand how to live with us and understand how He could intercede for us. Today He is interceding to God for us, He is always there. It says He was tempted in all points like we are; well, we are tempted, aren’t we, but maybe the things that would tempt you would not tempt me and the things that would tempt me would not tempt you. But Jesus was tempted in all points and knows how difficult it is for human nature to accept the will of God. He learned that so He could be a faithful Bridegroom to us and could intercede to His Father for us. The whole creation, everything God did is such a wonderful example of what He is trying to do spiritually.
We said that Adam had to woo his wife; he had to learn to love her. There is a verse in Proverbs 30:18, “There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not: The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid.”  The way of a man with a maid was too wonderful for the writer, he could not understand it. What is the way of a man with a maid? Different peoples have different customs for marriage; we have a different custom in Madagascar that is different from any place else … But, the way of a man with a maid: what did he mean by that? Well, here is what it is. A young man is attracted to a young woman. So what does he do? He tries to make an excuse for a casual acquaintance. He knows where she works so he just happens to be driving by when she comes out from work. Unfortunately she doesn’t come out right away so he drives around the block and she is already gone. The next day he does the same thing. Eventually it works out and he says, “Oh, I didn’t expect to see you”. Then maybe he says I have to go someplace, would you like to go with me? She says okay, so they take a ride together and it goes on from there, you know better than me. Then what happens? He gets enough courage to say, I love you and then he is waiting for her to say, I love you too.
You love the Gospel. That is the Gospel, as clear as anything we could have. You invite someone to come to a gospel meeting and you make it casual, you say I am going to a meeting would you like to come? And then maybe again a second time. You don’t say you have to come and make your choice. Then little by little the person comes along and maybe eventually they realize that Jesus loves them, and they realize that the Lord Jesus gave His life for them and that promotes a love for Jesus. That is the Gospel, the way of a man with a maid. That is the Gospel as clear as anything can be. I remember many years ago before I was in the work, there was a young fellow who I went to school with who was learning to drive a motor car. I had a car and I said to him look why don’t you come with me to the gospel meeting, and you can drive the car and that will give you some practice. He came for a long time and then he got interested. He never made it but that is the way it is in the beginning, just in a casual way and then things grow and develop and it becomes the most important thing. The man, once she gets into his mind, is always there, at his work and in his spare time, continually. And that is the way it is with the Lord Jesus, He is always trying to draw us. We have had some folks in Madagascar tell us that after the first few meetings that they came, they didn’t understand anything, but there was something that kept drawing them and kept them coming. That is the work of the Gospel. That is the connection between a man and a maid.
Then let us move on. The man says I would like for you to meet my mother, I would like for you to meet my folks. The Lord Jesus wants us to meet His Father. If you look at the last meeting Jesus had with His disciples, beginning in John 13, it must have been a meeting John never forgot but thought about continually afterwards. The meeting continued to John 17. It began with Jesus washing His disciples’ feet and Jesus praying audibly for His disciples during that time. The word Father was said 50 times, “My Father, the Father”. After the resurrection, the first message was given to a lady, “Go and tell my disciples I ascend to my Father and your Father.” Jesus never said “Your Father” until after He died and was resurrected from the dead. He had to go through that and shed His blood so the God of heaven could become our Father. I suppose you could say God is our Father and our father-in-law, He is our Bridegroom’s father and that is just the way it is. He has given His life so we can get to know God, our Father.
The next thing that would happen when a young couple is contemplating getting married, they would say where are we going to live? In John 14 Jesus said, “I go to prepare a place for you. In my Father’s house there are many mansions.” He was not thinking of Heaven because in just a few hours He was going out to face the cross and I’m sure He was thinking about the cross. There was no place for us to live in Heaven until Jesus gave Himself on the cross for us. His death opened the way for us to enter into heaven. It opened the way we can live with our Bridegroom for all Eternity. Jesus had to give His life so He could do this. Jesus said to His disciples, “No greater love hath any man than this that he would lay down his life for his friends.” We cannot possibly comprehend the love Jesus had for us. As we said in the beginning, it is beyond our knowledge.
Something someone told me, and I was speaking about it at a convention when a man came up to me afterwards and said, I read an article recently by a famous psychologist who was doing some research and at the end of his research he said, the strongest emotion in a human being is the love a man has for a woman; it’s even stronger than a woman’s love for a man. The Lord Jesus loved us with a love we cannot understand. Jesus not only laid down His life for His friends but for sinners also, so we could become His Bride. We cannot understand the love of our Bridegroom for us, it is beyond our comprehension.
Continuing with this meeting Jesus was having in John 21, He came to Peter and said, “Peter, do you love me?  Peter said, you know that I love you, Jesus said, feed my sheep. Again he asked Peter to you love me? And Peter said, you know that I love you, and Jesus said to feed my lambs. Again he asked, Peter , do you love me? Peter was grieved because Jesus asked him the third time and he said, Lord , you know that I love you and Jesus replied, feed my sheep.” The way we show love to the bridegroom of our soul is the love we show to His bride, our love for the lambs and sheep in His family. The only way that we can show our love to Christ is by showing our love to each other. And you know, there is another thing that might happen. One time Jesus said to His disciples, if any man loves father, mother, brother, more than they love me, they are not worthy of me. Other loves come and try to take His place. The devil comes and tries to bring other loves, people, and things we would love first. We could call that a name, you know what it is? It’s adultery. If anything comes between us, who have committed our lives to God, between us and our Bridegroom, it is adultery. We have the responsibility, an enormous responsibility to keep ourselves free and keep His love most in our lives.
A few years ago, in Madagascar, a young worker could no longer continue in the work and he was going to change his course. After a while he came to me and he referred to a young lady and asked if she had offered for the work and I said actually, she has. So he said, fine, he was not going to think any more about her. Eventually he approached another young lady who was not able to go into the work and they got married. He asked me to come along and say a little bit at their wedding, which we do sometimes if the bride and groom wish so. I was glad that day that I could stand there before his parents and her relatives, some professing and some not. Her name was Mary and I turned to her and I asked, do you think you are the first love in John’s heart? You are not. Then I turned to John and said, don’t ever think you are the first love in Mary’s heart because you’re not, God is. That is the right relationship. We see young people getting married and if God is their first love He will bless their relationship. It is like a little example I saw one time. It is like a triangle with God at the top and the closer that each moves toward God, the closer they move towards each other. The further they move away from God, the further they move from each other. The further we move towards our Bridegroom, the closer we move toward God.
My father died suddenly in 1977 while I was in Madagascar. I didn’t know anything about it until after he was gone. There wasn’t any electronic communication back in those days so, by the time I got there, the funeral had not taken place but it was to take place but it was to take place shortly. After 10 years I returned to England and my brother talked to me and said I went through dad’s things after his death and there was a photograph in his wallet in the inside pocket of his jacket. It was a picture of mom before they were married. We don’t think about our parents as being romantic, do we? My brother said that he must have carried it around all of his life. This would have been during the years of the depression, in the 30s. Dad used to work on the steam wagons.  It was pretty tough going then because he was a conscientious objector during the war and was posted to the coal mines, and it was a pretty hard life. Conscientious objectors were pretty well despised. I could just imagine him in some of the difficult experiences taking his wallet out and looking at my mother’s picture and thinking this is the one I am going to be with. Jesus has given us some pictures of Himself. Every Sunday morning we take the bread and the wine. He said do this in remembrance of me, this is my body. And every Sunday morning we get a fresh glimpse of our Master, our Bridegroom who gave Himself for us. We come to meetings like this and have a fresh glimpse again of our Bridegroom and it helps us. Sometimes during the storms we have heard about, if we can get a fresh glimpse of our Bridegroom it will help us to just look forward to the day when the final great fulfillment of all things will happen.
Just another little example, the time is gone, but a few years ago I was talking to a man who had been in the work for many years. It wasn’t in America, it wasn’t in England, it wasn’t in Canada and it wasn’t in Madagascar so you don’t have to guess where it was. He had been so many years in the work and wasn’t able to continue so he got married. He married a woman who was quite a bit younger than himself. I was talking to him one day in the home; I had known him pretty well before. He said, my wife told me when we got married that she didn’t love me but I guess I can learn to love you. I have never forgotten that. I professed in my late teens and I don’t know if I could say it was because I loved Jesus by choice. It might have been more because I was afraid of a lost eternity and I knew what would happen if I did not do God’s will. Maybe it was fear that motivated me, and maybe there are others here that feel the same way. Maybe it was because of fear, but I am not going on because of fear; I have learned to love my Master. I have learned to love His people, and perfect love casts out fear.
There are many other illustrations in the Bible, and I’m sure you can find them for yourself, but this matter of the Bridegroom and the Bride is one of the best ways we can understand God’s will, God’s love, Jesus’ love for us, and if we feed on that, it will help us to love Him.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

We have been singing, Calvary, Calvary, we remember Calvary. It is Sunday morning and very appropriate for us to set aside some time to remember Calvary. When Jesus took three of the disciples up into the mount of transfiguration, they saw Moses and Elias speaking to Jesus. They were talking to Jesus about his decease that he would accomplish at Jerusalem. It was not long afterwards that the disciples were standing and witnessing that death. I am sure that it did not seem to them like that event was an accomplishment. It would seem to them like a bitter defeat. It would seem like an irreplaceable loss. It would seem like a serious set-back to the work they had been called to do. It would seem like a miserable failure. But, in reality, it was a glorious victory, a huge gain for them and for us, a giant step forward in the work they had been called to do. It was not a miserable failure, but a success, an accomplishment that was to have far reaching effects for all mankind.

Several years ago, we noticed a picture on the wall of a home where we were visiting. It was a picture of a beautiful, gleaming white snowbank up in the mountains. The sun was shining, and a little trickle of water was running out of the base of the snowbank. You could tell that it was melting and that it would soon disappear altogether. Under the picture there was this caption, What may seem to be the end may just be a new beginning. That is how it was with Jesus. If you could get up to where the snowbank was, it was a beautiful sight, but it was trapped in one place. Those that lived near to where it was might have felt sad about seeing it disappear. But just think of all the potential that was being released because of it melting. The water from it was flowing out and beginning a journey that could eventually take it to the far corners of the world. It would eventually find its way into a river and then into a lake. It would be evaporated and lifted into the heavens and carried to where the parched land awaited the rain. Down it would come to stimulate and nourish new life only to be evaporated again and carried by the clouds to some other place where there was a need. This is such a vivid picture to me of how it was with Jesus. Indeed, at the time of his crucifixion what seemed to be the end to those disciples was really just a new, glorious beginning.

This morning, what I would like to do is to take you to the cross. We are going to consider the things Jesus said when he was on the cross. No gospel writer wrote this down completely in order. We must read three of the four gospels to get all that Jesus said on the cross. For this reason, we cannot be sure in what order Jesus may have spoken these words. However, those who have studied these scriptures carefully have put them in an order that seems reasonable and we will consider them in that order this morning.

Father, forgive them; for they know what they do. Luke 23:34

Verily, I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise. Luke 23:43

Woman, behold thy son! (Spoken to Mary). Behold thy mother! (Spoken to John). John 19:26 – 27

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34

I thirst. John 19:28

It is finished. John 19:30

Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. Luke 23:46

Before we go any further with this, let us take an overview of these verses. It is interesting that Matthew and Mark both recorded the agonizing cry that Jesus uttered from the cross, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?  Luke and John did not record that while Matthew and Mark did not record any of the things that Luke and John recorded. Luke recorded three of the remaining six things Jesus said and John recorded the other three.  Sometimes we wonder why there needed to be four gospels. The accounts differ one from the other to some extent as we see in the accounts of what Jesus said from the cross. However, we can see that all four gospels are needed to get the full picture. After this meeting, if we were to ask each of you to write what you heard in the meeting, a lot of what you would write would be the same as what others wrote. But in every report there would be something unique, something that had particularly touched the writer’s own heart. It took all four writers to give us the full picture of what happened on Calvary. I understand, as I try to share a few thoughts on what Jesus said on the cross this morning, that my report will not be complete. I am not attempting to share everything there is to be learned from these verses but want to share what has touched my own heart. There are 53 other speakers at this convention, and it will take them all to fill in a more complete picture of the provision that God has made for us through the sacrifice of His Son.

I like to consider these seven messages from the cross carefully because they help me understand what was being accomplished there. Remember that when Moses and Elias talked to Jesus they talked to him about his decease that He would accomplish at Jerusalem. There were some very vital things accomplished by Jesus being willing for that cruel death on the cross. I want to try to share with you some things that I have gleaned from a study of what Jesus said while on the cross with particular focus on what those words reveal to me about what He was accomplishing.

Luke 23:34 – Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment and cast lots. From this we see that forgiveness for our sins was made possible by Jesus’ death on the cross. That is one thing that was accomplished through His sacrifice. The door was opened to the possibility of forgiveness for our sins, no matter how serious the sin we have committed. There is no sin that any person could have committed that would have been worse than the sin of putting the Son of God to death. In Daniel 9:24, we read a vivid description of some of the things that were going to happen before and when Jesus came. Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. The children of Israel had a long history of transgressions. Not long after they were first led out of Egypt they began to murmur. First it was murmuring in their tents, then murmuring openly, then rejecting the guidance and authority of Moses. From there they went on to mingling with the heathen nations around them, learning their pernicious ways and serving their gods. They went from one transgression to another, deeper and deeper into sin, until they were killing the prophets and stoning those that God sent to help them. In Matthew 23:37 Jesus agonized over their sinful natures and hard hearts saying, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! The transgressions had kept mounting and mounting, but this was the end. There was no transgression worse than to crucify the Son of God. Their long list of transgressions was completed or finished at the cross. After such a heinous crime was committed, Jesus looked down from the cross on those who had committed it and said, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.

I wonder if the thief who was hanging on the cross beside Jesus that day saw a glimmer of hope for himself when he heard those words. Perhaps that was what gave him the courage to acknowledge his sin and plead for mercy. The realization must have come to him that if Jesus could forgive these people for what they have done to him, perhaps there is hope for me. That is what God would like us all to understand. None of us have a past that we can be proud of. Possibly some here have come feeling that you have gone too far, that there is no hope that you could be forgiven and set free from the penalty of your sin.  Remember those words of Jesus. Through his sacrifice the door of forgiveness has been opened. We can have it, just as the thief received it, if we are prepared to take the steps that will bring us to that door and through that door.

Luke 23:39-43 And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise. In these words, we see another thing that was being accomplished through Jesus’ sacrifice. The door into paradise was opened for repentant sinners on Calvary. The two thieves who were on the crosses beside Jesus represent the whole world. Everyone is a sinner. Everyone is a thief. We have all robbed God of time, and of opportunities to use us because we have been self centered.  We have robbed Him of His rightful place in our hearts because of just wanting to please ourselves. Every one of us should be on the cross instead of Jesus. Both thieves were sinners.  One was a repentant sinner and the other an unrepentant sinner. We get to choose which one we will be. If we acknowledge that we  have sinned, and sincerely declare that we are sorry for our sin, and are prepared, with the help of God, to do what we can to please God with whatever future God sees fit to give to us, we, too, can have the promise of entering the door into paradise at the end of life.

There was another thief who got his liberty on the day that Jesus was crucified. We read about Barabbas who was jailed because he was a murderer, a robber and involved in an insurrection. He had a lot of crimes on his list. He was in prison probably awaiting his day of execution. He heard the guards coming down the hallway, then the door into his cell being opened.  Likely he thought, They are coming to lead me to my execution. The guard said to him, You are a free man. Someone else has taken your place. We don’t know what happened to him after that, but he got a second chance, didn’t he? We would like to feel that he was deeply grateful for the One who took his place on the cross and that he took advantage of the door of forgiveness and the door into paradise that had been opened for him making it possible for him to go free. We need to have that kind of gratitude for the liberty we enjoy because of the sacrifice of Jesus.

Now we come to the third thing that Jesus said from the cross. It is John who tells this part of the story. John 19:26,27: When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!  Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.  When John writes of the disciple whom Jesus loved, he is writing about himself. I am sure that it was not because he felt that Jesus loved him more than the others. John was not one of Jesus’ favorite disciples.  This was just John’s humble way of telling us about himself without using his name. And I am sure that John felt just like the rest of us do. We all marvel that Jesus could love us, and I am sure that it never ceased to be a miracle to John that Jesus loved him.

It is wonderful to see the compassion Jesus was showing to his mother that day. She was having a big part in that sacrifice. When she took Jesus to the temple when he was only 40 days old, she had been told by Simeon, that old prophet of God, that the child was set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel and for a sign that would be spoken against. Then he added in Luke 2:35 Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. She was experiencing that piercing sword to her heart that day as she watched her son dying that cruel death. Jesus’ heart went out to her and he comforted her and made provision for her future. That is very touching, but can you see something else in these words of Jesus? This is what I see. Through the sacrifice of Jesus, the way was being opened for the New Testament fellowship to be established. It was to be a family fellowship embracing all nations of people. Mary did not belong to John’s family but from that time onward John’s family took her into their own home and she became a part of that family. You and I do not have a right by birth to belong to God’s family.  During the Old Testament period, that was the exclusive right of the Jewish people. In Ephesians chapter 2, Paul explains this very clearly. Ephesians 2:13 – 14 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us. The law that separated the Jewish people from all other people, was fulfilled and taken away at the cross. In its place was established the family fellowship which makes it possible for we who are Gentiles to say that we are no more strangers and foreigners but are fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God. That was accomplished on Calvary.

Now we come to the fourth thing that Jesus said from the cross. He had said three things before this and was to say three more things after this. This is the center message from the cross and contains the core of the whole matter. Mark 15:34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? What was it that prompted that cry of anguish from Jesus? His Heavenly Father had turned his face away from Him as the sins of the whole world were being placed on him. Hymn #3 and the last two verses explain it clearly. The last verse says, Tell how exceedingly bitter His cry, nailed to the cross where they left Him to die; Grieved and forsaken, God spared not His Son; Love’s mighty work of redemption is done.   On Calvary the sins of the whole world were shouldered by Jesus and being atoned for through the shedding of His precious blood. In this way, and this way alone, is it possible for us to be cleansed from our sins. John the Baptist said this of Jesus when he introduced Him in John 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. Animal sacrifice as prescribed in the Old Testament law could not take away sin. Those sacrifices when offered in the right way and with the right motive only covered sin. God accepted those offerings and those who offered them only because the offering represented the sacrifice of Jesus. Only Jesus could TAKE AWAY sins and on Calvary that is what He did. This is truly the greatest accomplishment that Jesus achieved on the cross that day.

The fifth message that Jesus spoke from the cross contained only two words, I thirst. John 19:28 After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.  It says that Jesus knew that all things were now accomplished. I believe it means that He knew all the necessary things had been accomplished. But there was one last verse he needed to fulfill. He had told His disciples early in His time together with them that not one jot or tittle of the law would pass away until all was fulfilled. Throughout His lifetime He had been fulfilling prophecies and types and shadows which helped to describe what he would do, be and say when He came.  There was just one last verse that had not yet been fulfilled and it is found in Psalm 69:21 They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. What was accomplished on Calvary? Everything that the law foreshadowed and everything that the prophets foretold concerning Jesus was finally fulfilled on the cross. Thus, the Old Law was folded up and taken away, paving the way for the veil in the temple to be rent from the top to the bottom which opened up the new and living way.

The sixth message from the cross contains only three words: It is finished. John 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished. And he bowed his head and gave up the ghost. There is no person who has ever been born that had more to accomplish in His lifetime than what Jesus had. He was sent to the earth to fulfill all that had been prophesied and foreshadowed about Him in the Old Testament.  It is little wonder that, at the age of 12 years He said, I must be about my Father’s business. It is a great wonder that, at the age of 33 1⁄2 years he could say, It is finished. Everything that the Old Testament had foretold that he would do and say and be, he did, and said and was. God would like us all to have a goal like that. There is a lot written in the New Testament about what we should do and be. During our recent study of Peter’s letters, we often came across the word ‘be’. Be sober, be holy, be all of one mind, be pitiful, be courteous, etc. Our aim should be to follow this example of Jesus so that everything the New Testament says that a child of God should be and do, we would aim to be and do. Thus, by our words, actions, spirit and even dress we can declare plainly to the world that we are God’s children.

This brings us to the last message Jesus spoke from the cross. Luke 23:46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost. There was only one honourable way for Jesus to go back to his Father and he took it. If he had left part of what He had been asked to do unfinished and gone back to His Father, where would we have been today? For you and me also there is only one honourable way for our spirits to return to God who gave them and that is to be willing to fit in to all that He has planned for us during our lifetime. Indeed, what Jesus accomplished during His lifetime and in those final hours on the cross is a perfect example to us of how we should live and how we should die.

Today is Sunday morning, the morning of the resurrection. Until now we have been focussing on the crucifixion. Now let us briefly look at how the resurrection fits into the picture. In Matthew’s gospel, the last two chapters begin by telling of a morning that was dawning. Chapter 27 begins this way: When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death.  Chapter 28 begins like this, In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn towards the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. In Chapter 27, the morning was dawning on the darkest day in Jesus’ whole lifetime, the day of His crucifixion. In Chapter 28, the morning was dawning on the brightest day in Jesus’ whole lifetime, the day of His resurrection. There were only two days in between which separated those two extreme experiences. There could not have been a Matthew 28 if there had not first been a Matthew 27. Hymn 348 reminds us that suffering must precede the glory. In our own experience as well, there has to be a cross, a dying and a willingness to deny ourselves if we are to have a Matthew 28 in our experience.

We do not have the old hymn book anymore, but if we did have, I would ask you to sing hymn number 311.  Unfortunately, that hymn did not get included among the hymns in our latest hymn book. Since we cannot sing it, I will close by quoting the first and last verse of that hymn:

Light after darkness, Gain after loss,
Strength after weakness, Crown after cross,
Sweet after bitter, Hope after fears,
Home after wand’ring, Praise after tears.

Near after distant, Gleam after gloom,
Love after loneliness, Life after tomb,
After long agony, Rapture of bliss,
Right was the pathway Leading to this.

If Jesus could speak to us today, He would tell us, Yes, right was the pathway leading to this. May we be willing for the earthly loss. the loneliness, the self denial, the daily dying and all the other experiences that make up our cross knowing that one day we will understand clearly that this pathway was right because it led us home to God.

I was raised in Canada in the province of British Columbia in a little city called Chilliwack. There is something unique about that little city. Right in the middle is an intersection called Five Quarters. There are five streets that all come together at that intersection. If you happen to stand at Five Quarters, you have to make a decision where you are going to go from there.

You have five options. If you choose one of those streets, it will take you outside the city. It will take you to the highway that leads to the big city of Vancouver. When you get out on that highway, things are going much faster. You have to pick up speed to keep up with everyone else and keep ahead of the people behind you. Before long you will find yourself in the fast lane, speeding along with all the other people who have places to go, things to do and people to see. When you are on the highway time passes like a blur. There are many things you cannot focus on because you are going so fast. That is one of the options you can choose.

There is a second street you can choose. It also will take you outside the city: you will go into the mountains and come to a lake. In the summertime that lake is very popular, there are many people there with the intent to go boating. Or they set up camp and they are there for a few days and they are on holiday. A lot of people go there to play. Some people go there because they want to do nothing. They are sitting there on the beach soaking up the sun and doing nothing. It is because they have chosen that road.

The third street leads you down to where the sports complex is. That is where everything happens, they can entertain you. That is where the arena is. All the concerts and the big events happen there at the sports complex.

The fourth street, if you take it and you travel along you go over a little bridge. You may not realise it, but you will find yourself on an island. You can keep travelling, it is a nice road there on the island. You can drive for about an hour and you will find yourself right back at the little bridge. You can make that circuit again. You will find yourself back at the little bridge. You can do that as many times as you want, and then you will realise you are going around in circles. Some people choose that road.

The fifth street takes you to the cemetery. These five quarters it remind me of life, the choices we have to make, and the paths we have to choose. Some people do choose life in the fast lane. So many things to do, places to go and people to see. Life passes by and the little children grow up in a blink and you wonder Where did the time go? Sometimes we regret that we have chosen life in the fast lane. Some people choose the lake and a life doing nothing as far as our soul is concerned. Some choose a life of entertainment and whatever they can find to please my flesh, to please my human nature. Some people are going around in circles, and there is no real destination going around and around and getting nowhere. For other people, they are on the slow sad journey to the grave.

When I was a boy, we’d get in the car and go: my mum, dad, brother and myself. Dad would be driving and we would head down towards Five Corners. Dad would turn onto one of those streets and it was the street that led down to the sports complex. We would turn and start travelling down to the sports complex and we never got there. Mum and Dad were not the least bit interested in the sports complex. A little way down, Dad would pull into a little parking lot. Next to the parking lot was an old hall. In that hall were two sister workers who were holding their mission. That hall is long gone now. In my mind, I can still picture the inside of it, I can still smell the stale smell of the old hall. I can still hear the voices of those two sisters telling the gospel story. I was only a boy and those were the years when the gospel story started to win my heart. My parents were bringing their children to Jesus hoping he would touch us.

My brother is older than me. He made his choice in that old hall. Two or three years before I did. I did not make my choice in that hall. But I remember going out of one of those meetings when they had tested the meeting, and I had not made my choice. I still remember the look of disappointment on the faces of those two sisters. It is a good exercise to go down memory lane. Try to remember back to that time. When God began to speak to you, and God was troubling you. There may be a time when you wonder if God remembers you. Remember how he spoke to you back in the beginning. How you were troubled. That will give you some comfort.

We know serving God is like running a race. There is a starting line and a finishing line, and between the two, there is the course. The start of this race is not when we were born. The starting line is when we make our choice. The finishing line is when we come to the finish of life. In between there is this course. There is always an objective to a race. You do not run to run. There is a finish line, and beyond the finish line, there is a prize. I like to think about this wonderful prize promised to us at the end of the race of life. We are promised that there is a crown awaiting. Three places in the scripture tell us what the crown is.

In 2 Timothy 4, it is called a crown of righteousness. In 1 Peter 5, it is called a crown of glory. In James 1, it is called a crown of life. A crown of righteousness, a crown of glory and a crown of life. That is promised if we finish faithfully in the race. Righteousness means being right with God. The meaning of glory I like is “a situation of intent satisfaction”. Life of course is forever and ever. You can picture that crown now. That reward of finishing in the race, crossing the finish line and winning the crown. That wonderful reward of being right with God forever and never again falling out of his favour. That is a wonderful prize. The situation of intense satisfaction forever and ever.

We need to remember we are not running against each other. We are competing against the world, the flesh and the devil. Sometimes in running the race, they get in the lead. Sometimes it becomes the world that is leading us. Sometimes it is our flesh that is leading us. Sometimes the devil has got in the lead, is leading us and we are doubting and fearing. That is the devil that puts those kinds of feelings into us. One of those things has got into first place. We have to work 10 times as hard to get it back in order again. To get those things back to where they belong. I am thankful for these days of convention helping us to get the world back where it belongs. To get the flesh back where it belongs. Because it is the flesh that has been leading us. To get the devil back to where he belongs.

The course is never easy for anyone and no one will breeze through life in this race of life. It would be good to inspire us, it doesn’t matter how hard the course is from here on in. I am going to go on. I like the words in Hebrews 12 about Jesus when he was running the race: “Let us run with patience that is set before us looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame and is set down on the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.” In those few verses, I see four things that could have discouraged Jesus or caused Jesus to stop running in the race. One of those things was there had to be a cross that had to be endured. There was shame that had to be ignored. There was contradiction to be endured and sin to be resisted. Any of those four things could also cause us to stop running in the race. But no matter how hard the course is, we will go on.

I was in the city in our field and someone came up with the idea they wanted to have a marathon. That marathon was 20 km and they marked out the course of this race. Now there is a blue line through the city along the river and up the other side. The marathon was going to start on a Sunday morning. We happened to be staying with some of our friends who lived about two blocks down from where the course was. Where the runners were going to go past. About 930 in the morning I was in my room trying to get ready for the meeting. All of a sudden, I heard cheering. Then I remembered: the race is on now. It surprised me at that point of the race. It was nowhere near the starting line or the finishing line. Somewhere in the middle and yet all this cheering!

I got a nice thought out of this. There is always a lot of cheering at the starting and finishing lines. Maybe there is a lot less cheering that goes on in the middle part. It was the middle part that these runners were experiencing the cheering. It was like those cheering saying “Thank you for continuing this far, and please keep going to the end.” I am thankful for my brothers and sisters who have words of cheer like that for me. I would like to know better how to have those words of cheer for my brothers and sisters. Many of you are in the middle part and maybe you feel there is not a lot of cheering going on. Many expectations for us who are in the middle part, and it would be nice to remember those who are in the middle part. Thank you for continuing this far, please keep going to the end. I even think of my fellow workers here. I have never met very many of them before. I know what it is like to be in this ministry, and it is wonderful when someone new begins. The longer I am in this work the more I realise that it is a miracle that anyone continues. I say to my fellow workers in this ministry: Thank you for continuing this far and please keep going to the end.

Revelation 3:7-8 “To the angel of the church of Philadelphia write: these things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth and no man can openeth. I know thy works.”

It is speaking about Jesus: he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth and no man can openeth. He has the key of David. The key opens the door. Jesus has a key that opens the same door as David had the key for. Or maybe it would be more correct to say that David had the same key as Jesus had. Because he had the same key as Jesus had, and because he had the same key as Jesus had it opened wonderful doors for him. Can you think of anything that David had that Jesus also had?

I was wondering what the writer was thinking about. In Acts 13:22 I found: “When he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.” I don’t know if that is the key that is spoken of in Revelation, but that is a key. A key that will open wonderful doors, the key that came to my mind was not to do my own will, but I came to do the will of God. That is a wonderful key that we can have.

There is something else I enjoyed thinking about this key of David. In 2 Samuel 5 when David was crowned King of all Israel, he had a battle to fight because there was a part of Jerusalem that he wanted to conquer. It was called Zion. David and his men attacked the stronghold of Zion and conquered it. David made that his power. I do not know much of the details of David’s power. Power could open a lot of doors and a lot of rooms.

I looked at Buckingham Palace and it has 775 rooms. That is an awful lot of doors. Many of those doors are off-limits to the public, and many of those rooms and doors are off-limits to the servants. But what about the King? I think the King has the key to all those doors. David with his power, there may have been some rooms and doors off limits to the public, and off-limits even to some of his servants. But David had the key that opened all the doors to all the rooms. We can say that about Jesus because Jesus has the key. Some wonderful rooms have been opened up to us.

First of all, I was thinking about the throne room. You do not go rushing into the throne room. Jesus has opened it up to us. He has given us the opportunity to enter into the throne room of God. We can wait there, find grace there, and find mercy there because Jesus has the key that opens access to the throne.

I understand you can tour Buckingham Palace and there are certain rooms the public can tour through. I think the throne room is one room, they will let you look in. Picture this: you come down a long hallway, open the door to the throne room and step in. You step into that lavishly decorated room. Down at the other end of the room is the throne. It looks like an antique piece of furniture. The upholstery of satin and velvet and maybe threads of gold. It represents the seat of power and glory of the King. You are standing in the throne room looking down at the throne. There is one outstanding feature of that throne. You know what it is? The throne is empty.

