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Founded in 1927 as Look on the Fields, UPLOOK is published ten times a year by Uplook Ministries, 813 North Ave., N.E., Grand Rapids, MI 49503.

Phone: (616) 456-9166 Fax: (616) 456-5522 Website: http://www.uplook.org E-mail: uplook@uplook.org ISSN #1055-2642 Printed in USA. © Copyright 2002 Uplook Ministries

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UPLOOK

UPLOOK magazine is intended to encourage the people of God in fidelity to His Word, fervency in intercessory prayer, labors more abundant, and love to the Lord. Believing in the practical Headship of Christ and the local autonomy of each assembly, this is not intended to be an official organ of any group or federation of local churches. The editor and authors take responsibility for materials published. For any blessing which accrues, to God be the glory.

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HUTTERITE REPORT Steve Kember

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LOVE Caleb Bulow

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JOY John Nicholson III

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PEACE Scott DeGroff

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LONGSUFFERING Josh Fitzhugh

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GENTLENESS Dennis LeBlanc

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GOODNESS Stephen Schletty

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FAITHFULNESS Crawford Paul

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MEEKNESS Ernie Tan

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TEMPERANCE Paul Robertson

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EDITORIAL Known by its Fruits FRONT LINES WHAT’S GOING ON? BOUQUET OF BLESSINGS

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KNOWN BY ITS FRUITS A sweet crop comes by the knife and the Life.

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Man-O-War Cay lies like a jewel in an azure sea. One of the Family or Out Islands of the Bahamas, it is little more than two-and-a-half miles long. It is hook shaped, with a well-guarded harbor at its midpoint, coveted by yacht owners. For decades the inhabitants were known by their simple way of life: sail-making, boat-building, and fishing. But in the last fifty or sixty years, wealthy Americans have found their way there, building homes on the extremities of the island, away from the settlement clustered about the harbor.

As one islander told me, “When the Americans came to the Bahamas, they brought with them their money, their gold watches and big boats, and they built their fancy homes. They had a message. We didn’t have much money Photo by Dan Spoelstra then, or any of the fine things they had. But we had the Lord; we had the gospel. We had a message and they had a message. But they were the better missionaries. We didn’t convert them; they converted us.” Those words cut to my heart. I fear I have often been more a convert to the world’s values than a missionary with a far better message for money-rich, soul-bankrupt sinners.

I was walking the length of the island one sun-drenched afternoon and came upon a brother who was a gardener for some of the American home owners. I always enjoyed the old fellow’s company. He had a native wisdom you can’t find in textbooks. He was happy to take me on a little tour of the estate’s garden, especially the citrus trees he had carefully cultivated so the visitors would have fresh fruit for their table when they arrived. He pointed to one. “That,” he said, “is a sour orange tree.”

Then, plucking a ripe fruit from its laden branches, he deftly peeled it with his gnarled fingers and handed it to me. I did not relish eating a sour orange.

What was my delight to find it one of the sweetest, juiciest, most succulent oranges I had ever tasted!

The old fellow laughed, then explained. The soil on the island is shallow and beneath it is a bed of coral.

When it rains, the water tends to lie just under the surface until it can percolate through the rock. This makes it difficult on tree roots which tend to rot in the underground water. But it has been discovered that the roots of the sour orange are hardy enough to survive in those conditions. No one, however, wants sour oranges.

Once a sour orange tree takes good root, a sweet orange branch is grafted in. The sour orange continues to grow, constantly attempting to dominate the life of the tree. But the gardener patiently prunes back the old life until a bountiful tree stands in the garden, providing shade, fragrance, and a fruitful harvest for its owner.

Sour root. Sweet fruit. So is it a sour orange tree or a sweet orange tree? Let our Lord answer the question.

“Every good tree produces good fruits, but the worthless tree produces bad fruits. A good tree cannot produce bad fruits, nor a worthless tree produce good fruits…By their fruits then surely ye shall know them” (Mt. 7:17-20, Darby). The tree is known not by its root but by its fruit. Call it a sweet orange tree.

We also grow in a difficult environment. And what is more, we grow from a sour stock, of ourselves incapable of growing anything but sour fruit. But because we have received “with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls” (Jas. 1:21), a new kind of fruit is possible in the lives of those who still give evidence of the old sour life sprouting up here and there. If we yield such sour evidence of the flesh to the knife (the written Word) wielded in the hands of the gracious Gardener, we will soon bear by His life (the Living Word) “the fruit of the Spirit [which] is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance” (Gal. 5:22). Such a life will be sweet indeed.

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God at work among Hutterites He saved them for His name's sake, that He might make His mighty power known.

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Before moving to Alberta, we lived in Ontario near some families by the name of Entz. Almost 30 years ago they left a Hutterite colony in Alberta and moved 2000 miles to Ontario. Until we met them, we had never heard of Hutterites.

When we arrived in Alberta, we set up a Bible booth in a mall in Lethbridge to make contacts. Many people received Seed Sower posters, Gospels, fridge magnets, tracts and New Testaments. One day a man accepted German posters. His name was Matthew Entz. I asked him if he knew Joe and Rebecca Entz from Drumbo, Ontario. They were his aunt and uncle.

We had a long talk that day. He told me he had been reading his Bible and Revelation 3:1 stuck in his mind: “I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.”

“It describes us in the colony,” he said.

I thought, “Matthew! Thou art not far from the kingdom of God!” It proved to be so.

Within a few days my wife, Merle, and I began visiting Matthew and his family at the New Elm Colony, an hour away. We went every other week for many months. We always arrived at 7 PM, to the excitement of the children, who seldom had “English people” visit them. We rarely left before midnight.

In the mall we also met folk from other colonies, and visited some from as far away as Saskatchewan— 5 hours’ drive.

Each colony has about 100 to 120 people living in very neat and tidy row houses. From these homes, often 30 to 40 men, women, and children would crowd into the house we were visiting.

The first hour was spent teaching Sunday School hymns and Bible stories to the children. After some refreshments, the children went to bed and we preached the gospel, answering questions as well as we could. We also taught them many gospel hymns and spent an hour or so singing. They can really sing!

Hutterites are taught that a colony is like Noah’s ark.

Inside is safety. Outside they will surely perish. The people live in fear. No peace. No joy. No hope. No TV or radio. No magazines or newspapers. No picnics. No vacations. No travelling. They can see the Rocky

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Mountains, an hour from their home, but have never enjoyed the beauty of God’s handiwork. The ministers call that, “satisfying the flesh.”

They depend on their uniqueness to make themselves acceptable to God. The women and girls all dress alike. The men wear black. They work for nothing, professing to have all things common. Their homes are plain and simply furnished. Each person receives an allowance of $5.00 per month. For the most part, colonies are prosperous. Their farm equipment and barns are the best money can buy.

Many Hutterites are sincere. They are taught their “way” is the only hope of eternal life. Their ministers, elected for life, are all-controlling. The members must get permission to visit a doctor or dentist or another colony. They must confess their sins to the minister.

Meals are communal. Men, women, and children eat separately. The person seated across the table today will be the same one that will sit there for the rest of their lives. Non-Hutterite people are not permitted to eat at those tables.

Every evening before supper, the minister reads a sermon, written centuries earlier by their founder, Jacob Hutter. The sermons have a good measure of truth, but they are read in high German and the people speak low German so many don’t understand very much.

As we continued preaching the gospel week after week, choices were made—choices that cost them as dearly as early believers in the Book of Acts. One after another, they were saved. How many? I really don’t know. I used to say 75 or so. However, there are many more that live in fear of confessing Christ as Saviour.

One night, after three years, the inevitable happened. We were stopped as we were leaving New Elm Colony. The Lord preserved us from it happening far sooner. That night we were kicked out and told never to return or the police would be called. This applied to every colony. However, we continue to visit individual homes if any family has the courage to let us come.

And some have courage. Real courage!

From the time we first met colony people, they would visit our home any chance they had. But now M A Y

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that we were hindered visiting them, many more came.

Those visits often lasted all day. They would call from town and we would take them back and forth to appointments, visiting in between appointments. We laughed when Rosa said she could always find a pain to get a doctor’s appointment, as a way to visit us. They had to wait for the colony van to return later in the day, so many different ones spent day after day with us. We sang and prayed, had Bible studies and sometimes preached the gospel. It meant a great deal of work for Merle to keep plenty of baking on hand!

I am thankful for William MacDonald’s Believer’s Bible Commentary. We gave out dozens, along with Strong’s Concordances and Bibles in various versions.

After we were kicked out, the ministers confiscated most of them…so we gave them more!

Baptism was the big issue. To the ministers, it was a fatal issue! In a colony, before a person can be married, they must be baptized. This involves study classes, deep personal examination and detailed confession of sin to a man whose own sin was evident to all, because they lived with him. They must promise to live by the rules of the Hutterite “way,” obey the ministers and make public confession that the colony is the only way.

A pitcher of water is poured over their heads and they become recognized as members of the Congregation of Hutterite Brethren.

But they have never been to Calvary.

Through our Bible studies they learned the truth of believers’ baptism. One Sunday evening, Joe Clark and I each took a van to the colony half way through supper time. They were ready for us—more than we expected—and they piled in. We ditched seat belt rules and drove off as the minister ran down the sidewalk trying to stop them. They were not being baptized in secret: they had made known their intentions, but had not said when.

I wept that night as I heard those dear men, one after another, give their testimonies, then walk into the water. The women wrote out their testimonies which were read before each was identified with the Lord Jesus in baptism. I wondered—what is wrong with me?

Why will I pay so little to follow the Lord Jesus Christ?

What joy! I envied their joy. And talk about singing!

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Without doubt, I have never heard 140 people sing with more joy in all my life. Late into the evening we rejoiced together in a way that I had never experienced before.

Finally, it was time to go back to the colony. When we got there the place was in darkness, but all the believers had such peace as they prepared to face the angry mob in the morning. And face them they did.

Not together, but one by one. Wives alone. Young girls alone. Husbands and fathers alone. Teenagers alone.

Everyone told later of such quiet assurance as they testified in front of belligerent men who once held them in bondage, to the saving grace of God. Privileges were removed. Supplies were no longer provided. No eating at the table. No driving vehicles.

They were fired from their jobs. No phone privileges.

Insults. Jeers. Ridicule. But one thing they couldn’t do was take away their joy!

The next Lord’s Day, those newly baptized believers met to remember the Lord in the breaking of bread, as they had learned from the Word. They asked how we went about it, but we never told them. We wanted to see how the Holy Spirit would lead them in worship. But we would like to have been flies on the wall, just to listen. How it must have delighted the heart of God! Until they left the colony weeks later, they continued meeting together very early each Lord’s Day to remember their Saviour.

During this difficult time, we gave them our van to use and got them a cell phone, providing supplies as needed.

A few days later, seventy-five ministers suddenly drove into the colony yard, from some of the 160 colonies in Alberta. Others came from Saskatchewan and Montana. At first a few of the Christians panicked.

They phoned us often throughout that day and we prayed and read verses over the phone with them.

