MINI-DESPATCH. March 3, 2001
From W. B. Howard ...Editor of Despatch Magazine
.

PART ONE OF “OPEN THOU MINE EYES”

PART TWO OF “OPEN THOU MINE EYES” sent February 5, 2001.
 

It is most important to use a King James Version Bible, it is trustworthy, it is the Word of God in English in your hand. The greatest attacks on the Lord God and His Truth are coming today from those who want other “bibles” to replace the God-breathed Word of the Lord. Be content with your KJV ask the Holy Spirit to open it to you. Read it, study it, trust it, obey it, receive light and life from the Lord through its pages - and be thankful.
When seeking to win people for Christ always read to them from the Scriptures. Never rely on your own explanations about the Gospel. Hold your  Bible close to them so they can read the words for themselves, it is doubly beneficial if God’s Word enters the eyes as well as the ears. Use one verse repeated a few times so that it will burn in their memories, coming back after you have left them. Let the Holy Spirit choose the verse for you to give to each soul, He will bring to mind what would be the most suitable for each particular case. For example, someone says, “I might accept Jesus Christ as Saviour one day, but not now. I want to have fun, I am too young to be a Christian yet.” Tell them earnestly and seriously that tomorrow may be too late, there may be NO opportunity to be saved later! Read to them from the Bible two or three times, and get them to read along with you:
“…NOW is the accepted time; behold, NOW is the day of salvation” ( 11 Corinthians 6:2b). God will cause this to reImages in the mind, a living Word they cannot forget.

A QUOTE ABOUT NEW “BIBLE” VERSIONS.
There were a number of KJV editions in reformation times. These were NOT due to correcting errors in doctrine, mis-translations of Greek or Hebrew words and so on. These editions were to bring uniform spelling in English through the whole Bible, and to change printing problems. There was no “correct” way to spell in the 1611 era, and the printing presses were also very primitive. For example: Scripture might have been spelt “scripture” in some places of the KJV and in others “scrypture.” Some words could have faded out badly and needed to be replaced in bolder type. This quote from the book mentioned above, p.p171-172, gives dire warning to the Body of Christ today:
“At this juncture it is imperative for the Bible believer to discern Satan’s strategy through this myth of multiplied revisions [of the Old and New Testaments]. His sole objective has been to plant the subliminal suggestion that the various King James editions are to be associated with the modern English translations, though they [are]predicated upon
an entirely different Greek text!  People like the Thomas Nelson Pub. Com. Would lead you to believe that the genuine updating and revisions God allowed from men who were faithful to the intentions of the original translators has justified replacing the underlying Greek text with the corrupt readings of Alexandria [Westcott and Hort]. “

CAN WE TRUST THE KJV WE HAVE IN OUR HANDS?
We certainly can! Has it been changed many times as foolish critics claim? No, let this assurance answer all your queries about this:
“That the true text of the Authorized Version 1611 had reImagesed unaffected throughout these corrective stages was confirmed in a special report to the “Board of Managers” of the American Bible Society in 1852. The official findings of this committee of seven, chaired by Dr. James W. McLane, were as follows:
‘The English Bible as left by the translators has come down to us unaltered in respect to its text…With the exception of typographical errors and changes required by the progress of orthography in the English language, the text of our present Bibles reImagess unchanged, and without variations from the original copy as left by the translators.”
(Report of the Committee on Versions to the Board of Managers of the American Bible Society, chairman Rev. James W. McLane (New York:n.p. 1852).

THE EARTH, A PLACE WITH EVIL AND DEATH!
As I read and re-read information on the First Cause, with its emphasis on God being the Cause of All things, one thought struck me which could not, at first, be satisfied. This is that death, suffering, sin and evil exist, yet God is not the First Cause of those dread-filled realities. Yet, exist they do! It is simplistic to go into the description of what the Bible tells us about the entrance of evil, sin and death into the world, as we read in the book of Genesis and other parts of the Bible. Yes, we know that Satan brought about all these awful things, and sin entered the world  by Adam’s sin as the federal head of the human race (Genesis 3; Romans 5:12 etc).  But, this does not account for the existence of these realities as caused phenomena? Satan was created by God, Adam was created by God, so He was the First Cause of them and their sin and evil? I can hear the scream going up! No, you say indignantly, of course God is not the first cause of sin, death and evil, even if He did create Satan and Adam in the first place. We know this must be so, yet where did evil and all that comes from evil originate if God was not the First Cause of them?

