14 how wonderful and encouraging it is to know that our heavenly Father has bade it crystal clear in His Word exactly what His purpose is for each one of us. now is the time, in these next few moments, to make sure, on the authority of His eternal Word, as to His purpose for your personal life.
'and God said, let Us make man in Our image. genesis 1.26
the first Adam, the head of the human race, was made in God's image in the realm of personality, intellect, emotions, will, etc., so that there could be communion,fellowship and cooperation between them; with God sovereign and man subject - subject to His will, which is perfect freedom. but we know that Adam was beguiled into choosing his own way in preference to "God's way, relying on himself only, loving just himself. as a result, he immediately became self-centered instead of God-centered; dead to God who is the Source of all Life, dead in trespasses and sins. in this condition Adam 'begat a son in his own likeness, after his (fallen) image. gen. 5.3 thus he brought forth a sinful, ungodly, self-centered race, born 'dead in trespasses and sins. ephesians 2.1
'God...hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son...who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person. hebrews 1.1-3 here is the image of God back on earth, this time in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, God's Last Adam. I cor. 15.45, 47 our natural birth made us members of the fallen, sinful first-Adam race. our transition from the old sinful race to the new godly race is known as the 'new birth'. when we were 'born again', through 'repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20.21), we were born into Him -He became our
15 Life. colossians 3.3,4
'Thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree. romans 11.24
'for as by one man's disobedience (Adam's) many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one (Christ) shall many be made righteous. rom. 5.19
our heavenly Father is still carrying out His purpose of making man in His image. although His original purpose is the same, He is not using the original man to bring it about. ALL is now centered in the Last Adam, our Lord Jesus . being born into Him through we became 'partakers of the divine nature. II peter 1.4
and as the Lord Jesus is allowed to express Himself through our personality this poor sin-sick world will see 'CHRIST IN YOU, the hope of glory. col. 1.27 in I cor. 15.49, paul gives us the heartening promise: 'as we have borne the image of the earthly (Adam), we shall also bear the image of the heavenly (Christ).
'and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. for whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son. rom. 8.28-9 here is the 'good' for which God is working all things together - His original purpose of making us in His image, which is centered and expressed in His son, Christ who is our life. paul's determination for each of his converts was 'My little children of whom i travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you. gal. 4.19
the open secret of healthy spiritual growth is to know and settle down on this fact as set forth in Romans 8.28 and 29. when we see that all things are working together to make us more and more like the Lord Jesus we will not be frustrated and upset when some of these 'things' are hard, difficult jto understand and often contain an element of death. we will be able to rest in our Lord Jesus and say to our Father, 'Thy will be done'. and our constant attitude of faith will be,
'THOUGH HE SLAY ME, YET WILL I TRUST IN HIM. Job 13.15
THIS IS OUR MATRICULATION TO SPIRITUAL MATURITY.
'but we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the spirit of the Lord. II cor. 3.18 it is one
16 thing to know what is GOD'S PURPOSE FOR OUR LIVES, and it is another to know something of the 'how' as to entering into it all right here and now. ONE OF GOD'S MOST EFFECTIVE MEANS IN THE PROCESS IS FAILURE. so many believers are simply frantic over the fact of failure in their lives and they will go to all lengths to try to hide it, ignore it or rationalize about it. and all the time they are resisting the main instrument in the Father's hand for conforming us to the likeness of His Son!
failure where self is concerned in our christian life and service, is allowed and often engineered by God in order to turn us completely from ourselves to His Source for our life - Christ jesus, who never fails. rejoice, dear friend, in your need and hunger of heart, for god says,
BLESSED ARE THEY THAT DO HUNGER AND THIRST AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS: for they shall be filled. matt. 5.6 as we, in our abject need, CONSISTENTLY AND LOVINGLY LOOK ON THE LORD JESUS REVEALED TO US IN THE WORD, THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL QUIETLY AND EFFORTLESSLY CHANGE THE CENTER AND SOURCE OF OUR LIVES FROM SELF TO CHRIST - hence for each of us it will be, 'Not I, but Christ.
God has a natural law in force to the effect that we are conformed to that on which we center our interest and love. Hawthorne brought out this fact in 'The Great Stone Face'. then too, think of germany some years ago, full of little Hitlers all because of fanatical devotion to a second-rate paper-hanger. her in our country comic books, radio, TV and movies have all contributed in giving us a rising generation of young policemen, cowboys, gangsters, etc. and what of the believer? if we are attracted to this present evil world, we become increasingly worldly; if we pamper and live for self, we become more and more self-centered; but WHEN WE LOOK TO JESUS CHRIST, WE BECOME MORE AND MORE LIKE HIM.
Norman Douty writes, 'If I am to be like Him, then God in His grace must do it and the sooner I come to recognize it the sooner i will be delivered from another form of bondage throw down every endeavor and say, I cannot do it, the more I try the farther I get from His likeness. what shall I do? Ah, the Holy Spirit says, you cannot do it; just withdraw; come out of it. you have been in the arena, you have been endeavouring, you are a failure, come out and sit down and as you
17 sit there behold Him look at Him, DON'T TRY TO BE LIKE HIM, JUST LOOK AT HIM. JUST BE OCCUPIED WITH HIM. forget about trying to be like Him. instead of letting that fill your mind and heart, LET HIM FILL it.
JUST BEHOLD HIM, LOOK UPON HIM THROUGH THE WORD.
COME TO THE WORD FOR ONE PURPOSE and that is TO MEET THE LORD.
NOT TO GET YOUR MIND CRAMMED FULL OF THINGS ABOUT THE SACRED WORD,
but to come to it to meet the Lord. make it to be a medium, not of biblical scholarship, but of fellowship with Christ. BEHOLD THE LORD.
'for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. philippians 2.13 and what is His 'good pleasure' He is 'performing' in us?
He is working everything together for this one purpose: 'that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh'. II corinthians 4.11
this is life: 'for to me to live is Christ. phil. 1.21
this is service: 'and there were certain Greeks...saying ...Sir, we would see Jesus'. john 12.20-1
Monday, January 30, 2017
1.30.2017 GL #3 ACCEPTANCE
there are two questions that every believer must settle as soon as possible.
the one is, DOES GOD FULLY ACCEPT ME? and if so,
ON WHAT BASIS DOES He do so? this is crucial. what devastation often permeates the life of one, young or old, rich or poor, saved or unsaved, who is not sure of being accepted, even on the human level.
yet so many believes, whether 'strugglers' or 'vegetators', move through life without this precious fact to rest and build on:
'having predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved. ephesians 1.5-6
every believer is accepted by the Father, in Christ.
'being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. romans 5.1
the peace is God's toward us, through His beloved son - on this, our peace is to be based, God is able to be at peace with us through our Lord Jesus Christ,
'having made peace through the blood of His cross. colossians 1.20
and we must never forget that His peace is founded solely on the work of the cross, totally apart from anything whatsoever in or from us, since
'God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. romans 5.8
OUR FAITH BECOMES A FIXED ATTITUDE, ONCE IT BEGINS TO REST IN THIS WONDERFUL FACT. this is the steadying influence most believers are in need of today. a century ago, J.B.Stoney wrote: 'the blessed God never alters nor diverges from the acceptance in which He has received us because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. we diverge from the state
11 in which God can ever be toward us as recorded in romans 5.1-11. many suppose that because they're conscious of sins, that hence they must renew their acceptance with God.
'the truth is that God has not altered. His eye rests on the work accomplished by Christ for the believer. when you are not walking in the spirit you are in the flesh:; you have turned to the old man which was crucified on the cross. romans 6.6 you have to be restored to fellowship and when you are, you find your acceptance with God unchanged and UNCHANGEABLE(?note - if confessing, repenting and forsaking sin ? -I john 1.9; luke 24.47; proverbs 28.13 - matthew 7.21; luke 13.24?)
when sins are introduced there is a fear that God has changed. He has not changed, but you have. you are not walking in the Spirit but in the flesh. you have to judge yourself in order to be restored.
'for this is My bold of the new testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins. matthew 26.28
but if your sines are not met there, where can they be met?
'Now where remission of sin is, there is no more offering for sin'. hebrews 10.18
God has effected the reconciliation; He always remains true to it. Alas! we diverge from it; and the tendency is to suppose that the blessed God has altered toward us. He certainly will judge the flesh if we do not, but He never departs from the love which He has expressed to the prodigal and we find that when the cloud, which walking in the flesh produced, has passed away, His love, blessed by His Name, had never changed'.
God's basis must be our basis for acceptance. there is none other. we are 'accepted in the Beloved'. our Rather is fully satisfied with His Beloved son on our behalf and there is no reason for us not to be . our satisfaction can only spring from and rest in His satisfaction. it is from God to us, not from us to god. J.N.Darby was very clear on this: 'when the Holy Spirit reasons with man, He does not reason from what man is for God, but from what god is to man. souls reason from what they are in themselves as to whether God can accept them. He cannot accept you thus; you are looking for righteousness in yourself as a ground of acceptance with Him. you cannot get peace whilst reasoning in that way.
'the Holy Spirit always reasons down from what God is, and this produces a total change in my soul. it is not that I abhor my sins; indeed I may have been waling very well; but
12 it is 'I abhor myself'. this is how the Holy Spirit reasons; He shows us what we are and that is one reason why He often seems to be very hard and does not give peace to the soul, as we are not relived until we experientially, from our hearts, acknowledge what we are.
'until the soul comes to that point He does not give it peace - He could not; it would be healing the wound slightly. the souls has to go on until it finds there is nothing to rest on but the abstract goodness of God; and then,
'if God be for us, who can be against us? romans 8.31b
sad today, most believers actually reason just the opposite - from themselves to God. when all is going well and God seems to be blessing, then it is that they feel He loves and accepts them. but when they are stumbling and everything seems dry and hard, then they feel He does not love and accept them. how can this be? there is nothing about us to commend us to God, our acceptance being in Christ, plus the fact that most of our true spiritual development comes through the day and hard times. thank God, He has accepted us in His Son and upon this FACT we must rest our faith. as in justification, our acceptance is by GRACE alone. in his classic, Romans, Verse by Verse, Wm. R. newell presents some penetrating thoughts regarding this grace:
'there being no cause in the creature why grace should be shown, the creature must be brought off from trying to give cause to God for His care. 'He has been accepted in Christ, who is his standing! 'He is not on probation. 'As to his life past, it does not exist before God: He died at the cross and Christ is his Life. 'Grace, once bestowed, is not withdrawn; for God knew all the human exigencies beforehand; His action was independent of them, not dependent upon them.
'to believe, and to consent to be loved while unworthy, is the great secret.
'to refuse to make 'resolutions' and 'vows'; for that is to trust in the flesh.
'to expect to be blessed, though realizing more and more lack of worth.
'To rely on God's chastening (child training) hand as a mark of His kindness.
13 'to 'hope to be better' (hence acceptable) is to fail to see yourself in Christ only.
'to be disappointed with yourself is to have believed in yourself.
'to be discouraged is unbelief - as to God's purpose and plan of blessing for you.
'to be proud, is to be blind! for we have no standing before God, in ourselves.
'the lack of Divine blessing, therefore, comes from unbelief and not from failure of devotion.
'to preach devotion first and blessing second, is to reverse God's order and preach law, not grace. the Law made man's blessing depend on devotion; grace confers undeserved, unconditional blessing: our devotion may follow, but does not always do so - in proper measure.
have we been afraid to really believe God? have some even been afraid to allow others to really believe Him? we must never forget that 'God's ways are not always man's ways. to some men constant peril is the only spur to action and many religions and psychologies are dependent on fear to keep their disciples in line. Fear, too, has a place in christianity, but God has higher (note, differing?)and more effective motivations than fear and one of these is love. often fear after a while produces only numbness, but love thrives on love. to promise a man the certainty of his destiny may seem on the human level, like playing with fire; but this leaves god out of the picture. those who have the deepest appreciation of grace do not continue in sin. moreover, fear produces the obedience of slaves; love engenders the obedience of sons'. JW Sanderson, Jr.
'for if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? I cor. 14.8 until the christian is absolutely and scripturally sure of his standing, he is not going to do much standing.
'Stand therefore. Eph. 6.14
'now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and god, even our Father, which hath loved us and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work. II thessalonians 2.16-7
the one is, DOES GOD FULLY ACCEPT ME? and if so,
ON WHAT BASIS DOES He do so? this is crucial. what devastation often permeates the life of one, young or old, rich or poor, saved or unsaved, who is not sure of being accepted, even on the human level.
yet so many believes, whether 'strugglers' or 'vegetators', move through life without this precious fact to rest and build on:
'having predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved. ephesians 1.5-6
every believer is accepted by the Father, in Christ.
'being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. romans 5.1
the peace is God's toward us, through His beloved son - on this, our peace is to be based, God is able to be at peace with us through our Lord Jesus Christ,
'having made peace through the blood of His cross. colossians 1.20
and we must never forget that His peace is founded solely on the work of the cross, totally apart from anything whatsoever in or from us, since
'God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. romans 5.8
OUR FAITH BECOMES A FIXED ATTITUDE, ONCE IT BEGINS TO REST IN THIS WONDERFUL FACT. this is the steadying influence most believers are in need of today. a century ago, J.B.Stoney wrote: 'the blessed God never alters nor diverges from the acceptance in which He has received us because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. we diverge from the state
11 in which God can ever be toward us as recorded in romans 5.1-11. many suppose that because they're conscious of sins, that hence they must renew their acceptance with God.
'the truth is that God has not altered. His eye rests on the work accomplished by Christ for the believer. when you are not walking in the spirit you are in the flesh:; you have turned to the old man which was crucified on the cross. romans 6.6 you have to be restored to fellowship and when you are, you find your acceptance with God unchanged and UNCHANGEABLE(?note - if confessing, repenting and forsaking sin ? -I john 1.9; luke 24.47; proverbs 28.13 - matthew 7.21; luke 13.24?)
when sins are introduced there is a fear that God has changed. He has not changed, but you have. you are not walking in the Spirit but in the flesh. you have to judge yourself in order to be restored.
'for this is My bold of the new testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins. matthew 26.28
but if your sines are not met there, where can they be met?
'Now where remission of sin is, there is no more offering for sin'. hebrews 10.18
God has effected the reconciliation; He always remains true to it. Alas! we diverge from it; and the tendency is to suppose that the blessed God has altered toward us. He certainly will judge the flesh if we do not, but He never departs from the love which He has expressed to the prodigal and we find that when the cloud, which walking in the flesh produced, has passed away, His love, blessed by His Name, had never changed'.
God's basis must be our basis for acceptance. there is none other. we are 'accepted in the Beloved'. our Rather is fully satisfied with His Beloved son on our behalf and there is no reason for us not to be . our satisfaction can only spring from and rest in His satisfaction. it is from God to us, not from us to god. J.N.Darby was very clear on this: 'when the Holy Spirit reasons with man, He does not reason from what man is for God, but from what god is to man. souls reason from what they are in themselves as to whether God can accept them. He cannot accept you thus; you are looking for righteousness in yourself as a ground of acceptance with Him. you cannot get peace whilst reasoning in that way.
'the Holy Spirit always reasons down from what God is, and this produces a total change in my soul. it is not that I abhor my sins; indeed I may have been waling very well; but
12 it is 'I abhor myself'. this is how the Holy Spirit reasons; He shows us what we are and that is one reason why He often seems to be very hard and does not give peace to the soul, as we are not relived until we experientially, from our hearts, acknowledge what we are.
'until the soul comes to that point He does not give it peace - He could not; it would be healing the wound slightly. the souls has to go on until it finds there is nothing to rest on but the abstract goodness of God; and then,
'if God be for us, who can be against us? romans 8.31b
sad today, most believers actually reason just the opposite - from themselves to God. when all is going well and God seems to be blessing, then it is that they feel He loves and accepts them. but when they are stumbling and everything seems dry and hard, then they feel He does not love and accept them. how can this be? there is nothing about us to commend us to God, our acceptance being in Christ, plus the fact that most of our true spiritual development comes through the day and hard times. thank God, He has accepted us in His Son and upon this FACT we must rest our faith. as in justification, our acceptance is by GRACE alone. in his classic, Romans, Verse by Verse, Wm. R. newell presents some penetrating thoughts regarding this grace:
'there being no cause in the creature why grace should be shown, the creature must be brought off from trying to give cause to God for His care. 'He has been accepted in Christ, who is his standing! 'He is not on probation. 'As to his life past, it does not exist before God: He died at the cross and Christ is his Life. 'Grace, once bestowed, is not withdrawn; for God knew all the human exigencies beforehand; His action was independent of them, not dependent upon them.
'to believe, and to consent to be loved while unworthy, is the great secret.
'to refuse to make 'resolutions' and 'vows'; for that is to trust in the flesh.
'to expect to be blessed, though realizing more and more lack of worth.
'To rely on God's chastening (child training) hand as a mark of His kindness.
13 'to 'hope to be better' (hence acceptable) is to fail to see yourself in Christ only.
'to be disappointed with yourself is to have believed in yourself.
'to be discouraged is unbelief - as to God's purpose and plan of blessing for you.
'to be proud, is to be blind! for we have no standing before God, in ourselves.
'the lack of Divine blessing, therefore, comes from unbelief and not from failure of devotion.
'to preach devotion first and blessing second, is to reverse God's order and preach law, not grace. the Law made man's blessing depend on devotion; grace confers undeserved, unconditional blessing: our devotion may follow, but does not always do so - in proper measure.
have we been afraid to really believe God? have some even been afraid to allow others to really believe Him? we must never forget that 'God's ways are not always man's ways. to some men constant peril is the only spur to action and many religions and psychologies are dependent on fear to keep their disciples in line. Fear, too, has a place in christianity, but God has higher (note, differing?)and more effective motivations than fear and one of these is love. often fear after a while produces only numbness, but love thrives on love. to promise a man the certainty of his destiny may seem on the human level, like playing with fire; but this leaves god out of the picture. those who have the deepest appreciation of grace do not continue in sin. moreover, fear produces the obedience of slaves; love engenders the obedience of sons'. JW Sanderson, Jr.
'for if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? I cor. 14.8 until the christian is absolutely and scripturally sure of his standing, he is not going to do much standing.
'Stand therefore. Eph. 6.14
'now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and god, even our Father, which hath loved us and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work. II thessalonians 2.16-7
1.30.2017 GL #2. TIME
it seems that most believers difficulty in realizing and facing up to the inexorable fact that GOD DOES NOT HURRY in His development of our christian life. He is working from and for eternity! so many feel they are not making progress unless they are swiftly and constantly forging ahead. now it is true that the new convert often begins and continues for some time at a fast rate. but this will not continue if there is to be healthy growth and ultimate maturity. God Himself will modify the pace. this is important to see, since in most instances when seeming declension begins to set in, it is not, as so many think, a matter of backsliding.
John Darby makes it plain that 'it is God's way to set people aside after their first start, that self-confidence may die down. thus Moses was 40 years. on his first start he had to run away. Paul was three years also, after his first testimony. not that god did not approve the first earnest testimony. we must get to know ourselves and that we have no strength. thus we must learn and then leaning on the Lord we can with more maturity and more experientially, deal with souls.
since the christian life matures and becomes fruitful by the principle of growth (II peter 3.18_, rather than by struggle and 'experiences', much time is involved. unless we see and acquiesce to this there is bound to be constant frustration,l to say nothing of resistance to our Rather's development processes for us.
