"Thou meetest him who rejoices
and works righteousness, [and] those who remember Thee in Thy
ways" (Isa. 64:5).

The threefold combination of joy
and righteousness and the remembrance of God has a special significance. It is
possible to walk in righteousness in strict adherence to religion, without
delighting ourselves in the Lord. It is possible to do what is morally right
and virtuous without actually having God Himself in remembrance. The enjoyment
of the secret of His presence is the key to the manifestation of His power in
effective service for Him. The Lord delights in those who know in practical
experience what fellowship with Him is. His eye is upon those who fear Him. The
apostle Paul precedes his desire for the realization of the power of His
resurrection by the desire "that I may know Him" (Phil. 3:10). Enoch
walked with God, and so had this testimony that he pleased God. He delighted
himself in the Lord (Psa. 37:4) and his life of witness in a godless world
issued in his transla­tion to the very pre­sence of God.

(From Isaiah:Prophecies,
Promises, Warnings, Zondervan Pub­lishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan.)

Recently there came into my
possession a many-years-old desk motto made of a triangular block of wood with
a metal plate fastened on front bearing the words, "Christ Is All."
The words are taken from the Bible:"Christ is all and in all" (Col.
3:11). The JND translation reads, "Christ is all things, and in all."

It is to have discovered the
Spring—the Secret of life—for one to have found the Lord Jesus Christ. Servants
of God have, in ecstasy, made their life motto, "Christ Is All"; this
was said of brother Samuel Ridout in particular.

It is of interest to learn how
many hymn-writers and poets have written upon this theme. Hymns of Grace and
Truth contains quite a number of examples of this, I have found.
"Christ is all" for salvation of the soul; "Christ is all"
for the daily path of a Christian from the moment he is saved until taken home
to glory; and "Christ is all" for worship and for assembly life,
collectively with other believers.

Following are extracts from Hymns
of Grace and Truth:

 

"I heard the Saviour say,

"Thy strength indeed is small!

Child of weakness, come to Me!

Find in Me thine All in all!"

Jesus paid it all,

All to Him I owe;

Sin had left a crimson stain:

He washed it white as snow.

                                         Elvina M. Hall
(#263)

                             * * *

Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind,

Sight, riches, healing of the mind,

Yea, all I need, in Thee to find,

O Lamb of God, I come! I come!

                                      Charlotte Elliott
(#300)

                             * * *

My terrors all vanished before the sweet name;

My guilty fears banished, with boldness I came

To drink at the fountain, life-giving and free:

"Jehovah Tsidkenu" is all things to me.

                                      Robert M McCheyne
(#265)

                             * * *

Thy truth unchanged hath ever stood;

Thou savest those that on Thee call;

To them that seek Thee, O how good,

To them that find Thee, All in all!

                                    Bernard of Clairvaux
(#92)

                             * * *

O Jesus, Lord, my Life, my All,

Hast Thou now set Thy love on me?

Then chain this heart, Thy captive thrall,

To beat for evermore for Thee!

                                             F. Allaben
(#175)

                             * * *

Christ Jesus is my All in all,

  My comfort and my love,

My life below, and He shall be

  My joy and crown above!

                                                J. Mason
(#80)

                             * * *

I lift my heart to Thee, Saviour divine!

For Thou are all to me, and I am Thine.

Is there on earth a closer bond than this,

That "my Beloved’s mine, and I am His!"

                                            C. E. Mudie
(#117)

                             * * *

The love has made the glory mine—

Oh, prostrate at His feet I’d fall!

And e’en the glory I’d resign

To have the love alone, my all.

                                          F. C. Jennings
(#44)

                             * * *

Jesus, my Saviour! Thou art mine,

The Father’s Gift of love divine;

All Thou hast done, and all Thou art,

Are now the portion of my heart.

 

All that Thou hast Thou hast for me,

All my fresh springs are hid in Thee;

In Thee I live; while I confess

I nothing am, yet all possess.