The Bible tells us over and again that God is Light and evil is darkness. Darkness is merely the absence of light, it is not a reality of its own. I can see shadows on the trees outside my window as I write, this is because the light from the sun has been blocked. I turn off the light in my room at night, there is no sun outside so my room is relatively dark, although the moon gives a reduced lighting to our planet. On a moonless night the darkness can be quite intense. Could this explain why the Bible calls evil “darkness?” Evil is the absence of something, it is the absence of GOD as the First Cause, an absence of Light. Here is a Bible verse which tells us that there is no “darkness” in God:
“This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” ( 1 John 1 :5).

We believers in Christ have come back from “darkness” unto God and His Light. We have been given many truths about this by our Creator God which are intriguing. Here are just a few:
“The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.” ( Matthew 4:16).
“Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,  To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” ( Luke 1: 78,79).
“In him [Jesus Christ] was life; and the life was the light of men.
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” ( John 1:4,5).
“And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.” ( John 3:19,20).
“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
(11Corinthians 4:6).

There are so many Bible quotes about light and darkness that I could not include them all here, it would take up too much space! But why did the First Cause, our God, allow such a possibility as horrible as evil, sin and death to be present in creation at all? As First Cause couldn’t He have made a cosmos where no evil could ever exist? Why, if evil is the absence of God as Light, why couldn’t God have made it impossible for that absence to occur? Here we enter the amazing realm of “Free-Will.”

The Lord God did not want robots which operate with the turn of a key! He wanted men and women who freely choose to live, fellowship with and serve Him. If there was no way of turning away from Him, there could be no way of living by free-will. If there is free-will to choose to turn from God this means that  “darkness” as the absence of light can enter - EVIL then exists! What a tragedy that our own world lies in darkness predominately!
“And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.”
(1 John 5:19).
“In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” ( 11 Corinthians 4:4).

Evil and sin are not an illusion, however as some philosophers say. Sin originated with Satan, after he rebelled against God, and then sin entered mankind through Satan. Through man’s sin the whole of nature here on this earth was affected! The “darkness” of sin, death and evil has gathered momentum, has permeated creation since Satan’s rebellion began it all. There is a substance which is mysterious about evil. All around us we see the results of the fall in Eden and the reality of that which possibly began as a negative, an effect which did not originate with the First Cause. As Ruskin puts it: “no good nor lovely thing exists in this world, without its corresponding darkness.” Even fragrant roses, dewy on the bush, have their thorns!

LEAVENING THE LUMP!
Another symbol for sin in the Bible is “leaven.” ( Leviticus 2:11).
This gives to us an idea how the “negative” known as “evil and sin”, an absence of God, can ferment and  alter everything it effects. A bowl of flour, oil, salt and water stirred together reImagess a flat  mixture - until a mere spoonful of yeast is added. Then the fermentation process occurs and all is, really, in upheaval. A break-down occurs which changes entirely the whole bowl of ingredients. It rises, grows and foams. So, too, did sin and evil “create” an entirely different natural world than the one God intended.

The FACT of evil is heard “in the minor key of nature.” The cry of pain in the small child, the scream of the captured mouse in the mouth of the eagle, the terrified bark of a dog, the howl of a killer cyclone, the wail of a dying antelope under the claws of a leopard, the moaning of the grey sea - all bear witness to the minor key of nature.

“Disproportioned sin
Jarred against Nature’s chime, and with hoarse din
Brake the fair music that all creatures made
To their great Lord, whose love their motion swayed.”
(Bancroft).

WHAT HAVE WE DISCOVERED?
We can see that our God is beyond time and space, infinite with unbounded power.
He has made everything come into existence with a purpose of its own. God allowed for Free-Will, and evil entered although not directly created by the Lord God, the First Cause. He has given us a miraculous book to open our eyes, instruct us and show us what happening in the past, what is occurring now and in the future and what we should do with our lives. He has sent the Light into the world, Jesus Christ, to bring us into Truth and Life. Praise God, we who are saved are in God’s Light which is the emission of the First Cause.

