We don't need any preacher or Bible student to remind us of the Saviour's love: if we fail a thousand times, He does not give up on us.

The price which Jesus paid on the cross in His sacrifice is great enough to care for us, no matter how far we wander away. This is not to encourage our wandering away; no; when we appreciate the "breadth, and depth, and length, and height" of His love revealed at the cross, we cannot wander away!

It's clearly stated in 2 Corinthians 5:14: "The love [agape] of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge [in other words this is not mere sentimentalism; this is cold logic of the purest kind!] that if One died for all, then were all dead [that means, all would be dead if He had not died for us!]; and that He died for all, so that they which live should not live unto themselves [in other words, it's impossible for the one who appreciates what Christ has already done for him/her to go on living for self]; but unto Him who died for them and rose again" (vss. 14, 15).

"Appreciates"--that's a key word.

That's not just raising your hand in a big meeting saying yes, you "accept Jesus." That means to contemplate, to think about, to let it sink in, what it cost the Son of God to save us.

He had to go to hell, to enter in, to give Himself to hell forever--because His love is so great. That is where He found us!

Psalm 130: "Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, O Lord. ... There is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be reverenced" (vss.1-4).

You never truly appreciate the extent of that "forgiveness" until you find yourself apparently abandoned in those "depths," out of which you finally "cry." I said "apparently;" you are never truly abandoned but you get to where the burden of your guilt and of your fear is so great that you feel like you have been abandoned; so ... it's "out of the depths" that you finally cry.

Think about it; let your heart be "enlarged" to appreciate how deep are those "depths."

Next time you watch a bird fly, think of the amazing love of its Creator: the Lord made its bones hollow, whereas yours and my bones are solid.

Why did the Creator do this for the birds' bones?

Only one answer:

To make it easier for the poor things to fly!

The Creator (who by the way is our Savior!) was being kind to these winged creatures to make the burdens they have to carry lighter for them to bear.

A good lesson for us:

The same Creator who made the birds' wings hollow has made your "burdens" lighter for you to carry!

Instead of weeping and moaning because your burdens seem so heavy for you to carry, stop a moment; remember the birds and the Lord's kindness to them, and make a choice to believe that the same Creator who made the birds made you, and is caring for you today.

He has made your burdens to be lighter than they would be without His blessing!

Now, humble your soul, kneel, and thank Him for His mercy!

One of the most precious little scraps of "Good News" is to be found in the Lord's seven messages to His seven churches of history. We can take any bit of Good News and apply it to ourselves. For example, here is the Lord's message to Thyatira (Rev. 2:24)--take it to yourself: "I will put upon you none other burden."

If you were a horse or a donkey, the Lord would not overload you; if you were overloaded, He would reduce the weight of your burden you carry or pull.

Now today, that's His message to you: He will put upon you "none other burden" heavier than you can carry!

Make your choice to (1) thank Him for the encouraging news from His word, (2) now BELIEVE that He has already "put none other burden upon you."  Ask Him to forgive you for your unbelief in thinking the burden He has laid on you is too heavy for you to carry!

Yes, some will read this little message realizing that they lie on hospital beds facing a heavy trial: be assured, make a choice to believe that the Lord has "put none other burden" on you (that promise is a good one to mark in our Bibles!).

We can humble our souls before the Lord ever so low; right down to the lowest "estate" (cf. Luke 1:48, regarding the virgin Mary); but the Lord will not leave us there.

In Mary's case, as soon as she had confessed her "low estate," the Lord raised her up ("He [the Lord] hath regarded the low estate of His handmaiden") and He will "regard" our "low estate" whoever we are and wherever we are, and will raise us up.

"Before honour is humility" (Proverbs 18:12).

That means that whatever soul, unworthy or not, humbles himself before the Lord, the Lord will go to work to "honor" him/her.

The Lord's job is not to push people down into the dust, to humiliate them, to walk over them--He does not do that kind of work; He does the opposite. His job is to lift people up, to honor them, not push them down.

The Lord lifts you up all your life; our job is to BELIEVE the truth of His character--believe that He is our Friend, that He is on our side, that He will lift us up every day of our lives.

But never will He lift us up only to throw us down again. The Psalmist in his agony felt that the Lord had done that to him: "Because of Thine indignation and Thy wrath ... Thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down" (Psalm 102:10).

The text does not indicate that the Lord had actually done that to the Psalmist; but it seemed that way to him.

It may seem that way to you: that the Lord has lifted you up only to throw you down again. And the higher He has lifted us, the greater is the pain when He throws us down!