Finally the entire colony was called together. The air was heavy. Dead silence. Fear and trouble marked the faces of all except the Christians. By this time they were once more resting in “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding.” One of the leaders gave a speech exalting the colony way and extolling their forefathers. All the ministers sat at the front facing them. Then came the challenge: “Any in this room who believe it is possible to get salvation outside a colony, stand up!” Dead silence.

Then Matthew rose to his feet. His bother Levi stood. Their father Eli, the former finance boss, fired

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those who home-school.

On colonies the old people raise the children. They have never eaten together as a family. There are so many changes, so much to teach. So much to learn.

Penny and Merle have Bible studies and classes with the sisters, alone and in groups, teaching them things they have never learned. We always try to be there to provide spiritual and emotional support, but realize we must never create a dependency on us.

At the Good News Centre in Lethbridge about seventy adults and forty children gather each Lord’s Day for the Family Bible Hour and Sunday School. Most of these have been saved over the past four years. Half are former Hutterites, but we have seen no lines drawn among the Christians.

The acceptance and love each has for the other is a joy to see. Last Lord’s Day at the Breaking of Bread, about sixty-five sat around the table and fifteen took part in worship. Three brief Scripture passages were read. Six hymns were sung. And the meeting is 45 minutes long.

We are especially thankful for the compassionate support of Gaius and Linda Goff and others. Christians far and wide have sent clothing, funds and other help.

Several evangelical groups in Lethbridge have helped.

We thank God for all He has done.

Recently we heard from our old Ontario neighbors, Joe and Rebecca Entz. Joe is dying with cancer and he has never had an interest in the gospel. When he left the colony, little contact was permitted. But now God has saved three of his brothers. We felt they must get to Ontario to visit him. I took John, Paul, Eli and his wife Mary to the Calgary airport. They are all in their sixties. Flying was something they would never allow themselves to even dream of. They were so excited!

And the airline attendants were, too. They don’t often get such enthusiastic customers on board. The four were invited to the flight deck, where the captain welcomed them. He wanted to know about colony life and then explained how the jet worked. Just like kids, they said, “It was awesome!”

earlier for his faith, stood. Rosa stood. Josh. Elizabeth.

Some teenage boys. Girls who were only 12, 13, 14 and 15 stood. Aunt Elizabeth stood. She is 73. And the moment they stood, they knew their lives were changed forever. But, praise God, they stood.

Matthew and Levi and a couple of others had a chance to quote a few verses before they were shut up.

But they stood.

Standing meant leaving the only place they had ever known. It meant leaving a way of life. It meant leaving security, leaving family, leaving grandparents. And for one couple, it meant leaving a teen-aged son who loved the path of unrighteousness.

But they stood.

It meant they would have nothing. No money. No home.

No returning. No experience.

Nothing. It meant complete dependence on God alone.

But, thank God, they stood!

They were told they were not wanted any more so during the last weeks of 2001 and early 2002, they left, one family after another. It was hard.

Tears were shed as they drove away from the farm for the last time. Others from another colony left. There were about 60 in all. The oldest was 84, the youngest 2.

They never had a bank account, handled money, rode a bus or worked in a factory. They never pumped gas or shopped for groceries. The women never had a driver’s license. They never had a neighbor who was not a Hutterite. The children had only attended the oneroom colony school. “But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Rom. 5:20).

We thank the Lord for Joe and Penny Clark who moved here in August of 2001, commended from McKeesport, PA. We could not imagine carrying on the work without them. They, along with Merle and I, have been able to provide needed money, plus eight vans and help them buy eight homes, as it proved impossible to rent suitable places for people with large families.

They all have an excellent work ethic and now have jobs. With only eighth grade education permitted on the colonies, they have had to start with lower paying jobs. Some have already been given more responsibility and raises. We will continue to provide financial support as needed until they can carry themselves fully.

My wife helps them budget, shop, and gives help to

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“Who is so great a God as our God…which deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him?” (Ps. 77:13; 35:10)

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Upward Bound Ontario & Atlantic Invest a week; reap lifelong returns.

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Upward Bound will be held at Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON, from August 11-23.

The first week is an intensive series of Bible study seminars including a “How to Study the Bible” course and project. For those who are able to attend, the second week is a 5-day canoe trip in Algonquin Park. The speakers are: Jabe Nicholson (MI); Brian Russell (UK); Roy Houghton (ON); Joe Mikhael (ON) and Sandy McEachern (NS). Cost for both weeks is $435 Cdn. For info: email sandymceachern@hotmail.com or call (902) 420-9489.

Upward Bound Atlantic will be held on the campus of Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, from July 27 to August 3, 2002. The speakers will be: Jabe Nicholson (MI), Roy Houghton (ON) and Sandy McEachern (NS). It will be a week of intensive Bible study seminars as well as a “How to Study the Bible” course and project. In addition to the activities at the university, there will be outreach opportunities. Think about coming for the week or make it a part of a longer vacation. Dalhousie is central to all of the sights that attract so many visitors to Halifax every year—the old city, the harbor, the waterfront boardwalk, museums and galleries, Citadel Hill Fortress, Point Pleasant Park, beautiful tree-lined streets, cafés, restaurants, and the beaches of the Atlantic Ocean. Cost for the week is $325 Cdn. Visit our website at www.cre8iveminds.ca/upwardbound or call Paulette Kempton at (902) 827-2842.

CLAREMONT, CA CONFERENCE The 11th annual spring conference is scheduled for May 17-19, at Claremont Bible Chapel, 432 W. Harrison Ave., Claremont, CA. Speakers invited are Jim McCarthy (CA) and Randy Amos (NY). The conference begins Friday at 7:30, with services on Saturday at 10:00 and 1:30. On Sunday, the Breaking of Bread at 9:30, ministry at 11:00 and 1:30. Lunch provided Saturday and Sunday. Contact Henry Kamena at: 909-445-1201 WELCOME to WORCESTER The saints at Bethany Gospel Chapel (242 Clark St., Worcester, MA) extend a warm invitation to their conference which is scheduled to be held May 24-26. This year’s speakers are Roy Hill (UK) and Joe Mikhael (ON). There are meetings scheduled at the following times: ministry at 7:30 Friday evening; 2:30, 4:00, 6:10 and 7:00 on Saturday; and

2:10, 3:10, and 5:40 on Sunday.

Meals will be served Saturday at 5:00 and on Sunday at noon and 4:10.

GATHER at the GREAT PLAINS The believers of Meadow Ridge Bible Chapel (West Fargo, ND) would like to extend a warm invitation to attend their annual Memorial Day Bible Conference. It will be held, Lord willing, Friday evening, May 24, through Monday, May 27, 2002.

Speakers are Jim McCarthy (CA) and William Yuille (ON). For information on housing and directions, contact: Mark Jensen at 218-236-1879 MRBCconference@hotmail.com PHILLY CONFERENCE The Olney Gospel Hall (314 W. Chew St., Philadelphia, PA) invites believers to their Bible conference to be held, Lord willing, May 24-26.

Randy Amos (NY), Mark Kolchin (NJ) and Tom Wilson (NJ) are the invited speakers. The weekend will

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commence with a prayer meeting on Friday evening at 7:45. Breaking of Bread on Lord’s Day at 10:00. Other meetings each day at 2:30 and 7:00 PM. Meals and accommodations provided. Please contact: H. W. Wiegand at 215-635-0822 321 Asbury Ave. Melrose Park, PA 19027 VESSELS OF HONOR 2002 The Vessels of Honor conference will be held, in the will of the Lord, Memorial Day weekend, May 24-27 on the campus of Baker University at Baldwin City, KS. This year’s theme will be “Vessels in His Hands” with an emphasis on personal growth and discipleship. The conference is open to singles and couples in the college and career age group (must be 18).

General session speakers are Mike Attwood (GA), John Heller (AR), and John Bjorlie (MI). Seminar speakers: general session speakers plus Bill Wortman (AL), Jeff Erb 2 0 0 2

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THE MINOT OUT REACH to cover the entire city and neighboring villages during that first week.

While we are having the gospel meetings in the evenings, we will also be conducting “day clubs” for children at the tent and other places.

During the second week, we will take a second packet of gospel material door to door with the goal of talking to people one-on-one.

We plan to reserve some spaces at a campsite for tents/rvs and are looking into using one of the dorms at Minot State University. The dorm rooms cost $18 per night per person based on double occupancy or $25 for single occupancy. Linen provided.

Contact Al Bulow to book a room.

Anyone interested in being involved in the

Gospel meetings in Minot, North Dakota will begin in the will of the Lord, Sunday evening July 7 and continue each night through July 21.

Gaius Goff is planning to come on the 5th to set up the tent, etc. We who are here and any visitors will begin to pass out invitations door to door on the 4th, mainly in the immediate area of the tent.

We will broaden the door to door literature distribution Monday the 8th

gospel outreach should contact: Al Bulow at 701-837-9051 abulow@ndak.net Gaius Goff at 503-357-4125 goffgc@hotmail.com Bryon Meyers 360-435-7183 bmeyers@whidbey.net

PROPOSED SCHEDULE: 7:00 – 7:30 7:30 – 9:00 9:00 – 9:30 10:00 –12:00 12:00 – 1:00 1:00 – 3:00 3:00 – 5:30 5:30 – 6:30 6:30 – 7:00 7:30 – 8:30 8:30 – 9:00 9:00 –10:30 11:00

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Breakfast Study and prayer Preparation for Day Camp (children’s work) Day Camp and packet distribution Lunch Prepare for tomorrow’s Day Camp and packet distribution Free time Evening meal Prayer for the gospel meeting Gospel meeting Coffee and visiting Campfire with singing and testimonies Lights out

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(OK), Shelly Cowden (IA), Kimberly Moffitt (OK) and others.

Jim Lindamood at 918-663-1121 jimlindamood@juno.com www.vesselsofhonor.org.

WORD ALIVE WEEK The Word Alive Week is a time (June 30 to July 6) of spiritual and physical refreshment by Lake Winnipeg at Victoria Beach, MB. The purpose of the week is to see believers in the Lord Jesus Christ learn more about their Saviour, His purpose for their lives, and how to more effectively serve Him as His witnesses and disciples. Our speaker for the two daily general sessions is J. B. Nicholson (MI). Local brethren will help with the two daily workshops. Contact: Ron Hampton at 204-669-6026 hampton@mts.net YOUNG ADULTS in KANSAS Westside Bible Chapel in Wichita, KS is planning a young adult conference Aug. 16-18, DV. For more information or a place to stay, contact: Darold Peters at 316-943-3334 darold.peters@juno.com SUMMER CONF. in QUEBEC A summer conference is planned for July 13-14 at Bethel Bible Chapel (New Richmond, QC). The meetings will start on Saturday at 7:00 PM. On Sunday, the Breaking of Bread will

be at 10:00 and ministry meetings with Joe Reese (ON) at 2:30 and 7:00 PM. Meals will be served at 12:00 noon and 5:00 PM. Joe Reese will also be ministering the Word at 7:00 PM on July 15 and 16. All are invited.

Danny Dugas at 418-392-5723 Donn Harrison at 418-392-5002 CALIFORNIA BIBLE CONF. The California Bible Conference will be held in beautiful Yosemite Park, July 14-21, Lord willing. The speaker will be Randy Amos (NY).