SANCTIFICATION IS WALKING IN THE LIGHT.
When we look at 1 John chapter one we see that we are saved by faith but we must also walk by faith. It is one thing to be born-again, but another thing to walk every day in God’s light. If we want to have fellowship with God we must “walk in the light, as he is in the light”:
“But if we say we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:” (1 John 1:6).

Beauty for Ashes has dealt with many aspects of this “walking in the light” since the first issue. This time  we will look at the Lord Jesus filling us with the Holy Spirit, and bringing “light” to the darkness of the world - through us. Can we fall into error by spending so much time on our own holiness that we neglect those who “sit in darkness” and despair all around us? We certainly can, and our personal holiness and fullness of the Holy Spirit must issue out in concern and action on behalf of lost souls - or it is shown to be spurious in some way! God has not called us to spiritual navel-gazing, to selfish contemplation,  but to the laying down of our lives in sacrifice for others. We are lamps given by God to show light in the darkness of this godless world. A lamp is no good hidden in a cupboard, it has a function, it is made with a purpose. We might have personal peace and joy in fellowship with God and be filled with His Spirit of light, well and good, but we are also lamps in the darkness, we have a purpose in this darkness. People filled with God’s Spirit must have POWER from Him to win souls by bringing spiritual Light to those in darkness. We are candles to show the Way:
“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” ( Matthew 5:14-16).

“Jesus bids us shine with a pure, clear light,
  Like a little candle burning in the night,
In this world of darkness so let us shine,
 You in your small corner and I in mine.”
(Sunday School song).

THE PLACE OF THE SCRIPTURES OF GOD IN SOUL WINNING.
Many sincere and concerned Christians have hardly ever won anyone to Christ as Saviour! Some have never personally led a soul to trust in Jesus’ death on Calvary as their only way to be saved! This is a great loss to the believer, as well as those whom God could have used them to witness to. And yet the reasons why this is so can be easily seen, and simply overcome. There are a number of reasons why true believers don’t have the privilege of leading someone to Christ as Saviour, even though they might want to. I can see these reasons:
1. The believer feels that they are not really called to be “an evangelist.” To be a full-time evangelist is of course a “calling” but ALL Christians who are saved are called to be part of the Great Commission, see Mark 16:15 etc. This is not just a call to the disciples of early days, no one would be working to save souls if it were. You and I are called to the Great Commission.

2. The believer does not have a fervent love for souls, and honestly does not have any great desire to win them. This is true in their heart of hearts, although they pray vaguely for the lost, but with little urgency or zeal in their words. The place to start for them is to pray earnestly that God will give them a hunger to win souls, and open their own eyes to the unspeakable horrors of hell which await the unsaved! If you are in this category go to a computer Bible concordance or book and look up all the references to hell and the lost. This will shake you out of your selfish sluggishness! Then begin to pray for a love for lost souls with all your heart.

3. The believer often relies on their own power to seek to win people to Christ as Saviour. They explain the Gospel movingly, use a lot of entreaty and sensitivity, but there is no power in them to actually bring a soul through from death to life. The answer to this is that the only One Who can give Life is the Holy Spirit of God. We must be filled to overflowing with the Spirit of God, nothing else can bring about power to win souls. See Acts 1:8. The early disciples could not go out into the world to win souls until they had power from on high. Yes, if we are born-again we have the Holy Spirit within, but we need the fullness of the Spirit if we are to bring Life to others:
“Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;”
(Ephesians 5:16-18).

4. The believer fails to win souls because he/she never really goes “fishing.” We have a little tinny we want to use to catch fish in Pumice-stone Passage. We have been fishing twice, we have caught nothing yet. We have to learn more about this, where to go exactly (we have learnt that the sand bars near Bribie Island are the best places); what bait should we use; what times of day are best and so on. We are not experienced fishermen, yet. I can dream away at home on my lounge chair about catching fish, and want to, but if I never actually get in the boat and fish I will catch nothing! There are unsaved “fish” all around you, beloved of God, you have to fish, and learn by experience how to do it. Personal evangelism is a wonderful privilege. Trust God that He will lead you to ripe fruit (mixed metaphor, sorry about that.) Expect to lead that fruit right through to praying and accepting the Saviour, don’t be content to just tell them about Jesus. The devil will try to convince you that you shouldn’t fish for souls, don’t let him tell you that. He will say that, of course,  you won’t catch a thing! Ignore that lie! Watch and be alert for God’s opportunities, they are there every day. YOU will catch souls for Christ!