A.H. Strong illustrates it for us: 'a student asked the President of his school whether he could not take a shorter course than the one prescribed. 'Oh yes, replied the President, but then it depends upon what you want to be. when God wants
7 to make an oak, He takes 100 years, but when He wants to make a squash, He takes 6 months. Strong also wisely points out to us that 'growth is not a uniform thing in the tree or in the christian. in some single months there is more growth than in all the year besides. during the rest of the year, however, there is solidification, without which the green timber would be useless. the period of rapid growth when woody fiber is actually deposited between the bark and the trunk, occupies but 4 to 6 weeks in May, June and July.
let's settle it once and for all - there are no shortcuts to reality! a meteor is on a shortcut as it proceeds to burn out, but not a star, with its steady light so often depended on by navigators. unless the time factor is acknowledged from the heart, there is always danger of turning to the false enticement of a shortcut via the means of 'experiences', and 'blessings', where one becomes pathetically enmeshed in the vortex of ever-changing 'feelings', adrift from the moorings of scriptural facts.
concerning this subject George Goodman writes: 'some have been betrayed into professing perfection or full deliverance, because at the time they speak they are happy and confident in the Lord. they forget that it is not a present continuance in well doing. to taste of the grace of God is one thing; to be established in it and manifest it in character, habit and regular life, is another. experiences and blessings, though real gracious visitations from the Lord, are not sufficient to rest upon, nor should they lead us to glory in ourselves, as if we had a store of grace for time to come or were yet at the end of the conflict. No. fruit ripens slowly; days of sunshine and days of storm each add their share. blessing will succeed blessing and storm follow storm before the fruit is full grown or comes to maturity.
in that the Husbandman's method for true spiritual growth involves pain as well as joy, suffering as well as happiness, failure as well as success, inactivity as well as service, death as well as life, the temptation to shortcut is especially strong unless we see the value of and submit to the necessity of the
8 time element; in simple trust resting in His hands,
'being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. phillipians 1.6
and, dear friends, it will take that long! but since God is working for eternity, why should we be concerned about the time involved?
Graham Scroggie affirmed: 'Spiritual renewal is a gradual process. all growth is progressive and the finer the organism, the longer the process. it is from measure to measure: thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and hundredfold. it is from stage to stage: 'first the blade, then the ear and after that, the full corn in the ear'. and it is from day to day. how varied these are! j there are great days, days of decisive battles, days of crisis in spiritual history, days of triumph in christian service, days of the right hand of god upon us. but there are also idle days, days apparently useless, when even prayer and holy service seem a burden. are we, in any sense, renewed in these days? yes, for any experience which makes us more aware of our need of God must contribute to spiritual progress, unless we deny the Lord who bought us.
certainly this is not to discount a Spirit-fostered experience, blessing or even a crisis; but it is to be remembered that these simply contribute to the overall and all-important process. it takes time to get to know oneself; it takes time and
9 eternity to get to know the infinite Lord Jesus Christ. today is the day to put the hand to the plow and irrevocably set the heart on His goal for us - that
we 'may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death. philippians 3.10
'so often in the battle, says Austin-Sparks, 'we go to the Lord and pray and plead and appeal for victory, for ascendancy, for mastery over the forces of evil and death and our thought is that in some way the Lord is going to come in with a mighty exercise of power and put us into a place of victory and spiritual ascendancy as in an act. we must have this mentality corrected. what the Lord does is to enlarge us to possess. he puts us through some exercise, through some experience, takes us by some way that means our spiritual expansion and exercise of spirituality so we occupy the larger place spontaneously.
'I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate and the beast of the field multiply against thee. by little and little i will drive them out before thee, until thou be increased. Exodus 12.29-30
'one day in the House of Commons, British Prime Minister Disraeli made a brilliant speech on the spur of the moment. that night a friend said to him, 'I must tell you how much I enjoyed your extemporaneous talk. it's been on my mind all day. 'Madam, confessed D, that extemporaneous talk has been on my mind for 20 years!
John Darby makes it plain that 'it is God's way to set people aside after their first start, that self-confidence may die down. thus Moses was 40 years. on his first start he had to run away. Paul was three years also, after his first testimony. not that god did not approve the first earnest testimony. we must get to know ourselves and that we have no strength. thus we must learn and then leaning on the Lord we can with more maturity and more experientially, deal with souls.
since the christian life matures and becomes fruitful by the principle of growth (II peter 3.18_, rather than by struggle and 'experiences', much time is involved. unless we see and acquiesce to this there is bound to be constant frustration,l to say nothing of resistance to our Rather's development processes for us.
A.H. Strong illustrates it for us: 'a student asked the President of his school whether he could not take a shorter course than the one prescribed. 'Oh yes, replied the President, but then it depends upon what you want to be. when God wants
7 to make an oak, He takes 100 years, but when He wants to make a squash, He takes 6 months. Strong also wisely points out to us that 'growth is not a uniform thing in the tree or in the christian. in some single months there is more growth than in all the year besides. during the rest of the year, however, there is solidification, without which the green timber would be useless. the period of rapid growth when woody fiber is actually deposited between the bark and the trunk, occupies but 4 to 6 weeks in May, June and July.
let's settle it once and for all - there are no shortcuts to reality! a meteor is on a shortcut as it proceeds to burn out, but not a star, with its steady light so often depended on by navigators. unless the time factor is acknowledged from the heart, there is always danger of turning to the false enticement of a shortcut via the means of 'experiences', and 'blessings', where one becomes pathetically enmeshed in the vortex of ever-changing 'feelings', adrift from the moorings of scriptural facts.
concerning this subject George Goodman writes: 'some have been betrayed into professing perfection or full deliverance, because at the time they speak they are happy and confident in the Lord. they forget that it is not a present continuance in well doing. to taste of the grace of God is one thing; to be established in it and manifest it in character, habit and regular life, is another. experiences and blessings, though real gracious visitations from the Lord, are not sufficient to rest upon, nor should they lead us to glory in ourselves, as if we had a store of grace for time to come or were yet at the end of the conflict. No. fruit ripens slowly; days of sunshine and days of storm each add their share. blessing will succeed blessing and storm follow storm before the fruit is full grown or comes to maturity.
in that the Husbandman's method for true spiritual growth involves pain as well as joy, suffering as well as happiness, failure as well as success, inactivity as well as service, death as well as life, the temptation to shortcut is especially strong unless we see the value of and submit to the necessity of the
8 time element; in simple trust resting in His hands,
'being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. phillipians 1.6
and, dear friends, it will take that long! but since God is working for eternity, why should we be concerned about the time involved?
Graham Scroggie affirmed: 'Spiritual renewal is a gradual process. all growth is progressive and the finer the organism, the longer the process. it is from measure to measure: thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and hundredfold. it is from stage to stage: 'first the blade, then the ear and after that, the full corn in the ear'. and it is from day to day. how varied these are! j there are great days, days of decisive battles, days of crisis in spiritual history, days of triumph in christian service, days of the right hand of god upon us. but there are also idle days, days apparently useless, when even prayer and holy service seem a burden. are we, in any sense, renewed in these days? yes, for any experience which makes us more aware of our need of God must contribute to spiritual progress, unless we deny the Lord who bought us.
certainly this is not to discount a Spirit-fostered experience, blessing or even a crisis; but it is to be remembered that these simply contribute to the overall and all-important process. it takes time to get to know oneself; it takes time and
9 eternity to get to know the infinite Lord Jesus Christ. today is the day to put the hand to the plow and irrevocably set the heart on His goal for us - that
we 'may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death. philippians 3.10
'so often in the battle, says Austin-Sparks, 'we go to the Lord and pray and plead and appeal for victory, for ascendancy, for mastery over the forces of evil and death and our thought is that in some way the Lord is going to come in with a mighty exercise of power and put us into a place of victory and spiritual ascendancy as in an act. we must have this mentality corrected. what the Lord does is to enlarge us to possess. he puts us through some exercise, through some experience, takes us by some way that means our spiritual expansion and exercise of spirituality so we occupy the larger place spontaneously.
'I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate and the beast of the field multiply against thee. by little and little i will drive them out before thee, until thou be increased. Exodus 12.29-30
'one day in the House of Commons, British Prime Minister Disraeli made a brilliant speech on the spur of the moment. that night a friend said to him, 'I must tell you how much I enjoyed your extemporaneous talk. it's been on my mind all day. 'Madam, confessed D, that extemporaneous talk has been on my mind for 20 years!
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
1.24.2017 THE COMPLETE GREEN LETTERS (GL) (1975) by Miles J. Stanford...introduction/overview and #1. FAITH
ix. Introduction
the complete Green letters is not a single work, but actually a collection of 5 works dealing with a common theme - 'NOT I, BUT CHRIST'. in these works, Miles J. Stanford of Lakewood, Colorado, presents us with a comprehensive, if somewhat disconnected, treatise on what it means to be a christian.
Stanford (S) is convinced that the weakness experienced by the church today, whether individually or corporately, as well as throughout its history, is primarily due to its ignorance of the truths pertaining to the deeper life. most Christians SETTLE FOR FAR LESS THAN THE BEST after wearying but fruitless struggles with the flesh. BECAUSE THEY RELY ON THEIR OWN STRENGTH, which is a hopeless thing to do, THEY NEVER MAKE ANY SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS TOWARD TRUE SPIRITUALITY. fortunately, there exists the truth of the deeper life, known by some throughout the history of the church, by now explicitly taught by many great writers of our own era, such as R. E. Huegel, Ruth Paxon, Andrew Murray and Jessee Penn-Lewis and, above all The Keswick Convention.
the five books that make up this manual of spirituality are to be read in order. they are:
..The Green Letters: Principles of SPIRITUAL GROWTH
The Principle of POSITION: FOUNDATIONS OF SPIRITUAL GROWTH
The Ground of Growth: The Christian's Relationship to THE CROSS and THE RISEN CHRIST
The RECKONING that counts: The Realization of Spiritual Growth
ABIDE ABOVE: A Guide to Spiritual Growth
Book one, The Green Letters, lays the foundation for understanding what spiritual growth is. S bases x numerous principle discussed, such as faith, consecration, discipleship and the cross, on some essential foundational principles, for example, the futility of the self-life.
all that we are, have been, or attempt to be is utterly worthless and totally sinful.
any attempt to operate on this basis is doomed to the heartbreaking failure and total defeat.
the crux of the matter is 'WHICH LIFE IS TO BE CONSECRATED TO HIM,
THE OLD SELF-LIFE OR THE NEW CHRIST LIFE?
God can accept absolutely nothing from the old.'
the second key principle is IDENTIFICATION.
..(this teaches) OUR OLD MAN OR ORIGINAL SELF, HAS BEEN CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST.
we are one with Him in death;
He is one with us in life.
Not I, but Christ.
HE is now my life and I am dead and gone.
....another foundation principle is that of RECKONING.
we are to live as disciples, reckoning the identification truths to be true.
we are dead indeed unto sin.
we are to hate ourselves.
we are to count it so that Christ lives in us.
if we do not do this we will be substituting self-will for truth and will certainly fall.
in the second book, The Principle of Position, S attempts to work out the implications of dead self, identification and reckoning by stressing the importance of position.
'ALL SPIRITUAL LIFE AND GROWTH IS BASED UPON THE PRINCIPLE OF POSITION.
it can be summed up ion one word: SOURCE.
by this S means we must allow what we are in IN FACT to become what we are IN EXPERIENCE.
the Lord is our source (ie. our everything) and we are complete in Him.
we must let this reality become an experienced reality.
'but only the believer who knows, grows. it is faith in the facts of our position that gives us the daily benefits of growth in our condition'.
S follows this important truth with discussions of such theological concepts as justification, reconciliation, security, sin, conscience and confession.
The Ground of Growth continues the study of what it means to be in Christ by focusing on our internal conflict and the solution to it. the conflict exists because when we are born again we are given a new nature that immediately wars against the old nature - the flesh - that was not removed when we became christians. we might wonder why God did not simply destroy the 'old man' when
xi. we believed, and S gives several speculative reasons as to why He didn't, but the fact remains:
THE SPIRIT STRUGGLES WITH THE FLESH because they are contrary to one another.
the resolution is to apply identification truth to our lives,
RECKON THAT OUR 'OLD MAN IS DEAD and ALLOW CHRIST TO BE OUR LIFE.
when we do this, we find that we are no longer under law but that our 'old man' is dead and allow Christ to be our live.
when we do this, we find that WE ARE NO LONGER UNDER LAW,
BUT THAT WE WALK IN LIBERTY, IN THE SPIRIT, IN CHRIST.
'my liberty from the old is infinite in the Lord Jesus.
in The Reckoning That Counts, S isolates the key element in the practical realization of what it means to grow as a christian.
ASSUMING THAT ALL OF THE IDENTIFICATION TRUTHS HAVE BEEN UNDERSTOOD,
the believer who wants to go on to maturity MUST NOW 'RECKON' UPON THOSE TRUTHS.
if we do not do this there will be compounded failure and bondage, because
ONLY SPIRIT-TAUGHT AND SPIRIT MINISTERED IDENTIFICATION TRUTH WILL AVAIL.
there are three steps in reckoning:
KNOW AND RECKON;
ABIDE AND REST;
DEPEND AND WALK.
S follows this with discussions of reckoning truth in Romans 6,7,8, Galatians 2.20, Philippians 3.10 and Colossians 3.
the basis for certainty in all of this reckoning is the ETERNAL, UNCONDITIONAL SECURITY
that the believer has IN CHRIST.
IT IS ONLY THE BELIEVER WHO REALIZES THAT LIFE-UNION WITH CHRIST IS FOREVER WHO WILL BE ABLE TO TRUST CHRIST FOR EMANCIPATION FROM SIN AND MATURITY FOR GROWTH.
the final book, ABIDE ABOVE, admonishes us to keep looking down.
in contrast to the popular exhortation to 'KEEP LOOKING UP' (from ourselves to Christ), we are to 'KEEP LOOKING DOWN' (from our position in Him)upon our circumstances here on earth.
this gives us the proper perspective on all things.
in this, we are guided by the Holy Spirit, and S shows what that consists of, as well as what he thinks it does not consist of, namely healing and tongues speaking. 'the modern 'gifts of tongues and healing have a common source. they are not of the Spirit, but of the flesh, and function primarily in the realm of the nervous system. (note - I have never received these gifts but am, at the beginning of reading this book, not quite sure what is stated here...)
S ends his series with a four point summary of what he is trying to say.
in the whole of the Christian life is comprehended.
LIVE POSITIONALLY: 'Crucified, Risen, Seated' (Gal. 2.20; Eph. 2.6)
LIVE POSITIVELY: 'Fully Persuaded' (Rom. 14.5)
LIVE POSSESSIVELY: 'All Things Are Yours' (II Corinthians 3.21)
LIVE LIVE TRIUMPHANTLY: 'More Than Conquerors (Romans 8.37)
Chapter 1 - FAITH
3..the Holy Spirit had paul write to each of us, 'Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith. II cor. 13.5a, and the recommendation is certainly not out of order at the inception of this series of studies. first of all, we must remind ourselves that 'without faith it is impossible to please Him', Hebrews 11.6a
moreover, and this is all-important, true faith must be based solely on scriptural FACTS, for 'faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10.17 unless our faith is established on facts, it is no more than conjecture, superstition, speculation or presumption.
Heb 11.1 leaves no question regarding this:
'Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
faith standing on the facts of the Word of God substantiates and gives evidence of things not seen.
all of us started on this principle when we were born again - our belief stood directly on the eternal fact of the redeeming death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I cor. 15.1-4
this is the faith by which we began and it is the same faith by which we are to 'stand' (I cor. 16.13) and 'walk' (II cor. 5.7) and 'live' (galatians 2.20b) 'as ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him. Colossians 2.6
since true faith is anchored on scriptural facts, WE ARE CERTAINLY NOT TO BE INFLUENCED BY IMPRESSIONS. George Mueller said, 'impressions have neither one thing nor the other to do 4 with faith. faith has to do with the Word of God. it is not impressions, strong or weak, which will make the difference. we have to do with the Written Word and not ourselves or our impressions.
then, too, PROBABILITIES are the big temptation when it comes to exercising faith.
to often the attitude is, 'it doesn't seem probable that he will ever be saved.
the way things are going, I wonder if the Lord really loves me.
but Mueller wrote , 'many people are willing to believe regarding those things that seem probable to them. faith has nothing to do with probabilities. the province of faith begins where probabilities cease and sight and sense fail. APPEARANCES ARE NOT TO BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT. THE QUESTION IS - WHETHER GOD HAS SPOKEN IT IN HIS WORD.
Alexander R. Hay adds to this by saying, 'FAITH MUST BE BASED UPON CERTAINTY.
THERE MUST BE DEFINITE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD'S PURPOSE AND WILL. without that there can be no true faith. for
faith is not a force that we exercise or a striving to believe that something shall come to pass.
that may be positive thinking, but certainly not biblical faith.
Evan Hopkins writes: 'FAITH NEEDS FACTS TO REST UPON. presumption can take fancy instead of fact. God in His Word reveals to us the facts with which faith has to deal'. it is on this basis that J. B. Stoney can say, 'REAL FAITH IS ALWAYS INCREASED BY OPPOSITION,
WHILE FALSE CONFIDENCE IS DAMAGED AND DISCOURAGED BY IT.'
there can be no steadfastness apart from immovable facts. Peter's burden was,
'that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. I peter 1.7
once we begin to reckon (COUNT) on facts, our Father begins to build us up in the faith. from his profoundly simple trust in God. Mueller was able to say that 'god delights to increase the faith of his children. WE OUGHT, INSTEAD OF WANTING NO TRIALS BEFORE VICTORY, NO EXERCISE FOR PATIENCE, TO BE WILLING TO TAKE THEM FROM GOD'S HAND AS A MEANS. I say - and say it
5 deliberately - trials, obstacles, difficulties and sometimes defeats, are the very food of faith.
on this same subject, James McConkey write: 'FAITH IS DEPENDENCE UPON GOD. and this God-dependence ONLY BEGINS WHEN SELF-DEPENDENCE ENDS. and self-dependence only comes to its end, with some of us, when sorrow, suffering, affliction, broken plans and hopes bring us to that place of self-helplessness and defeat. and only then do we find that we have learned the lesson of faith; to find our tiny craft of life rushing onward to a blessed victory of life and power and service undreamt of in the days of our fleshly strength and self-reliance.
J. B. Stoney agrees by saying, 'IT IS A GREAT THING TO LEARN FAITH: THAT IS, SIMPLY DEPENDENCE UPON GOD. it will comfort you much to be assured that the lord is teaching yo dependence upon Himself, and IT IS VERY REMARKABLE THAT FAITH IS NECESSARY IN EVERYTHING.
'the just shall live by faith' not only in your circumstances, but in everything. I believe the Lord allows many things to happen on purpose to make us feel our need of Him. the more you find Him in your sorrows or wants the more you will be attached to Him and drawn away from this place where the sorrows are, to Him in the place where He is'. 'set your affection on things above. Colossians 3.2a
actually, WE CANNOT TRUST ANYONE FURTHER THAN WE KNOW HIM. so we must not only learn the facts involved, but must always intimately come to know the One who presents and upholds them!
'and this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent'. john 17.3
'grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, according as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature'. II peter 1.2-4
the complete Green letters is not a single work, but actually a collection of 5 works dealing with a common theme - 'NOT I, BUT CHRIST'. in these works, Miles J. Stanford of Lakewood, Colorado, presents us with a comprehensive, if somewhat disconnected, treatise on what it means to be a christian.
Stanford (S) is convinced that the weakness experienced by the church today, whether individually or corporately, as well as throughout its history, is primarily due to its ignorance of the truths pertaining to the deeper life. most Christians SETTLE FOR FAR LESS THAN THE BEST after wearying but fruitless struggles with the flesh. BECAUSE THEY RELY ON THEIR OWN STRENGTH, which is a hopeless thing to do, THEY NEVER MAKE ANY SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS TOWARD TRUE SPIRITUALITY. fortunately, there exists the truth of the deeper life, known by some throughout the history of the church, by now explicitly taught by many great writers of our own era, such as R. E. Huegel, Ruth Paxon, Andrew Murray and Jessee Penn-Lewis and, above all The Keswick Convention.
the five books that make up this manual of spirituality are to be read in order. they are:
..The Green Letters: Principles of SPIRITUAL GROWTH
The Principle of POSITION: FOUNDATIONS OF SPIRITUAL GROWTH
The Ground of Growth: The Christian's Relationship to THE CROSS and THE RISEN CHRIST
The RECKONING that counts: The Realization of Spiritual Growth
ABIDE ABOVE: A Guide to Spiritual Growth
Book one, The Green Letters, lays the foundation for understanding what spiritual growth is. S bases x numerous principle discussed, such as faith, consecration, discipleship and the cross, on some essential foundational principles, for example, the futility of the self-life.
all that we are, have been, or attempt to be is utterly worthless and totally sinful.
any attempt to operate on this basis is doomed to the heartbreaking failure and total defeat.
the crux of the matter is 'WHICH LIFE IS TO BE CONSECRATED TO HIM,
THE OLD SELF-LIFE OR THE NEW CHRIST LIFE?
