VOL. XXIV APRIL 1941 NO.
4 "Do This in Remembrance of Me" "Do This in Remembrance of Me""Jesus said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye
have no life in you." - John 6:53. AGAIN, WITH
the passing of time, we approach that season when we gather around the Lord's table to
partake of those elements which represent Him, who presented Himself in perfect obedience
as the sacrifice "'which cometh down from heaven and giveth life to the world."
The celebration of this feast, while always a solemn and heart-searching one, seems with
each yearly return even more so, as we see the gathering evidence that our God is
marching on and that His word returneth not unto Him void, but accomplishes that which He
pleases, and it shall prosper in the coming whereunto He sent it. - Isa. 55:11. To some of
His people this will be the last opportunity to "show forth the Lord's death till
He come." May we look beyond the symbols and realize the full meaning of our Lord's
words when He "said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the
flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth My
flesh, and drinketh My blood, bath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
For My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My flesh, and
drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in hint." (John 6:53-56.) These words of the
Master have in them a deep significance which we do well to ponder. "Christ
our Passover is sacrificed for us," and "Behold the Lamb of God which taketh
away the sin of the world" are sufficient to identify our Lord as the antitype of the
paschal lamb of the Hebrew economy, and the setting up of the new and living way as the
fulfillment of the types and shadows of the old order under the law. It is
helpful, too, to go back over the receding years to a contemplation of the events of the
upper room on that last fateful night. It was here that He opened to their spiritual
vision some of the ultimate glories of the new and living way which can come only by a
participation in a voluntary sacrifice as did our blessed Lord. The apostle expresses
this, thought by saying, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your
reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the
renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect
will of God." It was here that He gently rebuked them for their selfish spirit,
taught them the lesson of humility, and prepared their heart, in a measure, to understand
that love, of which He said they should love one another with the love with which He loved
them. "This Do Ye"Our mental
vision can picture them gathered around the table as one family of which He was head and
center. Trey celebrated together, for the last time, the passing over of the first-borns
by the angel of death on that memorable night in Egypt fifteen hundred years before. It
was this last Passover of which He said, "With desire I have desired to eat this
passover with you before I suffer; for I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof,
until it be fulfilled in the Kingdom of God. (Luke 22:15, 16.) It was after this feast of
the Passover that He took of the fragments of unleavened bread and of the remainder of the
wine and substituted what we are pleased to call the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, the
Memorial, the Eucharist, the Communion, according to the viewpoint from which one looks.
It was here that He took bread and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying,
"This is My body which is given for you; this do in remembrance of Me." Thus
indicating that the thing of most importance and which they should especially remember was
that to them the old order would soon be fulfilled by the breaking of His body instead of
the bread, and the pouring out of His blood instead of its type; -- the wine, with all
that it would mean to them and the world of mankind. To the
enlightened believer there comes this great truth expressed by the apostle in his letter
to the Hebrews: "For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer
sprinkling them that have been defiled, sanctify unto the cleanness of the flesh; how much
more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered Himself without
blemish unto God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" A
striking comparison between the old law dispensation and the new order based upon the shed
blood of Him who in the beginning was, as the Logos, with God, and was Himself a god, in
whom was life and the life was the light of men. Here He
prayed for them which the Father had given Him, that they might be kept and sanctified
through His truth. It was here He taught a blessed union of Himself and the Father and
them, that they all may be one. And not of these alone did He speak, but of all who might
believe through their word. It was from here He went - out into the night for His
Gethsemane experience, where He seems to have had a glimpse of the shadow of the cross
falling athwart His mental vision. He possibly perceived, to a degree at least, that
there His Father God would turn His face from Him because of sin, for there He was to take
the sinner's place, even though He Himself knew no sin, and must suffer the extreme
penalty -- or His sacrifice would have been inadequate. To be forsaken of the Father, who
is love personified, was the extreme limit of His suffering in leading up to the closing
moment of His redemptive work for the world of mankind. The Type InstitutedIt might be
helpful to all who are sincerely interested in the matter to go back and visualize God's
dealing with His typical people in regard to the institution of the Passover. Those who
went down into Egypt with Jacob, to escape death from a famine in the land, prospered and
multiplied for many years. There came a time, however, when a Pharaoh came to rule who
knew not Joseph's God, and who for fear of their increasing numbers with its possible
power, subjected them to abject slavery. While during this period of more than two hundred
years they seemed forsaken of God., they maintained their identity and continued to
increase greatly in numbers in spite of their persecutions. This fact seems to indicate
that God had not left them to their destruction, but had a purpose in permitting these
things to come upon them. How often in our own experience does it seem that our
fellowship with the heavenly Father is disrupted, but often, too, with us as with them of
old, He is preparing some better thing, and these are His methods of molding us for a
deeper appreciation of His blessings. In clue time He raised a deliverer in the person of
Moses, who for a period of forty years was trained in the courts of Egypt as the son of
Pharaoh's daughter, and became skilled in all the arts of the Egyptians. Not yet fitted
for God's purpose, another forty years was needed in the solitude of the wilderness as a
tender of sheep, before he was commissioned to demand the release of his brethren from
bondage under Pharaoh, the Egyptian. As an
evidence that God had not forgotten them in all these years of suffering, we find Him
saying to Moses: "And I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the
land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. And I have also
heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keel) in bondage; and I
have remembered My covenant." (Exod. 6:4, 5.) "And the Lord said unto Moses, Yet
will I bring one plague more upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. . . . About midnight will I go
out into the midst of Egypt; and all the first-born in the land of Egypt shall die. . . .
But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or
beast; that ye may know how that the Lord doth, put a difference between the Egyptian and
Israel.' (Exod. 11:1-7.) This last plague is the occasion of the establishing of the
Passover as given in Exodus 12:1-14. "One
plague more" meant death to Egypt's first born, but not so to the first-born of
Israel. This was the first intimation of the setting aside of a special class for a
special work in His eternal purpose or plan. As it was then, so is it in this present
age. The antitypical first-born are credited in the sight of God as having passed from
death unto life. They are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ. Heirs according
to the promise made to Abraham concerning his spiritual seed. With the establishing of
this Passover began a new reckoning of time with them. Here began the birth of a new
nation. The month Nisan became now to them the beginning of a new year and the setting in
order of a new life under a system of laws given to them through their deliverer, Moses.
