SPY Magazine for the
Private Religious Investigator (PRI)
Hello
everyone from
the editor
In 1874, the aunt, of a man named Steven
Marsh, died. She had made out her will
to Steven; it read, “To my beloved nephew, Steven Marsh, I will my family
Bible, and all it contains, with the remainder of my estate after my funeral
expenses and debts are paid.”
Steven, who lived in
Eventually Steven grew older and decided
to go and live with his son. As he was packing his few possessions, he happened
to open the Bible and inside it he discovered $5,000 in bank notes, which was a
large amount at that time. Now his mind
was filled with regret. He had lived in
poverty and the money would have been a great benefit to him, but his neglect
of the Bible had caused him to live as a very poor man.
Spiritually, many Christians are like
Steven, they have a Bible full of many riches and precious promises that would
be of great help and blessing to them, but their neglect to open the Bible and
read it, makes them to be spiritually poor and needy all their life. We are not
likely to find money in our Bibles, but far greater riches. King David said, “The law of Thy mouth is
better unto me than thousands of gold and silver.” Psalm 119:72. ‘Thy judgments
are “more to be desired than gold, yea, than much fine gold.” Psalm 19:8.
Sadly some people have not read all their
Bibles, and many have not examined and meditated on what then have read, so
they have deprived themselves of many wonderful comforts and blessings.
Have
a good laugh
Medical advice: A tramp sat beside a priest in a
train. “Excuse me Sir, can you tell me
what causes arthritis?” asked the tramp.
The priest looked very hard at him.
“Well, it is caused by such things as not eating the right food, by
drinking too much, by smoking, by not caring for oneself … Do you have
arthritis?” inquired the priest. “No, I haven’t”, replied the tramp, “But I
have just been reading that the Pope has”.
Rare occurrence: What occurs once in every minute, twice
in every moment, but not once in a thousand years? The letter M.
Race test: “Why are you taking those trainer shoes
into the exam room?” a teacher asked a student.
He replied, “I’m hoping to jog my memory.”
Misfortune: A lady was brought to court for hitting a
laughing fortune-teller. “Why did you do it?” demanded the magistrate. “Well,”
she replied, “I have always wanted to strike a happy medium.”
Good support: Behind every successful man there is an
amazed and astounded woman.
Mini laughs: * What gets wet when drying?
= a towel.
* What walks on its head all
day long? = a
tack in a shoe.
* What does a good turn
get? = most of the blankets.
* What does a coward think
with? = his legs.
* What smells most in
Chemists? = noses.
* What did one plate say to
another? = ‘lunch is on me’.
* What is anger just one
letter away from? = danger.
* Which country makes a good
meal? =
* What is the most slippery country? =
* Why did the spaceman go to see the
optician? Because he had stars in his eyes !
Eating words: Why did the student eat his
homework? Because his teacher convinced
him it was a piece of cake.
Small
anecdotes
A renewed heart: “You will never get me to
change my religion.” said a man to a minister.
“I do not want to do that. I wish
your religion would change you.” he replied.
Sign of the times: Clocks were originally placed on the
outside of Church buildings to tell people when the service would begin. Now they are placed inside the Church to tell
people when the service will finish.
Living or dying: John Newton mentioned to a friend that a lady
had died. “O Sir, how did she die”, the
friend asked. “There is a more important
question which you should have asked.” he replied “What question is that?”
inquired the friend. “How did she live.”
he replied.
Matthew Henry: To a friend: “You have been
used to take notice of the words of dying men.
This is mine – ‘That a life spent in the service of God and in communion
with Him, is the most comfortable and pleasant life that any one can live in
this world.”
Christ first: A father advised his son who had just
professed his faith in Christ. “Son, you should first get yourself established
in a position and then decide your religion.” “Father”, replied the son,
“Christ tells us different; He says ‘Seek ye first the
Vain boasting: When Napoleon was about to invade
Stubborn unbelief: Galileo, who invented the telescope and was
able to view Jupiter’s moons. He invited
a man who was greatly opposed to his discovery, to look through the telescope
and see for himself. The man doggedly
refused saying, “If I should see the stars, how could I maintain my opinions,
which I have stated against your ideas and discoveries?”
Casting
bread upon the waters
During
the time of the Crimean war (1854-6) some French soldiers were quartered at
A Christian at
At last he came to the very
last copy of the New Testament that he had.
He offered it to a soldier standing near him. The soldier took it, then opened it and said
with a sneer to his companion, “This will do to light my pipe with.” The
Christian felt discouraged, but he had given the book and could not ask for it
back.
About a year later, this
Christian took a journey through the South of France. He stopped at a roadside inn where he hoped
to stay for the night. On entering the
inn he noticed that everybody seemed to be very sad. On inquiring from the landlady what had
happened, she told him that her eldest son had died and was buried that week.