But look carefully: that is not what the Lord does. He does not seek to wound us, ever; but in our human, mortal state of unbelief and darkness, that is the way it seems to us sometimes.

Read the rest of the Psalm: "the Lord will regard the prayer of the destitute, and NOT despise their prayer"! (vs. 17). "He hath looked down from the height of His sanctuary; from heaven did the Lord behold the earth; to hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death" (vss.19, 20).

Yes, Good News!

Believe it with all your heart.

When God became confronted with a whole world that He had created which rebelled against Him, what did He do?

He astounded the unfallen universe: He frankly forgave everybody with a "judicial verdict of acquittal" (cf. Rom. 5:16, NEB).

He had no right to do this legally unless He Himself had taken on Himself the full burden of paying the penalty for sin--death.

And that must be the real thing--not just sleeping for a weekend; Christ died the world's second death.

That's the long, long tunnel beyond which there is no light; the death that Jesus died the penalty that we all deserved and would have died but for His sacrifice.

That's what Romans 6:23 says is the "wages of sin." Nothing less will suffice.

Long ago the great Moses had said (and all the world has believed Moses for what he said) that "he that is hanged [on a tree] is [automatically] cursed of God" (Deut. 21:22, 23).

Of course, the Jewish leaders at their trial of Jesus before the Roman Governor Pilate, believed that (under Roman law, the Jews had no right to put a man to death; only the Romans could do it). Remembering what the great Moses had said, they screamed before Pilate "Crucify Him!" (John 19:6).

Trusting Moses implicitly, they believed that once they could get Jesus on to that cross, they could slap each other on the back in self-congratulation, "We've done the right thing! There's no way this Man from Nazareth could be the Messiah! So, let's Crucify Him!"

Jesus was right when He screamed in His agony, that the Father had "forsaken" Him; as He hung on that cross He was in hell--the deepest, darkest, most terrible hell there is.

Isaiah says something hard to believe, that it "pleased the Lord to bruise Him" (Isa. 53:10). You can ponder over that the rest of your life and never exhaust its meaning: what father is "pleased" to bruise his son?

Well, it "pleased" the heavenly Father to "bruise Him," because ...

And there's only one thing to say here--

He loved you more than He loved Him.

It's the story of the ages.

The heavenly Father is not looking for ways to punish people; He is not trying to amass an account of debit against anyone!

But it's not merely emotionalism that makes Him to be so gracious to us: there is a solid legal or judicial reason for His kindness to us sinners:

(a) His Son, Jesus Christ, has come down from heaven, surrendered His high position at the throne and has become one of the human race.

(b) He has taken upon Himself the fallen, sinful human nature that Adam has passed on to everyone; therefore judicially the Father is free to treat every person, no matter how sinful, as though he or she has never sinned.

(c) This is what we can experience in "justification by faith."

(d) To be justified is to be cleansed, corrected, made "at one" with Christ.

(e) To be justified is infinitely more than just having your present quality of life extended indefinitely; such "eternal life" would not be a blessing!

(f) To be at one with Christ in character--this is what it means to "receive the atonement."

(g) But the Lord will not force such sublime "eternal life" on anyone; He will give every one of us what we really want above all else.

(h) Therefore He has given us "today" so that we may learn to be happy in union with Christ.

"Our beloved brother Paul" (cf. 2 Peter 3:15) who frequently comes up with those brilliant insights into what it means to follow Jesus, said: "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; ... and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me, and gave Himself for me" (Gal. 2:20).

Of all the apostles, apparently only Paul could come up with this idea.

The cross was the focal point of human opprobrium and disgust; for a self-respecting man to imagine himself crucified naked on a cross--this was impossible.

Yet Paul climbs up on that cross "with Christ" to share the shame and hatred and disgust of the world.

Can you imagine the uphill battle that Christ's disciples had--preaching salvation through that despised symbol of depravity? I don't imagine what today would be equivalent!

If you can imagine the apostles of Jesus fanning out around the world holding evangelistic meetings, inviting the public to come in (as we do, maybe in a tent crusade!), can you imagine them "glorying" in that hated symbol of depravity? Even the great Moses, whom everyone revered, declared that "if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree, ... he that is hanged [on a tree] is accursed of God" (Deut. 21:22, 23).

There was no way the early apostles could get around that pronouncement of Moses! It seemed on the surface that God had foredoomed their "evangelism" to be in vain!