They were now in a fuller sense the chosen people of God. "When I See the Blood"On the tenth
day of this month they were to take to them a lamb for each house, a male without
blemish from the sheep or the goats, kept until the evening of the fourteenth day and
killed. Its blood was to be sprinkled upon the two side posts and on the upper
door-posts of the houses in which it was to be eaten. The
important thought in this description is that it was the blood which was the saving factor
in this Passover. The blood of the lamb slain before the foundation of the world was
here typified. God, knowing
man would sin and fall from favor. made preparation for his recovery from that s :n and
fall long before "the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted
for joy." Thus again demonstrating His love for man. "And: when I see the blood,
I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you. when I smite
the land of Egypt." Earnest meditation upon these words will bring to the properly
exercised mind of the consecrated much that will be helpful in understanding the
relationship between them and our heavenly Father. "Your
lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year," indicates again the
perfection of the redemptive work of our blessed Lord. But vet it was the shed blood only
which was effective when sprinkled where and how as directed by God, that He might see and
pass them over. Perfection alone may contact God, hence it is the new creature only who
is able to commune with Him, for the new creature cannot sin. And this because the new
creature stands clothed in the robe of Christ's righteousness, covering his own filthy
rags and under the protection of Him who said on that memorable night, "This is My
blood shed for you." They knew that they were not redeemed with corruptible things as
silver and gold-but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and
without spot: "Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world but was
manifest in these last times" to them. They know that "in that He died, He died
unto sin once; but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God." So likewise they reckon
themselves "to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our
Lord." - Rom. 6:10, 11. After
obeying God in the matter of the blood of the slain lamb, that He might see it and pass
them over, there were certain definite and minute instructions concerning the disposal
of the lamb itself. These were very important as types in pointing on into the years
to follow as affecting those other first-born, on the spiritual plane. More than the Blood NecessaryThe blood of
the paschal lamb in the type 'was their protection against the angel of death, but there
was needed something more; the lamb itself must be disposed of in the manner prescribed by
God. This also prefigured the eating of the flesh of Him who said, "I am the bread of
life; he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never
thirst." It is
impossible of course to conceive, with much degree of accuracy, the state of mind of those
Hebrews as they closed their doors in order to comply with their further instruction as to
what should be done with the lamb itself after its blood had been sprinkled. They
doubtless were convinced that God was dealing with them in some special way when they
considered the former plagues which came upon the land. Since human nature has not changed
from the beginning, it is probable true that some may have complied with these commands,
but with questionings as to its wisdom. So far as the record shows, however, none
disobeyed, but all sought the protection of. the blood, and all partook of the flesh on
that night. The human
mind is so constructed that in some, the first reaction to a new or strange proposition is
one of doubt or questioning. It was so with the Apostle Thomas. He had never 'witnessed
the materializing of a resurrected being, and so the first thought was that it could not
be, although its occurrence was related to him by brethren whose word could not be
questioned. The thought that it may not have been an actual doubt in his case, as in our
own many times, is supported by the ease with which he was convinced, a few clays later,
without the proof he said he would demand. When a thing greatly to be desired, but
concerning which we are doubtful, does actually happen, many minds will quickly respond
with the exclamation: "I can't believe it!"' or "It is too good to be
true!" Many of the world's good people so respond to a- recital of the divine plan
with its complete provision for an opportunity for all to come into harmony with God in
His clue time and way. So often one hears: "It sounds good. If only I could believe
it!" Spiritual
things are impossible of discernment by the natural mind, as was evidenced by John's
statement that "Many therefore of His disciples when they heard this, said. This is
am hard saying; who can hear it'" (John 6:60.) "From that time many of His
disciples went back, and walked no more with Him." (John 6:66.) They could not
understand, even though they had walked with Him, these teachings concerning the eating of
the bread by which they should live forever. May His consecrated of today lift up their
hearts in true thanksgiving for the spiritual understanding which is theirs, and, may the
day be hastened when all shall have that discernment when the knowledge of Him shall cover
the earth as the waters cover the deep. It is not so today, for darkness now covers the
earth and gross darkness its people. As in other
features of the types and shadows of better things, there must be a special significance
in the way they were to dispose of the flesh of the paschal lamb. His people were
promised the guidance of the holy spirit into a discernment of all truth, so we must
look for help in that direction. This does not mean the exploitation of one's views on all
subjects, for there is much yet to be learned, but it does mean a reverent yielding of
one's consecrated mind to the consideration of these things and a following of the light
as it shines brighter and brighter as we approach that perfect day. "Tried in All Points"We read:
"And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread;
and with bitter herbs they shall eat it." "Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all
with water, but roast with fire his head with his legs, and with the purtenance
thereof." Fire, as we know from daily experience, is used to bring out the best
qualities in the food taken for human consumption. As fire was here used to make the
perfect food edible and wholesome, so the antitypical lamb must submit to the fire of
God's judgment. It is as though the Psalmist's words might apply when he said, "Search
me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any way of
pain or grief in me." (Psa. 139:22, 23, margin.) There was none. His faithfulness
to His Father was perfect, and His daily walk was without fault. He was the perfect
substitute, for perfect man who had sinned, and through that sin brought death upon the
race. As they gathered around that table that night to partake of the flesh, so are God's
people admonished to forsake not the assembling of themselves together, and so much the
more as they see the day approaching; and where two or three such are assembled, they have
His assurance that He will be with them, that they may partake of Him to the end, that
their growth may continue without interruption; that they be more and more filled with
God's holy spirit and show forth the fruit thereof in ever increasing degree. "Purge Out the Old Leaven"To the
Hebrew, also, this lamb might mean incidentally that God would furnish them sustenance
and food while on their journey to that promised land flowing with milk and honey. They
could rely, without question, upon Him to furnish all their needs. Is it not true with the
Church today? As we delve deeply into the Word for strength to meet the varied needs of
the Christian life, do we not find that "my God shall supply all your needs," is
abundantly fulfilled? The bitter herbs upon their table pointed to the many unhappy
experiences which should mark their future years. Even true as to the antitype. As with
them, and Him in. His life, so with His people of this later age. "These things I
have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have
tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." This was among the
many things He told them in that upper room, so rich in comforting reassurances.