                                           James G. Deck
(#93)

                             * * *

Taken up with Thee, Lord Jesus, I would be;

Finding joy and satisfaction all in Thee;

Thou the nearest and the dearest unto me.

                                    Miss C. A. Wellesley
(#84)

                             * * *

He my cause will undertake,

My Interpreter will be;

He’s my all; and for His sake,

God be merciful to me.

                                       J. S. B. Monsell
(#299)

                             * * *

Jesus, before Thy face we fall—

Our Lord, our life, our hope, our all!

For we have nowhere else to flee—

No sanctuary, Lord, but Thee!

                                               C. Medley
(#69)

                             * * *

We praise Thee, and would praise Thee more;

  To Thee our all we owe:

The precious Saviour, and the Power

  That makes Him precious too.

                                         William Cowper
(#191)

                             * * *

We can scarcely close this tribute
to "Christ Is All" without quoting the words of Isaac Watts who
epitomizes the theme in #83:

 

O Lord, the Spring of all my joys,

  The life of my delights,

The glory of my brightest days,

  And comfort of my nights!

 

"Christ is all and in
all" (Col. 3:11). "Whatsoever things are true … honest … just …
pure … lovely … of good report, if there be any virtue and if there be any
praise, think on these things" (Phil. 4:8).

Christ is the One in whom God
finds all His delight. He is the center of His counsels, the One in whom all
things meet and are blended together in a harmonious display of God’s glory. It
is for us, then, if we would be of one mind with God, to find all things in Him
also, for He is the only One who can truly satisfy the needs of the human
heart.

The passage in Colossians declares
that for the new man Christ is ALL. The lesson conveyed by new creation is that
all centers in Christ, the glorious Head of it. Therefore all that is of new
creation will be found in relation to Him. We who believe are of the new
creation, and all growth therein depends on making Christ our all. This
preeminence of Christ is the great foundation thought in Colossians (1:18).

Philippians develops our life and
practice in relation to this:"For me to live is Christ, and to die is
gain," says the devoted man to whom "Christ is all." And why?
Because, absent from the body, he would be present with the Lord, and to be
with Christ, in his estimation, was "far better" (Phil. 1:23). If he
speaks of our manner of life, it is that it may "become the gospel of
Christ" (1:27); that we may be ready "to suffer for His sake"
(1:29); that while all around us seek their own things, we should seek
"the things of others" (2:4); that the same lowly mind of love
"which was also in Christ Jesus" may dwell in us (2:5).

In Philippians 3 the apostle Paul
tells out the whole-heartedness and the finding of all things in Christ, which
is the secret of power. Well might he say, "Brethren, be followers
together of me" (3:17). Nor does he leave it there, but proceeds, in the
fourth chapter, to give us that course in detail. Since all is so fully
centered in Christ, we are to "stand fast in the Lord"—to find our
all in Him (4:1). From this alone flows one-mindedness among God’s people, and
also the tender care, one for the other, that is so needful (4:2,3). We are to
"rejoice in the Lord always," and this will we do if, first of all,
we stand fast in Him (4:4). Then joy in the Lord will make us moderate in all
things (4:5). There will be no following of extremes, in one direction or
another. All men will see that we possess what satisfies the heart. There
follows, therefore, the lovely admonition, "Be anxious for nothing, but in
everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your
requests be made known unto God" (4:6). Disregarding this, how much in our
lives is broken by useless, even sinful, anxiety!—sinful because it
springs from unbelief. On the other hand, how blessed to be able to take everything
to God in prayer, and that with thanksgiving! If we do this, what peace fills
us—"the peace of God," that garrisons both mind and heart (4:7).
Every arrow of anxious care with which the enemy would pierce our souls is
turned aside, and unruffled calm is ours.

Finally, in the passage especially
before us, the apostle characterizes the things we are to think about. They are
the things that reflect Him in whom we stand, and before whom we come when
making known our requests. Let us consider these eight things that belong to
the new man to whom "Christ is all."

