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Volume 3, No. 3
May 1991
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I have a simple question to ask you. Is He with you today?
Matthew records in chapter 12, verses 48-50 of his gospel the following words of the Lord
Jesus Christ: "Who is my mother? And who are my brethren? And He stretched forth His
hand toward His disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall
do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and
mother."
We turn our eyes by faith to two distinct scenes in Scripture recorded by the Holy Spirit
for our learning. Come with me as we remember these two incidents in the life of the Lord
during His sojourn on earth as a Man.
He was gone. Frightened, fearing the worst, His family frantically searched for Him. They
were away from home, which only added to their fears. As was the family's custom, they had
made their annual journey from their hometown of Nazareth to Jerusalem in order to
celebrate the Passover feast. After all, everyone who worshipped the One true God knew
that Jerusalem was the place where men ought to worship. His mother and father, no doubt
distracted with all the cares of this world and all the social activities associated with
the hallowed feast days, just did not notice that Jesus was not among the crowd of
travelers.
One day's journey out of Jerusalem, the pitiful wailing cry was raised. Where is Jesus?
Have you seen Him? Is He with you? Can't you just imagine the two fearful parents as they
searched the company for the twelve-year-old boy and discovered He was not there? Then the
awful dread and sorrow set in ... How could they have been so foolish? It just happened
... and so quickly too. One minute He was with them, the next He was gone. They had left
Him behind ...(see Luke 2:41-51).
After searching for three days, fearful, asking if anyone knew where He might be found,
they found Him. All the emotions of those two who loved Him burst forth in relief and joy
as they found their beloved son in the temple of God at Jerusalem. Shaking with relief,
yet with a tinge of anger, Mary asked her son what had happened. His mother never forgot
the mysterious words of her twelve-year-old son, but kept His saying forever in her heart.
Listen to His words: "How is it that ye sought Me? Wist ye not (Did you not know)
that I must be about my Father's business?"
We turn our eyes to another scene 21 years later. The Lord Jesus had just been crucified
three days earlier. He was thirty-three years old when he died.
He was gone. Frightened, fearing the worst, His family frantically searched for Him. They
were away from home, which only added to their fears. As was the family's custom, they had
made their annual journey from their hometown of Emmaus to Jerusalem in order to celebrate
the Passover feast. After all, everyone who worshipped the one true God knew that
Jerusalem was the place where men ought to worship. His two family members, (see our text
in Matthew 12) no doubt distracted by all the cares of this world and all the social
activities associated with the hallowed feast days, just did not recognize that it was
Jesus who was with them. For awhile, He just quietly walked along the road with them,
listening to the thoughts of their hearts.
One day's journey out of Jerusalem, their pitiful wailing cries were raised in His ears:
"Where is Jesus? Have you seen Him? We trusted that it had been He which should have
redeemed Israel: and besides all this, today is the third day since these things were
done." Can't you just imagine the two fearful family members as they searched the
depths of their sorrowing hearts for Him? Their faith wavered upon the precipice of truth,
with the dark valley of unbelief visible just over the edge. The awful dread and sorrow of
a world without hope was setting in ...
Then He began to speak to them. He reminded them of countless Scriptures that spoke of the
things concerning Himself. Faith's fire was rekindled in their hearts as He talked with
them in the way, and while He opened the Scriptures to them. How could they have been so
foolish?
Finally, they arrived at their home and begged Him to stay with them. As they sat down to
eat, it just happened ... and so quickly, too. One minute He was with them, the next He
was gone. In a flash, in a moment of time, they recognized that the Stranger in the way
was, in reality, the Saviour Who is the Way.
After searching for three days, fearful, asking if anyone knew where He could be found,
they found Him. All the emotions of those two who loved Him burst forth in relief and joy
as they found their Beloved in the temple of God within their hearts. For the heart is the
place where men ought to worship (see John 4:23) in spirit and in truth. Shaking with
relief, yet with deepest joy, these two said to each other, "Did not our heart burn
within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the
Scriptures?" These two dear saints never forgot the mysterious words of their
thirty-three-year-old Saviour, but kept His saying forever in their hearts.
Listen to His words: "O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets
have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His
glory?"
The haunting words to His mother and father seem so fitting to those two on the road to
Emmaus ... and to us today. "How is it that ye sought Me?" (You looked
everywhere else for three days, and you finally found me in the place where you should
have looked first. You should have known that the place where my Father is worshipped is
where I will always be found.) "Wist ye not that I must be about My Father's
business?"
