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Glen Park Gospel Church >> Archive >> Editorial >> 2013
Each month the Glen Park Gospel Church produce a one page newsletter called the Green Leaf. It's available from the chapel each Sunday. Some months include a topical article or report. We thought you might appreciate reading those previously published.
With Eternity in Our Hearts
"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end."
Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NIV),
Throughout the pages of Holy Scripture we find markers that set mankind in a category of creation that make him unique. These markers are not shared by any other created form. One of these is that man was created with eternity in his heart. What is meant by this statement?
Man is unique in that he is conscious of the passing of time. Animals are content to live for the moment. Animals can be discontented with their lot. If they are cold they look for a warm spot. If they are hungry they search for food and squirrels store nuts for winter. But they do not plan for tomorrow as man does, and man is quite concerned about it all. This is the difference. Jesus, the creator, touched this nerve when he declared:
"Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; and they have no storeroom nor barn; and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds!" (1)
This awareness demands an origin. We need a pedigree. We need to know who we are and where we fit in to all of this. We need a continuum and going beyond that, how it all began. The Bible is the only credible book in the world that claims an eyewitness account of creation's beginning.
"That's unbelievable!"
"No, not at all if you personally know the Creator!"
That's what Christmas is all about. The eternal God stepped into a moment of time, clothed with the humanity of Jesus. Living wholly in harmony one moment at a time in absolute dependence on His Heavenly Father, He then went on to become the eternal sacrifice for the sin of all, for all time, to those who accept Him. His example of trust in God is our pattern for faith.
This eternity in our hearts is a void that must be filled. Alfred, Lord Tennyson expressed his struggle:
I hold you here, root and all, in my hand
Little flower - but if I could understand
What you are, root and all, and all in all,
I should know what God and man is.
Jesus made it an even more personal demand for faith:
"Consider the lilies, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory did not clothe himself like one of these." (2)
And the Old Covenant clearly sets the terms and challenges our response:
"The eternal God is a dwelling place, And underneath are the everlasting arms." (3)
God, to be God, must not be a god made with human hands, nor a god of mere human imagination. He is the eternal God. Only God in Christ fills that role.
God broke our years to hours and days,
That hour by hour and day by day,
Just going on a little way,
We might be able all along
To keep quite strong.
Should all the weight of life
Be laid across our shoulders,
And the future rife with woe and struggle
Meet us face to face at just one place
We could not go; our feet would stop.
And so God lays a little on us every day,
And never, I believe, on all the way
With burdens bear so deep
Or pathways lie so steep
But we can go, if by God's power,
We only bear the burden of the hour. (4)
1. Luke 12:24 (NASB),
2. Luke 12 :27 (NASB),
3. Deuteronomy 33:27 (NASB),
4. George F Klingle 1796 - 1840.
No Room for Gloom
A carpenter kept saying that he was going to write a book entitled “No Room for Glue.” He meant that his joinery was so finely cut that adhesive was either unnecessary or impossible. We are reminded that Jesus was a carpenter who not only worked with timber, but human lives, and his work really is so fine that there is “No Room for Gloom.”
Jesus stopped by Jericho and a blind man was there who kept calling out for Jesus. ‘Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called to the blind man, Cheer up! On your feet! He is calling for you.” ’(1) That’s how a relationship with Jesus starts. It did for him. It does for us.
Now Christians are never downcast, doubting, discouraged or depressed are they? That’s not reality! Christians can get downcast, doubting, discouraged or depressed, and other ‘d’ words like distressed. But that is not normality either. The normal Christian life is cheerfulness, no matter what the circumstance. Paul commands us. ‘Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.’(2) We have to remember that any one of our ‘d’ words is not God’s will for us and it is therefore sinful. Sin must be confessed and abandoned. If you are one of God’s people then you are His workmanship(3) and there is no room for gloom where He is at work.
A deacon was sent to meet a visiting preacher at the train. He had not seen him before and he scanned every man for a gloomy face until he found one with a pained expression. “Are you our minister?” he asked. “No,” he replied, “It’s my indigestion that makes me look like this! Cheer up brother!”(4)
1. Mark 10:19,
2. 1 Thessalonians 5:16,
3. Ephesians 2:10,
4. Daily Bread: Richard DeHaan.
That Red Thread Running Through
A red thread runs through the rigging of every Royal Navy ship. A coloured yarn was used by the Royal Navy known as ‘rouges yarn’ or ‘kings yarn.’
Rope was often stolen from Naval Dockyards because of its high quality, hence the coloured yarn was put into the rope when it was spun. Different colours were used - blue for Portsmouth, red for Devonport, yellow for Chatham, to identify the rope-walk where it was spun. Rogues yarn was placed in the middle of every strand of all cables and cordage in the king’s service. It differed from all the rest, being untarred, and twisted in a contrary manner. By this it was easily discovered and identified.