1. "Whatsoever things are
true." Truth is the reality of things. Where shall we find this?
"Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ" (John 1:17). In Him alone can
we find the true interpretation of all things. Every mystery of the counsels of
God is solved by bringing Him in. All centers in Him. He said, "I am the
… truth" (John 14:6).

2. "Whatsoever things are
honest [or venerable]," that is, worthy of reverence or worship. He of
whom we speak, His goings forth have been from of old, even of eternity (Mic.
5:2). "In the beginning was the Word … All things were made by Him"
(John 1:1,3). In those coming ages of glory shall He not, therefore, be hailed
as "the Father of eternity" (Isa. 9:6)? All creation shall at last
fall at His feet and worship Him. Hence, shall we not hold in reverence all
things that are linked with Him?

3. "Whatsoever things are
just." Here we necessarily think of what is free from all charge of
injustice or taint of evil. How could "a just God," who required the
cross of Calvary to be a Saviour, be ever linked with anything unjust?
Impossible! All things linked with our Lord must be just. To trace the actions
of His life is to trace a path in which everything was just. Therefore, all
suffering for the sake of justice finds sympathy in His heart now, and will
find a reward in the coming day when He shall rule in equity throughout the
whole creation.

4. "Whatsoever things are
pure." Purity is closely associated with justice. Christ is truly the Lamb
without spot or blemish—absolutely pure. Thus only could He be the fit One for
that mighty sacrifice that Justice demanded for the accomplishment of God’s
purposes of grace and glory.

5. "Whatsoever things are
lovely." Creation is full of lovely things. Why? Are they not the
reflections of the loveliness that is in Him who made them, the
"altogether lovely" One? Every department of nature, grand and
beautiful as it may be in itself, can only yield its full and precious lesson
in proportion as it is made to show forth His supreme beauty. Thus it receives
its true interpretation as being linked with Christ, its Author. It is this
bringing together of the creature and the Creator that imparts true loveliness
to us also. But its full expression is through redemption only, so that the
things lovely in creation will be freed from idolatry only as we realize all
things to center in Christ Jesus.

6. "Whatsoever things are of
good report." What an endless list of evil reports issues from all the
ends of the earth! How defiling to all whose minds are engaged with it! How
different the report we have from our Lord Jesus Christ concerning the country
from which He came, to which He has returned, and of which He is the Door! What
a report is that of His life among men, and of the issues flowing out of what
He has passed through! How peace-giving and sanctifying is that report!

Was it not a good report that made
us find out our need on the one hand, and the perfect answer to it on the
other? Then contemplate our place in Christ, and all its attendant
blessings—oh, what a report! To think of these things gives us triumph over
evil. They are linked with another sphere; they center where Christ is at the
Father’s right hand.

7. "If there be any
virtue." Here the thought is, as in 2 Pet. 1:5, of that soldier-like
courage that presses on steadfastly to the end, triumphing over every obstacle.
Our thoughts should cherish everything that leads to this, for it is an
important element in our character.

8. "If there be any
praise." That is the grand final object. See the end of the Church’s path
in Revelation 4 and 5. In this is all power for testimony and service. Dwelling
on the glories and virtues of Christ can alone produce it.

"Think on these things."
How important, then, that our thoughts should dwell on suitable things! May our
souls follow hard after them.

(From Help and Food, Vol.
25.)

The touching story of Mary
Magdalene in John 20 is familiar to almost everyone. It is a striking instance
of ignorant, yet genuine affection. She might have known His glorious
resurrection. She ought to have remembered His words, "After three days I
will rise again" (Matt. 27:63). But though her faith and intelligence were
defective, her heart beat true to its Object and her Treasure. Contrast her
with Peter and John:does she not stand on a platform far above them? They
could return to their home, satisfied that Jesus’ body was not in the tomb,
though they knew not where He was. This was not enough for Mary; her loyal
heart panted to know where He was, and finding Him not, was ready to break down
with grief.