"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I
unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." (John 14:27.) What
a marvelous thing the peace of Christ is, can be known only by those who have been
cleansed from that evil symbolized by leaven. The apostle's opinion of leaven is expressed
in his letter to the Corinthians: "Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may
be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us;
therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice
and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." - 1 Cor. 5:7,
8. These
Corinthians were guilty of evil practices in their lives. It is evident, therefore, that
his true meaning was as to the lives they were leading from day to day, and not only as
they partook of the supper in remembrance of Him. They were not holy as He was holy; they
lacked sincerity and did not appreciate truth. For this reason they could not enjoy that
peace which passeth understanding. God cannot compromise with sin in ever so slight a
degree. They could not then be walking side by side with Him who knew no sin but became
sin that these Corinthians and. others might be saved from the penalty of sin. Thus Shall Ye EatAnother
important matter noticed is the manner in which they must eat: "And thus shall ye eat
it. with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye
shall eat it in haste; it is the Lord's passover. These all indicated a preparation for
a task to which they would soon be called and for which they must be prepared, when that
one plague more came upon the Egyptians. Pharaoh rose up in the night and called Moses and
Aaron and said to them, "Raise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye
and the children of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as ye have said." These homely
things such as girdles, shoes, staves, etc., are referred to many times in the Scriptures
in a figurative way, such as "gird up the loins of your heart," "your feet
shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace." The staff represented a journey
and has become the symbolic implement of the pilgrim, the aid or support of him in a
strange land. "'Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me" refers to the shepherd's
staff with which he guided his sheep, and what a comfort to them who desire a better
country, that is, a heavenly "Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God;
for He hath prepared for them a city." (Heb. 11:16.) He is their shepherd; He maketh
them to lie down; He restoreth their soul. These things were spoken by David in gratitude
for the mercy and goodness of God which endured forever; but are they not prophetic of the
care God exercises over them who purge their hearts of the leaven of malice and
wickedness? Can any one who does not appreciate the shed blood and who does not eat of the
flesh of the Son of man, claim this divine guidance to even the slightest degree? As the
household of Israel left none of the lamb to come in contact with any outside of the
sanctity of the household-but consumed it all, or destroyed the remnants by fire-so the
antitype must use care: in exposing the secret things of the spirit to the mind of the
world. It was a sacred obligation for him to gather individually in the presence of his
God, on this occasion in the most intimate way, for: "This day shall be unto you for
a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast unto the Lord throughout your generations; ye
shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever." So he who does not eat of the living
bread which came down from heaven, shall not live forever: he is not of the body of
Christ. How can this man give us His flesh to eat? Thus said the Jew of His day, and so
say many of this day who have substituted various philosophies for the simple truth of
the Gospel. As we gather
again around the table "to do this in remembrance of Me," may we look beyond the
symbols and realize the full meaning of our Lord's words when He "said unto them,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His
blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal
life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood
is drink indeed. He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in
him." Let us
"labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto
everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you; for Him hath God the Father
sealed." So shall we
know how this Man can give us His flesh to eat. * * * * * *
- H. C. G. Moule. "Christ Liveth""I delivered unto you first of all that which I
received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was
buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures." - 1 Cor.
15:3-4. THE
SACRIFICE on Calvary completed, the story of the earthly ministry of our Lord comes
quickly to a close. There are few details told of the days that remain; but what warmth
there is in every one of those incidents for every Christian heart. The very brevity of
the accounts is one of the strong evidences of their truthfulness. Impostors would not
have failed to attempt conviction by an overabundance of detail. Simplicity, too, would
have been lacking in their accounts. How imagination would have dwelt on every incident,
especially the details of the resurrection and of the triumphal entrance into heaven. Of
these even inspiration has not a word to say; though it alone does speak of that most
momentous event recorded by any historian, the life given for an undeserving world. The
darkness of that dreadful hour is followed by the coldness of the tomb and its sealed
door, the chilling indifference of the Roman guard. But soon
faith's flood-light reveals the tender hand of a loving Father in each grim circumstance.
The tomb hewn out of the rock, inaccessible to all both from this circumstance and because
of the Roman seal and guard, is indisputable evidence provided by Jesus' enemies
themselves that He whose tomb they guarded with such care is risen indeed. By no fraud
could His body have been removed from that tomb. Their fear that a fraud night be
perpetrated has furnished as undeniable proof of the Redeemer's resurrection as their
spear-point gave of His death. Both the disciples who "believed not for joy" and
the chief priests and Pharisees who for hate refused to believe though an angel appeared
from heaven to roll the stone away, provided the necessary circumstances that all who will
may believe regardless of the few seeming inconsistencies on the surface of the various
accounts. Faith's Structure"If
Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins." (1 Cor. 15:17.).
Undoubtedly it is important that we should be provided -- with indisputable testimony --
that ours is a living Savior, just such testimony as we do have. What other of all the
claims of historians is supported by the testimony of over five hundred witnesses who are
in full agreement with each other as to that fact? On details there may be some seeming
disagreement, but as to the great fact that Jesus lives, not one of those witnesses is
uncertain. Additional weight is given to the statement of all of the most prominent of
these in that in each instance their first inclination was to disbelieve. So great a hold
upon the lives of these brethren had the risen Lord that, as a result of their testimony
for Jesus among the very men that crucified Him, "believers were the more added to
the Lord, multitudes both of men and women." In
connection with the circumstances of the closing days of our Lord's sojourn here, inasmuch
as we are to "follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth," it is interesting to note
that every consecrated believer of this age must be able to say, "I am crucified with
Him." "I am dead with Him," "the world is crucified to me, and I to
the world." Our burial is "in Him," in the Rock. Every provision is made
that there shall be no fraud in this matter.
Each should realize the "seal set beyond repeal." When the body has been
presented "an acceptable sacrifice," it is then actually, as far a all hopes are
concerned, dead. For this one, if there is fraud, it will be in the, day s after the walk
in newness of life has begun. This is not a resurrection of the old flesh and its
ambitions, but of the creature, now "new." "By this shall all men know that
ye are My disciples, if ye have love for one another," the love that is impossible to
all except those who are dead with Him to self and the world, for it is such a love for
each other as He had for us when He laid down His life for us. Where there is fraud, it is
that of walking not after the spirit but after the flesh, which has been proclaimed
dead. "Quickened together with Christ, let us walk honestly, as in the clay." Ours must he the
walk of faith, and faith must know that He who is our life lives, though many mysteries of
His and our resurrection mornings are not revealed to us. The
resurrection itself is an event too hallowed to be touched by the brush of any artist. In
the four. Gospels are given vivid pictures of incidents that furnish the background for a
picture the main feature of which no artist has" been commissioned to paint.
Combining these in one great canvas is a task that has proved too great for any one 'to
accomplish with certainty, though many interesting "harmonies" have been
compiled; all differing in some respects. From the time that Joseph of Arimathea lowered
the body of Jesus from the cross and with the assistance of Nicodemus hastily laid it away
in the rock, there is enough of uncertainty in the accounts to furnish the merely
speculative type of mind sufficient engrossing perplexities so that the lessons intended
for faith may all be missed. Our faith is not in the order of the events. It is in the
fact, not in the process of resurrection. The Women at the TombLast at the
tomb on the day of burial were "Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, sitting over
against the sepulcher." It was dark, the day only beginning to dawn, when on the
third day they returned to complete the embalming of Jesus. Nothing is more striking
than the prominence of the women in the events that marked the beginning of the new order.