These stories point out that there are two great dangers facing believers today. First,
that we may be so occupied with the cares of this world that we will not notice that we
have left Him behind in the place where He can always be found - taking care of His
Father's business. Second, that we may be so faithless that we do not recognize Him as He
walks and talks with us in life's way. May the Lord grant us sensitivity to ensure we
never leave Him, nor fail to recognize Him because of unbelief. Is He with you today?
Brent Van Ryn
Sterling, Virginia
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***Three Good Cheers***
Encouraging to the heart of a believer are the THREE GOOD CHEERS OF JESUS:
1. THE GOOD CHEER OF HIS PARDON - "Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven
thee" (Matt. 9:2). The words "forgiveness", and "remission", mean
to remove, release, send away; to lose something! What does God then do when He forgives
ALL our sin (1 John 1:7)?
a. HE PUTS THEM OUT OF REACH - Read Psalm 103:12.
b. HE PUTS THEM OUT OF SIGHT - Read Micah 7:19.
c. HE PUTS THEM OUT OF MIND - Read Jer. 31:34 and Heb. 10:17.
What a joy to have ALL our sins GONE from His reach, His sight, His memory! No wonder the
Psalmist wrote "Blessed (happy) is he (or she) whose transgression is forgiven"
(Psalm 32:1). What an eternal blessedness to know THE GOOD CHEER OF HIS PARDON!
2. THE GOOD CHEER OF HIS POWER - "In the world ye shall have tribulation, BUT be of
good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). Though eternally forgiven, we
face a three-fold enemy - the world, the flesh and the devil!
a. The World - Note its danger, in 1 John 2:15-17; yet the apostle reveals the victory
over it in 1 John 5:4,5. Read it. The same blessed One Who forgave us our sins, is the
VICTOR over the world! And "who is he that overcometh the world, BUT HE THAT
BELIEVETH THAT JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD!" Through the Victor we have the victory!
b. The Flesh - Agree with Paul: "I KNOW that in me (that is, in my flesh), dwelleth
NO GOOD THING" (Rom. 7:18). Paul found the Victor in Rom. 7:24,25. Read it.
c. The Devil - Do not minimize his strength! But remember, "GREATER is HE that is IN
you, than he that is in the world" (1 John 4:4). Read the words of Rev. 12:11 and
remember the Saviour overcame the adversary by the Word of God (Matt. 4:1-11). The Word of
God is an effective sword! see Eph. 6:17 and Heb. 4:12. Constant occupation of the heart
with Christ will always prove THE GOOD CHEER OF HIS POWER!
3. THE GOOD CHEER OF HIS PRESENCE - "Be of good cheer; IT IS I; be not afraid"
(Matt. 14:27). What a demonstration of the Lord's omnipotence when He walked the waves
toward His disciples that dark night, as if on a solid pavement! Read Matt. 14:22-33. In
their desperate situation, the disciples heard His voice and experienced THE GOOD CHEER OF
HIS PRESENCE! So can we today in every storm of life. Consider this:
a. The storms of life - We have them: trials, darkness, adversities, fear, etc. Yet He has
promised, "Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; THOU
ART MINE. WHEN thou passest through the waters, I WILL BE WITH THEE" (Isa. 43:1,2).
There are many other promises in His Word, assuring us, as He has said, "I will NEVER
leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Heb. 13:5,6). Then, let us prove THE GOOD CHEER OF HIS
PRESENCE always!
b. The Exit of life - Inevitable by normal events to each of us (Heb.9:27). Yet we still
hear HIM say, "Be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid." Like the Psalmist in
Psalm 23:4, we can have COMPOSURE, saying "I will walk," not panic. Also, I can
have CONFIDENCE - "THROUGH the valley." I can have COURAGE - "fear NO
evil." Best of all, I shall have THE GOOD CHEER OF HIS PRESENCE saying, "for
THOU art with me." His COMFORT will be mine - "Thy rod and Thy staff, they
comfort me." Surely we will able to say with Paul, "We are confident, and
willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be PRESENT with the Lord" (2
Cor.5:8). "With Christ ... FAR BETTER." To the end of life, we have HIS GOOD
CHEER, yes, THE GOOD CHEER OF HIS PRESENCE!
"Amid the trials which I meet,
Amid the thorns that pierce my feet,
One thought remains supremely sweet,
THOU THINKEST, LORD, OF ME!
What need I fear, since THOU art near,
And thinkest, Lord, of ME!"
Beloved, enjoy THE THREE GOOD CHEERS OF JESUS all the way to glory!
John Bramhall
Florence, South Carolina
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Volume 3, No. 4
June 1991
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It is always devastating to play checkers or chess and to move our piece, take our fingers
off that piece and hear the other player chuckle, get a great big smile of satisfaction on
his face as he swallows up various pieces on the game board. Oh, if it were only possible
to have a "Back Move."
