*********************************************************************
Volume 3, No. 7
September 1991
*********************************************************************
"I go to prepare a place for you" (John 14:2). "Looking unto Jesus"
(Heb. 12:2). I know that there has been much said about these two verses, but I would like
to make a few comments about them. In the first, we have presented to us the work which
the Lord Jesus has done and is doing. In the second, we have our responsibility in the
time between.
The Lord Jesus in His great love, grace and mercy went through the garden of Gethsemane,
sweating, as it were, great drops of blood; and that redeeming blood flowed from that
garden all the way to the cross, with all the shame, cursing, spittle, beating and mockery
men could possibly heap upon Him. As I consider the Lord Jesus standing before His
accusers (sinful men) with the spit coursing down His face I remember these words, "I
go to prepare a place for you!"
And what about the darkness which surrounded Him when His soul was made an offering for
sin - when God judged His own Son for our sins? We will never be able to comprehend or
understand it. "I go." None other than the Creator Himself, the Lord Jesus
Christ.
Oh, make me understand it,
Help me to take it in.
What it meant to Thee, the Holy One,
To take away my sin.
We are living, dear brother and sister, in very difficult times. It is easy to get our
eyes off of this One Who loves us like no other. We look at our circumstances; we look at
others; & we get discouraged. But just remember to "look unto Jesus." We can
only succeed as Christians as we keep our eyes on Him. The hymnwriter said, "Just one
glimpse of Him in glory will the toils of life repay." How true that is, though we
don't have to wait until then. We can look with the eye of faith and see Him even now, and
this brings joy to our hearts as we look upon and consider Him.
Of course, we also have His promise that He is coming. It doesn't seem like it can be very
long. Sometimes, when we are waiting for someone we love to come home, we will watch at
the window or wait outside for them. Surely, we are waiting and watching for the Lord
Jesus to come. We "look for that blessed hope." May we be busy for Him until He
comes.
He has gone on ahead, preparing that place, our Home if we are believers, and has promised
that He will come again. Are we ready for His return?
Perhaps you have never trusted the Lord Jesus as your own personal Saviour. May you
realize your own sinfulness before God and your need for the Lord Jesus personally to save
you. May you "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved." Tomorrow may be
too late. He is the only Way. He was the only One Who could say, "I go...to prepare a
place for you!"
Keith Van Ryn
Atlanta, Georgia
*********************************************************************
The Lord Hath Need of Him
Mark 11:3
Here is a stupendous thought: The Creator in need of an untamed colt! Here is a more
amazing thought: Surrounded by the shining hosts in glory, cherubim and seraphim, the Lord
hath need of you and me! Someone sweetly expressed it, "This is all I'm wanting, His
lovely face to see. And I'm not ashamed to say it, I know He's wanting me."
The epistle to the Ephesians declares, "The Head is not complete without the
body." The Church, "which is His body, the complement of Him that filleth all in
all" (Eph. 1:23). In Colossians the body is not complete without the Head "Ye
are complete in Him" (Col. 2:10).
Zophar said, "For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass's
colt" (Job 11:12). Yet the Lord hath need of him, loosed him from his sins, brought
him through the door of salvation from without, led him from the place where two ways met
to the strait and narrow way which leadeth unto life, and placed him under new and
omnipotent control. How marvelous are the purposes of God!
The Lord hath need of departed saints:
We greatly miss our loved ones now at Home with the Lord. But let us not forget the Lord
hath need of him, the Lord hath need of her. They belonged to Him, and as the husbandman,
with patience, He desires even now to gather some of the precious fruit, for precious in
the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. He called them to His bosom of rest.
Whether young or old, they were ripened fruit of His work and ready for Glory.
The Lord hath need of living saints:
He can, of course, work His sovereign will without us, but graciously deigns to use us to
encourage and inspire us. He could have fed the multitude without the loaves and fishes,
but used a boy's lunch and the hands of the disciples to dispense the blessing. He needs
our hearts in loving devotion, and hands in His happy service. The talents were given to
every man according to his individual ability. God knows what we are able to do for Him.
All are not equally gifted, but all are equally responsible, and none is excluded from His
great work. The Lord has need of us in the great Harvest Field. When He returns, the
bright crown of reward will surely be His smile of welcome and His "Well done!"
of appreciation!
