Download RTF file - River of Light

Have You Enrolled?
My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
Proverbs 23:26.
Dear youth, the very best thing you can do is to enlist freely and
decidedly in the army of the Lord. Surrender yourself into the hands of God,
that your will and ways may be guided by the One who is unerring in wisdom
and infinite in goodness. To withhold yourself from God is to rob God of that
which is His own. The Lord hath need of you, and you have need of the Lord.
It is not safe for you to put off the decisive step, or delay the matter of making
a complete surrender of yourself to God. If you have not already given
yourself to God, I beseech you to do it now. Let your name be enrolled in the
heavenly records as one of the chosen and elect of God. . . .
"God so loved the world, the he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John
3:16). . . . It is through the inestimable gift of Christ that all our blessings
come. Life, health, friends, reason, happiness, are ours through the merit of
Christ. O that the young and the old might realize that all comes to them
through the virtue of Christ's life and death, and acknowledge the ownership
of God. . . .
Even when we were under the control of a cruel master, even when the
prince of darkness ruled our spirits, the Lord Jesus Christ paid the ransom
price of His own blood for us. You have been bought with a price, even with
the precious blood of Christ; you are His property, therefore glorify God in
your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. . . .
Were it not for the love freely given us of Christ, we should now be in
hopeless despair, in spiritual midnight. Thank God every day that He gave us
Jesus. Will you not accept His gift? Will you not be His witness? Time is short,
and it becomes you to work while the day lasts, living an imperishable life,
hiding your life with Christ in God. Then "when Christ, who is our life, shall
appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory" (Colossians 3:4).
That I May Know Him, page 59
A DUST PAN FOR JESUS
What does it take to inherit eternal life? In other words what does it take to go to
heaven?
Let's look in Mark chapter 10 and see what answer Jesus gives to this very important
question. Here in verse 17 it tells of one who came to Jesus and asked this question.
Let's read it: "And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and
kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal
life?" Now wouldn't you say that this is a very important question? I think it must be the
most important question we can ask and we all need to know for ourselves what the
answer is. If we don't diligently seek for this answer, we may find ourselves outside of
the Holy City. That would be very tragic indeed.
Do you know why this ruler asked this question? He had just seen Jesus bless the
children and had seen the love that Jesus showed to the children, he saw how tenderly
he received them and took them in his arms and it touched his heart. He wanted a
blessing too. Couldn't Jesus bless him like he did the children? He felt a desire to be
His disciple and ran after Him and asked Him with sincerity and earnestness this most
important question, "Good Master what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"
Now let's look at what Jesus told him. Jesus pointed him to the commandments
and made it clear that obedience to all the commandments was essential. Let's read
verse 19. "Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do
not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honor thy father and mother." We can
recognize these as part of the Ten Commandments which God gave to Moses on Mount
Sinai. They all show our duty to others.
When the ruler heard this, what was his answer? Let's read verse 20: "And he
answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth." In
Matthew 19:20 it says that he said, "All these things have I kept from my youth up: What
lack I yet? He thought he had kept the commandments perfectly, yet he felt that
something was missing in his relationship to God. What was the missing ingredient in
his spiritual life?
Mark 10 verse 21 says, "Then Jesus beholding him loved him."
Jesus loved this man and wanted to have him as a disciple. If he would put himself
under Christ's guidance, he could be a power for good. He could represent Christ. He
had qualifications which, if he were united with Jesus, could be used with great power to
win others to Christ. Jesus longed to make Him like Himself, a mirror in which the
likeness of God would be reflected. He longed to develop the excellence of his
character to be used to bring glory to God. Jesus longs to do this with each and every
one of us. He sees in each of us good qualities which He Himself has given us for the
purpose of glorifying God. But in order to do this He needs our full cooperation in His
plan. What will our answer be?
Jesus told the young ruler just what he needed to change in his life in order to
become Christlike in character. What did He say? Let's read it in Mark 10 verse 21:
"One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and
thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come , take up thy cross and follow me." Christ
read the ruler's heart. Only one thing he lacked, but that was a vital principle. He
needed the love of God in the soul. This lack, unless supplied, would prove fatal to him;
his whole nature would become corrupted. By indulgence, selfishness would
strengthen. You see this was the root of all his decisions and actions. We either run
our lives according to selfish principles--thinking of self and how what we do and say will
benefit ourselves; or we run our lives by God's principle of love--thinking first of others
and how what we do and say will benefit them. If this one basic principle in life is wrong,
nothing else can be right either. In order to receive the love of God into his life, he must
surrender, or give up, his supreme love of self. The same is true for us. In order for us
to receive God's love into our hearts we must give up our selfishness.
Christ gave him a choice. He was called to choose between the heavenly treasure
and worldly greatness. He was promised the heavenly treasure if he would follow Jesus.