Mary stood at the sepulchre
weeping, stooping to gaze at the spot where they laid Him (John 20:11).
Unperturbed by the angels, she lingered there, and there her heart must be.
Here is a beautiful instance of the amazing power of a single object that
governs one’s affections. She spoke to the angels:"They have taken away
my Lord, and I know not where they have laid Him." Then she spoke to the
One whom she supposed was the gardener:"Sir, if you have borne Him hence,
tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away" (20:13-15).

How was she rewarded? Most surely
according to the desires of her heart toward Himself. First, He allowed her to
hear her own name on His risen lips. Wonderful moment for Mary! Wonderful
moment for Jesus! was not every pulsation of her devoted heart met, and more
than satisfied, when His blessed voice caused her to look into His own face,
her Master and her Lord? I am bold to say that two hearts were made glad that
daybreak—hers who could find no home where He was not, and His who gave His
life for worthless rebels like us. And I am bold to say further that it gave
him greater joy to own her as His sheep, calling her by name—Mary!—than it did
her to be so owned and called.

This was not all, for He
commissioned her to carry the most wonderful message ever entrusted to human
lips:"Go to My brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto My Father and
your Father, and to My God and you God" (20:17). He sent her forth to
proclaim the victory of His love, that He, the risen Man, was Head of a new
race, that "both He who sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of
one" and that "He is not ashamed to call them brethren" (Heb.
2:11,12). He sent her forth out of the second garden where the mournful history
of the first garden (Eden) had been more than wiped out by the glories of His
triumph, to say to poor trembling hearts like ours that He Himself had not only
won a new place for them, but that He had positively brought them into it in
Himself. "He who sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of
one" does not mean that He was degraded to their level, but that He, by
His death, His glorious triumph and victory, had elevated them to the heights
of His own new place before His Father and God.

What grace! wondrous grace! He
passed by angels who excel in strength and came down to a poor weak woman upon
the earth, owned her as His sheep, and then sent her forth to wipe the tearful
eyes and comfort the trembling hearts of His own by announcing unto them the
conquests of His love. Who can fail to say that Jesus delights to reward the
devoted heart? And who can deny that in thus rewarding the devoted heart, He
gratifies His own changeless affections?

Let us now turn to Mark 14. Here
is the only instance recorded in Scripture of any one having intelligent
sympathy with Christ. It is a scene full of wonder. Everyone is thinking of
death. Jesus has the vision of death before His spirit. How must the passover,
with its lamb whose blood was shed, have brought forward death before every
mind! There were the type and the antitype face to face, as it were:the chief
priests and scribes with a hatred to Christ that nothing but His death could
appease, seeking how they might take Him by craft and put Him to death. Thus we
see how death filled all thoughts. But there was present one—another Mary, Mary
of Bethany—whose heart kept company with all that was passing through Christ’s
heart; she alone was in full sympathy with His feelings at the moment and
entered into the thoughts of God concerning His beloved Son.

Mary’s heart and affections, in
true and genuine sympathy, traversed with Christ the dreariness and loneliness
of His path, as well as marking her sense of the utter worthlessness of all
around in view of His agony and death. On one side she intelligently
apprehended not only who and what He was in Himself, but likewise His value in
the eyes of His Father; on the other, she made use of His tomb as a burying
place for every valuable thing of hers on earth. For her, if Jesus died, He
would carry all of hers down into the grave with Himself!

In Matthew and Mark, the blessed
Lord is consciously in man’s hand in the closing hours of His life. This indeed
characterizes these gospels in their record of His death, His cross. That cross
was both the fruit of the counsel of God in view of redemption as well as the
fruit of Jewish enmity and man’s revolted, reprobate heart. How blessed it is
then to see Mary here at such a moment, marking her sense of the glories of His
person in the face of the accumulated hatred of both devil and man! It is a blessed
sight, in the intelligent apprehension of faith, the homage of one willing,
loving heart, thus laid at His feet—one solitary soul in that rebellious land
owning Him Lord of all. All this sheds its light on His own words:
"Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world,
this also that she has done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her"
(Mark 14:9).

