SPY Magazine 2009
Where is the door?
Many years ago a traveller in
“No,” replied the shepherd pointing to a
portion of ground that was penned in, “for there is the fold, they all go in
there at night. Once inside that fold they are perfectly safe.”
“And where is the door?” asked the curious
traveller, noticing that there was a small space left, but that no door was
fitted. “Ah,” replied the old shepherd,
“I am the door. I lie down across that
space when night comes, and no animal or enemy can get in to destroy the sheep
unless they kill me first.”
The words of this shepherd remind us of the
words of Christ, “I am the door of the sheep.” John 10:7. A door is a way to
enter in and also a means of protection. We cannot enter into the Lord's fold,
unless we come to Him, and when we are the Lord's sheep, it is Christ who
protects and keeps us.
But the Lord Jesus is more than the door of
the sheep, He goes on to tell us in John 10:11, “I am the good shepherd; the
good shepherd giveth His life for the sheep.”
There is no shepherd so good, merciful and kind as the Lord Jesus, and
He has given His life upon the cross to die for His sheep, that they may be
saved and blessed of God.
A great tragedy!
Two young boys, one thirteen and the other
eleven years old, met with a great tragedy in their family. Their mother and father contracted some
serious illness and died on the same day.
These boys lived in
The boys had no money and hardly any
possessions, so they packed a bag each and set off. They trudged all day, and were very tired
when they arrived at a town hoping to obtain a night's lodging. They went to a place for homeless people, and
were interviewed by the man in charge.
He noticed that the younger boy had a Bible
neatly wrapped. He said to the little
boy, “You have no money or food, will you sell me the Bible? I will give (perhaps $20) for it.”
“No!” replied the boy firmly with tears in
his eyes, “I'll starve first.” The man
continued, “There are plenty of books you could buy besides this one; why do
you love the Bible so much?” “No book has been my friend so much as my Bible.”
he answered. “Why, what has your Bible done for you?” The boy replied, “When I was a little boy,
about seven years of age, I joined a Sunday School in
The man decided to test him further and offered
a higher price for his Bible. “No,”
sternly replied the boy, “it has been my support all the way from
“What will you do when you get to
The man was deeply moved by the boys' deep
trust in God and His word, and tears came into his eyes. He gave the boys a
meal and a bed for the night, and after breakfast they continued their journey
to
Farmer invited by the Queen
John Smith was a humble farmer in
Soon his new invention was brought to the
notice of Queen
In those days there were no modern means of
transport, so John travelled by a stage coach and arrived at
John was not very pleased with the man's
words. “I didn't come here because I
wanted to,” replied John, “but because you asked me, and the least you can do
is give me a bed. If we invited you to
our farm we would give you a bed and also a meal.” The attendant then took him into one of the
rooms and gave him an evening meal.
When it was time to retire, the attendant
said that he will call a servant who would show John his bedroom. “Thank you,”
replied John, “but there is one thing we always do before retiring; we have
family prayer. Will you bring a Bible and we shall read and pray?” The
attendant agreed and John read a Psalm and the man prayed.
In the morning, at ten o'clock, he met
John looked for an opportunity to speak to
the Queen about the Lord. The Queen asked him, “However did you think of such a
clever invention, Mr. Smith?” John
replied that he had thought about it for a long time and then decided to pray
about it. Then one morning he saw clearly how to make it. “Why, Mr. Smith, did you pray about your plough”
asked the Queen. “Why shouldn't I,” John
replied, “my Heavenly Father knew that I was troubled about the plough, so why
shouldn't I go and tell Him?” John told
the Queen that when his son had things which troubled him he came to him, being
his father he listened and helped him. God is a much kinder than any earthly
father and has promised to help us.
The Queen had tears in her eyes as she
listened to John's simple words. “You're a good man Mr. Smith, I'm thankful to
have subjects such as you.” John replied, “Your Majesty, there is nothing good
about me but what comes from God.” “We
are all like that, Mr. Smith.” she replied.