But self must yield; his will must be given into Christ's control. He could no longer live a
selfish, self-directed, self-centered life. In exchange he was offered the holiness of God;
the privilege of becoming a son of God and an heir with Christ of the heavenly treasure.
He could be a Child of the King! And what are all the riches and honor of the world in
comparison? If only he had looked at it from an eternal perspective! But the condition
was that he would have to take up his cross and follow Christ in the path of self-denial
and self-sacrifice.
Christ had shown him the blot on his character, the one thing that would mar his
whole life. He gave him the only condition in which he could correct this defect and
become Christlike. His high position and his riches were exerting a subtle influence for
evil on his character. If allowed to remain, it would separate him from God. To keep
back anything from God whether little or much would put him out of harmony with the
principle of self-denial and self-sacrifice which is the foundation of God's kingdom and it
would make him unfit to have a part in it. If the things of this world are cherished, they
will become our focus and God will be left out of our lives.
The ruler understood what was involved and he became sad. He wanted the
heavenly treasure, but he wanted the earthly advantages that his riches would bring him.
He was sorry that such conditions existed because he desired eternal life, but he has not
willing to make the sacrifice necessary. To give up his earthly treasure that was seen, for
the heavenly treasure that was unseen, was too great a risk to him. He did not realize
the true value of what Christ was offering him. The cost of eternal life seemed too great
for him. He refused the offer of eternal life and went away to seek his pleasure and
happiness in the things of this world. What a sad, foolish mistake! But how many of
us are making a similar mistake? We may not have great riches, but if we allow
anything at all to be more important in our lives than God, we are making the same sad,
foolish choice.
The ruler had said that he had kept all of the commandments. But he had not
really kept them. His possessions and the honor he could receive from men were more
important to him than Jesus, so he broke the first commandment. Riches were his idol,
so he broke the second commandment. He did not use his riches to help the poor and
so he was letting them suffer and die which broke the 6th commandment. The riches he
had were a gift from God which he should use for helping others and he was using them
for his own selfish purposes so he broke the 8th commandment. He wanted the honor
and wealth which the world had and so he broke the 10th commandment.
We all have the same test which this young man had. We must all choose
between the world and Christ. Which standard will we follow? the world's or Christ's?
We cannot serve both. If we serve the world even a little bit, we are not Christ's. We
are working against His kingdom. We will demonstrate selfishness in our lives and that
is an attribute of Satan's kingdom, not God's. God has given us an example in the life of
Jesus of how He wants us to live--how we must live if we want to be admitted to heaven
where there is not one taint of selfishness anywhere. We will not be allowed to bring
one little tiny bit of it up there either. Only those who will become co-workers with Christ,
only those who will say, "Lord, all I have and all I am is Yours" will have a part in His
kingdom. To the ruler it seemed too great a sacrifice to give up ALL in order to follow
Christ, but this is what it takes for everyone of us. Nothing less than a full surrender of
ourselves--all we are, all we have, all we think, all we say, and all we do--All must be
surrendered to Christ to be used in service for Him. Self-surrender is the very
foundation of the Christian life. Often Christ makes this truth plain to us in language that
sounds severe and exacting, but that is because it is the only thing that will save our
lives from eternal ruin. There is no other way to save us than to cut away those things
that occupy our time and attention and keep us away from a real relationship with Jesus
where HE is the boss in our lives and HE tells US what to do instead of US telling HIM
what we want to do and expecting HIM to bless US in our own ways. He cannot bless
our doing of our own ways, we must change and follow Him in the path of absolute
self-denial and self-sacrifice--this is the only course that He can bless.
Will this kind of life be miserable and horrible and joyless? NO NEVER. There
will be hard times, but think of Paul. Did he regret the life that he lived. Paul made this
complete surrender to Jesus. He too had been rich and honored by the world before he
met Jesus. Paul too thought that he had kept the law perfectly, yet all the while he was
persecuting the Christians and putting them to death! See what he says about this
himself in Philippians 3:6: "Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the
righteousness which is in the law, blameless." But when he met Jesus, he surrendered
ALL to Him. Those things were no more of any value to him. See what he says in
verses 7 and 8: But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea,
doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ
Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but
dung, that I may win Christ" Paul joyfully gave up all the things of the world--the riches
and honor that he had. He realized the true value of the heavenly treasure. He gave
himself fully to Jesus and what a power for good he was in this world! Who is
remembered today for his life which he lived--the rich young ruler or Paul? What do we
know about the young ruler and his accomplishments after his interview with Jesus?