I do not know how often King Charles will sit on the throne. Maybe a couple of times, or three times if there is a special occasion. I know when he was crowned, he sat on the throne for some photographs. Our God is on the throne, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Continually on the throne, and never will we approach the throne and find he is not there. Our God is on the throne and completely in control. Continuously on the throne and completely aware of everything that happens.

There is one outstanding feature about God’s throne. Rev 4:6 “Before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal.” I could hardly picture what that would be like. You people don’t live too far from the sea here. One time back in North America I was standing on the coast looking out over the sea, and someone said “The sea is calm today.” I thought to myself “Calm?” The tide was coming in, the surf and the waves and ripples. Maybe it was calmer than it had been in the past. The sea before God’s throne is a sea of glass. That means there is not a ripple and there is not a wave and there is no tide, but complete and perfect peace and calm. A wonderful thing is we do not have to wait until eternity to come before that throne. Jesus has opened access so we can approach God as often as we want. All around us, the storm is surging wild. But before God’s throne, there will be perfect peace and we can access that. There will be an influence of peace all around us. It is a wonderful privilege we have, coming before the throne.

Revelation 12 “There was war in heaven, Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels. And prevailed not; neither was there place found any more in heaven.” Michael seemed to be one of the angels who had some authority. Here war breaks out in heaven, war in heaven. God was on his throne and well aware war had broken out in heaven. God did not even get off his throne, and it is like God said “Michael, you go and look after that,” he did not even leave the throne. He was not even nervous. So, when war breaks out on the earth, do you think God is nervous? God is still on the throne, in control and interested in every detail. The plan is unfolding perfectly and completely on track. Sometimes it may not seem that way, but it is perfectly on track because God is in control. Amen.

Hymn 1.

Luke 2 v 8 “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field keeping watch over their flock by night.”

For many years I have heard about the huge sheep industry in Australia. I have heard there are millions of sheep being raised in your country. I have heard something is changing and sheep farmers are not so interested in sheep anymore, the money is just not in it. I have been told since coming here there is no money in raising sheep anymore. There is no value in a sheep. And there is no value in a lamb. And people are turning to something else that has value in it, there is no value in a lamb.

I thought about Jesus the Lamb, and this thought: could it be that people are feeling like there is no more value in the Lamb, no longer any value in Jesus? And I think we are finding that in the world. And the world is pushing the lamb out of the picture. Because people no longer see any value in the Lamb. They are looking at something else that has value to them and looking for something else to fill their time. And I fear within my own heart and the heart of the Lord’s people that we would ever feel somehow there is no longer any value in the Lamb. That would be a sad feeling if that was in my heart.

One thing I am trying to do is to read my hymn book and our hymns, and we have beautiful hymns. We have some very beautiful hymns, and we all know that. I do not mean just the tunes, the words of the hymns are beautiful. And in the evening I open up my hymn book and slowly read a hymn. And I have found that so rewarding. There are some beautiful thoughts captured in some of our hymns.

One hymn that I have appreciated is the one we just sang, number one. We all know that hymn so well. Did you ever notice in that hymn the five things it says about Jesus? In verse two it says he was despised and afflicted, homeless, rejected and poor. None of those things are desirable, and none of those things are a pleasant situation to be in. And Jesus had them all. Homeless and poor was more by choice, because he was setting the standard and the example for the New Testament ministry, and he himself was homeless and poor for the gospel’s sake. He was also afflicted and that means he faced experiences that were hurtful. He faced experiences that left him hurting. Being rejected means he was being cast out and he was a cast-out. Then there is this word despised. And that means he was treated as of little value. Despised not worth very much. And it would be a terrible thing if I despised God’s Lamb. And what I hoped for myself and all of us was that we could just really see clearly the value of the Lamb. To see the tremendous value of Jesus the Lamb.

In this little verse, the Shepherds were keeping watch over their sheep by night. And that tells me they valued the lambs. The Shepherds would spend the night awake and watching so that sheep could rest and have peace. The sheep could rest, because the shepherd was awake. An evening would come and the shepherd would get the sheep and put them in a little enclosure, maybe on the hillside. And I believe once the sheep were in the enclosure the shepherd would take the bed roll and roll it out across the doorway. That way if the enemy ever came near, first of all, he would have to deal with the Shepherd before he could get to the sheep.

We read some of the enemies of the sheep were bears, lions and wolves. And the Shepherd had worked out that the enemy likes to attack in the dark. And when it was dark the shepherds were awake and the sheep could rest. And Jesus is like our shepherd and we are the sheep and the enemy is like the enemy of our soul, Satan. One thing we find is that the Devil will often attack us when it is dark. And some of our experiences we say are dark or night experiences, and maybe you have discovered in the dark experiences the enemy likes to attack. And I know in this past year you and I have had some dark experiences, and I have a feeling the enemy has attacked you in the dark, just like he has attacked me in the dark. And it was a comforting thought to me to think of Jesus the Shepherd and maybe we have no idea how many times he warned off the enemy. And we have no idea because he was watching and he was awake. We feel grateful that we are still here and the flock is together. We give thanks for the care of the Shepherd.

What would happen if one of those enemies did attack the flock? We have a little story in the Bible that tells us exactly what happened and it is an account given by the Shepherd. And you know the story about David. And when David was standing before Saul. V 34-36 “And David said unto Saul, thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion and a bear and took a lamb out of the flock; and I went out after him and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth; and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defiled the armies of the living God.” It seems both the lion and the bear came and attacked the flock. We have no details about what happened when the bear came other than David slew the bear. But it says about the lion that it took a lamb out of the flock. Then it tells us what the shepherd did. There is the lion and he has got the lamb in its mouth and David said I went up and slew him and delivered the lamb out of its mouth. The enemy of the Lamb became the enemy of the shepherd. The lamb was delivered and did you notice what David did when the lion turned on him? I can hardly believe it, and David took him by the beard. I didn’t think you would do that with lions, unless you were a shepherd, and you loved the flock and the enemy had taken one of the little lambs. I suppose David did not even think twice.

The Shepherd got very close to the enemy. And he caught him by the beard and smote him. The little lamb is like you and me and David the shepherd is like Jesus and I see the lion as my sin. And sometimes our sin gets hold of us and it is destroying us. And I think of Jesus and he got very close to our sin, he got very close to the enemy, so close that he took our sin upon his shoulders, so close he lost his life as a ransom for us so we could be delivered from our sin.

And then what happened? The lion is dead and it is laying on the ground and it is no longer a threat to the little lamb. You do not read this, but I picture David turning to that little lamb and he crouches down beside the little lamb that is wounded and hurting and bleeding and frightened and weakened. And you can almost picture the shepherd scooping up that little lamb in his arms and holding it to himself and then carrying it off to the fold. Such gentleness and tenderness towards the little lamb that had almost been destroyed. And when we think back to times when we have been delivered from our sin because of his sacrifice and I think we have to say he dealt with me so gently and so tenderly and so kindly when he got me back to the fold again.

Amos 3 v 12 “Then saith the Lord; as the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so, shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed and in Damascus in a couch.” We would think that is absolutely hopeless, my foolish heart says there is no more hope and all that is left is two legs and a piece of ear. Maybe we look back over our experience, maybe there have been some that we have known, some who have been so badly wounded and maybe in our foolish heart there is no hope for them and it has gone too far. And when God saw two legs, he saw two legs that still walk, and the peace of ear that could still hear, God saw hope. Even if we are that far gone and completely torn by the enemy and there is still hope there, there are two legs that can walk and a piece of an ear that can hear. Reading over this helped me to see the wonderful love in the Lord Jesus, not only was he the shepherd, but he is also our Redeemer.

John 1 v 29 “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.” And John looks up and sees Jesus coming and it is almost like he blurts it out: Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world and that is not the only thing that thrilled John, and when he looked up, he saw Jesus coming unto him. One of the most thrilling and comforting pictures a simple person will ever see is the Lamb of God coming unto them. And the Lamb of God with all his provision of cleansing and forgiveness and love and mercy and you see him coming to me. It is the most beautiful picture a simple person would ever see.

The next day he saw Jesus walking and he said the same thing: behold the Lamb of God, it does not say that Jesus was coming to him, maybe Jesus was going to someone else, the same thrill was in the heart of John when he saw Lamb of God going to someone else. And I am glad I feel the same kind of thrill in my heart to think of Jesus with all his provision and love and mercy and forgiveness going to someone else.

And in John 6 we read the disciples needed rest and Jesus said you can come into a desert place and rest a while. They got into a ship and they sailed across the lake. And they are heading to the place of rest and they are coming into shore and the disciples are looking forward to this place of rest. And they looked up and you know what they saw and they saw another multitude of people. And I could imagine what the disciples were feeling, oh not more people! They were so looking forward to the place of rest. And Jesus was always happy to see all these people and he was moved with compassion and he was able to teach them many things. And I asked myself did the disciples miss getting their rest? And I wonder if the rest was that little quiet time that they had alone with Jesus in the ship. I do not know how long it would take to sail across that lake. And that period of time that they were alone with Jesus was their rest. The real rest for your soul and mine when we have a quiet time alone with Jesus.

Jesus is speaking to this multitude. And the disciples came to Jesus with a whole bunch of problems. They said this is a desert place, the time is far past and it is getting late. There is a multitude of people here that are all hungry and we have nothing to give them to eat. And they were probably thinking we have not had our rest yet. And maybe the disciples did not have the best spirit, and I know how I would have reacted. And Jesus said, don’t send people away, give them something to eat.

And it tells us it was near the time of the Passover. There would be several Passovers that Jesus would have kept in his lifetime, and Jesus would know that one day he would be the fulfilment of that, that he would be the Passover Lamb. And I wonder when Jesus was keeping the Passover himself if he was wondering one day it is going to be me. And the disciples have this problem and Jesus said give them to eat. And Jesus said to Phillip Where shall we buy bread so these can eat? V 6 “And this he said to prove him; for he himself knew what he would do.” And in the back of Jesus’ mind, he knew what he was going to do one day, that he was going to be the Passover Lamb. And here is this multitude of people who are hungry and how are they going to meet the needs of those people? And Jesus knew one day I’m going to give my life as a sacrifice and that is what is going to really meet the needs of those hungry and needy people. Jesus knew what he himself would do.

And I think Jesus knew about the little lad there. The gift that Jesus would offer was his life and he so easily could have kept it to himself and the needs of the people would never have been met. And the little lad who gave the gift could have kept it for himself, but instead, he offered it, and because he offered it the needs of many people were met that day. I wonder if Jesus himself was encouraged by that little lad.

John 8 we read about the woman who was taken in her sin. And there was this mob bringing this woman and interrupting his meeting. Master, this woman was taken right in the act of sin. And Moses says she should be stoned, what do you say? And when I read that I wonder who Jesus was now? And one day Jesus would be the sin-offering and the sin-bearer. And what answer will the sin-bearer give when they come and ask that question? Moses says this woman should be stoned; she should be put to death. And they are asking the sin-bearer. And Jesus just stooped down and wrote on the sand. And thinking in his mind she does not need to die; it is me that is going to die. I am going to be the one who is dying for the sin.

John 11 we read about this man and Lazarus and Mary and Martha. And a family unit as they were all siblings. That family meant a lot to Jesus, it seems like they were friends to him, and he appreciated their friendship and fellowship. And Lazarus became sick. And they notified Jesus of that, and it was serious, and Jesus waited two days. And then Lazarus died. It was a new thought to me. To think of the possibility that Lazarus was sick because he had sinned. I do not know that for sure. And remember sickness and sin were connected. And there is a possibility Lazarus became sick because of some sin that had taken place. Almost like the lion had grabbed him. Jesus never went straight away. Finally, when Jesus went, they took him to the grave where Lazarus was. Lazarus is in the grave and wrapped up in the grave clothes and it is all sealed up. And Jesus wept. I do not believe Jesus was weeping because of his friendship with Lazarus, and I wonder if he was weeping because of what Lazarus had become entangled with, all that he had got wrapped up in, and now where it had led him. That is what sin does to us, gets us all entangled and gets us all wrapped up and we go to places we would never choose to go. And maybe that is why Jesus wept. When they rolled away the stone, Jesus maybe remembered what he would do: one day he was going to give his life as a sacrifice for sin.

Jesus said Lazarus come forth, and he is still wrapped up in the grave clothes. And it must’ve been a great relief for Lazarus to get untangled from all that, that he had been entangled with, just free. And now he had life again and the wonderful thing was he was no longer sick, and that is what the forgiveness of God is able to do also. The little lamb released from the mouth of the lion.
John 12 v 1-3 “Then Jesus six days before the Passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead. Whom he raised from the dead. There they made him a supper, and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. Then took Mary a pound of ointment, of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.” In other gospels, it tells us this meal took place in the home of Simon the Leper. And I say who’s home, a leper’s home. And you remember leprosy is very contagious, and the lepers outside the gates of the city are crying unclean so no one will come close. And here is this meal being held in the house of the leper. And I think the only way that could happen is if the leprosy had been cleansed like Jesus had done it.

The song in Simon’s heart would be: I am so thankful he cleansed me. Then there is Lazarus and the song in his heart: I am so thankful he raised me from the dead. And Martha cannot help but serve, and here she is serving in someone else’s home, and the song in Martha’s heart would be: I just want to be a help. And here is Mary with this precious ointment and [the song of Mary’s heart would be]: I just want to express my love for Jesus. And there are 11 faithful disciples and their song is I just want to follow Jesus, and I just want to take this gospel story and share with others what I enjoyed so much myself. Could we imagine this little meeting and the spirit each one was contributing by the experiences that they have been through? And then there was Jesus himself on the verge of his offering. You are all from various experiences and I know each one of you can contribute something very special to your little meeting group by the spirit that you bring, because of the experiences that you have been through and have something wonderful. Don’t be like Judas as he came with a sour spirit. And he spoiled it all.

John 13 and the little gathering there. And now Jesus and his disciples were gathering around the Lamb. And the Passover feast they were keeping in the upper room. And there before them on the table is the slain Lamb. And everyone would know that it represented something. And it represented something that happened 1500 years before when there was a great deliverance from Egypt. And I think of those 13 men partaking of the Lamb. I wonder if it was possible to partake of the Lamb without having one thought about what happened in Egypt 1500 years before. I think it was possible. Just feeding on the Lamb without a single thought of what it represented.

In Matthew 26 v 26 “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, take eat; this is my body.” And while they were eating the lamb that represented Jesus and Jesus introduced the other emblems that represented the very same thing, it represented himself, his sacrifice. So, as we partake of the emblems every Sunday morning and you think it is possible to partake of the emblems and not have one single thought of what they represent? I would hope it would have more meaning as I would partake of those emblems. And Jesus said this bread is my body and helps me understand that if I think of the body as part of him that was human and this is the part of me that was human and broken for you. And there were many times that the human of Jesus was broken long before he got to the cross. Every time Jesus resisted temptation his human was being broken and subdued. Every time Jesus passed over a wrong thought his human was broken. Every time he withheld a wrong word, or subdued something using up in his spirit. And as we would partake of the bread is saying I am willing I am willing for the part of me to be broken. I want to resist temptation like Jesus did.

And the cup that represents his blood that was shed for us, and the forgiveness it offers. The Scriptures teach us two things that will keep us from being forgiven. And one is that we don’t repent, and the other one is we do not forgive. So, when we partake of that cup it is like saying I am fulfilling the conditions of forgiveness, I have repented anything I need to repent and I have forgiven everyone that I need to forgive. And if those two things are true, we can partake. It is a searching thing. I want more meaning when I partake of those emblems. And then maybe for some in the fellowship meeting that is not your portion to partake of the emblems yet. We have a hymn that gives your portion if you’re not partaking of the emblems, but the emblems are there. That’s hymn 391 and the first verse: “Lord, we go round thy footstool, bowed in deep humility; as we look upon the emblems, we remember Calvary.” And if it is not your portion to partake of the emblems, it would fulfill the meaning as you look on them, they will have the same kind of meaning to you, that deep meaning of the sacrifice of Jesus. Amen.

Matt 14:23

Peter said to Jesus: Bid me come to thee on the water. When he began to sink he cried Lord help me!

Those in the Bible who pressed forward.

That is an expression of true faith: going forward regardless of the outcome.

If something is out of our control it isn’t out of God’s control. Faith is comfortable being out of control, it can rest in that.

Human nature gets anxious when it’s not in control. It will come up with a dialogue, lies, a fabricated truth, another flavour to be palatable to be believed, because of wanting to control the outcome. Faith isn’t looking for that control.

Jesus didn’t say to Peter you have no faith. He had faith, he walked on the water. When we step out of our comfort zone, the waves are real, stark. To start with Peter wasn’t mindful of the waves, only mindful of Jesus. Then he became mindful of the waves and things changed.

Waves can be many things in our experience.

What people say about us can be like a huge wave. Boisterous times. What do people say about me, about us, about our ministry?

Jesus asked what do people say about me? Jesus didn’t have those cares as he knew the truth. It didn’t affect Jesus.

Waves of controversy that aren’t applicable to our situation can sink us. Peter was out there because Jesus called him.

Peter getting out of the ship is like Jesus calling the ministry, to leave their security. No insulation against the realities of life, except the faith to obey.

We don’t do this because we enjoy it, or can’t do anything else. I’m here because God called me.

Rock climber scaling a rock, with a coil of rope, screwing in anchor points as they climb, because they’ll slip at some stage, and fall to the last anchor, which might give and then they’ll fall to the next.

I’ve fallen before and my anchor point has held me.

I was in a home once with a group of people. Then they started talking about someone and I felt very uncomfortable, then angry. I felt I had to excuse myself. I went to my room and prayed for the peace I needed. A scripture came to mind which has become an anchor point for me.

Isaiah 40:31 “They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

The power of the eagle is to rise above the situation. I returned to the group, who were still talking about the same topic. But God had given me His peace in a situation where I had none.

We’ve committed to a relationship with God. Keep it sacred, like a sacred marriage, which takes sacrifice to keep it healthy. If we don’t sacrifice we’ll lose our power.

Peter knew he just must obey Jesus.

John 21. 18-

Peter was going to live to an old age and learn to graciously accept what others provided for him and where they would lead him, and in this he was going to glorify God, with someone else in control and not him.

When a small business is growing a time comes to either sell up or reinvest for growth. What did Jesus do? Curse Judas and prevent anything further happening? Jesus prayed more earnestly. Reinvesting. Resigning to the thought of controlling his outcome. Submitting to whatever was in God’s control.

God wants to express himself in our submitted lives. How sacred am I keeping my relationship with God? Reading, praying. Everything else revolved around our relationship with God.

Jacob in Gen 32. Blessed by God. Then hears Esau is coming to meet him with 400 men. Jacob is distressed. (This is a spiritual story. I’m not being critical of Jacob) .

V9 he puts the responsibility on God. I am where you want me to be. Deliver me from Esau, because I fear him. Jacob struggled with the fear of Esau, not with Esau. The fear is the giant.

Fear knocked at the door, faith answered, and no one was there.

If darkness knocks at the door and light answers, no one is there. Where light is weak, darkness takes up the slack.

Jacob didn’t let go of the angel till he had peace. The blessing of peace.

Ch32v28. The meaning of the name Israel: Struggling with God and man. Power with men, not power over men.

Jacob bowed 7 x meeting Esau, that’s power with men. It’s not in the DNA of man to humble himself before someone else.

7 x, means completely. He didn’t care about the outcome, he had complete peace whatever the outcome was going to be.

Joseph, sold at 17, ruler of Egypt at 30.

22 years later his brothers came to buy corn. He wanted to hear the story from them. He knew his own story.

Gen 42.

They said, We be true men. A bold statement!

One is not.

Gen 44.

Judah stepping forward, with no control of the outcome, with a beautiful spirit. 22 years before he had sold his brother with evil in his heart, but now what a change. Joseph was looking at him seeing him giving his life for another, so Benjamin could go free.

That truth set them all free.

Gen 44. 20 –

His brother is dead. First they said, he is not, now they say, he is dead. But he wasn’t dead. They had come to believe their own lie.

Saul lost the goodwill of serving Israel and got consumed with his own little world. Saul sold out to misconception. He thought, I’ve obeyed the lord, and Samuel said, no you haven’t!

God knows the truth. He longs for us to acknowledge the truth before him, otherwise repentance will not be on the table.

Have we become the Judah in our experience? He didn’t know the man in front of him had the power to set him free, but he was resigned, empty.

Imagine them all free, facing their father.

43.14 –

Jacob would feel, I’m letting everything go when letting my boy go.

The only way we’ll live is by letting our Benjamin go.

Joseph came back into his life as well! A picture of the resurrection! When we are completely open before him.

Esther, to Mordecai,

Ch 4.13

All the Jews would be killed. Who knows if you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this. The ball is on your court . What are you going to do? Fast, pray, work for a solution.

She said, I’ll go, if I perish I perish. Everything was on the line. She wasn’t trying to control the outcome. She surrendered and let God open up the way.

Jesus turning water into wine. The servants obeyed and went. In the process of them obeying a whole season of growth, and substance was injected into that wine. Who got the glory? His disciples believed on Him.

We must keep our relationship sacred by having a covenant with our eyes and our tongue.

We were just singing, “Is it nothing to you?” Over and over in our convention, we have heard the servants thank God many times for the sacrifice of Jesus. That is one of the main reasons Jesus came to earth, to be a sacrifice for sin, but in the Gospels there are at least ten reasons why Jesus came to this world. Most people think that is the only reason – Jesus came and it will take care of everything but there are other reasons why Jesus came.
Matthew 5:17, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.” In Vietnam, we have a lot of students that we teach English to from the Bible. It is a good way to get them acquainted with Jesus. They don’t know about the Bible or have not heard about Jesus. Jesus is the only man whose life story was told before He was born. 700 years before Jesus was born, Isaiah wrote many things about Jesus so that is one very good reason to believe in Jesus. There have been other individuals in this world in history books and thousands or millions of people follow their teaching, but not one word was said about them before they were born. They were self made people.
Jesus was with His Father in Heaven before the world began. God has a plan and God has a calendar, and everything is falling into place according to God’s calendar. After Joseph and Mary were married, maybe one night Joseph was reading the scroll of Hosea and he came to this verse, “When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.” [Hosea 11:1]. Maybe Joseph said to Mary, “Look at what was written by Hosea, 700 years before Jesus was born. We did the right thing when the angel spoke to us and we made that long trip to Egypt, because this is the very thing that was said before Jesus was born.” It is one good reason for people to believe in Jesus.
That hymn speaks about the great Judgement Day coming, and every one of us will be there fulfilling scripture (Matthew 25). All nations will be gathered and there will be two groups: the sheep and the goats. So, we are going to be there either as a sheep or as a goat, fulfilling scripture on that day. Can we picture ourselves? Which group are we going to be amongst, the sheep or the goats? God is going to separate the sheep from the goats. All a shepherd has to do is call his sheep and they recognise his voice and they come, but the goats will never recognise the voice of Jesus because they have never followed Jesus. Goats will respond to the voice of a goatherd, but none of those goats will respond to the voice of Jesus, the Shepherd. Those who recognise His voice are those who have heard it and responded to it in [their] lifetime, so every one of us here will be fulfilling scripture some day in the future.
Matthew 9:13, “But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Some were critical of Jesus because He ate with publicans and sinners. That is another reason why Jesus came to this earth, not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. When I listened to the Gospel, there was a lot I didn’t know. I didn’t start to read the Bible until I was 22. I thought that Jesus would just come back for the good people and leave the bad people behind, but that is not right. Jesus said that He did not come to call the righteous. People who are not sick don’t need a physician. God allowed sin in this world because sin will cause people to be drawn towards God, not to be repelled from Him. Sin causes people to do foolish things, maybe they become addicted to things and lose their jobs or their families. We know some who have lost businesses, homes, and almost lost their lives because of sin, but man’s extremity is God’s opportunity and some have realised that their only hope is calling upon God. So, Jesus said He came not to call the righteous, and sinners respond to the Gospel more than the righteous.
What is repentance? I like the Chinese character for repentance. It is two characters, one over the other; one means, “I’m sorry” and the other means, “I change.” Sin leads people into a lot of things they feel sorry about. Repentance is saying, “I am indeed sorry for what I have done but I want to change and I want to stay changed with the help of God.” Repentance is the result of listening to the Gospel; a change of heart and mind of life and master. Repentance is like making a u-turn and all things become new.
We heard about the two men at the temple praying. The Pharisee said, “Lord, I am thankful I am not like this publican.” The publican couldn’t even lift up his eyes. I had a companion once who used to say the Pharisee probably also added, “Lord, Heaven would be lonesome without me. I can just see the angels leaning out the door waiting for me to come!”
Matthew 10:34, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth; I came not to send peace, but a sword.” That sounds kind of strange but a lot of people think that Jesus came to make this world a more peaceful place. No, Jesus didn’t come to conquer this world square mile by square mile, but one soul at a time. After three and a half years of public ministry, it seems like there were just 500 souls who believed and were gathered together after Jesus arose from the dead; not very many. To those who choose to follow Jesus, it always makes a little conflict in families or conflict with friends. One young man listened to the Gospel and went against his family’s wishes. His father stood in the doorway and said, “You are not going past me,” but the young man did and as a result of him listening to the Gospel, his younger brother professed and is now in the work. Another brother professed and another brother who was separated from his wife professed. He and his wife listened to the Gospel individually and they ended up back together. It was too much for their father, and gradually Dad and Mum came and professed also, as a result of one young man going against his father’s wishes.
The best way we can love our families is by following Jesus. If I had listened to my parents, I would not be here tonight but as a result of my choice, my parents made their choice some 17 years later. It brought a sword, but gradually things changed. In the 1980’s, a couple in Canada were looking for peace. They wanted to find a place to live where there was no trouble. That is not peace. Peace is having the presence of God in the midst of trouble. Anyway, they read about the Falkland Islands and decided they would go and live there. Two weeks after they moved there, war broke out and they were lying on the floor dodging bullets. They didn’t find peace in that place. Peace comes as a result of listening to the Gospel story of Jesus and surrendering to the will of God. In Vietnam, many of our friends came through the Vietnam War. Some spent two years, five years or ten years in prison but through it all, they still had peace in their hearts because they had the presence of God with them.
Mark 1:38, “And He said unto them, ‘Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also for therefore came I forth.’” That is another reason why Jesus came, to preach the Gospel. I like what Matthew told us about the Gospel being like a little seed. The Gospel is a miracle waiting to happen. If a little seed could talk it would say, “Just give me the right conditions and I will produce a life just like the life I came from.” The Gospel would say, “Give me the good soil and the right conditions and I will produce the life of Jesus.” Inside a pumpkin seed there is a miniature pumpkin plant. In the Gospel seed, I believe there is a miniature life of Jesus, the spirit of Jesus. Colossians 1:27, “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
Gospel: God Offers Sinful People Eternal Life. What else is good news in this world? It would be a challenge to find anything in a newspaper that is good news. Most people know that Cain slew Abel, but they don’t know that Adam and Eve also had other children. People thrive on bad news, but the Gospel is good news. An unusual thing happened in a school on the first day of a Grade 12 class, when the teacher asked the students to write an essay about their faith. They got up and ran for the encyclopedias, but one of our friends just took a piece of paper and started writing. She handed it in and she got an A+. The other students said, “How come you gave us Bs and Cs?” The teacher said, “She wrote from her heart.” She wrote, “My church has been from the beginning.” That is what John said, “My Gospel is from the beginning.” It doesn’t come in books; it comes in boots. The Gospel is a living message brought by living messengers that are sent by a living God.
Adam Hutchinson was in India many years ago visiting with the Indian High Commissioner. This man, Mr. Wilson, asked him about his work and he said, “It’s the living Gospel and it comes to people in boots, not in books. That is why we travel with the Gospel.” Mr. Wilson said, “If that is the case, how would the Shah of Iran happen to hear the Gospel?” When President Gandhi was assassinated in 1948, this Mr. Wilson had professed by then and moved to Iran, where he was asked to give a memorial service. Mr. Wilson was moved to give his testimony and the Shah of Iran was there. So, the Gospel comes in boots, not in books.
I was invited to my first Gospel meeting in someone’s home. When I walked into the room all was quiet, a few folks were looking at their Bibles and it struck me that this is how it would have been in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago. I will never forget the feeling I had in that Gospel meeting. I John 1:1, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life.” John spoke about the word of life. When we speak words to one another, it is a way of getting what is in my mind to your mind. This was the living word, the means of getting what was in God’s heart into your heart. That is why Jesus was the living Word with a capital letter. “Manifested” means “demonstrated.” John saw it demonstrated before him and the life of Jesus is still demonstrated in the lives of God’s servants and people. I once saw a man cutting circles out of plate glass. I had never seen that done before. He was demonstrating the tool and I was tempted to buy that tool, but what would I do with a circular glass cutter? Jesus demonstrated that which we have seen and heard.
Our fellowship is with the Father, and there are two kinds of fellowship: golden and silver fellowship. People have become like gold to Him because that gold has been brought to the surface. We all have a potential, but it is hard to dig it out of some. When we have fellowship in the Gospel, it is very precious to God. On the other side, this fellowship with one another is silver fellowship. The fellowship with God and His Son is gold and it comes first. After that comes silver fellowship. We cannot have it unless the golden fellowship comes first, and as a result, we love God’s people more and more.
I John 3:14, “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.” It is a wonderful assurance when we feel that we love God’s people and we love God’s servants. It is an assurance that we are alive to God. We have fellowship with God and we are in God’s care, so that is the invitation that God gives you. When you choose to follow Jesus and to have fellowship with God’s people, it is choosing to have fellowship with God and with Jesus. It is also choosing to allow the power of the Gospel to bring this gold to the surface so that we can know wonderful fellowship with God and have the peace of God within our hearts in spite of what is happening around us. We can have eternal hope and fellowship with God and with His people continuing in the ages to come. Eternal life is not something that happens after you die; it is something that happens now. If a doctor could give you a pill to live another 100 years, would you take it? I don’t think so. Eternal life is not just quantity, it is quality. It begins now and leads on to the eternal ages, and there will be a quality about it that is much better than you can ever imagine.