Yet the apostle told the Corinthians, "When I came to you, ... I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:1, 2). The apostles lifted the heavy burden the Lord had laid upon them and rejoiced in telling the despised but glorious story! Dear brother Paul said, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Gal. 6:14). And "I am crucified with Christ," he declared, for all the world to despise me together with Him (2:20).

Now it's our privilege to "glory" in that cross.

Let's do so!

A very wise writer who understood the gospel of Jesus clearly once made a statement that has raised eyebrows: "The record books of heaven contain a record of the sins that we would have committed if we had had the opportunity."

Someone questions: How can we be held guilty for sins we have not actually committed?

Is that fair?

Jesus taught the same principle when He said in Matthew 5:28: "Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart."

Our sin is a matter of the heart, not merely of the flesh.

Please note: the Lord Jesus is not saying that the temptation to commit adultery is the same as the sin of adultery. No!

It cannot be that temptation is the same as sin--if that were true that would make Jesus become a terrible sinner, which cannot be truth. No; temptation, no matter how terrible, is sin, if it is resisted and denied. Jesus was tempted "in all points like as we are, yet without sin" (Heb. 4:15).

We cannot say that temptation is the same as sin, for that would make Jesus our Savior into a terrible sinner if He was "tempted in ALL points LIKE as we are."

No one among us has ever been tempted to sin as greatly as Jesus was tempted! That temptation extended to His last moments on His cross: the temptation to come down from the cross and abandon us to our fate was a terrible one: But He said "No!" to it.

Let us remember: the death that Jesus died on His cross was not a peaceful sleep for a weekend; He took upon Himself our "second death" (see Rev. 2:11). The kind of death that Jesus died is a tremendous truth that grips the heart! (We will continue this tomorrow, the Lord willing.)

Let's not denigrate the wonderful promise that the Lord Jesus makes to us in His Luke 11 parable--(and thank you, our beloved Gentile brother who has saved these fascinating stories for us!).

"Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine in his journey has come tome, and I have nothing to set before him?

"And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.

"I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth" (vss. 5-8).

(a) There is enough "good news" in this parable for many sermons!

(b) The Lord Jesus is presented as in contrast to the unwilling neighbor who must be begged and pleaded to give him a bit of bread to give to someone else!

(c) You don't have to beg the dear Lord to answer this prayer; it's the prayer that He promises ALWAYS to answer with a resounding "Yes!"

(d) "Asking to give" is what the Lord Jesus loves to hear us pray!

As we scour the Old Testament for encouraging stories, the one that just leaps at us of course is young stripling David facing that huge giant from Philistia.

(a) There is no "self" in David's demeanor before the giant.

(b) Goliath has ridiculed, insulted, blasphemed the God of Israel, who is also the God of the whole earth.

(c) David is not thinking of winning a victory as young men are prone to think; his heart is deeply touched by the glory of Christ's Being and His divine character.

(d) Therefore he forgets "self" in his overwhelming purpose to honor the Lord.

(e) Goliath has repeatedly blasphemed and challenged the Lord; for David, "self" is crucified with Christ; come what may, David devotes himself to the honor, not of Israel, but to the God of Israel.

(f) In a beautiful demonstration of the relation between "faith and works," David selects those five smooth little stones in the brook; it would not be good if David just prays "O Lord, please defeat that terrible giant!" Prayer is good; let's not denigrate it in the least; yes, we believe in prayer, and in prayer meetings; but sometimes action is needed besides just to pray.

(g) You and I could never have functioned in this crisis, for we don't know how to use slingshots skillfully.

(h) But the Lord used that skillful technique to win a great victory for the gospel.

(i) And that is what the Lord asks of each of us: let us consecrate what we have, humble as it may be, to His service. You may think that your level is the same "low estate" that Mary the mother of Jesus spoke of in Luke 1:48.

(j) But once you confess your personal "low estate," the Lord works to lift you up, because that is His character.

(k) The Lord does not work to put us down, but to lift us up.

The Bible invites us to "think of God."

And when we do, it is not to think of Him as some merely infinite electronic-like intelligence that pervades the universe, but we are to think of Him as Someone infinitely close and personal--"Our Father which art in heaven ..."

Sometimes we humans have had earthly fathers who left us confused and bewildered at the word "father." But here's what John 3:16 means to say to us--"God so loved the world [that is, every individual, personal sinner in it] that He gave His only Son for us [which means that He loved us more than He loved Him], who chooses to believe in Him should not go on perishing within himself, but should have eternal life [not an extension of our present worldly and often painful existence], but the kind of life that Jesus has in His resurrection life."