Absolutely NOTHING. But how different is the record of the life of Paul. Much of the
New Testament is about him or written by him! What was of supreme value to him? He
tells us in verse 10: "That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the
fellowship of His sufferings," and he goes on in verse 14: "I press toward the mark of
the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.:"
Which choice will you make? Will you allow the things of the world--the music, the
pleasures and entertainments, the trivial thoughts and words, the foolishness, the
accumulation of things--will you allow any of these things or anything else to occupy your
attention? Paul said he counted them all as dung. The Greek word used here literally
means "what is thrown to the dogs, or refuse, garbage. It is utterly worthless. Let us
also think of all the things that this world has to offer us as utterly worthless compared to
what Jesus has to offer us. Then let us give ALL and serve Him with our undivided
heart. He says "My yoke is easy and my burden is light." Being a Christian is only
difficult when you try to hang onto the world and serve God at the same time. In that
case, you are serving neither one very effectively and you have no joy or satisfaction.
Many people say, I'll give God a try." But then they only serve Him partially and it does
not bring them joy or satisfaction and they are not able to overcome sin, and so they go
back to it. The problem is they haven't really given God a try at all. They have
continued to run their lives and have not allowed God to have His way in their lives at all.
When you give God a try, you must let Him have 100% complete control of everything
and every area of your life. You must give Him every thought and feeling that you have.
Only then can you really taste and see that the Lord is GOOD. Only then can you really
experience what it means to be a Christian. The question is, What are you waiting for?
Do you think He will be mean to you? He has such wonderful plans for you -- better than
anything you could possibly imagine. "Choose you this day whom you will serve. As for
me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
I want to share a wonderful story with you about someone who gave all to Jesus.
It was a young boy in Africa who didn't even know Jesus yet.
"Preacher, may I go with you to the mission?" a young African boy begged. "I want
to learn about Jesus, and how to read the Bible like you do."
Raymond Bush, the missionary, looked in surprise at the earnest face of the boy.
"What is your name, my boy?" he asked. "And do you have permission from your parents
and your chief to go along with me?"
"I am called Tisese," the boy replied. "Will you take me, if I am allowed to go?"
The missionary promised that he would, and so the next morning a very happy
Tisese followed along with Raymond Bush and his men. It was a long way from Tisese's
village in the interior of Africa back to the mission station. For nine weeks, the group of
men and boys traveled through jungles, plains, and desert sand. The days were long and
tiring, but very exciting to a young boy who had never been far from his home village
before. The wooded lands were full of monkeys, giraffes, and elephants. On the plains,
lions stalked herds of zebra and antelopes, while ostriches ran awkwardly through the tall
grass. Clumps of thorn-bushes were everywhere. The Africans called these "Wait-a-bit
thorns" because when you were caught in them, your friends had to wait a bit!
Night time was scary for a young boy. Their camp had to be surrounded by a ring of
fire all through the night for protection from wild animals and mosquitoes. The men would
cut timber, pile it all around the camp and set fire to it. During the night, the fire was kept
burning, and although lions roared in the darkness outside, the travelers within the circle
were safe.
At last they arrived at the mission station, where Raymond Bush lived. Now Tisese
could finally go to school! How he loved to learn. Eagerly his quick mind drank in the
stories of Jesus and all the truths of God's Word. When he was not in school learning, he
would follow the missionaries around at their work, asking questions. "Tisese, you ask
more questions in an hour than I can answer in a week!" Raymond said one day.
But Tisese was not embarrassed. There were so many new things to see and learn,
he just had to ask questions! "What is that thing you are sweeping the dirt into?" he
asked Mrs. Bush one morning as she swept the floor of her hut. "This is called a
dustpan," the missionary's wife replied.
"Thank you!" called the boy as he hurried past on his way to school. Slipping into
his seat, he waited for class to begin. As soon as the teacher called his name, Tisese
rose to his feet. "Teacher," he told the missionary solemnly, "I want you and everyone to
know that my name is no longer Tisese, 'the-animal-which-runs-through-the-woods'. Now
that I am a Christian, my name shall be 'Dust Pan' forever!"
"Dust Pan?" the teacher exclaimed, surprised. "Why ever would you want your
name to be Dust Pan?"
"Because, Teacher," the boy replied earnestly, "I was just passing your house and
saw your wife sweeping, with that tool called a dustpan in her hand. She carried all the
dirt out of your hut with it. I want to be a dustpan, too, so that when I go home I may carry
out the dirt from the lives of my father, my family, and all my friends. I want to be a Dust
Pan for Jesus!"
From that day on, the boy could often be heard praying that God would make him a
good dustpan for His service. Soon he had brought five of his friends to Jesus, and the
six Christian boys together witnessed to others.
Time passed and one day Raymond Bush was preparing to take another
evangelistic journey into the North Country where Dust Pan's village lay.
"Now, I can go home and tell my family the Good News about Jesus!" Dust Pan
said joyfully.
"No, Dust Pan," the missionary objected. "You are still young. You should stay here
in school for a few years yet, and my wife will need you to help her while I am gone.