Campsites for tents, trailers, and RVs are available. Reservations must be made before June 1.

Fran Dixon at 626-337-8733 cfdixon1@juno.com SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES Immanuel Mission Immanuel Mission, serving Navajo people on a reservation in Arizona, needs a kindergarten teacher for next year. They also need a man to oversee the maintenance department. Please contact: John Bloom Box 2000 Teec Nos Pos AZ 86514 Phone: 928-674-3616 Southwest Bible Camp The Southwest Bible Camp, located in the beautiful mountains in the southwest corner of New Mexico, has need of a self-supporting person or

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persons who desire to serve the Lord with maintenance and light repair skills. Contact Gordon Lennox: 505-881-3728 email: gljlptl@aol.com COMMENDATIONS We no longer publish commendation withdrawls, since we find it out of our jurisdiction to examine each case and find it imprudent to publish them otherwise. —ed.

Mark and Debbie Petke The elders, on behalf of the saints at Oakwood Bible Chapel (Windsor, ON), commend Mark to the work of the Lord as manager of Guelph Bible Conference. Their commendation is added to that of Anchorage Bible Fellowship and Guelph Bible Chapel.

ASSEMBLY INFORMATION North Carolina A group of brethren in the North Carolina area are exercised in evangelism and discipling with the desire to see New Testament gatherings established in cities of North Carolina where there are not current works. Any interest, input, or potential contacts, please write or call: Pioneer Work c/o Mike Moody P. O. Box 689 Ramseur, NC 27316 Phone: 336-824-5525

OUTREACH IN SIOUX FALLS, SOUTH DAKOTA The saints in Sioux Falls are planning to have a gospel outreach the week of July 22-28. They are a small group and would be encouraged by any help in the effort.

Larry Sax 605-582-8299 Larrsax@splitrocktel.net Tim Jordison 605-582-8470 T.S.JORD@juno.com

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Are you armed?

Equip yourself for the battle.

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Life is uncertain. Every morning people arise and go through the day, not realizing that before evening they will have met God. For this reason, every thinking person must wonder where he will go when he dies and where he will spend eternity. In this new gospel booklet, Final Destiny, William MacDonald carefully explains how a person can know for sure. Similar in format to the bestselling Ultimate Questions, this beautiful 32-page booklet loaded with full-color pictures is ideal for mass distribution. To learn more about Final Destiny, you may visit the publisher’s website at www.dkpresschristianbooks.com.

Although eight months have passed since September 11, the memories haven’t faded. For many, the questions and insecurities that bombarded their minds are still hovering near the surface.Where Was God on September 11? by John Blanchard is a 32-page booklet that honestly deals with the difficult issues of pain and suffering before delivering a serious “wake-up call” to the unbeliever. This booklet is designed for distribution to unbelievers, particularly to challenge the views of those who consider themselves to be atheists or agnostics. www.evangelicalpress.org.

For information on discount prices for quantity purchases, call Gospel Folio Press (800-952-2382). in some Christians. Dreher did his homework. He interviewed a number of Christians who believe that God will restore Israel to Himself and to their land as well as traditional church leaders who believe that the Jews’ rejection of Christ abrogated God’s covenant with them. His article explains how the “novel theory” of

UNLIKELY ALLIANCE? “It may sound strange, but it’s true: Aside from Jews, the strongest American supporters of Israel are Evangelical Christians.” So begins Rod Dreher, senior writer for National Review Online, trying to explain why the largely friendless nation of Israel has such strong allies

CRISIS in th e CATHOLIC CHURCH Seven in ten A merican Catho lics say the issue of se xual abuse of children by priests is a “c risis” for the Catholic Church, that de mands immed iate attention. This num ber is up almos t 20% from when the ques tion was aske d a month ago. 24% of C atholics say th ey have an unfavorable vi ew of the ch urch today, compared with 9% a month ag o.

36% say they are “angry” at the way the church has handled the is sue, while another 34% sa y they are “dis satisfied, but not angry.”

—ABCNews.co m

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dispensationalism can be traced from J. N. Darby to D. L. Moody to the Scofield Bible. He refers to the effects of The Late Great Planet Earth on America in the 1970s, and Tim LaHaye’s Left Behind series today. He calls dispensationalism “one of the great tales of American popular religion.” nationalreview.com

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Love Biblical love is not known in the doctrine but in the doing.

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this is outside the realm of fleeting emotions.

“Every good tree brings forth good fruit; but a corrupt Agape is sometimes the result of a preceding action. tree brings forth evil fruit” (Mt. 7:17). If I am in Christ Regarding the woman who was a sinner, Jesus declared and Christ is in me, then my life should be characterto Simon it was evident that “her sins, which are many, ized by the fruit listed in Galatians 5:22-23. The first are forgiven; for she loved much” (Lk. 7:47). Her great on the list is love. In Webster’s Dictionary, the primary agape came as a direct result of her appreciation of the definition of love is “a powerful emotion felt for anothforgiveness of her sins. er person manifesting itself in deep affection, devotion As a side note, agape is sometimes used to describe or sexual desire.” If this is what is meant by love then I love towards an object (instead of could say right now that I, a newlytowards a person). Two examples wed, am filled with the Spirit!

HELEN KELLER are: when Jesus denounced the However, having been raised Pharisees for their agape of in a Christian home I know the uppermost seats in syna“love” in the Bible means Once I knew the depth where no hope was, and gogues (Lk. 11:43), and in more than is given in darkness lay on the face of all things. Then LOVE the command to love not Webster’s. came and set my soul free. Once I fretted and beat the world (1 Jn. 2:15).

Turning to the myself against the wall that shut me in. My life According to 1 Corinthians Scriptures, the first thing was without a past or a future, and death a 13, agape is the love which I did was verify that the consummation devoutly to be wished. suffers long, is kind, does not Greek word used in Galatians But a little word from the fingers of envy, does not parade itself, is not another fell into my hands that 5:22 for “love” was agapeo (the clutched at emptiness, and arrogant; does not behave rudely, verb form of the noun agape). my heart leaped up does not seek its own, is not easily proThen compiling a list of every verse with the rapture voked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in that contains those two forms of agape, of living. iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all I began looking at each verse to see if I things, believes all things, hopes all things, could come to an understanding of the word endures all things. In other words, agape is a based on how it was used. love which regards the welfare of another more The first on the list is Matthew 5:43-44, “Ye highly than one’s own welfare, enduring through all have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love circumstances. thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. But I say unto In summary, agape is the type of love that seeks out you, agape your enemies…” Here I learn agape is not the benefit of the object, disregarding the cost to the always involuntary: one can choose to agape. one showing love. There is a sense of enduring and Subsequent verses tell me that our Lord intends for commitment, of being unaffected by adverse circumagape to include blessing those that curse me, doing stances and negative evidence. Additionally, an exergood to those who hate me, and praying for those who cise of the will is involved, a choosing to love. It tends spitefully use and persecute me. He wants the agape of to be love shown by actions rather than by displays of my life to be more than just loving those who love me affection (the latter would be phileo love). (v. 46).

From the Old Testament there is an example of such The next passage is Matthew 6:24, “No man can love in the lives of David and Jonathan. On one occaserve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and sion it is manifested when Jonathan risked his own life agape the other; or else he will [be loyal] to the one, by standing up to his father on David’s behalf (1 Sam. and despise the other.” Here agape is used in conjunc20). On another occasion King David determined to tion with being loyal. Hence, the meaning of agape is show kindness to the house of Saul for Jonathan’s sake tied to the idea of hold fast, cling to, be unwavering;

on the Power of Love

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(2 Sam. 9) and brought Mephibosheth into his house.

Each instance shows a devotion to another that disregards self-interest.

Let me leave you with three more uses of agape which display a love that is more than I can comprehend.

First, there is the great love of God towards us, for “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world…”

(1 Jn. 4:9). Though it would mean the pouring out of all the judgment for all sin upon His only begotten Son— the Son in whom He delighted—yet God sent Him into the world. Behold what manner of agape the Father has bestowed on us!

Next, the love of the Son for the Father was shown as He went to the garden of Gethsemane. He said, “That the world may know that I love the Father, as He commanded Me, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence” (Jn. 14:3). The judgment for our sin was so terrible that the mere anticipation of the anguish He would suffer caused Him to sweat “as it were great drops of blood.”

Disregarding Himself, He accomplished the will of the Father whom He loved.

Leaving the joy and glory of heaven, He came to a world opposite and opposed to the glories of His Father, to a planet of people filled with the ugliness and stench of sin. His love for us is great, for He came to take all our guilt and judgment upon Himself.

Likewise, the fruit of the Spirit in my life should result in me “walking in love, as Christ also hath loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God…” (Eph. 5:2).

How is it possible for such a fruit to come out in my life? I find that if I abide in Him, this agape will be manifest in my life, for He is love; and “he that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him” (1 Jn. 4:16).

Caleb and Elisha Bulow live on the North Dakota State University campus, where Caleb is pursuing a degree in Mechanical Engineering.

They are part of the assembly in Fargo which meets at Meadow Ridge Bible Chapel.

SWEET ARE THESE GRAPES SWEET?

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Available in a Justaminute™ tract from Gospel Folio Press.

we try, our good isn’t good enough. If we are ever going to be in a true relationship with God, we will have to agree with Him about our basic problem which He says is personal sin. He offers only one answer: complete trust in Jesus Christ the Lord and the full payment He made when He died for us at Calvary.

The interesting thing about this is that everyone who has tasted has found what He says to be true.

Can you say for sure you know it is not true? It’s those who refuse the grapes who argue. Taste and see!

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 3:23; 6:23). “For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).

ou haven’t tasted them, have you? It would be the sure way to tell if you could taste and see. Did you know that phrase was from the Bible? “O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusts in Him” (Psalm 34:8). If someone argued that your grapes were sour, yet he wouldn’t taste one, you could hardly be blamed for his opinion.To taste something is to test it, and that is what God wants us to do with His Word. Don’t swallow it without a careful examining of the convincing evidence He gives.

You say you cannot believe all of it? Then go with God as far as you can. Don’t reject what you can believe because of something you find hard to accept.

Taste and see.Your conscience and the Bible agree on this, at least: you are a sinner (you don’t even come up to your own standards). And, no matter how hard

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Joy The shock absorbers on the bumpy road of life.

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Who would have thought that a small word like this would be the name of a fruit that makes such an immense impact for good on a Christian’s life and then on the lives of others? And who would think that living without that resource would be so weakening to the inner man? David is a good example of this principle: With the departure of joy, satisfaction is dissipated, for it is with the bucket of joy that we draw refreshment from the wells of salvation (Isa. 12:3). When joy is gone, service is affected. David discovered that his teaching, his testimony, and his worship had all been affected…David not only lost his own joy, he lost the ability to enjoy other people’s joy: “Make me to hear joy and gladness,” he prayed (Ps. 51:8) (Boyd Nicholson, Jul.-Aug. 1994 Counsel).