A child cannot "create" his father; but the way the Bible is speaking, the child [that is, you and I] can formulate a vision of what "father" should mean; that is included in the command to "believe." The Holy Spirit is personally present with every individual to make this a thrilling experience that you share with the Father in private.

Your personal memories of your earthly father may be deficient, but the heavenly Father is not limited by your personal, individual deficiencies; He has a road or route direct to your individual human heart and He invites you to "believe" in Him in His fullness of love (agape).

You may say, "Impossible! I've gone too far." You cannot have gone too far because the Lord Jesus Christ is your Savior waiting to be recognized up until you draw your last breath; and if illness has caused weaknesses in your thinking ability, it is not too late for you to "cry unto [Him] out of the depths," for there "is forgiveness with Him that He might be [reverenced]" (see Psalm 130:1-4).

So, here is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, opening the gates of the New Jerusalem so that "all who would might enter, and no one is denied." Thank Him! Humble your heart [you can't respond with a proud heart!], and say "Amen!" and enter in, leaving all your pride behind.

The apostle Peter coined a phrase that catches our interest in each succeeding generation of earth's history: "the present truth" (2 Peter 1:12). We often neglect one side of the history of Jesus--His "marriage." It's the "wedding" of all time and even of all eternity. The Son of God takes a Bride! It seems that that grand denouement of history is "the present truth." Weddings are festive occasions in all cultures and in all times; this Wedding causes all Heaven and the universe itself to break into singing. There are four grand Hallelujah choruses of joy unsurpassed and music never heard in all eternity:

(1) "The Lamb" is the Son of God, the "Word" who was "in the beginning," who "was with God," "who was God," the Creator in whom "was life; and the life was the light of men," the One who "was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:1-3, 14). He is the Prince of Heaven, and He is also our King of kings and Lord of lords. He is getting married!

(2) He is the Great Protagonist in the "war in heaven" in which the battlefield was transferred to this earth. The struggle is with "the great dragon" who was at one time Lucifer and is now "that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world." "The marriage of the Lamb" comes simultaneous with the Lamb's final victory over Satan (Rev. 12:7-10; 19:1-9). The "Lamb's wife" is in the middle of the excitement.

(3) As any bride complements her husband, so "the Lamb's wife" has a role in this great final celebration. It just can't take place until she "makes herself ready"! All around the world it seems that Christian people are being drawn to ponder the current cosmic crisis of why and how the Bride-to-be has delayed her getting ready. Heaven is concerned.

We wish we could live in a sinless world, but we don't, ... yet.

We here live in a small village that has been shocked by a gruesome crime against a nine-year old girl; now our newspaper has a big headline, "What Do We Tell Kids?"

The answer is, we don't try to hush up the truth. The kids already know the truth of the world we live in; we must tell the kids the full truth about Jesus.

Does He hear the prayer of a nine-year old child?

Yes! A THOUSAND TIMES, YES!

We don't know if this victim-child knew how to pray to Jesus and talk with Him; news reports would indicate that possibly she had never known that precious truth. Jesus promised, "'Let the children come to Me; do not try to stop them; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these'" (Matt. 19:13-15, GNB).

He said, "LET them come ..." meaning, they will come if we don't put roadblocks in their way!

Let us teach the children:

(a) The Lord Jesus Christ is already their Savior; He declares that His eternal kingdom is especially for the children.

(b) They should be taught that He forgives their sins but He came to save them from captivity to sin.

(c) They should learn that Jesus Christ is their High Priest ministering for them in His final work in the Most Holy Apartment of the heavenly sanctuary.

(d) Fear is not to be their motive in seeking to follow Jesus; let them know that what we call "faith" is a heart appreciation of His wide-ranging love for us.

(e) Therefore we have a special ministry to children; no matter who you are, in some way the dear Lord brings you into contact with children: He has a purpose--that you reveal the truth of His agape/love to them.

(f) And teach them that His love for them is personal, intimate, individual, everlasting; if they have committed sins, He does not cast them off--He still loves and He forgives.

Mary, the mother of Jesus was a virgin when she gave birth to our Savior.

But legends have grown up around her through the ages. One of them which is not inspired is the idea that Mary remained a virgin all her life; the Bible does not say so.

But if that were true, then it would mean that in God's sight virginity within marriage is more "holy" living than living in the normal God-given marriage relation of husbands and wives.

The Bible is clear that husbands and wives should live together in the God-given relationship of male and female as God has created us.

(a) A widely accepted distortion of the truth of marriage is the source of enormous confusion and immorality.