Lunch was provided for John, and the Queen
told him that he could take a look at the paintings in the Castle. John replied that he was no judge of
paintings, but he would love to see the Queen's children (she had nine). The
Queen smiled at his request, and told a servant to take John to meet the children
who were in the park.
After John returned home, he received a box
from
For cripples only
Some years ago there was a Group formed
only for children with some disability.
Those who had no disabilities were not allowed to attend their
functions.
Once every year this Group held a special
party and games for all the children who were handicapped in some way. This was a very happy time and there was always
a report in the newspaper of this event.
When a man came to report on one special
day, he noticed in the entrance hall, a large collection of wheelchairs,
crutches and braces, all stacked against the wall. Inside there was singing, shouting and laughing
as the children enjoyed their party.
But outside the door was a young girl who
was crying. The reporter asked her,
“What is the matter?” She replied, “I
can't go in because there is nothing wrong with me.”
Strange as it may seem salvation is like
this! It is only for sinners, for sick
and needy people spiritually. Those who
think that there is nothing wrong with them, the gospel has nothing to offer to
them. The Lord Jesus said, “I am not
come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” He said, “They that are whole need not a
physician; but they that are sick.” Luke
5:31-32.
Those people who convince themselves that
they are good and right in themselves, exclude themselves from every mercy that
the Lord Jesus came to give. The Bible tells us that, “Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners.” 1 Timothy 1:15.
But some people think that they cannot come
to the Lord because they are sinners.
This is very wrong. Because we
are all sinners is the very reason why we need a Saviour, and it is the very
reason why the Lord Jesus came to die on the cross for sinners.
It is only those who are proud and self
righteous, thinking that they do not need the Lord or His forgiveness, who shut
themselves out of the blessings of salvation, but those who know and
acknowledge their sins to Christ and sincerely pray to Him for forgiveness and
salvation, will share in His wonderful mercies.
How King Pomare put his idols to the test
Before the gospel first came to
At last Pomare the King, ordered a chief to
take an axe and chop his (the king's) gods to pieces. The chief was terrified and expected that if
the gods were destroyed there would be great judgments as the heathen priests
claimed would happen. However the chief
was determined to put these gods to the test.
With trembling hands, he began his work and
smashed the gods with his axe, but nothing strange or hurtful happened.
Then King Pomare went further in
demolishing idols; he ordered his men to go to the temple and to bring out the
god of war, Oro, and also the others gods and relics, and burn them all.
People were terrified and few would attempt
to do it. At last a number of brave men
agreed to obey the King. As they marched
to the temple they said, “Now, you gods,
if you are gods, and have any power, come forth and revenge the insults that we
are going to do to you.”
A multitude of people who had gathered to
witness this attack on the gods, stood amazed, not only at the actions of the
men, but how powerless the gods were to defend themselves. The gods were brought out and burned as the
King had ordered. Later the king ordered
the temple to be destroyed and any other wooden gods to be burned. So the people were delivered from the bondage
of idolatry and superstition.
Scripture tells us that man-made idols
cannot see, or hear, or move or help, and we should not fear them or serve
them. Psalm 115: 4-9. The Lord alone is
the true and living God and Him only should we trust and obey.
What happened to Willie and his father?
A young boy was often seen wandering the
streets of
A man who was a teacher, saw him and was
struck by his sad looks and poor appearance.
He began to speak kindly to the lad
and soon learned that his mother had died and his father was a drunkard and did
not care for him as he should.
In those days there were schools for the
very poor, called 'ragged schools'. The man promised the boy that he would give
him food and warmth during the day as long as he agreed to attend the school
and learn. The boy whose name was
Willie, was not very interested in learning, but the promise of food and care
caused him to accept.
This teacher was a fine Christian and told
the children about Christ and His salvation.