Actually, it is the joy of the Lord that softens the jarring blows which inevitably come to a believer. Many times in the Word do we read of an individual who is almost crushed, then with a return to focussing their eyes on the Lord, there comes a flood of joy (Asaph, Ps. 73, is a good example from the OT; the two on the Emmaus Road, Luke 24, from the NT). Listen to the words of Habakkuk (3:17-19) as he describes his recovery from despair: Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat…yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and He will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and He will make me to walk upon mine high places.

What is the secret to experiencing and maintaining the joy of the Lord? Perhaps a word study will help us.

The most common word for “joy” (Gk., chara, similar to chairo-, “rejoice”), signifies delight, gladness, exulting, or exuberance. It occurs 133 times in the NT (chara, 59 times; chairo-, 74 times). There are also several other words used to render joy or rejoice. w w w . u p l o o k . o r g

Obviously it would be impossible here to look at all the occurrences of joy in the Bible, so we will limit our search to the lovely letter written to the saints at Philippi, as it contains its fullest mention in the NT. Remember the setting in which these words were first read. In the group gathered there was one Philippian jailer. What would he have thought as he heard the words, “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice” (Phil. 4:4)? Did Paul really mean always? Obviously! The jailer would think back to the first time he met Paul. After being unjustly tried, whipped and thrown into prison, Paul and his companion, Silas, sang praises to God at midnight. The subject of joy was not theory to Paul; it was lived out in the midst of his life and ministry.

Joy is mentioned about 20 times in this short epistle. These verses cluster around three main ideas: the Source, the Secret and the Strength of joy.

THE SOURCE OF JOY In Philippians, we read the reasons for rejoicing time and again. Clearly there is a cause and effect relationship here. Notice phrases like: “…I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice”(1:18) and “For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me” (2:18).

What were some of the sources of joy in Paul’s life?

The list is long and varied. In 1:3-5, he describes his prayer life as marked by steady joy, first in thinking of the saints, and then about their fellowship in the gospel. In 1:18, it is his joy in the gospel being preached, even if “in pretense.” In 2:2, Paul longs to rejoice in seeing the unity of the Christians, while in 2:15-16, he also longs to rejoice in the day of Christ, when he looks back on their holy lives and bright testimony. He even finds cause to rejoice in sacrificing himself for the Christians (2:17-18). Ultimately, of course, all true joy finds its source in Christ’s joy, “…that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full” (Jn. 15:11). So Paul writes: “Finally, my •

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O Jesus, Lord! there is, indeed Enough in Thee to meet our need, Enough in Thee to make us glad!

Why should Thy ransomed ones be sad?

This hope have we before our God, Salvation through Thy precious blood.

brethren, rejoice in the Lord” (Phil. 3:1; see also 4:10, the immediate cause for the letter).

THE SECRET OF JOY There are many sorrows in life. How is it possible to be joyful in a world like this? This is joy’s secret. It is essential to realize that sorrow is an emotion of the soul, while joy is a fruit of the Spirit. As Paul would write elsewhere, “as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.”

It is not always possible to rejoice in circumstances, the variables in the equation of life. But for the believer, the constants which are found in Christ never change—His promises, His provisions and His person.

What joy it is to walk with Thee!

But O what joy Thy face to see!

And when our bliss is all complete, We still shall worship at Thy feet, And mention nothing to our God But that same ever precious blood. (Mary Peters)

THE STRENGTH OF JOY

John and Janice Nicholson are in fellowship at Thorold South Gospel Chapel. They live in Welland, ON with their three boys B. J. (5), Andrew (3) and Ethan(2).

John is the Graphic Artist for Gospel Folio Press and prepares art for the Uplook Magazine.

Joy is a secret weapon. On occasion Israel in weakness went into battle singing the victory song (2 Chron.

20:22; Ps. 20–21). So Paul could state with confidence, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13). He had learned what Nehemiah knew, “the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Photo: Jack Hazut

FIGS

Of all the flawless plants in the Garden of Eden, only the fig tree is mentioned by name.

It slinks onto the scene as Adam and Eve attempt to cover their sin and hide from God—symbolized by their fig-leaf aprons.

The plant wends its way through Scriptures, appearing at least 66 times in 28 different books, often used as the subject of a parable or illustration to teach a spiritual truth. In the OT, the Hebrew word taen is used 39 times and is translated as both fig and fig tree.

As the olive represents Israel’s spiritual history and the vine its national history, from the first mention of the fig coverings in Genesis, the fig tree emerges as a symbol of Israel’s human religiosity. It speaks of our natural attempt to appease God rather than have our sins dealt with His way—through the shedding of blood. Expressions of the fig tree “languishing” or not blossoming (Joel 1:12; Hab. 3:17) represent fruitless times when Israel turned away from God. In John 1, the Lord calls Nathanael from sitting under the fig tree to follow Him—out from hiding under a religious cover to a living relationship. Matthew 21 and Mark 11 record Christ cursing a fig tree because it bore no fruit.

The tree withers at His command. The story is strategically placed beside the overturning of the merchants’ tables in the temple, in both cases teaching the Lord’s abhorrence for a hypocritical facade of religion. The parable in Luke 13 tells of a vineyard owner ordering his fig tree to be cut down because after three years it bore no fruit. The gardener pleads for one more year (today’s fig growers tell us that a new tree, started from a branch cut from another tree should produce fruit in two to four years). Similar mercy is offered us to repent for deliverance from perishing.

The ripe fig is seen as one with whom the Lord is pleased. In Jeremiah 24, it is the good fruit that He preserves and carries away for a time, like those in Judah who are taken into captivity but will return to Him with a whole heart.

As ripe fruit is expected from a fig tree, the Lord uses it as an example of expected characteristics in His people with phrases such as “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather…figs of thistles?” (Mt. 7:16) and “Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs?” (Jas. 3:12). When Christ examines the tree of our lives, may He not find deceiving leaves without figs, or that which is rotten and useless but fruit which is sweet and sincere —pleasing to His taste.

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Peace It’s not the absence of turmoil but the presence of God.

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Peace, perfect peace—in this dark world of sin?

The blood of Jesus whispers peace within.

Peace, perfect peace—by thronging duties pressed?

To do the will of Jesus, this is rest.

Peace, perfect peace—with sorrows surging round?

On Jesus’ bosom naught but calm is found.

Peace, perfect peace—with loved ones far away?

In Jesus’ keeping we are safe, and they.

Peace, perfect peace—our future all unknown?

Jesus we know, and He is on the throne.

Hymnwriter Edward H. Bickersteth asks five times if we can have perfect peace with circumstances like this. He responds by pointing to our Prince of Peace.

Isaiah says, “Shalom, shalom” (or “Peace, peace”) to those “whose mind is stayed on Thee” (Isa. 26:3). This is translated “perfect peace” in most current versions of the Bible and is a promise to followers of the “Lord of Peace” (2 Thess. 3:16).

The most common Greek form of the word “peace” is used 86 times in the New Testament and is found at the beginning or end of over ninety percent of the New Testament epistles. It is defined as completeness, soundness, or wholeness. H. A. Ironside states that peace is “…more than happiness, it is a deep-toned gladness that is unruffled and untroubled by all the trials of earth.” It is sometimes translated quietness or rest. It is the opposite of being troubled (inward peace), the opposite of calamity and war (outward peace), and the opposite of wrath, punishment, and judgment (Godward peace). This attribute of God is to permeate every sphere of our lives.

The Lord Jesus is the Prince of Peace. At His birth the Scripture says, “…and on earth peace…” (Lk. 2:14). Throughout His life He gave peace in the storm (Mk. 4:39), to two ailing women (Lk. 7 and 8), to His disciples (Lk. 24:36), and to many more. From the time of His miraculous birth to just before His ascension He offered peace to all. Just as everlasting life is found only in the Bread of life, lasting peace is found only in the Prince of Peace who gives of it so freely. w w w . u p l o o k . o r g

Concerning inward peace, Isaiah 26:3 states, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee.” We must keep our focus on Christ. We must daily remind ourselves of our frailty and of our need to abide in Him. Just as the Lord set His face stedfastly toward Jerusalem, we must set our face as a flint toward Him. It is only with this focus that we will experience the peace of God. If we desire inward peace we must also choose the life of the spiritual and not the carnal. Romans 8:6 tells us, “…to be spiritually minded is…peace.” This is complemented by Psalm 119:165 that says, “Great peace have they that love Thy law.” Peaceful people are those who love obedience to the standards of our holy God. We cannot over-emphasize the importance of loving righteousness and hating evil. Every time we encounter wickedness we should let it increase our hatred of those things for which our Saviour died and further harden the steel of our resolve to keep ourselves unspotted from the things of the world. Second Peter 3:14 says it well, “…be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless.” Jesus Christ the Righteous deserves a bride that will be found spotless, and He wants us to have the life of peace that stems from such purity. We need only to choose it to be blessed with perfect peace.

Philippians 4:7 shows the importance of prayer in obtaining the inward peace of God. Prayer becomes a channel through which peace flows into our lives.

Through it the “…peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (NKJV). When we lay our cares before the throne of grace, quietness and rest replace woe and anxiety. The Lord is the source of lasting peace. The more often we go to Him in prayer, the more often we open ourselves to be blessed with peace.

Romans 14:19 deals with outward peace in the context of our relationships with brothers and sisters in Christ. It admonishes us, saying, “…pursue the things which make for peace….” Paul tells us to value our brothers and sisters more than freedoms. Ephesians 4:3 says, “endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” The Lord is pleased when we pursue •

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Do you have a lack of inward, outward, or Godward peace today? Does your heart long for the peace of God? The Scripture says that if we keep our eyes on Christ, choose purity, go to God in prayer, seek peace with all men (especially the brethren), and share the Prince of Peace with others, then God’s peace will be ours. The Lord has left us His peace. May we choose to live in this blessing!

As the children’s song says, Peace, peace, I think I understand; Peace, peace, is holding Jesus’ hand.

peace. We cannot always attain it, but it is always possible to seek it (note the words “pursue” and “endeavoring”). Hebrews 12:14 expands this slightly by stating, “Pursue peace with all men.” Peace in our lives is to be sought in the home, at work, in the local church, and with all men. The Lord would desire us to have peace in our day-to-day relationships, as well as in our inner being. Can you make peace with someone today?

Lastly, we come to godward peace. To put faith in Christ is to be at peace with God. All who have come to know peace with God through Christ need to share the gospel of peace. Acts 10:36 says, “The word which God sent…preaching peace through Jesus Christ…”

Romans 3:17 tells us that the unsaved world does not know “…the way of peace…” All those who know the Lord as Saviour are the recipients of tremendous peace with God. Today is the day to take the gospel of peace to the lost world. May we be found faithful to tell of His peace.

Scott DeGroff lives in Topeka, Kansas, with his wife Lynn and his children Danny (4) and Rebekah (2).

He is a print broker and his family fellowships at Topeka Gospel Chapel.