(b) The Bible is clear: "Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband. The wife hath not power over her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. Defraud ye not the other; except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency" (1 Cor. 7:3-5).

(c) Another version has it this way: "The husband must give the wife what is due to her, and equally the wife must give the husband his due. The wife cannot claim her body as her own; it is her husband's.

(d) "Equally, the husband cannot claim his body as his own; it is his wife's. Do not deny yourselves to one another, except when you agree to devote yourselves to prayer for a time and to come together again afterwards; otherwise, through lack of self-control, you may be tempted by Satan" (NEB).

(e) Clear, delightful common sense! All that the Bible teaches about males and females is that!

The Lord Jesus says to each one of us personally, "I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness I have drawn you" (Jer. 31:3).

(a) That is personal, individual, intimate love; not a cold electronic thing.

(b) It's the love of a Father--our heavenly Father.

(c) As intimate, close, personal as any earthly father's love can be. Only far more so.

(d) Some dear people feel that they have never known an earthly father's love; what can the dear Lord do for them? (I knew a boy in college like that--he was having a bitter time.)

(e) But truthfully, none of us have ever had a human father who could perfectly portray the love of our heavenly Father, for us.

(f) So, let no one be the least discouraged if you have never known an earthly father's love: kneel on your knees and make a choice to BELIEVE what you cannot SEE. He will respond to that prayer!

(g) The dear heavenly Father will not forsake you or neglect your prayer; He has already loved you with "an everlasting love," now ask Him to grant you the spiritual eyesight, the discernment, to recognize the gift He has already given you.

(h) If His love is "everlasting," that means that He loved you while you were still in your mother's womb. He was working on you even then, with that love.

(i) Please read Psalm 139: it is devoted to the pre-natal influence that the Holy Spirit exerted on your behalf.

(j) The "everlasting love" of the Lord Jesus is very real; now let your own choice be to respond to that love, to thank Him for it, to ask forgiveness where you have doubted it.

(k) Such a prayer comes "out of the depths" of your soul; "Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee,  O Lord" (Psalm 130:1).

(l) And immediately comes His assurance: "There is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be reverenced" (vs. 4).

(m) Now make the psalm your own; may millions of prayers rise tonight based on that blessed psalm.

To "look" means the same as "behold."

(a) John the Baptist lifted his voice and "cried" saying, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).

(b) To "look" in the sense of "behold" is to look earnestly with faith which is a heart appreciation of who Jesus is and what He has done and what He has given to "every man."

(c) The apostle Paul was at his keenest best in his thinking when he wrote Romans chapter five:

(d) "God's act of grace is out of all proportion to Adam's wrongdoing. For if the wrongdoing of that one man brought death upon so many, its effect is vastly exceeded by the grace of God and the gift that came to so many by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ" (see Rom. 5:15-21, New English Bible).

(e) Not one person in God's eternal kingdom will feel or will say that he deserves to be there.

(f) Salvation is totally by the grace of the Lord Jesus, yes, and by the grace of the Father.

(g) The sacrifice of Christ has made it possible for the Father to treat "every man" as though he has never sinned! This is monumental grace!

(h) To "believe" in Jesus is not the same as believing that 2 + 2 = 4; it is the human heart appreciating what it cost the Son of God to save us--He died our second death. He looked ahead of Himself down a tunnel which had no light at the end of it.

(i) Jesus did not simply go to sleep for a weekend (if you or I had suffered the physical agony of crucifixion, we would want to sleep for a weekend!).

(j) No, He went to hell and suffered the agony of hell--that was what it meant to die our second death!

(k) We are just little children, all of us, in our understanding! May the Lord be gracious and permit us to grow!

Don't you like to be invited to a party? And when you get there, to see your name on a place card at the table? That shows you were wanted and expected. Makes you feel good inside, doesn't it?

Well, can you understand and believe that the Lord has invited you to His party and that He has your name at a place setting at the table? That He is expecting you? That He has planned for you to be there, yes, you, individually, personally? Or does this make the Good News to be too good? Do you have to crowd in and elbow your way to the Table and write your own place card while your Host looks at you suspiciously because you feel so unworthy?

Here's a little Bible study for you to do:

(1) God has invited you to His grand "party" (Rev. 22:17).

(2) No one has a right to be outside, for we are all to worship the Lord only (Matt. 4:10).

(3) No one is outside against his own personal will (John 5:40).

(4) No one is outside because the gospel has not come to him (John 1:9; Rom. 10:18).

(5) No one is unjustly outside (Acts 13:46).

(6) No one is outside because God wants him to be outside (2 Peter 3:9).

