SPY Magazine for the Private Religious Investigator (PRI)

Hello everyone The Editor

At the beginning of each year all the shops seem to have special sales. We read and hear of 'sales!' 'sales!' 'sales!' every day; each shop urging us to buy something at a cheap price.

While we are bombarded with advertising, we must never forget that there is something that money can never buy; that is our salvation and the forgiveness of our sins.

But a few hundred years ago pardons for sins were sold all over Europe. Roman Catholic monks travelled from place to place for the Church, selling indulgences. An indulgence was a card or ticket that could be bought which declared that the buyer was pardoned of their sins.

The most famous seller of indulgences was a German monk named John Tetzel (1455-1519). He travelled from city to city in great pomp and show. People would flock to meet and hear him. He offered indulgences for all kinds of sins. Each sin had its price; the greater the sin, the more people paid.

Tetzel claimed that these indulgences not only obtained pardon for past sins, but for the ones a person intended to commit. Also by paying money a person could deliver their friends out of purgatory. Tetzel announced, "When the coin drops into the box, a soul flies out of purgatory to heaven." This evil system not only deceived the people, but also gained the Church immense wealth.

Let us always remember that salvation is a free gift of God. It is without money and without price. (Isaiah 55:1) Only the Lord Jesus could pay for our sins to be pardoned, which He did when He died on the cross.

The Lord is my Shepherd

Sometimes children do not have an opportunity to learn to read or write, and sometimes they are simple minded and unable to learn like other children, however these children may have a true faith in the Lord Jesus as their Saviour.

The parents of a boy in Scotland died when he was very young and, as he had no one to care for him, he went to live with his aged grandfather who was a shepherd. His grandfather lived near the Scottish Highlands with its rugged rocks and high hills. When the grandfather asked the boy to watch over his little flock of sheep, the boy would gaze at the rugged hills with admiration. This helped him to forget the sorrow he had felt when his parents died. His grandfather was a fine Christian man who told him many of the stories in the Bible, especially stories about shepherds; how both Moses and David had been shepherds. The young boy would sit in front of the fire at night and listen with great interest to these stories. The grandfather was careful to tell him about the best of all shepherds, the Lord Jesus, who is called the 'Good Shepherd' in the Bible. He told him how the Good Shepherd loved His sheep so much that He even died to save them. The Good Shepherd would never let anything harm them or take His sheep away from Him.

This boy had never learned to read, so the grandfather taught him in a simple way to remember five lovely words about the Good Shepherd from Psalm 23:1 "The Lord is my shepherd." He took the boy's left hand, and as he said each word he would point to a finger. Soon the boy could say the words himself, holding each finger as he did so. The grandfather noticed that the boy seemed to take special pleasure in the fourth word 'MY’, and held his fourth finger tightly. As the boy grew a little older, he was able to take the sheep by himself to the Highlands to find pasture.

Late one afternoon the old man became very worried. The weather was very cold and it had been snowing for some time, and now the sky was becoming darker and darker.

Then he saw the snow-storm was already turning into a blizzard. Quickly he put on his coat and hat and raced out of the house, and started towards the Highlands. However the fierce winds and blinding snow made it impossible. He would soon lose all sense of direction, and also his old and weary body was unable to go further.

With a heavy heart the old man returned to his little cottage and slumped down on the chair in front of the fire. Nothing could be done until the blizzard stopped. He prayed to God to watch over the lad and to care for him. He thought of the things he had tried to teach him, and hoped that he would not forget them. The old man spent a long and restless night sitting in his chair.

Next morning, the snow had stopped and the sun began to shine so the old man wasted no time. He knew the paths through the Highlands and thought that he knew where the lad might be sheltering. He forced his weary legs to go as fast as he could through the thick snow. At last he came to where he had often told the lad to shelter if he ever needed to. He called as loudly as he could, but there was no reply. Suddenly, in the distance, he saw a mound in the snow. His heart sank as he raced towards it. Desperately he pushed the snow away and there he saw the little shepherd lad frozen to death. The old man wept sadly as he looked at the little body.

Finally, the old man continued to brush the snow away from the frozen body. Then he noticed that the lad's hands were clasped in a strange way. His right hand was firmly gripping the fourth finger of the left hand. The old man remembered how he had taught the lad to say 'The Lord is my shepherd' holding a finger for each word. There was no doubt that the finger the lad was holding stood for the word 'MY'.

The old grandfather lifted up his eyes and thanked God that this little shepherd lad had known that the "Good Shepherd" was his Shepherd.

If we were placed in a situation of danger and death, would we know the Lord and His word and be able to say, "The Lord is MY Shepherd?”

Cant let go

The winter had almost ended and the ice was still floating down the river towards the Niagra falls. On one large piece of floating ice was a dead lamb. Soon a large eagle swooped down; landed on the dead lamb and began to eat it.

The weather was freezing cold and sleet was falling at the time, but the eagle did not seem to mind. It was hungry and so was determined to have a meal. The river was sweeping the slab of ice down stream, nearer and nearer to the great falls.

The eagle did not seem to be afraid; every few minutes it would look around to see if there were any dangers and how close it was to the edge of the falls. But it did not realize that its feathers which were touching the ice were becoming set in it and also its feet were fast becoming set in the ice as well.