We have made so many "bad" moves in life. We have wasted so much time. Is there
any way to go back and make it right? For the man sunk in sin, is there a back move?
"Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the
wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so that
he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it" (Jeremiah
18:3-4). "And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the
cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmer worm, my great army which I sent among
you. And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord, your
God, Who hath dealt wondrously with you; and my people shall never be ashamed" (Joel
2:25-26).
Praise God that, through the Lord Jesus and His work upon the cross, we all have a
"back move." The Lord makes a brand new vessel out of the one that was marred.
He restores to us the years that we have wasted in sin.
The Lord sums this matter up through the Apostle Paul in I Corinthians 6:9-11. "Know
ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither
fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with
mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall
inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are
sanctified, but ye are justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our
God."
Remember the words of the Lord Jesus to Nicodemus in John 3? "Ye must be born
again!" A new beginning, a glorious back move.
Yes, there is a price to be paid for sin. Sin costs, and we don't have to look any further
than the cross to see the awful cost of sin. The Lord Jesus died there so that He, the
Potter of old, could make the vessel again as it pleases Him to make it. The old vessel
represents all of our sin, all of our righteousnesses which are but filthy rags. But, once
we have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour, He makes the vessel again ... born
again ... and "He which hath begun a good work in you, will perform it until the day
of Jesus Christ," for "when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall
see Him as He is" (Phil. 1:6; I John 3:2).
We have three great opponents: the world, the flesh and the devil. We can see them smiling
now as they see the moves we make which lead to sin and, ultimately, to physical and
spiritual death. But, praise God, He sent His Son into the world, Who conquered all of our
enemies and won the victory at Calvary.
If you have never accepted the Lord Jesus, won't you accept Him today? For those of us who
do know Him, we can rejoice in the new life He has provided to us. "And I give unto
them eternal life, and they shall never perish" (John 10:28).
Keith Van Ryn
Atlanta, Georgia
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***I Will Help***
Gen. 2:18 contains the first mention of the terms "I will" and "help."
Both terms have to do with the creation of Eve, an "aid" suitable or fit for
Adam. The Lord created the marriage relationship for a purpose. How interesting that the
last mention of "I will" (found in Rev. 21:9) again speaks of the marriage
relationship - "I will show thee the Bride, the Lamb's wife." How blessed to be
the Bride of Christ and how honorable to demonstrate the joy of that relationship in our
families here on earth!
In reference to the word "help," the last mention is very significant: Heb.
4:16. We are encouraged to come boldly to the throne of grace...for there we can find
grace to help (aid) in time of need (or unbelief). Dear Christian, the Lord Jesus Christ
is as close an "aid" or "help" as our spouses. Why is it we pray so
little, with our prayer meetings often being the least attended meeting? We are privileged
to have One alongside Who is infinitely able to render the necessary help. On some
occasions our spouses may be willing to help, but are unable to meet the need, but HE IS
ABLE!
Bill Gustafson
Waynesboro, Georgia
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***Me or I ?***
The Personal Pronoun "I, even I only" (I Kings 19:10)
"I", the 9th letter of the English alphabet, is a favorite one with many folk
and the too frequent use often results in egotism. It is the central letter of the word
"Sin", and Adam's confession to God reminds us of its entrance into the world,
"I heard Thy voice, I was afraid, I was naked, I hid myself." The proud Pharisee
prayed with himself, and 5 times used this favorite letter of his, for the "I"
is also the center of the word, "Pride." He was quite an "I"
specialist, but was suffering from "I" trouble, and the cataracts of
self-conceit dimmed his sight. The "I" is the center of the names Lucifer and
Goliath, and both were afflicted with this disease which the Scripture declares, goes
before destruction. There can be pride of race, face, place and, in a subtle way, even of
grace!
The letter is also the center of the word crucified. Ah, now the personal pronoun is in
its proper place. As Paul wrote, "I have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I
live: yet not I, but Christ liveth in me" (Galatians 2:20). The Christian is dead and
alive at the same time! Dead to sin, self and the world, but alive unto God. The more we
die, the more we live; and the more we live, the more we die!
"Not I, but Christ, be honored, loved, exalted;
Not I, but Christ, be seen, be known, be heard:
Not I, but Christ, in every look and action;
Not I, but Christ, in every thought and word."