There is a red thread which runs throughout human history, and we find it recorded in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. It is found in the sacrifice in the garden that covered the nakedness of Adam and the promise of the woman’s seed. It is in the substitute that redeemed Isaac, the passover lamb, every levitical sacrifice, the sacrificial Lamb of Isaiah 53, and of course the communion cup which Jesus shared with His disciples. It speaks of the blood of Jesus which was shed for us.
It is that red thread that gives identity and integrity to the whole. It is by that thread that identifies the body of Christ as belonging to the family of God, and as people of another kind, sons of the Heavenly kingdom. It is that thread that gives the character of holiness to all His people.
The red thread was part of the whole, but essentially different to the rest of the cord in that it was twisted the other way. And it was untarred. He was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, went on to His death upon the cross as God’s sacrifice for all the sins of all people for all of time. It was He who knew no sin and who became sin for us that we might in turn become the righteousness of God in Him.
an unnamed editorial
"But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth."
Who said these words? To whom were they said? What was their purpose. We can tell you this, that they are part of Scripture, the NIV Bible.
Were they a prophecy, such as Psalm 80:17 "Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand, the son of man you have raised up for yourself." As Spurgeon says of it, ‘There is no doubt here an outlook to the Messiah.’
Or were they part of the road to Emmaus, when their hearts burned within them and Jesus not only showed them His risen self but explained all things in the Old Testament concerning Himself. John 2:22 "After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken."
Or were they a part of Peter’s great Pentecostal sermon where he said in Acts 2:24 "But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him." Did he go on to add these words?
Or were they a part of a promise of eternal deliverance which we thrill to read in Paul’s letters, an encouragement concerning eternal life to come? You will remember he wrote, 2 Corinthians 4:14 "We know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself."
Or were they from the vision of the aged apostle John, the one whom the Lord loved when he was in exile on Patmos and he in a vision looked into heaven to see the risen, ascended Son of Man. Rev 1:12-14 "I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire."
Who was speaking? Who was listening? Who was heeding?
These are not words of encouragement at all, but of condemnation that sealed Pharaoh’s doom, as God told Pharaoh through Moses that he was damned for resisting God’s word to him. Let us take heed. Exodus 9:16.
The Shining Ones
"While we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life"
Romans 5:10 (NASB)
John Bunyan 1528-1588, a tinker turned preacher brilliantly picks up the essence of Paul's text in his Pilgrim's Progress*, an extended allegory written while Bunyan was in jail for his preaching work.
"He ran," says Bunyan, "until he came to a place somewhat ascending, and on that place stood a Cross, and a little below in the bottom, a Sepulchre."
As he came level with the cross the burden of the guilt of his transgressions "loosed from off his shoulders, and fell off his back, and began to tumble and continued to do so, til it came to the mouth of the Sepulchre, where it fell in, and I saw it no more.
It surprised him that the sight of the cross should ease him of the burden of guilt. He looked and looked again, tears of relief running down his cheeks. As he stood looking and weeping three Shining Ones greeted him with the benediction "Peace be to thee."
The first said to him "Thy sins be forgiven thee." The second stripped him of his rags and clothed him in new garments. The third set a brand on his forehead and entrusted him with a parchment roll sealed with the King's authorisation upon it, telling him to read it as he ran and to hand it in at the Celestial gate.
In his story Bunyan sees the Christian confession as more than a vocal affirmation, rather a life long appropriation of the riches and resources made available to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
All who would find peace with God must come, as the Pilgrim did, by the narrow way that leads by the Cross. Upon reaching the Cross guilt of past sin is removed, to be replaced by an heart at peace with God, but also God ministers to His pilgrims forgiveness of sins and errors which may unfortunately be committed along the way, a garment of righteousness to cover the old self without which covering no man can ever hope see the Lord, a brand of identity by which he is known as a Pilgrim the Lord’s people and finally a book of holy words to instruct and encourage until our Heavenly home is reached.
*Romans 5:10 (NASB)
Bunyan John, The Pilgrim's Progress;
The Harvard Classics Ed. C W Elliott;
P F Collier & Sons, 1937, New York, p41.
"It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us . . ."
Seeking the Mind of God
What to do! Where do we go from here? How do we know what is right? From time to time we all come to some point of decision. It happens in our personal affairs, in our family life and in the affairs of the church; the family of God.
Yet despite our doubts, God does lead His children. Sometimes there is a light on the hill. It is a beacon so clear there can be no mistaking it. Sometimes the word of God is our guide; especially in moral things it is easy to sort out the good from the evil, but sometimes too, the evil seems to be good and then it is no so easy and we may need to seek some help. But when there is a fork in the way we ought not to doubt which path to take.