I was at a market in a small country town near here two days ago (when I wrote this). I was seeking “ripe fruit” and praying silently and urgently. There was a young woman kneeling down rummaging through a box of books at the second-hand book stall. She asked the stall man for more of the same. I noticed they were all religious or “Christian” books. So I said to the woman, “I see you have Christian books there, are you a Christian?” She looked up with a blush and replied, “Um-um, oh, yes-um -yes.” I said, “then you know Jesus Christ?” She looked confused and said, “Oh- I guess so- um-yeh.” She obviously hadn’t the slightest idea what I meant or what to say back. So I shared the Gospel with her, quoting freely from God’s Word. When I told her God would forgive her wrong-doing her eyes filled up! In fact her eyes  never left mine the whole time. I gave the lady my card and pray she will ring me. If I had had my usual Gospel tracts with me it would been a better encounter. I had taken them out of my purse as they had been battered by my change-filled wallet!

Be aware of how you can bring up conversations which will lead to sharing the Gospel. Most people, if you are sensitive and controlled by the Holy Spirit, will welcome your witness, many will respond and be saved if we are empowered by the Holy Spirit! Amen and Amen!
“Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing.
But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.
Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No.
And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.
Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt [his] fisher's coat [unto him], (for he was naked) and did cast himself into the sea.
And the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits) dragging the net with fishes.
As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread.
Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught.
Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.” ( John 21:3-11).

Have I, myself, brought many people to Christ and seen them saved? Just a few by personal witness in the past. We reach many souls on Internet! I have been deeply stirred in my spirit for some months now about hell and the lost around me. I have been crying out to the Lord to make me a powerful soul winner, day and night in the last few weeks. Time is short, the Rapture could be close, the New World Order is all ready to move rapidly into control mode - and I have no one to offer for soul winning but myself! Other than our Internet Website, I didn’t know how to “get to” people! It has all come so clear to me, there are opportunities everywhere in my life for winning people, I have not understood! I now know “how” to do this, and have stepped out in faith. I expect God to honour my complete surrender to be used as a soul winner. I could tell you of other recent encounters with people, but space does not permit. I am wanting to speak verbally, not just write on computer, to at least one unsaved person and give them the Gospel every day, and lead as many to Christ as I can before it is too late. Praise God!
[ I have returned to this sentence as I am re-writing. I wanted to cut it out, as I have not spoken to someone every day, as I said I would. I did at first, and found I had led myself into a bondage. Some days I have just been writing, and saw no one. Some days I have had other duties, and no opportunities came at all. No, I will seek to be bold and speak, but as God gives the openings. I will leave the sentence in as it could help the reader).

THE WORD OF GOD IS SPIRITUAL POWER!
The most impressive and complete of all the names given to the Bible is “The Word of God!” Have a look at Mark 7:12,13; Romans 10:17; Hebrews 4:12 and 1 Thessalonians 2:13. The Scriptures contain many amazing SYMBOLS of the Mighty Book which is the Word of God, here are just some of them:

1. The Bible REVEALS what we really are. The symbol of this is a MIRROR. James 1:23-25.
2. The Bible is able to generate Life, just as a seed of a plant has life in it. This is the symbol of the SEED. We must “plant” the seed in the soil of people’s hearts. Read James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:23 and see as well Matthew 13.
3. The Word of God has the power to cleanse and purify the sinner. This is illustrated in the symbol of the LAVER and WATER. Ephesians 5:25-27; John 15:3; Psalm 119:5,11 and John 17:17.
4. The Bible gives Light, it illuminates and guides out of the darkness. This is the Biblical symbol of the LAMP and CANDLE. Psalm 119:105.
5. When we operate in the world we find many spiritual and earthy enemies will attack us. We need equipment and weapons for the battle. The Word of God provides what is needed for the work of saving souls and living through the warfare of just living on earth. This is symbolized by the SWORD and HAMMER. Jeremiah 23:29.
6. We go into the world to serve the Sovereign Lord, the power of the Word we use is an adornment of the Royal One we honour. This is symbolized by GOLD and FINE APPAREL. Psalm 19:10; 1 Peter 3:3-5.
7. Nowhere else but in the Word of God can spiritually starving people find nourishment, satisfaction and power to hold them up and sustain them. This is symbolized by MILK, MEAT, BREAD and HONEY. 1 Peter 2:2; 1 Corinthians 3:1,2; Matthew 4:4; Job 23:12; John 6:35,51; Hebrews 5:12-14; Psalm 19:10.