God can accept absolutely nothing from the old.'
the second key principle is IDENTIFICATION.
..(this teaches) OUR OLD MAN OR ORIGINAL SELF, HAS BEEN CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST.
we are one with Him in death;
He is one with us in life.
Not I, but Christ.
HE is now my life and I am dead and gone.
....another foundation principle is that of RECKONING.
we are to live as disciples, reckoning the identification truths to be true.
we are dead indeed unto sin.
we are to hate ourselves.
we are to count it so that Christ lives in us.
if we do not do this we will be substituting self-will for truth and will certainly fall.
in the second book, The Principle of Position, S attempts to work out the implications of dead self, identification and reckoning by stressing the importance of position.
'ALL SPIRITUAL LIFE AND GROWTH IS BASED UPON THE PRINCIPLE OF POSITION.
it can be summed up ion one word: SOURCE.
by this S means we must allow what we are in IN FACT to become what we are IN EXPERIENCE.
the Lord is our source (ie. our everything) and we are complete in Him.
we must let this reality become an experienced reality.
'but only the believer who knows, grows. it is faith in the facts of our position that gives us the daily benefits of growth in our condition'.
S follows this important truth with discussions of such theological concepts as justification, reconciliation, security, sin, conscience and confession.
The Ground of Growth continues the study of what it means to be in Christ by focusing on our internal conflict and the solution to it. the conflict exists because when we are born again we are given a new nature that immediately wars against the old nature - the flesh - that was not removed when we became christians. we might wonder why God did not simply destroy the 'old man' when
xi. we believed, and S gives several speculative reasons as to why He didn't, but the fact remains:
THE SPIRIT STRUGGLES WITH THE FLESH because they are contrary to one another.
the resolution is to apply identification truth to our lives,
RECKON THAT OUR 'OLD MAN IS DEAD and ALLOW CHRIST TO BE OUR LIFE.
when we do this, we find that we are no longer under law but that our 'old man' is dead and allow Christ to be our live.
when we do this, we find that WE ARE NO LONGER UNDER LAW,
BUT THAT WE WALK IN LIBERTY, IN THE SPIRIT, IN CHRIST.
'my liberty from the old is infinite in the Lord Jesus.
in The Reckoning That Counts, S isolates the key element in the practical realization of what it means to grow as a christian.
ASSUMING THAT ALL OF THE IDENTIFICATION TRUTHS HAVE BEEN UNDERSTOOD,
the believer who wants to go on to maturity MUST NOW 'RECKON' UPON THOSE TRUTHS.
if we do not do this there will be compounded failure and bondage, because
ONLY SPIRIT-TAUGHT AND SPIRIT MINISTERED IDENTIFICATION TRUTH WILL AVAIL.
there are three steps in reckoning:
KNOW AND RECKON;
ABIDE AND REST;
DEPEND AND WALK.
S follows this with discussions of reckoning truth in Romans 6,7,8, Galatians 2.20, Philippians 3.10 and Colossians 3.
the basis for certainty in all of this reckoning is the ETERNAL, UNCONDITIONAL SECURITY
that the believer has IN CHRIST.
IT IS ONLY THE BELIEVER WHO REALIZES THAT LIFE-UNION WITH CHRIST IS FOREVER WHO WILL BE ABLE TO TRUST CHRIST FOR EMANCIPATION FROM SIN AND MATURITY FOR GROWTH.
the final book, ABIDE ABOVE, admonishes us to keep looking down.
in contrast to the popular exhortation to 'KEEP LOOKING UP' (from ourselves to Christ), we are to 'KEEP LOOKING DOWN' (from our position in Him)upon our circumstances here on earth.
this gives us the proper perspective on all things.
in this, we are guided by the Holy Spirit, and S shows what that consists of, as well as what he thinks it does not consist of, namely healing and tongues speaking. 'the modern 'gifts of tongues and healing have a common source. they are not of the Spirit, but of the flesh, and function primarily in the realm of the nervous system. (note - I have never received these gifts but am, at the beginning of reading this book, not quite sure what is stated here...)
S ends his series with a four point summary of what he is trying to say.
in the whole of the Christian life is comprehended.
LIVE POSITIONALLY: 'Crucified, Risen, Seated' (Gal. 2.20; Eph. 2.6)
LIVE POSITIVELY: 'Fully Persuaded' (Rom. 14.5)
LIVE POSSESSIVELY: 'All Things Are Yours' (II Corinthians 3.21)
LIVE LIVE TRIUMPHANTLY: 'More Than Conquerors (Romans 8.37)
Chapter 1 - FAITH
3..the Holy Spirit had paul write to each of us, 'Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith. II cor. 13.5a, and the recommendation is certainly not out of order at the inception of this series of studies. first of all, we must remind ourselves that 'without faith it is impossible to please Him', Hebrews 11.6a
moreover, and this is all-important, true faith must be based solely on scriptural FACTS, for 'faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10.17 unless our faith is established on facts, it is no more than conjecture, superstition, speculation or presumption.
Heb 11.1 leaves no question regarding this:
'Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
faith standing on the facts of the Word of God substantiates and gives evidence of things not seen.
all of us started on this principle when we were born again - our belief stood directly on the eternal fact of the redeeming death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I cor. 15.1-4
this is the faith by which we began and it is the same faith by which we are to 'stand' (I cor. 16.13) and 'walk' (II cor. 5.7) and 'live' (galatians 2.20b) 'as ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him. Colossians 2.6
since true faith is anchored on scriptural facts, WE ARE CERTAINLY NOT TO BE INFLUENCED BY IMPRESSIONS. George Mueller said, 'impressions have neither one thing nor the other to do 4 with faith. faith has to do with the Word of God. it is not impressions, strong or weak, which will make the difference. we have to do with the Written Word and not ourselves or our impressions.
then, too, PROBABILITIES are the big temptation when it comes to exercising faith.
to often the attitude is, 'it doesn't seem probable that he will ever be saved.
the way things are going, I wonder if the Lord really loves me.
but Mueller wrote , 'many people are willing to believe regarding those things that seem probable to them. faith has nothing to do with probabilities. the province of faith begins where probabilities cease and sight and sense fail. APPEARANCES ARE NOT TO BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT. THE QUESTION IS - WHETHER GOD HAS SPOKEN IT IN HIS WORD.
Alexander R. Hay adds to this by saying, 'FAITH MUST BE BASED UPON CERTAINTY.
THERE MUST BE DEFINITE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD'S PURPOSE AND WILL. without that there can be no true faith. for
faith is not a force that we exercise or a striving to believe that something shall come to pass.
that may be positive thinking, but certainly not biblical faith.
Evan Hopkins writes: 'FAITH NEEDS FACTS TO REST UPON. presumption can take fancy instead of fact. God in His Word reveals to us the facts with which faith has to deal'. it is on this basis that J. B. Stoney can say, 'REAL FAITH IS ALWAYS INCREASED BY OPPOSITION,
WHILE FALSE CONFIDENCE IS DAMAGED AND DISCOURAGED BY IT.'
there can be no steadfastness apart from immovable facts. Peter's burden was,
'that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. I peter 1.7
once we begin to reckon (COUNT) on facts, our Father begins to build us up in the faith. from his profoundly simple trust in God. Mueller was able to say that 'god delights to increase the faith of his children. WE OUGHT, INSTEAD OF WANTING NO TRIALS BEFORE VICTORY, NO EXERCISE FOR PATIENCE, TO BE WILLING TO TAKE THEM FROM GOD'S HAND AS A MEANS. I say - and say it
5 deliberately - trials, obstacles, difficulties and sometimes defeats, are the very food of faith.
on this same subject, James McConkey write: 'FAITH IS DEPENDENCE UPON GOD. and this God-dependence ONLY BEGINS WHEN SELF-DEPENDENCE ENDS. and self-dependence only comes to its end, with some of us, when sorrow, suffering, affliction, broken plans and hopes bring us to that place of self-helplessness and defeat. and only then do we find that we have learned the lesson of faith; to find our tiny craft of life rushing onward to a blessed victory of life and power and service undreamt of in the days of our fleshly strength and self-reliance.
J. B. Stoney agrees by saying, 'IT IS A GREAT THING TO LEARN FAITH: THAT IS, SIMPLY DEPENDENCE UPON GOD. it will comfort you much to be assured that the lord is teaching yo dependence upon Himself, and IT IS VERY REMARKABLE THAT FAITH IS NECESSARY IN EVERYTHING.
'the just shall live by faith' not only in your circumstances, but in everything. I believe the Lord allows many things to happen on purpose to make us feel our need of Him. the more you find Him in your sorrows or wants the more you will be attached to Him and drawn away from this place where the sorrows are, to Him in the place where He is'. 'set your affection on things above. Colossians 3.2a
actually, WE CANNOT TRUST ANYONE FURTHER THAN WE KNOW HIM. so we must not only learn the facts involved, but must always intimately come to know the One who presents and upholds them!
'and this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent'. john 17.3
'grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, according as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature'. II peter 1.2-4
1.24.2017 INCAPABLE OF SHAME? by Marvin Olasky
World Magazine, 1.21.2017
in The Death's Head Chess Club, a new novel by John Donaghue, chess player Emil arrives at the Auschwitz concentration camp with his family. soon his wife is in one line for women able to work. he is with men able to work. his two small sons, with their grandmother, are in a third line.
the scene continues: 'Emil is anxious about his two boys, but the officer tells him not to worry...the children will be sent to the family camp, where they will be cared for by those who are too old for manual labor. he says it with the weary calmness of a man who has given this reassurance a hundred times before. it has the ring of normality, of truth. but...in a Auschwitz, 'family' means death'.
guards march away the children and the aged. 'Emil mouths a quiet , 'Au revoir, to his children. 'be good for Granny'. he does not know he will never see them again'. they and grandma go to the gas chamber and then 'up the chimney', as their corpses are burned. months later Emil is 'crying, inconsolably. 'My children, my children, he wails...my beautiful boys... I don't even have a photograph of them. I can't remember what they look like'.
Six million Jews died and others as well. this year we're on track to hit 60 million aborted babies since the Roe v. Wade decision on Jan, 22, 1973. ten times as many. the four year Holocaust began in earnest in 1941, when German armies headed east and paramilitary units conducted mass shootings of Jews, maybe including my great-grandparents. we're now at 44 years since Roe v. Wade, 11 times as many.
it you're an abortion advocate and you're reading this now, you're probably angry at such a comparison. you might point out that pro-life people generally allow for abortion in those (very rare) cases when it's needed to save the life of the mother. you might point out that the penalties for abortionists when their practice was illegal were not the same as the penalties for murdering born humans.
and I'd agree with you that the Holocaust in its wholesale evil -starting in 1942, crowding men, women and children into a closed room and wafting in poison gas - provides a more brutal picture than the current abortion retail trade, where an unborn child floats peacefully in protected space, until needles and knives suddenly invade.
nevertheless, think of what samantha Power, concluding her time as US ambassador to the UN, said last month as parents holding babies in blood-soaked blankets picked their way past corpses in the streets of Aleppo. syria. she asked the Assad regime and its Russian enablers,
'Are you truly incapable of shame?
is there literally nothing that can shame you?
is there no act of barbarism against civilians, no execution of a child, that gets under your skin, that just creeps you out a little bit?
we should say not only to abortionists but to all their enablers - justices, politicians, propagandists, and bystanders - what Powers said: 'denying or obfuscating the facts, as you will do today - saying up is down, black is white - will not absolve you. when one day there is a full accounting of the horrors committed in this assault of aleppo )substitute: abortion) - and that day will come, sooner or later - you will not be able to say you did not know what was happening. you will not be able to say you were not involved. we all know what is happening. and we all know you are involved'.
as many have said, a single death is a tragedy, a thousand deaths a statistic - but at some point big numbers become grotesque.
6,000,000 Holocaust deaths.
60,000,000 US abortions.
an estimated 56,000,000 induced abortions worldwide each year.
when do these numbers creep us out - at least a little bit?
My beautiful boys, Emil mourns: 'I can't remember what they look like'.
we do know what aborted babies cut apart in their sanctuaries look like
Jan. 20,1942: that's when senior Nazi officials met in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee and planned what they thought would be the 'Final solution of the Jewish Question'. Jan. 22, 1973: that's when seven Supreme Court justices agreed to the mass killing of unborn children. now cemented: the infamy of those two dates. still being poured: this January's cement...
in The Death's Head Chess Club, a new novel by John Donaghue, chess player Emil arrives at the Auschwitz concentration camp with his family. soon his wife is in one line for women able to work. he is with men able to work. his two small sons, with their grandmother, are in a third line.
the scene continues: 'Emil is anxious about his two boys, but the officer tells him not to worry...the children will be sent to the family camp, where they will be cared for by those who are too old for manual labor. he says it with the weary calmness of a man who has given this reassurance a hundred times before. it has the ring of normality, of truth. but...in a Auschwitz, 'family' means death'.
guards march away the children and the aged. 'Emil mouths a quiet , 'Au revoir, to his children. 'be good for Granny'. he does not know he will never see them again'. they and grandma go to the gas chamber and then 'up the chimney', as their corpses are burned. months later Emil is 'crying, inconsolably. 'My children, my children, he wails...my beautiful boys... I don't even have a photograph of them. I can't remember what they look like'.
Six million Jews died and others as well. this year we're on track to hit 60 million aborted babies since the Roe v. Wade decision on Jan, 22, 1973. ten times as many. the four year Holocaust began in earnest in 1941, when German armies headed east and paramilitary units conducted mass shootings of Jews, maybe including my great-grandparents. we're now at 44 years since Roe v. Wade, 11 times as many.
it you're an abortion advocate and you're reading this now, you're probably angry at such a comparison. you might point out that pro-life people generally allow for abortion in those (very rare) cases when it's needed to save the life of the mother. you might point out that the penalties for abortionists when their practice was illegal were not the same as the penalties for murdering born humans.
and I'd agree with you that the Holocaust in its wholesale evil -starting in 1942, crowding men, women and children into a closed room and wafting in poison gas - provides a more brutal picture than the current abortion retail trade, where an unborn child floats peacefully in protected space, until needles and knives suddenly invade.
nevertheless, think of what samantha Power, concluding her time as US ambassador to the UN, said last month as parents holding babies in blood-soaked blankets picked their way past corpses in the streets of Aleppo. syria. she asked the Assad regime and its Russian enablers,
'Are you truly incapable of shame?
is there literally nothing that can shame you?
is there no act of barbarism against civilians, no execution of a child, that gets under your skin, that just creeps you out a little bit?
we should say not only to abortionists but to all their enablers - justices, politicians, propagandists, and bystanders - what Powers said: 'denying or obfuscating the facts, as you will do today - saying up is down, black is white - will not absolve you. when one day there is a full accounting of the horrors committed in this assault of aleppo )substitute: abortion) - and that day will come, sooner or later - you will not be able to say you did not know what was happening. you will not be able to say you were not involved. we all know what is happening. and we all know you are involved'.
as many have said, a single death is a tragedy, a thousand deaths a statistic - but at some point big numbers become grotesque.
6,000,000 Holocaust deaths.
60,000,000 US abortions.
an estimated 56,000,000 induced abortions worldwide each year.
when do these numbers creep us out - at least a little bit?
My beautiful boys, Emil mourns: 'I can't remember what they look like'.
we do know what aborted babies cut apart in their sanctuaries look like
Jan. 20,1942: that's when senior Nazi officials met in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee and planned what they thought would be the 'Final solution of the Jewish Question'. Jan. 22, 1973: that's when seven Supreme Court justices agreed to the mass killing of unborn children. now cemented: the infamy of those two dates. still being poured: this January's cement...
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
1.18.2017 THE STORY OF SKI-ING (1952) by Arnold Lunn
(note...this was a difficult book to summarize but hopefully gives a better understanding of ski-ing in its real life and sporting usages...)
17 the fist recorded ski competition in history was held in Christiania (now Oslo) in 1767 and was a military competitiion. the programme included those who could fire their rifles at full speed, fo those who could 'best descend a steep slope without riding or leaning on their sticts' and also a kind of primitive Slalom 'for those who on a modrately steep slope can ski between bushes without falling or braking their ski during the desccent.
the undisputed birth of ski-ing as a competitive sport really dates from the sixties in Norwayh and from about 1870 in California. the first systematic jumping meeting was held on the Huseby
20 in 1689 an Austrian writer, Valvasor by name, published a book (on ski-ing)..in the course of which he described the peasnnt skiers of Frain, in Carniola, an Austrian provice near the Adriatic. the skiers used short ski,about 5 feet long. 'no mountain is too steep or too overgrown with big trees to prevent them ski-ing down it; they wind and twist aout like a snake. but if, ..the ground was open, they ran straight, leaning back on their sticks, firmly and stiffly as if they had no limbs or joints to their bodies'. Valvasor had not seen any other skiers but he knew that the lapps used sik and he mentions thae sealskins which they used. 'but though the peasants of Krain have not the advantage of the reindeer attachments, they do not thereby lose any speed in their descent'. from which it is a fair deduction that Valvasor was imperfectly acquainted with the use of sealskins.
the tradition of ski-ing was never broken in Carniola. why then did not ski-ing spread from one mountain valley to the next? in my lifetime I have seen ski-ing spread like a prairie fire throughout the Alps. I have witnessed the transformation of Alpine ski-ing from a port of a few eccentrics into the greatest and most popular of national sports. nothing could stop the triumphant march of ski-ing once it had been fairly launched in the Alps. why was it left to those of my generation to develop Alpine ski-ing? I have no clue to this mystery. and i find it equally impossible to undersatnd why the many Scandinavians who spent a winter or more in the mountainous regions of central Europe did not bring skis with them and introduce this great sport to the Austrians or the Swiss or the Bavarians or the Savoyards. Ski-ing, as we have seen, is older than recorded history in the north. thousands of central europeans visited Scandinavia. whey did no Swiss and no Austrian bring back skis to their native countries? the mystery is insoluble.
Ski-in in central Europe has, so far, passed through three clearly distinct phases.
21 1. the NORWEGIAN period during which the books, the personal example, and the instruction of Norwegians was decisive.
2. the ALPINE period during which the development of ski-ing was, in the main, influenced by ski-ers who were natives of or who, like Vivian Caulfeild, spent their winters in the Alps. Zdarsky, Bilgeri and Hannes Schneider of Austria; Hans Klopfenstein and Dahinden of Switzerland; and Vivian Caufeild of Great Britain were the principal architects of Alpine ski-ing. in recent times Emil Allais (France) had also had a decisive influence.
3. the BRITISH period which overlaps with the second half of the Alpine period, the period in which the British revolutionized competitive ski-ing by the introduction of the Slalom and by securing recognition for Downhill. all branches of ski-ing were profoundly affected by the veto on stick-riding which the British for the first time introduced into Downhill racing.