Bernard Fell
Solihull, England
*********************************************************************
***The Shepherd***
"Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was
crucified with Him. But when they came to Jesus, and saw that He was dead already, they
brake not His legs" (John 19:32-33).
We begin by examining the second phrase of vs. 33, where we read, "...He was dead
already." This phrase is quite interesting from the aspect that it was necessary for
our Lord to die first. We read in John 14:6 His words, "I am the Way, the Truth, and
the Life." He is Life! This phrase in our verse is then made most intriguing by the
fact that if we believe that our Lord is the very origin of life, it then stands to reason
that He cannot be the origin of death, as well. Death, as we well know, is the result of
man's sin before a righteous God. "For the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23).
It is then important to note that our Lord as the Life could neither witness nor be
subjected to death in His presence, for death has no relationship with life. Thus, the
Scripture reads that "He was dead already."
The next point of interest is found in the concluding phrase of vs. 33; "...they
brake not His legs." In studying we find that our Saviour is referred to in Scripture
as "the Good Shepherd." This becomes more enlightening when we learn more of the
special relationship a shepherd shares with his sheep. The particular point of interest to
me is of the shepherd's actions towards an oft wayward sheep. We are told that it is
common practice in such circumstances that the shepherd will break one of the sheep's legs
to prevent its wandering. Although it sounds like a somewhat cruel practice, its resulting
lessons are priceless to the shepherd and vital for the survival of the sheep. The action
forces the sheep, however unwilling, to become totally reliant on the shepherd for its
every need. The leg soon heals under the tender care of the shepherd, and along the way a
bond of trust and loyalty is established between the two.
Return now to our verses referring to Calvary. "Then came the soldiers, and brake the
legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with Him. But when they came to
Jesus, and saw that He was dead already, they brake not His legs" (John 19:32-33).
You see, the two malefactors had their legs broken, which gave evidence that they had
forfeited their right to walk on earth. They "received the due reward of their
deeds." They picture all men who "like sheep have gone astray" (Isa.53:6).
The Scripture says; "The Lord taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man" (Psa.
147:10b). They were sinful men just like you and me and, therefore, deserved death (Rom.
6:23).
The repentant thief received a passport to heaven, and will one day "walk with the
Lord in white" (Rev. 3:4). This will be the prospect for everyone that puts their
faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus.
As sheep gone astray, it became necessary for the malefactors' legs to be broken, but what
about that Man that hung on the middle cross? Pilate himself asked, "Why, what evil
hath He done? I find no fault in this Man." No, His legs would not be broken (John
19:31, 36). This would keep the ordinance of the Passover (Exo. 12:43-46). Why was this
Man so different? It was because that Man was none other than "the Good
Shepherd." They broke not His legs! He walked in unbroken fellowship with the Father
and was the only One fit to be both the Sacrifice (the Lamb) and the Shepherd. John, the
disciple whom Jesus loved, recorded his Shepherd's words, "I am the Good
Shepherd...and I lay down My life for the sheep" (John 10:14-15). In those few hours,
we have documented an innocent Man wrongly accused and put to death, for it was there that
men crucified the Good Shepherd by "wicked hands" (Acts 2:24). There the gentle
Shepherd was stripped, slapped and beaten unmercifully to a point beyond human
recognition. He was spit upon, cursed and horribly scourged. He was nailed to a criminal's
cross with a crown of thorns and furrowed back. What a debt we owe! David, the shepherd
Psalmist, relates his own boundless delight with these five words, "The Lord is my
Shepherd!" We indeed echo the indescribable joy of salvation in our Saviour Shepherd
with our Shepherd's words of John 15:13; "Greater love hath no man than this, that a
man lay down His life for his friends!"
I have a Shepherd, One I love so well,
How He has blessed me, tongue can never tell.
On the cross He suffered, shed His blood and died,
That I might ever in His love confide.
Following Jesus ever day by day;
Nothing can harm me when He leads the way.
Darkness or sunshine, whate'er befall...
Jesus the Shepherd is my All in All.
Ted Van Ryn
Hialeah, Florida
*********************************************************************
*********************************************************************
Volume 3, No. 9 Last Issue
November 1991
*********************************************************************
Two daughters of Israel were dying: one a little girl, one a grown woman. The woman had
begun to die twelve years earlier from an internal bleeding disorder that no physician
could heal. The little girl, just twelve years old, lay dying in her father's house of an
unknown cause. How strange that the little girl was born into life in the same time-frame
that the woman began bleeding slowly to death.