Though in the previous dispensation she had beer- kept so far in the background as
almost to indicate it had been feared her presence would pollute sacred scenes, now her
eyes are the first to greet the risen Lord, her hands the first held out toward Him, her
ears' the first to hear His loving welcome, she the first to fall adoring at His feet. In
these experiences she was not being given preeminence, but assurance that in the body of
Christ "there is neither male nor female." Evidently it was not because of
greater faith on her part that these special privileges were hers. The women, as well as
the others, had lost faith. Not a risen Lord but a dead body drew them to that tomb. In
their hands were spices, not palm branches. As to why
Jesus appears "first" to a poor woman who can do nothing to convince a
doubting world that He laves, but whose testimony on the contrary may discredit the word
of more acceptable witnesses, we may not fully know. We may confidently however say that,
instead, a fraudulent record would have recounted an appearance in Pilate's pretorium or
the high priests' palace triumphing over their dismay. "The meekness, the true
perception of the actual sorrows and want of men, the sense for spiritual need, the utter
disregard of worldly powers and glory, characterize Him now as before. The sense of need
is what always effectually appeals to Him. The soul that truly recognizes the value and
longs for the fellowship and possession of Christ's purity, devotion to God, superiority
to worldly aims and interests always wins His regard. When a man prays for these things
not with his lips but with his life's effort and his heart's craving, his prayer is
answered. To seek Christ is to feel as Mary felt, to see with practical constraining
clearness as she saw, that He is the most precious of all possessions, that to be like
Him is the greatest of all attainments; it is to see His character with clearness, and
to be persuaded that, if the world gives us opportunity of becoming like Him and actually
makes us like Him, it has done for us all that is vital and permanently important." "As the
heart overburdened with grief is often unconscious of .he presence of Christ and refuses
to be comforted because it cannot see Him for its sorrow, so Mary through the veil of her
tears can see only a human form, and turn away again, unconscious that He for whom she
seeks is with her. As she turns, one word wipes the tears from her eves and penetrates her
heart with sudden joy. The utterance of her name was enough to tell her it was some one
who knew her that was there; but there was a responsive thrill and an awakening of old
memories and a vibration of her nature under the tone of that voice, which told her whose
alone it could be. The voice seemed a second time to command a calm within her and turn
her whole soul to Himself only. Once before, that voice had banished from her nature the
foul spirits that had taken possession of her; she had 'awaked from their spell beneath
the smile of Christ,' and now again the same voice brought her out of darkness into light.
From being the most disconsolate, Mary became at a word the happiest creature in the
world." Doubtless,
Mary thought the "little while" of His absence was at an end; but no, she must
learn to live without the physical touch; the seeing and the hearing must be by faith; the
truer fidelity that serves an absent Lord must be learned. His "touch Me not" is
not a chilling reprimand, however, but merely a commission to perform a more important
service: "Go to My brothers, and say unto them, I ascend unto My Father and your
Father, and to My God and your God." He is saying, "I am now More to you than
just Rabonni. We have one Father. We are brethren. But heaven is still awaiting My
entrance there to 'prepare a place' for My brethren that they, believing, may enter into
My joy." Faith RestoredThe process
by which the faith of the first disciples was restored is the best for establishing the
faith of "them that should believe on Him through their word." Therefore,
instead of attempting the impossible task of revealing to human brains the mystery of
life given again in resurrection, the evangelists content themselves with relating those
things that, revealing their loss of faith, led to its restoration. Hasting from
the tomb and the vision of angels. "Mary Magdalene and Joanna, and Mary the mother of
James, and other women that were with them, told these things unto the apostles, and their
words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not. Then arose Peter, and
ran unto the sepulcher; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid* by
themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was coming to pass."
(Luke 24:10-12.) It was that same clay that two of them going; to Emmaus met their Lord
"in another form" and told Him they "had trusted it had been He which
should have redeemed Israel." "O heedless ones, and slow of heart to believe all
that the prophets have spoken!" They knew the story of the two women at the tomb and
of the message the angels had given: "Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is
not- here, but is risen; remember how He spake unto you when He was yet in Galilee,
saying, The Son of mail must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified,
and the third day rise again." Apparently, though, they did not know of how
"Mary -Magdalene, out of whom Jesus had cast seven devils," exhausted, 1-ad
reached that tomb a second time, and, turning disappointed from the empty vault, had
been accosted by one she thought to be the gardener: "Woman, why weepest thou whom
seekest thou She, supposing Him to be the gardener, saith unto Him, Sir, if thou hast
borne Him hence, tell me where thou hast laid Him, and I will take Him away. Jesus saith
unto her, Mary." Just the familiar voice and inflexion and "she turned herself,
and saith unto Him, Rabboni * *; which is to say, Master." --------------------------------------------------- * One writer
says the Greek indicates the clothes were left in such fashion as to indicate that the
body had been removed from them by a process that had in no way disturbed them. Whatever
the correct translation, they were not as a grave-robber, made nervous by the presence
of a nearby guard of soldiers, would have left them Patiently,
"beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the
Scriptures the things concerning Himself. . . . [But it was' as He sat at meat with
them, [that] He took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to then. And their eyes
were opened, and they knew Him; and He vanished out of their sight." "And
they rose up the same hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered
together, and them that were with them, saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and bath
appeared to Simon. And they told what things were done in the way, and how He was known of
them in breaking of bread. And as they thus spake, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of
them [Thomas being absent], and saith unto them. Peace be unto you. But they were
terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit." - Luke 24:33-37. Pitying
their weak faith that in the presence of four witnesses still doubted, He showed them His
wounds, and "they yet believed not for joy." He then ate in their presence, and
from Luke's account it would seem that in this act their eyes were opened, and they knew
Him. He then reminded them of the scriptures that must be fulfilled: the suffering,
death, and resurrection of Christ, and the preaching of repentance and remission of sins
among all nations. Commissioning them as His witnesses for this work and assuring them
of the power that would come upon them after a little waiting period in Jerusalem,
"He led them out as far as to Bethany; and He lifted up His hands and blessed them.
And it came to pass, while He blessed them, He was parted from them and carried up into
heaven." Thus Luke
ends the account of the appearances of Jesus to His disciples after His restoration to the
spirit nature, passing by unmentioned the second appearance to the assembled disciples
(John 20:26-29), Thomas being present, the appearance to the seven by the Sea of Tiberias
(John 21:14), and the appearance to the disciples on a mountain in Galilee (Matt. 28:16;
Mark 16:7), which may have been the occasion when "He was seen by more than five
hundred brethren at once." (1 Cor. 15:6, "Diaglott.") It would be difficult
to suppose that the eleven could travel from Jerusalem to the appointed mountain in
Galilee without many brethren in Jerusalem and along the way and in Galilee, those
sections where Jesus had witnessed most, knowing of the promised meeting. Note that the
seventeenth verse states that "some doubted." Evidently these were not of the
twelve, for they all, even Thomas, had by that time seen the Lord and believed. There were
two others to whom He manifested Himself and of whom Paul tells us: "He was seen of
James, . . . and last of all He was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time"
(1 Cor. 15: 7, 8), the last of the twelve to join that little company to "burn
incense by the door of the empty sepulcher." Not less
definitely is proof given of the certainty of that resurrection by the experience of the
thousands who have verified the promise: "He that loveth Me shall be loved of My
Father, and I will love him and will manifest Myself to him," for they can truly say,
"Christ liveth in me." - John 14:21; Gal. 2:20. Years later
one of the apostles was to see the risen Lord again in vision walking in the midst of the
golden lamp-stands, which are the seven churches, clothed with a garment down to the foot,
and girt about the breasts with a golden girdle. His head and His hair were white as wool,
as white as snow; and His eyes were as a flame of fire; and His feet like unto burnished
brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace; and His voice as the voice of many waters.