23 The State of Ski-ing at the turn of the century.
I first put on ski at Chamonix in 1898. my father, the late Sir Henry Lunn and founder of the Travel Agency which still bears his name, had organized a party to Chamonix in the winter of 1898-9. he had ordered 6 pairs of skis from Switzerland and engaged a Swiss guide who was alleged to know something of the art. it was only in the previous year that skis had first been introduced to Chamonix by Dr. Payhot, the local doctor, who used them for visiting his patients. my father gave me the smallest pair and i followed Dr. Stiven, of Harrow and three or four other English visitors and the Swiss guide to a snow and the Swiss guide to a snow slope outside the town. small boys made derisive remarks.
there was a hold in the ski just under the place where the toes rested, and a strap was passed through this hole and through two rings. the foot was more or less kept in position by a large can heel-strap which, in turn, was prevented from slipping down by a lace which passed round the ankle. if one had tried sharply, which none of us did, one's foot came off the ski. we used one long pole without a disk.
there were no special ski boots. I made all my first experiments in ordinary London boots and when I began to tour 4 years later I was still ski-ing in London boots. part of the routine of a day's tour was to remove one's boots and rub one's frozen feet in snow. I once had the pleasure of watching the boot which I had taken off slide down a slope of hard crusted snow and disappear from view. that was in January, 1903, on the top of the Schwandfehlspitz above Adel boden. my guide immediately started off on a search party and I have passed few more anxious hours in the alps than that bootless hour on this "adelboden summit. I have often wondered how I would have got down if my guide had failed to recover the boot.
in those early days our only method of reducing speed or of making gradual changes of direction was to lean heavily on the stick. it was not until Rickmers came to Adelboden, as an apostle for Zdarsky, that I first saw continuous downhill S-turning and that was in the winter of 1903-4. and it was not until much later that I was taken on a small expedition to see a Swiss who, so it was alleged. could perform the turn which the Norwegians call a 'telemark'. the first German paper consecrated to ski-ing led off with the following helpful advice. 'the runners let the ski carry them where they will until the air acts as a natural brake and brings them to rest'. an even more artless variation of this theme was quoted by Zdarsky from the Wiener Fremdenblatt:
on the descent the ski-runner leans back on his stick and shuts his eyes. then he darts downward, straight as an arrow and continues until he can no longer
24 breathe. he then throws himself sideways on the snow and waits until he regains his breath and then once again hurls himself downwards till one more he loses his breath and throws himself on the snow and so forth until he reaches the valley.
here, again, is an extract from A Pleasure Book of Grindelwald (1903): you must hold your legs very firm and use the pole to counteract changes in speed...men pretend to have seen Dr. Nansen come ski-ing poleless and at full speed over a glacier and stop short on the brink of a crevasse by pressing his knees inward so as to press outwards against the snow with the soles of his skis. for my part I am willing to wait and begin to cultivate this accomplishment when I have something more than hearsay for a guide.
it is only against the background of facts such as these that the greatness of Zdarsky's achievement can be fully measured, for Z, the eccentric Austrian, was the real father of alpine ski-ing.
Mathias Zdarsky (1874-1946) was a man of private means. in his youth he achieved distinction as a gymnast; he was a guideless climber of great experience and a traveller with some adventurous journeys in Africa to his credit. in 1889 he retired to his mountain hermitage of Habernreith. 2 yerars later the German translation of Nansen's book transformed him into a skier, by for this first winters he skied alone and never saw another skier. after experimenting with a variety of bindings he eventually designed the ski and the Lilienfeld bindings which took their name from Lilienfeld near Habernreith.
Z had a touch of genius and more than a touch of endearing eccentricity.
'never having allowed anyone to serve him, writes W.R. Rickmers, an ardent disciple, 'neither for love nor for money, but ever ready to serve others, he has become a master of all humble trades. he built the house in which he lived and is its only cook and housemaid. he is equally quick with the axe and knitting needle, and from him we learned methods of making tea and washing up which, while saving time and material, carry the fastidiousness of the palace into the explorer's narrow camp. the most menial duties of the day he endows with a halo of thought; the most common movements of man he has patiently plied with the why, the wherefore and the how of theory. as a genius of expedients and makeshifts he can have few rivals, combining as he does something of the practical craft of the savage with a practical knowledge of modern engineering received at a technical college'.
Z gave gratuitous instruction every Sunday to a motley collection of students, professional me, civil servants, etc., who spent their Sundays learning to ski. he attributed his success as a teacher to 'iron discipline which recognizes no distinction of sex, age or social rank'.
25 'it is, writes A, the most primitive rule of conduct, that of two people who have dealings with each other one must be the Speaker , the other the Listener. and there was no doubt which of these roles he himself favoured.
Z's ski were short and grooveless, which made them very unsteady for straight running. the bindings were made of steel and the point of revolution was in front of the toe. a spring prevented the foot going forward too quickly, but the tendency of such a binding was to encourage rucklage. Z used a single diskless pole and the deliberate use of the pole to help out turning and to keep the speed down when running straight was encouraged. 'the stick', he writes, 'must never be used as a support but rather as an instrument to grope or feel with. the weight of the body should never rest heavily on the stick. the trailing of the stick behind one produces in a short time a remarkably steady position in emergencies the stick can at one be made use of'. precisely, and in emergencies the skier who trails a single stick will always used it as a brake.
the Lilienfeld style has disappeared. the modern binding is the very antithesis to the Lilienfeld binding. the comparatively short grooveless ski never really established itself outside the immediate circle of the faithful disciples and the veto on the use of the stick to brake is absolute. none the less to the historian, Z will never be dethroned from his position as father of Alpine ski-ing. nobody would suggest that he was the first man to discover S-turning, that is, continuous running downhill turns, as opposed uphill stop-turns. S-turning will always develop where the terrain is sufficiently steep, but not where, as in most parts of Norway, slopes are gentle. Balvasor's description of the peasants of Krain who 'wind and twist about like a snake', clearly suggests that the art of S-turning was know in 17th century Carniola. it is certain that the art was known in Norway when Z published his first book, but it is equally certain that most Norwegians had never even seen 4 continuous S-turns. the brilliant young Norwegian who skied with me in 1930 admitted that I was the first skier whom he had seen put in 4 running turns on a steep slope. E.C. Richardsson, the father of British ski-ing, learned to ski in Norway, but when he saw Rickmers S-turning down the steep hill opposite the Cresta he was deeply impressed and admitted that 'it was Mr. Rickmers who first put me on to the track of these things'.
neither on my first nor my second visit to Norway (1909 and 1930) did I see a single S-turn track. it may be an overstatement to assert, as did Dr. Arnold Ranck, the author of the book which first popularized the Arlberg school, that Adarsky 'did discover something new in the principle of a series of continuous stemming turns', but he certainly rediscovered
26 and emphasized the importance of S-turning and was the first to produce an intelligible analysis of a stemming turn. 'some of his analysis of technique', wrote Vivian Caulfield, 'was extraordinarily keen. e.g. he noticed that weak edging (as distinct from either strong edging or complete flattening) is the right ski-adjustment for turning...
29 Z deserves to be remembered not only for his actual discoveries but also for his crusading spirit which converted thousands to the sport. he laid the secure foundations on which other great Austrians, notably Colonel Bilgeri and Hannes Schneider, were to build. and like all great leaders of men he possessed the magnetic gift of evoking selfless devotion and unquestioning loyalty. no new movement has much chance of success unless it is proclaimed by a fanatic whose faith in his cause is only surpassed by his faith in his own infallibility and who has the power to inspire others with his own faith.
47 in the Club Year Book for 1912 E. C. Richardson wrote a report of the third International Ski Congress at which there was a discussion on 'Slalom, Obstacle and Style Races'. Herr Weber, a Swiss runner, alluded to the difficulties of judging style competitions and spoke somewhat contemptuously of 'Slalom races' as 'salon races'. the general view was that all such races should be abandoned. a year after the International Congress I published a book, Ski-ing, which contains the firs advocacy in print of a pure Downhill race with a veto on stick-braking as the soundest method of testing alpine racing.
48 the style competition at our first Downhill championship had been a failure, but I did not abandon my search for a competition which would test qualities which were inadequately tested in Downhill racing, in January, 1920, I offered a cup for a new type of competition. candidates were taken on a day's tour and were marked on technique, Downhill turning, power to pick a good line, etc. the alpine Ski Cup was won by E. C. Pery, now the Earl of Limerick. next year the cup was run on similar lines and was won by R.B. McConnell, J,A.Joanides being second.
after the competition had been held Joannides described a Slalom at Klosters in which he had competed and suggested that I should substitute a Slalom for the rather indefinite type of competition in which he had just taken part. I had seen something of the central European Slalom and been unimpressed. I did not like marks for style, for style in ski-ing is not as in skating, an end itself but a means to an end and that end the maximum speed combined with steadiness. furthermore, the result of a Swiss Slalom, which was always held on natural snow, depended on the luck of the draw. 'No. I' who did his turns in untracked snow had obviously more chance of placing a neat Telemark (def - track of the lead ski) near a flag than the man who ran down last. in those days it was assumed that races would be held on natural snow, the artificial preparation of a piste being one of the blessings which the future had reserved for us.
suddenly it occurred to me that if a Slalom were divided into 2 parts and if the first part were held on the nursery slopes and if the winner on the first part ran first on the much longer soft-snow second part, the advantage of untracked snow would be a prize to be competed for and not the privilege due to luck in the draw.
but once I had decided to give the Slalom a trial, I introduced revolutionary changes which completely altered its character. nothing but the name remained as a link between the old Slalom and the new.
49 these changes may be enumerated as follows:
1. in the old Slalom competitors were marked for style. the new Slalom was to be a race pure and simple.
2. the course was defined, not as in the old Slalom by single flags, ROUND which the competitors had to turn, but by double flags, 'Gates' THROUGH which they had to turn.
3. in the old Slalom competitors were often asked to do a particular turn at a paticular flag. in the new Slalom speed was the determining factor and competitors could do any turn, including if they wished, a kick-turn.
4. finally the most important innovation, an innovation which sharply differentiates the new Slalom from the Zdarsky Torlauf, was explained in the first article ever written about the new Slalom, an article which was published in the T.S.Y.B for 1922. 'the usual way of arranging the flags seems to me wrong. the flags are arranged at points where an average runner will find it CONVENIENT to turn'. in the new Slalom the 'Gates' were arranged to force the racer to make every variety of turn, long and sweeping, short and abrupt. one of the diagrams in this article shows what is now know as a 'Corridor'.
the first modern Slalom was held at Murren on 1.6.1922 and was won by J. A. Joannides; second, R.B.McConnell; and third, Dame Katherine Furse, G.B.E. from that day onward the Alpine ski Challenge Cup has been awarded for Slalom racing and is today the world's senior challenge up for the most popular of all forms of competitive ski-ing.
68 Norwegian Skiers before the Kandahar (named for a town in Afghanistan!? p52) Revolution
it must be difficult for the modern Norwegian ski-runner to believe that there was a time, not so very long ago, when the aesthetic criterion was only valid in Jumping. in Jumping style was all-important and jumps were (and still are) marked not only for length but also for style. but, apart from Jumping, ski-ing was regarded as a means of getting about that country. HOW you got from point to point did not matter, provided that you got there as soon as possible. and as speed across country was far more influenced by your climbing than by your descending speed, for you could gain minutes on the climb as opposed to seconds on the descent, the best technique downhill was to economize effort and to save your strength for the next section of climb.
here is a significant quotation from the official booklet issued by the Norwegian Ski Association which contains instructions to race officials and also to competitors:
'AFTER LONG AND DIFFICULT ASCENTS, AN EASY DESCENT SHOULD BE PLANNED SO THAT THE RUNNERS MAY OBTAIN REST.
and here a word of timely advice to the competitors:
'WHEN GOING DOWNHILL ONE SHOULD REGAIN THE BREATH AND REST AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. AVOID FALLING AS IT BOTH FATIGUES AND LOWERS THE SPIRITS.'
at that period ski-ing to the Scandinavian meant ski-hiking. it is only recently, as Count Hamilton reminded us, that ski-ing in Scandinavia was regarded as a sport to be pursued for it won sake and not as a means of communication. a short run downhill was restful to tired muscles but not real ski-ing. Frank Ziegler, who visited Norway in 1935, managed to persuade a young Norwegian airman to take him up the one real hill near Zillerham. they climbed for an hour and a half and when they reached the summit the young Norwegian said, 'Well, it's all over. a pity isn't it?
the ski-instructor pointed out the distant Jotunheim. 'they must be fine ski-ing country, Zeigler exclaimed. 'not so good as here, was the reply, 'the mountains are too steep'. in those days Norwegians did not seek out steep ground. on my first visit to Norway in 1908 I saw no tracks on the steeper slopes round Finse or Bessheim and no evidence whatever that the Norwegians had mastered the art of continuous S-turning. on my return to Finse in March, 1930, Count Hamilton drew my attention to the ski-tracks on the surrounding slopes. 'here you see the contrast..between alpine ans Scandinavian ski-ing. observe
69 that the steep ground is practically left untouched. there are no tracks of stunt straight runs and no S-turn tracks. all the tracks are straight lines, DOWN the gradual and ACROSS the steep slopes'.
Frank Ziegler noticed that the routes at Finse in 1935, which were marked with sticks as a precaution against blizzards, 'were arranged in the Norwegian idiom ignoring with the one big exception of the Hardangerjokel all the likely looking slopes and hills appealing to the downhill runner'. on the following Sunday Ziegler watched 200 Norwegians of both sexes descending one point of the Jokel 'at which it is necessary to perform a downhill turn at fair speed'.
'their narrow ski were considerably slower than our own. most of them tried at this critial point to make them still slower by braking with their sticks. while a few of them definitely got out of control and feel, others managed the turn either slowly by using their sticks as a rudder or else by stepping round at a much higher speed than I had ever seen a step turn executed before. I DID NOT SEE THEN, OR AT ANY OTHER TIME, IN NORWAY A SINGLE SKID TURN PERFORMED BY A NORWEIGIAN.
Ziegler summed up his conclusions about the Norwegian attitude to ski-ing as follows:
1. a good ski-runner is a man who can show a good time over a long distance. a man who is only fast downhill will not gain as much time as a man who is only fast uphill and is therefore the worse ski-runner.
2. no particular importance being attached to downhill running, the correct method of doing so is to choose a place where the hill can be taken straight at a comfortable speed, without the necessity of turning.
3. equipment is that suitable for level and uphill work. Norwegians therefore use very light narrow ski (which would be difficult for skid-turning) and waxes which are fast uphill and not very fast downhill.
4. to study ski-ing turns is about as sensible as to study walking turns.
Ziegler, be it noted, visited Norway 4 years AFTER the FIS had accepted the British rules for Downhill and Slalom racing. a year before Z's visit Anthony, Viscount Knebworth, was chosen by the S.C.G.B. in reply to an official invitation to send a representative to Sweden. Knebworth did not meet the leaders of the new and active Downhill racing school, but he was entrusted to the care of a guide who proved to be a fine guardian of conservative Scandinavian traditions. on arrival at Storlien, Knebworth was taken up the little hill behind the hotel. I know that hill for in 1930 I was escorted to it as being exactly my cup of tea. it was, as Knebworth said, 'about half as steep as the bottom of Martha's meadow at Murren'.
the guide pointed down it and uttered the monumental word 'Slalom'. I felt that something was expected and so lifted a peaceful stem round one of the birch trees and, then, as the guide shot past me, followed him into the mist.
70 after about 10 seconds of gentle slope, we came to a broadish bank about twice the length and three-quarters the steepness of 'Claud's Gully'. and that was that. I said it was delightful and so we walked up and slid down again twice. he kept on asking me to do a turn and was enchanted when I tried a Gelandesprung and fell into a bush. I subsequently discovered 1. that this was the Slalom ground of Storlien, 2. that it was scorned by the proper skiers, 3. that, though looking upon this kind of thing as a kindergarten amusement, the great men had a sneaking admiration for it and thought it slightly dangerous and 4. that the guide reported on me as something of a phenomenon.
our first ally in Scandinavia was CountC.G.D.Hamilton, hon, secretary of the FIS. He had, from the first, followed with sympathy the Kandahar revolution as described in the pages of the British Ski Year Book, and had contributed to that periodical an article on ski-ing in Sweden. 'do not think', he had written , 'that I would undervalue Downhill running. on the contrary. it has always been a great grief to me to see how the ordinary Swedish skier avoids the steep slopes and keeps to the low lines of the country and I am quite aware that it is a great drawback to our ski-ing education that so few of us master even the elements of Alpine technique'.
after the FIS Congress in St. Moritz Count Hamilton alone among the members of the Committee had sufficient Zetesis to visit the headquarters of alpine racing and to find out for himself what value to attach to the British claims. 'Murren, wrote Count Hamilton to a friend of mine, 'interested me far more than any aspect of ski-ing that i have seen in recent years'. in an article which he contributed to the Schnee-hase , the organ of the S.A.S., he wrote:
I have had every opportunity of watching Lapps ski-ing both among the mountains and in the woods. I have been filled with admiration for their skill, but I must admit that I admired even more the skill of Dr. Amstutz and Bracken whom I saw ski-ing at Murren. I must, however, make the reservation that the Lapps, of course, with their loose skis and primitive equipment, reach the limits of what is possible much sooner that those who are provided with the best possible material...
the incredible skill which I admired at Murren awakened a great interest in downhill racing...
the Swedes were the first Scandinavians to concede that Alpine skiers who, to quote Count Hamilton, 'originally took its ski-ing from the north had also added something new, characteristics which we must take over'. mr. C. Nordenson, the editor of the Swedish Ski Year Book, an athlete and a scholar, published many articles on Alpine ski-ing at a time when the subject was anathema to more conservative of Nordic skiers....
71 ...He wrote: 'it was an alluring thought to come to Switzerland as a Norwegian and show these newcomers to our sport what ski-ing really was...we laugh at English ski-ing and say that the english only take trains uphill and come down the nursery slopes behind the hotels and practise a lot of peculiar twists and turns and we think they understand nothing of what ski-ing really is. this was how I looked at things when i arrived there in blissful ignorance.
he then continued that 'the name Downhill racing gives an average Norwegian a very faulty conception of what happens. this is natural as we conceive of hills as hills and not as practically vertical drops. I stood at the different points where the races started and felt quite giddy looking down. TO GET DOWN IN OUR USUAL NORWEGIAN WAY WAS QUITE OUT OF THE QUESTION - that would be tempting Providence too much... The Roberts of Kandahar race was an imposing sight - to watch these plucky young englishmen coming down these steep hills with an incredible speed...it kindled in me an ambition to be able to master these hills as well as these men did. I had long ago given up the idea of being able to impress by my Norwegian knowledge of ski-ing. A generous tribute by a great Norwegian.
17 the fist recorded ski competition in history was held in Christiania (now Oslo) in 1767 and was a military competitiion. the programme included those who could fire their rifles at full speed, fo those who could 'best descend a steep slope without riding or leaning on their sticts' and also a kind of primitive Slalom 'for those who on a modrately steep slope can ski between bushes without falling or braking their ski during the desccent.
the undisputed birth of ski-ing as a competitive sport really dates from the sixties in Norwayh and from about 1870 in California. the first systematic jumping meeting was held on the Huseby
20 in 1689 an Austrian writer, Valvasor by name, published a book (on ski-ing)..in the course of which he described the peasnnt skiers of Frain, in Carniola, an Austrian provice near the Adriatic. the skiers used short ski,about 5 feet long. 'no mountain is too steep or too overgrown with big trees to prevent them ski-ing down it; they wind and twist aout like a snake. but if, ..the ground was open, they ran straight, leaning back on their sticks, firmly and stiffly as if they had no limbs or joints to their bodies'. Valvasor had not seen any other skiers but he knew that the lapps used sik and he mentions thae sealskins which they used. 'but though the peasants of Krain have not the advantage of the reindeer attachments, they do not thereby lose any speed in their descent'. from which it is a fair deduction that Valvasor was imperfectly acquainted with the use of sealskins.
the tradition of ski-ing was never broken in Carniola. why then did not ski-ing spread from one mountain valley to the next? in my lifetime I have seen ski-ing spread like a prairie fire throughout the Alps. I have witnessed the transformation of Alpine ski-ing from a port of a few eccentrics into the greatest and most popular of national sports. nothing could stop the triumphant march of ski-ing once it had been fairly launched in the Alps. why was it left to those of my generation to develop Alpine ski-ing? I have no clue to this mystery. and i find it equally impossible to undersatnd why the many Scandinavians who spent a winter or more in the mountainous regions of central Europe did not bring skis with them and introduce this great sport to the Austrians or the Swiss or the Bavarians or the Savoyards. Ski-ing, as we have seen, is older than recorded history in the north. thousands of central europeans visited Scandinavia. whey did no Swiss and no Austrian bring back skis to their native countries? the mystery is insoluble.
Ski-in in central Europe has, so far, passed through three clearly distinct phases.