Luke 18:9-14 God hears the sinner’s cry. We are counselled to pray, and to recognize our needful condition.
Ja 1:5 To not pray for wisdom is telling God we think we have enough. To admit that we are wrong is to say that we are wiser today than we were yesterday.
Psalms 107:6, “Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble and He delivered them out of their distresses”. It was in times of trouble that they cried and the Lord heard. Jesus is always listening when we cry unto Him in trouble.
Luke 10:21, Jesus prayed, He was thankful for hiding these things from the wise and prudent, but revealed to babes. When we are thankful for the Lord’s revelations, we should pray to show we are thankful.
Colossians 1:9, Paul said, “We do not cease to pray for you and to desire that you be filled with the knowledge of his will and all spiritual understanding.” We should pray when we want to help others.
Matthew 6:6, “When thou prayest, enter into thy closet and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father in secret, and thy Father, which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” We need to ‘shut the door’ to everything else, when we pray. It doesn’t say, “Hearest our prayer,” but “He seeth us in prayer, and He is anxious to respond.”
Acts 1:13-14, There are times when we pray openly in a meeting and times we pray in secret. Here the disciples were continuing with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with His brethren. Praying in a meeting is when we are praying to the Lord and our brethren hear us and can enter into our prayers. When we give our testimonies, we are speaking to our brethren and the Lord hears.
1 Timothy 2:8, “I will that men pray everywhere lifting up holy hands, without wrath or doubting.” There are times during the day when we can’t just drop down on our knees to pray. We can have a silent communication with the Lord anywhere or anytime.
Hebrews 11:6, “He that cometh to God must believe that He is and a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him.” We have to believe there is a God and that He hears our prayers.
Luke 6:12 It came to pass in those days that Jesus went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.
Long prayers are for the secret place, but short prayers are for meetings. All of Jesus’ public prayers were usually no more than one sentence (Luke 10:21). Meeting prayers should never be more than 2 sentences.
Matthew 9:38, “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth laborers into His harvest.” His harvest is souls. We need to pray that the Lord will move on the hearts of young men and women to go into the harvest field.
Colossians 4:3, “Withall praying for us; that God would open a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ.” We need to pray for those in the ministry that they would keep encouraged for seeking souls.
James 1:3, “If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally.” We all need the wisdom from above and will never have enough of it, so we need just to ask God. Ask in Faith, knowing that He will give it to us.
Matthew 5:44, “I say unto you, ‘Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you.’” This is probably the hardest thing that we will ever have to do and it can’t be done without the help of the Holy Spirit.
1 Timothy 2:1-3, “Pray for those in authority that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in Godliness and honesty. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour.”
Mark 13:33, “Take ye heed, watch and pray.” We don’t know when the Lord will return. Verse 32, no one knows when this will be, not the angels, not Jesus Himself.
1 John 5:14, this is the confidence we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He heareth us. We know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him. This is probably the most important thing in praying: that we ask according to His will.
Luke 18:7-8, God will avenge His own elect who cry unto Him night and day. But when Jesus comes, will He find faith on the earth? Faith in God is absolutely necessary for salvation.
Romans 8:26, “The Spirit helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us.” How grateful we can be for this help.
Psalm 66:18, “if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me”. Iniquity is our own thoughts and will.
He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law (doctrine of Christ), even his prayer shall be an abomination.
James 4:3, “Ye ask and receive not, because you ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your lusts.” This is a selfish prayer for our own human desires.. we’ll never receive anything this way.
Psalm 122:6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem (God’s Kingdom) They shall prosper that love Thee.
I Samuel 25:30-31, Abigail gave David some very good advice, “When the Lord has appointed thee ruler over Israel that this be no grief to thee nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hast avenged himself.” This advice was for when David became king over Israel, and he used it.
The power of prayer is without limits and will never be exhausted, and can be used anytime day or night.
KJV- Col 4:2-4 The Inner Life of Prayer
But beware:
KJV- Col 4:5-6 the Outer Life of Witness
The End  
drs///6/18

First of all, Ruta wants to say that she hasn’t written the following to receive sympathy but to show that these experiences were the means of leading her to enjoy things that are of Eternal worth.

I’d like to acquaint you with the youngest sister worker in Germany: Ruta Sprogis. She is 27 years old, truly a genuine, Godly girl. She, along with her companion, Anne Markle, visited us recently. I asked Ruta to give us her testimony, and it touched my heart so deeply, I want to share it with you. Ruta was born in East Prussia, near the Baltic Sea, the oldest of three children in the family. She had 2 younger brothers. Her parents were God-fearing Protestants.

————————————–

Until 1945 all went well for us. But then the Russian Front came near and we had to flee. But the Russians were much quicker than we were, and my father was taken away to their prison. They took away all our possessions. We became poorer and poorer. Mother had us three children, my two brothers – one 2 years old and the other 3, and I was 7 years old. We came as far west as the river, but the bridges had been destroyed, so we had to turn back.

During the next year we made our way back to our farm, but there was nothing there. The Russians had taken all, and there was no food. Mother and I had to take turns going begging. I remember, as a child, that my mother often told me about Jesus, who helped people in their need, and who went about doing good. When I was about 7 years old, I said to my mother one morning, “Mother, I’d like to see Jesus.” My mother answered, “Pray, my child. Perhaps God will show you Jesus in a dream.” I went to my room and did that, but the next morning I returned to my mother and said, “Mother, I prayed for God to show me Jesus, but I have not seen Him.” The answer was, “Just keep on praying, my child. Perhaps someday God will show Him to you.”

In 1947 my father came back from the Russian prison camp. Then again, they began to farm on a small portion of the land that had once belonged to us. In 1948, on Sunday a.m., some armed men came and took us all on a wagon to the town of Memel, where a train of cattle wagons was waiting for us. We were 70 to 80 people in such a wagon, old people, parents, and children all together. The doors were shut, and the train moved off to where we didn’t know. It was a 2 week trip. For the children, it was a new and exciting experience, a chance to see a little of the world, and nothing mattered, just as long as mother and daddy were along. Many became sick and died on the trip and others were born. We finally arrived in Siberia in a village called Grand Chicarsque. After 3 days in barracks, we were taken to a ship, and we traveled 24 hours on the river Jenisy, until we came to another river called Angara. There on the shores of this river we stayed 10 days and nights. The river was about 2 kilometers wide. The district looked rather nice: mountains, woods, wild trees, little villages made up of primitive huts. It was June, but the nights were icy cold, and it often rained. Every day we received something to eat, all in one pot.

Along with many others, my mother became very ill. She also had heart trouble. At the end of 10 days, all were led into a village. After another 2 weeks we came to the end and landed in a little village 1,000 kilometers from the nearest city and 1,000 kilometers from the nearest road or railway. A large group of people waited there for us. They were singing Russian. We were taken into barracks, many people together. After 3 days, those who were able to work were taken to another village, 18 km away. The father and other men, women and youth had to work felling trees in the woods. Once a week they were allowed to come home to their families. On Sunday evening they had to return. Mother and we children stayed in the barracks. We didn’t have very much to eat, and everyone was hungry.

My mother wasn’t able to go in search of food, so each morning at 3 a.m. I had to get up and go into the woods with other women to gather berries, mushrooms, and herbs. At this time, I was about 8 years old. We could hardly go later on in the day because of the heat and poisonous mosquitoes.

One afternoon when I returned from the woods with my berries, my little brothers, 5 and 6 years old, told me that mother had gone with some others into the woods to look for food but when those returned with whom the mother had gone, she was not with them. The women said they had lost sight of our mother and assumed that her pail was full and that she had returned home. At this time, I was 10 years old. I, along with some of those women there, went back to the woods to search for her, without avail. Darkness fell upon us, and we had to return home, sick at heart.

Our father came home that evening, and it was a sight I’ll never forget. He looked into the room, saw the 3 children huddled together, crying, and when he was told what had happened, he collapsed. The next day, he and some of his friends set out to search for his wife but found no trace. They assumed she was either eaten by wild animals, or that she sank in quicksand. This happened in August.

Then the need in our family was still greater. I was then 10 years old and had the responsibility for my 2 brothers who were then 5 and 6. I gathered berries and mushrooms, ears of corn, and I sometimes even stole potatoes from the fields. My father had to return to the mines, of course, so the 3 children were left alone. Three whole months we stayed alone, only seeing the father once a week when he was allowed to come home. We always looked forward to the weekend when Father came. Although he could bring us hardly anything, we were glad to have him there. Each time the father came, he brought two small loaves of bread, which I carefully divided, so that each had a little each day. We were always the first to stand on the shore to wait for the boats coming in and were always the last to leave on Sunday evening when he went away.

Each day, I went seeking enough food to keep the 3 of us alive, until snow came, which was in September. A lot of people died in that time because of the great change in climate, hunger and work. After 3 months we were allowed to go to where Father was and live with him in a little room in the barracks. That was something very special for us to be with him every evening.

The winter was very severe, and my brothers became sick. In December of that year, the youngest boy, who had just turned 6, died. In February of 1949, the other boy, then 7, became very ill, and because there was no medication, he also died. Died of starvation and cold.

We prayed a lot in these experiences. Their death made a great impression on me, and I began to question, “Why do we live? What is the purpose of life? What does the future hold for me?” Everything seemed so dark, as dark as night. I prayed that God would send Jesus to help me, but He did not come. There was no help.

In the autumn of 1949 my father married again, a German woman, also a refugee. The circumstances were so that I had to leave them and I went to work for a Russian family who had 2 children. There I received enough bread and potatoes, and I also learned the Russian language. I even went to school in the mornings. In the afternoons I looked after the children, and in the evenings, I did my homework. Once a week I visited my father. We loved each other. I was with the Russian family for 4 years, and they were quite good to me. After that I returned to my parents. The circumstances had improved. Now and again I felt the desire to see Jesus and get to know Him, but I could not think how this would ever come about.

In 1956, I could return to Memel, but alone. My father and stepmother were not allowed to come with me. My father thought it was better for me. He didn’t want me to live under such difficult circumstances with them and thought I could get a better job there. So, in July 1956 I returned to Memel to my stepmother’s sister. They did not have much either, and I had just what I had saved and what my father had given me, which wasn’t enough to go to a higher school to learn anything. So, I had to look for work as soon as possible.

My first job was on a building, digging and carrying bricks and cement to the second and third floor. There were no cranes there in those days, and as much was expected of women as of men. After 2 months I had the opportunity to work in the household of a family, and there I learned to do housework their way. The lady was the head of the lingerie department in a large store. After 3 months she suggested I work in her store, as she needed an honest girl. I was very happy for this opportunity. I got to know more people, and different experiences among young people. But I could not enjoy the world as other young people did, and I still had the desire to get to know Jesus.

In 1956 Chancellor Adenauer visited Khrushchev in Moscow and discussed the matter of prisoners and refugees from Germany, and then made a law that the Germans who could prove their nationality and had relatives in West Germany could go to them. My mother’s sister was already in West Germany. They had more success in fleeing, and through the Red Cross she found out where we were, got the necessary papers for me and my father in Siberia.

In October of 1958 I visited my aunt in West Germany, near Hamburg. It seemed to me a wonderful country and I thought, “Now I have reached the land where I will be happy and have all I want.” I had to begin to learn the German language because I had forgotten it. By this time, I realized that this fairyland didn’t give me what I had expected and what I needed, and then I began to look for Jesus. I went to church, and then to other meetings. Everywhere I heard the Word of God, but not his life, and I was still dissatisfied.

In 1959 my parents also returned from Siberia and found a place to live in Bremen, Germany. Quite near to them, the brother workers put up their tent: Arnold Scharmen, Horst Schulz, and Jimmy Jennings. My parents were the first to attend the meetings. In August I started to live with them and in September I started to attend the meetings. I had completely forgotten the German language because in Russia I was not allowed to talk in German. (So, at this time she was just in the process of relearning German and couldn’t understand so much of what was said in the meetings.) Carl was able to speak Russian with me between meetings, which meant much to me. At that time the workers were: Arnold Scharmen, Horst Schulz, and Waldermar Dettmam.

These meetings brought me into fellowship with Jesus. Germany didn’t satisfy me, but the Kingdom of God did. My parents, sorry to say, didn’t accept the Truth and tried to destroy the life of Jesus in me, but God helped me, just like He helped Mary & Joseph to care for this life. Even though the parents attended the tent mission each evening, they went to the Lutheran Church each Sunday morning, and I had to go along. My father was very strict, but the time came when I saw I couldn’t continue going to both places. So, one Sunday morning, my father came to me and said, “Ruta, get ready. We’re going to church.” I looked at him and said, “No, father. I’m not going anymore.” My father was astonished at my answer, and fell to his knees, weeping and pleading. Ordinarily, I would have then given in. My love for my father was so great, but I thought, “I cannot.” I went to my room, weeping and got down on my knees and prayed that God would help me to have strength to do the right thing. I opened my Bible and it fell open to Matthew 10, where Jesus said, “If ye love father or mother more than Me, ye cannot be My disciple.” To me, this was the answer. I arose, put on sunglasses, so no one could see that I had been weeping, took my Bible and went to the park to await time to go to the Sunday AM meeting in the tent. That scripture was my testimony that morning. From that time on, my parents turned very bitter and never attended another meeting. They have made it very hard for me, but I remained true.

At the age of 24 years, I entered the Harvest Field. The strong dislike I had in my heart for the Russians, who brought so much suffering and grief on the family, has now turned to a deep love for the souls of those people, and my greatest desire is to carry the Gospel to Russia to help them to see Jesus, as I have seen Him.

In 1970 my stepmother died. I came home when she became ill to care for her. After her death, the sister workers had Gospel meetings in our home. My father listened every evening but still didn’t accept the Truth. Three years later it was again necessary for me to come home because of my own health, and meetings were held again. This time God could open the blind eyes of my father. He severed his connections with all other religions and began in simplicity to serve God. Now he is in hearty fellowship with God and His children. The meetings are held in his home, and his home is open for the workers. This is a great miracle to me, and I am thankful.
—————————
Ruta’s father is dead now. He left the home to a professing aunt, so meetings are still in the home. Ruta Sprogis laboured her last years in Siberia, but she became ill and came back to Germany, two months before she died. She died on December 28 of 2001, she was 63 years old.

NOTE:  Approximately three million German Prisoners of war were captured by the Soviet Union during WW2, most of them during the great advances of the Red Army in the last year of the war. By 1950 almost all surviving POWs had been released, with the last prisoner returning from the USSR in 1956.
(According to Google)

A little word: “misunderstood”, can cause so much distress.

Misunderstanding blocks the way that leads to happiness.

Motives, actions, and intentions that were meant for good

bring suspicion, pain, and trouble, when misunderstood.

If you hold a grudge against a person – talk it out.

Grievances will thrive, nursed in an atmosphere of doubt.

Give him a chance to clear himself, to try to make things right.

Maybe you will both see things in quite a different light.

Oh! The heartaches and the hurts and the word of anger spoken!

Oh! The lives that have been ruined and the friendships broken!

Oh! The feuds that have divided human brotherhood!