Photo: Wolf Schubach

DATES The fruit-bearing date palm (Heb. tamar; Gk. phoinix) has four main occurrences in the Bible. The connection between them takes shape as one learns the details of Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles. In Leviticus 23, the Lord instructed His people to hold a joyful seven-day harvest festival in which they were to dwell in huts, or temporary shelters. It commemorates the protective clouds of glory that surrounded the children of Israel during their forty years in the wilderness and points to the regathering and restoration of the kingdom of Israel during the Millennium (Zech. 14:16-21). The festival proclaims that “the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God” (Rev. 21:3).

The Four Species—“goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook” (Lev. 23:40)—are waved before the Lord. They are the etrog (citron, a citrus fruit native to Israel); the lulav (the palm); the hadasim (myrtle); and aravot (willow) branches. On the first six days of the festival, people made a circular procession around the altar waving their branches and praying for God’s blessing. Each phrase was punctuated with hoshana, “save now.” On the seventh day, seven circuits were made around the altar.

Because the prayer was repeated so often, it was called Hoshana Rabbah, or the Great Hoshana. After the destruction of the temple, Jews adopted the custom of continuing the ceremony in their synagogues. The altar is played by a member of the congregation standing at the bimah (reading lectern), holding a Torah while the parade takes place around him.

The festival’s processions are mirrored in the victory strategy given by God (Josh. 6) for conquering Jericho, the city of palm trees. Marching around the city once a day for six days, and seven times on the seventh at the great shout (Hoshana?) the city walls crumbled—testifying through the land that “the Lord was with Joshua [and His people]” (Josh. 6:27).

When the Lord entered Jerusalem on a donkey (Jn. 12), although it was springtime—Passover—the people instinctively burst into the traditional fall celebration of joy, waving palm branches and calling out hoshana. Welcoming the “King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord” (v. 13), they declared the message of Sukkot: God Himself was with them.

In Revelation 7, we get a glimpse of the ultimate celebration of joy. Those of us who are redeemed will one day join that numberless throng from every people group forever in the presence of our God. Waving palm branches, our cry will not be Hoshana, (please save), but “Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb!”

—C. C.

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Longsuffering It’s one thing to suffer long, another to suffer long and still be kind.

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“But the fruit of the Spirit is…longsuffering…” The Spirit’s fruit is beautiful to the Father. As He sees more of the image of His beloved Son in redeemed sinners He can only be pleased. What greater gift can He give to redeemed men and women than this likeness? It is the character of the Lord Jesus. Like the other aspects of the fruit of the Spirit, this one called “longsuffering” in Galatians 5 is vivid in His life and it is proclaimed in God’s dealings throughout Scripture.

Note here the difference of meaning in the words translated “longsuffering” and “patience.” Longsuffering has to do with holding back punishment and with being merciful. Patience is related to hope and has to do with enduring trials or circumstances. It is not used of God, while longsuffering is.1 Paul highlights this difference when he prays that the believers in Colosse would be “Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness” (Col. 1:11). Both are necessary for believers: patience as we deal with the circumstances of life and longsuffering as we deal with one another. The ways of God are the pattern.

God has been revealing His longsuffering nature since the fall in Eden. Adam and Eve knew it and their descendants did too until the flood, “when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared…” (1 Pet. 3:20, NKJV). The fact that God was willing to wait assumes some imminent judgment. During Noah’s day it was the flood.

Many years later at Sinai it was God sending Israel into Canaan and not going with them (Ex. 33:1-3).

At this time of Israel’s first national embrace of idolatry, Moses interceded for the people and the Lord had mercy. He went with them and when He proclaimed His name to Moses there was no surprise, only

awe. Moses had seen by God’s actions what He is like.

The Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped” (Ex. 34:6-8).

This would not be the last time God would have a reason to destroy His people. Israel knew Him to be longsuffering throughout her history, but God has dealt with other nations in this way.

For example, Assyria knew Him to be such a God. After Jonah preached (finally) to the people of Nineveh and God spared them, he revealed the reason why he had run from God’s command. It was not fear but knowledge. “And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray Thee, O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that Thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest Thee of the evil” (Jonah 4:2) Every sinner can be thankful that God is not like Jonah.

As with any good thing that the Spirit works out in our lives, we can look back and see it perfectly modeled in our Lord Jesus. With every sinner that He touched, with every disciple that knew just the wrong thing to say, He was longsuffering. He was with the leaders of Israel too. Though not every word was quiet and soothing, some were. He knew what was necessary in every situation. And He saw the results but only after great pain. Many of the sinners repented. His disciples

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went on to lay the foundation of the Church (Eph. 2:20), and “a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith” (Acts 6:7).

And though His sacrifice on Calvary was not the first display of God’s longsuffering, it was the greatest, for it was on that hill that God’s longsuffering would both cease— “…it pleased the Lord to bruise Him…” and have its culmination— “…and with His stripes we are healed” (Isa. 53:5, 10). The great judgment for sin, held back for so long, fell, not on the guilty but on the innocent. He gave His own Son the blow, so that He would bare “our sins in His own body on the tree” (1 Pet. 2:24). God in His longsuffering is still waiting, not now for the Redeemer to come for us, but for the lost to come to Him. This is why Peter urges us, as we wait for the Lord’s return, to “account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation” (2 Pet. 3:15).

In light of this, is having a longsuffering spirit toward each other so difficult? Yes, frankly, it is. Strife seems to come more naturally than peace. Those who are longsuffering can expect to be abused. “Charity suffereth long,” Paul writes, as much to say that love is proved in the long-term. In another place he writes: “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is

the bond of perfectness” (Col. 3:12-14). To do anything less is to side with Jonah and with the ungrateful servant that the Lord spoke of in Matthew 18.

Both men quickly accepted the forgiveness offered to them—the one of a debt too large to pay, the other of rebellion and the consequent living death inside the great fish. But neither man saw the connection between what he had received and what he was expected to give.

By the grace of God the same thing will not be true of us. As He is, so He would make us. As we have received, so we should give to others. Both of these men stand as warnings to any of us who are willing to receive from the Lord and forget His longsuffering toward us.

Let us follow the examples of Moses and of the Lord Jesus. Let us bow down in worship, then rise and be longsuffering towards all, each one knowing what the Lord forgave, what He still forgives, and what it all cost Him.

ENDNOTE: 1. Notes on Thessalonians by Hogg and Vine, pp. 183-184 Josh is a university student in Grand Rapids, MI and is in fellowship at Northwest Gospel Hall in the same city.

• Rise Up West 2002 • AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON • Relationships • Revival • His Return

Lord, Open the Heavens!

December 30, 2002 through January 2, 2003 At the Vancouver Airport Conference Resort in the Ramada Plaza Hotel Complex

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:

Daniel Smith (IA) and J. B. Nicholson (MI) • More than thirty seminar offerings are being planned • A Children’s Program is being arranged

COST: $145 US/$230 Cdn (quad occupancy); $175 US/$280 Cdn (double occupancy) Includes registration, room, meals, parking, gratuities, taxes, use of hotel facilities, printed materials CONVENERS: A committee of Christian brethren in British Columbia with the encouragement of Uplook Ministries

FOR MORE INFORMATION: • Allen Rae at 604-987-3022 18

• Harold Summers at 604-738-8943 • Don Street at 250-395-4230

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Gentleness A tender touch makes a difference in a tough world.

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“The fruit of the Spirit is…gentleness” (Gal. 5:22).

Here is the only time the word chrestotes is translated gentleness. The word occurs seventeen times in our New Testament (ten times as a verb, and seven times as an adjective) and is usually translated into English by the word kindness. The word is used in relation to the world, to God, and to the Church.

Kindness is of God. The ungodly cannot exercise such kindness, nor do they appreciate the riches of God’s kindness. The self-righteous, judgmental man of Romans 2 holds in contempt the kindness of God, and Romans 3 tells us that there is none that doeth good (exercises kindness). As the fruit of the Spirit, it is only seen in the life of those believers who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit (Rom. 8:4).

Since kindness is not something that the world can produce, it will do us no good to use worldly illustrations in an effort to understand its essence. We must look to the Source, the Vine upon which this fruit is cultivated. The kindness of God was manifested to us in the past, is presently being experienced by God’s people, and will be enjoyed by the Church in the future.

God was kind to us in the past, when He saved us.

Paul exhorted Titus in 3:1-3 to demonstrate good works to all men, regardless of whether their actions merited them. This is kindness, and Titus 3:4-7 records for us an example of the kindness and pity of God our Saviour toward man which appeared when God saved us. His salvation is not based on works of righteousness which we have done, but is an act of His mercy, springing out of His abundant kindness. Such should our kindness be—not displayed by us upon those whom we deem as worthy, but an abiding gentleness and kindness that wells up in us, and flows out from us unrestrained upon the undeserving. w w w . u p l o o k . o r g

God is presently kind to the unthankful and to the evil (Lk. 6:35). He sends the rain upon the just and the unjust alike. Few are the people who thank God for the seasons, for their food, for good health and for the countless other blessings that every creature receives at the hand of our loving and faithful Creator. But God is kind to us still, and He blesses us, in spite of our ingratitude.

Presently, His yoke is kind (Mt. 11:30). Solomon’s yoke was heavy (1 Ki. 12:4), but in Matthew, the Gospel of the King, the yoke of the Son of David is kind. He is not austere or harsh in His dealings with His people. He is gentle and kind, and demonstrated this in His life. He was kind to Peter. Peter was a man of God who, when sifted by the enemy, stumbled and fell, denying His Lord with oaths and curses. How did the Lord react? How would you and I react if a dear friend betrayed us, cursed us, and was embarrassed to say he knew us? The Lord Jesus was kind to Peter. He was not abrasive or insensitive. He did not corner him and rebuke him in the presence of the other disciples, but held a private meeting with him, demonstrating His goodness to Peter, and to us (Lk. 24:34, 1 Cor. 15:5).

How very kind He is. He remembers that we are dust, and constantly and consistently deals with us according to our weakness.

He will be kind to us in the future. The Holy Spirit in Ephesians 2 reveals God’s grace toward us when we were dead in trespasses and sins and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others (Eph. 2:1-3). He lifted us up, gave us life, and 2:7 tells us that He will ultimately take us to be physically with Him, so that in the ages to come He might display to us the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Kindness, then, is the vehicle which delivers to us the riches of the grace of God. •

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We are to be kind in our dealings with the world.

Second Corinthians 6:6 informs us that kindness is a weapon that the useful servant wields in carrying out his ministry for God. The world is a cold, cruel, unkind place, and when its citizens see our kindness and care for them, they’re much more likely to listen to the words we say and the message we preach.

Why is it that some of God’s people are more fruitful than others? Perhaps it is because their roots are deeper in God (2 Ki. 19:30). Some Christians bear thirty, some sixty and some an hundredfold. May God help us not to be content with thirty fold, but to strive to grow to our full potential, and thereby bring glory to God, fulfilling the purpose for our existence (Isa. 43:7). “Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit…He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for severed from Me ye can do nothing” (Jn. 15:8, 5).

“Put on therefore…kindness” (Col. 3:12). Since our God and Saviour is kind and we are the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:26), we ought to display something of the family resemblance. How does it happen? How do we become fruitful for God? The Bible does not suggest that we all become philanthropists.