"And He had in His right hand seven stars; and out of His mouth proceeded a sharp
two-edged sword; and His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I
saw Him [the beloved John testifies], I fell at His feet as one dead. And He laid His
right hand upon me, saying, Fear not; I am the first and the last; I am He that liveth,
and was dead, and, behold, I am alive for evermore; and I have the keys of death and of
the grave." - Rev. 1:13-18. "Amen!
Amen! our hearts respond; for in His resurrection we see the glorious outcome of the whole
plan of Jehovah, to be accomplished through the power of the Resurrected One, who now
holds the keys of hell and of death, and in clue time will release all the prisoners, who
are, therefore, called 'prisoners of hope.' (Zech. 9:12.) Death was our penalty, and He
'died for our sins,' and 'also for the sins of the whole 'world'' - 1 Cor. 15:3; 1 John
2:2. "Rev.
20:13, 14.- 'And the sea gave up the dead which were in it and death and hell [the grave]
delivered up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man according to
their works. And death and hell were cast into the, lake of fire: This is the second
death.'" After death and the grave shall have gone into the lake of fire, symbol of
eternal destruction, "there shall be no more death." (Rev. 21:4.) Our
resurrected Lord's work of restoration for all the willing and obedient having been
completed, He can then turn the Kingdom over to the Father, a perfect earth filled with
children in His image and likeness, the result of a thousand years of rising not only out
of the grave but, still more important, out of death and all that this horrible curse has
meant to the human family of suffering, sickness, and every evil thing. Praise God,
we have a hope of the resurrection of the dead, not only of the just but also of the
unjust. - Acts 24:15. In Evening Shadows"They constrained Him, saying,
Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And He went in to tarry
with them." - Luke 24:29. LIKE ALL
others of the stirring events associated with our Lord's few manifestations after His
resurrection, the experience of two of His disciples on the way to Emmaus abounds with
lessons of interest to us. Their story in all its features is but a pattern of our own
usual reactions in times of perplexity and disappointment. How very often we go on our
way, rehearsing our troubles and bemoaning the temporary shadows across our pathway. We
too walk, with sad and heavy heart, entertaining no expectation of Jesus' joining us to
lift the burden from our spirits. Do we not act at times as these disciples did, and
register surprise over a seeming ignorance on our Lord's part concerning the cause of our
disquietude? If others near us have experienced a sorrow similar to our own, and to
them the Lord has appeared in reassuring forms, are we not slow to accept their testimony,
and like these disciples, rise no higher than just being "astonished" thereby?
How many have been the occasions when we too have merited the loving rebuke: "O
fools, and slow of heart to believe!" Let us, for
our own guidance under similar circumstances, make special note of the Master's way with
these two loving, and grieving hearts. Let us recall the story of that evening hour,
filled with the sublimest of consolations for us in the time in which we now live. If
Jesus could say to one or all of the eleven who walked with Him in that day, "Have I
been so long time with you, and hast thou not known Me," we need not feel that we are
better than they. If they were "slow of heart: to believe" all the stored-up,
inspired testimony, and thereby slow to surmount a temporary trial, we more than they
are deserving of rebuke, for how much more unfolding of that inspired Word has been,
placed within our reach. The Gentleness of ChristWhen the
Apostle Paul desired to make a special appeal to brethren he wanted much to help, how
beautifully he addressed them: "Now, I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and
gentleness of Christ." (2 Cor. 10:1.) In making this appeal, surely he was
following the example set by Jesus in His way of helping these two disciples on the Emmaus
road. We should not overlook His gentleness in correcting their misconceptions, and the
method He used in doing this. How very often we hinder rather than help those who labor
under misconceptions by failing to follow the example of Jesus and Paul, "in
meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them
repentance to the acknowledgment of the truth." - 2 Tim. 2:25. And what was
the method employed by Jesus? It was that of directing attention to the real character and
work of the Messiah they looked for. They needed to have Him reconcile the humiliations
and sufferings of the cross with His ultimate power and glory; and so, spending no time in
upbraiding them for their lack of understanding, He immediately "expounded to them
in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." And while He thus unfolded,
as no one else could have done, the true meaning of prophecies concerning His prior
sufferings and His future triumphs, His words and manner cleared away the clouds of fear
and doubt, and ere long their hearts, were aflame with new hopes; and when that wonderful
sermon on Messianic prophecies had ended, it is no marvel that they said, "Did not
our heart burn within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us
the Scriptures?" (Luke 24:32.) Strange indeed, if after so blessed a walk, all too
short to them we may be sure, there had been no urgent invitation such as they expressed
in the words of our text: "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is
far spent." What a world of significance we may properly attach to the results to
them; yes, and to us when we too plead with Jesus to become our intimate companion. Their
hearts had already known the burning sense of joy an unfolding of the prophetic Word can
bring. But it was not until after they had entreated Him to "abide with us, for it
is toward evening," that it could be said, "Their eyes were opened, and they
knew Him." So it continues to be. Though we should comprehend all prophecy,
understand all mysteries, possess all knowledge, and have all faith; and have no
all-consuming yearning to have Christ completely fill our heart; there can be no real
vision of His "altogether" loveliness. Such is the knowledge of Christ we
urgently need as individuals, and truly it has been said: "The teacher with the keys
in our day, is the man who is in personal touch with reality, and who is interpreting
life in the light of a living experience of Christ." The Evening Hour Brings Matured Vision and RestChristian
life has its morning awakenings and its evening shadows, its opening invigorating
visions of ends to be gained and work to be done, and its evening retrospections and
sober stocktalking. The armor is put on with confident expectation, perhaps with a too
great self-assurance; and therefore the need of the inspired warning "Let
not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off." (1
Kings 20:11.) The first stages of Christian life are likely to be characterized by much of
impulsive up-and-doing something for the Lord; while with those who reach the evening
time of retrospection it becomes more and more habitual to confess themselves
"unprofitable servants," and in humility to look up to Christ and say,
"Nothing in my hand I bring; simply to Thy cross I cling." How easily and
unconsciously the spirit displayed in those earlier stages seems to say how much the Lord has need of us; but when the
evening hour of our day of toil draws near, a maturing saint becomes more and more humbled
with the realization of how much "mending and patchwork combined" appears in
what he has attempted to do. Yes, and how easy it is in earlier years of Christian life to
conclude that, with a general understanding of the Scriptures attained, there is really
little more to be known of God's Word. But "when grace has well refined the
heart," and the sacred pages are kept open for deeper study, all, then it is that
advancing years reveal how at best we now see through a glass darkly, and knowledge is
as yet only in part. The mature
vision brings rest, too. It brings the rest so beautifully suggested in the words:
"In quietness and confidence shall be your strength." As the fever of strife
subsides, the thoughts incline away from the arena of controversy and slip into the
restful atmosphere of the disciples' prayer, "Abide with us, for it is toward
evening, and the (lay is far spent." As the cooling dews fall on leaf and flower,