Oh! All because some word or deed has been misunderstood!

~~~

Misunderstandings can be taken care of in the place of prayer, where we forgive others as God has forgiven us.

How often do we pray?
Nehemiah 1:6, “Thou mayest hear the prayer of Thy servant which I pray before Thee day and night.”
Psalm 55:17, “Evening and morning and at noon, will I pray and cry aloud.”
Daniel 6:10, “He kneeled upon his knees three times a day and cried aloud.”
1 Thessalonians 5:17, “Pray Without ceasing. Be instant in prayer…” When people ask about our faith, before we answer, be instant in prayer to God, and He will speak through us to help others to know about Him.

[Has been circulated with attribution to George Walker, but can be found elsewhere: https://www.holyredeemerchurch.org/st-john-vianney-chapel.html]

You don’t have to be clever to please Me, all you have to do is want to love Me. Just speak to Me as you would to anyone of whom you are very fond.

Are there any people you are concerned for? Just say their name to Me and ask as much of Me as you like. I am generous, and know all their needs, but I want you to show your love for them and Me, by trusting Me to do what I know to be best. Tell Me about the poor, the sick, the suffering, the sinners and if you have lost friendship or affection of anyone, tell Me about it, too.

Is there anything you want for your soul? If you like, you can write out a list of all and come and read it to Me. Just tell Me about your pride, your tenderness, self-centeredness, prejudice, and laziness. Do not be ashamed, there are many saints in Heaven too, who had the same faults as you. They talked to Me about them, and little by little, their faults were corrected.

What is it you need today? Tell Me, for I long to do you good. What are your plans? You’ll discover as you share your deepest thoughts and feelings with Me that we will become closer friends than you ever dreamed possible.

And don’t you want to do anything for Me? Don’t you want to do a little good for the souls of your friends who perhaps have forgotten Me? Tell Me about your failures, and I will show you the cause of them.

What are your worries? Who has caused you pain? Tell Me about it and that you will forgive and forget and I will bless you.

Well, you go along now and get on with your work. Try to be more thoughtful of others you meet, and come back and share the days experiences with Me. Then, I can give you a better start for tomorrow.

James 1:2 Count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations
The problems we face will either defeat us or develop us, depending on how you respond to them.

Unfortunately, most fail to see how God wants to use problems for good in their lives. They react foolishly and resent their problems rather than pausing to consider what benefit they might bring.
Here are five ways God wants to use the problems in your life:
God uses problems to DIRECT you
Sometimes God must light a fire under you to get you moving. Problems so often point us in a new direction and motivate us to change. Is God trying to get your attention? “Sometimes it takes a painful situation to make us change our ways.” Proverbs 20:30
God uses problems to INSPECT you
People are like tea bags… if you want to know what’s inside them, just drop them into hot water! Has God tested our faith with a problem? What do problems reveal about us? “When you have many kinds of troubles, you should be full of joy, because you know that these troubles test your faith, and this will give you patience.” James 1:2-3
God uses problems to CORRECT you
Some lessons we learn only through pain and failure. It’s likely that as a child your parents told you not to touch a hot stove. But you probably learned by being burned. Sometimes we only learn the value of something … health, money, a relationship … by losing it. “It was the best thing that could have happened to me, for it taught me to pay attention to your laws.” Psalm 119:71-72
God uses problems to PROTECT you
A problem can be a blessing in disguise if it prevents us from being harmed by something more serious. A professing friend was fired for refusing to do something unethical that his boss had asked him to do. His unemployment was a problem, but it saved him from being convicted and sending prison a year later when management’s actions were eventually discovered. “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good…” Genesis 50:20
God uses problems to PERFECT you
Problems, when responded to correctly, are character builders. God is far more interested in your character than your comfort. Your relationship to God and your character are the only two things you’re going to take with you into eternity. We can rejoice when we run into problems. They help us learn to be patient. And patience develops strength of character in us and helps us trust God more each time we use it until finally our hope and faith are strong and steady. Romans 5:3-4
Here’s the point: God is at work in your life, even when we do not recognize it or understand it. But it’s much easier and profitable when we cooperate with Him. Success can be measured not only in achievements, but in lessons learned, lives touched and moments shared along the way.   

[Notes written by Don Shenton. They are an excerpt from his Study on Prayer] 

Lk 18:8 “Nevertheless, when the son of man cometh, shall He find faith on earth?” What are we going to make of this question? It must be one of the most important questions in the Bible. What thoughts arise? Jesus asked it to strengthen our faith, to awaken us from any spirit of indifference or apathy. There’s nothing in the verse to encourage us to ‘take it easy’. It’s rather a forecast of rough weather, troublous times ahead, and many hard battles to be fought. The question expresses the first condition of salvation, FAITH.

Jesus’ question reveals Jesus’ intense anxiety regarding the condition of His own at His return and what they should be doing with the time granted them before He returns. This verse is found at the end and not the beginning of His teachings concerning His return. He emphasized, “Men ought always to pray and not to faint.” He gives a wonderful example of perseverance: the account of a dishonest court of justice, an unscrupulous judge and a poor widow who would not ‘give up’, would not take NO for an answer. She didn’t accept a compromise, did not settle for less than right. It shows that even unrighteousness finally yields to a persistent appeal for justice.

This question calls for more than a passing thought. The issues are sobering and eternal. It suggests the kind of persons Jesus expects to find when He returns; the ones He will call “His elect”, who pray without ceasing, crying night and day unto God. Help will come, even be rewarded. Jesus will repay. He’ll heed the wrongs and see them righted.   

NEVERTHELESS, will He find some who have watched and kept their garments unspotted from the world? Who have not lowered their sights? Who have refused to surrender to a world’s system that glories in human attainments, immorality, intelligence, inventions, organizations and leadership. Will He find faithful souls, not deceived by false prophets and false christs with their lying miracles, when men’s hearts are failing them for fear of those things which are coming on the earth? The faithful, will they be lifting up their heads in prayer and for redemption, not overcharged with the cares of this life? Will He find some like the three Hebrew children, not frightened by consequences? Ready to die rather than bow to wrong or survive in dishonour. Will we quit fighting for Truth and Right, and join the crowd?

The Pharisees asked Jesus WHEN the Kingdom should come; the disciples asked WHERE. He answered, touching several points:   

The Kingdom is within you! God looks at the heart. It’s not in the outward show, making headlines or moved by those who say, “Lo He is here! Or Lo He’s there.” It will be a test of patience. “The days will come when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man and ye shall not see it”. In the long wait, amidst difficulties, sighing for deliverance; many long years He’ll tarry before He comes to repay and reward according to their works. He spoke of His own rejection and sufferings. They could expect the same experiences when the bridegroom shall no longer be with them.   

Regarding the condition of the world as His return nears, Jesus pointed to the days of Noah and Lot. There were people taken up with the material and human, with no thought of an impending doom.

Noah was a man of faith. When warned of God of things not seen as yet, he was the only one to believe and act upon it. He moved. He built an ark to save his house. Faith made Noah different. It governed his conduct. He was getting ready to leave; others were getting ready to stay. What are we Doing? What are we building? The earth was their paradise, the only one they wanted.

Noah accomplished all this in spite of the world where violence and corruption prevailed. Look at those three words: EVERY imagination and purpose of their heart was ONLY evil CONTINUALLY…” “EVERY”, without exception! ONLY, unmixed, unadulterated evil; rotten to the core and continually, at every moment.

In less than 2000 years, sin reached such proportions that God regretted that He made man. The Bible says the sins of Sodom were, “Pride, fullness of bread and abundance of idleness”. Sodom majored in eating and drinking, planting and building. It was a place of permissiveness and perversion, a fun-centre of flesh pots, indulgence and base passions. They were ready to treat Lot’s guests with rudeness and that they submit to the infamy that has given Sodom the name. The old man Lot, who lived among them, was jeered. Who was he to suggest a different pattern and dare violate their code. They had no time nor taste for old precepts; no pretence toward propriety. They were a demonstrating mob, wild with devilish demands.

God’s servants came as angels of mercy to lead any away from Sodom and to safety. They left as agents of judgement. There’s a point beyond which divine forbearance can go. The mob would have beaten down Lot in the street, beaten down his door, had it not been for Heaven’s protection. Such times and seasons Jesus suggested would precede His return! Any careful observer can detect the same sodomite spirit infection today.

In the midst of all this corruption, it is important that the condition of our heart and soul be found wisely among His “elect”. “Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it and whosoever shall lose his life shall save it”.
He’s coming again to find those who have “kept faith”, who have resisted the powers of darkness, the onslaught of demons and seducers, who have overcome temptations to let go, to slacken up, to quit defending the Word and let the weeds grow.   

The thrill of the ages is to be caught up to meet the Lord in the skies. God alone knows how near we are to the end, the final outcome; the one taken and the other left. It is up to us to decide which one of the two we shall be. CHOOSE WISELY!

There were five people who prayed and it wasn’t because they didn’t have the right approach or that they were not living right that the answer was “No.” They graciously accepted the answer:  

Moses wanted to go into the Promised Land. He prayed to go in. The Lord finally said, “Speak to me no more of this matter, you are not going in,” and Moses obeyed. Moses was a type of the law and the law could never bring people into the fullness of the promises of God. It took Joshua, the type to Christ, to lead them all the way.

Elijah prayed he might die. We could have missed a lot if Elijah had died. It wasn’t God’s will that he die. Instead of answering his prayers in the positive, He just fed him. Elijah went on that strength for forty days. Many of the great men in the scriptures were so discouraged at times that they prayed to die: Elijah, Moses, Job, Jeremiah.

David prayed that the child might live and God said “No.” 2 Samuel 12:22 David graciously accepted the ‘No’, the will of God though it cost him much. His next child by Bathsheba was Solomon. Jesus, the son of David, wisely prayed, “nevertheless not my will, but Thine be done” and graciously suffered the cruellest death for our sake and the will of the Father.

Then Saul of Tarsus in 2 Corinthians 12:8. I don’t know what it was but it was a thorn in his flesh. I have one. I have prayed more than three times that it be removed, but God says, “No.” The reason it was left in Paul’s life was because he might have been exalted had it been taken away. The Lord left it there to keep him humble. The plague of our heart may keep our feet on the ground and keep us lowly. It may be the way God has of teaching us humility. He said, “No.” We don’t know what Paul’s thorn was and it is nice we don’t, as then we relate it to our thorn in the flesh that remains.

Jesus prayed for the cup to pass from Him. The flesh was weak, but the spirit was willing and the answer was, “No.” If the answer had not been, “No,” what would have happened? A sister saint stood in a convention and said about the prayer experience of Jesus in the garden, “What if He hadn’t been willing or cared if the scripture be fulfilled or if He had prayed and the Lord would have sent the twelve legions of angels, none of us could be here and none of us would have any hope.”

A spirit of true humility and repentance
This verse – memorize it. It is 2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

The spirit of true humility and turning from sin to God will lend success to your prayers.

Being whole-hearted
If you are sincerely honest and whole-hearted in your service to God, it will lend toward success to your prayers.

The word “wholehearted” = with complete sincerity and commitment, is not in the KJV, but is understood:

Numbers 14:24 New International Version

But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.

Deuteronomy 1:36 New International Version

…except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed the Lord wholeheartedly.”

Ephesians 6:7 New International Version

Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people.

Ask in faith
James 1:6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.

Jesus made it very clear that faith figured in prayer.

Faith and believing; prayer and healing; they are almost inseparable.

Jesus said to the centurion, “Do you believe?” and he said “Lord I believe, help thou my unbelief.”

It would be wonderful to have faith in prayer as we sought to be guided by some of these conditions.

Jesus asked “shall he find faith on the earth?” when He comes again, in connection with prayer.

Righteous living
James 5:16 …the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

This is concerning our relationship with God and the Son of God and others.

In the verses connecting that statement it says, “Confess your faults.”

If something happens between you and another, be the first to admit your error and get the right relationship again and the Lord will hear your prayer.

Obedience
This is the opposite to the first one in the other list.

1 John 3:22, “Because we keep His commandments and do these things that are pleasing in His sight.”

Disobedience to what you know is God’s will
Saul of the Old Testament is the prime example of this. God ceased to hear his prayer.

At the time the children of Israel were about to be taken into captivity, the reason was their disobedience. In Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 20, we see God could not hear their prayer.

Could anyone say, “I have always been obedient?”

Willis Propp said, “Some of my prayers were not only unanswered, but unheard because of my disobedience. For one and one half years of my life after understanding so clear an answer of where God wanted me, I said I wasn’t ready to go. I said it for one year into the next year. I was hiding behind disobedience and trying to suggest there were other reasons not to go just now. The real reason was just disobedience and there was no peace. An older brother wrote to me after a year saying, ‘I hope you are enjoying the peace of God in your heart as any child knows within His will.’”

Colossians 3:15 “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.”

Peace gives the answer. If God has taken away your peace you know you need to do something!   

Secret sin
The psalmist said, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord won’t hear me.”

Iniquity is giving vent to what we are by nature, taking our own way.

If we regard something in our heart and say, “As long as the workers don’t find out or others of the church,” that is one thing that will hinder our prayers, regarding iniquity in our heart, Isaiah 59:2 and Micah 4:3.

The very reason for unanswered prayers and maybe unheard prayers is because we are practicing secret sin, thinking “If no one else knows it, it will be alright.”

A young lady was wanting to be baptised and was. Others her age asked her how she was accepted, because she used makeup on her face. She said, “I said I didn’t admit it.” She lost out, even as one might expect.
There are sins that we are conscious of. But the secret sin is something you know is wrong and you are practicing in secret. Stop it!

Among the young, some things have been practiced in secret, but we are thankful that they can be stopped. They are wrong, very wrong. We hate to use the words. Uncleanness, fornication, and adultery are listed.

We are to be our brother’s keeper. We are responsible to help them and if we can’t, visit with a Worker.

Indifference
A school teacher asked the class what apathy was and Johnny said, “I don’t know and I couldn’t care less.”

That was the meaning of the word and his attitude. If we would get that way, our prayers would remain unheard.
God said, “Because when I called they wouldn’t hear. Now when they call I won’t hear.” Just sheer indifference. We come to convention but we don’t plan to respond to God’s voice. If so, we will not hear His voice.

A double-minded person
Don’t think that man will ever have any thing from God. Unstable in all his ways. No true purpose. James 1:8
A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. James 4:8
Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.   

Selfish motive
This is also in James. James 4, “You ask amiss to consume it on your own lusts.” If your prayers are not being heard, just check this list.

Rather than position, approach would be the more important thing. We could be in a commendable position, but if the approach is wrong, God couldn’t hear our prayer. There are five things for a reverent approach:

Ask believing
Those are Jesus’ words in Matthew 21:22.

Ask the Father
When you pray, do you pray to the Father? We have been in churches where they pray to Jesus and sometimes the influence of the religious world affects us. The scripture is VERY clear that we should pray to God the Father and ask the Father. In every recorded prayer of Jesus, He opened the prayer addressing our Father.

My question for you:
P.S. I have a question for you, since Willis [Propp?] isn’t around to ask, I am asking you. What about our Hymn 207, Holy Spirit?

Holy Spirit, breathe upon us: Sealed by Thee are we,
To the day of our redemption, Till our Lord we see.

When we sing this Hymn are we not asking the Holy Spirit instead of God?

Thank you for your help,
Don

Ask in Jesus’ name
In Italy, they understand that if you get on the best side of the mother, you can get her son to do anything. That is the approach the Catholic people use. We don’t ask in the mother’s name or any other name, but ask in Jesus’ name. Ask the Father and ask in Jesus’ name. These things were mentioned in the last meeting that Jesus had with His disciples. You would tell people important things if you knew it was the last time opportunigy. In John 16 we read “Father” and in John 14, “In His name.” He opened the throne of grace to us by the sacrifice of His precious blood and testimony. The veil of the temple torn in two that afternoon. It was a tremendous thing.
The scripture teaches us that it tore from top to bottom and history says the Jewish people, who couldn’t believe that Jesus was the Christ, patched the veil and continued with their services in the temple until the temple was destroyed.

Ask abiding
In John 15, Jesus said, “If ye abide in Me and I in you.” Ask abiding or keep connected and be sincere in our service to God. If we are not connected, it won’t be much of an approach. If we ask while we abide in Him, God WILL hear. God hears our cry, even if there are no words He sees us kneeling there.

Ask according to His will
There are five people we read of who asked and it wasn’t God’s will for their prayers to be answered positively and the answer was, “No.” No is the answer.

When we pray, pray according to the will of God. “If it be Thy will” is a wonderful approach. Have you ever felt that your prayers were not noticed and that God didn’t hear your prayers and that there may not be much reason to pray because you feel, “I don’t get answers to my prayers?” If you are real honest with yourself you might have to admit to yourself and to God, and no one else, that there may be reasons for feeling this way that are within your power to change.

We came to a field and there was a problem. It was because of necessity that we looked into the Bible for positions of prayer.

We read of them bowing the head and worshipping God. We read this of Abraham’s servant and when Moses spoke to the people. At the Passover they were told when the children asked why they kept the Passover they were to tell the story of the first Passover when they “bowed their head.” God honors people when they bow their head.

We read of kneeling in the Psalms and kneeling at the dedication of the temple. Paul prayed beside the seashore as he knelt on his knees.

People knelt on their knees with their face to the ground. Elijah was in that position when he was praying at the time the rain came. It was the effectual fervent prayer on his knees with his face to the ground.

To pray looking up is in order. Stephen looked up and saw heaven open.

Jesus, in Mark 11, spoke of standing to pray. “When ye stand praying, forgive…” We are satisfied that when you stand to pray, God hears your prayers. Many are the helpful moments of prayer in a convention and special meeting when we stand to pray.

The fifth is when David had that experience and Nathan said, “The little child shall die.” David lay on the ground all night in prayer begging God would not take the child. God heard and answered, but he answered in the negative because the message from the prophet was, “The child shall die.”

Look up the short prayers that God answered. It wasn’t so much the position as it was the attitude. Peter didn’t think of getting on his knees when he was sinking in the water. One prayed, “Lord hear me.” One said, “Lord, help me.” One said, “Lord, save me.” One said, “Lord, remember me.” We need a deeper gratitude for the privilege of prayer.   

In Lk 11:1 we read that the disciples asked Jesus to teach them “to pray”. Hymn 190 says, “Teach us how to pray.” Perhaps we need both to learn “to pray,” as well as “how to pray.” But why?
[We need to make it a] regular routine of life.

Mk 1:35 Jesus rose up a great while before dawn and went out into a solitary place to pray.

We have so much power in prayer with God and with man, if we only tap into it. The only restrictions on the place of prayer is what we place on it ourselves. Prayer is what sustains life.

Our body has a definite need for food regularly. It has an even more frequent need of water, but it can survive only a very few minutes without air (Oxygen). Prayer could be likened to breathing. You can breathe by opening your lungs and giving the air a chance to enter. God is like air, is all around us, we need to open our hearts and give Him an invitation to “Come in.” Just give the Lord the opportunity: make room for Him and He will be pleased to enter into our heart and life. God will be as near as we want Him to be, but is He as near as we need Him to be?

If our body has such vital needs of food, water and air, our soul or spirit has even more urgent need of prayer. Prayer is to our soul what food, water and air are to our body. One brother said we have such a great need for prayer that it is either “pray or perish.” 1 Sam 12:23 suggests that it could be a sin not to pray!

Gen 2 and 3 tell us of Adam and Eve in the Garden. The Devil was also there. In the Old Testament he had access to Heaven and Earth. He is a higher creation, a higher intelligence, a greater power than mankind. Because of this our first parents could do nothing else but fall victims to his suggestions until they felt their need of, and asked for, the help and provision of God. This they did not do until they had fallen victims. Then they accepted the “coats of skins” which God provided and offered to them (Gen 3:21). These coats of skins are a type of the “righteousness of Christ” which our Father desires to clothe us with. But He will not give this until there is a feeling of need, a recognition of insufficiency without Him. This is our basic need of prayer, and our need for prayer for every step of our journey through life.

Jesus prayed often and regularly (Mt 14:23; Mk 6:31,46; Lk 6:12; 22:39-41; Jn 18:2). If He, the Son of God, felt His need of prayer, how much more should we feel our need of frequent communion with our Father!   

What is prayer? What is “supplication?” Conversation may be defined as communication between two or more persons. Prayer could be defined as communion between our heart and the heart of God. We pray for that which God only can help us to endure, overcome or become. “Supplications” can be defined as petitions offered to God to “ward off” that which is too severe to be endured (Es 4:8)

Some other references in connection with prayer:
Ge 24:63
Ex 33:9-23
Dt 9:18-29
1 Ch 4:10
2 Ch 7:14
Ps 34; 27; 55:17; 145:18
Pr 15:8; 29
Is 45:20
Mt 6:5-15
Jn 17
Acts 1:14; 6:4; 12:5
Rm 8:26-27
1 Co 11:5-6
1 Th 5:17
2 Th 3:1-2
1 Tm 2:8
Ja 4:7-10; 5:13-16
Rev 5:8; 8:3

I often say my prayers, but do I ever pray?
and do the wishes of my heart go with the words I say?
I may as well kneel down and worship gods of stone
as offer to the living God a prayer of words alone!  

The more I learn of the prayer life of Abraham, Moses, David, Jeremiah, Jesus and others, the more I am inspired to learn better their habits along this line! Heaven will be the continuation of our fellowship with God, with Christ, with the Holy Spirit and with brethren from all ages. Prayer is one of the most efficient ways of learning better how to enter into this divine fellowship.

In Jesus’ sample prayer of Mt 6:9-13, He was first of all concerned, not as most of us are with “our name, our kingdom and our will”, but rather with the Father’s Name, the Father’s Kingdom, and the Father’s Will. If our prayers, both in private and in public, always savour of this, we can be sure they will be heard.

In Luke 18:1 we read, “Men ought always to pray and not to faint.” We have within our reach one of the strongest forces to help us in this race and in this fight. You don’t know the secret life of any person. People have used the power of prayer in ages past and God has heard the prayers of His people.

When Jesus foretold the destruction of Jerusalem, He told the people what to do in the event it would take place. “Pray your flight will not be in the winter or on the Sabbath.” We go to history and find it did not happen in the winter or on the Sabbath day. It didn’t happen because God’s people prayed.

There were three young girls who came to the city to study. They took an apartment together. They were from faithful homes and they were faithful. Within a year they were not professing. A worker went to them and asked them what had happened. They said, “We stopped praying. We continued coming to meetings but we quit praying in the secret place.” One of those girls came back into fellowship carrying a burden and bearing a cross that wouldn’t have been necessary. In His mercy, God gives grace and she is doing what she can in a divided home. Her little boy has to go with his father who has no thought of God or truth, and the mother is doing her part to bring the little girl with her. This was a burden because at a time in her experience, she had stopped praying. The other two are still outside.

There was trouble in a church and two brothers were in that church around which the trouble centered. One of God’s servants went to the one and said, “When was the last time you bowed your knees beside your bed and prayed?” He answered, “Fourteen years ago.” The worker went to the other with the same question and he said, “I have never bowed myself to pray.”

A life without prayer is a life without direction. You can find the reference to that in Moses’ experience when he asked God for His presence to go with him. “If thy presence go not with us, carry us not up hence.”

A life without prayer is a life without strength. Jesus is the example when He prayed in the garden those three times and the sweat was like drops of blood. He got the victory in His secret life and the angel came and strengthened Him.

A life without prayer is a life without Godly wisdom that we need so much in order that our lives might be lived successfully and not in vain. Wisdom is the principal thing therefore in all thy getting get wisdom. James tells us how to get it. Without wisdom and without prayer we will die as one of the foolish people.

Luke 10:2 Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: PRAY YE therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.

On December 21, 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 exploded 31,000 feet over Lockerbie, Scotland, 38 minutes after takeoff from London. Several hundreds were skydiving without choice. One young man, still strapped in his seat, landed, dead, seemingly uninjured, on Carolyn Connell’s home farm. If help were offered would he have said, “I’m quite comfortable in this seat, thank you. Maybe later.” We never chose human life, but we are here and we want to be equipped for a safe landing. Think of the desperation, going down without hope. Would you be moved to go help if you could? Offer them to be yoked with Jesus, the yoke that can give a soft landing, an expected end. Nothing in life brings greater satisfaction.

The call to the harvest is not lacking today, but often a willing response to the call is lacking. If you provide the conditions, God will provide the call. Some have had parachute trouble, but another risked their life to help.
Sometimes clinging together until safely down. There are many ways we can be a help.

In Lk 10:1-2 there were now 82 workers in an area about 35 x 100 miles. Did Jesus say, “Lots of help now?” No! Lk 10:2, “Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly [is] great, but the labourers [are] few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.” Have you prayed this prayer today? Jesus asked you to. The area 82 workers were in was smaller than that between Regina and Saskatoon and we have two workers in that area.   

What about our prayers in public? Longer prayers are, for the most part, for the secret place (Lk 6:12). However, it is generally better to make your public prayers brief (Lk 10:21). When you pray in public you expose the quality and depth of your fellowship with God.

The following are some suggestions that I feel it good to remind myself of before I take part in prayer publicly:

Have a “prepared heart” for prayer. We learn from 1 Ch 17:25; 2 Ch 19:3; 2 Sam 7:27 and Job 11:13 that we should “prepare our hearts to seek God”. We don’t come to the meeting without first preparing our testimony; wouldn’t it be profitable also to prepare our heart and mind for taking part in prayer? Wouldn’t it be good, before we enter the meeting, to search our own heart, discover one or two things that you are especially thankful for, also one or two petitions that you are especially desirous of, and then mention these in your prayer?   

Pray a “live prayer”. A “dead prayer” or a “routine prayer” is a prayer that we pray from memory, and not from our heart; something we “say over” most every time we pray; others who hear you regularly will always know just what you are going to say in your prayer. You might as well have a little recording made of your prayer, and when you pray just start the record player and let the machine do your praying! A “live prayer” is one from your heart, something you feel and desire first and foremost at that very time and place.

Pray “specifically” (Mt 9:38; 11:25-27; Jn 11:41-42) Aren’t those wonderful “example prayers” of “praying specifically!” In each opportunity where we pray we should be equally as awake and alive and understanding of the situation and the occasion; we should fit into the Christ-like atmosphere that the Holy Spirit would prompt us to be, and pray accordingly. If you express one of the prayers at the communion part of the meeting, pray “specifically” for that occasion, for what that means to you and to the church. When you give thanks at the table for the meal, you needn’t make a “prayer meeting” of your thanksgiving; rather, a brief simple expression of thanks is more in order. Some of us have been guilty sometimes of, mentioning almost everything else but “thanks” for the food when we give thanks before a meal!   

My prayer needn’t be a complete prayer. In the Sunday morning or Wednesday night mtg. my part in the prayer needn’t be “complete”. I needn’t “go around the world and back” in my petitions and thanksgiving. There were many things Jesus could have mentioned in the example prayers, but He didn’t mention them. He prayed for what was the most suitable for that specific occasion. All the prayers offered in the little fellowship meeting blend together to make the “complete prayer” of the church and arise to God as sweet Incense. Yours and my part in this prayer should be just a small part of the overall prayer ascending to God. If we are listening to the prayers of others we won’t again pray for the sick, those alone and not able to get to meetings.

Not “vain repetition” (Mt 6:7) If another has prayed, for example, for the absent members, you needn’t repeat this petition. It has already been prayed, and if you have been “in the Spirit” you have already said, “Amen” in your heart to that petition. In like manner, this should be true of other petitions and expressions of thanks that others have already mentioned in their prayers. You needn’t mention these again to God.

Moreover, in connection with “vain repetition”. I could be guilty of telling the Lord the same thing in many different ways in the same prayer. But God isn’t dumb, and He’s not slow to catch on! One suggestion to Him is sufficient in regard to any petition or expression of thanks.

Putting in excess words, or phrases is just “padding” and makes public prayers long and boresome, and perhaps robs others of time they might use to better advantage when they pray after you are finished.   

Don’t “preach” while praying. This seems hardly in line with the spirit of prayer. Some have developed the habit of “preaching with their eyes closed” or, “doing a little preaching while they are praying”. This seems hardly in line with the spirit of prayer. If we are “preaching at another” or “preaching at others” while praying, we aren’t praying or getting in touch with God ourself. We should not “pray at another”, but rather, with divine love in our hearts, “pray considering them”. Our public prayers should express our heartfelt love for God, for His Kingdom, for our brothers and sisters in Christ, and for those who do not as yet know Him. Our prayers in public should be edifying to those who listen. Hebrews 10:24 And let us CONSIDER ONE ANOTHER to provoke unto love and to good works:

Speak loud enough and distinctly enough in prayer so that all can hear and understand (Neh 8:8). One is only wasting the time of others when their prayer cannot be heard or understood. Each of us need to check up on ourselves along this line. If you know of a brother or sister in your group that you have difficulty hearing, it is your duty to kindly and graciously tell that person that you appreciate their efforts and you realize they are praying helpfully, but that you cannot hear them. You would like them to speak a little louder in order that you can be able to enter more fully into their spiritual fellowship with God.

We as the children of God should learn better how to pray in the private, secret place, and also how to pray in public when others hear us.

Private prayer
When you pray, it isn’t the position of your body, but the attitude of your heart that is most important. However, even the position of your body should be one of submission and humility. In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus “fell on His face” and prayed. Abram did likewise in Gen 17:3. (Mt 26:39) We read of kneeling while praying in Dan 6:10 and Ps 95:6. They “stood and prayed in Mk 11:25; Lu 18:13, and Ne 2:4-5. We read of praying while in the sitting position in 1 Ch 17:16; Ex 17:12.

One mother told that in the morning the family arose as early as she did and it was about impossible to pray right then, but she did the “necessary tasks first” and when her husband had gone to work and the children were off to school, then she had the little ones yet at home “trained” to respect her quiet time of prayer.
Another mother in a divided home had to get into the car and go down the road a ways in order to have a quiet time alone with God. Daniel faced the lion’s den rather than miss his time of prayer (Far less eternal consequences!). My sister would have a meeting most every morning with her children and so had a quiet time to pray. Everyone wondered at them being so good in meeting. It was because they were use to a meeting every day! (She prayed a lot more than just at the daily meetings).   

There should be a definite time for prayer. Daniel was a busy man with much authority in the Kingdom, but he made time three times a day. Daniel faced the lion’s den rather than miss his time of prayer with God. (Far less eternal consequences!) It should be commenced soon enough; one should not be rushed for time when praying.

Abram waited till God had finished His message to him before he rose up from prayer (Gen 17:22). Another time he guarded the sacrifice until the going down of the sun. It was after this time had passed that God spoke to him: Genesis 15:11-13 11 And when the fowls came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away. 12 And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. 13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years.

Chasing away the birds was very real to us after a sowing. In Mat 13 the birds came to eat the sown seeds. When broadcasting seed in a field, we would harrow it afterwards. This would help protect it from the birds. They would take one seed at a time. Satan tries to do the same thing in our life. He takes away one seed at a time. Time is our asset and we can be easily robbed. He seeks to take a little bit at a time until nothing is left over. This can rob us of our prayer life, reading, meditation, and sacrifice.

Genesis 15:11-13 11 And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away. 12 And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. 13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years.

Abraham chased away the birds that came to eat of his sacrifice. We too must be diligent in chasing away the birds that come to destroy our sacrifice.

Notice that in Abraham’s approach to God he took care of his sacrifice and it turned out to be he waited long enough for him to get a message from God.

Private prayer can also be a “two-way” communion between ourselves and God. When you visit a doctor you not only tell him about your health troubles, but you also wait before him and let the doctor ask some questions, let him do some examining, and let him give advice, prescribe, etc. This is all the more necessary when in the presence of the Great Physician. We should “pour out our heart to Him” but also we should “wait in His presence” to give Him the opportunity to move on us, to do a little searching and probing in regard to our conduct and faith, and we should invite Him to do the suggesting, give the counsel and the answer.

This is all good advice we are given, but my only hope seems is when I pray, to pray! Then during the day as I study the Bible, and pause to do studies, God is good and gives thoughts for ME. I then sometimes write them down and share them with others!

Genesis 15:11-13 Abraham didn’t have more sacrifice than he could take care of. If he had made more, the birds would have robbed him. A sister worker mentioned this one time in connection with prayer. She said she purposed to pray three times a day as Daniel did and the Psalmist Psalm 55:17, “Evening and morning and at noon, will I pray and cry aloud.”. However, she found it was ‘biting off’ too much. I always felt sister workers knew more about prayer than brothers. Luke 18:1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that MEN ought always to pray, and not to faint;

I know Jesus meant all people by the word ‘men’. Anyway, I do believe men have more difficulty in bowing the knee in true prayer than ladies. Daniel, a very busy man with great kingdom responsibilities took the time.
Anyay, that sister helped me by her message and prayer life. And, I am purposing TO TRY TO PRAY before my afternoon nap every day.

Five parts to Private Prayer
Our daily private prayers should include at least 4 parts:
Praise, thankfulness/appreciation, confession, and intercession:

Praise and adoration (Mt 6:13; Rev 4:11)
We couldn’t have a better master and should have nothing but praise and adoration for Him. God the Father hearing our every cry to Him and His own Son interceding for us. We fall and the Son says, “I’ll take that on my shoulders.”

Thankfulness, appreciation
To begin with, appreciation, thanking God for our deliverance, our benefits in the Kingdom, etc. Thank God for our peace and joy in Him. Express our needs to Him. God knows our needs already, but He wants us to ask, seek, and knock. He wants to hear our own expression of need. It is good exercise for each of us to thank God for the multitude of benefits and blessings that are ours, materially and also spiritually.

Do you have anything that He hasn’t given you, or provided for you? It is good exercise for each of us to commence naming the multitude of benefits and blessings that are ours materially and also spiritually. “Count your many blessings, name them ton by ton!” (Lk 10:21- 12:20; Jn 11:41-42)

Confession
We need to be cleansed of our sins. A sin cannot be cleansed if held back from God. We need to tell Him our sins. Just lay them before God. Confess them and forsake them and God will show mercy. Every day, we should recognize and confess our failures, faults, fears, weaknesses, etc. to the above, with the attitude of desiring to forsake them and do better. Bringing them out clearly in the open before the Father helps us to recognize them better. Pave the way for God’s forgiveness and cleansing and that helps us to move forward towards an unspotted future. We have sins of “commission” to confess, also sins of “omission”.   

Petitions
However, God is not sort of a “Santa Claus” that we would be asking Him for material blessings or gifts. Rather, in line with Ep.1:3, we should covet His “spiritual blessings”: (Lu.11:13)

We should pray for the ministry (Matthew 9: 27-28, Luke 10: 2, Colossians 4:2-4)
Pray for our enemies (Matthew 5:44)
Pray for Wisdom (James 1:5)

Prayers of Intercession