(7) The only way anyone can be outside the grand "party" is because he/she has despised and rejected the personal invitation with his name on it that was placed in his/her hands (Heb. 10:29; Isa. 43:1; 49:1).

And while you're studying, read also John 3:16-19 to see for yourself how good the Good News really is. And plead with the Lord, yes, beg Him, PLEASE to help your unbelief (see Mark 9:23, 24; if we learn to pray that prayer we are told we can never perish). You may want to write those texts down--then please read them before you go to sleep tonight.

There is something that the Lord Jesus loves to do whenever He gets the opportunity: that is--to raise people up who are bowed down.

In Luke 1:46-48 we read that the Virgin Mary in her Magnificat said that "my soul doth magnify the Lord, ... for He hath regarded the low estate of His handmaiden." That "low estate" is an honorable place to be in because the Lord notices you there and He will do something about it to raise you up.

No matter who you are, if you confess to Him your "low estate," He will raise you up. That's what His business is--raising people up, not putting them down. He does not humiliate us, although He loves a proud person so much that He may permit that proud person to be laid low for a time. Sometimes a hospital bed is the best place for a person to find himself in; gives him an opportunity to think and to pray.

"The Lord raises up those that are bowed down" (Psalm 145:14).

He takes note of those who end up in the most awful places imaginable: He "raiseth up the poor out of the dust heap, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill" (113:7). The fact that you have been in the "dunghill" does not mean that the Lord considers you to be "unclean" and will avoid you; no, there is that precious promise that even if we end up in that awful place, the Lord will not abhor us and avoid us.

He shows no respect of persons: for "He raiseth up all those that be bowed down." Even when you realize that you should be "brought low" the Lord does not mark you there forever; His idea is constantly how can He raise you up?

Everyone who inherits eternal life in Christ will realize that he is "raised up" from the lowest depths in order to be there with God's people forever. "Look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged" (Isa. 51:1). Isaiah records these encouraging words in the context of God's people enjoying life in the wonderful earth made new: they will never forget whence they have been hewed and "digged." Not one will strut about boasting of how he or she accepted the "offer" the Lord made; we will all rejoice in being the recipients of a gift GIVEN, pure and simple.

Today we have been praying for a lady who has an inoperable brain tumor.

It's a solemn thing: here is a life in the balance. How would any of us feel to change places with her?

We have read from the Bible that wonderful psalm of health and healing--number 103,which says:

(a) "Forget not all His benefits" (vs. 2). Our prayers must not be a selfish "gimme, gimme" as though we know what is best.

(b) We have been careful to add to our prayers the request, "according to Thy will, O Lord."

(c) Once some Christian people were praying for a cancer victim and did not include that proviso, but demanded the healing, whether or no. The person was healed, but grew up to become a cruel criminal and brought the family nothing but pain and shame. To have prayed, "According to Thy holy will," would have been wise.

(d) Before there can be a physical healing, we must remember that the Lord "forgiveth all thine iniquities" (vs. 3). Sin must be renounced; confession must be made; there must be no obstacle between the soul and the Lord.

(e) We read the entire Psalm 103: it's time to listen to the teaching of the Lord.

(f) Yes, He "healeth all thy diseases" (vs. 3).

(g) He "redeemeth thy life from destruction" (vs. 4). In the world to come by the grace of the Lord Jesus we shall learn of many times when Satan had wanted to destroy us, but the Lord had sent His angels to preserve us. Anticipating that day by faith, we can thank the Lord Jesus now for all these blessings which we so easily forget.

(h) The psalm frankly tells us that the Lord wants us to enjoy the delicious things provided for us to eat--"who satisfieth thy mouth with good things" (vs. 5). Next time you eat some of those wonderful springtime ripe strawberries, remember that. "Bless the Lord" actually means, "Make Him happy!"

(i) Making Him happy is the joy of our lives!

Paul was at his keenest best in his writing of Romans chapter five. He had done what he says we should do in Philippians 2:5-8, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus ..."

Here are blessed thoughts that had their origin in the mind of Jesus Christ, received by our "beloved brother Paul" (cf. 2 Peter 3:15), and written out for us to revel in:

(a) "Through one man [Adam] sin entered the world and through sin death, and thus death pervaded the whole human race. ...

(b) "But God's act of grace is out of all proportion to Adam's wrongdoing. For if the wrongdoing of that one man brought death upon so many, its effect is vastly exceeded by the grace of God and the GIFT [not mere "offer"!] that came to so many [everyone!] by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5, vss. 12, 15).