bringing refreshment after the heat of the day, so it is intended to be in God's
bestowment of the dews of heavenly grace. The Christian who learns to place his hope in
Christ alone, and whose spirit enters more and more into fellowship with Him, is the one
on whom these heavenly dews will fall; and such are they who will be found most ardently
beseeching the Lord in the words of the well known hymn:
And how will
He abide with us What will be the token of His presence with us in the closing hours of
life? His ways are unlimited. In many ways His spirit may bear witness with ours, and
assure us of His abiding presence with us. But the dew will fall to earth only when all is
still. So it is with the peace of Christ. We must learn to say. "Return unto thy
rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee," and then to be quiet
and rest in His love. "I Will Manifest Myself to Him"That Jesus
meant us to understand that His presence with us would be much more than a theoretical
thing, is evident from His clearly stated promise: "I will love him, and will
manifest Myself to him." (John 14:21.) He, wants us to believe that when we entreat
Him to "abide with us," He will surely thus come to abide, and in so doing give
us those experimental assurances of the reality of His presence. What vain worship we
offer Him when praying, "Lord Jesus, make Thyself to me a living bright
reality," if there be no faith in the possibility of such a "bright
reality" within the practical realm of experience. It were but mockery to plead,
"No tender voice like Thine can peace afford," if there be no "yea and
amen" promise on which to firmly believe that that voice may be heard speaking peace. And so through His
Word, by His spirit bearing witness with ours, He does truly come to abide with us. We may
here consider but a few among the various ways in which we may know that He so abides. When the
thought of His wonderful love for us and the degree of His sufferings- on our behalf
comes with power to our hearts, causing them to "burn within us" with gratitude,
then we may know that He is near. When "the Scriptures concerning Himself" and
His sacrificial love for a sinner race are made to speak clearly to our hearts, He is
near, and manifesting Himself to us. When the wounds and stripes He bore for us seem to
conic before the vision with a freshness that leaves us saying, "My Lord and my
God," we can know we are within the circle of His abiding presence. And if He is
really and certainly abiding with us, we shall know 'it' by a sense of oneness with Him,
in delight in the Father's will. His presence in our hearts will give us more and more of
the joy that was-His in drinking the cup poured for His lips; and then we can affirm of a
truth, "Gladly will I toil and suffer, only let me walk with Thee." When we
contemplate His spirit of devotion, which flowed so deep that just to be reinstated in
His former glory was all He asked; and contemplating such sublime dedication, such
unselfish devotion, such delight in the will of God, we are drawn Into a nearness to Him
that makes it true for us to say, "Just to be there and to look on His face, that
will be glory for me,"-we have a sure evidence that we are walking in sweet
companionship with Jesus. When "God first in all our thoughts" characterizes our
present and future outlook, and the privilege of abiding in His presence is the acme of
our joy, it will be ours to know that the companion who walks with us, opening up the Word
concerning Himself to us, has indeed accepted our fervent invitation: "Abide with us,
for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent." Moreover,
when we experience a special joy in meditating on the walk of Him who "went about
doing good," and the boundaries of our sympathy grow wider, and it becomes more and
more habitual to be "moved with compassion" toward suffering humanity; it
betokens fellowship with Jesus. When we can gladly think of other hands besides our own
holding cups of cold water to the lips of some who suffer, and think with pleasure of
others casting out devils though they follow not with us, and find ourselves thanking God
from the depths of our heart that the Jericho roads of today have their tender-hearted
Samaritans, and "publicans and sinners" still have those who remind them of the
loving Jesus of Galilee; ah, then, He has been abiding with us and imparting His
benevolent spirit to us. When we find
an increasing joy filling our hearts as we ponder over the possibilities of His
indwelling power, and experience a consuming desire to approximate all that divine love
and grace makes thus possible to its, it is the spirit's witness of our abiding in Christ.
If the eyes of our understanding are being opened still more to the verities of that
life that the branches may receive from the Father's Vine, and being opened to a clearer
comprehension of all the inflow of eternal life promised to those who feed on Christ,
the Bread from heaven, this, too, gives evidence that Jesus has harkened to our prayer,
and that He has come in to abide with us. When we meditate on the holiness of His
character, and find ourselves being made better by such contemplation, developing a
greater admiration for the lofty aims He sets before us and captivated increasingly with
the hope He imparts to us of likeness to Himself; we will then know that in these very
things we have the evidence of His presence with us. By such ways Jesus will reveal that
where there is this longing for His indwelling in the heart, it must follow that He will
manifest Himself. The reality of the rich blessing He imparts will testify to the
fulfillment of His promise to come in and sup with us, and we with Him. And now with
the coming of lengthened shadows, by which we may certainly conclude that our day is far
spent, and that ere long the Church will he completed, what greater joys ought we to covet
than these several evidences that Jesus has indeed been abiding with us? Important it is
that we have the proof written into our experience that we have not received His favor in
vain. And all that God intends shall constitute this witness of His spirit with our
spirit, may be ours. But however much we may have known of His presence all along the way,
as evening shadows grow deeper it should increase the fervency of our entreaty, as with
His two companions of the Emmaus road we urge Him to abide with us, since the day is so
far spent. Who but
Jesus can so wonderfully help us to improve our remaining days? Where can we be so safe in
these perilous times, where kept as quiet in spirit and confident in God's faithful
overruling, as in the close fellowship of Jesus? In - the natural law, the evening has
such marked mellowing effect. The harsh discordant sounds that fill the air during the
busy hours of day gradually diminish as evening advances, until stillness settles down
over all. So should we find it in the closing moments of our little life day. And where
can we find the peaceful influences of a spiritual eventide except it be in an ever
increasing sense of nearness to Him who is our peace, and who imparts to us His own
sweet peace? How greatly
we need this intimate walk with Jesus. We need it in order that all the harshness of our
natures may be displaced by the gentleness of Christ. We need it in order that the mind of
Christ shall be ours also, and all our emptied nature filled with His fullness. We need
to walk with Him, that for us, as for those two earlier disciples, He may correct all our
misconceptions of Himself, and by such corrections open our eyes, as He did theirs, so
that "they knew Him." Shall we
not, then rejoice His heart now with the same request that drew Him into the abode of
these two brethren long ago? "The night cometh wherein no man can work." On the
one hand we have the powers of darkness making special effort to cause us to be
castaways, and on the other, the glorious possibility of soon being gathered home in
heaven. Beth of these things should increase our desire for the Lord's very intimate
abiding with us. Both will surely lead us to pray with the sincerest of faith and love,
"Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent." If He thus
continues to abide with us, what maturing He will do in our characters. Evil passions
will die away. A clearer knowledge of the great principles of righteousness will be
imparted to us. He will give us a larger spirit of generosity toward all men, and
increase the warmth of our love toward all His children. And He who so loved the outcasts
will by His indwelling compassion make us sharers with Himself in pity for the sunken and