We are never more “Christ-like” than when we are praying in an interceding manner for someone who has hurt us. Jesus prayer, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do. How profitable it is to be an “intercessor” in prayer for those we meet with regularly in the little church meeting. How good for our souls and for others it is when we intercede in prayer for others of the Spiritual family in other parts and other countries all over the world! We should be interested also in the ministry, in individual workers that we have met and know and also for those we’ve not met; we can have a part in the missions and in the shepherding efforts of the ministry wherever they are in any part of the world! What a privilege! What an opportunity for service and for reward! H-184 “May the world with all it’s need, touch our hearts and make us plead.” (Num 14:11-20; Neh 2:4, 5; Is 59:l6; Ezk 22:30-31; Rom 15:30-32; Col 4:12, 13)

We pray to the Father, and in the Name of Jesus Christ. (Jn 14:16; 15:16; 16:32) We should pray with the spirit of understanding, and in faith (Mt 21:22; Mk 11:24; 1 Cor 14:15).

We should pray for the ministry (Mt.9:27-28; Lk 10:2; Col 4:2, 4); for rulers (1 Tim 2:1, 2); for our enemies (Mt 5:44); for wisdom (Ja 1:5).   

There are at least 3 possible replies from God to our prayers: One may be, “Yes.” Another may be, “No”. Still another may be, “wait awhile”.

God will hear our prayers if we ask “according to His will (1 Jn 3:22, 5:14). “If we abide in the vine;” (Jn 15:7, 16). If we forgive others (Mk 11:25).

He cannot answer our prayers if we pray in order to get our own way (Ps 66:18). If we disregard His word (Pr 28:9). If we pray selfishly (Ja 4:3).

The following are some of the attitudes of the heart we should have in prayer:

An attitude of reverence, of Godly fear.

We are human, He is divine.

We are sinful, He is sinless.

We are weak; He is all-powerful.

We should come into His presence with due reverence and respect.   

An attitude of appreciation, and of thankfulness.

He has done so much for us; He is doing so much for us.

Not “the world owes me a living” attitude, nor “God owes me salvation” attitude; rather, that we really merit nothing, and anything that comes our way is only because of His mercy, His love, His kindness, His forgiveness.

An attitude of feeling our deep need, of hopelessness and helplessness in ourselves. We cannot take one step toward heaven of our own power. Even as an infant is completely helpless and dependent on others, so are we in respect to our spiritual needs. We need to feel our own need, our utter dependence upon God, our helplessness without Him.

Ps 46:1; 107:6

Mt 5:3; 7:7

An attitude of faith, trust and confidence in God our Father. He is able, adequate, sufficient; He is all knowing, all seeing, all understanding. He who created us, who planned every detail of our body, of our soul and of our spirit; He knows best how to help us, but He won’t help us if we lack this faith, confidence and trust in Him.

Romans 14:23

James 1:5-7

An attitude of “persistence.”

Genesis 32:24-29

Luke 11:5-13; 18:1-8

If possible every child of God should have a special time and place for prayer. The place should be one where you will not be disturbed. Jesus said we should “enter into our closet, and shut the door.” Mat 6:6

We need to “tune out all other voices,” and get alone with God. This could be called the attitude of being satisfied with nothing less than the presence of God, and the influence of God. This may not always be easy, especially when there are children in the home, or when one lives in a divided home. However, this is true, “where there is a will, there is a way!”

Christ teaches intercessory prayer on behalf of those “which despitefully use you, and persecute you” Matthew 5:44.

When the Bible tells us to pray for the very people who have hurt us, it’s not to inflict more pain on us. Prayer and intercession are not about our hurt, it’s about the needs of other people.

Jesus lived what He taught right to the last hours of His life and glorified God.

Luke 23:34

Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

As a result one more glorified God.

Luke 23:47

Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man.

While being stoned to death:

Act 7:60

And Stephen kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Jesus was our example in praying the same moving prayer. Both Jesus and Stephen’s last words helped others. Paul got help and also glorified God and exhorted Timothy to pray “for all men”, our enemies too.

1 Timothy 2:1

I exhort, therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings, be made for all men.

Supplications and prayers refer to general and specific petitions; intercessions has the meaning of a request concerning others.

Every kind of prayer, not intercessory prayer only, which is the highest kind of prayer, but all prayer, from the least to the highest, is of little value in a life of known and allowed sin. This thought is heart searching. I want to begin my prayer by bringing any unholyness or unclean thought to be crucified there with Jesus, the sacrificial lamb. This will enable us to live on a higher level.

Can Jesus Christ see the agony of His soul and be satisfied in us as we intercede on behalf of others? He can’t unless we are so closely identified with Him that we have His view concerning the people for whom we pray. May we learn to intercede so wholeheartedly that Christ will be satisfied with us as intercessors.

Isaiah 53:11
He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

Jeremiah 50:19
And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gilead.

God loves the prayer of supplication for ourselves or others when it is from a needy, submitted heart. As we exercise our prayer life we want to remember others by interceding for them before God.

Remember the sinner and the prodigal. When we pray for them, I believe God gives them a nudge in the right direction again. One man I knew well told me that all the years he was outside, an alcoholic, that he was continually conscious of God and His Way. It was likely because a faithful mother prayed for him continually.

1 Timothy 5:5

Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusts in God, and continues in supplications and prayers night and day.

I believe Sacrifice and Intercession are the greatest things we can do for ourself and others including our enemies.

Intercession takes many forms. Prayer is the first to come to mind, but then God expects us to do all we can. If we can do 1/10 God will do the 9/10, but if it is in our power to do 9/10 and we only do 1/10 God isn’t interested in doing the 9/10 and we and others are the losers.

A practical sacrificial intercession is not just praying for people to come to Gospel meetings, but to invite them. I like to always carry an invitation card. A practical act of intercession is to go door to door with invitations. My dentist, Lawrence, Lorna and daughter Elisabeth Pyrih are the result of a Gospel meeting invitation card in his mailbox. Now they have a meeting in their home and live for others.

Dag Hammarskjöld (July 1905 – 18 September 1961) was a Swedish diplomat, the second United Nations Secretary-General, and a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, made a great statement that goes something like this:

When interceding, you cannot hope to succeed if you are seeking something for yourself.

To stand in the gap you have to put something of yourself on the line. Abigail put herself on the line.

1 Samuel 25:23-24

And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground,

And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, UPON ME LET THIS INIQUITY BE: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid.

We have no right to expect anything, but we can do all things through Christ. To have the right expectation, remember Psalm 62:5 My soul, wait thou ONLY upon God; for my expectation is from Him. We can expect of God because with Him are all things are possible Mat 19:26.

Hate has no part in the life of a child of God. Earnest intercession brings love with it. Jesus taught us to pray for our enemies, not hate them. We pray for them for their sake and for our sake. God has appointed His son to sit at His right hand interceding for us, so we can be sure God can be entreated of us as we make supplications for ourselves and others. “Prayer as it comes from the saint is weak and languid; but when the arrow of a saint’s prayer is put into the bow of Christ’s intercession it pierces the throne of grace.”   

If we feel we have discernment, it is God’s call to intercession, never to fault finding. Possibly we are never more Christ like than in our prayers of intercession… for an enemy.

I have been helped by trying to answer the question, “Why is it so hard to pray?” The first thing that came to mind was some false conceptions in the world about prayer.

Hymn writers and poets have had too much sentiment (and written it) about prayer. They used to sing a hymn many years ago and the words went, “Sweet hour of prayer, sweet hour of prayer.”

When we look into the scripture we don’t find anything mentioned about the “sweetness” of prayer, but do find just the opposite.

Heb 5:7 speaking of Christ it is said “In the days of His flesh when He offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death… learned He obedience by the things which He suffered”.

Jesus also continued all night in prayer (Luke 6:12).

Luke 22:44 “Being in agony, he prayed more earnestly and His sweat was as it were great drops of blood.

Judges 16:30, It was not “the sweet Hour of Prayer” for Samson, but it was victory at the cost of his life.

Daniel (Dan 6:10) prayed 3 times at the risk of his life.

Daniel 9:3 “Seek by prayer supplication, fasting, sackcloth and ashes” and confessed before God.

Abraham plead for Sodom (Ge 18:23-33).

Hannah prayed unto the Lord and wept sore (1Sa 1:).

There were times that David cried with a loud voice (as Jesus with “strong crying and tears”).

Dan 9:2-3 In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.

There are a few things that make it hard to pray.

The spirit of independence and pride in self. We had to give in when we first decided and were willing to do that.

Ps 102:17 He will regard the prayer of the destitute and not despise their prayer.

A little girl had an operation and had her appendix removed. After returning home she was telling different ones about it and when the sister worker visited there she started to tell her, but she got the wrong word and said the Dr. took out her independence. We all need our independence taken out.

A human heart of unbelief hinders prayer. Ro 11:32 , “For God hath concluded them all in unbelief that He might have mercy upon all.” 1 Kings 18:41 Elijah prophesied that there was going to be rain. Then he bowed in prayer putting his head between his knees. Then sent his servant to look for the cloud. The servant returned and said, “There is nothing.” Elijah said, “Go again seven times.” At the seventh time he said, “Behold there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, the size of a man’s hand.” It wasn’t a very large evidence of God’s answer to Elijah’s prayer, but it was evidence.

Difficulty in forgiving and loving God’s demands to forgive. He can give a forgiving spirit. If God loved us to the extent that we love Him where would we be? The same re. Forgiveness. Matthew 18:21-22 “21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? 22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.” Peter had been hearing about forgiving. He had a question, but also ventured the answer. Seven is a special number with God, so he felt surely that would be the maximum and Jesus would be pleased with his generosity. Possibly he had been doing some adding up and if he could forgive an aggravating brother a couple more times that day, he had surely reached perfection. Peter realized when the answer came from Jesus how short he came. When we get an answer from Jesus we may not feel very great! If we had faith the size of a mustard seed it would be enough to cast the tree of forgiveness into the sea … of forgetfulness. If we can’t forgive our brother, our faith is less than a mustard seed.

Micah 7:19 He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

The iniquity that’s in all our hearts. Isaiah 53:6 “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” This verse tells us what iniquity is. The tendency to want our own way will hinder us to the end. Jesus prayed, “Thy will, not mine be done.” He prayed 3 times for the same thing (see Lu. 22:24) and no iniquity was found in him. God heard His prayer and God answered His prayer, but the answer was, “NO!” Jesus showed gracious acceptance to unanswered prayer. We need to so qualify all our prayers, as Jesus did and show the same acceptance to the will of God.

A thousand thoughts of little things come flooding into our minds. We must overcome these things. To pray is truly vital. What breath (Oxygen) is to our physical life prayer is to our spiritual life. Hymn 83, “In this world of woe and sighing, broken hearts are seeking rest…” The Philistines come into the fray also. 1 Samuel 23:1 Then they told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines fight against Keilah, and they rob the threshing floors.

Lack of desperation. Do we truly realize our need and helplessness? If we did we would not lack in desperation in prayer. The Devil never wearies in using the World and Flesh against us and then directly gets involved. Remember, in our day he is cast out into the earth and has exceeding great wrath. He has nothing to lose now, so he is a worse enemy than in the O.T. Also, he has nothing to gain… only to hurt us and God.

Not willing for the cost. We read of many prayers of desperation and of those willing for the cost. Judges 11:30-36 “30 And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, 31 Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.” He could have been well aware of the fact his beloved daughter would be first. “34 And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter. 36 And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the Lord hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon.”

Judges 11:37 “And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains, and BEWAIL MY VIRGINITY, I and my fellows.” It was her future of never having a husband or children that so concerned her. Her life doesn’t seem to be in question as human sacrifices were unknown in Israel. Even as Isaac, bound to the altar, he was as good as dead, but God has never took delight in human sacrifice, except He endured that of His own Son for our sake. Could we feel it cost God the Father even more than the Son? God hid His face from this scene. God couldn’t give more and He didn’t give less.

I don’t believe Jephthah’s daughter was burnt on a altar, but she was like a sister worker and never married Judges 11:39-40 “… she knew no man.” So it was a custom in Israel, Vs. 40 That the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year. Judges 11:37 Amp- footnote: “Lament the tragedy that marriage and children would be denied to her.” This was a major thing in that day. Nice that others were not taken up only with their children, but set aside 4 days in the year… like our conventions to encouraged the Workers and have fellowship with others like minded as us and get encouragement ourselves. It so encourages us to see the Workers so content in their place of living for others and yet no children or grandchildren of their own.

This single, virtuous lady likely accepted her lot and lived for others. This brings great contentment. The old Chinese proverb: If you want to be happy for an hour, take a nap; If you want to be happy for a day go fishing; If you want to be happy for a month get married; If you want to be HAPPY FOR A LIFETIME LIVE FOR OTHERS.

Pray, supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, ashes
Prayer is like facing a battle field to find and talk with God. The threefold enemy is there; world, flesh and devil. The Philistines are there in full force.

The Devil trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees, but he doesn’t leave. The Devil is his own worst enemy, because his efforts against us drives us to God and to prayer.

James 4:7 [Full Chapter]
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

When the Devil reminds us of our past, remind him of his future!

How does the world make it hard for us to pray? It robs us of time and desire to pray. We must be willing to sacrifice precious time, not to just use spare time. The sweetness of Prayer comes after victory in prayer, not during prayer.

Our greatest foe is our flesh that rises up within. There are discouraging thoughts, desires, weaknesses and infirmities that could hinder us. Even our strength is against us if we are “strong in ourselves”.

In one of our meetings recently we heard about the words in Gen 18:14 “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” The secret was in waiting for the “Appointed time” according to the word of the Lord, and the Lord delivered on time.

The same assurance was given in Jer 32:17, 27; Luke 1:37; 18:27. Nothing within God’s will can ever be impossible for the Almighty to accomplish. 

Maybe some of us are beginning to find it difficult to cope with our present situation. Is Covid-19 to be considered as an exception? Of course not! 

There is so much evidence that all in nature, that functions in harmony with the Creator, can only benefit by what is happening during this global dilemma for mankind. Certainly in heaven there are no dilemmas ever or a state of emergency declared. 

Uncle Jim Johnston was fond to say: “God is never taken unawares, nor anyone who keeps close to Him.” Whenever God’s people walked by sight, and not by faith, it led to disaster. “Man’s weakness and ignorance leaning on God’s almighty power and omniscience is True Faith.”  It’s taking God at His word and proving it by obeying what He tells us to do.  As long as we are within His will and move in harmony with His timing, we can have every confidence that we will not be a disappointment to ourselves or to our God.

In Thy Hand

I’m glad my times are in Thy Hand;
It is so sweet to know,
That everything by Thee is planned,
For me where’er I go.
The hand that holds the ocean depths,
Can hold my small affairs,
The hand that guides the universe,
Can carry all my cares.

I’m glad I cannot plan my way,
I’d rather trust Thy skill.
I’m glad the ordering is not mine,
I’d rather have Thy Will.
I do not know the future,
And would not if I might,
For faith to me is better far,
Than faulty human sight.

God did not promise to give us explanations for every experience or to tell us the reason why He expects us to obey and to trust Him, but we can certainly rely on every promise He has given us.

To the unbelieving world, it’s unreasonable for anybody to trust a God they’ve never seen or heard, but we have all the evidence we need to convince us that God is dependable and has the power to accomplish what He says He will do. What He promises, He is able to perform. Even if the next step is hidden from view, can’t we trust the unknown future to our well known God and loving Father? “Faith can walk with God in darkness, and He will guide that step aright.”

It has also been said, “God helps us as much by what He hides as by what He confides; He helps us as much by what He conceals as by what He reveals.”

Unbelief is serious because it challenges the character of God and rebels against the will of God. “But without faith it is impossible to please [God]” (Heb. 11:6). When our eyes are on ourselves and our circumstances, we lose our perspective and say and do ridiculous things. We have every reason to trust and to submit to God, also in the uncertain times in which we are living.    

These thoughts have been a comfort to me.

Prayer is the key to the day and the bolt to the night.
Prayer is more than the key to the day and the bolt to the night. Pray desperately, as your life depends upon it.

Watching makes it easier to pray and praying makes it easier to watch. It is useless to fight without praying but it is useless, too, to pray without fighting.

Ere you left your room this morning, did you think to pray?
If we pray for the harvest field, it will help us have a heart of compassion, even if we are no longer able to go.

If we would worship while we wait, we would not complain of waiting.

Things we live for determine what we pray for. Our lives give meaning to the words we pray.

Prayer should be the environment for God’s children: not an emergency measure, but a daily necessity. Not like a spare tire on a car!
Pray, pray more, pray every day, pray more earnestly, pray as if your life depended on it; because it does.

When we are unable to stand, it is because we haven’t been able to kneel.

In Ecclesiastes it mentions a time for many things, but not prayer. We must make time for prayer. As life went on, Solomon was failing to do that.
In the morning we are begging for His Spirit, and in the evening, pleading for His forgiveness.

We know not what we should pray for as we ought, but we know we ought to pray. It is our feeling of need and desperate weakness that appeals to God, not our words.
Prayer is like dressing, reading is like eating; we can go without eating. If we do we only rob ourselves. But we
would not think of going out without dressing.

Prayers of righteous people keep God’s servants where they are.
When you pray, pray! Don Garland said when he got up in the morning he would pray and go back to sleep. Likewise, if we pray and are just silent. The devil would like to sow other thoughts. Don said now he learned to do something first thing in the morning until he was fully awake. Then when he prayed, pray!
Put a praying person in an impossible position and he will come out a victor with a song.

Pray with desperation; fight with determination; serve without reservation. Casual reading (no meditation) and casual praying (no seeking) lead to casualties.

Very few people in the world today even think of God every day; even fewer pray to God; but those who wait on Him in prayer, He knows by name.

When we are praying it is hard to criticize. Prayer doesn’t prepare us for battle; it is the battle.

Prayer is like oxygen to the soul.
Mt 5:14-16

Ye are THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.

Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

LET YOUR LIGHT SO SHINE before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Without oxygen a candle will go out. If a candle is put under a bushel measure it will soon go out. That is because it will soon use up the little bit of oxygen in the measuring device. When you put it at a higher level, on a candlestick, it does what prayer does for the soul. The candle will burn brightly and be a light in the house.
“Giveth light unto all that are in the house.” A candle is made for inside a house and on a candlestick. The flame at best is weak, and the slightest puff of air will extinguish it. This is like prayer. Outside winds can easily extinguish. A candle gives light to all in the house. Before we can be a light in this world we need to be a light to those in the house. Fellowship and Prayer at a higher level are what enable our candle to burn brightly.
Ps 18:28 “For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.”

A candle begins to die (the wax, the body is being consumed to give light) as soon as it begins to burn. As soon as it begins to die, it gives light and warmth. Some people do not see the light until they feel the heat. Blind people and blind in part, can respond to the warmth.
The warmth of the candle can affect ice, but the coldness of the ice can never affect the candle. We can safely reach out to needy, blind, cold, hard people.
One candle lights a thousand, yet shines as it has shone. One simple light may kindle far greater than its own.
Once a candle is lit it gets softer, and then it begins to drip… weep. When you first light a candle the flame is small because the wick is short, but as it melts the wax the wick gets longer and longer and the flame gets larger and larger. The larger the flame the more oxygen it takes to keep burning.
I remember when I was 56 years old, well over the hill, I had a surprise B-day party after escaping such for 16 years. There were 56 Candles on one cake! I was asked if I blew them out? I answered, “Have you ever tried to blow out a forest fire?” The candles didn’t last long because of the heat. A lamp with 2 wicks gives twice the light, but only burns half as long. Now if I had such a party the fire department would need to be on hand to put it out.
Every light is brightest at its source. Those closest should sense it most. Our testimony is no stronger than how those see us who know us best. Are we living on a higher level? “Charity begins at home.”
A candle illustrates perfectly the life of a child of God. A candle can never fulfil its purpose if it’s never lit. It can’t light itself. Psalm 18:28, “Thou wilt light my candle.” The piece of string in the wax is like our human heart, and outside of the string is wax that turns into oil when it’s heated; it siphons into the wick, and there’s a bright light from the oil. If the wick itself burns, there’s a nauseous smoke. A candle is to give light, warmth and heat.
A candle can be re-lit. If that wasn’t true, we couldn’t believe the story of the prodigal. Pride put out King Saul’s candle. David treated him kindly, hoping God would have mercy on him if a change would come and re-light his candle.
Romans 12:20-21 they didn’t have matches like we have today. When their fire went out, they had to go to a neighbour’s home with a pail to get coals. The coals need oxygen to keep burning. They carried things on their head then, and they would bring the coals back and start their fire again. This portion does not mean to deepen the enemy’s punishment, but to help him to a higher level.
You will never help a fallen brother by trying to get even; instead, treat evil with good. As soon as a candle is lit, the sacrifice begins: it pays a terrific price to keep that flame burning. The longer a candle burns, the smaller the body of the candle gets. A candle burns and gives itself silently. It burns the best, and burns completely, when it is upright. A candle burns no matter how dark or cold a place it’s in. The darker it is, the brighter the light. No matter how cold it is, it won’t put the candle out. THE ONLY THING IN A ROOM THAT WILL PUT OUT THE FLAME IS THE LACK OF OXYGEN; PRAYER IS NECESSARY TO A CHILD OF GOD. Prayer to a child of God is
like oxygen to a candle. It will keep our light burning.

In this prayer Jesus gave to His disciples there are two sets of three things: (Matthew 6:9-13)
Hallowed be thy NAME
Thy KINGDOM come
thy WILL be done

The second set of three:
GIVE us…
FORGIVE us…
LEAD us…
This is a beautiful pattern regarding prayer. What was the first thing Jesus wanted them to think about when they were praying to their Father in heaven?

‘Hallowed be thy name.’

I believe that is what God has given us here on this earth, quite a thing about our name. It is quite a thing for our parents to have the liberty to give us our name and we children have no choice in the matter. You have to correct people and make sure your name is spelt correctly and make sure it is correct on passports and paperwork. God wants His name because He has a wonderful spirit, a wonderful power and He doesn’t want anything with Him to be lessened, to be brought down to earth. He wants everything with His name and He is Holy, He is pure and He is eternal, He doesn’t want anything connected with His name to be brought down to an earthly level.
In the Old Testament, [we read] time and time again that God’s name should be honoured and that His people should bring honour and glory to His name. We can understand that with families. None of us like to have a bad family name. Everyone likes to have a good name and reputation. That is why parents tell their children to conduct themselves at school so they can be proud to be part of our family. That is teaching us about God. God has a family name and He wants His name to be hallowed. And He is totally worthy of it. We can never praise His name and honour His name enough because He is worthy of it.
Sometimes people ask what is the name of your church and what is the name of your religion? We don’t have a denominational church name, and another thing we don’t have is church property. There are convention grounds and they are privately owned and the homes where the fellowship meetings are. All are privately owned and there is no need for a church name. The beautiful thing about God’s kingdom, is it is not an earthly kingdom, but a heavenly kingdom; so we don’t need to have an earthly name for our earthly cooperation. It is not a corporation. When people ask us what is the name of our church we know why: God is wanting people who would only honour and respect His Holy name.
If you have a church corporation what happens? Oh, that is a Catholic Church or Uniting Church so the praise goes to the Catholic Church and the Uniting Church organization. There is no praise or honour going to God’s hallowed name. It is so wonderful that God’s people only have His Holy name. And what does it say about Jesus? God gave Him a name above every name. That is what the Father did for His Son. So we by lip and life say, “Hallowed be thy name”.
‘Thy Kingdom Come’: God’s family is not a democracy. Some of God’s servants have had the privilege of living in a country that is not democratic and you begin to realise this is very different how these people think and function. God’s kingdom is not a democracy. God is King of His kingdom and when you have a King that totally loves everything about His Kingdom, and the citizens of the Kingdom such that He is willing to give His only Son for the salvation of the Kingdom and for the citizens of the Kingdom, you realise you are part of the most wonderful Kingdom that can ever exist. Not an earthly government, but an eternal Kingdom. God’s kingdom has a perfect rule. That is why there is total peace, and there is peace in heaven. What God wants in His Kingdom and in His church where He rules is His peace.
‘Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven’: thy name, thy Kingdom and thy will. Jesus is saying to His disciples here, You know how God’s will is in heaven; pray that it is the same here on earth.

In the world there are law buildings and they are supposed to be about truth. We are so grateful when it comes to the truth that what will reign is the will of God. That is what Jesus is saying here, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. The will of God will always be accomplished in heaven and that is what God wants on earth. The place where that happens is this little bit of earth, our bodies.
The next set of three is what Jesus said in verse 11: “give us,” “forgive us” and “lead us”. What is Jesus telling His disciples? He wanted them to draw near to their Father in heaven, totally giving themselves to His name, His kingdom and His will. Then there is the “us”. It is wonderful when we go before the Father of heaven that we can plead and beg ‘give us’, even me. Give us bread from above for our hunger.
Luke 15:17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!

19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.

20 And HE AROSE, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
This is all about us living on a higher level, our Father’s house!
‘He arose’: when this young man came to the place where he said ‘give us’ he then went home to his Father’s higher level and atmosphere. That prodigal son was living on the level of the pigs. He had a great need and felt his need of getting into the presence of his Father, being on a higher level. The strong emotion he felt was to get back to a higher level, his father’s house. This was totally a different level than he was at, feeding with the pigs! It is wonderful when we come to our Father and say, “Give us this day our daily bread”.
Mark 5:2-13 Legion, a man with an unclean spirit, dwelling among the tombs, knew no restraint, but when he saw Jesus he ran to Him, to a higher level and worshipped Him addressing Him and praying to Him as the Son of the most high God. He was taken to a higher level. That is what we want when we pray! The religious people of the city prayed also, but it took them to a lower level, asking Jesus to depart (verse 17).
Matthew 6:12-13 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
‘forgive us our debts’: Forgive us our debts, our failings and shortcoming and then lead us.

This is a beautiful pattern. Jesus said PRAY AFTER THIS MANNER. We have our Father and this helps bring us all to the same place and unites us. God unites His people on a higher level through prayer.
When we come to love God’s name we have a respect and a gratitude and then we can see God so much more clearly and it generates a gratefulness and a thankfulness to be a part of Him and His on this higher level. This enables us to come into His Holy presence and be part of His Kingdom so His will can be done in our little piece of earth as it is done in heaven. We then can plead for Him to give us bread and forgive us for failings and to lead us. In the place of prayer we can rise to His level and truly our Father’s name will be honoured.
Vain Repetitions
Matthew 6:7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
Tracy Staples [a sister worker in Saskatchewan, Canada] spoke on the Lord’s Prayer being repeated daily by millions who have not the slightest intention of letting anyone’s will be done but their own. They use the request to be led of God, but not one thought of being led by God for that day, not even one day. We need to be led of God to a higher level in every thought we think and choice we make for this day and every day following.
It is wonderful when we can’t find words to express ourselves and we take His words and make them truly the expression of our heart. Paul could write to the Ephesians of being no longer foreigners or aliens, but citizens in the household or kingdom of God. Jesus spoke so much of the Kingdom of God and was continually inviting people in. What an invitation to a higher level!

Sometimes when we pray we have the feeling ‘I want God to come down to me.’ But that is not what prayer is all about. Prayer is for the purpose that we rise to His level.

Revelation 8:4 And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.
When you read about incense and its connection with prayer, it was all with the purpose to rise. This is what prayer is all about. To take us from the earthly level to the heavenly level. We do not want to think God is a man coming down to our level. There are plenty of gods out there that man is praying to, but that is not the living God. God wants His children just like Jesus, that they would rise in Spirit and come to His level.
Revelation chapter 4 is a beautiful picture of this. John is a prisoner. What did John experience? What did the voice say to John? COME UP HITHER. John was looking and the voice said to him, “I will show you…” This is a beautiful picture of what God wants in prayer. God wants us to look and wants us to see things of heaven, and not to see things of earth.

Jesus taught the disciples to pray to “Our Father.” That is inclusive. He didn’t say ‘my Father’ or ‘your Father’ but ‘our Father’. Jesus wanted His disciples to realise that they had been born into a wonderful family: there is a Father and He is our Father. It is wonderful when each of us pray, and prayer helps to unite us, because it is our Father and includes us and brings us together. You can go to the throne of grace and find help from our Father. He is our Father and He is God.
Jesus never said to pray to our God, but to our Father. It is a lovely family and you’re coming into something that is a family. Jesus wanted them to know and pray to our Father.
“Our Father in heaven”: Jesus was teaching them that our Father is not on the level of this earth. God sent Jesus to that level. But, God is not here. He is up there. That is what prayer is about. It is to help us rise above the level of the earth. We have struggles and tests here on the earth.
One thing that is beautiful about prayer is God can help us to rise to His level; to His glorious wonderful level. When we see things from His level and perspective the earth looks so small.

John taught His disciples to pray
Luke 11:1 “And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us TO PRAY, as JOHN ALSO TAUGHT HIS DISCIPLES.”
John taught his followers to pray, and we need teaching to pray effectively. “To Pray” is the starting point. We need to be taught the need of prayer and how to pray.
Millions have memorized “The Lord’s prayer”and pray without thought. “THY WILL BE DONE in earth [in us]” This third Petition of the Lord’s Prayer is repeated daily by millions who have not the slightest intention of letting anyone’s will be done but their own.
Jesus taught His Disciples how to pray
Matthew 6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye:
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, THY WILL BE DONE in earth [in us], as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread [Therefore a sample, public morning prayer].
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And LEAD US not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Jesus was speaking very directly and effectively to His disciples. He did not want them to be like the hypocrites when they prayed. Not just for show or the hearing of man. He wanted His disciples when they prayed they would be praying to the living God.

If it were not for the power at our disposal to move and change the mind of God there would be no point to prayer.

Remember when God planned to wipe out the children of Israel and raise up a seed from Moses? Moses prayed and changed the mind of God. Exodus 32:9-14 This passage is the first of two occasions where Moses intercedes for sinful Israel before an angry God who was ready to wipe them out and succeeds in appealing for mercy for them.
Throughout the Old Testament, the Israelites repeatedly turned away from God and angered Him to the point that He threatened to destroy them. In desperation, Moses intervened on their behalf and pleaded with the Lord to withhold the destruction He had planned. Time and time again, God answered Moses’ prayers with mercy and chose not to bring about the destruction He had threatened.
For example, in Exodus 32 the Israelites created a golden calf and worshipped it in place of God. The Lord in his fury threatened to destroy His people (Exodus 32:10). Moses prayed to God on behalf of the Israelites, pleading for Him to relent: “Change your mind about this terrible disaster you have threatened against your people!” (Exodus 32:12 NLT). God in His unfailing mercy relented: “The Lord changed His mind about the terrible disaster He had threatened to bring on His people” (Exodus 32:14 NLT). “So he said he would destroy them—had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him to keep his wrath from destroying them” (Psalm 106:23 NIV).
Jonah Prayed; Ninevites repented. Jonah 4:2 Jonah didn’t want to preach to Nineveh because he wanted them destroyed; so he tried to run away from God. They were a dreaded enemy to God’s people. He had likely prayed for their destruction, but God answered his prayer in sending him forth with the Gospel. When he was finally willing to go, sure enough they repented and God changed His mind and spared them. This was the greatest mission in numbers ever worked!
With both the Israelites and the Ninevites, God chose to spare them in response to human prayers and repentance. This decision on God’s part to act a certain way because people cried out to Him is, I believe, a recurrent theme throughout the Bible.
Similar examples of God choosing to relent from His plans in response to the prayers and sufferings of people are seen in Numbers 11:1-2; Numbers 14:12-20; Numbers 16:20-35, Numbers 41-48; Deuteronomy 9:13-14, Deuteronomy 18-25; Judges 10:13-18, Judges 11:1-33; 2 Samuel 24:17-25; 1 Kings 21:27-29; 2 Kings 13:3-5; 2, Kings 21:27-29; and 1 Chronicles 21:15.
Abraham prayed. Abraham knew this pending destruction. In Genesis 18:16-33 we see the patriarch standing before the Lord, actually praying for Sodom and Gomorrah and pleading that the Lord would reconsider His plan to destroy the evil cities. His nephew Lot and family were there and very wealthy. We read of the cities of Lot. Abraham’s prayers resulted in the deliverance of Lot and his two daughters (but Lot lost all his wealth). One daughter is listed in the lineage of Jesus!
King Hezekiah’s prayer: when Hezekiah was king of Judah, the prophet Isaiah delivered to him a sobering message. “In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Set your house in order, for you shall die, and not live” (2 Kings 20:1).
The prediction was clear. No options were presented. Yet, notice Hezekiah’s response after the prophet leaves. “Then he turned his face toward the wall, and PRAYED TO THE LORD, SAYING, ‘REMEMBER NOW, O LORD, I PRAY, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what was good in Your sight.’ And Hezekiah wept bitterly” (verses 2-3). There was unfinished work he wanted to do for the land he ruled over.
God quickly responded. “And it happened, before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying, Return and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: ‘I HAVE HEARD YOUR PRAYER, I HAVE SEEN YOUR TEARS; surely I will heal you’ (verses 4-5)”.
Did Hezekiah’s prayer change God’s mind? Before answering this question, it’s important to distinguish between God’s prediction and God’s purpose. He wasn’t seeking to destroy the king’s life. The message was actually an opportunity for Hezekiah to turn to God for help. His answered prayer demonstrates how God is merciful, not vengeful. When we earnestly ask our heavenly Father to answer our prayers, let us always remember He loves us and wants what is best for us. God doesn’t know all about our future, but is waiting for us to determine our future. And, pray as Jesus, “Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done.”

Are there contradictions in the Bible?
What about such statements as Malachi 3:6 For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
When the Bible says that God is unchangeable, it isn’t saying that God doesn’t relent or change His mind. It is saying that God doesn’t change His character.
God cannot and will not change His character. He is who He is. “I am.” But according to Scripture, He can and will change His mind. And so we pray! God is immutable and will never, ever change His character. But He can and will change His mind when His people pray, and even sinful Nineveh! And when we pray, we can remind Him of His unchanging character and thank Him for that. He has always been and will always be compassionate. He has always been merciful. He is merciful at this very moment, and He will be that way right into eternity… and in the judgement… if we are merciful.
Luke 6:36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.

Matthew 5:7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

God’s people have power to move the two greatest powers in this earth! God and Satan!

James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

James 5:16 The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.   
If it were not for the fact prayer can change the mind of God, why pray?

This in itself is a long study.

Remember when Moses changed the mind of God?

When Nineveh changed the mind of God and Jonah didn’t like it?
But beware: we need to be careful in what we pray for and always close as Jesus did, “Never the less not my will, but your will be done.” Luke 22:42