(c) That includes you and me! We have been given a GIFT, a most precious " judicial verdict of acquittal."

(d) Now the Father is free (at last!) to treat "every man" as though he has never sinned!

(e) So far as the Father is concerned, He has opened the gates of the New Jerusalem for you and me to come in and He makes us welcome inside!

(f) If you like it there, if you are happy in that environment, the Father says you can stay; the Father wants you to be saved; Jesus Christ wants you to be saved; all the holy angels want you to be saved; they are all dedicated to your salvation (see 1 Tim. 2:3, 4).

(g) Now don't interpose your own stubborn unbelieving will to negate what He says He has DONE, not merely OFFERED to do, for you.

Today some kind friends took me to a dental appointment. I told them not to wait for me, that I would walk home.

Well, maybe what the dentist had injected in to me was the problem, but I found that the walk home seemed to be much longer and wearisome than I had expected. I can't describe how thankful I was to finally set my foot on what is "mine," a bit of land that I could call "home."

Then I thought of what Jesus said in Matthew 8:20 that "the foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head."

After that long and wearisome walk home, I was so thankful to find a spot of earth that I could call "home" or "mine" where I could lay my head and rest a bit. And at the same time I thought of our Lord, our Creator, our Redeemer, who while He was with us here on earth could not call any square foot of land "His."

Finally, "they" [which means all of us!] gave Him a tree to be His--a cross.

That is all that He ever had on this earth! He, the Son of God, our Creator, our Redeemer. The Prince of heaven.

And on that cross, that tree that they gave Him, the Son of God "poured out His soul unto death" (Isaiah 53:12). "Poured out" means like when you empty a bottle, you turn it upside down to draw from it its last drop.

Jesus held nothing back in His sacrifice of Himself; the death He died on that tree "we" gave Him was our second death; we are not to think of the death of Jesus as being a "sleep" for a week-end (He did rise again the third day!); if any of us had suffered the physical torture of being crucified (you don't die the first day--you might linger on for a week or more) you would be grateful to sleep for a week-end, just to slip into unconsciousness.

But that is not what Jesus endured; He entered hell itself--the unending, eternal hell; the fact that He was resurrected the third day did not lessen the magnitude of His commitment. As He hung on the cross, He could not see through the portals of the tomb, we are told by one who knew.

Our hearts are too shriveled up, too tiny, too earth-bound, to appreciate what Jesus did, and what His commitment meant to Him.

Peter tells us that the Father would not leave His soul in hell: "He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that His soul was not left in hell, neither His flesh did see corruption" (Acts 2:31).

Oh Father, grant us an "enlargement of heart" (cf . Psalm 119:32) to appreciate the sacrifice of our Savior!

I have found something "new" to thank the Lord for, and also something new for me to repent of!

(a) I am thankful that I did not go down with that greatest of all ships, the so-called "unsinkable" TITANIC that went down well before I was born.

(b) So someone asks, How can you be thankful for some supposed "deliverance" before you were even born?

(c) The answer is that corporately I share the guilt of those people who gloried in the handiwork of man and boasted that they had built something that even "God cannot sink." That was idolatry pure and simple; and since I have been born with a sinful nature which I have inherited from the fallen Adam, my mind is what the Apostle Paul says is "carnal." Here's what Paul says:

(d) For "the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be" (Rom. 8:7).

(e) Wherever there is human idolatry, there you will find me, unless the Savior the Lord Jesus in His much more abounding grace has delivered me.

(f) Yes, I would have joined in the proud boasting of the masses in what we ourselves have built; if I had been there, I would have made every effort to get a ticket and get on the TITANIC on its maiden voyage, exulting in that pride of idolatry.

(g) I am a man, and I share in the idolatry of many men, over automobiles. (Women may not understand this; my wife never could understand it.)

(h) So I have found something "new" I hadn't realized, to repent for. That's a blessing right there--the privilege of the gift of repentance.

(i) It's time to thank the dear Lord that He has already saved us from this sin (and many others!) and has already given us this gift or repentance (repentance is not something that we "do" on our own--no one can repent unless the Lord in His great mercy gives him that gift; read Acts 5:31: Our "Prince and Saviour [gives] repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins".

(j) It's the Lord Himself through the Holy Spirit who takes the initiative in saving us!

(k) In His eternal kingdom not one of us will "boast" the slightest that we helped to save ourselves!

What do you suppose was the greatest temptation Jesus had to face? You know of course He was tempted--the Bible says "in all points like as we are." His temptations were real--they bored in to His inmost soul. Well, the greatest temptation He had to face was the temptation to doubt who He was. And if the truth were known, that's the greatest temptation you have to face also--to doubt who you are.