Let us now look at the facts as
they are here recorded a little more in detail. Mary’s affection, her
intelligent sympathy, takes precedence over the treachery of Judas. Her love to
Jesus was of that order and character that it secured for Him that which was
suitable to Himself at such a moment, and that which entirely met His heart and
thoughts. "The box of ointment of spikenard very precious" answered
to all that was around Jesus, in the hatred and malignity of man, in that hour;
but it also coincided with all that filled His soul, and it was also community
of thought with the Father concerning the Son of His bosom. It is a sight of
surpassing blessedness to gaze at Him as He sits there:to see Him accepting
and vindicating the affection and sympathy that His own Person had created and
called forth; to see Mary, the fruit as she was of His grace, expending on Him
her all. Mary, as it were, says by this action of hers, "While the King
sits at His table, my spikenard sends forth the smell thereof" (Cant.
1:12).

There is another point of solemn
interest in this affecting scene, namely, how opposite the thoughts of men are
to what suits the mind of God and His Christ. The most that some could say
concerning Mary’s act was that it was marked by waste. Oh, how little was He in
their eyes who measured the service rendered to Him after this fashion! For it
is the person to whom the service is rendered that is the true measure of its
value. Jesus, the eternal Son of the Father, Jesus, the spotless and perfect
Son of God, Jesus, the willing and ready friend of need and want and sorrow,
stood so low in their estimate as to call forth the expression of waste in
regard to that which was voluntarily expended upon Him. It is the same today;
the lack of appreciation of who He is and what He has done passes on from
generation to generation. In today’s world, with all its boasted light, superiority,
and advance, the poor, the perishing, the destitute, and the oppressed have
their friends and allies; but Jesus, the precious, blessed, wondrous Saviour,
is forgotten and neglected—only remembered to be slighted and despised.

There is a bright spot in this
dark cloud; turn you eye upon it for a moment:Jesus vindicates Mary. How
blessed! The eye under which this act was performed discerned its value, and
the heart that had caused to spring up affections so suited to Himself, her
Lord, measured out its appreciation of all that was expended on Himself.
Furthermore, He let everyone know what He felt and thought about this
manifestation of her devotedness to His Person. "Let her alone … she has
wrought a good work on Me … she has done what she could; she is come
beforehand to anoint My body to the burying" (Mark 14:8). Oh, the joy of
being vindicated by Jesus, and the satisfaction of knowing that, however
feebly, we have truly ministered to the longings of His heart!

May the Lord give His saints in
these last days more genuine affection for, and true sympathy with, our Lord
Jesus Christ and His interests. May nothing be able to divert our hearts from
Him, engage our powers but Him, satisfy our souls but Him!

What makes life worth living?
Do you ever think about that?

You may be young; a satisfying
future stretches out ahead. There may be some obstacles to overcome first
before that future can be realized; but still, the opportunity is there and
worth every effort. What does the future hold for you?

Do you see great career
opportunities, a chance to leave your mark, be respected, and be financially
comfortable (maybe even wealthy)? Perhaps family and friends mean the most to
you and you plan marriage and a satisfying home and family life. For the more
energetic, exciting experiences and fun may be anticipated:you are determined
that new experiences, places, and people are to be yours.

It may not seem that you are
asking for much—certainly not more than others have done. But where is Jesus
Christ—where is God—in all your hopes and plans?

Let us have a reality check here.
Picture the universe of seemingly infinite space, stars and galaxies, moons and
comets, farther than the eye can see. And in the center of your vision, a
beautiful blue globe, marbled over with white cloud swirls and earthy colored
areas, contrasting dramatically with the deep darkness around it.

You are looking from the
incredible expanse of the universe God made for Himself at the place He
uniquely designed for human beings. There we find His creation, His people,
people for Him to love, and people who will love Him and worship Him, not only
with their words but, most importantly, with their lives!