The early church had an issue to decide. It is recorded in Acts 15. It does not matter much what issue needed to be decided, we today can draw some instruction and encouragement from their practice at that time.
'It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.' If only things were that easy! let's take a closer look. The words 'seemed good' come from one Greek word that is found through all the New Testament. It means here to consider and come to a pleasing and settled resolution.
As you read the chapter carefully you may discover what the apostles did: They acknowledged the issue openly. They allowed open and lengthy discussion. They did not rush a decision. They called together and then listened to the word of their leaders. They rehearsed where and how the Spirit of God was moving in their day. They consulted the word of God to find His way and His plan. They decided on a plan that met the convictions of their people and encouraged the progress of the Gospel. They came to one mind on their response. They formed an action plan to implement their decision. They put this plan into action. Thus it is that they were able to say, 'It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.'
Can we learn anything from Acts 15 that helps us in our personal, family and church decision making? How many of these principles of the apostles could we, and should we apply to our problems and questions? Patiently continue your endeavour until you too can say, 'It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.'
*Acts 15:28 (NASB)
The words, 'Seemed good' are found in vv 22, 25, 28 and 34
My Burden is Light
Matthew 11:30
Dr. Lambie, a medical missionary of a former generation to Ethiopia tells of a secret he learned from the rural Ethiopians he went to serve.
Because of the primitive travelling conditions in the country where there were no bridges the native people developed a unique way of crossing swiftly flowing streams that crossed their path, the current of which could easily sweep them off their feet. On the bank they would find an heap of stones which had been placed there deliberately. They took up some of these heavy burdens and carried them across only to deposit them on a similar heap on the far bank. Because the human body is only a little heavier than water, when they were waist deep in water they needed some added ballast to give their feet some grip on the bed of the river.
So too God in His wisdom sometimes places on His children some burdens that seem too heavy to bear, but in fact the purpose is to keep them from being carried away in the current of life. In the same way an empty ship, sailing light, is a dangerous ship in a storm. For this reason ship owners burden their vessels with ballast to keep them safe. In the early days of Australia's development ships brought roofing slates to this country, not as pay load, but as saleable stone ballast to keep the ship stable and safe.
For this reason also Paul tells mature Christians, 'Each one will bear his own load' The word for 'load' comes from a word meaning 'the ballast of a ship.' When troubles next come your way, give thanks to God for their blessed ministry. We draw closer to God in our sufferings than we do luxuriating in the sunshine.
But to those who are falling by the way, already troubled, Paul says. 'Bear one another's burdens and thereby fulfil the law of Christ.' To these Jesus, who came to make load bearing possible through the presence of His Spirit, says, 'Take my yoke upon you . . . for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.'
*Sources: D R DeHann in Bread for Each Day, June 24th. Galatians 6.2 & 6.5, Matthew 11.30 (NASB)
Our Spiritual Exercise Routine
Great store is put on taking some exercise every day.
I felt like my body had gotten totally out of shape, so I obtained my doctor’s agreement to join a fitness club and start exercising. Deciding to join in the aerobics group, I bent and twisted, gyrated, stretched this way and that and even tried jumping up and down. I soon got up a sweat, but by the time I had my leotards on, the class was over*.
“Bodily exercise profiteth little*.” The apostle Paul put it nicely. I was soothed by the thought that he understood the problems of my untimely start to the workout. Actually we err, not by misquoting Paul’s words, but by not quoting enough. ‘Physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come*.’ His wisdom promises help for the life we are now living but moreso for the life to come.
How foolish we are if we put in so much effort to train our throw-away body to function a little better for just a little longer, but neglect our soul which will go on into eternity. If we need planning and discipline to exercise physically, ought we not give at least the same diligence to exercise spiritually? Learn to start the day with God on an inter-personal level. Read a portion of the Bible and let God speak to your heart. Commit your program, your problems, the people in your life to Him. Learn to leave these things in His care, trusting Him to be with you each step of the way. Build up your own exercise routine. Live in Jesus and let Him live in you. That is life, eternal life.
*Daniel Goldsmith,
*1 Timothy 4:8 (AV & NIV) (NASB)
Like Showers of Rain
"May He be like rain falling on a mown field, like showers watering the earth."
Psalm 72:6 (NIV)
Ask a farmer if he wants rain to fall upon a field that had just been mown and he would answer, “Not likely!” Ask him if he would like the sun to shine on his new cut hay, “Certainly, bring it on!” Wetted hay has to be properly dried before it can be stored, and drying wet grass hay takes much additional work and expense.
This is not the meaning of the verse. Read it again more carefully! The mown field has been recently mown and the hay removed. Rain is needed to make the grass to shoot again with new life.