21 1. the NORWEGIAN period during which the books, the personal example, and the instruction of Norwegians was decisive.
2. the ALPINE period during which the development of ski-ing was, in the main, influenced by ski-ers who were natives of or who, like Vivian Caulfeild, spent their winters in the Alps. Zdarsky, Bilgeri and Hannes Schneider of Austria; Hans Klopfenstein and Dahinden of Switzerland; and Vivian Caufeild of Great Britain were the principal architects of Alpine ski-ing. in recent times Emil Allais (France) had also had a decisive influence.
3. the BRITISH period which overlaps with the second half of the Alpine period, the period in which the British revolutionized competitive ski-ing by the introduction of the Slalom and by securing recognition for Downhill. all branches of ski-ing were profoundly affected by the veto on stick-riding which the British for the first time introduced into Downhill racing.
23 The State of Ski-ing at the turn of the century.
I first put on ski at Chamonix in 1898. my father, the late Sir Henry Lunn and founder of the Travel Agency which still bears his name, had organized a party to Chamonix in the winter of 1898-9. he had ordered 6 pairs of skis from Switzerland and engaged a Swiss guide who was alleged to know something of the art. it was only in the previous year that skis had first been introduced to Chamonix by Dr. Payhot, the local doctor, who used them for visiting his patients. my father gave me the smallest pair and i followed Dr. Stiven, of Harrow and three or four other English visitors and the Swiss guide to a snow and the Swiss guide to a snow slope outside the town. small boys made derisive remarks.
there was a hold in the ski just under the place where the toes rested, and a strap was passed through this hole and through two rings. the foot was more or less kept in position by a large can heel-strap which, in turn, was prevented from slipping down by a lace which passed round the ankle. if one had tried sharply, which none of us did, one's foot came off the ski. we used one long pole without a disk.
there were no special ski boots. I made all my first experiments in ordinary London boots and when I began to tour 4 years later I was still ski-ing in London boots. part of the routine of a day's tour was to remove one's boots and rub one's frozen feet in snow. I once had the pleasure of watching the boot which I had taken off slide down a slope of hard crusted snow and disappear from view. that was in January, 1903, on the top of the Schwandfehlspitz above Adel boden. my guide immediately started off on a search party and I have passed few more anxious hours in the alps than that bootless hour on this "adelboden summit. I have often wondered how I would have got down if my guide had failed to recover the boot.
in those early days our only method of reducing speed or of making gradual changes of direction was to lean heavily on the stick. it was not until Rickmers came to Adelboden, as an apostle for Zdarsky, that I first saw continuous downhill S-turning and that was in the winter of 1903-4. and it was not until much later that I was taken on a small expedition to see a Swiss who, so it was alleged. could perform the turn which the Norwegians call a 'telemark'. the first German paper consecrated to ski-ing led off with the following helpful advice. 'the runners let the ski carry them where they will until the air acts as a natural brake and brings them to rest'. an even more artless variation of this theme was quoted by Zdarsky from the Wiener Fremdenblatt:
on the descent the ski-runner leans back on his stick and shuts his eyes. then he darts downward, straight as an arrow and continues until he can no longer
24 breathe. he then throws himself sideways on the snow and waits until he regains his breath and then once again hurls himself downwards till one more he loses his breath and throws himself on the snow and so forth until he reaches the valley.
here, again, is an extract from A Pleasure Book of Grindelwald (1903): you must hold your legs very firm and use the pole to counteract changes in speed...men pretend to have seen Dr. Nansen come ski-ing poleless and at full speed over a glacier and stop short on the brink of a crevasse by pressing his knees inward so as to press outwards against the snow with the soles of his skis. for my part I am willing to wait and begin to cultivate this accomplishment when I have something more than hearsay for a guide.
it is only against the background of facts such as these that the greatness of Zdarsky's achievement can be fully measured, for Z, the eccentric Austrian, was the real father of alpine ski-ing.
Mathias Zdarsky (1874-1946) was a man of private means. in his youth he achieved distinction as a gymnast; he was a guideless climber of great experience and a traveller with some adventurous journeys in Africa to his credit. in 1889 he retired to his mountain hermitage of Habernreith. 2 yerars later the German translation of Nansen's book transformed him into a skier, by for this first winters he skied alone and never saw another skier. after experimenting with a variety of bindings he eventually designed the ski and the Lilienfeld bindings which took their name from Lilienfeld near Habernreith.
Z had a touch of genius and more than a touch of endearing eccentricity.
'never having allowed anyone to serve him, writes W.R. Rickmers, an ardent disciple, 'neither for love nor for money, but ever ready to serve others, he has become a master of all humble trades. he built the house in which he lived and is its only cook and housemaid. he is equally quick with the axe and knitting needle, and from him we learned methods of making tea and washing up which, while saving time and material, carry the fastidiousness of the palace into the explorer's narrow camp. the most menial duties of the day he endows with a halo of thought; the most common movements of man he has patiently plied with the why, the wherefore and the how of theory. as a genius of expedients and makeshifts he can have few rivals, combining as he does something of the practical craft of the savage with a practical knowledge of modern engineering received at a technical college'.
Z gave gratuitous instruction every Sunday to a motley collection of students, professional me, civil servants, etc., who spent their Sundays learning to ski. he attributed his success as a teacher to 'iron discipline which recognizes no distinction of sex, age or social rank'.
25 'it is, writes A, the most primitive rule of conduct, that of two people who have dealings with each other one must be the Speaker , the other the Listener. and there was no doubt which of these roles he himself favoured.
Z's ski were short and grooveless, which made them very unsteady for straight running. the bindings were made of steel and the point of revolution was in front of the toe. a spring prevented the foot going forward too quickly, but the tendency of such a binding was to encourage rucklage. Z used a single diskless pole and the deliberate use of the pole to help out turning and to keep the speed down when running straight was encouraged. 'the stick', he writes, 'must never be used as a support but rather as an instrument to grope or feel with. the weight of the body should never rest heavily on the stick. the trailing of the stick behind one produces in a short time a remarkably steady position in emergencies the stick can at one be made use of'. precisely, and in emergencies the skier who trails a single stick will always used it as a brake.
the Lilienfeld style has disappeared. the modern binding is the very antithesis to the Lilienfeld binding. the comparatively short grooveless ski never really established itself outside the immediate circle of the faithful disciples and the veto on the use of the stick to brake is absolute. none the less to the historian, Z will never be dethroned from his position as father of Alpine ski-ing. nobody would suggest that he was the first man to discover S-turning, that is, continuous running downhill turns, as opposed uphill stop-turns. S-turning will always develop where the terrain is sufficiently steep, but not where, as in most parts of Norway, slopes are gentle. Balvasor's description of the peasants of Krain who 'wind and twist about like a snake', clearly suggests that the art of S-turning was know in 17th century Carniola. it is certain that the art was known in Norway when Z published his first book, but it is equally certain that most Norwegians had never even seen 4 continuous S-turns. the brilliant young Norwegian who skied with me in 1930 admitted that I was the first skier whom he had seen put in 4 running turns on a steep slope. E.C. Richardsson, the father of British ski-ing, learned to ski in Norway, but when he saw Rickmers S-turning down the steep hill opposite the Cresta he was deeply impressed and admitted that 'it was Mr. Rickmers who first put me on to the track of these things'.
neither on my first nor my second visit to Norway (1909 and 1930) did I see a single S-turn track. it may be an overstatement to assert, as did Dr. Arnold Ranck, the author of the book which first popularized the Arlberg school, that Adarsky 'did discover something new in the principle of a series of continuous stemming turns', but he certainly rediscovered
26 and emphasized the importance of S-turning and was the first to produce an intelligible analysis of a stemming turn. 'some of his analysis of technique', wrote Vivian Caulfield, 'was extraordinarily keen. e.g. he noticed that weak edging (as distinct from either strong edging or complete flattening) is the right ski-adjustment for turning...
29 Z deserves to be remembered not only for his actual discoveries but also for his crusading spirit which converted thousands to the sport. he laid the secure foundations on which other great Austrians, notably Colonel Bilgeri and Hannes Schneider, were to build. and like all great leaders of men he possessed the magnetic gift of evoking selfless devotion and unquestioning loyalty. no new movement has much chance of success unless it is proclaimed by a fanatic whose faith in his cause is only surpassed by his faith in his own infallibility and who has the power to inspire others with his own faith.
47 in the Club Year Book for 1912 E. C. Richardson wrote a report of the third International Ski Congress at which there was a discussion on 'Slalom, Obstacle and Style Races'. Herr Weber, a Swiss runner, alluded to the difficulties of judging style competitions and spoke somewhat contemptuously of 'Slalom races' as 'salon races'. the general view was that all such races should be abandoned. a year after the International Congress I published a book, Ski-ing, which contains the firs advocacy in print of a pure Downhill race with a veto on stick-braking as the soundest method of testing alpine racing.
48 the style competition at our first Downhill championship had been a failure, but I did not abandon my search for a competition which would test qualities which were inadequately tested in Downhill racing, in January, 1920, I offered a cup for a new type of competition. candidates were taken on a day's tour and were marked on technique, Downhill turning, power to pick a good line, etc. the alpine Ski Cup was won by E. C. Pery, now the Earl of Limerick. next year the cup was run on similar lines and was won by R.B. McConnell, J,A.Joanides being second.
after the competition had been held Joannides described a Slalom at Klosters in which he had competed and suggested that I should substitute a Slalom for the rather indefinite type of competition in which he had just taken part. I had seen something of the central European Slalom and been unimpressed. I did not like marks for style, for style in ski-ing is not as in skating, an end itself but a means to an end and that end the maximum speed combined with steadiness. furthermore, the result of a Swiss Slalom, which was always held on natural snow, depended on the luck of the draw. 'No. I' who did his turns in untracked snow had obviously more chance of placing a neat Telemark (def - track of the lead ski) near a flag than the man who ran down last. in those days it was assumed that races would be held on natural snow, the artificial preparation of a piste being one of the blessings which the future had reserved for us.
suddenly it occurred to me that if a Slalom were divided into 2 parts and if the first part were held on the nursery slopes and if the winner on the first part ran first on the much longer soft-snow second part, the advantage of untracked snow would be a prize to be competed for and not the privilege due to luck in the draw.
but once I had decided to give the Slalom a trial, I introduced revolutionary changes which completely altered its character. nothing but the name remained as a link between the old Slalom and the new.
49 these changes may be enumerated as follows:
1. in the old Slalom competitors were marked for style. the new Slalom was to be a race pure and simple.
2. the course was defined, not as in the old Slalom by single flags, ROUND which the competitors had to turn, but by double flags, 'Gates' THROUGH which they had to turn.
3. in the old Slalom competitors were often asked to do a particular turn at a paticular flag. in the new Slalom speed was the determining factor and competitors could do any turn, including if they wished, a kick-turn.
4. finally the most important innovation, an innovation which sharply differentiates the new Slalom from the Zdarsky Torlauf, was explained in the first article ever written about the new Slalom, an article which was published in the T.S.Y.B for 1922. 'the usual way of arranging the flags seems to me wrong. the flags are arranged at points where an average runner will find it CONVENIENT to turn'. in the new Slalom the 'Gates' were arranged to force the racer to make every variety of turn, long and sweeping, short and abrupt. one of the diagrams in this article shows what is now know as a 'Corridor'.
the first modern Slalom was held at Murren on 1.6.1922 and was won by J. A. Joannides; second, R.B.McConnell; and third, Dame Katherine Furse, G.B.E. from that day onward the Alpine ski Challenge Cup has been awarded for Slalom racing and is today the world's senior challenge up for the most popular of all forms of competitive ski-ing.
68 Norwegian Skiers before the Kandahar (named for a town in Afghanistan!? p52) Revolution
it must be difficult for the modern Norwegian ski-runner to believe that there was a time, not so very long ago, when the aesthetic criterion was only valid in Jumping. in Jumping style was all-important and jumps were (and still are) marked not only for length but also for style. but, apart from Jumping, ski-ing was regarded as a means of getting about that country. HOW you got from point to point did not matter, provided that you got there as soon as possible. and as speed across country was far more influenced by your climbing than by your descending speed, for you could gain minutes on the climb as opposed to seconds on the descent, the best technique downhill was to economize effort and to save your strength for the next section of climb.
here is a significant quotation from the official booklet issued by the Norwegian Ski Association which contains instructions to race officials and also to competitors:
'AFTER LONG AND DIFFICULT ASCENTS, AN EASY DESCENT SHOULD BE PLANNED SO THAT THE RUNNERS MAY OBTAIN REST.
and here a word of timely advice to the competitors:
'WHEN GOING DOWNHILL ONE SHOULD REGAIN THE BREATH AND REST AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. AVOID FALLING AS IT BOTH FATIGUES AND LOWERS THE SPIRITS.'
at that period ski-ing to the Scandinavian meant ski-hiking. it is only recently, as Count Hamilton reminded us, that ski-ing in Scandinavia was regarded as a sport to be pursued for it won sake and not as a means of communication. a short run downhill was restful to tired muscles but not real ski-ing. Frank Ziegler, who visited Norway in 1935, managed to persuade a young Norwegian airman to take him up the one real hill near Zillerham. they climbed for an hour and a half and when they reached the summit the young Norwegian said, 'Well, it's all over. a pity isn't it?
the ski-instructor pointed out the distant Jotunheim. 'they must be fine ski-ing country, Zeigler exclaimed. 'not so good as here, was the reply, 'the mountains are too steep'. in those days Norwegians did not seek out steep ground. on my first visit to Norway in 1908 I saw no tracks on the steeper slopes round Finse or Bessheim and no evidence whatever that the Norwegians had mastered the art of continuous S-turning. on my return to Finse in March, 1930, Count Hamilton drew my attention to the ski-tracks on the surrounding slopes. 'here you see the contrast..between alpine ans Scandinavian ski-ing. observe
69 that the steep ground is practically left untouched. there are no tracks of stunt straight runs and no S-turn tracks. all the tracks are straight lines, DOWN the gradual and ACROSS the steep slopes'.
Frank Ziegler noticed that the routes at Finse in 1935, which were marked with sticks as a precaution against blizzards, 'were arranged in the Norwegian idiom ignoring with the one big exception of the Hardangerjokel all the likely looking slopes and hills appealing to the downhill runner'. on the following Sunday Ziegler watched 200 Norwegians of both sexes descending one point of the Jokel 'at which it is necessary to perform a downhill turn at fair speed'.
'their narrow ski were considerably slower than our own. most of them tried at this critial point to make them still slower by braking with their sticks. while a few of them definitely got out of control and feel, others managed the turn either slowly by using their sticks as a rudder or else by stepping round at a much higher speed than I had ever seen a step turn executed before. I DID NOT SEE THEN, OR AT ANY OTHER TIME, IN NORWAY A SINGLE SKID TURN PERFORMED BY A NORWEIGIAN.
Ziegler summed up his conclusions about the Norwegian attitude to ski-ing as follows:
1. a good ski-runner is a man who can show a good time over a long distance. a man who is only fast downhill will not gain as much time as a man who is only fast uphill and is therefore the worse ski-runner.
2. no particular importance being attached to downhill running, the correct method of doing so is to choose a place where the hill can be taken straight at a comfortable speed, without the necessity of turning.
3. equipment is that suitable for level and uphill work. Norwegians therefore use very light narrow ski (which would be difficult for skid-turning) and waxes which are fast uphill and not very fast downhill.
4. to study ski-ing turns is about as sensible as to study walking turns.
Ziegler, be it noted, visited Norway 4 years AFTER the FIS had accepted the British rules for Downhill and Slalom racing. a year before Z's visit Anthony, Viscount Knebworth, was chosen by the S.C.G.B. in reply to an official invitation to send a representative to Sweden. Knebworth did not meet the leaders of the new and active Downhill racing school, but he was entrusted to the care of a guide who proved to be a fine guardian of conservative Scandinavian traditions. on arrival at Storlien, Knebworth was taken up the little hill behind the hotel. I know that hill for in 1930 I was escorted to it as being exactly my cup of tea. it was, as Knebworth said, 'about half as steep as the bottom of Martha's meadow at Murren'.
the guide pointed down it and uttered the monumental word 'Slalom'. I felt that something was expected and so lifted a peaceful stem round one of the birch trees and, then, as the guide shot past me, followed him into the mist.
70 after about 10 seconds of gentle slope, we came to a broadish bank about twice the length and three-quarters the steepness of 'Claud's Gully'. and that was that. I said it was delightful and so we walked up and slid down again twice. he kept on asking me to do a turn and was enchanted when I tried a Gelandesprung and fell into a bush. I subsequently discovered 1. that this was the Slalom ground of Storlien, 2. that it was scorned by the proper skiers, 3. that, though looking upon this kind of thing as a kindergarten amusement, the great men had a sneaking admiration for it and thought it slightly dangerous and 4. that the guide reported on me as something of a phenomenon.
our first ally in Scandinavia was CountC.G.D.Hamilton, hon, secretary of the FIS. He had, from the first, followed with sympathy the Kandahar revolution as described in the pages of the British Ski Year Book, and had contributed to that periodical an article on ski-ing in Sweden. 'do not think', he had written , 'that I would undervalue Downhill running. on the contrary. it has always been a great grief to me to see how the ordinary Swedish skier avoids the steep slopes and keeps to the low lines of the country and I am quite aware that it is a great drawback to our ski-ing education that so few of us master even the elements of Alpine technique'.
after the FIS Congress in St. Moritz Count Hamilton alone among the members of the Committee had sufficient Zetesis to visit the headquarters of alpine racing and to find out for himself what value to attach to the British claims. 'Murren, wrote Count Hamilton to a friend of mine, 'interested me far more than any aspect of ski-ing that i have seen in recent years'. in an article which he contributed to the Schnee-hase , the organ of the S.A.S., he wrote:
I have had every opportunity of watching Lapps ski-ing both among the mountains and in the woods. I have been filled with admiration for their skill, but I must admit that I admired even more the skill of Dr. Amstutz and Bracken whom I saw ski-ing at Murren. I must, however, make the reservation that the Lapps, of course, with their loose skis and primitive equipment, reach the limits of what is possible much sooner that those who are provided with the best possible material...
the incredible skill which I admired at Murren awakened a great interest in downhill racing...
the Swedes were the first Scandinavians to concede that Alpine skiers who, to quote Count Hamilton, 'originally took its ski-ing from the north had also added something new, characteristics which we must take over'. mr. C. Nordenson, the editor of the Swedish Ski Year Book, an athlete and a scholar, published many articles on Alpine ski-ing at a time when the subject was anathema to more conservative of Nordic skiers....
71 ...He wrote: 'it was an alluring thought to come to Switzerland as a Norwegian and show these newcomers to our sport what ski-ing really was...we laugh at English ski-ing and say that the english only take trains uphill and come down the nursery slopes behind the hotels and practise a lot of peculiar twists and turns and we think they understand nothing of what ski-ing really is. this was how I looked at things when i arrived there in blissful ignorance.
he then continued that 'the name Downhill racing gives an average Norwegian a very faulty conception of what happens. this is natural as we conceive of hills as hills and not as practically vertical drops. I stood at the different points where the races started and felt quite giddy looking down. TO GET DOWN IN OUR USUAL NORWEGIAN WAY WAS QUITE OUT OF THE QUESTION - that would be tempting Providence too much... The Roberts of Kandahar race was an imposing sight - to watch these plucky young englishmen coming down these steep hills with an incredible speed...it kindled in me an ambition to be able to master these hills as well as these men did. I had long ago given up the idea of being able to impress by my Norwegian knowledge of ski-ing. A generous tribute by a great Norwegian.
Tuesday, January 17, 2017
1.17.2017 ANDREW MURRAY: the best from all his works (1988)
13 All You Who have Come to Him
'Come unto Me. matthew 11.28
'Abide in Me john 15.4
Come unto Me
it is to you who have heard and hearkened to the call, 'Come unto me,' that this new invitation comes, 'Abide in me'. the message comes from the same loving Savior.
you doubtless have never repented having come at His call.
you experienced that His word was truth; all His promises He fulfilled'
He made you partakers of the blessings and the joy of His love.
was not His welcome most hearty, His pardon full and free, His love most sweet and precious?