For the first time the boy heard about the love of Christ and how he
died for sinners and invites them to come to Him for mercy. This was all so new to him, but the message
of the gospel spoke to his heart and he believed on Christ and was saved.
Willie soon learned the hymns that were
sung in the school. When he would go
home he would sing these hymns to himself, especially one, “I am so glad that
Jesus loves me.” On one occasion he was singing this hymn, not knowing that his
father was home. “Stop that!” shouted
the father. Willie stopped for a time, but forgetting his father's order, he
began to sing it again.
This time he was sent to bed. Willie quietly obeyed his father, but still
the simple words seemed to be ringing in his father's ears.
In the middle of the night Willie was
awakened by someone calling, “Willie, Willie, sing that again.” He thought it was a dream, but it was his
father sitting beside his bed. When
Willie was fully awake, he sung the hymn.
“Is it all true, Willie?” asked the father
in a troubled voice. “Yes, quite true, father.” he replied. “Oh, Willie will you pray for me?”
“I don't know quite what to say, father.”
Willie replied.
“Say, I'm the biggest sinner on earth and I
want Jesus to love me and make me good.” said the sorrowing father.
Willie placed his arms around his father's
neck and prayed a simple prayer, “Lord Jesus, this is my father, he says that
he has been very wicked. O Lord Jesus,
make him fit to live with Thee in heaven and teach him to love Thee.”
The
Lord answered this child's humble prayer and the father received forgiveness
and peace which he so deeply longed for in his heart. Both Willie and his
father were now new creatures in Christ Jesus.
Persecutors Beware!
People who persecuted believers in Christ
for their faith have on many occasions met with God's righteous judgments.
Nero, the Roman Emperor, who slew and
burned Christians, was driven from his throne, and realising that his life was
in danger, took his own life at an early age.
Domitian, the emperor who persecuted
Christians, was slain by his own servants.
Hadrian, another persecutor, died from a
distressing disease, and suffered from mental agony.
Severus never prospered in his reign after
he had persecuted the church, and was killed by the treachery of his own son.
Maximus only reigned three years, and
suffered a violent death. Decius was
drowned in a marsh and his body was never recovered. Valerian was taken captive by the Persians,
and suffered a horrible captivity and was slain. And others who were persecutors suffered
similar dreadful deaths.
In 1682 some soldiers came to break up a Christian
meeting and to arrest the preacher, Mr. Browning. A constable who was present, warned the men
not to do so. He said that he and seven soldiers had been sent to persecute
some Christians, and that in a short time, the man who ordered them was dead,
and six of them met with accidents and died, and that he had fallen from his
horse and broke his collar-bone. From
this he realised that it was a warning not to persecute God's people.
A similar event took place in
Twelve Rules
for
raising delinquent children
1. Give them everything they
want from their birth. In this way they
will grow up to believe that the world owes them a living.
2. When they pick up bad
words, laugh at them. This will make them feel that they are funny and smart.
3. Never give them any spiritual
training. Wait till they are adults,
then they can decide for themselves.
4. Never tell them they are
wrong. They may develop a guilt
complex. Then if they get into trouble
and are arrested, they will believe that others are against them and they are
being unjustly persecuted.
5. Pick up everything they
leave lying around. Do everything for
them and they will expect everything to be done for them and not accept any
responsibility.
6. Let them read and watch
anything they want to. Let them fill their
minds with garbage and violence.
7. Argue freely in front of
your children. Then they won't be
shocked if the family breaks up later.
8. Give them all the pocket
money they want. Never expect them to
earn their own money.
9. Give them everything and
satisfy every craving they have for food and comfort.
10. Take their side in every
argument with the neighbours and police.
11. When they get into real
trouble, apologize for yourself by saying, “I never could do anything with them
anyway.”
12. Prepare for a life of
sorrow and grief. You most certainly
will have it.
“Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest:
yea, he shall give delight to thy soul.”
Proverbs 29:17.