Are you stressed because God has clipped your wings? God allows His people to be laid aside for a while from time to time because what He wants for us is the abundant life of Jesus to be released in us and through us amidst a hurt and weary world. Sometimes we get carried away by the success of what we can do for God, but what He really wants for us is to allow Jesus Christ to be Himself in us. Enforced lay-by times can be a blessing or a wasted opportunity. If He has you laid aside, take the time to open your heart to Him and let His gentle rain renew the roots of faith and grace in your heart, and experience Christ being formed in you.
The Elusive God
"The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God'." *
Atheists claim that there is no God. To make such a claim a man is a fool. No matter how intelligent that man may be, to propose such an unsupportable statement, to make so illogical claim before his fellows, he puts himself up as an ignorant know-all against an eternal, omniscient God. David put it correctly. The man is a fool.
"Where is my little bottle of Odour de Nil," she asked. We had just finished fish for dinner and some of the fish still hung about the kitchen. "I put it on the window sill, and I have just looked. It is not there!" Next morning as the sun streamed brightly through the kitchen window; there was the offending article, hiding behind the window mullion. Now here is the truth of it. To say I have looked for God and He is not there is illogical. It means that the searcher is greater than all creation, all thought, all knowledge, in fact that he is omniscient - equal to God. The correct statement is, "I have searched for God, but did not find Him." If that is the case, we can help.
'The fool has said in his heart.' Now that's the way of it. Atheism is not an intelligent position it is an emotional choice. The Atheist did not find God because he did not want to find Him.
And the fact of the matter is that he did not find God because he did not want to find Him, also under those conditions God did not want to be found! He says, "You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart."*
When we search for Him with all our heart, He will find us. He desires those who desire Him.
*Psalm 14:1 & 53:1, Jeremiah 29:13 & Deuteronomy 4:29 (NASB)
Giving Thanks
“In everything give thanks for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.”
1 Thessalonians 5:18
Alexander Whyte was known for his uplifting prayers in the pulpit. He always found something for which to be grateful. One Sunday morning the weather was so gloomy that one church member thought to himself, "Certainly the preacher won't think of anything for which to thank the Lord on a wretched day like this." Much to his surprise, Whyte, in his prayer, "We thank Thee, O God, that it is not always like this." Daily Bread.
Entering a village, ten lepers met Jesus at a distance; and called to Him, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!"
When He saw them, He said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." As they were going, they were cleansed. One when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God . . . giving thanks to Him. Jesus said, "Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine - where are they?
Luke 17:12-17
One said he would do it later.
Another said Jesus didn't actually do anything.
One was sidetracked by the priests.
One waited to first see if he would relapse.
Another thought it might be a scam.
One decided he probably hadn’t been all that ill.
One didn’t like to make a great big thing of it.
Another said that that’s what Rabbis are paid for.
The last said it was all passing off anyway.
In 1860, a ship went aground on the shore of Lake Michigan near Evanston, and Edward Spencer waded again and again into the frigid waters to rescue 17 passengers. In the process, his health was permanently damaged. Some years later at his funeral, it was noted that not one of the people he rescued ever thanked him.
Daily Bread.
The Baby
About one hundred years ago, when the world was about to embark on the Great War, a preacher* brought his overflowing congregation a message he later entitled ‘The Baby.’
‘About century ago,’ he said to them, ‘men were following with bated breath the march of Napoleon, waiting with feverish impatience for the latest news of the wars.’ And all this time in the homes of the nation babies were being born, but no one was interested in the babies, all eyes were on the battles. That year was the year 1809.
Their preacher then brought to them an inventory of the most notable events of that year 1809:
Prime Minister Gladstone was born at Liverpool.
Composer Frederick Chopin was born in Warsaw.
Abraham Lincoln in Kentucky, president and abolitionist.
Poet Alfred Tennyson was born at Somersby,
Oliver Wendell Holmes in Massachusetts, physician, author and lecturer.
Charles Darwin at Shrewsbury, naturalist.
Composer Felix Mendelssohn at Hamburg.
Samuel Morley at Homerton, manufacturer, abolitionist and statesman.
Edward FitzGerald at Woodbridge, influential writer.
Poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning at Durham.
Actress and writer, Frances Kemble was born in London.
But, he said, nobody was interested in babies. They were preoccupied with Napoleon’s war. Yet all these people did more than Napoleon to change their world. When God wants to influence the world He sends a baby.
Some 2017 or more years ago another baby was born, in even more humble, obscure circumstances, who has done more to change the lives of more people than all these people put together. And that baby can change yours.
“Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord. And . . . you shall find the child wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.”
1 Thessalonians 5:18
* F W Boreham. You will find the record in his book, Mountains in the Mist, pp166-7, 1928 Ed. First published in 1904. Out of print.
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