You more than once at your first coming to Him, had reason to say,
'the half was not told me.'
and yet you have had to complain of disappointment:
as time went on, your expectations were not realized.
the blessings you once enjoyed were lost;
the love and joy of your first meeting with your Savior, instead of deepening, have become faint and feeble.
and often you
14 have wondered what the reason could be, that with such a Savior, so mighty and so loving, your experience of salvation should not have been a fuller one.
the answer is very simple.
you wandered from Him.
the blessings He bestows are all connected with His 'Come to ME' and are only to be enjoyed in close fellowship with Himself. you either did not fully understand or did not rightly remember, that the call means, 'Come TO ME to stay WITH ME. and yet this was in very deed His object and purpose when first He called you to Himself. it was not to refresh you for a few short hours after your conversion with the joy of His love and deliverance and then to send you forth to wander in sadness and sin. He had destined you to something better than a short-lived blessedness, to be enjoyed only in times of special earnestness and prayer and then to pass away, as you had to return to those duties in which far the greater part of life has to be spent.
no, indeed; He had prepared for you an abiding dwelling with Himself, where your whole life and very moment of it might be spent, where the work of your daily life might be done and where all the while you might be enjoying unbroken communion with Himself. it was even this He meant when to that first word,'COME to me, He added this, 'ABIDE in Me'. as earnest and faithful, as loving and tender, as the compassion that breathed in that blessed 'COME', was the grace that added this no less blessed 'ABIDE'. as mighty as the attraction with which that first word drew you, were the bonds with which this second, had you but listened to it.,would have kept you. and as great as were the blessings with which that coming was rewarded, so large, yea and much greater, were the treasures to which that abiding would have given you access.
ABIDE WITH ME
15 and observe especially, it was not that He said, 'Come to me and abide with me, but, 'ABIDE IN ME'. the intercourse was not only to be unbroken, but most intimate and complete. He opened His arms, to press you to His bosom; He opened His heart, to welcome you there; He opened up all His divine fullness of life and love and offered to take you up into its fellowship, to make you wholly one with Himself. there was a depth of meaning you cannot yet realize in His words: 'Abide IN ME.'
and with no less earnestness than he had cried, 'Come to Me' did He plead, had you but noticed it, 'ABIDE IN ME'. by every motive that had induced you to come, did He beseech you to abide. was it the fear of sin and its curse that first drew you? the pardon you received in first coming could, with all the blessings flowing from it, only be confirmed and fully enjoyed on abiding in Him. was it the longing to know and enjoy the infinite love that was calling you? the first coming gave but single drops to taste - 'tis only the abiding that can really satisfy the thirsty soul and give to drink of the rivers of pleasure that are at His right hand. was it the weary longing to be made free from the bondage of sin to become pure and holy and so to find rest, the rest of god for the soul? this too can only be realized as you abide in Him - only abiding in Jesus gives rest in Him. or if it was the hope of an inheritance in glory and an everlasting home in the presence of the Infinite One: the true preparation for this, as well as its blessed foretaste in this life, are granted only to those who abide in Him.
in very truth, there is nothing that moved you to come, that does not plead with thousandfold greater force:
16 'Abide in Him'. you did well to come; you do better to abide. who would, after seeking the King's palace, be content to stand in the door, when he is invited in to dwell in the king's presence and share with Him in all the glory of His royal life? Oh, let us enter in and abide and enjoy to the full all the rich supply His wondrous love hath prepared for us!
and yet I fear that there are many who have indeed come to Jesus, and who yet have mournfully to confess that they know but little of this blessed abiding in Him. with some the reason is, that they never fully understood that this was the meaning of the Savior's call. with others, that though they heard the word, they did not know that such a life of abiding fellowship was possible, and indeed within their reach. others will say that, though they did believe that such a life was possible and seek after it, they have never yet succeeded in discovering the secret of its attainment. and others, again, alas! will confess that it is their own unfaithfulness that has kept them from the enjoyment of the blessing. when the Savior would have kept them, they were not found ready to stay; they were not prepared to give up everything and always, ALWAYS, ONLY, WHOLLY to abide in Jesus.
to all such I come now in the name of Jesus, their Redeemer and mine, with the blessed message: 'ABIDE IN ME'. in His name I invite them to come and for a season meditate with me daily on its meaning, its lessons, its claims and its promises. I know how many and, to the young believer, how difficult, the questions are with suggest themselves in connection with it. there is especially the question, with its various aspects, as to the possibility, in the midst of wearying work and continual distraction, of keeping up, or rather being kept in, the abiding communion.
I do not undertake to remove all difficulties; this Jesus Christ Himself alone must do by His Holy Spirit. but what I would fain (def - to be delighted or glad) by the grace of God be permitted to do is, to repeat day by day the Master's blessed command, 'Abide in Me', until it enter the heart and find a place there, no more to be forgotten or neglected. I would fain that in the light of Holy scripture we should meditate on its meaning, until the understanding, that gate to the heart, opens to apprehend something of what it offers and expects. so we shall discover the means of its attainment and learn to know what keeps us from it and what can help us to it. so we shall feel its claims and be compelled to acknowledge that there can be no true allegiance to our king without simply and heartily accepting this one, too, of His commands. so we shall gaze on its blessedness, until desire be inflamed and the will with all its energies be roused to claim and possess the unspeakable blessing.
Come, my brethren, and let us day by day set ourselves at His feet and meditate on this world of His, with an eye fixed on Him alone. let us set ourselves in quiet trust before Him, waiting to hear His holy voice - the still small voice that is mightier than the storm that rends the rocks - breathing its quickening spirit within us, as He speaks: 'Abide in Me'. the soul that truly hears JESUS HIMSELF SPEAK THE WORD, receives with the word the power to accept and to hold the blessing He offers.
and it may please Thee, blessed savior, indeed, to speak to us; let each of us hear Thy blessed voice. may the feeling of our deep need, and the faith of Thy wondrous love, combined with the sight of the wonderfully blessed life Thou art waiting to bestow upon us, constrain us to listen and to obey, as often as Thou speakest: 'Abide in Me', let day by day the answer from our heart
18 be clearer and fuller: Blessed Savior, I do abide in Thee.
'Come unto Me. matthew 11.28
'Abide in Me john 15.4
Come unto Me
it is to you who have heard and hearkened to the call, 'Come unto me,' that this new invitation comes, 'Abide in me'. the message comes from the same loving Savior.
you doubtless have never repented having come at His call.
you experienced that His word was truth; all His promises He fulfilled'
He made you partakers of the blessings and the joy of His love.
was not His welcome most hearty, His pardon full and free, His love most sweet and precious?
You more than once at your first coming to Him, had reason to say,
'the half was not told me.'
and yet you have had to complain of disappointment:
as time went on, your expectations were not realized.
the blessings you once enjoyed were lost;
the love and joy of your first meeting with your Savior, instead of deepening, have become faint and feeble.
and often you
14 have wondered what the reason could be, that with such a Savior, so mighty and so loving, your experience of salvation should not have been a fuller one.
the answer is very simple.
you wandered from Him.
the blessings He bestows are all connected with His 'Come to ME' and are only to be enjoyed in close fellowship with Himself. you either did not fully understand or did not rightly remember, that the call means, 'Come TO ME to stay WITH ME. and yet this was in very deed His object and purpose when first He called you to Himself. it was not to refresh you for a few short hours after your conversion with the joy of His love and deliverance and then to send you forth to wander in sadness and sin. He had destined you to something better than a short-lived blessedness, to be enjoyed only in times of special earnestness and prayer and then to pass away, as you had to return to those duties in which far the greater part of life has to be spent.
no, indeed; He had prepared for you an abiding dwelling with Himself, where your whole life and very moment of it might be spent, where the work of your daily life might be done and where all the while you might be enjoying unbroken communion with Himself. it was even this He meant when to that first word,'COME to me, He added this, 'ABIDE in Me'. as earnest and faithful, as loving and tender, as the compassion that breathed in that blessed 'COME', was the grace that added this no less blessed 'ABIDE'. as mighty as the attraction with which that first word drew you, were the bonds with which this second, had you but listened to it.,would have kept you. and as great as were the blessings with which that coming was rewarded, so large, yea and much greater, were the treasures to which that abiding would have given you access.
ABIDE WITH ME
15 and observe especially, it was not that He said, 'Come to me and abide with me, but, 'ABIDE IN ME'. the intercourse was not only to be unbroken, but most intimate and complete. He opened His arms, to press you to His bosom; He opened His heart, to welcome you there; He opened up all His divine fullness of life and love and offered to take you up into its fellowship, to make you wholly one with Himself. there was a depth of meaning you cannot yet realize in His words: 'Abide IN ME.'
and with no less earnestness than he had cried, 'Come to Me' did He plead, had you but noticed it, 'ABIDE IN ME'. by every motive that had induced you to come, did He beseech you to abide. was it the fear of sin and its curse that first drew you? the pardon you received in first coming could, with all the blessings flowing from it, only be confirmed and fully enjoyed on abiding in Him. was it the longing to know and enjoy the infinite love that was calling you? the first coming gave but single drops to taste - 'tis only the abiding that can really satisfy the thirsty soul and give to drink of the rivers of pleasure that are at His right hand. was it the weary longing to be made free from the bondage of sin to become pure and holy and so to find rest, the rest of god for the soul? this too can only be realized as you abide in Him - only abiding in Jesus gives rest in Him. or if it was the hope of an inheritance in glory and an everlasting home in the presence of the Infinite One: the true preparation for this, as well as its blessed foretaste in this life, are granted only to those who abide in Him.
in very truth, there is nothing that moved you to come, that does not plead with thousandfold greater force:
16 'Abide in Him'. you did well to come; you do better to abide. who would, after seeking the King's palace, be content to stand in the door, when he is invited in to dwell in the king's presence and share with Him in all the glory of His royal life? Oh, let us enter in and abide and enjoy to the full all the rich supply His wondrous love hath prepared for us!
and yet I fear that there are many who have indeed come to Jesus, and who yet have mournfully to confess that they know but little of this blessed abiding in Him. with some the reason is, that they never fully understood that this was the meaning of the Savior's call. with others, that though they heard the word, they did not know that such a life of abiding fellowship was possible, and indeed within their reach. others will say that, though they did believe that such a life was possible and seek after it, they have never yet succeeded in discovering the secret of its attainment. and others, again, alas! will confess that it is their own unfaithfulness that has kept them from the enjoyment of the blessing. when the Savior would have kept them, they were not found ready to stay; they were not prepared to give up everything and always, ALWAYS, ONLY, WHOLLY to abide in Jesus.
to all such I come now in the name of Jesus, their Redeemer and mine, with the blessed message: 'ABIDE IN ME'. in His name I invite them to come and for a season meditate with me daily on its meaning, its lessons, its claims and its promises. I know how many and, to the young believer, how difficult, the questions are with suggest themselves in connection with it. there is especially the question, with its various aspects, as to the possibility, in the midst of wearying work and continual distraction, of keeping up, or rather being kept in, the abiding communion.
I do not undertake to remove all difficulties; this Jesus Christ Himself alone must do by His Holy Spirit. but what I would fain (def - to be delighted or glad) by the grace of God be permitted to do is, to repeat day by day the Master's blessed command, 'Abide in Me', until it enter the heart and find a place there, no more to be forgotten or neglected. I would fain that in the light of Holy scripture we should meditate on its meaning, until the understanding, that gate to the heart, opens to apprehend something of what it offers and expects. so we shall discover the means of its attainment and learn to know what keeps us from it and what can help us to it. so we shall feel its claims and be compelled to acknowledge that there can be no true allegiance to our king without simply and heartily accepting this one, too, of His commands. so we shall gaze on its blessedness, until desire be inflamed and the will with all its energies be roused to claim and possess the unspeakable blessing.
Come, my brethren, and let us day by day set ourselves at His feet and meditate on this world of His, with an eye fixed on Him alone. let us set ourselves in quiet trust before Him, waiting to hear His holy voice - the still small voice that is mightier than the storm that rends the rocks - breathing its quickening spirit within us, as He speaks: 'Abide in Me'. the soul that truly hears JESUS HIMSELF SPEAK THE WORD, receives with the word the power to accept and to hold the blessing He offers.
and it may please Thee, blessed savior, indeed, to speak to us; let each of us hear Thy blessed voice. may the feeling of our deep need, and the faith of Thy wondrous love, combined with the sight of the wonderfully blessed life Thou art waiting to bestow upon us, constrain us to listen and to obey, as often as Thou speakest: 'Abide in Me', let day by day the answer from our heart
18 be clearer and fuller: Blessed Savior, I do abide in Thee.
1.17.2017 JEWS FOR JESUS - November 2016
Making God Smile - by David Brickner, executive director
I recently enjoyed some quality time with my granddaughter at an ice cream shop. she wanted a vanilla cone and when I went to pay, the lady behind the counter said, 'if it's for her, it's free. after
Norah had eaten most of it, we went back to the counter and she said,
'Thank you for my ice cream cone.
the lady was so happy to receive those sweet words that she almost started to cry.
that got me thinking about how much the Lord appreciates our 'thank yous'.
remember the story of the ten lepers in Luke 17?
we want to be like the one ( a Samaritan) who made sure to come back and give thanks to Jesus.
So what are you most thankful to the Lord for today?
among so many other things - such as life and health and salvation in Christ - I am thankful to God for you , and every single dear Jews for Jesus friend who has stood with us, prayed for us and supported our efforts to proclaim the gospel around the world.
thankfulness is a recurring theme throughout God's word. central to our heritage of faith - and certainly to my Jewish background - are the regular and genuine expressions of thanks to god for His blessings.
IT'S ONLY HUMAN TO FOCUS ON OUR PROBLEMS, of course. but no matter what problems we may be facing, we still have so many reasons to thank God. doing so can turn our hearts from trusting in ourselves to relying on His promises.
thankfulness to god not only blesses Him, it blesses us. so an attitude of gratitude should be our goal every day, don't you think?
with Thanksgiving coming soon, the best advice I can give to you and other brothers and sisters in Messiah is the same advice I give to myself -...'Oh, give thanks to the Lord!call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples! I chronicles 16.8
in ancient Israel, giving thanks went far beyond mere words. genuine thanksgiving was most sincerely expressed through special offerings to God as described in Leviticus 7.12-3. the Israelites presented thick loves of leavened bread as well as unleavened bread made with the finest flour and olive oil.
in Deuteronomy 16 we find that freewill offerings were offered in proportion to the Lord's blessings. those thank offerings were not necessarily given out of an overabundance of resources, but often out of need in sincere recognition of god's gracious provision, especially in troubled times.
the psalmist is surrounded by the threat of death and the pain of all sorts of trouble and sorrow when he asks the Lord for deliverance and declares, 'I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord. psalm 116.7
so it's not just when all is well that we need to thank God. it's when all is well that we need to thank God. it's when we recognize our need for Him and for His intervention in our lives that it's most appropriate to offer the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving.
think about Leah, the wife of Jacob. C didn't love l, which caused her great pain. she tried to gain J's love through giving birth and said as much when she named their first 3 children Reuben, simeon and Levi.
Reuben means 'Behold, a son' or according to some, 'Behold, my affliction'. and the reason she gave him that name?...for she said, 'The Lord has surely looked on my affliction. now therefore, my husband will love me. Genesis 29.32
then came Simeon, which means 'heard' and L said, 'because the Lord has heard that I am unloved, He has therefore given me this son also. Genesis 29.33
next came Levi, which means, 'attached' because l thought 'now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons'. Genesis 29.34
L was hoping to triumph over rejection and gain the love of her husband through her children. but it didn't work. it was only after she had her fourth child, that she decided to put aside her disappointment and instead give thanks and praise the Lord. so she named the child Judah, meaning 'praise'. and that was the child God chose as He narrowed down the line through whom Messiah would be born. what an amazing gift!
Leah is a picture of all of us who struggle to find love and acceptance in the midst of painful circumstances. with our eyes only on our predicament, we convince ourselves there are solutions to our problems within our grasp, if only we can change our circumstances. L's circumstance didn't change, but her heart did. the choice to thank and praise God is one we often make in spite of, not in light of, our circumstance. but praise and thanksgiving are powerful and transformative. giving glory to God calms our fears and opens our lives to new things.
yes, it's clear from even the most cursory reading of Scripture that deep, authentic appreciation
is pleasing to God
central to our faith and
good for the soul.
i'm going to make the extra effort at this season to be thankful, to heed the admonition of Scripture and to make known God's deeds to you and to all the people. I hope you'll join me and maybe even drop us a line to let us know how you and your loved ones are focusing on thanksgiving.
all around the world, our Jews for Jesus missionaries and volunteers are out and bout. whether we're proclaiming Christ at a Thanksgiving Day parade or witnessing among the throngs of early holiday shoppers, we have a message of hope for a lost world. those who hope in the Lord have great reason to give thanks, regardless of their circumstances. please join us in giving thanks to Him in making known His deeds among the people. like Norah, let's make a specific effort to return to Him and give thanks. I don't expect the Lord to shed tears of joy, but I believe our gratitude will certainly cause Him to smile.
ODESSA join us in giving thanks to God for
His grace on our Odessa Jubilee Campaign...Turning trouble into Triumph in Budapest
it was one of those Holy spirit moments - our leadership council had no idea what God had in mind or how long the door would be open for ministry, but outreach worker Elizabeth Terini (born and raised in the former Soviet Union) and Avi Snyder (one of our US branch leaders) sensed an urgent call to bring the gospel to Odessa. it seemed clear that God was calling the shots so we sent the Snyder family and Elizabeth off with much prayer. that was 25 years ago. we had no idea Odessa would become the launch pad for the gospel to go out to Jews and Gentiles throughout Russia, Ukraine, then Germany and Hungary. the hearts of our Odessa team still beat passionately for the Lord. they have endured through many hardships in a country that is unstable and war-torn. with faith fixed on Jesus, the Rock of Ages, the team purposed to celebrate their 25th year of ministry with a two-week witnessing campaign.
branch leader Leonid Vasserman assembled a team of about 50 campaigners. a third were staff; the rest were volunteers, mainly from two of the congregations Leonid has established in Odessa. five volunteers came from a Hebrew/Russian -speaking congregation in Haifa along with their leader, Mark (originally from Tashkent, Uzbekistan). mark received the Lord along with his whole family when we had a covert outreach in that city - he was only 16 at the time. later Mark trained with us in Odessa, then he returned to Tashkent to start his own work until he moved to Israel.
about 20 campaigners formed a special youth team, led by Leonid's son, Sasha, who is one of our outreach workers. (some of you intercede faithfully for us using our monthly prayer prompters; rejoice in this answer to your prayers and ours for the next generation of Jews for Jesus. please keep praying - THERE'S SO MUCH MORE GROUND TO COVER ALL OVER THE WORLD!
the Spirit of God really was upon this campaign. prior to the final event,
925 Jewish people had given contact information to hear more about Jesus,
as well as 1223 non-Jewish seekers.
159 people prayed to receive Jesus, of whom 39 are Jewish.
the team handed out 336,900 gospel tracts. all within two weeks!
and that does not include the final event on the last night of the campaign.
the dramatic conclusion was a concert that featured a variety of music and folk dances
(including a 'bottle dance' like the one some of you might recall from A Fiddler on the Roof).
the room was packed to overflowing, literally!
all 1200 seats were filled and about 300 more occupied the standing room - plus 500 people
watched a simultaneous video program of the concert on 2 large screens in the lobby.
many more remained out on the street.
besides the music and dance, there was a testimony and a call to repent.
so many people raised their hands in response to the invitation
that Leonid could only estimate that somewhere between 40 to 70 percent of the people he could see responded
and prayed to repent and receive Jesus.
we do know that we received contact cards from 314 Jewish people and 571 Gentiles
who do not yet know Jesus.
Leonid said, 'there were many difficulties just before the concert, but God gave us abundant grace.
Thank you, our dear brothers and sisters, for all your prayers!