"I" is the center of the word, "Trial." After Elijah's triumph over
the enemy on Mount Carmel, the reaction of the great strain set in, and he became very
depressed. The "I" became prominent; "I, even I, only am left." But
God strengthened and encouraged his faithful servant, and told him he was not alone in his
trial; for 7000 had not bowed the knee to Baal. To be occupied with self in the testings
of life is a most unprofitable business. Mr. August Van Ryn spoke of a dear Christian lady
whom he visited to help and cheer. She poured out a list of all her troubles, and when she
finished, Mr. Van Ryn looked at his watch and said, "My dear, you have been speaking
of yourself for 20 minutes and have not said one word about your Lord." Her face lit
up with a heavenly smile, and she cried, "He is Altogether Lovely," and all her
troubles vanished completely. Christ
- occupation will dispel egotism and always lead to self-effacement, and give place to joy
and peace. "I, only I? NO! Christ, only Christ."
Bernard Fell
Solihull, England
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***Our Highest Occupation***
In John 4:14 to 24, the Lord discusses the important subject of our worship, revealing the
Father's delight when He receives it from us. It is the highest occupation we can engage
in, the nearest thing
on earth to our employment in heaven - see Rev. 5:8-10. When we gather at the Memorial
Feast of the Lord's Supper, do we understand the meaning and character of WORSHIP? A word
of only seven letters, but seven millenniums can never exhaust its meaning. It is for the
Father's heart and the glory of His Son!
WHAT IS WORSHIP? - In its true meaning: First, consider what it is NOT. It is not PRAYER,
though allied with it. In prayer we are occupied with our need, but in WORSHIP we are to
be wholly occupied with the PERSON Who meets the need. Neither is it MINISTRY, although
true ministry should lead us to worship. In MINISTRY, GOD SPEAKS TO US - but in WORSHIP,
WE ADDRESS GOD. Today it seems to be evident in our worship gatherings that more ministry
is given than praise and worship to GOD above! Is this true worship?
True worship has God for its OBJECT; Christ for its SUBJECT; the Holy Spirit as its POWER.
It is the spontaneous adoration of the soul that sees Christ before it, revealed by the
Spirit of God. To worship acceptably, two requirements should be noted: a purged
conscience and a full heart - Heb. 10:22. The first is the result of the BLOOD of Christ;
the second is the result of heart occupation with the PERSON of Christ. True worship is
the adoration of the heart and may or may not be expressed in words - Lk. 7:37,38; Jn.
12:1-3.
WHERE DO WE WORSHIP? - In John 4:20-22, the Lord indicates that no earthly locality is
where we worship in this dispensation; not at Jerusalem or elsewhere. The true place of
worship is in heaven - "the holiest of all" - Heb. 10:19. There we are invited
to enter "within the veil" and worship God in His holy presence. As to our
bodies, we are on earth, but in spirit we worship in heaven. Our earthly gathering place
is sanctified by the presence of our Lord Himself - Matt. 18:20. With Him we enter
"the holiest" in the Spirit, and it is HE who leads the praise and worship of
His people. See Ps. 22:22 and Heb. 2:12.
HOW DO WE WORSHIP? - "God is a spirit, and them that worship Him MUST worship in
spirit and in truth" - Jn. 4:24. The Spirit of God is the POWER for worship and the
Word of God the only guide and rule for worshipping the true and living God. The holy
anointing oil was first placed on the blood-sprinkled ear, hand and foot of the priests
before they entered the sanctuary of God as worshipping priests - Lev. 8:30. The anointing
oil is a type of the Holy Spirit, Who is still the power, whether for conflict, service or
for worship; and the Holy Scriptures the only guide for us to follow.
THE SUPREME OBJECT OF WORSHIP - "THE FATHER seeketh worshippers," said Jesus -
John 4:23. When the priests of old laid the parts of the sacrifice on the Altar of Burnt
Offering, they watched it ascend as a sweet smelling savour to Jehovah - Lev. 1:10-12. So,
in the Memorial Feast of the Lord's Supper, we see "Christ giving Himself for us an
offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour" - Eph. 5:2. This touches
our hearts as nothing else can, drawing from us worship to the Father for the unspeakable
GIFT of HIS Beloved Son! Thus we share fellowship with the Father in HIS thoughts and HIS
appreciation of His Son, as the Holy Spirit unfolds to us more of the excellencies of
Christ, of whom it is written, "No man knoweth the SON, but the FATHER." Matt.
11:27. In this manner, our worship rises to the Father's heart to delight Him above!
THE ETERNAL DURATION OF WORSHIP - In the day of eternal glory, the New Heavens and the New
Earth will be one vast sanctuary, when the whole redeemed creation will form one united
choir, ascribing glory and worship to God - Eph. 3:21. The universal song will be,
"Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth on the throne,
and unto the Lamb for ever and ever" - Rev. 5:13. Until then, may we know the meaning
of true worship here below, for it is OUR HIGHEST OCCUPATION!
John Bramhall
Florence, South Carolina
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