At last the eagle realised that the floating ice was getting close to the falls and decided it was time to leave. It crouched its large body and tried to spread its huge wings to fly, but it could not. The bird shrieked and tried desperately to break free but it was firmly stuck to the ice. Eventually the floating ice with the eagle struggling to break free, were swept over the falls and seen no more.

This story helps to illustrate the way that people are held by their sins and die in them. Some evils gain a complete control over a person's life. They may believe that they can break away from them whenever they want to, but they find that they are held firmly and are too weak to break free. The longer we remain in a sin, the more hold it has upon us.

The Lord said, "they that commit sins are the servants (slaves) of sin.” John 8:44.

Only the Lord Jesus can set us free and keep us free from the power and control of sin.

The Hanging Sword

The Mediterranean Island of Sicily was once ruled by a cruel tyrant named Dionysius. Dionysius had a close friend who continually sought to praise and flatter him about his position as ruler. He would say that Dionysius must be the happiest man on earth and how wonderful it would be to be a ruler, even for a short time!

At last, Dionysius agreed to let him sit on his throne for just one day and wear his royal robes and jewels. A great feast was prepared for the occasion and every enjoyment was prepared for him. The friend was highly delighted and sat on the throne admiring all the wealth and splendour of the royal palace. However, he soon noticed a very sharp sword hanging by a single horse-hair directly above his head.

The sight of the sword terrified this man. He lost all desire for food; he no longer admired the royal riches, but he continually stared at the sword, and soon begged Dionysius to let him leave the throne.

Dionysius had the sword suspended by the hair to illustrate how unsure and dangerous his position was as a ruler; he could be slain at any time by a secret enemy.

This story pictures the position of every unsaved person in this world. They may receive and enjoy many good things in this life, however if their sins are not forgiven, God's wrath hangs over them like that sword. God has said in the Bible that He will judge and punish all those who are not saved by His grace.

Psalm 7:11 tells us that God is angry with the wicked every day.

It is only when we belong to Christ that we are delivered from the wrath and judgment of God.

OLD PETER

Lancashire is a large manufacturing city in England. In this city there lived a man known as ‘Old Peter’. He was over seventy years old, and because he had chronic asthma he was forced to sit up each night in a chair.

Peter had lived his entire life in sin and wickedness, he was a drunkard and a blasphemer. He knew nothing about the Lord or the word of God.

But one Sunday, as he was sitting outside his poor house, he saw some children going to a Sunday School. He waited until their meeting had started, then crept into the hall and listened. There for the first time he heard about the Lord and salvation in a very simple way. As soon as the meeting finished, he quickly left. But the message he had heard was continually in his thoughts.

The next Sunday he did the same thing, and then for several Sundays following. Each time he heard the message at the Sunday School, he understood the way of salvation clearer and his conviction of sin increased.

One day he saw the minister of the church walking by, so he asked him, “Sir, you tell us to search the Scriptures which is able to make us wise unto salvation.” “Certainly I do” replied the minister. “But” answered Peter, ”what am I to do?. I cannot read” He then told the minister how he had crept into the hall and had heard the word of God, and now realized that he was a great sinner.

The minister explained that it was good to be greatly troubled for our sins, and how Jesus had died for great sinners, and those who came to Him He was able to save to the uttermost. Peter soon believed on Christ and was gloriously saved.

He now regularly attended the Church and was hungry to hear the Word of God. The minister often visited Peter’s house and explained the Bible to him.

Peter was now determined to learn to read and studied very diligently. He was soon able to read quite well and was overjoyed when he was given a large print New Testament.

While Peter was now a changed and happy man, he had troubles at home. His wife, who had worked hard to keep him when he drank and smoked, was now very hostile and unkind to him. When Peter was near, she would swear and blaspheme the Lord’s name, and on Sundays she would often hide his clothes to prevent him going to Church. However Peter could not be stopped and went in his working clothes.

Although Peter only lived for a few years after his conversion, he humbly walked in God’s ways and loved the Word of God. Soon his health declined, but he was filled with peace and joy, and died calmly trusting in the Lord.

Limited Knowledge

Sometimes people try to reason and understand all the deep truths about God.

Augustine (354-430AD) at one time was trying to understand the great doctrine of the trinity – how there is only one God, but in that God there are three persons; all are equal, yet there are not three God’s, only one.

He decided on day to go for a walk beside the sea to ponder and think about this doctrine. As he walked, he saw a young boy with a small shell in his hand, eagerly running to the waves and dipping the shell into the water and then running to a hole he had made in the sand, and to pouring the water into the hole.

Augustine was curious to know what he was doing. He asked the lad kindly, “What are you doing, my boy, with that water?” Pointing to the ocean, he replied, “I am going to put all that water in this hole.”

Augustine smiled and walked on, but a voice within him seemed to say, “You are trying to do a similar thing, thinking that you can comprehend the depths of God within the narrow limits of your human mind.”

While we may know many things about God, let us never think that we can know everything. There are many great mysteries about God. These we must accept by faith, even though we cannot full explain them. In heaven we shall know much more than we do now, but even there we shall never fully know all that there is to know about God because He is so great.

“Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable.” Psalm 145:3

“Can you by searching find out God? Can you find out the Almighty unto perfection?” Job 11:7