Further, still, see Jesus Christ
Himself—the maker and owner of all you have just been picturing, everything made
by Him and for Him. And in one tiny spot on that blue and brown globe, too
small to be seen from your vantage point in space, there is the place called
Gethsemane; nearby, the hill called Golgotha, or Calvary.

There, in that place, Jesus, the
Son of God, gave everything for you. You say you believe that, you have known
that, and you trust Him as your Savior. But in a real, everyday sense, are you
His? Is your life His? Are your future, your plans, His?

Ask God to create in you a desire
for something far higher, far better than what you have been seeking so
far—"gold, silver and precious stones," rather than "wood, hay
and stubble" (1 Cor. 3:12). Ask often, and feed that desire with what God
has given you to be food for your spirit. Your soul and spirit can only expand
with His feeding, and with the active exercise of faith, grasping one by one
the things He teaches you. Live by these things; revel in the growing life you
have in God; refuse to be deceived by Satan and your own natural self into
believing that you can be satisfied by things that fall short of full spiritual
life in Christ.

You may not have noticed—since you
have been so busy with your life and plans—that your spirit is hungry!
It cannot be satisfied by activity, by entertainment, by fun, by any thing.
The father of lies would love to have you deaden (or never awake to) your
spirit’s desires with the narcotic of sensual things, "good" things,
things that promise to meet your emotional needs and your physical and mental
desires. "The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the
flesh; and these things are opposed one to the other, that you should not do
those things that you desire" (Gal. 5:17 JND).

In place of the "junk
food" just mentioned, feed your spirit with what is of the Holy Spirit—namely,
the Word of God. Avoid hurry and over‑busyness. You will need to
"make time" for this, which really means carefully spending the
scarcest non‑renewable resource you have—time. You can have life as God
intended it. Then it will be a life worth living!

"And what shall I more say?
for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson"
(Heb. 11:32).

                            Gideon

The story of Gideon is a favorite
of children and adults alike. Do not our hearts go out to Gideon, the underdog,
one of the least important men in the entire nation of Israel (Judg. 6:15),
totally inexperienced in military affairs, and leading an army of 300 men (6:8)
against over 120,000 Midianite soldiers (8:10). What marvelous faith Gideon had
in the LORD who put him in such a responsible position! What a tremendous
victory was wrought by the LORD through his faithful servant Gideon!

We tend to forget that before God
sent Gideon out against the Midianite army, He tested Gideon’s faith close to
home:"It came to pass the same night that the LORD said unto him, Take
your father’s young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and
throw down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the grove that
is by it; and build an altar unto the LORD your God upon the top of this rock,
in the ordered place … Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as
the LORD had said unto him" (Judg. 6:25-27). This was a very risky thing
for Gideon to do, as we see in the next verses:"And when the men of the
city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and
the grove was cut down that was by it … And they said one to another, Who has
done this thing? And when they inquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of
Joash has done this thing. Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out
your son, that he may die" (6:28-30). However, Gideon’s father wisely
intervened on behalf of him:"Joash said unto all that stood against him,
Will you plead for Baal? will you save him? … If he be a god, let him plead
for himself" (6:31). Gideon’s faithful obedience to the LORD on the home
front qualified him to be used of the LORD in a mighty way at a national and
international level.

Increasingly I hear about young
Christian men and women, in their teens and early twenties, going off to other
parts of the country or to foreign countries to engage in some kind of
Christian service for a few months. I believe it is well to follow the example
of Gideon in first proving one’s faithfulness in serving the Lord and doing
what He wants us to do on the home front before even thinking about going to
"the regions beyond" (2 Cor. 10:16). Saul (later called Paul) and
Barnabas followed this pattern. They labored in the assembly at Antioch for a
year (Acts 11:26-30) before the Holy Spirit stirred up the assembly to send
them out as missionaries to the Gentile world (13:1-4).

In summary, Gideon teaches us the
following:We must first prove our faithfulness to the Lord in matters close
to home before we are qualified to serve Him far away from home.