The fruit of the Spirit is something supernatural, something that we must depend upon God to produce in our lives. The Lord Jesus said, “Without Me ye can do nothing” (Jn. 15:5). First then, if we want to be kind, if we want to bear much fruit (Jn. 15:8), we have to understand that it is not of ourselves. We have no inherent kindness, but as we spend time with the Saviour, as we saturate our minds and hearts with the Word of God, and live in obedience to it, He will make us fruitful. If we are walking in the Spirit, we will be kind.

To whom should we be kind? We are to be kind to one another. “Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Eph. 4:32). Is there someone in our local assembly who is not living up to their Christian potential? Perhaps a contemporary Peter, who has hurt us deeply? Kindness forgives. How sweet it is to taste this heavenly fruit of kindness in the child of God.

Dennis and his wife, Julie, live in Kentville, Nova Scotia where Dennis works in business development. They gather with Christians at Bethany Gospel Chapel in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

The ALMOND in the BUD James S. Tait

And humbly, yet gladly, I own, Though daily new glimpses I get, There’s many a glory unknown That’s still in the bud to me yet.

Yet such is His fullness, and such The freshness and dew of His youth, Time’s withering hand cannot touch His treasures of goodness and truth.

But still as I study Him more, And ponder His words and His ways, New beauties unnoticed before Are blossoming out to my gaze.

He’s the Rod and the Branch and the Root, And still to my wondering soul, Will bud and will bloom and bear fruit While years of eternity roll.

Photo: Jack Hazut

I feast on the fruit that He bears And O it is sweet to my taste; The virtues and glories He wears, The beauties wherewith He is graced.

“And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds” NUMBERS 17:8 “Three bowls made after the fashion of almonds in one branch, a knop and a flower; and three bowls made like almonds in another branch, a knop and a flower: so throughout the six branches going out of the candlestick” EXODUS 37:19

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Goodness When nothing else works, good works.

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What does the word “goodness” mean? Goodness may be understood as a constant condition of the heart that moves a person to do what is good. When it is said that a person has “goodness” it means they have a propensity for doing good; it is like a spring of water within them, welling up and overflowing. Goodness could be said to be “good in action.”

WHO DECIDES WHAT IS GOOD?

How do we know something is “good”? Maybe the better question is, “Who decides what is good?” The answer must be that only God sets the boundaries of good and evil. There are at least three sound reasons for this.

First, He is the Creator. In His creation He has stamped what is good, for repeatedly it is said on the days of creation, “And God saw that it was good.” Second, God is all-knowing.

Everyone has said or done something foolish because they didn’t know all the facts. This is not the case with the One who knows the end from the beginning. Third, He is all-powerful.

Once God makes a decision, there is no person in the universe that can veto it and no higher court to appeal to. His decisions are final, and He has the power to enforce them.

It is also important to note that goodness is a revelation of the character of God. Just as we know that God is love, we see that God is good. In fact, that concept is one of the great themes of the Bible. We all have experienced His goodness in at least one of the following ways: deliverance from troubles, protection from hurt, abundant blessings, daily provisions, comfort, instruction, and much more.

So how do we know what is good? In the end we know what is good because God has told us. The Holy Spirit has been revealing this by the testimony of creation, through our conscience and finally in the Word of God.

THERE IS NO GOODNESS IN OURSELVES Sometimes we put ourselves down in a false show of humility or to beg a compliment, but the plain, ugly truth is that we have no goodness in us (Rom. 7:18).

The Apostle Paul, quoting Psalm 14:1, says this, “There is none that doeth good, no, not one” (Rom. 3:12). To this Solomon agrees, “For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not” (Eccl. 7:20).

It is sad that many people are relying on good works to win God’s favor when the truth is they really have no good works at all. The Lord has clearly stated, “All our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment…” (Isa. 64:6, NKJV). Jesus told a “good” and religious man that he needed to be born again (Jn. 3:1-21). Even though we may feel we are good according to our human standards, we are in fact wicked according to the Lord’s standards. Sin has polluted us so that no work on its own merit is pure and acceptable in the sight of God.

Doing good is a gift we all have in our hands.

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THE PERFECT EXAMPLE OF GOODNESS Our Lord Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of goodness. If God is good, and we define goodness as “good in action,” then one could say that Jesus Christ is the goodness of God; Jesus came to completely do the will of the Father. In fact, He lived a life without ever once sinning, for He was “in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15). Jesus said, “I do always those things that please Him” (Jn. 8:29). The Father said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Mt. 3:17).

To see that His heart was good, we only need to consider how Jesus dealt with people. We see how His goodness poured out to help those who were in need.

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and anyone who is honest must agree. But this is a blessing! The Lord promises us that “He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit” (Jn. 15:5).

This is the life! Living a life in pursuit of pleasure and ease is vanity and emptiness, but a life of goodness brings joy and fulfillment to our souls. And above that, when we bear the fruit of goodness like the Lord Jesus, we too are pleasing to the Father. While we can never repay God for all His goodness to us in saving our souls, we can give Him pleasure in bearing much fruit to His glory. We can have a spring of goodness welling up in us to the refreshing of others. May this be true in both my life and yours.

His feet. He ate with publicans. Twice He looked with pity on the crowds and miraculously gave them food.

He released the woman caught in adultery. He wept over Jerusalem for their unbelief, knowing the suffering they would therefore endure. Most of all, He bore our sins on the cross and suffered there so we might be saved. Oh, He showed that the heart of God is very, very good!

IMITATORS OF GOD The Lord wants us to be just like Him; this is clearly seen from the verse, “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children” (Eph. 5:1, NKJV). He wants to develop in us the same goodness He showed in His life.

What does this mean? We will help the needy and heal the wounded. We will accept sinners into our presence and freely forgive anyone who has offended us. We will weep over the lost and with joy see them saved.

It must be noted that goodness is a fruit of the Spirit and not a work of the flesh. Goodness is only possible in us through the working and power of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus said, “Without Me ye can do nothing” (Jn. 15:5),

Stephen and Marisha Schletty attend Northeast Gospel Chapel in Minneapolis, MN. Stephen works as a webmaster for a computer company.

“As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste” (Song of Sol. 2:3).

The apple tree, among the forest trees, Strikes down its roots into the self-same ground, Shares the same dews with all the trees around; Its leaves are rustled by the self-same breeze.

Yet is it of a nature not like these.

A foliage different from the rest it wears; A fruit peculiar to itself it bears.

So is the apple tree among the trees, And so among the sons is my Beloved.

True Man indeed, with all man’s feelings, He; And as among us in and out He moved, Was tempted in all matters like as we, Yet sinless ever, and by God approved, He stands unique in lovely purity.

hristian character is not mere moral or legal correctness, but the possession and manifestation of the graces of Galatians 5:22-23. Taken together they present a moral portrait of Christ, and may be understood as the apostle’s explanation of Galatians 2:20, “Not I but Christ,” and as a definition of the fruit mentioned in John 15:1-8. This character is possible because of the believer’s vital union with Christ (Jn. 15:5; 1 Cor. 12:12-13), and is wholly the fruit of the Spirit in those believers who are yielded to Him. “Fruit” (singular) in contrast with “works” (plural, v. 19) suggests that the Christian’s life in the Spirit is unified in purpose and direction as opposed to life in the flesh with its inner conflicts and frustrations.

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Faithfulness A little thing is a little thing, but faithfulness in a little thing...

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A lone warrior stood in a field of lentils and readied himself to fight as an army of soldiers rushed toward him. This was no ordinary field of lentils, and this was no ordinary warrior. His name was Shammah, and the lentils belonged to his commander and king, David.

The king had commanded his army to defend the land against the Philistine nation. But when they saw the Philistines coming they were afraid and fled. Why did Shammah remain all by himself to defend some beans on the side of a hill? Faithfulness. To the average person the field of lentils didn’t hold much value. But to Shammah, much more than lentils were at stake. For him to flee, which would have been by far the easiest route, would mean his loyalty to the one he served would be broken. And that was worth more than all the lentils in the world. Amazingly, (not so if you know the Lord who holds the universe in His hands) Shammah defeated the entire troop of Philistines.

Faithfulness is a subject that gets much attention in Scripture. This is likely because its roots are buried deep into the relationship that Christians have with the Lord Jesus. We have been purchased by the precious blood of Christ and it is to Him alone we owe our allegiance. The Lord gives us the key to faithfulness in Matthew 24:44-47: ““Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.”

The faithful servant will be doing what the master has asked. In contrast, the unfaithful will say to himself, “My master is delaying his coming.” He will despise his authority and live for the pleasures of self.

Faithfulness is highly practical. It comes down to choices. Our Master and Lord has asked many things of our lives. We make the choice daily to follow His command and honor His wishes or to disobey and go our own way. Self is the greatest barrier to faithfulness.

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this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier” (2 Tim. 2:3-4). This is the greatest motivator to faithful living—a love for the Master. A person will do anything and go to any length for the person whom they love. They evidence that love in the tangible, practical things of life.

The Lord is certainly an example of this. His task was the greatest of all—He died for the sins of the whole world. His suffering was to surpass any that had lived. His ridicule was to reduce Him to the lowest of humanity. Yet we see shining beyond the horror of Calvary a faithfulness that would take Him into the grave and on to glory at the Father’s right hand. The soldiers came to arrest Him and take Him away. Peter, seeking to defend his Lord, cut off a servant’s ear.

So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?” Nothing could be more practical than that. Such faithfulness!

But faithfulness is more than just performing a list of commands set out by our Lord. It is going beyond that into a relationship that pleases the heart of God. It is thinking, speaking and acting out a Christ-like character that reflects His glory in every moment. It involves loving the loveless because He loves the loveless. It means caring for the weary because He cares for the weary. It is forgiving those who wrong us because He in His spotless holiness forgave us in our wicked sinful state.

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Him when He loved me so?” Paul tells us that to sacrifice our all on the altar is the logical thing to do in light of His mercy to us.

This Christian pathway is a journey of mountains and valleys, tests and trials, failures and triumphs. Yet through it all, the Lord is longing to see us plunge deeper and deeper into the ocean of His love. We will find in Him a faithful Master and Friend, One who will never leave us nor forsake us. Devoting our lives to Him, not because He commands us to, but because we can’t stop loving Him, will prove in us the faithfulness that He desires and requires. He is worth it!

it our own that we will begin to live a life of faithfulness. It is only when all that we think is consumed by thoughts of His glory that we will truly stand the tests of our faith.

Why should we commit all that we are and have to this Master? Why should we lay aside the pleasure of this world and follow a Lord whom we cannot see or touch or speak to face to face? Because He is worth it!

Some masters cause their servants to despise them and long for freedom. Our Lord, in contrast, is a Master who knows all about the trials and struggles of life. He has been there and has seen the worst that life could throw at Him and has risen triumphant to give us that same victory. Faithfulness is marked by a life of loving service to a loving Master. He stretches out His hands to us, not to strike us into submission but to love us into a relationship that transforms our lives into service for Him. Paul says it best in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, NKJV, “For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.” The poet has written, “How can I help but love

Crawford and his wife, Beth, recently moved from Ottawa to the Niagara region of Ontario.