Also there is the danger, as we read in Psalm 106:15 And he GAVE THEM THEIR REQUEST; but sent leanness into their soul.

We need to be wise in our request and keep the attitude of Jesus in every request, “Never the less not my will, but your will be done.”

Why do we pray?
One of the reasons is we are asked to pray.

Jesus said, “Pray ye”.

Another is because we need help and others do too.
Matthew 9:37-38
Then saith he unto his disciples, “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; PRAY YE THEREFORE the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.”

“Did You Today?”

This question was asked by a sister Worker in a Special Meeting.

Then she said, “Jesus asked you to!”

I felt smitten.
Matthew 24:20
But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day

There are distressing circumstances that will come upon our Nation and we are invited to pray for circumstances that will enable us to endure, even if it is only a natural blessing.

If they had to flee to the mountains, and it was winter time, babies likely would perish and likely even adults, because there was no time for preparations.

If it was on a Sabbath the gates of the city would be locked, and travel limited.
The big reason to pray is because we can change things, including the mind of God!

We pray for patience and God sends tribulation, for tribulation works patience. Romans 5:5
We pray for submission and God sends us suffering; we learn obedience by the things we suffer. Hebrews 2:10; 5:8
We pray for usefulness and God sends opportunity to sacrifice ourselves by thinking of things to do for others. Philemon 2:4
We pray for victory and the things of the world sweep down upon us in a storm of temptation. This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. I John 5:4
We pray for union with Christ and God severs natural ties, separates loved ones, and our best friends sometimes misunderstand us.
We ask to follow Jesus and He separates us from home and kindred. For He himself said, Whosoever he be of you that forsake not all that he hath, cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:33
We pray for the fruit of the Spirit and what does that cost us? All the world wants the fruit of the Spirit, but not many are willing for the process which only comes by the Gospel and submission to the will of God.
Galatians 5:22-23 Amplified Bible

The fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
We pray for the fruit of the Spirit, but are we willing for the process by which it comes?

We might be inclined to refer to Galatians 5:22-23 as the fruits of the Spirit [plural], but that is not what the Bible teaches. The fruit is the one fruit of the Spirit.

Let’s think of the fruit as a peach. You have one peach, but it consists of many different characteristics differing from competing fruits. There is the colour, the texture, the skin, the meat inside the skin, the core, etc. The fruit of the Spirit is like a peach.
Graciously accepting God’s answer to our prayers for this Fruit.
All this fruit of the Spirit is best grown and developed in their opposite environments.

God replies to our prayers in very practical and peculiar ways:
We pray for love, and God sends peculiar suffering and puts us with apparently unlovely people and let’s them say things that rasp our nerves and lacerate our hearts.

For love suffers long and is kind, is not impolite; not easily provoked, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopes all things. 1 Corinthians 13

God may reply by allowing us to live among some unlovely people who hate us, and thus we are put into a school where the genuine love of Christ can be worked into us.
We pray for joy. We may be put into unhappy situations where we can learn the true inward joy. Situations we would never choose for ourselves, but God can give us joy there, and that is true joy.
We pray for [inner] peace: we may find ourselves in a situation of turmoil, and through this experience He would like to teach us more of the genuine inward peace, peace with God, the peace of God.
We pray for long-suffering, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting] and tolerance. He may allow us to have many years of tribulation, and this will slowly but surely bring forth these virtues we prayed for. He may allow us to be among those who are rude and unkind, in order to try to immunize us against this other, and bring forth the beauty of true gentleness and kindness in spite of the opposite surroundings.
We pray for gentleness and kindness, and we are faced with the harshness of the World, Flesh and Devil. There is no gentleness as seen in Jesus there.
We pray for goodness and we are surrounded by a world of badness, filth, a Sodom and Gomorrah.
We pray for faith and faithfulness, and He will allow others to be unfaithful to us.
We pray for meekness and gentleness, and we might find ourselves among very forward, greedy, self-centered people.
We pray for temperance, self-control, and we may be obliged to fight against much intemperance. Those who lose their temper.

A neighbour of ours would get so angry he would throw his hat on the ground in the mud and jump on it. Dad exerted temperance and self-control. We children would laugh about it.

[Don Shenton (obituary) was a Canadian brother worker. He wrote and shared many study notes during his retirement years. This post is the first of many from a long document (over 30 pages) on the subject of prayer.]

Much that perplexes us in our Christian experience is the answer to our prayers. Our study is “Promises of God to Answer Prayer”. We have the promise God will answer true prayer, but it is conditional and often not in a way that our human nature will like.
The access to prayer is through our Intercessor, Jesus
John 14:13

And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
John 15:16

Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
John 16:23

And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.
These promises depend on another “Whatsoever”

Colossians 3:16-17
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

And WHATSOEVER ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
We need to be obedient and submissive children
Acts 5:32
And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.
Hebrews 5:9
And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.
Obedience with submission
James 4:7
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

We pray for help in dealing with the enemy of our souls, but that help comes only as we first of all submit ourselves unto God!
Ephesians 5:21
Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
Hebrews 13:17
Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you. When we submit and obey the Ministry, our prayers become effective.
Hebrews 5:7 Amplified Bible
In the days of His earthly life, Jesus offered up both [specific] petitions and [urgent] supplications [for that which He needed] with fervent crying and tears to the One who was [always] able to save Him from death, and HE WAS HEARD BECAUSE OF HIS REVERENT SUBMISSION toward God [His sinlessness and His unfailing determination to do the Father’s will].

When we submit to God our prayers are meaningful. It is possible God hears all prayers, but He responds favourably to those offered by a submitted heart.

Philippians 2:10 Amplified Bible

So that at the NAME OF JESUS every knee shall bow [in submission], of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth.

If we are going to call on the name of Jesus in our prayer, for it to be effective we need to be bowed in submission to Him.

The Book of Esther is the current “Official” Bible Study in the Western USA & Canada. Here are a couple of sermons from the archive on the subject of Queen Esther:

Everett Swanson – Esther – Happy, Texas – 1986

Sheila Houlston – Esther – circa 2010

---

A few other quotes on the subject from other Archive documents:

---

I think that you folks are familiar enough with the Old Testament stories and the history we have of the ungodly kings to know that if a person came into the presence of their king uninvited, they went in fear and trembling because they knew they took their life in their hands. If you want an example of that, you’ll find it in the book of Esther where Queen Esther went in this day into the presence of the king to make intercession for her people. Now she was the Queen and the King loved her and she knew that, but at the same time she knew that King and she knew that his pride was very sensitive and that if anyone presumed to walk into his presence uninvited, if it met with his displeasure, he would have them beheaded right on the scene. Even though she was Queen and even though she knew the King loved her, she knew she was taking her life in her hands when she went before that Throne to make a petition that was so desperately needed, and she said, “Well, if I perish, I perish.” If I don’t do something about it I’m going to perish, if I do perish, well, what’s the difference–I’m going to perish one way or the other. But she saw one ray of hope, of going in before that King with her petition. I’ll tell you, folks, that poor woman went in there with fear and trembling!

The Lord is not going to put us to death for presuming to come into His Presence. There’s nothing that would please the Lord more, there’s nothing that will please our King more than that you and I came before the Throne of Grace many times a day. No matter how often we come, it thrills Him to think that we’re coming to the place where He can give us the sufficient grace, and therefore, when you and I go to pray, when we go to make our petitions that are so vitally necessary concerning our future, when we go there, it’s nice to know that we’re going into a place where we’re welcome and where we’ll meet the smile and approval of our King.

from: Howard Mooney – The Grace of God – Chelan Convention – June 13, 1971

---

There was Queen Esther and there was a man who wanted to destroy all the people and she was chosen to be there in the palace. She said, “The king has not called me for 30 days and if I go without being called and hold out the golden sceptre, it would mean death.” She said, “I will go and if I perish, I perish.” Her willingness to die to herself and her willingness to dare to take a step of obedience and it meant that all the people got saved. Her influence in being willing to die, die to self, she saved many people.

from: Erika Wulser – I Would Be True – Biddeston 2, Queensland, Australia – 2017

---

Queen Esther went to the king’s throne and the royal scepter was extended. Nobody will die at the throne of grace.

from: Harold Bennett – The Definition of Grace – Walla Walla, Washington Convention – 2018

In one of our meetings recently we heard about the words in Gen 18:14. Is anything too hard for the Lord? The secret was in waiting for the “Appointed time” according to the word of the Lord, and the Lord delivered on time. The same assurance was given in Jer 32:17, 27; Luke 1:37; 18:27. Nothing within God’s will can ever be impossible for the Almighty to accomplish. Maybe some of us are beginning to find it difficult to cope with our present situation. Is Covid-19 to be considered as an exception? Of course not! There is so much evidence that all in nature, that functions in harmony with the Creator, can only benefit from what is happening during this global dilemma for mankind. Certainly in heaven, there are no dilemmas ever or a state of emergency declared. Uncle Jim Johnston was fond of saying “God is never taken unawares, nor anyone who keeps close to Him.“ Whenever God’s people walked by sight, and not by faith, it led to disaster. “Man’s weakness and ignorance leaning on God’s almighty power and omniscience is True Faith.“ It’s taking God at His word and proving it by obeying what He tells us to do. As long as we are within His will and move in harmony with His timing, we can have every confidence that we will not be a disappointment to ourselves or our God.

In Thy Hand
I’m glad my times are in Thy Hand;
It is so sweet to know,
That everything by Thee is planned,
For me where’er I go.
The hand that holds the ocean depths,
Can hold my small affairs,
The hand that guides the universe,
Can carry all my cares.

I’m glad I cannot plan my way,
I’d rather trust Thy skill.
I’m glad the ordering is not mine,
I’d rather have Thy Will.
I do not know the future,
And would not if I might,
For faith to me is better far,
Than faulty human sight.

God did not promise to give us explanations for every experience or to tell us the reason why He expects us to obey and trust Him, but we can certainly rely on every promise He has given us.
To the unbelieving world, it’s unreasonable for anybody to trust a God they’ve never seen or heard, but we have all the evidence we need to convince us that God is dependable and has the power to accomplish what He says He will do. What He promises, He is able to perform. Even if the next step is hidden from view, can’t we trust the unknown future to our well-known God and loving Father? “Faith can walk with God in darkness, and He will guide that step aright.”
It has also been said: “God helps us as much by what He hides as by what He confides; He helps us as much by what He conceals as by what He reveals.” Unbelief is serious because it challenges the character of God and rebels against the will of God. “But without faith it is impossible to please [God]” (Heb. 11:6). When our eyes are on ourselves and our circumstances, we lose our perspective and say and do ridiculous things. We have every reason to trust and to submit to God, also in the uncertain times in which we are living.
These thoughts have been a comfort to me.

Links to Hymns Old and New sung by Jocelyn Radom and a collection of children’s songs (PDF only, no audio), have been added to the Song collection. Enjoy!

Sent: Friday, April 26, 2024

Hello…

Just a little note this morning.
Thanks for all your messages & thoughts about our flooding here in Dubai.

Tuesday, we got the 4 workers to the airport to travel to Pakistan Special Meetings. One storm had already gone through. The water was at least 2 ft deep at that point. I was able to safely make it back to the bach by myself. At the bach we had Amelia & her mom, Ranjini & Vivek from India. Two more separate storms came through & the weather office said the 3 storms came from 3 different directions & all focused & hit Dubai. That evening Amelia & I waded through water 3 ft deep to find a hotel for Vivek. Back to the bach & got Vivek & back again to the hotel about 300 meters from our bach. By morning the water in the streets was 4 ft deep. Some of our friends walked 15 kms from their workplace to their home in water 5 ft deep. Then the 5 apartments around us turned off their electricity & lifts stopped working because of the shorting of the electricity. Our apartment block managed to keep electricity except for 2 hours. But…. As our apartment’s water holding tanks are underground they became flooded & contaminated with sewer water… so all our tap water was unusable. We could only flush water in the toilets. We had some water bottles & used that for drinking, cooking & washing dishes. No baths! No laundry! Washing dishes was only done in 2 inches of water. Hand wipes to the rescue. Our nearest friend brought us food & veggies in an inflatable child’s swimming pool. On the 6th day, the tap water for flushing the toilets stopped… & we made the decision to leave the bach. The street water had subsided to 2 ft of green sewer water & we were able to get the Indian workers out to the airport… & Amelia’s mom treated us to a hotel & now today we will go & stay with one of our friends. Vivek walked every day through the water to our bach & spent the day with us. We had wonderful visits & fellowship with Ranjini & Vivek… & not a complaint from anyone. We count the days as rich.

Some stats: 1244 flights were cancelled. 30,000 pieces of luggage was backlogged & not able to be delivered to those passengers, nor to the ones in transit. 12,000 hotel rooms were accommodated by the airlines. 255 mm (10 inches) of rainfall in 12 hours. Dubai has storm & street drains. Sharjah (the city where we live in) doesn’t have such drains!! Guess the city was planned in the days when very little rain fell.
But we are ok… & just want to thank you for all your thoughts & messages.

Amelia & Betty

Request for submission: if anyone has the notes for following days of this Convention, please forward to archive.truth@gmail.com

1. Friday a.m. 11:00 – 12:30
   1. Joyce Peterson
   2. Lisa Sanderson
   3. Judy Hordyk
   4. John Mastin
2. Friday p.m. 2:00 – 3:30
   1. Cara King
   2. Leilani Price
   3. Scott Price
   4. Heather Hansen
   5. Doyle Smith
3. Friday p.m. 4:00 – 5:30
   1. Sean Apodaca
   2. Patricia Doland
   3. Melissa Kunz
   4. Jan Demmon
   5. Joyce Long
   6. Hilda Hansen
   7. James Lindsey

---

Friday a.m. 11:00 – 12:30

---

Joyce Peterson

This convention celebrates global unity in Jesus amid the pandemic.
Leaving all for the gospel yields hundredfold blessings, even with persecutions.
In Japan, hearts are open to the gospel, reminding us of the need for continued effort and faith.
Grateful to be part of this work, we seek to decrease, allowing God’s work to continue.

It’s a great privilege to share in this convention together. We are experiencing God answering Jesus’ prayer, that we would be one, as we walk in God’s precious way. We are united, one with Jesus, one with our Father, one in our little meeting, in our field, in different fields, different states, different countries, and around the world. I just marvel at the miracle, feeling the oneness, the same joy of what God is doing for us, even through this pandemic that is making our lives richer. Things God is teaching us and helping us to see and settle us. It’s the same here as it is in Japan. Proverbs 10:22 – “The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, And he addeth no sorrow with it.”

Mark 10:28-30 – “Then Peter began to say to Him, “See, we have left all and followed you.” So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for my sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life.”

Leaving all. When we go in the work, wherever we labor, it is a call to leave all. It can feel so big. We will receive a hundredfold of all, my old a hundredfold, your all a hundredfold. Above all that, eternal life. Beyond all measure.

How I felt going to Japan, and coming home. My fourth time to have a home visit. This time I felt that I was leaving home to go home. The open homes because of the gospel. Their all has been multiplied a hundredfold. They are so happy and don’t want to miss this opportunity for the workers to be with them. They want to have a place where the workers can pray and get ready for meetings. They want their friends and family, etc. to meet their workers. The dark things happening around them are overcome by the hope of the gospel. A time when the friends couldn’t meet because of the pandemic. They were sharing all over Japan. They are sending you their love and greetings and thanksgiving.

Some Japanese hymns, How great is the love of God, that He would send workers all across the +seas and even to Japan. Japan is not a Christian nation, but they love foreigners and want to be our friends. They come to English bible classes. One time we were studying with a man in Acts 1, and it says there that they would receive the power of the Holy Ghost, and that they would carry that to the uttermost parts of the earth. When you ask people in Japan who’ve heard the gospel and embrace it to tell their story, they always say: God sent His Son all the way from heaven and He sent his workers all the way to Japan, and He sent them all the way to my home, to the uttermost parts of the earth, and they’re so thankful.

The gospel first went to Japan before WWII. After WWII they were so happy for any help that would come from anywhere. A miracle that they didn’t hate us. The miracle of God’s softening, opening the way that the gospel could go there. They were once such a closed nation and now they love foreigners. Ps. 61:2 – “From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, When my heart is overwhelmed: Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” There were those who were praying.

God has heard their prayers. Each one is a miracle story. The fresh zeal for the gospel. The work goes very slowly. One that comes out from a multitude, one that feels drawn. That’s why workers are still being sent. I’m thankful we have a part in this miracle in our day and I want to be decreasing in myself that God’s miracle could continue.

---

Lisa Sanderson

Grateful for the call and being sent into the world, despite the pandemic delaying a return to Israel.
Reflecting on Jesus’ sending and the fruit of dying to self.
In Israel, preaching is restricted, but God’s work continues, opening doors for salvation.

Thankful for being called and for the continuing call and that not only are we called, we are sent. I’ve been on my home visit for almost two years. A year ago I was supposed to return to Israel, but because of the pandemic, the borders were closed and still are closed, although it seems that they are opening soon. And I am looking forward very much to going back and I’m thankful to still feel the call. We are not only called into the ministry and into God’s family, but sent into the world.

Mt. 4:18. Jesus said, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” I’m so thankful that God does the work and the drawing.

Mt. 28:19-end. Jesus promised to be with them until the end.

Jn. 20:21 – “Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.”

I’ve loved thinking about the way that Jesus was sent, and the love with which he was sent, and that he was filled with light from God and he brought that to us, and he sent us with the same message of love and hope and light.

John 1:14. Jesus came and dwelt among the people so that they could see and hear and feel all that Jesus was.

Fruit comes from being willing to die. I’ve been so aware that I can’t go and find people myself, but what I can do is die to myself and then there can be fruit.

Many have asked how the work goes there in Israel, many would know we’re not free to preach the gospel there as we are in this country We are bound, but the word of God is not bound. Many of us have probably felt that this year. We’re bound, in a sense, we’re not free like we’re used to being free to move around, or we haven’t been, but the Word of God is not bound and God’s work is still very much manifest and even a deeper work taking place.

Going back to Israel six years ago after my last home visit, searching for a new bach, and finally finding one. The next day meeting a man who began to ask questions. “I’m a Catholic, but am having a serious crisis of faith.” God opening up the visit. This man professed in Joppa this year after listening for six years. He wants to be baptized. God opens doors. He knows where every needy soul is and is still sending laborers. God’s work in all of our lives. The process of being saved.

---

Judy Hordyk

Returning home from France, grateful for the labor and unity among workers.
Reflecting on the impact of a sister’s dedication and the need to leave peace wherever we go.
Praying for more laborers and openness to God’s work.

It’s a privilege to labor. One of the sisters who labors in Africa shared on a home visit, “No place is difficult if the Lord has placed us there.” I am returning home. I have a ticket. The doors are open, so I am going. France is the size of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. We are a staff of 14 and two of us are on home visits. Each corner has a set of workers and one set is in Paris. A Catholic country. Thankful for those who have responded to the love of God. It is the love of God that draws us. Even though we are few in number, we are very united. Murmuring begins in the tent. One of the friends who died recently. She never allowed murmuring to take place in her tent, but thankfulness. Where there is a death there is a birth.

John 4 – Worshipping the Father in Spirit and in Truth.

A contact told the workers to come back when her daughter was home so that she could interpret for her. She wanted what they brought because they brought peace. Leaving peace wherever we are. Someone who has invited many to the gospel meetings. She said, I talked to God this morning and I said, “There’s so much of me, please fix me.” That’s my prayer too.

Belgium has one set of workers. They cover the whole country. Pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers. There are still sheep out there who are not of the fold. God can bring them into contact through your lives. Simply beg the Lord to speak to you.

---

John Mastin

God’s work is consistent globally, urging earnest seeking and ensuring one’s calling and election.
A story illustrates returning to faith and the need for spiritual fulfillment over worldly satisfaction.
With the pandemic waning, there’s a call to avoid carelessness.
Pray for authorities and gospel outreach.

The work is the same. It produces the same. Different languages, different customs, and different ways that people do things, but the work that God does is always the same. What He does in people’s hearts, giving them a love for things they weren’t interested in before. Sometimes those who labor in the Philippines from other countries are envied because the country has been so fruitful. The three we’ve heard from today will eventually return to their lands of labor. That is behind me now. Everyone has a little different story, but the same results.

Matthew 11:12 – “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.”

Not the kind of violence we think of with people fighting with one another, but the fight to get into the kingdom. The struggle we have with our old man and the struggle to overcome him. Willing to do violence to our human nature and desires. Those who are determined to be inside. Nothing is going to keep me outside. We have the privilege of seeing that.

Lk. 13:23-24. “Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.”

Strive to enter in. The gate is going to be closed and only those who have entered into the gate will be in.

II Peter 1:5-10. What we want to add to our faith. Make your calling and election sure. Not just coasting along, casually going to meetings, taking part. Always present, but not determined to get in. Not taking the kingdom by force.

Times when we feel so helpless and at loose ends. Waiting for the guidance of the Spirit. God opens doors that no man can shut. A young boy whose grandparents and mother professed. When he was 11, he made his own choice. His mother and grandparents had denied themselves, left all. It’s necessary to love this more than anything else and more than anyone else. Not that we would love them less, but that we would love this more. I love my family even more and would love to see them loving these things.

This young man went to college and that’s when things began to slip. Times when he couldn’t go because he had classes. Other times when he could have gone, but he was tired and had studies. One compromise led to another and gradually he slipped away. When he was home, he would go with his mother to the meetings faithfully. Rain or shine, regardless of the weather, his mother walked to the meetings. Times when one or two of her children would go with her. This young man would go when he was home and take part, but when he went back to school, he would let things slip. He wanted a connection, but he wasn’t taking the kingdom by force.

The time came when he married, and his wife wasn’t interested in the meetings at the time. Eventually, they moved to London and lived there for 17 years. He had some contact with the friends. He didn’t want to lose connection completely, but he wasn’t striving. He wasn’t getting the victory over the old man. His wife had work over there, lots of acquaintances, people she worked with. They invited her to their church but didn’t feel like it had anything for her soul when she went. Their 17 years finished there and they went back to the Philippines. She continued going with others to their church but wasn’t finding anything that would satisfy her or give her anything for her soul.

Her husband wasn’t going to the meetings himself, his mother was gone. He just stayed home. The time came when his wife said, “Let’s go to the meetings where your mother went.” He thought it was just a light thing to her and that it wouldn’t last. He told her just to go herself. So she went and took their daughter. Formerly she had been in high school with one of the friends. One of the brothers went to visit her.

The husband realized that his wife was very interested and he started going with her. The contrast between the two homes, the meeting home and their home. No pride that caused them to look for a better place to go. Peter staying with Simon the tanner. What kind of home that would have been, the smell there would have been, but Peter was content there, they had fellowship there.

This man was wanting back in and he meant it. Not wanting to pressure the wife. They didn’t test the meeting. He stood up and told the workers that he wanted to come back. He was hoping they would test the meeting. He was taking the kingdom by force. Not wanting to miss his chance. Not wanting to let any more time go by. He made it very clear and he sat down and we all sat up.

Then she stood. She said that she thought many were thinking she had been coming because of her husband, but that wasn’t why. For a long time, she had been looking for something that would feed her soul, that would give her peace and she hadn’t found it, but now in these meetings, God had spoken to her and shared with her what she had always wanted and she also wanted to come in and be part of this.

Some wanted in so desperately that they made it in, striving to enter into the strait gate. Making her calling and election sure. Both of them. It’s wonderful to see. We can become very casual. At least it’s easy for me about things that are so precious.

Things are starting to loosen up regarding the pandemic now. Someone who was concerned, having had time to read and pray. Do we want to go back to normal? To slip back to what it was before? I don’t want to slip back into carelessness, lack of caution, letting things slip, letting things come in and rob me that I could have given to precious things. What is normal anyway? If normal is being careless and taking things for granted, not valuing what I have, no, I don’t want to go back there.

There are lots of adjustments in being locked down, but there are bigger tests in having liberty again. It’s not a free ride from here, there are still plenty of things that will take our time, our thoughts, our zeal from what is most valuable.

Protesting. So far from what we’re admonished to do, to pray for the leaders of our countries. Those who are in authority. Praying for the need of the harvest. Pray that we might lead a quiet and peaceable life in godliness. They will put things in motion that we don’t want to see, but our protesting won’t make any difference.

There is not a surplus of those who will pray and whose prayers will reach God. Praying that we might lead a godly and peaceable life. Some doors are closing for the gospel right now. I know that I don’t want to protest, but I do want to pray. I’m ineffective if I protest and I will only cause division, but if I pray, I can leave an influence behind that might help. Our prayers, blending with many others, may be of some help. Settling it that we’re going to strive to enter in and make my calling and election sure.

---

Friday p.m. 2:00 – 3:30

---

Cara King

Our love for Christ is most important
Danger of losing our first love and the need for repentance
Love for God above all else
Importance of prayer and meditation on God’s word

John 14, Hymn 220 – More Love oh Christ to thee.

Love and how our love for Christ affects our love for him.

Romans 5:8 – God has already shown how much He loves us. He’s asking to see our love in return.

Revelation 2:2, 4 – “I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive.”

The importance of our love and the possibility of repenting.

Just considering again the danger of letting go of our first love. I just appreciated the solution here is to remember and repent. Just thinking about the importance of repenting.

Matthew 10:37 – “He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of me and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of me and he who takes not his cross and follows after me is not worthy of me.”

It’s not about not loving people, but it’s about being careful about who our first love is, and, it’s when our first love becomes someone other than God, that they start to cause problems and it hinders our obedience to Him and it hinders our love to him.

Matthew 10: Being careful about who our first love is. It hinders our obedience and our love for Him if He is not our first love.

Luke 14 – the excuses. Things that had taken first place. They didn’t love him more than their yoke of oxen or their marriage. What a terrible thing, if God asks us to do something, and we are unwilling to do what He asks because something else has taken precedence. Luke 14:31 – The two kings.

Ephesians 3:17-19 – “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.”

When we can have our eyes opened to see the greatness and the power of God, it helps us to realize how much we need His power on our behalf and our need to repent from anything that can get in the way of that love.

Times of prayer and meditation on the word of God can help us to see God’s love, mercy, power, and wisdom and our need to simply repent. Being more willing to simply do and love and simply trust that God’s way is best.

---

Leilani Price

Importance of humility in cultivating gratitude.
Despite challenges and times of weariness, being thankful is an act of faith.
Even in difficult circumstances, have confidence in God’s plan.

Luke 17. The ten lepers. They cried out to Jesus that he would have mercy on them. One returned to give thanks.

Why didn’t the other nine return and give thanks also? Maybe they were overwhelmed with what had just happened to them. Thinking of their immediate future, being able to go back to their family and friends, they had their life back. That’s very normal. It was centered around themselves.

Humility helps us to be thankful. John said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” All the things that were made possible for them, but as long as they were centered on themselves, there wasn’t a lot of room for being thankful and thinking of the one who had helped them. If we feel we deserve something, we don’t feel very thankful for it. Feeling that we don’t deserve something makes us much more grateful for it. Humility helps us to be more thankful.

It’s easy to be thankful when everything seems so good. This man had been cleansed from a disease that would have brought him death.

“We thank thee for weary days…” Times when we don’t feel so thankful.

Job 1 – He wasn’t feeling very thankful for what had happened, but even in that he was able to say, “Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Giving thanks whether we feel thankful or not is faith. God coming and speaking to Job. “You don’t know this, and you don’t understand this and you aren’t able to do this, but I am.” Coming up against our weakness. Things that happen outside of our control. Having the faith to believe that God sees and understands and knows what we don’t.

Jesus gave thanks to God, “… because it seems good in your sight.” “I thank thee that thou hast heard me.”

What seems good to God is going to be for the best for our souls. If we have faith in that, then we can give thanks even for the days that seem weary, understanding that it is for the good of our souls.

Zechariah praying in the temple. The angel Gabriel was sent to give him good tidings. Zechariah spent those next months not able to speak because he hadn’t believed.

Every time he tried to open his mouth and speak, he would remember the angel coming and speaking to him and the message from God. What could have felt like a punishment or discouragement could greatly increase his faith. When his tongue was loosed, he spoke and praised God. When those 10 months were finished, what it brought was an increase of thankfulness because God was working. Even in the darkness, the dark experiences can help us to see God more clearly.

Sometimes we get ourselves into situations that are our own fault. Being willing for anything that we can have life. Things we can bring to God in gratitude. Having the confidence in God that in His hand all is working for our good and we can give Him thanks for whatever situation we might find ourselves in.

---

Scott Price

Acts 3:19 calls for repentance and conversion, leading to times of refreshing from the Lord.
Renewed purpose in living for Christ, more unity with others, finding renewal in God’s presence.
A continual cycle of responding to God’s voice and finding newness in Him.

Acts 3:19 – “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.”

Looking forward to these meetings as a time of refreshing. Some things that need to be refreshed and some of the ways that they are refreshed. The time when we first responded to the voice of God.

“Repent and be converted.”

It’s a time when our soul is refreshed, but it’s given a brand new purpose. “I will no longer live for sin and the motives of sin, but I will live for Christ. It’s Christ for me today and it’s Christ for me forever.”

When we surrender to the voice of God and we begin to obey it. That’s a fresh and wonderful purpose. We walk along in the way of God with that purpose. Time passes and we need that purpose refreshed. “It’s Christ for me today, and it’s Christ for me forever.” That’s the wonderful thing that happens when we hear the voice of God clearly and personally. Every child of God has that because they’ve responded.

One of the things that I’ve missed is being able to sing in harmony with other people. Singing recently with a few in different parts. I needed to be ‘tuned up’. I’d gotten rusty in my ability to blend in harmony. The privilege we have when we meet together and can get back in tune again. Unity is when we’re all singing the same note. We’re united also when we’re singing the same song, but different parts in the same song. Our spirit can get tuned up again in meetings like this. We can come back into harmony again with Heaven above. “In harmony with Heaven above, one spirit with the God I love.”

Eph. 5:19 – “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.”

We’re brought to the right interval and timing with others and we’re able to blend in harmony with others who are singing the same song that we’re singing.

Prov. 25:25 – “As cold waters to a thirsty soul, So is good news from a far country.”

Something is refreshed within us because we hear in someone else’s experience the same things that have happened to us. We’re tuned up again and refreshed again. Cold water that refreshes a thirsty soul.

Rev. 3:20 – “Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hears my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”

There’s a breath of fresh air that comes with an opening door. Jesus comes in and brings a breath of fresh air into our heart and spirit. Maybe a door is closing, but another door opens. A breath of fresh air that happens with that.

Hymn #227 – Lord Be Not Silent Unto Me. Thou hast oft refreshed my soul, in times when I was sore distressed.

The purpose we started with is brand new all over again. That same peace is brand new all over again. That’s what it means to be refreshed. We look forward to more of it these days.

---

Heather Hansen

2 Peter 1:3-4 God’s power granting us all we need for life and godliness, through knowing Him.
Promises enabling us to partake in the divine nature and escape worldly corruption.
Escape corruption and align our minds with Christ, treasuring what is incorruptible.

2 Peter 1:3-4 – “according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

How precious it is that because of that faith, we can escape the corruption of the world and the corruption that is in us.

“Change and decay in all around I see, oh thou who changest not, abide with me.”

Everything that we know as a human being is corruptible, including our bodies.

Through this wonderful precious faith and the power of God we are made partakers of the divine nature. Being careful that our minds aren’t corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. Our mind is very useful to us. We use it to think and to choose. We want to be careful with our minds because it affects our hearts and our souls. We want to be careful what we think and that we don’t believe everything that we think with our human minds. Wanting to escape the corruption even of our own minds. How can we escape the corruption? Having that like, precious faith.

Matthew 6:19-21. Lay not up treasure on earth, but treasure in Heaven.

It has a lot to do with what we love. Make sure that what we treasure most is incorruptible.

1 Pet. 1:23 – “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.”

That wonderful seed of faith and love. The voice of God that will put that seed into our lives. Not by men, but of God and that will be incorruptible.

Wonderful that God has preserved His way and it’s still here. Aiming for the incorruptible crown. Striving for the mastery. Seeking God’s approval. Seeking the reward that God gives. Laying aside every weight and the sin that does so easily beset us.

Gal. 6:7-9 – Sow to the Spirit.

Not letting our flesh decide, we’ll just have corruption. Having the right spirit in us. Sowing to that Spirit.

Noah. Gen. 6:12 – “And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.”

God destroyed the corruption. Noah had faith that helped him to choose what couldn’t be destroyed, what was incorruptible. Seeing all the changes in life. Taking my focus off the things that are corruptible.

---

Doyle Smith

David’s faith against Goliath: While fear spread among the Israelites, David, though young, was unafraid.
He questioned the importance of the battle and chose to fight for God’s glory, not self-defense.
He used spiritual weapons, not carnal, proving true victory comes from faith and obedience to God.

1 Sam. 17 – David came to the battlefield where Goliath was. Everyone was afraid, including King Saul, who had been in many battles. Fear spread like wildfire, from one heart to the next heart. We have to be careful that we’re not any part of something like that. We can promote faith, or we can promote fear.

When this epidemic came to the heart of a young man, called David, everything stopped. David wasn’t afraid. His older brother was angry with him for coming to the battlefield and for asking the questions he did. His judgment was in haste and so it was harsh. He accused David falsely.

David said in v. 29 – “Is there not a cause?” Is it not a matter of importance? David asked a good question and he asked with understanding. Some things are important and things are not important. Things that are worth fighting for and things not worth fighting for. Such wisdom in such a young heart.

Young people who are full of faith and wisdom, make very good, Spirit-led decisions in life. You have an opportunity that the rest of us don’t have. An especially impressive light that shines forth from young lives. David asked what he had done. It’s a hard thing to be misunderstood. If anything provokes us to be a little self-centered, it’s when we’re being misunderstood negatively.