                             Barak

"And the children of Israel
again did evil in the sight of the LORD when Ehud was dead. And the LORD sold
them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; the captain
of whose host was Sisera … And Deborah a prophetess … judged Israel at that
time … And she sent and called Barak … and said unto him, Has not the LORD
God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward Mount Tabor, and take with
you 10,000 men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zabulun? And
I will draw unto you to the river Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin’s army,
with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into your hand. And
Barak said unto her, If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will
not go with me, then I will not go. And she said, I will surely go with you;
notwithstanding the journey that you take shall not be for your honor; for the
LORD shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman" (Judg. 4:1-9).

At first glance, Barak seems to be
characterized by his lack of faith. Deborah, a prophetess and judge of
Israel, gave Barak a very clear message from the LORD. Barak responded
obediently, but conditionally:he would go only if Deborah went with him.
Deborah went, but Barak was deprived of personal honor and glory as a result.
The LORD used Jael, a woman of Israel, to kill Sisera, the captain of the
Canaanite army.

Did Barak lose a great deal by his
apparent lack of faith? Being, apparently, a humble man, it did not seem to
matter much to him who got the glory of killing Sisera as long as the children
of Israel could defeat the Canaanites and get them to stop harassing them.
Barak seems to have grasped the value of having Deborah at his side during the
battle. After all, Deborah was a prophetess and seemed highly capable of
receiving communications directly from the LORD. What a resource to
have—directions from the LORD Himself—when engaging in battle with the enemy.
So that which had the initial appearance of being lack of faith turned out to
be really mistrust of himself and his ability to discern the mind of the LORD.
Barak wanted the mind of the LORD above anything else—even above personal
honor—and so asked Deborah to accompany him onto the battlefield.

The lesson, then, is this:Faith
is willing to give up personal honor and glory in order to be certain of having
the mind of God.

                            Samson

How in the world did Samson get
into Hebrews 11? His life seems to be more an example of how a child of God is not
to live rather than of a life of faith. In a previous issue we noted that Jacob
had a similar track record. It was not until he was old and crippled,
"leaning upon the top of his staff," that he gave real evidence of
faith and dependence upon the LORD. So it was with Samson. At the end of a life
characterized by one failure after another, Samson was reduced to physical
weakness and blindness (Judg. 16:21).

Then his hair—the source of his
formerly great strength (16:17)—began to grow back again after he had been
shaved by the Philistines. Samson might have tried to rely upon the little bit
of hair that had grown back and perhaps might have been able to a little bit of
damage to the Philistines. But he did not do this. Rather, "Samson called
unto the LORD and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray Thee, and strengthen
me, I pray Thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the
Philistines for my two eyes" (16:28). As a result of trusting in the LORD
rather than in himself, "the dead whom he slew at his death were more than
those whom he slew in his life" (16:30).

One lesson for us is that faith
does not depend upon one’s natural or God-given strength, but upon the Giver of
that strength. The Lord Jesus is our perfect Example in this regard.
Possessing the divine attribute of omnipotence, as a Man on earth He never
exercised that power apart from total dependence upon His Father (see Matt.
4:3,4).

Another lesson, as with Jacob, is
that faith is noted and honored by God even when it comes at the very end of
a life that is characterized by the lack of faith.

Ruth is often discussed as a type
of the Church, but in this article we will consider those characteristics that
make her a good example for other women.

Both Ruth and Orpah evidently had
a good relationship with their mother-in-law Naomi. Both started with her on
the trip back to Bethlehem, but only Ruth completed the journey. Naomi had
tried to persuade both of them to stay in Moab. Why? Because, being Moabites
themselves, they were more likely to find husbands there than in Bethlehem.
Naomi was speaking from the point of view of the culture and society of her
time in which a single woman had no status and a woman’s primary function was
to bear a son or sons for her husband. But for Ruth there were more important
considerations than cultural and social ones. "Where you go, I will go;
and where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God
my God" (Ruth 1:16).