How imperative it is that we use the Word of God as we seek to win people for Christ Jesus, nothing else will work the works of God. Not good intentions, clever debate, argument, brilliant intellect or education. To win souls we have to have a good working knowledge of God’s Word so that we can quote it or read it to those who are lost.

DIVINE REVELATION.
The Bible is much more than a fine religious book which presents the Truth.  It is a DIVINE revelation. The First Cause, the Maker of limitless space, unbounded time, limitless power, has communicated with His human creation through His Word. Humans are the only ones who were made in the image of God, even the angels were not made in God’s image. Both male and female made He in the image of the Divine Trinity. (Genesis 1:26). Man lost that image, as we see in Genesis 5:3. But Jesus Christ gives us back that image, see 11 Corinthians 3:18. Why should anyone be surprised that the Creator would communicate directly to the human race by a written Word?

A Divine Revelation was of top necessity for this fallen world. Nature gives us such awareness of the fact that there must be a Creator, and true science tells us much about what this Creator is like. But nature can’t throw any light upon the essential issues we need to come to grips with and understand. Such as the Atonement, the Trinity, mercy and pardon, life after death, the fate of the world, why we are here etc, etc. It was necessary that the Lord God communicate with us through the written Word, we had to know the Truth. Our natural, human observations and abilities could never have shown us the Truth, we had to have a Divine Revelation. This is why those who search and struggle, educate themselves and delve into many sciences and philosophies, can never know Truth unless they submit to the Divine Revelation. What wasted lives they live. They become “fools” as God puts it (Romans 1:22).  There is absolute certainty that the Bible is indeed the Divine Revelation of the First Cause, our Creator! How can this be? Get a good grasp of this thrilling truth :
 GOD HAS CERTIFIED HIS BOOK!

TWO-FOLD PROOF AND CERTIFICATION.
1. By the verification of miracles - Certification.
Jesus Christ, as recorded in the Bible, wrought many miracles. The Holy Spirit, as recorded in the Bible, brought forth many miracles through the agency of the apostles and disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.  A miracle “recognizes the immanence of God and His immediate agency in nature…” What then is a miracle?

“A miracle is an event in nature, so extraordinary in itself and so coinciding with the prophecy or command of the divinely commissioned teacher or leader, as fully to warrant conviction, on the part of those who witness it, that God has wrought it with the design of certifying that this teacher or leader has been commissioned by Him.”
( “Christian Theology” by Emery Bancroft. D.D. Pub. Zondervan Publishing House. p. 17).

These miracles are called in the Bible terata  “wonders” and semela “signs” - Acts 2:22; John 4:48. Also stated to be dunamela “powers” and erge “works” - Matthew 7:22; John 14:11.

2. The verification of Prophecy - Certification.
        What is prophecy as seen in the Bible pages?
        “Prophecy is the foretelling of future events by virtue of direct communication from God - a foretelling, therefore, which, though not contravening any laws of the human mind, those laws, if fully known, would not, without the agency of God, be sufficient to explain. Or, prophecy is the communication by God to man of a knowledge of events still future, which otherwise he could not have discovered.”
(ibid. p. 21).

The Bible is filled with prophecy which has been perfectly fulfilled already, 100% of the time. It is filled with prophecy for the future days which also will be fulfilled 100%. No mere man or men could have presented such predictions without the Almighty God having given inspiration.