David wasn’t motivated to fight the less-important battle of defending himself. He saw the real battle. There was a great big 9 ft. tall enemy who was a threat to the kingdom. He was defying the name of the living God. There are a lot of causes that are way more important than fighting for ourselves or defending ourselves. David went and found 5 smooth stones and put them in his bag. Five stones and a sling and most importantly, faith in the living God.

Goliath didn’t stand a chance. He was on the wrong side. “You have to know how to choose your battles.” There are all kinds of battles that you could get stirred up about, causes, but some aren’t worth fighting. If we choose too many battles, we miss the most important cause. What John shared this morning, there are a lot of people protesting, but not a lot of people praying.

What is the most important cause you could ever involve your heart in? Fighting the battle on our knees, accessing all the power of the living God. That is the battle that produces real results. When we find the most important cause we put our heart into that and set ourselves aside, that is where our efforts result in the sweetest victories. The God of Heaven is anxious to be a part of those battles.

A lot of unfair things happening in the world. It could seem so legitimate to get involved. When we find the Kingdom’s cause and carry the blessing of God into the battlefield, that’s where the purpose of life becomes so rich.

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 “for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” I appreciate Paul’s very definite, confident language. Spiritual weapons.

The kind of weapon we choose has everything to do with our strategy for fighting the battle. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal. The Spirit of God and the word of God are such powerful weapons. They can cast down imaginations and bring thoughts into captivity to the will of God. When we involve God in the battle He chooses the weapons that we go forth to fight with. Weapons that we pick up in the place of prayer. The battle becomes so effective. Goliath never had a chance. David fought the battle with the presence of God, with faith in the living God. The Devil himself doesn’t have an answer to a weapon so powerful as the Word and the Spirit of God.

Carnal weapons, I suppose the list could go on and on forever, but some of the words that come to my mind the quickest when I think about a carnal weapon – impatience, unkindness, anger – that little tiny weapon we pick up, sometimes called anger. There’s a little voice that says to me sometimes. What do you hope to accomplish by fighting the battle like you’re fighting? What will your anger produce?

We know that things like anger, impatience, unkindness, and sharp words, we just know they’re there. They’re not a weapon that God would ever put into our hearts. We know from our experience that they never make worthwhile contributions to the cause of seeking real victory.

A mind can be difficult to change. Opinions are set like cement sometimes. Sometimes they’re set by centuries of traditions, cemented by deceitful influences, and difficult experiences. The word of God has an incredible capacity to change our thoughts. We thank God for every way we’ve experienced that. There is nothing that affects my mind like just thinking about Jesus.

The incredible effect that his quiet patient spirit had on people. “Now I see again, I’m refreshed, concerning what really is important and what real victory is about.” Some people have never thought to use anything but a carnal weapon. They feel victorious because they have squelched people. Aren’t we thankful that we can look at Jesus and know that is not what real victory is about? Fighting the battle on our knees.

Ephesians 6:12 – the armor we need if we’re going to fight the battle like we need to. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” It helps when we settle it that the enemy is never people. We wrestle not against flesh and blood.

The battle we’re fighting is against a much greater battle than people, than our brother. We’re fighting against the Devil himself. David didn’t decide to start a battle with his brother. He looked out on the battlefield and saw a much bigger enemy and that’s the battle he chose to fight. On a completely different level. There is an enemy, an adversary who is responsible for every wrong choice people have made, for every heart that is hardened, every sin that is committed. That is who the real culprit is. That’s the enemy we have to be concerned with.

When it becomes clear who the real enemy is…then these little carnal weapons we are so quick to pick up sometimes, it becomes so clear that those weapons will never be effective.

What we need to fight this battle is the Spirit of God, the grace and wisdom of the living God. The armor that we need to put on to fight this kind of enemy. Loins girt with truth, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit – these are all things that God provides. No one finds these things in himself.

We’re fighting this battle against spiritual wickedness in high places. It could almost sound like an impossible battle, but there are weapons that are more powerful. We know it’s true by what we see in Jesus. Jesus being tempted. Three times he responded, “It is written…” He resisted three times and the enemy departed from him. He knew he was no match for faith in the living God. We have access to that kind of power, but it’s not carnal. It’s spiritual.

The last piece of armor, the sword of the Spirit – is the word of God. The first weapon the Spirit thinks to pick up is the word of God. The word of God is what gives people life and changes minds, softens hearts.

John 14, 15, 16 – those wonderful promises Jesus gives us concerning what the Comforter will do for us when he comes. Jesus told his disciples when the Comforter comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will remind you of everything that I’ve taught you. He won’t speak of Himself, he’ll be a humble influence that glorifies me. That’s how you’ll know the voice of the Spirit when you hear it, it will always be the voice that says everything Jesus said is right and true and important. The voice that discounts the Word of God is not the Spirit of God.

The sword of the Spirit is the word of God. I like how Paul presents that to us. It’s the Spirit. Jesus said the Comforter will glorify me. He won’t speak for himself. It won’t come to you in the form of a proud man seeking his own glory or behaving in a way that lifts himself up. That’s not what the Spirit of God ever produces in a life. But the Spirit recognizes that the greatest cause we could ever live for is glorifying God.

Sometimes I get frustrated with just how automatic it is to pick up a carnal weapon in the heat of the moment, having never once in my life proved that a carnal weapon produces anything called real victory. And you wonder why does that happen? I think I’m just speaking for myself now, one problem is that I have too much training using carnal weapons. It’s such an instinctive thing. That is the adversary.

I’m trying to be careful this afternoon to use the word adversary and not enemy so much because sometimes the adversary is our brother, isn’t he, and most certainly our brother isn’t our enemy. It’s so easy when the adversary is using a carnal weapon to decide that that strategy has to be responded to in kind, but that’s just a basic human instinct. There’s nothing like anger to inflame anger, and we don’t want to be on either side of that equation. We can’t ever afford to let the adversary dictate the terms and the way we fight the battle.

Goliath had a great big sword and he had armor. Saul offered David his armor. David said, I haven’t proved that, and he set it aside. I don’t have any experience proving that is the way you get victory. He knew he could trust God and didn’t let Goliath dictate how he fought the battle. We don’t have to fight anger with anger or impatience with impatience and so on.

Peter, just before he went to the garden where Jesus gathered that last night of his life with his disciples, picked up a sword and strapped it on his side. Of all things to take with you to the place of prayer, to take the sword. It didn’t express, obviously, to God that he was there because he needed the help of Heaven and he knew that God was his only hope. I have nothing carnal to contribute, I only need the help of Heaven.

Maybe Peter didn’t give it much thought. He must have had the passing thought that he might need that sword. Someone else might have one and he might need it. When he cut off the servant’s ear, he must have felt that what he was doing was legitimate. He was defending Jesus, the Son of God, but he didn’t choose the right weapon.

Peter would tell us, if he was speaking in the meeting this afternoon, remembering Jesus praying in the garden three times, “If it be possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless not my will, but thine be done.” He would tell us that the time he had spent strapping on the sword, he would have spent praying if he could do it over.

Jesus never responded by picking up a carnal weapon. His spirit was perfect, “Father forgive them, for they know now what they do.” He knew that the Spirit of God had tremendous power to soften their hearts. Maybe the moment when we’re tempted the most to pick up a carnal weapon is when we’ve tried to use the Spirit of God and the word of God. Not even the perfect Jesus succeeded in changing every heart.

---

Friday p.m. 4:00 – 5:30

---

Sean Apodaca

Human nature relies on carnal weapons, like a strong lion.
God calls us to be humble and reliant on Him, like the defenseless but wise conies.
Pride leads to downfall, but God values humility and fruitfulness.
Meetings may be simpler now, but God blesses obedience over formality.
We should be humble and fruitful, like the rock badger and the strawberry plant.

These last 15 months have been very unique. A storm.

Prov 30:26, 30 – “The conies are but a feeble folk, Yet make they their houses in the rocks; A lion which is strongest among beasts, And turneth not away for any.”

The conies, also known as a rock badger, are similar to a marmot. Our human nature is very much like this lion. We tend to turn to carnal weapons because that’s what we’re practiced with. God gives us this new nature that is kind of like the conies. They are defenseless, but what a defense those rocks are. Lions tend to die through fighting. At some point, they are taken down by a younger, stronger lion. We need to feed this second nature. Maybe it seems weak, but it will be our salvation if we protect it.

The Lord of Hosts will bring down everyone who is proud and lofty, all who are high and lifted up. Pride comes before a fall. We’ve seen a lot of trees toppled these last 15 months, a lot of damage done. We are that way by nature, tall and strong like these cedars. God wants to make us more like something lowly, something fruit-bearing, like a strawberry plant. God is looking for fruit. The banana tree is an amazing tree. They produce. They’re very fruitful, very bountiful.

Things in life that are going to cut us down, but if we’re small and humble and teachable and admit that we don’t know very much, we will rise again.

1 Corinthians 1:26-27 – “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.”

We often talk about the lowly way, and it is a lowly way, the way we meet in homes. We sing some hymns, we pray some prayers, and sometimes the singing is not very good. And sometimes the testimonies are pretty simple.

These last 15 months under the circumstances, the meetings have become even lowlier. Whether you’ve met through email meetings, or text meetings, or conference call meetings, those who have just been willing to humble themselves and accept that the only way is the way to peace, you’ve been blessed. It’s wonderful, that God has been trying to show us that He can see us in any, in every circumstance, and that blessing comes through obedience, it doesn’t come through through a form. And maybe God has been trying to show us that the form of meeting isn’t the most important thing. And the form of how we get together for convention or special meetings or even, possibly, the form of how we are taking the emblems. The most important thing is that we’re being obedient to the spirit of the Spirit of Christ.

We read of a man in 3 John, his name is Diotrephes, and we don’t know a lot about him but it tells us that he loved to have the preeminence or he loved to be number one. And he wouldn’t receive the workers.

How do we get to that point? We get there by not humbling ourselves by thinking our thoughts are better than others’ thoughts.  I want to learn to be like the rock badger, like the strawberry plant, humble and bearing fruit.

---

Patricia Doland

Matthew 7:13-14 describes the choice between the broad and narrow ways.
The narrow way, though challenging, leads to life and a closer relationship with Jesus.
It requires humility and repentance, but brings peace and love.
Few find it, but those who do experience the joy of walking with Christ.

Matthew 7:13-14 -“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”

When we’re walking in the narrow way, we have Jesus’ presence with us. There is provision made for our needs and God’s will is being done. It’s where we have peace and where we feel His love.

What’s not in the narrow way is like our Hymn #42 says – Where self can have no place.

That is a burden lifted, when we have more of Christ and less of self. There is no room for our sin. Sin is dealt with as we walk in the narrow way. There’s repentance in our hearts and the burden of sin is lifted. The only way to enter is as a child and to keep that spirit.

John 6: A separation of who would continue in the narrow way. A lot of people chose the broad way. They didn’t have a clear vision. In the narrow way is eternal life.

John 6:68-69 – Peter answered Jesus, “Lord, to whom shall we go, thou hast the words of eternal life.”

Peter was willing for the cost of walking in the narrow way. Peter loved his relationship with Jesus, it meant his salvation. Life was so worthwhile because of his relationship with Jesus. Many were choosing to go a different way. It was so personal. Peter chose, “No matter what, I’m going to follow Jesus.” The people murmured and said that it was a hard saying. There is thankfulness in the lives and mouths of God’s people who are walking in the narrow way. What’s in the broad way is lots of complaining and murmurings.

When we are trusting in God and in the living Christ, that will help us be settled and willing and have a thankful heart. The Spirit quickens, the flesh profits nothing. The word Jesus speaks to us is eternal life. He was sharing the very best with them. That is all part of the narrow way. The broad way is walking in our own way, but it has no eternal blessing.

In Isa. 35 it talks about the wilderness way and that chapter ends with the holy way – the redeemed walking in it. There is fruit, there are miracles, and there is encouragement in walking in the narrow way. People who had joy and a song in their hearts because of the way of God they were walking in. Be willing for changes that need to happen within our lives. Letting go of self, of sin. Getting to know the depth of it better and to know the love and peace and joy of walking with Jesus.

---

Melissa Kunz

God gives us gifts of repentance and self-denial to perfect our spirits.
Repentance is not just about sin but changing our thinking.
Self-denial helps us turn from sin before it bears fruit.
These gifts lead to a divine nature and joy in righteousness.
Sorrow can lead to repentance and the development of godly qualities.
Jesus’ joy gave him strength in suffering, showing us how to endure.

A couple of the gifts of God that He gives richly, with an open hand, if we’ll receive them, handle them, use them. The more deeply we apply them, the more of God’s power they bring into our lives. We’ve talked about the perfecting work of God in our lives, not perfecting of the human side, but of our spiritual self, this perfecting work happens as we use the gifts, applying the understanding that God gives us. Often the gifts look like little mustard seeds. It’s easy to miss our opportunities to use them. The gifts have the power to change our lives from who we are humanly, to being the souls that stand around the throne.

Ps.19:7 – “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.”

The simple teachings of Jesus present the greatest gifts. Repentance is fundamental to entering the Kingdom of God. He taught that we cannot be his disciples without self-denial. The flesh thinks these are hard things, the Spirit knows they are the most direct avenue to the grace and the power of God. They are wonderful gifts, not burdens and shackles.

Repentance is a verb, something we do. But first God prepares us for it. Repentance is a prerequisite to forward steps, to fruitfulness, to clearer vision. Technically, Jesus never had to repent because he never sinned. We connect repentance with sin because that’s our experience. Jesus turned around way before he ever got close to sin. Jesus practiced self-denial. When a thought sprouted, he cut off the root before it could grow a stem or a leaf. That’s why it never bore fruit, the fruit of sin. Self-denial is repentance before we sin, it keeps us in the safe zone. Repentance is receiving a different thinking. The thinking that got us into the problem will never get us out of it.

When God leads us to repentance, He is doing his perfect work. Jesus’ baptism is an example of dying to the old life, saying no to the flesh, and yes to walking in the Spirit of God. Heaven was open to Jesus because he was in complete agreement with Heaven and the will of God. Without repentance and self-denial, we can’t be deeply honest and soft. There is fruit we’ll never bear, a spirit we’ll never have. Because of repentance, we can be clean and soft. We can be different.

2 Peter 1:4-5 – “whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge.”

Leaving ourselves behind. As we practice God-guided self-denial, we’ll have wisdom. We can be out of balance in good things. Jesus cautioned his disciples about what they were finding joy in. It was appropriate to be happy and thankful for the power that Jesus had given them, yet their primary joy needed to be in their relationship with God, and the gift of their own salvation. Not having our joy misplaced.

Heb. 1:9 – love for righteousness, hate for iniquity. A growing love for righteousness and hate for inequity will bring a godly balance and joy into our lives.

2 Cor. 2:7 – A danger of being swallowed up in overmuch sorrow.

Isaiah 53 – Jesus a man of sorrows. He wasn’t swallowed up by it though. He trusted in all the promises of his Father.

2 Cor. 7:9-11: The valuable work that sometimes only sorrow can do. They sorrowed to repentance. Some of the qualities it worked into them. Carefulness, zeal… Bring forth fruit meet for repentance. These qualities testify to the work of God in our lives.

Mk. 10:18 – There is none good but one, that is God.

Heb. 12:2 – Jesus’ joy was so deep that it gave him strength to endure the humiliation of the sins of the world lay on him. It helped him so profoundly that the agony of his present experience couldn’t swallow him up. As we face painful and extreme circumstances, they don’t need to swallow us up.

---

Jan Demmon

We should savor heavenly things, setting our affections on them.

Mark 8:31, 33 – “And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.”

Caterpillars about ready to turn into butterflies. Little dark blobs clumped together. Looked like there was no hope. So much was going on to make the change inside of them. So much was going on when it looked like they might even be dead. Mark 9 – The transfiguration. When the caterpillars became butterflies, they would have a completely different appetite.

John 12:2 – “There they made him a supper, and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him.” When Lazarus was resurrected from the dead – maybe now he had a different appetite. Love to feed on sweet things, on the word of God. Love to be in fellowship with Jesus and enjoy being in fellowship with each other. Before Lazarus was raised, Martha said to Jesus that she knew her brother would rise again in the resurrection on the last day. She knew there would be a resurrection.

What about Herod? Mt. 14 – even though he wasn’t professing to know God, when he heard about Jesus, he felt that maybe John the Baptist had risen from the dead. He had a concept of the resurrection. David, Isaiah, Hoseah, and Ezekiel knew there would be a resurrection. The Transfiguration. It seems that God knew that Jesus needed some real encouragement from Heaven.

Jesus told Peter, “You’re not savoring the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.” Seeing things from an eternal point of view, the need of a Savior. Savoring, feeding on the things of Heaven. Six days later, God produced a miracle. He called Jesus up to the mountain. He brought down two who would not be savoring the things of men. They had been in Heaven for hundreds of years. They would have seen the bigger picture. They were savoring things of eternal life. It was like Jesus had a taste of a resurrected life. His countenance changed, his raiment was white as snow. Nothing on earth that could make it that white. The resurrection life is holier and more noble than anything the world can produce. Heaven is far more able to do the things that would glorify God.

Colossians 3 – Savor and affection are the same word. Set your affections (your thoughts, what you savor) on things above, not on things of the earth.

---

Joyce Long

Jesus teaches non-retaliation
Ephesians advises managing anger and working
Peter cites Jesus’ non-retaliation in suffering
Noah found grace by obeying God
We can focus on God’s kingdom amidst evil

Matthew 5:38-39 – “Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: but I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.”

Eph. 4:26-27 – “Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.”

Thinking about Jesus. 1 Peter 2:21-23 – “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:” When he suffered, he threatened not.

Jesus was surrounded by evil. So much was going on that wasn’t good. Jesus didn’t resist it, but he never let it enter his heart. He never let it change how he reacted. When he was reviled, he reviled not again. He was mocked, scourged, beaten, spit upon. “Father, forgive them.” He commended his spirit to God. So much for us to keep focused on that will help us not be affected by the evil around us.

There is so much in the kingdom that we can keep our hearts and focus on. Noah. The earth was filled with violence. It was corrupt. Everyone’s thoughts were on the wrong things. Noah was a just man. The earth was filled with violence, so some of it must have been close to Noah. We don’t ever read about the difficulties and the sufferings that he faced. He found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

He was looking for the help that he needed, every step of the way. The grace of God is the help of God that He gives us in what He’s asking us to do. “God said.” Noah did. He did all that God commanded. Noah never stopped listening to God. He was a man of patience. He wanted to be used by God. Every day he made himself usable. He humbled himself, he asked God for help and he kept listening. He had a full surrender and a full commitment every day.

Put on the whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand. The devil can be very loud, but he can also be very subtle. Even though we can’t understand all the evil that is going on, we can seek God and seek His protection from it. The privilege of having faith and truth and righteousness, the Spirit of God. We don’t need to try to understand how wicked the world is and how evil it might be. We need to choose what we read.

The shield of faith, we need to use it. What we know to be true. God wants us to remember our source of peace and what is true. He wants us to remember that He is always right and we want to be right with God. There is every provision, no matter what is going on around us. There is so much to feed on as God’s children. So much to seek God for, for His protection and help.

We need to keep free from evil and not let it enter our hearts, not have any place in our hearts where the devil can get a foothold. Having our faith strengthened. Live in a way that will bring a deep joy and peace and will help us to be approved of God.

---

Hilda Hansen

Moses sweetens bitter water with a tree, symbolizing Christ
Obeying God’s commands brings healing and sweetness
Our speech should be seasoned with salt.

Exodus 15 – Moses had brought the children of Israel over the Red Sea. They went three days into the wilderness and they found no water. The waters of Mara – they were bitter. They murmured against Moses. Moses took it to the Lord. Take it to him and find out what the Lord had in mind. The Lord showed him a tree. When he cast it into the water, the waters were made sweet.

The waters of this world are bitter. The only one that can make the difference is the one that God sent. Jesus, the tree of life. The tree of life was put in the garden. A tree of life and a tree of good and evil. Adam and Eve could have partaken of the tree of life. They could partake of any tree in the garden except one, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Many things are good and ok and won’t harm us, but we’re tempted with the very thing that will harm us. A picture of the coming of Christ.

When God sent His tree of life into the waters of this world, it brought a sweetness that those who were willing to receive him received. “If.” There are conditions to the promises of God. “If thou wilt diligently hearken.” Not just hear, but listen. Obey. Hearken and then do what we heard. To do it and give ear to his commandments. To keep His statutes. If we hearken, if we give ear and keep it. That is the condition to have Christ, that tree of life, with us. “I am the Lord that healeth thee.”

They came to Elim and camped there by the waters. 12 wells of water. All of them bringing the word of God. A picture of His true ministry. Lots of water.

Exodus 15:27 – “And they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters.”

2 Kings 2:21-22 – “And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land. So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake.”

Jesus is also the salt of the earth. It changes the whole picture. Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt. If we have that salt in us, our speech will be different. It wasn’t what was taken out of the water that made the difference, but what was put into it. Knowing more about that sweet water that we can have from Him, by being willing to hear, keep, do His will. Being willing for it.

---

James Lindsey

God provides confidence and assurance through His righteousness.
He knows how to deliver the godly from temptations.
The torn temple veil symbolizes access to God’s presence.
We have a living hope through Jesus’ resurrection.
We will be like Him one day.
Trusting in Him gives us an anchor to our soul.

Five verses that have come to mind. God has provided confidence and assurance to all of us. It has been a blessed assurance and a blessed confidence. There are a lot of advertisements about where to place your confidence, assurance, and hope. One of God’s many blessings that flow to us through His righteousness. When His righteousness becomes our possession, we will know His blessing.

2 Peter 2:9 – “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:” God knows how. A wonderful assurance. He has spoken. The Potter and the Clay. The Potter knows how. We are on the wheel. We can have confidence that He knows how. Feeling fragile. The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation. It’s all figured out. My part is to cooperate with Him.

At the time of Jesus’ crucifixion, “the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.”

Only once annually, the High Priest could enter. When it was ripped from top to bottom, it opened the way for any to enter. Being able to enter fully into the presence of God. We have boldness, an invitation, a welcome from God. He will meet us there and commune with us there.

The wonderful privilege of entering into the very presence of God. Meeting with Him and being comforted by Him. A wonderful assurance. Everything will happen on time. Mary and Martha were concerned about Jesus being late in helping Lazarus. While He may not be early, God is never late. We can have confidence and assurance. A wonderful welcome to enter into His eternal presence.

1 Peter 1:3 – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” A living hope. We can have confidence and assurance, boldness. We have been born again to a living hope.

1 John 3:1-7 – As Jesus now is, we will be one day. Lie still and let Him mold us, according to His will and purpose. His kingdom is everlasting, established. There are enemies of the kingdom of God. Satan and all his legions are arrayed in all their force. It will fail in the presence of the Lord Jesus. In times of distress and profound challenges, we can’t just depend on common sense.

We need to go forward in faith and by faith, trusting in him. An anchor to our soul. Heb. 6:18-19. A wonderful, blessed assurance.

It is a special privilege for me to be here. My thoughts have been concerning Jesus, about His Spirit, and His Spirit as He entered into every experience. When He knew His hour had come facing the cross, He prayed again and again, and again. His concern in His heart was that His Spirit would be totally and wholly submitted to the will of His Father. He had human feelings just like we have. He cried, “If it were possible, let this cup pass from me,” but He knew if He kept that Spirit, even going to the cross would not achieve what God had planned it would, so He kept praying until His Spirit was right.

The most important part of a meeting is the part that takes place before a meeting: getting into the right spirit;   going to the meeting with the right purpose, just one purpose. There is a dear old lady, over 80 years of age, who struggles on her walking stick, down the mountain for three hours to be in the Sunday morning meeting and Wednesday night. She never misses. She is deaf. Shouting in her ear, she was asked, “Why do you come? You can’t get anything from the meeting.” She said, “I come here because God is here.” How special is it to us that we can come and meet with God and He can talk with us.

That is the spirit that is going to make it possible for God to speak to us. That dear old lady sometimes comes in pouring rain. One Sunday morning she did not arrive. One young boy who had recently professed, was concerned. Right after the meeting he encouraged a friend, found a little three-wheeled cart and went up the mountain to see what was wrong. They crossed streams, rocky ledges and got to her house to find she had fallen and broken her ankle. They took her down the mountain, carried the cart over streams, and cared for her until she could walk again. We can see the spirit of that dear lady still wanting to be where God is, and I love to see the spirit of the young man, doing everything possible to see that others could be where God is. That young man has had several years in the Work now. It is a wonderful thing, not only preparing ourselves for the meeting, but doing everything necessary to help others to be there.

Matthew 5:23-24, “If you remember your brother hath ought against thee, go and put it right.” How can we feel at ease in a meeting knowing our brother is not free, and very likely because of something I may have done, or maybe should have done? It has made me realize the great importance of preparing for the meeting. We know and can see all that has gone on in preparation for the Convention here, and we know that without the Spirit of God all is in vain. The Spirit of God makes all the difference. Without the Spirit of God everything is vain.   Many people gather as we gather today, speak of the very same things, but the effect is very different just because the Spirit of God is among us.

I was thinking of the time Jesus took Peter, James and John up the mountain. They saw Moses and Elias, and Peter said, “It is good for us to be here.” We have been here three days and that is the feeling of all of us, that we would not want to be anywhere else. But then, we don’t just want that feeling of being here, not just at Convention but it would bring good results if we could just take this Spirit with us when we go from Convention and have this spirit at every meeting, and every experience in life. I need to prepare my spirit for these experiences.

For many years my greatest concern was having a part in a meeting, preparing words. That is not the most important thing, but to have a prepared spirit, that there is in the meeting something there for me. Don’t take offence, but take heed. If our spirit is prepared by prayer, we will never take offence, but will take heed, and like Jesus, we will pray for submission to what God has planned for us, that we will take heed to the rescue message that has come from God.

Peter appreciated being there, and he wanted to stay there, but that was not possible, but the effect of that meeting was a lasting effect, and later when he wrote, he was still thinking and remembering the things they had seen and heard in the holy mount. Isn’t that the case as we go from Convention? We continue to think about and feed upon the things we have heard in the holy mount that will keep us going forward.
Psalm 63:1-2, “O God, Thou art my God; early will I seek Thee…to see Thy power and Thy glory, so as I have seen Thee in the sanctuary.” We have seen new beauties these days, have seen Jesus in a way we have never seen Him before, and appreciate His life and sacrifice as never before, and we want to see Him like that when we go out from this Convention. We don’t want to lose the effect. We want to be keeping a watch of our spirit that will help us in all these experiences.

There was another experience when Jesus felt the need to pray. In every experience He felt the need to pray. He came to the Temple and saw what was going on. The Temple was to be the house of God, the house of prayer, and He found it full of business, buying and selling, and He went out that night, and went up the mountain and prayed. Then He came back the next morning and cleansed the Temple.

On another occasion, when He was to choose the twelve disciples, He spent all night in prayer. The only way I can really prepare my spirit is in prayer, in the place of prayer; and as we consider the life of Jesus and all He taught and the spirit He showed to everyone, that teaches us how our spirit can also be acceptable to God. Jesus was praying before He went to the cross, and then could have the spirit He was able to show on the cross, “Father forgive them, they know not what they do.” If His spirit had not been prepared, what hope would we have today?

We are so glad for people who still have as the most important thing in their life this concern of being in touch with God, so that their spirit will be as it should be. We could say and do many things, but if they are not said and done in the right spirit it is not going to have the right effect.

I have appreciated that picture we have of David. It shows us how easily our spirit can be affected. David was a special man, a godly man. One day he heard secondhand, something that someone had not treated his herdsmen very well, and that changed his spirit. He was full of wrath, his heart full of hatred and murder. That is a very important thing, our spirit. David went off with his heart filled with wrath. He went off to kill that man, but another person had another spirit, who was able to help him to see what he was doing. We are glad for people who can help us to see ourselves.

We read of Abigail and the spirit she had. She was prepared to show the spirit of a humble person, and that is what got the victory and helped David to humble himself. We should humble ourselves and take the blame even if we are not to blame. This is all against human reasoning, against our human nature, but it is the spirit that is going to get the victory and help us. When David realized what had happened within his own spirit, he was willing to humble himself and take advice. He did not take vengeance, but he took advice and that saved the situation.

When we think of the spirit of Jesus after His resurrection, and to find, even still that His disciples were divided, but the spirit of Jesus was to still help them. It was a spirit of help. If we could just take that spirit into every meeting it is going to be helpful. Look at the spirit of Jesus, what it consisted of. It was simply a spirit of love and that is what makes all the difference. That is what was lacking in David that day. There was not a spirit of love but a spirit of murder. In the heart of Jesus there was a spirit of love and that enabled Him to get the victory over human thoughts and reasonings.

In Isaiah 55:10-11, we can read a little of what God is doing for us and how He works in us. “It shall accomplish that which I please.” I was thinking of Convention, Sunday morning meetings and Bible study meetings. There is something God wants to see accomplished as a result of our gathering together. It is just that we be fed spiritually, strengthened, corrected: the main thing is that that purpose would be accomplished.

We read of a time in Acts when there was a problem. Someone was complaining that they were not getting enough attention. They saw the apostles who said, “Look ye out men who will take care of this matter.” We read of those men who were chosen and of Stephen, filled with the Holy Ghost. That was the solution to the problem. If there is a problem we can be sure it is because of a lack of the Holy Ghost, lack of the Spirit, and the solution is to get more of the Spirit. More often we try to get some fitting words, but I realize now we must make sure that we have the right spirit. We can try and solve it without the right Spirit, and then become part of the problem.

Stephen was a man full of the Spirit and no one could resist it. We are so grateful today, for those who have this same feeling, that the number one thing in life is to have the Spirit and be guided by the Spirit. Our service to God, if it is not filled with love and willingness, it is in vain.

As Workers, as we go in search of the lost, we need to be guided by the Spirit. There is no end to the places where the Gospel has not yet reached. We could spend our time and effort to no gain. Our only hope is to be guided by the Spirit, but often we have to wait until we can be sure that God is in it. That has been a very special experience for my companion and me, going into a new area, and our prayer was that God would guide us by His Spirit. We felt moved to go to a certain village.

My companion and I began visiting all the homes in that village. My companion came to the edge of the village until there were no more homes. He didn’t know where to go. He felt something in himself and went into the woods where there were no homes, but after a little while he met a lady walking down out of the woods and he asked her to the meeting. She asked a few questions, and was at the meeting that very night and never missed a meeting. That was a very reassuring experience for us, for that young Worker just starting out, being led by the Spirit. It means going against human reasoning. If we are directed by the Spirit we see good results.

That woman was just like Lydia. We don’t have the opportunity to stay in a place for six months. We spent two weeks in that place and had to move on, and this lady was showing interest, with others. We went back later for two weeks more, and during those two weeks, fourteen days, she was in twenty six meetings. That proves how hungry she was. It is just so helpful to know that God will guide, and He makes no mistakes. So, if there is anything in our lives and we don’t know what to do, the answer is by the prompting of the Spirit. That lady had been through ten different churches and all wanted to baptize her, but she said, “This is not right,” and the Spirit kept her. She came to the place where she just prayed, “Lord, send me your true messengers. I will wait till you do.” It was just one week before she met my companion.

In confidence we wait on the Lord. Isaiah 40:31, “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles.” They shall rise up with new strength, and like the eagle, to fly higher than ever before. We can appreciate why Jesus was so careful about His Spirit before every experience. If we see in experiences where we have failed, we can see it is where we have not waited to be led by the promptings of the Spirit. On other occasions we did wait. This encourages us to be more earnest in seeking the guidance of the Spirit.

There was a thought in a Bible study about the parable of the sower and the Seed, and of the good soil that brings forth thirty, sixty, or one hundredfold, and that was if we are willing to do everything, but if someone has to ask us to do it, it is just like thirty fold. If we do it because we see others doing it, it is sixty fold, but if we can do it by God prompting us by His Spirit, that is like one hundredfold. Nothing means more to us than that contact with God. “Praying always in the spirit…” We are grateful for the spirit of this Convention, and we want to take it with us through the year. As we go into every meeting, we should make sure we take the right spirit with us and we will get the right effect.

Katie

Hymn 85: We need the Savior’s presence.
“Must” indicates nonnegotiable importance.
Life without the Savior is fearful.
Fear of missing out motivates obedience.

“I must have the Saviour with me…” [Hymn 85] – the need and urgency of having the Saviour with us: “…His arm around me…”, “my faith at best is weak”, “…in the onward march…”, “I will go without a murmur”. ‘Must’ indicates that it is nonnegotiable; there is no other option. To live a life pleasing [to God] and with hope of eternal life, there is no other option. Luke 2:49  Jesus said, “-I must be about my Father’s business” – His purpose was greater than His parents could understand.

We may make decisions in our own strength, but then we end up walking alone. It is a precious thing that God understands our weaknesses and frailties. God is merciful in giving us opportunities [in life] and gives us the best companion we can have. “Then my soul shall fear no ill” – life without a Saviour can be fearful and confusing.

Hebrews 4:1 “Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it”. This is a healthy fear, the fear of missing out; we would fear to go a day without our Saviour. This rest is both in this lifetime, and for eternity. This rest is deep within us; a rest from fear.

Exodus 12 – the Passover: what a time to have a fear of missing out – so many instructions, but [leading to] the saving of each household. This is not an oppressive fear, for it has a background of love; it is a healthy fear that moves us to do His will. This is for ourselves, not for others; pray for the Saviour to be with us.

Rachel

2 Corinthians 11:3 warns against complexity diverting from Christ.
Embrace simplicity like nature’s cycles.
Jesus trusted God, demonstrating simplicity.
Trust God like children, for His ways endure.

2 Corinthians 11:3 “…I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ”. Simple things have an appeal; some people are going back to simpler ways of doing things. Nature is simple: a planted seed grows, and everything is in its place. We enjoy each of the seasons for their beauty.