Ruth wanted to be with Naomi and
her relatives rather than with her own relatives in Moab; and she wanted to
worship the God of Israel rather than the gods of Moab. Human sacrifice (2 Ki.
3:26,27) and sexual immorality (Num. 25:1-3) were part of the religion  of
Moab. Not much is known about the worship of the Moabite national god, Chemosh,
but it is telling that after the conquests of Alexander the Great, Chemosh was
adopted by the Greeks and absorbed into the cult of Ares, the god of the brutal
aspects of warfare. In Greek mytho­logy, Ares’ war chariot was pulled by horses
named Phobos (fear) and Deimos (terror). No wonder Ruth wanted to leave Moab
after hearing about Jehovah from Naomi. Lifelong widowhood in Israel would be
better than marriage in Moab where marriage and motherhood were tainted by the
uncleanness of idolatry.

In her attitudes Ruth anticipated
Christian teaching in which marriage and motherhood are still honorable
callings (1 Tim. 5:14; Heb. 13:4), but in which women, as well as men, are
encouraged to remain single if they have the gift of remaining single, in order
to devote themselves completely to the service of the Lord (1 Cor. 7:32-34).

Along with this New Testament
teaching, there is now, at least in the United States, decreasing social
pressure for women to marry. Why, then, are women in general, and even
Christian women, so desperate to marry that they marry unsuitable men?
Christian women marry unsaved men, abusive men, alcoholic men, irresponsible
men, and formerly married men not scripturally free to remarry. Many of these
marriages end in divorce and most are unhappy.

When Ruth did decide to marry, she
did not choose the most glamorous or physically attractive man but a man who
demonstrated godliness and kindness (Ruth 2:8-14; 3:10). He, in turn, was
attracted to her by her spiritual qualities (2:11). Too often when Christian
young people are encouraged to become better acquainted with godly, sincere
Christian young men or women, we hear remarks like, "But he’s so
bor-r-r-ing," or "She’s so dull." Too often Christian young men
and women choose their friends and spouses on the same basis as the world
does—looks, material possessions, quick wit, and so on. Too late they discover
that such attractions are too flimsy to build a life on.

After leaving Moab, Ruth became
Naomi’s care giver, in a sense. She gleaned the grain she and Naomi would eat
and threshed it as well. She was also a companion to Naomi. Was Naomi thankful?
Not at first, anyway:"I went out full, and the LORD has brought me home
again empty" (Ruth 1:21). "Well!" Ruth might have
thought, "and after I left everything to stay with her." But there is
no hint that Ruth was annoyed with Naomi or curtailed her care of her. Many
people nowadays are care givers for elderly relatives. Most of these care
givers are women. Many of the elderly relatives are no more appreciative of the
care and concern they receive than was Naomi, some even less so. Ruth is a
model to those care givers whose efforts are greeted with complaining. She had
committed herself to serving Jehovah and Naomi and did not allow Naomi’s lack
of appreciation to turn her aside from her commitment.

Naomi eventually started thinking
about Ruth’s welfare and in due time Ruth married Boaz and gave birth to a son.
Naomi became nurse to the child (Ruth 4:16). We need women who, like Naomi,
will help new mothers care for their infants. Since women often come home from
the hospital only 24-48 hours after childbirth and often do not live near older
female relatives because of the general mobility of
American society, many young mothers are exhausted and overwhelmed by the care
their newborns require. What an opportunity for Christian women to minister to
these young mothers in their own families, in their assemblies, and in the
community at large by offering emotional and practical support when needed.

Even though Ruth and Naomi lived
over 3,000 years ago, they provide many lessons for women today. We need more
women who will make wise decisions and commit themselves to serving God and
others.

 

FRAGMENT  Love to Christ smooths the path of duty and gives
wings to the feet to travel it. It is the bow that impels the arrow of
obedience; it is the mainspring moving the wheels of duty; it is the strong arm
tugging the oar of diligence.                          Charles H. Spurgeon