Even stranger yet, Luke 8 records that they were both brought into contact with the Lord
Jesus because of the faithful witness of a former madman (see Luke 8:39-40) who lived
among the tombs of the dead. After casting out the demons who had tormented him, the Lord
Jesus commanded the man called "Legion" (for many demons had entered into him):
"Return to thine own house, and shew how great things God hath done unto thee."
Go away! Go home was the command. The man obeyed, went home, and told everyone in his
hometown what the Lord had done for him.
Go away! Frightened, that was the message of the people who inhabited the region of the
Gadarenes to Jesus after He had cast the demons out of the man called "Legion."
Some time later, after that man's witness, those same people gladly welcomed Jesus into
their city. The results: Jairus' little twelve-year-old daughter is raised from the dead,
and the woman who had been suffering the prospect of death for those same twelve years is
healed of her affliction.
What are the lessons for the Christian? We, who once lived among the dead in trespasses
and sins but are now set free have been commanded to go and show what great things God has
done for us. For, the day we began to live, others began dying. How many souls have passed
into eternity in the short moments it has taken you to read these few words? Do you care?
Do I? May the Lord help us to be faithful to our generation, for they are dying around us
every day...
Brent Van Ryn
Sterling, Virginia
*********************************************************************
***God's Moral Excellence***
I recently enjoyed a burst of worship in my spirit as I was struck by God's moral
excellence.
"But our God is in the heavens: He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased
(willed)" (Psalm 115:3). "Now unto Him Who is able to do exceedingly abundantly
above all..." Eph. 3:20. Regarding a regenerated sinner's overwhelming position in
Christ through what God has done, the Scripture says, "According as He hath chosen us
in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
Him. In love having predestinated us...according to the good pleasure of His
will...wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved One" (Eph. 1:4-6).
In love, simply because it was the outflowing will of perfect and excellent love (I John
4:16), God wanted me in the fellowship and possession of His life, then owned and
experienced only by the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Though His glory (the essence of Deity
- Isa. 42:8) could only forever be His, Love willed that I could forever behold that
glory, abide in the presence of that glory, and partake in the fullness, quality and
happiness of the life which that glory had, lived and enjoyed.
But what would it take for God to do this? "Good pleasure which He had purposed in
Himself?" Everything! All! Heaven's best! The Son of His love! How inadequate is our
ability to tell it!
Throughout all eternity, the theme shall resound, "He spared not His own Son, but
delivered Him up for us all!" Even this cost couldn't keep God from doing that
"good" which He had purposed in Himself..."that good, and acceptable and
perfect will of God" characteristic of that eternal Life.
In fact, that very Life of God was revealed in this very act of God in giving us His Son
(I John 1:1,2; Heb. 1:1,2). At no measuring of His cost to perform our ultimate good, is
seen His perfect moral excellence. No short cuts, no compromise, no second best, but
rather legally and justly fulfilling every requirement of His righteous character, so that
He could be "just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus."
What might! What power to perform! How unlike us who can't even be the fathers, husbands,
wives, etc. that we ought and long to be. No wonder Isaiah cried when he saw Him,
"Woe is me! for I am undone...for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of
Hosts."
Henry Sardina
Union, Missouri
*********************************************************************
***Little is Much***
The Lord takes notice of the smallest things we do in His service; even a cup of water
given in His Name will not lose its reward. "He that is faithful in that which is
least, is faithful also in much" (Luke 16:10). Keep on doing the little things for
Him; He will count them great. Great things are often the multiplicity of small things.
"Little drops of water, little grains of sand, make the mighty ocean and the pleasant
land." "For who hath despised the day of small things?" (Zech. 4:10).
Certainly not our God. A fervent prayer, a word of cheer, a keeping hand, a welcome smile.
When my wife was in hospital, a lady in the bed opposite said to her, "Thank you for
your lovely smile." All kindly commonplace acts for others are appreciated: they cost
nothing, but are of great value in the sight of the Lord.
The widow's two mites were a very small offering to cast into the treasury, but in the
eyes of the Lord they were of more value than all the lavish gifts of the rich. Her gift
was proportionally larger because, after giving, they still had abundance, but in her
poverty she gave her all and had nothing left.