degraded. He will lift us above ourselves, for His love shed abroad in our hearts will
cause us to love according to the pattern of His own all embracing love. Thus in these
closing hours, in these times when "to be living is sublime," there shall come
to us the :award assurance that He has indeed been pleased to "abide with us,"
and that ere long it will be His time for inviting us to enter the abode He has prepared
for us, that where He is we may be also, forever; Prepare us, dear Savior, for that
consummation, that We may gladden Thine heart by abiding with Thee there, as Thou hast
rejoiced us by coming in to abide with us here! -
Contributed Blue Spectacles"My grace is sufficient for
thee." - 2 Cor. 12:9. THE SKY was
blue. So was the sea. But the grass also was blue; the trees wore the same cast of color;
and even the flowers had a bluish tinge. In fact, it was a blue world. And the secret of
the matter simply was that the person who beheld all things as they appeared to be was
wearing blue spectacles. And that is what made all the difference in the color of
surrounding objects. It is
interesting to note that some of the great men who have lived in past times have worn blue
spectacles. Elijah had them on after he received Jezebel's message. For the queen
threatened his life. So he went a day's journey out into the wilderness and sat down
under a juniper tree, and prayed for death. He said, "It is enough; now, O Lord, take
away my life; for I am not better than my fathers." Elisha's
servant had on this kind of spectacles when he felt sure of impending destruction at the
hands of the enemy. But Elisha said to him, "Fear not, for they that be with us are
more than they that be with them." And the prophet prayed and said, "Lord, open
-his eyes that he may see." And then he beheld the wonderful spectacle of a mighty
host of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. So Solomon
would seem to have had on blue eye-glasses when he said, "All things are full of
labor; man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with
hearing. . . I have seen all works that are done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity
and vexation of spirit. That which is crooked cannot be made straight; and that which is
wanting cannot be numbered... . In much wisdom is much grief, and he that increaseth
knowledge increaseth sorrow." John the
Baptist may have had them on when he sent a message to Jesus, saying, "Art thou He
who should come, or look we for another?" In answering to this query, our Lord
reminded John of the mighty works that had been done, and no doubt John's heart was
cheered by these words, and the blue spectacles were taken off. There are
those who believe in God and yet who do not always stand on the mountain tops. At times
they go down into the valleys. Some of us may be of that number. Jesus Himself is said to
have been "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." It may be that one's
physical condition has something to do with this. Our Lord was constantly pouring out
His vitality in His service of suffering humanity. No doubt, therefore, at times He felt
physical depression. When the body goes clown, the mind is not likely to feel so buoyant.
Yet this may not be a sign that any sin has been committed. It just serves to show that
we are all human and in the flesh. In the case of the Master it showed that He could be
"touched with the feeling of our infirmities, yet without sin." If we are
feeling "down," it may be merely that we have on blue spectacles, and if so it
becomes a matter simply of taking them off. A few cheerful words that come from a good
friend will sometimes do this for us. Or some great radiant promise from the divine Word
may loom up to bring us the sunshine that we need. The mind of the Christian -- the new
mind -- is a wonderful thing, and it has immense capacity to arise out of any slough of
despondency. So it puts on the right kind of spectacles, and then it can sing
Our blue
spectacles are gone, and the light and the glory of God have come in to abide with us. - Contributed. Encouraging LettersDear
Brethren: Very loving
greetings from us all. We are
writing to you at this season of the year as representatives of any others across the
water whom w: know, and ask you please to convey our continued Christian love and
prayers for them. This letter has been delayed because of the difficulties of
correspondence at this time, which are unavoidable. We know that
your thoughts will be with us, and that you will find it difficult to imagine the
conditions just a we find them. It is also not easy for us to write freely, as we have no
wish to write anything which the censor might not think suitable. However, there is not
much except as you will have had published in your own papers. Living as we do so near
to Coventry, we have probably witnessed one of the worst happenings of all, for the size
and concentration of the area. For eleven hours we could only wait and pray, until
morning. One of our windows was blown in by a land-mine on the outskirts here, but
actually we as a town have suffered no damage worth mentioning. One Sunday afternoon in
broad daylight a "Jerry" sailed past our meeting-room window with the shells
bursting around it, and dropped bombs at the works, missing the buildings, and only
breaking the glass of the windows. It is only
twelve months since we contacted a fine new class at Coventry, and there was a good spirit
between us. Now their room is gone and they are scattered. Truly we see the force of the words "Work, for the
nigh: cometh." In the Lord's providence, so far as we can find out, the brethren
themselves are safe, but the casualties are of course tremendous. One thing is not
exaggerated, and that is the patience and cheerfulness of the ordinary people. It is
something at which I marvel, considering the fact that many have no hope for the future,
as we have. Even the little children, after a night of sirens, ceaseless droning of the
planes overhead, guns and bombs, go to school in the morning singing "Roll out
the Barrel," or excitedly discussing the night's happenings, and comparing notes. I
suppose we all get used to these things as part of our daily life. P---------- attends his
evening classes, but spends a good part of the time in the shelters, which is not
conducive to learning. However, he is doing very well, and in spite of long hours and bad
conditions, keeps very fit. One fortnight of the month he works twelve hours at night. He
was working the night of the great bombardment, and naturally we wondered if the works had
been a target. We find the flesh is naturally weak at times, but thank God, we have a
faith which can lift us above it all, and that it is not a selfish satisfaction for our
own salvation, but a hope for the whole of the poor "groaning creation." We understand the Bible Students
Committee headquarters are to evacuate somewhere into the L-----district, but have not
heard of their final arrangements yet. I believe they have had a rough time, but on
every hand the testimonies are to the wonderful deliverance of those who put their trust
in God. It is a thing about which we often talk. We know the Lord can deliver us out of
every trial. But is it necessarily His will? Our faith goes beyond mere fleshly
deliverance, and so we can have peace and rest. This was P 's testimony at one of our
meetings some months ago. The
ninety-first Psalm takes on a very real shape just now. A more literal fulfillment of the
"terror by night" cannot be imagined, and several of the other things mentioned
could easily become literal at any time. We hope this
letter reaches you safely, dear brethren, as it is good to make the link, if not very
frequent, and to assure you that whatever the future holds, the spirit of the Lord is one,
and our faith is one, and that nothing can "separate us from the love of God which is
in Christ Jesus our Lord." It is time
to make the round of "black-out" now. Strange that evil is always connected with
darkness. We never were so glad to see God's daylight as we are these mornings, and to
thank Him for another safe keeping. God bless
you, and all those of like precious faith on your side. With our
united love, Brother and Sister C. - Eng. Dear
Brethren: Loving
greetings in Him we love. A few lines at this time which we hope will find you and your
dear ones are keeping quite well and trust quite safe-not in war area. Pleased to state we
are quite well at present and so far safe in the raids which have been this way -- which
have not been in O---------- itself, but three to four miles and further away from town.