They are in fellowship with the Christians at Thorold South Bible Chapel. Crawford is a Computer Systems Analyst for a software company based in St. Catharines, Ontario.

A POMEGRANATE AND A BELL With holy awe and reverent pace, The Priest approached the Holy Place; Attired in garments that became The place where God had set His name.

His ephod shone with gold and gems, While softly from the wreathen hems The mellow music rose and fell, From a pomegranate and a bell, A pomegranate and a bell.

O for the grace that knows to suit The outward sound to inward fruit; That knows how well the music blends, When lips confess and life commends; That, though with boldness coming, brings No reckless touch to holy things; But hems the priestly garment well, With a pomegranate and a bell, A pomegranate and a bell. —JAMES S. TAIT

Today there’s still a holy place, An altar, and a priestly race; A godly order still obtains, The pattern of the House remains.

Shall I invade that sacred shrine And jangle through its calm divine, With clamorous notes that plainly tell, No pomegranates, but a bell— Another bell—and another bell?

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Meekness Meekness is not weakness, but strength in control.

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The virtue of meekness (proates), in its simplest use, denotes “gentleness.” It is a timely topic for today as vengeance reciprocates and world leaders posture and grandstand. In Scripture, meekness/gentleness has a “fuller, deeper significance…it is an inwrought grace of the soul…and the exercises of it are first and chiefly towards God.”1 Toward our brethren, meekness reminds us to “forbear one another in love” (Eph. 4:2, 26) and to “let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves” (Phil. 2:3). Toward the world, we are compelled to promote in meekness the One who is gracious, true, meek and righteous (Ps. 45:2, 4).

“Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Mt. 11:29).

The first and most important aspect of meekness is related to our attitude toward God. In meekness of character we submit to the will of God. What does this involve? Scripture provides a commentary in the first section of Psalm 37. It includes such instructions as, “Fret not…neither be thou envious…Trust in the Lord, and do good…Delight thyself also in the Lord…Commit thy way unto the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.” Midway through the chapter the psalmist declares, “…the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace” (37:11). True meekness cheerfully and obediently rests in God’s will and has the kind of mettle to face life’s trials, and ultimately, to be strengthened by it. There is a tendency to contend with God’s will in our lives, to remain unlearned and to “kick against the goads.” To learn of Him, we must approach Christ in meekness by putting away our “high and angry spirits”2 and bow our heads to His gentle yoke. Meekness is strength in submission.

Our Lord Jesus serves as the ultimate example of submissive, humble meekness toward God. He held within Him all of the privileges of being the Son of God and all of the power of being one with the Father; yet He voluntarily made Himself of no reputation and became obedient to death, even the death of the cross (Phil 2:6-8), to become a perfect propitiation for us (Rom. 3:25, 1 Jn. 4:10). He bowed His head to His Father’s yoke and “learned obedience by the things which He suffered; and having been made perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him” (Heb 5:8–9). He is our compassionate High Priest, wholly in touch with our infirmities, yet without sin. We find rest for our souls today because the “meek and lowly” Man is exalted and sits at God’s right hand. “With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love…Be ye angry and sin not” (Eph. 4:2, 26).

Meekness toward our brethren should be a natural outcome of our meekness toward God. Paul was much maligned in Corinth by false teachers and those who sought the glory of men. By contrast, Paul implored the Corinthians “by the meekness and gentleness of Christ” without compromising truth, knowing when to be “base” and when to be “bold” (2 Cor. 10:1). Meekness is strength under control, not weakness.

For most of us, meekness does not come naturally.

It takes time to develop. For example, Moses is described in Scripture as, “very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth” (Num 12:3). It was not always this way. After murdering an Egyptian in his own self-will, Moses fled and spent forty years in Midian where he slowly detached himself from his ways and the ways of the world. He

Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

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spoke unadvisedly with his lips.5 Not so with Christ!

Our Lord welcomed the little children, received sinners and ate with them, touched the lepers, and wept over the city and the people He loved. “Even when they drove the nails into His blessed hands, yet He had no curse to breathe upon them, but His dying exclamation was, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’” 6 What a contrast to the world in which we find ourselves! Christ won our hearts through meekness and benevolence, not tyranny and terror! More than ever this world needs our suffering Saviour, the meek and gentle Lamb, the compassionate High Priest, and Champion of humanity. Those who believe can say that they possess all things. We belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God (1 Cor. 3:21-23). May we win souls to Him as we evidence His meekness to others.

returned to lead the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt into the wilderness for another forty years. Through all the murmurings, backbiting, and second-guessing, Moses demonstrated remarkable self-control and forbearance by entrusting himself to Him who judges righteously (1 Pet. 2:23). Moses exemplified “strength under control” but it did not come about without hard lessons in forbearance and complete obedience (Num. 20:10-12).

We would much rather be corrected by a gentle and meek spirit rather than a harsh and haughty one. When it is our turn to convey correction, may we not deceive ourselves—the natural man is pompous and callous and may even secretly find satisfaction in the stumbling of a saint. Scripture implores us to “restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted” (Gal. 6:1).

“The tendency of the flesh is to do this harshly or with a superior attitude; to use boiling water so he won’t forget” rather than by taking the water of the Word and “gently applying it to their brother and his sin, all the time being aware that they too are vulnerable to temptation.” 3 Meekness does not exist in a vacuum—it is perfected by love (1 Cor. 4:21) and presented with righteousness and truth (Ps. 45:4). “Grace is poured into thy lips…And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness” (Ps. 45:2, 4).

The third and final aspect of meekness on our agenda relates to the gospel of Christ. In meekness and gentleness we are to promote Him. Concerning this Messianic psalm, Wesley comments, “God hath plentifully poured into Thy [Christ’s] mind and tongue the gift of speaking wisely, eloquently, and acceptably.”4 The same grace that poured into and from the lips of Christ is available to us as redeemed ones!

Remember Moses? Though he was “very meek” he

ENDNOTES 1. W. E. Vine, Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, 1940 2. C. H. Spurgeon, The Meek and Lowly One, 1859 3. Fleming, He Humbled Himself (Kansas City: 1989) p. 107 4. John Wesley, John Wesley’s Explanatory Notes on the Bible 5. T. E. Wilson, The Messianic Psalms (Grand Rapids: 1997) 6. C. H. Spurgeon, The Meek and Lowly One

Raised in Maryland, Ernie now lives in St. Petersburg, FL, where he works on website development. He attends Carrollwood Bible Chapel in Tampa. Ernie serves the Lord as webmaster for Uplook’s www.uplook.org.

Year-End Conference in Toronto December 29, 2002 through January 1, 2003 A conference for people of all ages is being planned by a committee of believers. In addition to the main speakers (Brian Gunning, Joe Mikhael, J. B. Nicholson, and Jim Paul), a number of seminars will be offered. Further details will follow in upcoming issues of Uplook.

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Temperance This is not control by self but control of self by the Spirit’s power.

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In this age when the world is so easily accessible—we can have what we want when we want it—this fruit of the Holy Spirit so needs to be displayed in our lives.

The word “temperance” simply means self control.

Marvin Vincent in his book, Word Studies in the New Testament, gave this definition, “holding in hand the passions and desires.” This same word is also used in two other passages of Scripture: Acts 24:25 and 2 Peter 1:6. In Acts 24:25, Paul reasoned with Felix about righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come.

There are three areas where temperance can affect us—our bodies, our thoughts and our emotions. We will look first at that which affects our body.

Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Just think on this for a moment: that our bodies are the very dwelling place of God! That is a solemn responsibility.

Everything that is done in and to our bodies matters to God. Paul could say, “All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not profitable.” We are at liberty to sleep, but is a lot of sleep profitable? I like the example of the Lord Jesus in Mark’s Gospel. After He came to the end of a long day, they brought unto Him all that were diseased and possessed with demons. He probably didn’t get too much sleep that night, but He was up early the next morning to go to a solitary place to pray. What temperance was displayed by the Lord Jesus when He could have slept, but He didn’t because prayer was a priority. Peter came looking for Him the next morning and found Him not sleeping but praying. I believe this had a big impact on Peter and so it should in our lives.

And what of our thoughts? As evil thoughts come into our minds we should stop them right at that moment and not dwell on them. Paul tells us to bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5). The devil today is attacking the

mind of the Christian and how we need to guard our minds. A wrong thought might come in about a brother or sister. Do we dwell on it or do we show temperance and put that thought out of our mind and start to pray for that brother or sister? Our thoughts should be centered on Christ. This is what Philippians 4:8 tells us we should think on: whatever things are true, honest, just, pure and lovely. All these things can be said of Christ. Think on Him, Christian.

We will now look at that which affects our emotions. In this age, everyone has rights and we are all taught to look out for ourselves. How we need to show temperance—this grace of the Holy Spirit—to the world around us and also to our brothers and sisters.

How do we react when some one honks at us when they were clearly in the wrong or something is said about us that is untrue? Do we get angry and set things straight or do we, by the power of the Spirit of God, display temperance? Let’s look and see when temperance is used in the Bible, and what effects it had on others.

David is a great example of this in 1 Samuel 24.

Saul and his three thousand men were out to hunt down and kill David. Unknown to Saul, he went into a cave occupied by David. David could have easily killed Saul with one stroke of the sword; he would then have ascended the throne. There would have been no more poverty, no more being hunted like an animal. But David didn’t kill Saul because he wanted to honor his Lord. What temperance was shown here, even as his band of men encouraged him to kill Saul. What an affect it had on Saul as David came forth and showed him that he could have killed him. The great and mighty Saul was reduced to tears. He was chastened by the disciplined self-humbling of David.

When people wrong us and we show temperance,

David showing Saul that he had saved his life by Gustave Doré

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all things, it could be said of Him that He was hungry but would not turn stones to bread, was thirsty but would not drink. What temperance! Neither the writer nor the reader would be here today if it were not for these wonderful displays of temperance shown by the Lord Jesus Christ.

In all areas of our lives—our body, thought life, and emotions—we should, by the power of the Spirit of God, display this needed grace of temperance. The world would condemn temperance, but think what impact we could have for our Saviour if we lived Spiritfilled, self-controlled lives.

could it not be possible that we, by our display of this fruit of the Spirit of God, point this person to the Saviour?

In the garden, as Judas and his band of men were coming to take the Lord Jesus away, Peter drew a sword and severed the ear of Malchus. Peter was evidencing no temperance here; he was ready to fight. But when you come to Peter’s first epistle, you see a changed man. In chapter 2 of 1 Peter, you see Peter promoting this fruit of the Spirit. As he writes, the recipients of his epistle were being slandered, they were being buffeted, and they were suffering. How should they respond?

Peter tells them to do good. As men wrong you and speak ill of you, follow the Saviour’s example, “Who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously” (1 Pet. 2:23).

Men wrongly accused the Lord Jesus, pulled the beard from His cheek, and spat in His face. The One whom John saw in Revelation has a voice “as the sound of many waters” but that day He “opened not His mouth.” What temperance! The One who created

Paul and his wife Melonie serve the Lord as missionaries in the Republic of Ireland. Paul is an evangelist and Bible teacher and is involved in pioneer work within the Republic.