European director Avi Snyder reports,
'throughout our two week Budapest campaign we invited people to a presentation of 'Multitudes',
the art show that displays the very Jewish nature of the gospel of Matthew.
'five hours before the event, we received an urgent call from the administrators of the venue where the event was to take place.
they were under heavy pressure to cancel,
which they knew would put them in legal jeopardy for breach of contract.
they implored us to accept a change in location - to the Israel Cultural Center -a 5 minute walk away from their own facility.
there would be no extra cost to us and they promised to redirect people to the new venue.
'It was clear the through no fault of their own, they were caught in a no-win situation,
and were making every effort to 'do right' by us.
I agreed to the last-minute change and i believe God honored the decision.
the hall was packed to overflowing, with over a hundred people attending.
at least 20 unbelieving Jewish people came to see the paintings.
many had received an evangelistic tract and invitation on the street from one of the campaigners.
"excellent gospel-focused conversations followed the presentation for another hour and a half.
the paintings were on display at the Center until August 19,
which allowed even more people to view the artwork
and read the verses and brief commentary accompanying each one.
'Isn't that just like God?
an attempt to thwart the gospel event was turned to victory, thanks to your prayers and His grace!
'the Budapest campaign ended strong.
in two weeks, we placed 207,360 evangelistic tracts into people's hands.
57 unbelieving Jewish people and 413 unbelieving non-Jews gave us their contact details to learn more about Yeshua (Jesus).
and praise the Lord, two Jewish people and 21 non-Jews prayed to receive Him!
please pray for each one to grow in grace and strength!
Kata Tar, campaign co-leader, adds: 'we tried something new at Szell Kalman Square - setting up a tent to offer people shade from the heat, a cold drink and prayer. we ran into unexpected difficulties with set-up and wondered if the idea had been a mistake. but then a strange and wonderful thing happened within two hours, four people prayed to surrender their hearts to the Lord! the first one, Attila, in his mid 30s, wanted to talk before we even finished setting up the tent, but we were able to sit in the shade and chat.
'Attlia remembered having received a tract from me about a year ago.
while he believed Jesus is the Messiah, he was fearful about
what he might have to give up to follow Him.
when I explained what Jesus promises us in exchange - a new heart and eternal life -
he was touched and wanted to pray with me to receive the Lord.
what a joy when a sower of gospel seed can later see the ripened fruit and even harvest it!
please pray for Attila
to find a strong and healthy church,
to grow in the Lord and
become a sower of Gospel seed himself!
bits from the Branches
from BERLIN, AARON LEWIN reports 'Ron was one of the first people I made contact with after I arrived in berlin. we've been meeting on a regular basis in order to improve my Hebrew and his German. of course, we're always able to talk about Jesus. R suggested that we read in hebrew from a well-known Israeli newspaper and we ended up choosing an article about Messianic Jews in Israel. I was amazed by how clearly the gospel was presented in this article. it was great to see Leviticus 17.11 - which explains the necessity of a blood sacrifice - quoted! R understood the concept but said he thought it was 'a bit barbaric', his interest piqued as I mentioned the plot of a recent superhero movie in which one person dies for another. R listened with interest once I mentioned the Hollywood blockbuster! truly God can use anything to make His truth known! please pray that whether through Batman, Superman or Leviticus, R would clearly understand the gospel and its implications on his life and come to know the one who died for him.
from Israel, TATYANA BOLOTOV reports, 'Raya participated in several of our guided tours, yet was reluctant to communicate. I continued to pray for her and the Holy Spirit encouraged me to be faithful in calling her on the phone. during one of our phone conversations, R agreed to meet with me. when my husband and I came, R was eagerly anticipating our arrival and even ran out to meet us. she said that she had read the books we had given her. from the moment we entered her house, tears of joy continually streamed from her eyes and her heart was full of excitement. she gladly accepted the proposal to receive Yeshua the Messiah into her life and then fell on her knees and started to thank God for her deliverance. hallelujah! please pray for her thirst for her God, the God of Israel to be further multiplied.
VALERY BOLOTOV reports, 'my wife Tatyna spoke with 91 year old Grigory during our telephone campaign in samaria. G fought in World War II and experienced much sorrow, yet he's remained softhearted and was open to meet with us. we sent him books which he'd said he would read, but he mistakenly gave us the wrong apartment number, so his neighbor Boris received the books. sometimes God uses mistakes for His purposes. we first spoke with B and told him about salvation through the Messiah Yeshua and then we went on to Grigory. G didn't know mush about "God, yet he was open to Him. after we explained the gospel we invited him to pray the sinner's prayer. he agreed to do so and afterward, he frankly added,
'this is right.
Jesus died for all of us!'
G asked us to continue to visit with him, so that his faith might be strengthened. thanks be unto God for one more life saved!
also from V, 'I was doing street evangelism when Vasily approached me. he had been seeking God for a long time, but was hesitant to invite Him into his life. V is a smoker and he thought that he had to be holy and free from addiction in order to approach the almighty. I cited Yeshua's words, 'those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance'. mark 2.17. Vasily was glad to hear this and asked how he should pray in order to have a personal relationship with Jesus. we prayed together right on the street. V isn't Jewish, but his wife is. she is often sick and has asked him to pray to Jesus for her healing, for she thinks that Jesus isn't the God of the Jews! Vasily gave us his address and asked us to send him our free books. please pray for him to grow in faith and that his wife might also receive Yeshua as her Lord and Savior.
I recently enjoyed some quality time with my granddaughter at an ice cream shop. she wanted a vanilla cone and when I went to pay, the lady behind the counter said, 'if it's for her, it's free. after
Norah had eaten most of it, we went back to the counter and she said,
'Thank you for my ice cream cone.
the lady was so happy to receive those sweet words that she almost started to cry.
that got me thinking about how much the Lord appreciates our 'thank yous'.
remember the story of the ten lepers in Luke 17?
we want to be like the one ( a Samaritan) who made sure to come back and give thanks to Jesus.
So what are you most thankful to the Lord for today?
among so many other things - such as life and health and salvation in Christ - I am thankful to God for you , and every single dear Jews for Jesus friend who has stood with us, prayed for us and supported our efforts to proclaim the gospel around the world.
thankfulness is a recurring theme throughout God's word. central to our heritage of faith - and certainly to my Jewish background - are the regular and genuine expressions of thanks to god for His blessings.
IT'S ONLY HUMAN TO FOCUS ON OUR PROBLEMS, of course. but no matter what problems we may be facing, we still have so many reasons to thank God. doing so can turn our hearts from trusting in ourselves to relying on His promises.
thankfulness to god not only blesses Him, it blesses us. so an attitude of gratitude should be our goal every day, don't you think?
with Thanksgiving coming soon, the best advice I can give to you and other brothers and sisters in Messiah is the same advice I give to myself -...'Oh, give thanks to the Lord!call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples! I chronicles 16.8
in ancient Israel, giving thanks went far beyond mere words. genuine thanksgiving was most sincerely expressed through special offerings to God as described in Leviticus 7.12-3. the Israelites presented thick loves of leavened bread as well as unleavened bread made with the finest flour and olive oil.
in Deuteronomy 16 we find that freewill offerings were offered in proportion to the Lord's blessings. those thank offerings were not necessarily given out of an overabundance of resources, but often out of need in sincere recognition of god's gracious provision, especially in troubled times.
the psalmist is surrounded by the threat of death and the pain of all sorts of trouble and sorrow when he asks the Lord for deliverance and declares, 'I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord. psalm 116.7
so it's not just when all is well that we need to thank God. it's when all is well that we need to thank God. it's when we recognize our need for Him and for His intervention in our lives that it's most appropriate to offer the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving.
think about Leah, the wife of Jacob. C didn't love l, which caused her great pain. she tried to gain J's love through giving birth and said as much when she named their first 3 children Reuben, simeon and Levi.
Reuben means 'Behold, a son' or according to some, 'Behold, my affliction'. and the reason she gave him that name?...for she said, 'The Lord has surely looked on my affliction. now therefore, my husband will love me. Genesis 29.32
then came Simeon, which means 'heard' and L said, 'because the Lord has heard that I am unloved, He has therefore given me this son also. Genesis 29.33
next came Levi, which means, 'attached' because l thought 'now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons'. Genesis 29.34
L was hoping to triumph over rejection and gain the love of her husband through her children. but it didn't work. it was only after she had her fourth child, that she decided to put aside her disappointment and instead give thanks and praise the Lord. so she named the child Judah, meaning 'praise'. and that was the child God chose as He narrowed down the line through whom Messiah would be born. what an amazing gift!
Leah is a picture of all of us who struggle to find love and acceptance in the midst of painful circumstances. with our eyes only on our predicament, we convince ourselves there are solutions to our problems within our grasp, if only we can change our circumstances. L's circumstance didn't change, but her heart did. the choice to thank and praise God is one we often make in spite of, not in light of, our circumstance. but praise and thanksgiving are powerful and transformative. giving glory to God calms our fears and opens our lives to new things.
yes, it's clear from even the most cursory reading of Scripture that deep, authentic appreciation
is pleasing to God
central to our faith and
good for the soul.
i'm going to make the extra effort at this season to be thankful, to heed the admonition of Scripture and to make known God's deeds to you and to all the people. I hope you'll join me and maybe even drop us a line to let us know how you and your loved ones are focusing on thanksgiving.
all around the world, our Jews for Jesus missionaries and volunteers are out and bout. whether we're proclaiming Christ at a Thanksgiving Day parade or witnessing among the throngs of early holiday shoppers, we have a message of hope for a lost world. those who hope in the Lord have great reason to give thanks, regardless of their circumstances. please join us in giving thanks to Him in making known His deeds among the people. like Norah, let's make a specific effort to return to Him and give thanks. I don't expect the Lord to shed tears of joy, but I believe our gratitude will certainly cause Him to smile.
ODESSA join us in giving thanks to God for
His grace on our Odessa Jubilee Campaign...Turning trouble into Triumph in Budapest
it was one of those Holy spirit moments - our leadership council had no idea what God had in mind or how long the door would be open for ministry, but outreach worker Elizabeth Terini (born and raised in the former Soviet Union) and Avi Snyder (one of our US branch leaders) sensed an urgent call to bring the gospel to Odessa. it seemed clear that God was calling the shots so we sent the Snyder family and Elizabeth off with much prayer. that was 25 years ago. we had no idea Odessa would become the launch pad for the gospel to go out to Jews and Gentiles throughout Russia, Ukraine, then Germany and Hungary. the hearts of our Odessa team still beat passionately for the Lord. they have endured through many hardships in a country that is unstable and war-torn. with faith fixed on Jesus, the Rock of Ages, the team purposed to celebrate their 25th year of ministry with a two-week witnessing campaign.
branch leader Leonid Vasserman assembled a team of about 50 campaigners. a third were staff; the rest were volunteers, mainly from two of the congregations Leonid has established in Odessa. five volunteers came from a Hebrew/Russian -speaking congregation in Haifa along with their leader, Mark (originally from Tashkent, Uzbekistan). mark received the Lord along with his whole family when we had a covert outreach in that city - he was only 16 at the time. later Mark trained with us in Odessa, then he returned to Tashkent to start his own work until he moved to Israel.
about 20 campaigners formed a special youth team, led by Leonid's son, Sasha, who is one of our outreach workers. (some of you intercede faithfully for us using our monthly prayer prompters; rejoice in this answer to your prayers and ours for the next generation of Jews for Jesus. please keep praying - THERE'S SO MUCH MORE GROUND TO COVER ALL OVER THE WORLD!
the Spirit of God really was upon this campaign. prior to the final event,
925 Jewish people had given contact information to hear more about Jesus,
as well as 1223 non-Jewish seekers.
159 people prayed to receive Jesus, of whom 39 are Jewish.
the team handed out 336,900 gospel tracts. all within two weeks!
and that does not include the final event on the last night of the campaign.
the dramatic conclusion was a concert that featured a variety of music and folk dances
(including a 'bottle dance' like the one some of you might recall from A Fiddler on the Roof).
the room was packed to overflowing, literally!
all 1200 seats were filled and about 300 more occupied the standing room - plus 500 people
watched a simultaneous video program of the concert on 2 large screens in the lobby.
many more remained out on the street.
besides the music and dance, there was a testimony and a call to repent.
so many people raised their hands in response to the invitation
that Leonid could only estimate that somewhere between 40 to 70 percent of the people he could see responded
and prayed to repent and receive Jesus.
we do know that we received contact cards from 314 Jewish people and 571 Gentiles
who do not yet know Jesus.
Leonid said, 'there were many difficulties just before the concert, but God gave us abundant grace.
Thank you, our dear brothers and sisters, for all your prayers!
European director Avi Snyder reports,
'throughout our two week Budapest campaign we invited people to a presentation of 'Multitudes',
the art show that displays the very Jewish nature of the gospel of Matthew.
'five hours before the event, we received an urgent call from the administrators of the venue where the event was to take place.
they were under heavy pressure to cancel,
which they knew would put them in legal jeopardy for breach of contract.
they implored us to accept a change in location - to the Israel Cultural Center -a 5 minute walk away from their own facility.
there would be no extra cost to us and they promised to redirect people to the new venue.
'It was clear the through no fault of their own, they were caught in a no-win situation,
and were making every effort to 'do right' by us.
I agreed to the last-minute change and i believe God honored the decision.
the hall was packed to overflowing, with over a hundred people attending.
at least 20 unbelieving Jewish people came to see the paintings.
many had received an evangelistic tract and invitation on the street from one of the campaigners.
"excellent gospel-focused conversations followed the presentation for another hour and a half.
the paintings were on display at the Center until August 19,
which allowed even more people to view the artwork
and read the verses and brief commentary accompanying each one.
'Isn't that just like God?
an attempt to thwart the gospel event was turned to victory, thanks to your prayers and His grace!
'the Budapest campaign ended strong.
in two weeks, we placed 207,360 evangelistic tracts into people's hands.
57 unbelieving Jewish people and 413 unbelieving non-Jews gave us their contact details to learn more about Yeshua (Jesus).
and praise the Lord, two Jewish people and 21 non-Jews prayed to receive Him!
please pray for each one to grow in grace and strength!
Kata Tar, campaign co-leader, adds: 'we tried something new at Szell Kalman Square - setting up a tent to offer people shade from the heat, a cold drink and prayer. we ran into unexpected difficulties with set-up and wondered if the idea had been a mistake. but then a strange and wonderful thing happened within two hours, four people prayed to surrender their hearts to the Lord! the first one, Attila, in his mid 30s, wanted to talk before we even finished setting up the tent, but we were able to sit in the shade and chat.
'Attlia remembered having received a tract from me about a year ago.
while he believed Jesus is the Messiah, he was fearful about
what he might have to give up to follow Him.
when I explained what Jesus promises us in exchange - a new heart and eternal life -
he was touched and wanted to pray with me to receive the Lord.
what a joy when a sower of gospel seed can later see the ripened fruit and even harvest it!
please pray for Attila
to find a strong and healthy church,
to grow in the Lord and
become a sower of Gospel seed himself!
bits from the Branches
from BERLIN, AARON LEWIN reports 'Ron was one of the first people I made contact with after I arrived in berlin. we've been meeting on a regular basis in order to improve my Hebrew and his German. of course, we're always able to talk about Jesus. R suggested that we read in hebrew from a well-known Israeli newspaper and we ended up choosing an article about Messianic Jews in Israel. I was amazed by how clearly the gospel was presented in this article. it was great to see Leviticus 17.11 - which explains the necessity of a blood sacrifice - quoted! R understood the concept but said he thought it was 'a bit barbaric', his interest piqued as I mentioned the plot of a recent superhero movie in which one person dies for another. R listened with interest once I mentioned the Hollywood blockbuster! truly God can use anything to make His truth known! please pray that whether through Batman, Superman or Leviticus, R would clearly understand the gospel and its implications on his life and come to know the one who died for him.
from Israel, TATYANA BOLOTOV reports, 'Raya participated in several of our guided tours, yet was reluctant to communicate. I continued to pray for her and the Holy Spirit encouraged me to be faithful in calling her on the phone. during one of our phone conversations, R agreed to meet with me. when my husband and I came, R was eagerly anticipating our arrival and even ran out to meet us. she said that she had read the books we had given her. from the moment we entered her house, tears of joy continually streamed from her eyes and her heart was full of excitement. she gladly accepted the proposal to receive Yeshua the Messiah into her life and then fell on her knees and started to thank God for her deliverance. hallelujah! please pray for her thirst for her God, the God of Israel to be further multiplied.
VALERY BOLOTOV reports, 'my wife Tatyna spoke with 91 year old Grigory during our telephone campaign in samaria. G fought in World War II and experienced much sorrow, yet he's remained softhearted and was open to meet with us. we sent him books which he'd said he would read, but he mistakenly gave us the wrong apartment number, so his neighbor Boris received the books. sometimes God uses mistakes for His purposes. we first spoke with B and told him about salvation through the Messiah Yeshua and then we went on to Grigory. G didn't know mush about "God, yet he was open to Him. after we explained the gospel we invited him to pray the sinner's prayer. he agreed to do so and afterward, he frankly added,
'this is right.
Jesus died for all of us!'
G asked us to continue to visit with him, so that his faith might be strengthened. thanks be unto God for one more life saved!
also from V, 'I was doing street evangelism when Vasily approached me. he had been seeking God for a long time, but was hesitant to invite Him into his life. V is a smoker and he thought that he had to be holy and free from addiction in order to approach the almighty. I cited Yeshua's words, 'those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance'. mark 2.17. Vasily was glad to hear this and asked how he should pray in order to have a personal relationship with Jesus. we prayed together right on the street. V isn't Jewish, but his wife is. she is often sick and has asked him to pray to Jesus for her healing, for she thinks that Jesus isn't the God of the Jews! Vasily gave us his address and asked us to send him our free books. please pray for him to grow in faith and that his wife might also receive Yeshua as her Lord and Savior.
Friday, January 13, 2017
1.13. 2017 Finney on THE PURSUIT OF SELFISHNESS
LOVE..DOES NOT SEEK ITS OWN. I Corinthians 13.4-5
342 Charity, or christian love, 'does not seek its own'. the question is not whether it is lawful to have any regard to our own happiness. on the contrary, part of our duty is to regard our own happiness according to its value when compared with other interests. god has commanded us to love our neighbor as ourselves. matthew 22.39 this plainly makes it a duty to love ourselves and regard our own happiness by the same rule that we regard the happiness of others.
we must regard the promises of God and threatenings of evil as affecting ourselves. but a threat against us is not as important as a threat against a large number of individuals. imagine a threat of evil against yourself as an individual. this is not as important as if it included your family. then imagine it extended to the congregation, the state, the nation or the world. the happiness of an individual., although great, should not be regarded as supreme.
I am a minister. suppose God says tome, 'if you do not do your duty, you will be sent to hell'. this is a great evil and i ought to avoid it. instead, imagine that He says, 'if your people do not do their duty, they will all be set to hell. but if you faithfully do your duty, you will save the whole congregation'.
is it right for me to be as much influenced by the fear of evil to myself as by the fear of having a whole congregation sent to hell?
343,...when Christ sent out His disciples, two by two, to preach and to work miracles, they came back full of joy and exultation because they found even the devils yielding to their power. they sad, 'Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name. Luke 10.17 Jesus answered, 'do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven' v20 here He taught that it is a greater good to have our names written in heaven than to enjoy great temporal power, even authority over devils themselves.
THE BIBLE TEACHES PREFERENCE OF ETERNAL GOOD OVER TEMPORAL GOOD.
this is different from regarding our own individual interests as the supreme object.
hope and fear should influence our conduct. but when we are influenced by hope and fear, the things that are oped or feared should be weighed according to their real value in comparison with other interest.
Benevolence and Complacency
344 the Bible tell us that God is love
342 Charity, or christian love, 'does not seek its own'. the question is not whether it is lawful to have any regard to our own happiness. on the contrary, part of our duty is to regard our own happiness according to its value when compared with other interests. god has commanded us to love our neighbor as ourselves. matthew 22.39 this plainly makes it a duty to love ourselves and regard our own happiness by the same rule that we regard the happiness of others.
we must regard the promises of God and threatenings of evil as affecting ourselves. but a threat against us is not as important as a threat against a large number of individuals. imagine a threat of evil against yourself as an individual. this is not as important as if it included your family. then imagine it extended to the congregation, the state, the nation or the world. the happiness of an individual., although great, should not be regarded as supreme.