Our dear brethren in London, Birmingham, Coventry, etc., and in other lands have suffered
very much in their homes -- restless nights, etc., but our heavenly Father
knoweth the need of His people; He will not
fail but has promised to be with us always -- our guide unto the end; never leave nor
forsake us. - Heb. 13:5; Psa. 48:14; 2 Cor. 1:20. We are still
having a busy time with evacuee and later months we have been obliged to cancel the
meetings in our home, owing to beds in the sitting-room for a crippled sister-in-law and
her daughter. The sister-in-law had to be carried about until a chair was fixed with some
wheels. Such being the case, we brethren have our fellowship and meditation with Him and
each other in our correspondence together, also perusing the book of Hebrews (in lieu of
studying together). Do trust you
are still having some beneficial times with those of like precious truth, being further
nourished and comforted of His Word. Wonder how Brother C- L is these days. D., you know?
He with other dear ones in foreign lands may especially need our prayers. Praying that you
and other dear ones, with all who love the truth of His Word, may be richly blessed all
the days. - Isa. 41:10; 40:31; 26:3. Fond Christian
love, yours by His grace, Brother
and Sister E. G. P. - Eng. Dear Brothers: Greetings in
the Lord's name. I wish to
thank you for sending the Herald to me for the
past year and wish to ask you to send it next year if you have a free copy each month, as
I am an aged pilgrim of seventy-six years, and having been in the Truth as it is in
Christ Jesus since 1913, when Pastor Russell came over here, I can assure you that the
good news in the Herald has assisted me to
keep in the Truth as taught by the Pastor ever since. And realizing that only those who
endure to the end obtain the crown, I wish to do so, and am by God's grace shaping my
course to that end. I used to worship at Forest Gate, but cannot get there very often now,
so am isolated now, and have to rely on our Bible and God, but am resting assured that
while I do my part, the Father will do His. In drawing to
a close I wish to thank you for the Herald in
the past, and daily pray the Father's blessing on your labor of love, in providing the
explained Truth for all willing to accept it. I always pass my copy on to another brother
or leave it in a public vehicle. Farewell now,
and may the Father bless and keep you all in your labor of love for the brethren. Yours in His
service, S. W.
N. - Eng. Dear Brethren: We were very
glad to hear from you and to receive your good wishes, and to know that you dear ones in
America are remembering us and all the other brethren in this country. It is a great
encouragement to realize how strong is the tie that binds us all together, whose hopes and
aims are one. We have very direct evidences of our loving heavenly Father's protecting
care over us, and although several brethren have been bombed out of their homes, very,
very few have been even slightly injured. One sister, who had a weak heart, died from
shock as the result of a bomb falling close by, but that is the only death I have heard of
amongst the brethren. The people of London are facing the terrible raids with a marvelous
spirit, and when we go up to London, as we frequently do, we just carry on normally, for
the day raids have ceased. So far, our food rations have been ample, and we have been able
to get plenty of fruit and vegetables, and we have felt no food shortage at all, although
in certain districts there may have been a temporary shortage of certain things, which
has ceased after a little while. Brother S 's firm evacuated us down
here last July, and as we have two of the office staff
billeted with us, we have not so much privacy, and we miss having a spare bedroom, but we
are all very happy and comfortable. He is exceedingly busy and has to travel to the
Midlands a good deal, but we are fairly conveniently situated so that traveling
conditions, although trying, might be very much worse. We take the opportunity, when
possible, of visiting the brethren in various parts and are much encouraged by their
calmness and assurance of faith. What a wonderfully favored people we are to have the
knowledge of our Father's plans and purposes and to realize that in a very short time
His kingdom of righteousness and peace will be
set up and selfishness and greed done away with. How the poor tired world needs God's
blessings which He so longs to bestow upon them, for we
know that as surely as the trouble has come which He foretold in His Word, so surely
will the blessings to all mankind follow when every man will love his neighbor as himself
and praise and own God as High rightful Lord. Please give
our warm Christian love to all the dear ones in America who may know us, and ask their
prayers on our behalf that we may remain faithful to the end and finally receive our
heart's desire beyond the veil. With every
good wish from us both for the coming days and warm love in our dear Master's name. D.
G. S. - Eng. Dear
Friends: I have been
receiving the Herald, and it surely has helped
me to open up my eyes. I have
suffered my home to be broken up over the --------------- and now I can see why. I sent some
of your papers up North to my mother. Her home was about to be broken up. I received word
today that my stepfather likes the literature you put out and has dropped the other. And
how glad my mother is that her home will still be together. May the Lord
be with you always. I am not
able to work and would like to have the Herald sent
to me for a year. I have received the pamphlets Has
Judgment Day Begun? and thanks for them; I am putting them out. Yours in the
Lord's service, M. R. -- Wis. -------------------------------- [This is one of many letters
indicating that the time is ripe for a witness to those who have been victims of a recent
bondage. Ed. Com.] "Grace" at Table for ChildrenThe
following are a few suggestions, gathered from various sources, for "grace" at
the table to be said by little children: "Dear
Father in heaven, we thank Thee for this food, and for this day, and for all Thy
blessings, in Jesus' name. Amen."
Amen. - Phila Butler Bowman. "Father,
we thank Thee for the night, And for the pleasant morning light; For rest and food and
loving, care, And all. that makes the day so fair. Help us to do the things we should, To
be to others kind and good; In all we do and all we say, To grow more like Thee every day.
Amen."
"We
thank Thee, Lord, for this our food, For life and health and every good. Make us remember
others' need, And so, through us, the hungry feed. Amen." "Be
with me, Lord, as here I pray, And keep me by Thy side today. Please make me gentle, pure,
and true And kind in all I say and do, Honest in every word and deed, And quick to help
when others need. Amen." "For
all these gifts, O Lord, make us truly thankful. Amen."
"For our bodies, quick
and strong, Thee to serve the whole day long; For the power to think. and know For the
will like Thee to grow, For the food by which we live, Father, thanks to Thee we give.
Amen." |