The act of Sir Walter Raleigh, in spreading his cloak over a puddle to save his Queen's
dress from getting soiled, has been handed down in history. It was not the act, trivial in
itself, but the one for whom he performed it, that made it specially noteworthy. So, with
grateful hearts we serve the Lord Christ in our humble capacity, and God values our labour
because of What He is, our precious Saviour, and Who He is, our adorable Lord.
Bernard Fell
Solihull, England
*********************************************************************
***DEVOTION TO CHRIST***
The devotion of Mary Magdalene is a pattern for us. After her great deliverance from
Satanic power, her subsequent life proves it. Let us first consider:
A. HER SALVATION.
Two Scriptures tell it - Mark 15:8; Luke 8:2. The Lord Jesus used His omnipotent power as
He "cast out of her seven devils," demonic spirit beings who dominated her. He
threw them out, for she was helpless and hopeless to deliver herself, or to ask help of
HIM. He delivered her! He was her Saviour, Redeemer and Deliverer! This is what He is to
you and me, fellow believers; praise His Name! Meditate on her devoted life that followed:
B. HER DEVOTION TO CHRIST.
1.) HER DEVOTION OF LIFE - She followed Him! Luke 8:1-3; He "went throughout every
city and village, preaching and teaching," etc. She followed with His disciples,
"certain women" and "many others." It was customary for disciples to
follow Rabbinical scribes then and profit from their ministry. Our blessed Lord did not
forbid it.
2.) HER DEVOTION IN GIVING - Of her "substance" she ministered to Him (Luke
8:3). She was evidently from an affluent family and able to, as other women mentioned
here. Their desire was to listen to this Divine Expositor for comfort and instruction from
His blessed lips.
3.) HER DEVOTION TO THE CROSS - John 19:26 - She followed Him to His cross. Her home in
Magdala was far from Jerusalem on the west side of Lake Galilee, yet when His disciples
forsook Him, she was seen "standing by the cross of Jesus," faithful! She
followed Him to His DEATH! She never lost sight of Christ, but watched the great sacrifice
of atonement on the cross, not alone for her sins but for "the sin of the world"
(John 1:29).
4.) HER DEVOTION AT HIS BURIAL - Matt. 27:61: Joseph, Nicodemus, "Mary Magdalene and
the other Mary" were the mourners at the grave. As Joseph "rolled a great stone
to the door" of the sepulchre, there was Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, sitting
near. Mary Magdalene is mentioned as if the chief mourner, taking careful observation
where they laid HIM.
5.) HER DEVOTION AT THE SEPULCHRE - John 20:1-18. "While it was yet dark" Mary
seeks the body of a dead Christ, not knowing that HE LIVES! In haste, she brings Peter and
John to search the empty tomb, but, puzzled, they return home while "Mary stood at
the sepulchre weeping." Angels were no comfort to her, not even the
"Cherubim"! Peter and John went home, but Mary had no home, for HER HOME WAS
CHRIST!
6.) HER DEVOTION REWARDED - The Risen Lord reveals Himself, calling His sheep by name -
"Mary." She knew HIS voice! To this devoted heart He first reveals Himself in
Resurrection! She cries, "Rabboni" - my Teacher! My Master! My Lord! Had He not
freed her from bondage, from seven relentless masters, seven deadly devils? But now, she
had One Lord only; her heart and mind and soul worshipped Him! She now could say; "I
have found HIM WHOM my soul loveth."
7.) HER GREAT COMMISSION - Not permitted to touch Him, but given the greatest message of
Resurrection truth - "Go to my brethren and say unto them I ascend unto my Father and
your Father; and to My God and your God." To this sorrowful and devoted heart, which
no angels could comfort, the Resurrection message is entrusted. What a priceless honor!
Beloved, she is an example! Do I have a devoted heart for Christ? What shall I say?
John Bramhall
Florence, South Carolina
*********************************************************************
***An Eternal Investment***
The Bible says, "What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose His
own soul" (Mark 8:36). We learn in the Scriptures of a man who spent his life
amassing much of this world's goods, to whom God said at his hour of death; "Thou
fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee, then whose shall those things be
which thou hast provided?" (Luke 12:16-21). "For we brought nothing into this
world and it is certain we can carry nothing out" (I Tim. 6:7). Oh, the folly of
wasted lives! How far better to believe God's eternal Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, as
revealed in God's eternal Word, and receive eternal life. "He that believeth on the
Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the
wrath of God abideth on Him" (John 3:36).
Anonymous
*********************************************************************