THE MOST REMARKABLE CHALLENGE PRESENTED IN SCRIPTURE.
This Mighty God Who inhabits limitless space and lives in everlasting time has given a challenge to those who dare to seek to “prophesy” without His authority and inspiration. In Isaiah 41:21-23 we have this challenging declaration:
“Produce your cause, saith the LORD; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob.
Let them bring them forth, and shew us what shall happen: let them shew the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come.
Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods …”

What have we got in the challenge in Isaiah?
This Scripture presents negative and positive aspects. Negatively: it shows to us an infallible way by which we can judge the claims of those who are imposter teachers! Let them really foretell the future!  Positively: it gives to all who will hear an unanswerable proof of the truthfulness of God’s Word. Our Mighty God throws down the gauntlet and bids the fake prophets of our day, and of other eras in history, to successfully predict  events which are in the far distant future. They cannot predict successfully, every time, what will happen next month or next year! This will show without a shadow of doubt whether they are deceivers, pretenders or whether they are “god” men. For just one example here of God’s prophecy in His Word: the  Old Testament prophecies which show Jesus Christ coming into the earth. How He would be born and where, His  ministry, life and death and much more. These compel even the most hardened critic of the Bible to admit that these were all 100%  accurate predictions, although they were written hundreds of years before the incarnation of the Son of God in human flesh.

MANKIND STANDS IN A HALFWAY HOUSE!
The limbo that the majority of mankind stands in today has never been so horrifying.
The decline of authentic Christianity in the Western Nations is proceeding at a rapid pace, although many “church-goers” are unaware of that decline - they perceive their New Age and occultic delusions to be of the Biblical God. The One World Church is already formed and straining against God’s reins! It will soon be galloping! The true believers are often scattered,  aware of the huge invasion by enemy forces of a spiritual kind into Christendom, but are often not empowered by the Holy Spirit sufficiently to be able to move dynamically in God’s Will in this present age. The “Halfway House” for the unsaved, between earth as it is now and what it will be when the Tribulation comes, is a sorry state indeed! God does not want any to perish. HE has the power through the Holy Spirit to use even you and I to make a vital difference on this planet! “…Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.” (Zechariah 4:6). But, you protest, I am only a small insignificant person. Remember that God uses all that are fully committed to Him, sold out, ready to suffer and die if need be. He uses the weak, foolish and humble to confound those who are wise and powerful in their own conceits:
“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise [about the Second Coming], as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” ( 11 Peter 3:9).
“Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;”
(1 Corinthians 1:25-27). (NOTE: the word anthropos is used where “men” is translated, meaning “human being.” Not only men are called to be used of God, so don’t rest on your laurels because you are a woman and have brought up a family).

WE ARE SELF-SERVING IN OUR SAFE AND COSY COUNTRY.
I have been reading again the overwhelming book about the life of a missionary to China, Isobel Kuhn, back in the 1930s to ‘50s. She, her husband John and family, were so dedicated, and suffered willingly for the sake of the Gospel.  I was flat out on my bed eating a bar of chocolate, sipping on a fizzy drink, while I read her story. The contrast between their living conditions, food, access to modern medicines, safety, work load, to mine was appalling! I know nothing of suffering for Christ Jesus and His Good News. I don’t mean we should seek to live without comforts or little luxuries just for the sake of doing so, I mean to say “are you and I really willing to put ourselves and our clamouring needs and greeds aside for Christ and the salvation of souls?” Last night I was moved in my spirit to ring my 93 year old uncle, whom we have prayed for and witnessed to solidly for two years. I felt strongly that the Lord wanted me to ask him again to pray and receive Christ as Saviour (my uncle has always refused to do this). I was tired, I didn’t want to, I felt I might be ridiculed in some way. I wanted to leave it in the “too hard basket” for now. Going to the Bible and getting verses over and again that urged me to ring and ask my uncle to receive Christ soon changed my lazy mind. My uncle prayed the sinner’s prayer with me after a short time of discussion, with great enthusiasm and sincerity. I had “died” to self and Christ had brought forth Life for my loved one as I read the Bible verses over the ‘phone. Praise the Lord for the Christian man who had witnessed to my uncle the day before my ‘phone conversation. We are a team together, all of us, but the work is of the Lord Himself.