I am a minister. suppose God says tome, 'if you do not do your duty, you will be sent to hell'. this is a great evil and i ought to avoid it. instead, imagine that He says, 'if your people do not do their duty, they will all be set to hell. but if you faithfully do your duty, you will save the whole congregation'.
is it right for me to be as much influenced by the fear of evil to myself as by the fear of having a whole congregation sent to hell?
343,...when Christ sent out His disciples, two by two, to preach and to work miracles, they came back full of joy and exultation because they found even the devils yielding to their power. they sad, 'Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name. Luke 10.17 Jesus answered, 'do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven' v20 here He taught that it is a greater good to have our names written in heaven than to enjoy great temporal power, even authority over devils themselves.
THE BIBLE TEACHES PREFERENCE OF ETERNAL GOOD OVER TEMPORAL GOOD.
this is different from regarding our own individual interests as the supreme object.
hope and fear should influence our conduct. but when we are influenced by hope and fear, the things that are oped or feared should be weighed according to their real value in comparison with other interest.
Benevolence and Complacency
344 the Bible tell us that God is love
1.13.2017 Finney on TRUE SUBMISSION: A MATTER OF CHOICE
334 ...Our Savior says, 'Whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. matthew 16.25 if a man aims at his own interests, he will lose his own interests. if saving his won soul is supreme objective, he will lose it. he must make the good of others his supreme object or he will be lost.
there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for my sake and the gospel's who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time; houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions; ans in the age to come, eternal life. here some people may stumble and say,
'there is a reward held out as a motive'.
but what are we to do?
forsake self for the sake of a reward to self?
no, we must forsake self for the sake of Christ and His gospel
and the consequences will be as stated.
this is the important distinction.
True Submission is Love
in i corinthians 13 paul gave a full description of disinterested love or charity, without which a person is nothing v2. note how much a person may do and still be nothing:
though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love,
I have become a sounding brass of a clanging cymbal.
335 and though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and though I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love,
I am nothing.
and though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor and though I give my body to be burned,
but have not love,
it profits me nothing. I corinthians 13.1-3
true gospel benevolence is of this character:
love suffers long and is kind;
love does not envy;
love does not parade itself,
is not puffed up;
does not behave rudely,
does not seek its own,
is not provoked,
thinks no evil;
does not rejoice in iniquity, but
rejoices in the truth;
bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things,
endures all things. I corinthians 13.4-7
love has no selfish end but seeks the happiness of others as its great end. without this kind of benevolence, we know there is not a particle of true christianity.
many people wonder why the threatenings of the Word of God are given if it is selfishness to be influenced by fear. man dreads pain.
the SCRIPTURE THREATENINGS ANSWER MANY PURPOSES.
ONE IS TO ARREST THE SELFISH MIND and
LEAD IT TO EXAMINE THE REASONS TO LOVE AND OBEY GOD.
when the Holy Spirit gets the sinner's attention, then He rouses his conscience and challenges him to
CONSIDER AND DECIDE ON THE REASONABLENESS AND DUTY OF SUBMITTING TO GOD.
it is wrong to be influenced by pleasure and pain?
no, it is neither right nor wrong.
these susceptibilities have no moral character.
suppose you stand on a cliff: if you throw yourself down, you will break your neck.
you are warned against it.
now, if you do not regard the warning but throw yourself down and destroy yourself and destroy your life, that is sin.
but heeding the warning is no virtue.
it is simply a prudent act.
there is no virtue in avoiding danger, although it may often be sinful not to avoid it.
to resist the wrath of God is sinful.
but to be afraid of hell is not holy, no more than the fear of breaking your neck is holy.
we may seek our own happiness with respect to its real value, and we are to do so.
he who doesn't do this commits sin.
336 but no one can be happy while he makes his own happiness his supreme objective.
happiness consists in the gratification of virtuous desires.
but to be gratified, the thing must be obtained that is desired.
for a person to be happy, therefore, the desires that are gratified must be right and
they must be disinterested desires.
two things are indispensable to true happiness. first, there must be virtuous or righteous desire. if the desire is not virtuous, conscience will oppose it and gratification will be accompanied by pain. Second, the object must be desired for its own sake , or the gratification will not be complete, even if it is attained...
if everyone pursues his own happiness as the ultimate goal, the interests of different individuals will clash and destroy the happiness of all. this is what we see in the world. it is the reason for all the fraud, violence, oppression and wickedness in earth and hell. as each pursues his own goals, interests clash. the only way to secure our own happiness is to pursue the glory of god and the good of the universe. the question is not whether we should desire and pursue our own happiness at all, but whether we should make our own happiness our supreme end.
Rebels in a Holy Empire
we are not simply under a government of naked law. this world is a province of God's empire. we have rebelled, and by a new and special provision, God offers us mercy. the conditions are that we obey the precepts of the law and submit to the justice of the penalty. God's gospel supplements His government of law.
the Gospel requires the same obedience as the law.
it requires sinners to yield to the justice of the penalty.
if the sinner were under mere law,
337 it would require that he submit to the infliction of the penalty.
but man is not and never has been, since the Fall, under the government of mere law.
he has always known, more or less clearly, that mercy is offered.
it has, therefore, never been required that men be willing to be punished.
in this respect, gospel submission differs from legal submission.
under naked law, submission would consist in willingness to be punished.
but under God's government, submission consists in one's yielding to the justice of the penalty
and regarding oneself as deserving the eternal wrath of God.
the duty of every sovereign is to see that all his subjects submit to his government.
if every individual obeys perfectly, his laws will promote the public good to the highest possible degree.
then, if anyone refuses to obey, the ruler must force that rebel to serve the public interest
in the best way.
if he will not serve voluntarily, he should be made to do it involuntarily.
God is a sovereign ruler and the submission that He requires is exactly what He must require.
He would be neglecting His duty as a ruler if He did not require it.
if you have refused to obey this requirement, you are bound to throw yourself into His hands
for Him to punish you in the way that will best promote the interests of the universe.
you have forfeited all claim to the happiness of the universe of the favor of God.
God requires that you acknowledge the justice of His law
and leave your future entirely and unconditionally at His disposal.
you must submit all you have and all you are to Him.
true submission requires complete acceptance of the terms of the Gospel.
they are repentance, holiness, faith, perfect trust and confidence toward God.
this leads you, without hesitation, to throw body and soul into His hands
to do with you as He thinks good.
to receive Christ as mediator, advocate, atoning sacrifice, ruler, teacher -
and in all the offices in which He is presented in God's Word - is true submission.
this is true acquiescence to God's appointed way of salvation.
the church is full of false hopes.
many people embrace what they consider the Gospel without yielding to the law.
338 they look at the law with dread
and regard the Gospel as a scheme to get away from the law.
these tendencies have always been seen in men. many hold to the Gospel and reject the law,
while others accept the law and neglect the Gospel.
the truth is that the rule of life is the same in both and both require disinterested benevolence.
if a person thinks that under the gospel he may give up the glory of God as his supreme objective and,
instead of loving God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength, may make his own salvation his supreme objective, his hopes are false. he has embraced another gospel - which is no gospel at all.
Submission unto Salvation
FAITH IS NOT BELIEVING THAT YOU WILL BE SAVED
BUT BELIEVING GOD'S WORD CONCERNING HIS SON.
He has revealed the fact that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. I timothy 1.15
what you call faith is more properly hope.
the confident expectation that you will be saved is an inference from the act of faith
and and inference that you have a right to draw
when you are conscious of obeying the law and believing the Gospel.
that is, when you exercise the feelings required in the law and Gospel,
you have a right to trust in Christ for your own salvation.
God wills that every soul be saved.
that fact exercises disinterested benevolence.
suppose a man came to me and asked, 'what must i do to be saved?
and I told him, 'IF YOU EXPECT TO BE SAVED, YOU MUST DESPAIR OF BEING SAVED.
what would he think?
what inspired writer ever gave such direction?
the correct answer is, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart (luke 10.27), 'Repent' (Acts 2.38), 'Believe in the gospel' (Mark 1.15, and so on.
is there anything here that implies despair?
sinners do despair before they obtain true peace. but what is the reason?
despair is not essential to true peace.
many anxious sinners despair because
they get a false impression that they have sinned away their day of grace
or that they have committed the unpardonable sin.
sometimes they despair because they know that mercy will be provided as soon as they comply with the terms,
339 but they find all their efforts at true submission useless.
they find they are proud and obstinate and cannot consent to the terms of salvation.
perhaps most individuals who do submit come to a point where they give up all as lost.
but is that necessary?
nothing but their own wickedness drives them to despair.
they are unwilling to accept God's mercy.
their despair, then, instead of being essential to true submission, is inconsistent.
no man ever embraced the Gospel while in that state.
to say despair is essential to true submission is saying that sin is essential to true submission!
every christian knows that God desires sinners to be saved.
the true ground for salvation is that a man must not seek his own salvation,
but must seek the glory of God.
what did the apostles tell sinners when they asked what they must do to be saved?
what did peter tell them at pentecost?
what did paul tell the jailer?
to repent, forsake their selfishness and believe the Gospel. (see Acts 2.38; 16.31)
...340 The Father's Broken Heart
the offer of mercy can be perverted, as every good thing can be and then it can give rise to selfish religion.
God knew this when He revealed the Gospel.
but nothing is calculated to subdue the rebellious heart of man other than God's mercy.
there was a father who had a stubborn and rebellious son, and he tried to subdue him by chastisement. he loved his son and longed to have him virtuous and obedient. but the child seemed to harden his heart against his repeated efforts. finally, the poor father was discouraged and burst into a flood of tears. 'My son! what can I do? can I save you? I have done all that I can to save you! what more can i do?
the son had never yielded to the rod. but when he saw the tears rolling down his father's cheeks and heard his sobs, he, too, burst into tears. he cried out, 'whip me, Father! but don't cry! the father had found the way to subdue that stubborn heart. instead of holding the iron hand of law over him, he poured out his should before him and what was the effect? to crush him into hypocritical submission? no, the rod did that. the gushing tears of his father's love broke him down at once to true submission to his father's will.
the sinner braves the wrath of almighty God and hardens himself to receive the heaviest bolt of thunder. then he sees the love of his heavenly Father's heart. when he sees God manifested in the flesh, stooping to take human nature, hanging on the cross and pouring out His soul in tears, bloody sweat and death, his heart melts. he cries out, 'do anything else, and i can bear it; but the love of the blessed Jesus overwhelms me.
341 to be thus influenced is the very nature of the mind.
DO NOT BE AFRAID TO EXHIBIT THE LOVE OF GOD TO SINNERS;
this is the only way to make them truly submissive. the law makes hypocrites, but only the gospel can draw souls to truly love God.
there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for my sake and the gospel's who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time; houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions; ans in the age to come, eternal life. here some people may stumble and say,
'there is a reward held out as a motive'.
but what are we to do?
forsake self for the sake of a reward to self?
no, we must forsake self for the sake of Christ and His gospel
and the consequences will be as stated.
this is the important distinction.
True Submission is Love
in i corinthians 13 paul gave a full description of disinterested love or charity, without which a person is nothing v2. note how much a person may do and still be nothing:
though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love,
I have become a sounding brass of a clanging cymbal.
335 and though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and though I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love,
I am nothing.
and though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor and though I give my body to be burned,
but have not love,
it profits me nothing. I corinthians 13.1-3
true gospel benevolence is of this character:
love suffers long and is kind;
love does not envy;
love does not parade itself,
is not puffed up;
does not behave rudely,
does not seek its own,
is not provoked,
thinks no evil;
does not rejoice in iniquity, but
rejoices in the truth;
bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things,
endures all things. I corinthians 13.4-7
love has no selfish end but seeks the happiness of others as its great end. without this kind of benevolence, we know there is not a particle of true christianity.
many people wonder why the threatenings of the Word of God are given if it is selfishness to be influenced by fear. man dreads pain.
the SCRIPTURE THREATENINGS ANSWER MANY PURPOSES.
ONE IS TO ARREST THE SELFISH MIND and
LEAD IT TO EXAMINE THE REASONS TO LOVE AND OBEY GOD.
when the Holy Spirit gets the sinner's attention, then He rouses his conscience and challenges him to
CONSIDER AND DECIDE ON THE REASONABLENESS AND DUTY OF SUBMITTING TO GOD.
it is wrong to be influenced by pleasure and pain?
no, it is neither right nor wrong.
these susceptibilities have no moral character.
suppose you stand on a cliff: if you throw yourself down, you will break your neck.
you are warned against it.
now, if you do not regard the warning but throw yourself down and destroy yourself and destroy your life, that is sin.
but heeding the warning is no virtue.
it is simply a prudent act.
there is no virtue in avoiding danger, although it may often be sinful not to avoid it.
to resist the wrath of God is sinful.
but to be afraid of hell is not holy, no more than the fear of breaking your neck is holy.
we may seek our own happiness with respect to its real value, and we are to do so.
he who doesn't do this commits sin.
336 but no one can be happy while he makes his own happiness his supreme objective.
happiness consists in the gratification of virtuous desires.
but to be gratified, the thing must be obtained that is desired.
for a person to be happy, therefore, the desires that are gratified must be right and
they must be disinterested desires.
two things are indispensable to true happiness. first, there must be virtuous or righteous desire. if the desire is not virtuous, conscience will oppose it and gratification will be accompanied by pain. Second, the object must be desired for its own sake , or the gratification will not be complete, even if it is attained...
if everyone pursues his own happiness as the ultimate goal, the interests of different individuals will clash and destroy the happiness of all. this is what we see in the world. it is the reason for all the fraud, violence, oppression and wickedness in earth and hell. as each pursues his own goals, interests clash. the only way to secure our own happiness is to pursue the glory of god and the good of the universe. the question is not whether we should desire and pursue our own happiness at all, but whether we should make our own happiness our supreme end.
Rebels in a Holy Empire
we are not simply under a government of naked law. this world is a province of God's empire. we have rebelled, and by a new and special provision, God offers us mercy. the conditions are that we obey the precepts of the law and submit to the justice of the penalty. God's gospel supplements His government of law.
the Gospel requires the same obedience as the law.
it requires sinners to yield to the justice of the penalty.
if the sinner were under mere law,
337 it would require that he submit to the infliction of the penalty.
but man is not and never has been, since the Fall, under the government of mere law.
he has always known, more or less clearly, that mercy is offered.
it has, therefore, never been required that men be willing to be punished.
in this respect, gospel submission differs from legal submission.
under naked law, submission would consist in willingness to be punished.
but under God's government, submission consists in one's yielding to the justice of the penalty
and regarding oneself as deserving the eternal wrath of God.
the duty of every sovereign is to see that all his subjects submit to his government.
if every individual obeys perfectly, his laws will promote the public good to the highest possible degree.
then, if anyone refuses to obey, the ruler must force that rebel to serve the public interest
in the best way.
if he will not serve voluntarily, he should be made to do it involuntarily.
God is a sovereign ruler and the submission that He requires is exactly what He must require.
He would be neglecting His duty as a ruler if He did not require it.
if you have refused to obey this requirement, you are bound to throw yourself into His hands
for Him to punish you in the way that will best promote the interests of the universe.
you have forfeited all claim to the happiness of the universe of the favor of God.
God requires that you acknowledge the justice of His law
and leave your future entirely and unconditionally at His disposal.
you must submit all you have and all you are to Him.
true submission requires complete acceptance of the terms of the Gospel.
they are repentance, holiness, faith, perfect trust and confidence toward God.
this leads you, without hesitation, to throw body and soul into His hands
to do with you as He thinks good.
to receive Christ as mediator, advocate, atoning sacrifice, ruler, teacher -
and in all the offices in which He is presented in God's Word - is true submission.
this is true acquiescence to God's appointed way of salvation.
the church is full of false hopes.
many people embrace what they consider the Gospel without yielding to the law.
338 they look at the law with dread
and regard the Gospel as a scheme to get away from the law.
these tendencies have always been seen in men. many hold to the Gospel and reject the law,
while others accept the law and neglect the Gospel.
the truth is that the rule of life is the same in both and both require disinterested benevolence.
if a person thinks that under the gospel he may give up the glory of God as his supreme objective and,
instead of loving God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength, may make his own salvation his supreme objective, his hopes are false. he has embraced another gospel - which is no gospel at all.
Submission unto Salvation
FAITH IS NOT BELIEVING THAT YOU WILL BE SAVED
BUT BELIEVING GOD'S WORD CONCERNING HIS SON.
He has revealed the fact that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. I timothy 1.15
what you call faith is more properly hope.
the confident expectation that you will be saved is an inference from the act of faith
and and inference that you have a right to draw
when you are conscious of obeying the law and believing the Gospel.
that is, when you exercise the feelings required in the law and Gospel,
you have a right to trust in Christ for your own salvation.
God wills that every soul be saved.
that fact exercises disinterested benevolence.
suppose a man came to me and asked, 'what must i do to be saved?
and I told him, 'IF YOU EXPECT TO BE SAVED, YOU MUST DESPAIR OF BEING SAVED.
what would he think?
what inspired writer ever gave such direction?
the correct answer is, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart (luke 10.27), 'Repent' (Acts 2.38), 'Believe in the gospel' (Mark 1.15, and so on.
is there anything here that implies despair?
sinners do despair before they obtain true peace. but what is the reason?
despair is not essential to true peace.
many anxious sinners despair because
they get a false impression that they have sinned away their day of grace
or that they have committed the unpardonable sin.
sometimes they despair because they know that mercy will be provided as soon as they comply with the terms,
339 but they find all their efforts at true submission useless.
they find they are proud and obstinate and cannot consent to the terms of salvation.
perhaps most individuals who do submit come to a point where they give up all as lost.
but is that necessary?
nothing but their own wickedness drives them to despair.
they are unwilling to accept God's mercy.
their despair, then, instead of being essential to true submission, is inconsistent.
no man ever embraced the Gospel while in that state.
to say despair is essential to true submission is saying that sin is essential to true submission!
every christian knows that God desires sinners to be saved.
the true ground for salvation is that a man must not seek his own salvation,
but must seek the glory of God.
what did the apostles tell sinners when they asked what they must do to be saved?
what did peter tell them at pentecost?
what did paul tell the jailer?
to repent, forsake their selfishness and believe the Gospel. (see Acts 2.38; 16.31)
...340 The Father's Broken Heart
the offer of mercy can be perverted, as every good thing can be and then it can give rise to selfish religion.
God knew this when He revealed the Gospel.
but nothing is calculated to subdue the rebellious heart of man other than God's mercy.
there was a father who had a stubborn and rebellious son, and he tried to subdue him by chastisement. he loved his son and longed to have him virtuous and obedient. but the child seemed to harden his heart against his repeated efforts. finally, the poor father was discouraged and burst into a flood of tears. 'My son! what can I do? can I save you? I have done all that I can to save you! what more can i do?
the son had never yielded to the rod. but when he saw the tears rolling down his father's cheeks and heard his sobs, he, too, burst into tears. he cried out, 'whip me, Father! but don't cry! the father had found the way to subdue that stubborn heart. instead of holding the iron hand of law over him, he poured out his should before him and what was the effect? to crush him into hypocritical submission? no, the rod did that. the gushing tears of his father's love broke him down at once to true submission to his father's will.
the sinner braves the wrath of almighty God and hardens himself to receive the heaviest bolt of thunder. then he sees the love of his heavenly Father's heart. when he sees God manifested in the flesh, stooping to take human nature, hanging on the cross and pouring out His soul in tears, bloody sweat and death, his heart melts. he cries out, 'do anything else, and i can bear it; but the love of the blessed Jesus overwhelms me.
341 to be thus influenced is the very nature of the mind.
DO NOT BE AFRAID TO EXHIBIT THE LOVE OF GOD TO SINNERS;
this is the only way to make them truly submissive. the law makes hypocrites, but only the gospel can draw souls to truly love God.
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