"Preacher, I must go now!" cried Dust Pan. "There is no time to lose! Even now my
family could be dying without Jesus. My father could be killed in a tribal fight. My mother
may be eaten by lions while working in the garden! My brothers and sisters may die and
never hear of Jesus in time."
"All right, my boy," the missionary relented. "You shall go along, and may God bless
you as you try to be a Dust Pan to your people!"
Once more Dust Pan traveled the weary and dangerous miles through the African
jungles following elephant and hippopotamus trails. Through burning desert sands the
caravan plodded, until Dust Pan's feet were sore and covered with blisters. One night the
boy lay moaning with pain as the missionary tried to treat his blistered feet.
"You cannot walk any farther with such sore feet, my boy," Mr. Bush said sadly. "I
will leave you here with the chief of this village and pay him to care for you until your feet
heal. You can go along with me to your village next year.
"No, no! I must go with you now!" Dust Pan insisted. "My father may be killed in
tribal fighting. My mother might be eaten by lions while she works in the garden. My
brothers and sisters might die before next year, and never hear of Jesus!"
So when the travelers went on the next morning, the determined Dust Pan came
limping along with them!
The trail that morning led through miles of tall grass, called elephant grass.
Suddenly as the path took them around a sharp bend, a lioness sprang from a clump of
grass stems! In one awful instant, she pounced upon a servant who was carrying a box of
supplies for the missionary. With a cry, the man dodged and the lion's paws struck the
box on his back, sending it rolling into the tall grass. Jerking up the shotgun that he
carried, Mr. Bush fired! In the excitement, he missed. Hissing horribly, the lioness
disappeared into the tall grass.
Feeling shaky, but thankful, after their narrow escape, the mission party continued
on. Their water supply was low, so they were in a hurry to get to the river. At last, late in
the afternoon, they reached their goal. As his men pitched their tents and refilled the
water bottles, the missionary counted them. One was missing!
"Where is Dust Pan?" he called in alarm. "Dust Pan is not with us! When did you
see him last?" But nobody knew.
"Maybe the lioness got him," one man ventured. "If he's out there in the grass
alone, he's been eaten by now," others muttered. "There's no use going back to find him!"
"What shall we do, Lord?" cried Raymond, falling to his knees in prayer. I've
already had two men killed by lions during my travels, he thought. I don't want to lose
Dust Pan! "Lord, I know that You can do anything," he prayed. "Please protect this boy
somehow, and save him for the work he wanted to do!"
As the missionary paced around and around the camp, he strained his eyes
searching for any sign of movement among the tall grasses. Far away a lion roared its
horrible, coughing roar, and a shiver went down the spines of all the listeners!
The sun was sinking behind the hills, when the anxious missionary finally saw the
grasses waving along the paths where they had traveled. Running forward eagerly, he
cried, "Dust Pan! Are you safe, my boy?"
Staggering wearily out of the elephant grass, Dust Pan lifted his hands in triumph.
"God kept me alive, to tell my parents about Jesus!"
When the relieved missionary reached his young friend, though, he saw a sad
sight. Even though Dust Pan's sore feet had been bandaged and padded with dry grass,
the blisters had burst as he walked and his feet were now bleeding with every step he
took. It was no wonder he had not been able to keep up to the others!
Raymond Bush called for his men and together they carried the tired boy the rest of
the way into camp. Kneeling before him, the missionary did what he could for poor Dust
Pan's bloody feet. "Lord," he prayed humbly, "what a love for souls is in this boy's heart!
He is a better missionary than I am. Help me to be more like Dust Pan!"
When Dust Pan finally reached his home village, the battle had only begun. His
father was one of the most famous witch doctors in that part of Africa, and usually killed
more than six hundred people every year! In his heathen cruelty, he put to death anyone
who offended him by poisoning them, burying them alive, or tying them to ant hills and
letting the ants eat them. Was there any use in hoping that such an evil man would
become a Christian?
But Dust Pan's faith and love won the hearts of his whole family - even that father!
Both his parents, his three sisters, and all five brothers were converted and became
Christians. Then Dust Pan began to share the Gospel with others in his village. When
Raymond Bush returned the following year, he found three hundred and sixty-four new
Christians waiting to be baptized, all through the witness of one young boy.
What a lot of sin, darkness, and dirt had been carried out of that corner of Africa, by
one Dust Pan in the hands of Jesus!
Dust Pan was willing and even eager to endure hardship and pain in order to share
the story of Jesus with his family and those that did not know Him. He could have
stayed in the school and gotten more education when the missionary suggested it, but he
unselfishly gave that up in order to share what he had already learned. He totally
allowed God to use him to take the sin and darkness out of his corner of Africa. God can
use YOU in your corner of the world, but He needs your full surrender. Will you give it to
Him?
Shall we Pray?