Jesus trusted His Father.- John 6:38 “…I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me” – Jesus trusted His Father’s will: “I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me” [John 8:16]. Part of the simplicity in Christ is trusting God. Look on experiences of life as the trust of God. The living God never let Jesus down, although He wasn’t always respected here on earth. We can show we respect by reading about Him: there is simplicity in reading, praying, and trusting. Zacchaeus pushed past distractions, and got a clear picture of Jesus. If God has said something, and we believe it, it helps to settle us.

Childlike trust is trust in those who care; trust our Father in Heaven. If He can make the world, the work of His hand, why wouldn’t we trust Him with our life. His way doesn’t change – there’s no need for the Bible to be updated.

People have many ideas and opinions, but knowing God builds our faith in Him. Those in the Old Testament didn’t have the Bible, but Noah was trusted by God to build the ark according to the plan God had given him. Because Noah trusted, his family was kept safe. God is wanting a people for Himself, to be lights in this world. Satan fills our life with many other things; news and media are very fast these days, but the Word of God is living, and we can enjoy it today.

God didn’t withhold his strength from His Son, and will not withhold it from us.

Katie

Hebrews 4:1-2 “Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it”. The Word of God is to profit us, to gain spiritual depth, but those without faith didn’t profit. We can hear it, but gain nothing for our souls, for we must mix faith with the hearing. In this combination, faith hears, and brings life into the Word. We can have faith and encourage others, and in faith we find the Word is living and powerful.

1 Thessalonians 2:13 “…when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth…” We don’t find life in the words of men, but the Word sent by God is inspired. Paul had proved the power of the Word in his own and [saw it in] others’ lives.

Hebrews 4:1-2 “Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it” – this is a healthy kind of fear. ‘FOMO’ [an abbreviation used in text messaging] means ‘Fear Of Missing Out’, and this is a good thing in our relationship with God, of living truth and the living Word. Rest is necessary for the body and mind; when we don’t get rest, things don’t go as they should. We need rest for our souls and hearts, for the devil does all he can to keep us from it. Soul rest goes on into eternity. We don’t want to come short of the promises of God, but need to have a healthy fear. This relationship is individual- no one else can give us faith or love – they come from within, and we have to work them out for ourselves. We can’t ride on others’ coat-tails, but need to work these out for ourselves. Continue to prove the power in His Word.

Rachel

That hymn [362 ‘Longings’] is like a prayer: “I long to keep more closely at Thy side…”. Peter and Paul both had experiences for the Gospel’s sake. Acts 12 – James had been killed by Herod, and Peter was imprisoned; the church prayed for him – they did what they could do. Peter was bound, and there seemed to be no way out. When the angel came, Peter’s chains fell and He was to follow the angel out into the city. When he came to those who had been praying for him, they were in disbelief, but Peter now knew the Lord in a much deeper way. The Lord was watching out for His people, and answered their prayers. Man had put on bonds, but God wanted Peter to be where the bondage was not. God opened a way where there seemed to be no way. God sets free from bondage to a way of liberty of spirit. With the ark and then at the Red Sea, God opened a way when there was no way. Human nature can hold us back, but God’s Word can undo the bonds. Job 42:5 Job said, “I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee” – ‘Now I know for myself’.

The members of the body: Peter was where he didn’t deserve to be, but the others were doing what they could. Herod was not under the control of God, but prayer settled those who did what they could. We can’t analyse how God works; He knows the heart of each person. Jesus was longing to be closer to His Father, and looked past the suffering which He had to endure. It is good to look at what is in our heart; what are we longing for?

#1 – God has a purpose for your life. It is no accident that you are alive today. You are here by God’s choosing. You were born at this time in history to fulfill His purpose for this generation. He has given you all the light you need to know His will and He has given you all the Grace you need to do His will. If you are committed to His will, there is nothing that can keep you from it.

#2 – God is in charge. God has not retreated somewhere in the universe and gone into hiding. He is today where He has always been – on His throne. No king or ruler has more authority than God. There is no political figure that has more influence than God. No nation has more control than God. No one can outthink Him or outsmart Him. He is God Almighty. If you have placed your life in His hands, He is in charge of your life and all you do.

#3 – Nothing can stop His plan or frustrate His purposes. God is not worried about what will happen or what He will be able to do. Nothing takes Him by surprise. He sees the future and He is already there. He knows where He is leading your life, and He knows how to get you there. If you follow Him, you will find that He makes no mistakes.

#4 – God’s Word is dependable. All Scripture is God’s written Word. It is 100% reliable because God is 100% infallible. The Scriptures have endured the test of time. Men have tried to destroy them but they remain. Men have tried to dispute them but they have had the final say in every argument. Men have tried to refute them but they stand over each man’s grave as a living testimony to all that is true, righteous and eternal. If you obey His Word you will never have regrets.

#5 – Throughout history, kings have been overthrown, leaders have fallen from power, kingdoms have been conquered, armies have been defeated, riches have been depleted, and fortresses have toppled over. It is only in the Kingdom weapons cannot penetrate its borders and no warrior can come against its King. The way of the Kingdom is where your feet can walk. The truth of the Kingdom is what your faith can embrace. The love of the Kingdom is what your heart can give away.

#6 – You are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. When Jesus came, He came and shed His blood to save you, cleanse you, forgive you, and deliver you from the power of the devil. His blood has bought you, and the enemy has no claim upon your life. You are His and His alone. He is your Redeemer, and He has taken full responsibility for your life since the day you gave your heart to Him. Because of His blood, your future is secure, your inheritance is guaranteed, and your destiny is certain.

#7 – The Grace of God covers you, the presence of God is in you, the angels of God are with you, the arms of God are around you, the gifts of God are for you, and the power of God is upon you. He has not abandoned you or left you in this world as an orphan, alone and forsaken. God is for you, the Holy Spirit is in you, Jesus is with you, and all the heavenly hosts are on your side.

#8 – One thing has already been determined: Jesus is the winner. He is without rival in the universe. No evil, no outlaw, no terrorist or Antichrist will be standing in the end. Every enemy of God will be defeated, every false prophet will be exposed, every evil spirit will be chained, and every accusing tongue will be silenced. The final chapter in the Book of Life has already been written, and there will be no need for rewrites or revisions. All that remains is for its writings to be fulfilled. One day soon, you will forever be with the Lord.

#9 – God loves you and will not fail you. You are God’s child and He is your Father. He loves and cares for you more than you will ever know. All that He is, He is for you. The depth of His love for you cannot be measured, and its height cannot be scaled. He wants you to trust Him completely because He will not fail you. When you go through trials He will keep you from defeat. When you face temptations, He will keep you from shame. When the enemy comes in like a flood, He will raise up a standard against him.

#10 – Jesus Christ will never let you go. He is with you always. No one can pluck you out of His hand, so you need not fear any evil. He is daily praying for you, and His prayers are being answered. He is preparing a place for you in His father’s house, and He will come for you. If you ever question His love for you, just look at His hands. Jesus will never ask you to do something without His grace.

Dear folks at home,

Needless to say my thoughts are very much with everyone at Boyden, hour by hour.  And of course this is not my case alone, but several others near and far.  For about the first time in 95 years, my mother is following the meetings by phone from Magnolia. 

The West Africa conventions are over.  Visitors have returned to their fields – Colombia, Sweden, Canada, Hungary, England and the Caribbean.  We had very good days from start to finish.

Now most of the West Africa workers, English and French are having a few days with family before launching out again.  Tom asked Shola and I to come to Jos, Nigeria for two weeks.  This is my 3rd visit here.  So I am with family too – Charles (79) and Moses (80 +) our two friends here, and both are men of substantial depth.

At Gbétagbo, Benin a new sister started out, Adjovi Stokè.  Most all of our friends in Benin are from the Fon Tribe.  About 75% of the testimonies at convention (close to 700) are in Fon.  But Adjovi and her sister are the only ones from the Aja tribe.  This past year while waiting to go, she studied French and did very well, speaking in French in the convention.  She will be with Léontine Ahossi in the big city Abidjan, Ivory Coast.  This has been another fruitful year for Benin and 23 were baptized.

Soon on the rounds some of the workers were hit with a strange virus.  Maybe it goes with the terrain.  I also had it.  But then in Togo I came down with malaria.  Getting on it quickly with the now available malaria self test kits, I seemed to recuperate and kept up with my part of the schedule.  But in Ikorodu it came back on me with a real vengeance.  While in meeting one afternoon the bottom just went out of any strength I had left.  Fortunately Dr Omila, from Port Harcourt, was present.  Soon she had IVs strung from the curtain rods and that went on nonstop for 48 hours.  She stood by me day and night.  Tests showed that I had typhoid fever at the same time which also really weakens you.  So that has been my state the past couple of weeks – really weak and trying to recover.  I feel grateful to be alive.  So many don’t make it – 619,000 globally per year.  A young sister worker from Ireland, Mabel McKendry, that everyone loved so much is buried in a lonely village here in Nigeria.  All our workers, native and foreign, have to deal with it all the time.  I am so fortunate to have gone two years without that.  I go for short walks and everyone is so friendly.  It is heartwarming.

This Thursday Shola and I return to Lagos, Nigeria – 1 1/2 hour flight.  It is too dangerous to travel by land the two day journey through some of that territory.  Then Monday, Sep 25, Gildas Bewa and I are to travel back to our field, Liberia (DV).

With every good wish.
Your brother,
Dan

(Tune: Dear Lord, we thank Thee for our youth today. #323)

Dear Lord, we thank Thee for the Aged today,
Gold of the kingdom time cannot decay
Footprints they’ve left upon the sands of time,
Still safe to follow as we upward climb.

Chorus:
The flesh grows weak the eyes grow dim,
Yet still the Spirit dwells so deep within,
Faithful to Him each day, Loving His truth and way,
Watching and waiting for that glorious day!

Dear Lord, we thank Thee for the Aged today,
Lights in this world where darkness still holds sway,
Oil in their vessels, lamps still burning bright,
Wait for their Bridegroom with no fear of night.

Dear Lord, we thank Thee for the Aged today,
Wisdom they’ve gathered from Thy word each day,
Faithfully praying for each little one,
Help for each step until their race is run.

Dear Lord, we thank Thee for the Aged today,
Content where you have placed them in your way.
It may not be the lot that flesh would choose,
Your will is best the faithful years will prove.

The fear of God is a Refuge

When I have a godly fear, it keeps me from making mistakes. As humans, our nature tells us to run from the things we fear. Godly fear we can embrace.

Proverbs 14:26 In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of Refuge.

Our hope in Jesus is a Refuge

When we have a hope for the unseen things it will be a Refuge. We need to have a lively hope.

Hebrews 6:18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for Refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:

1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

God is our Refuge.

When we know the indwelling of His Spirit, that will be a Refuge even in the dark days. We are so fortunate to know God as our Father. Just as we could trust our natural father, we can trust our Heavenly Father and the leading of His Spirit.

Deuteronomy 33:27 The eternal God is thy Refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them.

Psalm 46:1 God is our Refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Isaiah 25:4 For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a Refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.

Prayer is a place of Refuge.

If we come diligently to the place of prayer, it will become a place of Refuge.   

James 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Prayer was a place of Refuge for the saints when Peter was cast into prison.

Acts 12:5 Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.  

Philippians 1:4 Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,

The solid Rock is our Refuge

We can flee to that  Rock.  A rock is not gravel and it is not sand – it is solid and not easily moved. He can hide me in the cleft of the rock. 

Samuel 22:3 The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my Refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence. This next reference is a little out of context but so fitting.

Exodus 33:21 And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:

Psalm 62:7 In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my Refuge, is in God.

Psalm 94:22 But the LORD is my defence; and my God is the rock of my Refuge.

His Mercy & Grace are our Refuge

No matter how dark our past– His Mercy and Grace are given to us. We are so undeserving.

Romans 5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Psalm 59:16 But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and Refuge in the day of my trouble.

Psalm 57:1 To the chief Musician, Al-taschith, Michtam of David, when he fled from Saul in the cave. Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my Refuge, until these calamities be overpast.

Psalm 62:8 Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a Refuge for us. Selah. 1 Peter, chapter 5, v. 5 “Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.  Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that I may exalt you due time”.

The Will of God is our Refuge

When I know that I am doing the Will of God, I can trust in Him and where He leads me, I can trust.

Psalm 91:9 Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my Refuge, even the most High, thy habitation. v.11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy way.

His Forgiveness is our Refuge

No matter how great the sin, if there is a repentant spirit, He will forgive us.

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Psalm 62:8 Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a Refuge for us. Selah.

The Quiet Place can be a Refuge

Wonderful when we can leave the business of life behind and learn to be quiet. Just to settle ourselves, without feeling that we have to be doing something. Then it becomes a time when God can speak.

Isaiah 4:6 And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of Refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.  

Psalm 63:1 ¶ A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is.

Psalm 73:17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.

Psalm 63:2 To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.

1 Peter 3:4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

Hymns

(Kylie Prescott)

~

Keep On, Keep Strong (Pihrags)

~

Hymns Old and New

(Jocelyn Radom)

~

Children’s Songs

(PDF, no audio)

~

A note from Kylie Prescott re her hymns available online, circa November 2021

Let go

God knows what to speak to us so that we can go forward. He knows if we need words of comfort, warning, or assurance. It’s all so we can take the next step.

The message to Pharaoh was to let go! Let go so that God’s plan could go forward for the children of Israel and Egypt. Pharaoh brought so many plague’s among his people because he wasn’t willing to let go.

Pharaoh seemed to think these people belonged to him. They didn’t, they belonged to God. What or who we must let go of doesn’t belong to us!

Pharaoh didn’t want to let them go because they served his flesh. If we find something hard to let go of, it’s because it’s serving our flesh.

Exodus 8:28 – he let go a little. Don’t go far away, keep in my reach or my vision.

Exodus 10:24 – let the people go but not the flocks. We could agree to partially let go.

Exodus 12:30 – Pharoah let go, but not till after all was destroyed! These chapters could be so different if pharaoh let go completely, all he and others would be saved from.

Exodus 14 – Pharaoh went again after what he had let go of. Do we question, did God really say that? Do I really need to let go? They then drowned! Don’t go after what you’ve let go of! The whole reason to let go is to serve God and not self.

To go forward, Abraham let go of his will & ideas.

Jacob let go of Benjamin.

Naaman let go of his pride.

David let go of his strength.

Bread

John 6. Jesus took ALL 5 loaves to feed the people. It’s going to cost us ALL, we must BE bread.

Companionship – the one we share bread with.

Joseph became a man of bread, not only for his family but for everyone. How did he do this? He was willing to BE the bread. It began with him keeping the right spirit when others had the wrong spirit. He didn’t give into temptation. Joseph said, “it’s not in me”, God gives the answer and we become bread when we have that spirit. “I am your brother”, despite age or stage, if we have that attitude, we will be bread.

BE THE BREAD – unless we are the bread, we cannot share bread.

Yoke

The only way forward is to bare the yoke with Jesus.

We won’t have another life, a secret or selfish life if we are in the yoke with Jesus.

Saul was like an uncontrolled Ox. Jesus found him and said take my yoke. Then he became Paul – this means little!

Flood

In the flood the people would be clinging to what they could. The only thing saved was what God lifted above the flood.

The waters are deep and rising, sin is flooding the earth, but we can abide in Jesus and be lifted above it.

God doesn’t give us options, he gives us the answer.

Noah didn’t choose which ark design was best, God knew and gave him the answer of life.

Other gems

We pay the price to keep something, spiritually we pay the price that God can keep our souls safe. Keep willing for the cost.

If the Lord doesn’t come today, I’ll be looking for him tomorrow.

Learn how to listen

All life has enemies

Satan will never announce his presence

Joseph & Mary cared for Jesus at the expense of everything else.

We don’t live by feeling, we live by FAITH

Everything in God’s kingdom is within walking distance, it’s reachable.

Be still, sit and see how the matter will fall.

Accept God’s will and accept God’s timing of it.

It’s only the bit that we practice, that proves we mean to be true. So after the meeting is over, God help me to be, and to do

God doesn’t look at the cost of saving a soul, God wants to save souls no matter the cost.

Alabaster box – when we are broken – ALL is given.

We are looking for those who encourage us to die, not to puff us up.

Never grow tired of asking and waiting for God’s answers.

When we can’t be thankful, get into the secret place.

Be still and Know, be still until you know!

Stay still in his presence

1 John 2:1 – lists of things we KNOW and HAVE.

We don’t have to defend ourselves, we have Jesus our advocate, he hasn’t lost a case yet.

Paul was a chosen vessel, useful because he prayed, asked what he should do, filled with the holy spirit.

One will sow and one will reap BUT they will rejoice together.

Be careful what you’re sowing in the hearts and lives of others.

Joseph didn’t feed on the past, he moved forward by feeding on what God showed him.

What we don’t feed we will forget.

Pay your Vows – The greater the Cost the greater the provision.

God doesn’t measure our sacrifice by what we give but by what it costs us.

It’s not God who made old age a negative thing. We can still serve God with our Spirit. For God’s people who become old, it costs them a lot more to give a lot less. God appreciated that and there’ll be a greater treasure.  The outward man perishes but the inward man is renewed day by day.

Luke 14:31 “Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage and desireth conditions of peace. 33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.”
I’d like to speak about the power of an unconditional surrender.
I tell the story about as a little boy, I grew up in Portland.
It was on 90th and Stark.
In the home we lived in, we had this couch, or Davenport, or sofa, but we called it a couch.
It was back in the day when the cushions on the couch had springs.
So, when you sat on the couch, especially as a little boy, you found yourself springing.
My sister and I liked to jump on the couch.
Mom, if she told us once she told us a thousand times, not to jump on the couch.
But it was a temptation we just couldn’t resist.
One day they were gone, and my sister Kay and I were jumping on the couch, from the arm to the cushion to the back of the couch to the cushion.
I jumped and my back hit the window at the back of the couch and shattered it into a thousand pieces.
I never meant to break that window.
My sister told me, “Mom told us not to be jumping on the couch.”
I knew that.
I didn’t need her to tell me that.
But now something serious had happened.
I was so fearful.
I went to my room.
I knew my folks were going to be so upset.
I knew they were coming.
I was mortified.
I was beside myself with fear and concern.
I spent the afternoon in the room.
I had a little piggy bank.
I knew how to open it.
I knew how to count the coins therein.
I dumped it all out into my little hand, and I sat there and held it in my little hand until my parents came home.
Mother and Father came in the door.
I rushed out.
My sister beat me there, and she told them what had happened.
I was in tears.
I was crying, and reaching out my little hand, “Here, Dad, take it” as I held out my hand.
My dad could see I was holding out all I had.
My dad accepted that.
It could never pay for a window.
But my repentance and my all, it touched my father’s heart, and I didn’t get a spanking.
He took care of it and made things right.
A new window was put in place, and it was never spoken of again.
I don’t think I ever jumped up and down on the couch again.
We’ve all made mistakes and done things.
We know right and wrong and we’ve been told what’s right and wrong, but we don’t consider.
Then something happens that we never meant to do, and we find ourselves in terrible trouble.
Fearful of a punishment and a reckoning.
It was such a burden for a little boy – and for a man or a woman to carry their sins.
There’s wonderful provision in the gospel because of the price paid on Calvary – Jesus Christ giving His life so we could find forgiveness for our sins, and our wrongs could be made right.
Our Father in Heaven paid the price to send Him to this earth.
He’s willing when we come with repentance, and in our desperation, and with our all; it touches His heart.
It gives us access to His mercy, His forgiveness, and things can be made right.
We purpose never to do those things again.
I’d like to think – I don’t know – I had pennies, I had nickels, dimes and probably not many quarters– I’d like to think if it had been just two pennies and it was all I had, if I came with that same spirit with just two little coins to my father, that he would have accepted that because of the repentance, the desire to be right, to be reconciled.
I believe he would have accepted that, and things would have been made right.
It’s not how much if it’s our all; it’s our all that touches God’s heart.
That story we read about in Luke 21, Jesus looked up and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury; He saw them and He saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites.
“And He said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all: For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.”
What do you think happened to that woman, to that poor widow?
Do you think she starved to death?
She gave her all.
With those two mites, she unlocked the power of heaven.
Heaven was going to do everything needed to meet her needs.
God respects that.
Jesus commended her for it.
She has given her all.
It’s like a key.
An unconditional surrender is like a key that opens up the kingdom of heaven – to the power, the wisdom, the help that we need.
God didn’t need those two mites, but He needed her total dependence on Him to open up that door, that key that opened up the door.
Those other men, it says they had given quite a bit.
They were rich men, and they had given quite a bit into the treasury.
But those men, their confidence was in what they had, and not in what they had access to.
That woman had no confidence in what she had but every confidence in what she had access to. In faith she gave her all.
Heaven responded to that unconditional surrender.
Her all.
Do you see the wisdom in the way Jesus sent out His ministry?
He sent them out without anything.
Sell what you have.
Give it away, discard it.
Go in faith preaching the gospel.
So, they would not have confidence in what they had, but confidence in what they had access to.
When they went forth in faith to preach the gospel, they had access to the power of heaven on their behalf, on their side.
That dear woman, when she gave her all, had miracles happen.
Those men that had confidence in what they had, there were no miracles for them.
They had their confidence in their own way, not in what they could have access to.
The verses that we first read, we understand not everyone is called into this work of the gospel; not everyone is asked to give everything and go forth in faith to preach the gospel, but everyone is asked to forsake all they have, to give their all, as Jesus said in Luke 14:33, “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.”
He’s not asking everyone to go out into this work, but he’s asking us to surrender all, to give all.
It’s the key that gives us access to the power.
You can see why when Jesus said it’s so difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, because the tendency is to put our confidence in what we have instead of what we could have access to.
That takes our all, forsaking all, the Lord making us a steward.
God makes us a steward over what we have.
He doesn’t take it away from us.
So now this is not our own.
It belongs to God, and our thinking changes.
The things we have and possess, we’re stewards over them.
The world doesn’t think like that.
It’s mine.
It’s ours, and they put their confidence in that.
Can you imagine a rich man, a billionaire who can go anywhere and do anything, coming to God with that and saying, I give it all, I yield it all.
Just make me a steward, make me a servant.
Very, very difficult to not put our confidence in what we have, instead of what we could have access to.
It can be done.
Jesus says it is possible.
God says with God all things are possible.
There were those in the scriptures who understood what it is to be stewards.
I think of Job and all that he had.
He lost all that he had, even lost his family; he lost it all.
Do you know what Job said?
Job 1:21, “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither; the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. 22 In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.”
His life was all God’s.
He knew it was a gift from God and God gave and God took it all away.
There was a balance.
Then we read later that he was blessed richly.
This, of being a steward, if we yield it all, it gives us access to the kingdom of heaven.
We read about an unjust steward in Luke 16, who used his master’s goods like they were his own.
His lord said I’m going to take it away from him.
When he realized he was going to lose it, he began to use it differently.
His lord commended him.
Luke 16:12, “And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own?”
If we have access to the wisdom of heaven and we are a good steward and have access to the source, He’ll show us how to invest it in such a way that we’ll have treasure for all eternity.
He gives us that wisdom.
He tells us how to use what we have so it brings blessing to ourselves and others.
I remember when I was a young boy and made my choice.
It was an unconditional surrender; but with time when I got into my teens and involved at school, my unconditional surrender became conditional.
I wasn’t faithful to my commitment.
That window, that door that had been opened, closed and I had no power.
I had no access to the kingdom of Heaven because my surrender was conditional.
I still went to meetings and took part.
I came to convention but I came for years with a conditional surrender; I couldn’t access the rest, the peace, the wisdom.
I couldn’t access the power.
It was 16 years before I came to the end of myself and surrendered completely.
That’s when the door of Heaven opened, and the miracles began to happen.
I was drawing from the source of peace that I hadn’t had since I couldn’t remember, and a joy.
I was drawing from the source that has kept me.
I rejoice in it today.
It’s not in us.
It’s something we have to access, and no amount of money, no amount of anything can give us that peace, that rest and joy, the things that we need.
The things that are eternal that money cannot buy.
It’s not in ourselves.
It wasn’t in Jesus, His perfect life.
We see Him in the garden and He’s begging, He’s praying; He didn’t have it, but He had access to it.
Facing the cross and crucifixion, facing taking on the sins of all the world – I can’t even bear my own sins – and He’s asking for power, power to do the will of God and to take all the sins of the world on Himself.
It says an angel appeared.
An angel appeared from heaven.
He had access.
An angel strengthened Him, and He prayed more earnestly.
He prayed and was crying out.
He needed help.
“Not my will but thine be done.”
God gave Him that power and He went and did that most difficult thing; He gave His life for us sinners, He gave His life for us.
He accessed that power every day.
That’s what He had.
He had an unconditional surrender.
He was giving His all.
Every day He was drawing from that source, the power that enabled Him to have a sinless mind, to live a sinless life.
We can have access to that, too, that power to live a sinless life.
We can have an unconditional surrender with repentance, and we can be reconciled.
He’s opened the door of heaven to us.
He’s given us access to it.
Men and women throughout the ages have accessed that power.
We read about them in the scriptures, and every one paid that price of giving their all and an unconditional surrender.
He said, in Luke 14:33, “Whosoever he be of you that forsakes not all that he has, cannot be my disciple.”
If we’re not willing to forsake ourselves, deny ourselves, we cannot draw from that source.
And how can we be His disciple?
How are we going to follow Jesus without the power of heaven?
We cannot be His disciple unless we have unconditional surrender in our lives, and then we have access.
We read in Hebrews 11 of those godly men and women.
It speaks of what they went through.
Every one of them had the power of heaven, access to that power.
They were men and women like us.
They didn’t have it in themselves, but they had a power working in their lives, and access to a power that made them mighty, made them strong, made them godly, made them Christlike.
I think of us going out from this convention; we don’t know what lies ahead, we don’t know what’s coming.
If all we have is access to what we have here, we’re not going to prevail.
We’re not going to have what it takes to face the future.
I say about myself, I’ve been in this work over 40 years, but if I was to put my confidence in what I had – my experiences and my years in the work and all – I would be very, very foolish.
That would not prepare me for what’s coming tomorrow, and in the future.
That was God’s keeping power.
That was God working in my life.
If that’s what I put my confidence in, if that’s what I’m trusting in, I’m not going to be prepared to meet Him.
I have to have access to the power of heaven.
We all have to have that if we’re going to be victors, if we’re going to succeed.
We can’t trust in what we have.
We’re going to need God keeping us, and we have to have access to the power of heaven to face the days ahead.
May God help us to have the wisdom to understand the power of an unconditional surrender.
It opens the mercy of God.
It opens the power of heaven to us.
May God help us to have access.

Katie

Luke 6:47-49 “Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them… is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock…”.

Our foundation is that which keeps us.

Establishing the foundation is important; work takes place under the ground before anything is built above it.

The stability of the building depends on it, and when storms test the building, the stability is evident.

Our spiritual foundation is important, and necessary.

Jesus gave a natural picture which we can understand to get a spiritual point.

In Matthew 7:24 Jesus said that he who hears and goes and does is likened to a wise man.

It is important to hear, but more important is what we do with what we hear.

Building on the earth has no foundation, no depth.

Our own knowledge, understanding, wealth, power; these could make a lovely building, but would do nothing to help with the storms of life.

On the rock, we will be proving the strength of the foundation.

Colossians 1:23 “If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard…”.

These are encouraging words.

Our foundation gives a grounded, settled feeling.

What God gives is sure and settled.

The world is always changing; in technology, fashions, fads – there is no stability, (or sure) foundation.

Because of faith, we would not be “moved away”.

The world appeals to our flesh, human nature, ego and pride.

Hymn 347 verse 3: “Today increasing tests we face… [chorus:] Our hope and confidence today are deeply rooted in the Lord…”.

We have confidence, maybe in [things like] our car, or our food, but can have utter confidence in God.

Rachel

Hebrews 11:8-10 “By faith Abraham… was called… obeyed… went out… sojourned… for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God”.

God called him to leave behind all that was familiar, to “go to where I will tell you”.

What is clear is that God had spoken.

The Word of God moved him to act, to go; it had such an effect that he obeyed.

He wasn’t looking for [just] any place, but [one] where God had laid a foundation.

Matthew 5-7 is like a foundation; as what Jesus said came from God, who has never gone back on His promises.

His teachings give us stability.

He didn’t leave the disciples without a Comforter.

We may not always understand the verses that we read, but if we do the reading, God will bring the meaning when the time is right.

One man [whom we visited] had questions which he wanted answered, and we didn’t seem to have the words to answer him; [despite this] he said he saw we had something that [] didn’t.

There seemed a reason we couldn’t answer [with words], but it [the answer] was seen.

2 Timothy 2:19 “…the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity”.

Paul, an older man, was writing to a younger, that the foundation God has put down has a seal.

The Lord knows His children; He tests them, but is there for His children.

Iniquity is like being all about ourselves; there are three ‘i’s in ‘iniquity’.

The love of many grows cold when iniquity abounds.

James 3:6 “…the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity”.

Those who mocked Jesus accused Him, but He didn’t answer them; [in not answering] He showed the strength and power of God.

What God has said will come to pass; His Word does not change.

It is still God’s will that no one should perish, which is why He sent Heaven’s best to the earth.

Katie

Ephesians 3:20 “…unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us…”.

There’s a hymn (not in our book) that says, “God is able to make Samuels… Daniels… Pauls …Timothys” – many are mentioned because they have allowed God to work, despite their limitations.

Through their willingness the work of God was seen by others.

It is the same today, if we are willing.

We have our human nature and the enemy of our soul, but God is able to do a work greater than any other work.

“God is able, and can do exceedingly abundantly”.

God is interested to work in us, just as He was in those others, but our own thoughts can restrict this work.

God is able to settle and comfort us.

Other people can bring a settled feeling and comfort us, but not as much as God can do.

When we feel we can’t, God can step in, because He is able.

Hebrews 2:17-18 “…in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest… for in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.”

He is able to help them that are tempted; because of this we have an understanding Saviour who was Himself tempted.

He knew Himself the weaknesses of man.

Hebrews 7:25 “…he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them”.

When willing, we prove what He is able to do for us.

This is a safe feeling, for nothing and no one is beyond God.

Rachel

Colossians 1:4-6 “Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints, For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; Which… bringeth forth fruit… and… grace of God in truth”.

The Gospel has come with hope and grace.

V.19 “in him should all fullness dwell.

V.23 “If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel”.

There is much hope in this chapter; don’t be distracted from the hope of the Gospel.

It starts in the hope of the Gospel, full of joy, and doesn’t grow old, but becomes deeper.

Matt 5 – I read this in the light of being full of good news.

Feeling our need is a good thing, because we are not independent.

Mourning is because something is lost; have we lost our joy, peace or faith?

With mourning we feel comfort for our need.

When we know our Father has heard prayer, it’s comfort.

We have a thirst to go back to what is in the Word of God.

Society is becoming lower [in its standards], but there is still righteousness [to be found].

If we are not merciful we won’t receive mercy.

If we’re not forgiving, we won’t receive forgiveness.

Peacemakers are what God’s children are.

Daniel’s friends would not bow to the standards around them; they had faith and were settled in their purpose.

They were the salt of the earth.

Salt has many uses: it can melt ice [things which are cold, unfeeling], it can put out fires, help with healing and cleansing, enhances flavour in food, to bring out the best – not humanly, but divinely.

We can face difficult experiences, but we can move on.

There is satisfaction with going to God and leaving it to Him.

Ideally we would do kindness and receive it; God will never disappoint us.

Matthew 5:17 “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill”.

It would be wonderful if it was said of us that we were willing for the will of God.

The disciples saw that Jesus had God’s approval.

We learn by our mistakes, and God can give us power over these things.

Matthew 5:37 “But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil” – mean what you say; be honest, as God is with us.

Appreciate the love of God in sending the Gospel – there is everything to gain in the hope of the Gospel.

Katie

A little girl tried to put her shoes on during a meeting; it took a long time, but she persevered.

In a spiritual picture, could we be like her in our walk with God?

Before we take a walk we put our shoes on.

Our walk with God, so putting on of our shoes, what is it?

Ephesians 6:15 “…and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace”.

Another version [NIV] says, “…with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace”.

Soldiers wear shoes or boots for protection for their feet.

Our feet must be shod, for it is an important step, which is not to be skipped, to hear the Gospel.

We need protection, so we need to believe and accept the word of the Gospel.

Other things make it hard for us to get our shoes on.

The little girl’s father would have helped her if she asked him [as God would if we asked Him], but he wanted her to do her best, as our Father does with us.

When we accept the Gospel, we start walking in a new path, and a preparation takes place.

It happens in our hearts, and we consider it a path of peace, but not peace for our human nature, which will fight it.

Luke 15:22 The prodigal son’s father placed shoes on his feet.

[It has been indicated that] Servants probably didn’t wear shoes, so his father was showing that his son was restored to his place in the father’s house.

Rachel

Matthew 23:23 “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith…”.

Jesus was speaking to the religious people who were particular about the law, but not the matters of faith.

He meant getting from God [a knowledge of] what is right and wrong.

James 2:13 “…he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment”.

God’s work is perfect, but we need His mercy because we are not perfect.

Satan is out to destroy our faith, and brings doubts into our thoughts.

Our faith gives us strength to stand against many things.

[It has been said that] The smaller children are, the easier they are to pick up, carry, and to be put where they are wanted; we need to be ‘small’ in ourselves to be cared for by our Father.

The ‘weightier matters’ are concerned with our spirit.

With a few words, “Father, forgive…”, Jesus showed His spirit of compassion.

Our thoughts affect our heart, which affects our spirit, then our actions.

1 Sam 25 – Abigail’s spirit saved David from taking a man’s life.

Life is not straightforward.

Through Abigail’s intervention, David realised that this was a matter of God.

There is no harm in many little things, but if they build up they may not be in their rightful place.

Matthew 23 is a very full chapter; in the last days of His public teaching.

In the parable in Ch.25, the five foolish virgins may have thought they’d be okay; they were concerned about life, but not the weightier matter [of having oil].

Each experience is another opportunity to please God.

God breathed life into Adam as a living spirit.

The soul houses the spirit, which will go back to God; the same God will strengthen our spirit today, and knows the feelings of our heart – He knows our spirit to help us.

The plan is open to everyone, but we need to see as God sees.

Feed our faith, and keep trusting; we learn to trust the living God.