THE SUFFERINGS OF THE “MISSING LINK.”
Let us finish Beauty for Ashes this issue with the story of one simple witness to Christ in China, an indigenous man with nothing humanly to make him outstanding. “Belle” in the narrative was the nickname for Isobel Kuhn, the American missionary, the year is about 1944.  Here we read of just a poor man amongst many millions of Chinese who lived and died before the complete take-over of the Communists in that country. Our mighty God had given this Chinese peasant His Living Word and his sins were forgiven, and nothing else mattered for him after that but serving Jesus Christ. People just like him, men and women, won thousands of lost souls to the Lord in China in those days. It was very costly for them in terms of their suffering and death.  “Only one life to offer…”:

“Another of Belle’s students, Chi-lee, almost convinced her that a missionary had discovered the missing link [tongue in cheek]. He fit the description anthropologists usually give: low forehead, wild, untamed hair, a perplexed look, large jaw, dirty, full of fleas and the itch. Yet he could read and write! (then he couldn’t be the missing link, Belle thought with relief).

Chi-lee was a Christian, but he could not pass his [missionary Bible School] exams. He was from a mountain ravine higher up, which Belle named “The Heathen Patch” for no missionary over the years was able to enter it to make a spiritual impact. Chi-lee wasn’t a bit discouraged that he hadn’t passed. He was content to just listen, and after a bath and a haircut and some of Ma-Ma’s (Belle’s) magic salve, he felt so much better!

He went back to his village full of hope that he would win his family to the Lord, but the villagers burned his house down and his own father refused him shelter. Undaunted Chi-lee began to teach the youth of the village, but the elders rose up against him in fear of the demons. “Stop teaching or we will surely kill you!” they sternly warned.

He then built a lean-to of branches deep in the woods, caught malaria carried by mosquitoes and died - alone.”
(“Isobel Kuhn” by Lois Hoadley Dick,  Pub. Highland Books. P.127).

Are we willing to live or die for Christ and the Gospel?
“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. “ ( Romans 8:16-18).

Was Chi-lee’s life a failure? Of course it was not! He obeyed God and went to the ones that God had called him to witness to. He was willing to suffer for their salvation. Yet, they rejected the Almighty God Who had sent His messenger. Chi-lee was as faithful as any of those who lived a long life and won many to Christ. We are not responsible for how people respond, that is on their heads, we are responsible for our own faithfulness to God’s calling to the Great Commission. Are you willing to speak of the Gospel to others, and pray for their souls? Are you willing to suffer and even die for the Gospel?

SUM-UP.
Here we are in 2001 with the New World Order breathing down our necks. Far beyond the NWO, and infinitely more powerful than any of that, is our Almighty Creator and Lord, Who is Christ Jesus Himself (John 1:1-5). He shares His resurrection Life with us. We have this treasure in earthen vessels ( 11 Corinthians 4:7,8) that the power might be seen to be of Almighty God and not of ourselves. We understand that the God Who is the First Cause of All cannot fail in His purpose for our lives, if we are fully surrendered, living by faith in Him and filled with His Holy Spirit. He that created the stars and the galaxies will not be thwarted by anything that happens on this little planet, which is in the midst of a spiritual war. His Mighty Word has such power for delivering souls that we dare not trust our own words, wise as they might be in God. Sanctification by Grace through Faith is not our opportunity to become pious and proud!  Sanctification by Grace through Faith can never reImages centered on our own growth and development in the Lord, we are filled with His Light for a purpose. We are shining in the darkness of this nightmare New Age. The majority of people in our own country are far from Heaven and in danger of hell, lost sheep out in the dark. We saved believers are the only witnessing lights God has which can lead the way Home to the fold and the Shepherd’s arms.
 “So let us shine.”

“ The truest holiness is that of which the possessor is least conscious; yet it is his real diadem and beauty.” (A.J. Gordon).
“ I have not sinned for some time,” said a woman to Spurgeon. “The you must be very proud of it,” he replied. “Indeed I am!” said she.

“He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive…)”
(John 7:38,39).

“OPEN THOU MINE EYES!”

Bibliography:
Books used for reference were: “Final Authority” by Dr. William P. Grady. Pub. Grady Publications.
“The Biblical Basis for Modern Science” by Henry M. Morris. Pub. Baker Book House.
“Stars and Their Purpose” by Werner Gitt. Pub. CLV.
”Christian Theology” by Emery H. Bancroft. Pub. Zondervan Publishing House.
“Isobel Kuhn, A New Biography.” by Lois Hoadley Dick. Pub. Highland Books.
 

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