For example, think back to Jesus' temptation in the wilderness after His baptism. Three times the wily old enemy, Satan, zeroed in on Him at the deepest core of His being--"if Thou be the Son of God," command these stones to be bread; "if Thou be the Son of God," do a hang-glide from the top of the temple tower; "if Thou be the Son of God," claim the empires of the world as Yours and I'll give them to You, for they are mine, the devil said; just play ball with me, be reasonable, let's cooperate.

Do you think that was a temptation? "If You are who You think You are"--You have delusions of grandeur like a mental patient who thinks he is Napoleon. Yes, Jesus gained a victory then, but remember that the enemy came back again and again on this point of doubting His real identity as the Son of God.

Finally at the very end, something happened that helped to crystallize it all in Jesus' mind and heart when Mary washed His feet with tears. He realized that He was the only person in all of world history to be so honored; no one, not even Alexander the Great, had ever had his feet washed with human tears. Yes, Jesus realized, He was the King of kings and Lord of lords. Now He was ready for John 13. At that last supper, He got up, stretched Himself to His full height, laid aside His expensive robe, and knowing fully that He had come from God and went to God, He humbled Himself to wash His disciples' feet. He could not have done that until He had known for sure, and felt for sure, who He was. He could never have faced the cross until He had that assurance; and even on the cross that last temptation was flung at Him--"if Thou be the Son of God come down from the cross"!

Who are you? Do you know? You cannot be truly humble until you realize your true identity in Christ, redeemed by His blood.

The ancient Israelite sanctuary was a revelation to our dull human senses of the Reality of Christ's ministry as the world's High Priest in His heavenly sanctuary.

The purpose of their building Him a sanctuary was not to bottle Him up inside it, but to make it possible for Him to "dwell among you" (Ex. 25:8). The Lord Jesus loved His people; and love always wants to be near you.

The earthly high priest was everybody's "grandfather," someone sympathetic to each one's need; Jesus is not a heavenly policeman trying to catch you in something wrong, but a heavenly Attorney at court seeking to defend you.

His closing words to His followers were: "'Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen'" (Matt. 28:19, 20). The "amen" means "Yes! It is true! You can believe this!"

"I am with you!" We cannot see Him; for He is physically beyond our sight--which is a great blessing, otherwise only a few could "see" Him physically and the great masses of us would be bereft of His presence.

In order for us to realize that He is "with" us we must "let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus," according to Philippians 2:5-8. Our "minds" must be surrendered to the infilling of the Holy Spirit.

This is an exercise of our souls--to expel our worldly thoughts and cares. "Enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret" (Matt. 6:6). Remember, you are not taking the initiative to "find" the Lord; you are letting Him take the initiative in finding you. The Two of you are together in that prayer--the Father and you. He cares about you; for He is lonely without you. Jesus and the Father are "one" and Jesus now belongs to us--forever. Revel in that thought of truth--on your knees.

As the 1890s were drawing to an end and a merger with the beginning of the 20th century, the State of Michigan was growing and developing. At that time the most progressive printing plant was in the city of Battle Creek--the Review and Herald Publishing Association.

Founded by dedicated members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the Review and Herald had been solemnly dedicated to the Lord for the publication of books and articles proclaiming the nearness of the second coming of Christ, and the preparation of heart necessary for us to have in order to be ready for it.

There was no work in the world in progress at that time more important than this. (Even today there is no work being done anywhere as important!)

But some unwise participants in the work embraced the idea that if the Publishing House were to introduce job printing as business, they could make extra money for the institution that would make it possible to print the gospel message more cheaply, and therefore (so the idea went) could make possible a greater distribution of the good truth-filled literature.

So the managers embraced the job-printing idea, and had the typesetters and press operators of necessity seeing and reading this non-Christian literature, some of it downright wildly pagan.

The young people who were the pressmen and proofreaders were forced to see and read this literature promoting paganism!

Ellen White said that the Lord loved those youth too much to allow them to poison their minds by having to read and print this garbage. The Review and Herald Publishing House had been dedicated to the Lord in solemn prayer; this invited Him to enter into the crisis and to act.

Solemn warnings were uttered by the Lord's messenger, and went unheeded.

Finally, the Lord was forced to withdraw His special protection. Someone had left some oily rags used for cleaning the presses in a heap in the basement; they ignited, and the entire building went up in flames. The unbelief of His people forced the Lord to let matters take their course.