M DDLeD MIDDLE EAST Seeking to bring some clarity to a very confusing part of the world

✡

WHAT IS THE MIDDLE EAST ANYWAY?

river basin in Iraq. But not anymore.

Now the Middle East has both shifted west and stretched across portions of North Africa.

As Britain’s political influence spread across the Arab world, in her thinking the empire added those nations into the Middle Eastern fold. And although the Moslem countries along the southwestern rim of the Mediterranean Sea are a very long way from the “Middle East” in miles, because they are ethnically, religiously and/or politically similar, they are sometimes (incorrectly) included in the term.

Now the official definition of the Middle East would include Israel, the Arab states west of Pakistan and south of the former Soviet Union, plus Egypt.

There are approximately 200 million people in this region, most who “sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.” Pray for the Middle East!

We hear the term almost every day in the news.

At time of writing, the whole region known by this name seems ready to explode into full-scale war. But what exactly is “the Middle East.”

Like everything else about this territory, even its name is cloaked in intrigue and doublespeak. Originally the “East” (meaning east of the colonial European nations that controlled most of the world at the time modern maps were drawn) was divided into “Far,” “Middle” and “Near” East. The Far East encompassed the countries of southeast Asia. The Middle East originally referred to Burma (Myanmar), Nepal, India, Pakistan and other countries south of the Russian hegemony and east of Iran. The Near East was the term used for the region between the Mediterranean and the Tigris-Euphrates

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A Cluster of Fruit Taste and see that the Lord is good!

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In newspaper English, Galatians 5:22-23 would read something like this:

❋ ❋ ❋

The fruit of the Spirit is an affectionate, lovable disposition; a radiant spirit and a cheerful temper; a tranquil mind and a quiet manner; a forbearing patience in provoking circumstances and with trying people; a sympathetic insight and tactful helpfulness; generous judgment and a big-souled charity; loyalty and reliableness under all circumstances; humility that forgets self in the joy of others; in all things selfmastered and self-controlled, which is the final mark of perfection.

—SAMUEL CHADWICK The best portion of a good man’s life, His little, nameless, unremembered acts Of kindness and love.

—Wm. Wordsworth

Drop Thy dews of quietness, Till all our strivings cease; Take from our souls the strain and stress, And let our ordered lives confess, The beauty of Thy peace.

—John Greenleaf Whittier

Joy is never in our power and pleasure often is.

—C. S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy

Love, joy, peace—character as an inward state; longsuffering, gentleness, goodness—character in expression toward man; faith, meekness, temperance—character in expression toward God. The chemist who can analyze the fruit of the vine finds many ingredients there. Of these no single one, nor any two together, would form the fruit of the juice; but the combination of all yields the polished and delicious berry which everyone knows so well. In different climates and even in different seasons, the proportion and blending of these constituents may vary, but that is not a good cluster where any is lacking.

The fruit of the “true Vine” has also been analyzed and, in the best specimens, nine ingredients are found. In poor samples there is a deficiency of one or other of these elements. A dry and diminutive sort is lacking in peace and joy. A tart kind, which sets the teeth on edge, owes its austerity to its scanty infusion of gentleness, goodness, and meekness. There is a watery, deliquescent sort, which, for the lack of longsuffering is not easily preserved; and there is a flat variety which, having no body of faith or temperance, answers few useful purposes. Love is the essential principle which is in no case entirely absent. By the glistening fullness and rich aroma which its plentiful presence creates you can recognize the freshest and most generous clusters; while the predominance of some other elements gives to each its distinguishing flavor and marks the growth of Eshcol, Sibmah or Lebanon.

—Dr. J. Hamilton w w w . u p l o o k . o r g

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I Am My Beloved's

B-IAM

My Beloved is Mine

B-MBM

The Importance of Love

J-4019

John Bramhall

John Bramhall

Focus On Series #10

It is this book’s premise that if we knew God more, we would love Him more.

Take a thrilling journey into the wonders of things divine. 128 pgs.

Paper Retail $8.99 CDN$13.49

Enjoy delightful meditations and practical insights on how to “keep yourselves in the love of God.” 128 pgs. Paper

Clearly written scriptural teaching on the importance of love for the Word of God, God’s people, your neighbor, and your spouse.

16 pgs.

Booklet

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J OY

Abide in Christ

X-0912

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Joy in Shared Tears

X-7557

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The Joy of Living

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J. Dwight Pentecost

Why would we stand in the door of the King's palace when He has invited us to dwell and fellowship in His presence and share His life?

204 pgs.

Paper Retail $5.99 CDN$8.99

This fascinating testimony of Christians in Romania will make you aware of the presence and power of the Lord in His church today.

216 pgs. Paper Retail $9.99 CDN$14.99

In this practical exposition of the letter to the Phillipians, study the supernatural joy that transcends any circumstance or trial.

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PEACE

Peace in His Presence

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Cathie Cretney As these calm, delightful instrumental hymns are played, may the Source of all peace draw you close to Himself.

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Once in Christ in Christ Forever

Life's Problems—God's Solutions

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J. Dwight Pentecost X-4548 Here we see God's answers to life's problems from the lives of fifteen Bible characters who struggled with guilt, doubt, and resentment.

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B-OIC William MacDonald’s book provides 100 clear, biblical reasons why a true believer cannot be lost.

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LONGSUFFERING

The Pilgrim Church

B-PCH

E. H. Broadbent

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Andrew Murray

Be encouraged in your walk as you follow the pathway of the forgotten saints from Pentecost until the 20th century.

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Waiting on God

Rose From Brier

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Amy Carmichael

Thirty-one meditations to help you learn in practice and experience the blessed art of waiting only upon God. 110 pgs.

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A priceless treasury of poems and helpful thoughts for all who suffer, from one who greatly suffered herself.

198 pgs.

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Come Walk With Me

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GENTLENESS

Strength of Soul

X-9978

W. Phillip Keller

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Windows on Paradise

B-WOP

David Gooding

Elwood McQuaid

Strength of soul and serenity of spirit are the vistas Keller opens to his readers by sharing what it means to live a full, rewarding life.

210 pgs. Cloth Retail $15.99 CDN$24.99

The beauty of Christ in the Gospel of Luke as the Champion and Saviour of the outcast and the oppressed.

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Poems, devotionals, and short walks among pleasant people and places that will encourage by showing us again things we may have forgotten. 128 pgs. Paper Retail $8.99 CDN$13.99

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GOODNESS

Living Above the Average

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The Hospitality Commands

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William MacDonald

Alexander Strauch

This collection of true-life stories will not only thrill you to read, but can provoke you—in a good way— to love and good works.

152 pgs. Paper Retail $10.99 CDN$16.99

It is a command meant for the building up of the local church and individuals.

Practical teaching and suggestions with study questions.64 pgs.Paper Retail $5.99 CDN$8.99 SALE $4.00 CDN$6.00

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The Pursuit of God

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A.W.Tozer Tozer writes, “This book is a modest attempt to aid God's hungry children so to find Him.” A life-long pursuit, but it must have a start. 119 pgs.

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FAITHFULNESS

An Unknown Road

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Marjorie & Douglas Howell

The Grass Never Grew Greener

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The Path to the City of Gold

A couple with an uncommon faith that participated with God in His great work.The story of missionaries in the Middle East. 335 pgs.

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Concise diary entries, comments and uplifting poetry written by this evangelist, record the blessing of the Lord in Northern Ontario.

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C. H.Waller B-PCG Journey with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and many other familiar characters as their lives lead to the gates of the glorious city of gold. 171 pgs. Paper Retail $10.99 CDN$16.99

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MEEKNESS

The Life of Moses

He Humbled Himself

Blessed Are Ye:

Kenneth Fleming

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Moses was a man whose character took years to form, and whose mighty deeds, by faith, allowed him to be a channel of God's purpose. 192 pgs. Paper Retail $9.99 CDN$15.99

In this encouraging book, Fleming shares portraits of servanthood from the Scriptures which reveal the very heart of Christian commitment. 160 pgs.

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We must descend if we would reign, stoop to rise, be prepared to wash the disciples feet, to share the royalty of our Divine Master. 142 pgs.

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F. B. Meyer

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TEMPERANCE

My Heart-My Life-My All

William MacDonald B-HLA Love's response to God's ultimate sacrifice ought to be myself–a living sacrifice.

This book gives the happy secret of the life on fire for God. 185 pgs.

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Discipline: the Glad Surrender Elisabeth Elliot

X-1957 Through personal anecdotes and biblical illustrations, Elisabeth Elliot reveals the fulfillment experienced by those who trust and obey God. 160 pgs. Paper Retail $9.99 CDN$15.99

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Singleness: A Male Perspective

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ENCOURAGING SPIRITUAL GROWTH Basic Principles of the Christian Life The Watered Garden B-WAG The Watered Garden on CD J. Boyd Nicholson Sr. This collection of essays is meant to refresh the saints with thoughts of A-WG2 heaven's blessed Man, with pictures of His handiwork.

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Read by J. Boyd Nicholson Sr. These 39 selections, read from his much-appreciated book, will lift your heart with thoughts of Home, visions of Christ and calls to greater worship and faithfulness.

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G. Campbell Morgan X-0167 “...behind your own activity there will operate the matchless might of God in Christ.” Practical help and guidance for the Christian life. 89 pgs. Paper Retail $8.99 CDN$13.99

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g GOSPEL FOLIO PRESS • 304 Killaly St. West, Port Colborne, ON L3K 6A6 Phone • 800-952-2382 Fax • 905-834-0012 E-mail • orders@gospelfolio.com (Applicable taxes, shipping and handling on books is additional. Sale prices until June 30, 2002.)

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UPLOOK

Thirty-Year Journey: the Boomerang Bible This story comes to us from our friends at Linn Manor Care Center in Marion, Iowa.

Mrs. Johnson works as a nurse aide there.

Gloria Johnson grew up in a slum area in Tenemen Tagig Rizal, TUP in the Philippines.

In 1972 a Navy chaplain or someone interested in spreading the Word of God, from the ship USS RATHBURN, (DE.1057) was visiting the area and persuaded her to take a Bible and think about becoming a Christian. She had no interest in the Bible and after some time gave it to her younger brother. Gloria later married a US sailor, lived on a number of Navy bases, raised a family of three, and after her husband retired from the military, they returned to his hometown of Anamosa, Iowa.

Gloria trusted Jesus Christ as her personal Saviour through the truth of John 3:16 on February 10, 2002 at the end of a gospel meeting. Her son was so impressed with his mother’s changed life and new-found joy that he told her he was going to get her a Bible. He purchased a KJV red-lettered Bible in a local used-book store. After a few days she happened to look inside the front cover.

Under “Presented to:” was her maiden name! Under “From:” was the name of the man who gave it and the name of the ship. Later, she had written “from” by her name and on the next line she wrote “to” along with her younger brother’s name. The date inscribed is December 21, 1972. In the back she found her teenage picture and a picture of her younger brother, the only picture she has of her youth. The Lord brought her Bible back to her after her heart was right to appreciate this wonderful Book from God. Photo by Dan Spoelstra