The mother went on to tell
him of a number of good things about her son, she mentioned how happy he was on
his deathbed. “And, Sir,” she said, “ all his
happiness came from a little book that was given to him some time ago.” The Christian was curious to see the little
book. “You shall see it”, said the mother, “it is upstairs.” She sought for the
book and soon found it. On opening it the man found that it was a French New
Testament, and on examining it, he found that it was the very one he had given
the soldier a year before.
The Christian discovered that
the first five or six pages had been torn out, proving that the soldier had
commenced to tear out pages to light his pipe.
This was not all; on the flyleaf was written the words, “Given to me at
Christians should seek to
spread the gospel wherever they can.
They never know that some who seem to reject the message at first, may,
by God’s gracious working, be caused to consider their ways and
trust in Christ as their
Saviour.
Nunnia’s
trust in Christ
The
well-known German preacher, Dr. Frederich Krummacher (1796-1868) tells a remarkable story of how the
gospel came to the Caucasus Mountains in
The
Iberians were very successful in war and sometimes attacked neighbouring
people who had received the message of the gospel. On one occasion they captured a young girl,
named Nunnia, and on their return, sold her into
slavery. This girl became a messenger of
mercy to these people just like the girl did in the Bible whom Naaman had captured as we read in 2 Kings chapter 5.
This
girl trusted in the Lord, she worked hard and was honest and had a happy
manner. Soon she gained the respect and
confidence of the Iberians who met her.
According
to the custom of these people, when anyone became sick they were taken from
house to house in hope that someone may know a cure for their complaint. One
day a sick child was being carried from door to door by its parents, seeking
for help, but no one was able to suggest a remedy.
At
length they brought the child to Nunnia; they hoped
she might know of some remedy from her country.
On hearing their request, she remarked that she was only a poor girl,
and quite unable to help them. But she
added, “I could direct you to One who is able to
restore the child to health.” The
afflicted parents eagerly inquired who this person was and where he may be
found. The girl replied, “He is a great and mighty Lord, who fills the throne
of heaven, but He willingly humbles Himself to those who seek Him, and he is
all compassion and love.”
The
parents implored her to fetch Him. She
immediately withdrew and fell on her knees before Jesus Christ her Saviour and
said. “Manifest Thyself, O Lord, for Thine own glory; show Thyself
and grant help.” She returned with
joyful assurance in her heart that the Lord had heard her prayer, and lo, the
child opened its eyes, smiled and was restored to health.
The
parents were overjoyed and told everyone they met what a great and glorious
event had taken place. However the honour was not
given to the Lord, but to the slave girl, whom they now regarded as a
supernatural being.
The
news reached even to the Queen, who, not long afterwards became sick. She immediately thought of the little girl
and sent messengers to ask her to visit her.
Nunnia refused the request and was deeply
troubled that the people should give her the honour
that belonged only to the Lord.
The
Queen eventually went to see Nunnia herself. The girl was deeply troubled by this visit,
however she did pray to the Lord for the Queen and she was soon restored to
health.
The
King of these people, Miraus, was overjoyed when the
Queen was cured and decided to send the richest presents to Nunnia,
but the Queen persuaded him not to send any gifts as these would only trouble
the young girl. She said that the only
way to reward the girl was by worshipping her God.
The
people were soon inclined to forget about what had happened and returned to
their old ways. However, not very long
afterwards, the King went on one of his usual hunting trips. He was chasing some animal when he became
lost in the forest. His situation became
far worse when a thick fog descended and he became completely lost. He tried to find his way out, but he only
became more confused and lost. He
sounded his hunting horn as loud as possible, but all he could hear were the
echoes from the surrounding hills.
Now
the King, remembered what the young girl had said
about the Lord who was everywhere and would hear those who sought Him. He knelt down in the forest and prayed to the
Lord to deliver him and promised that if the Lord opened to him a way of
escape, “Then my heart, my life, and all that I have shall be Thine.”
These
words were no sooner uttered than the mist began to disperse and the sky
appeared. The astonished King had not
walked far when he found the track and recognized the place where he was. He
returned home safely but deeply affected.
He told his story to the Queen and they were both sure that the God whom
the slave girl had spoken of was the living and true God.
The
next morning the King and Queen went to see Nannia
and told her of the wonderful deliverance. They pleaded with her to tell them
all she knew about Jesus and His work.
The royal pair sat like teachable children
while Nannia told them in a simple way all she knew
of her Saviour, Jesus Christ, and of His wonderful work for our salvation. As they listened their hearts were melted and
they came to faith in Christ.
The
King and Queen thought they could show their gratitude in no better way than to
tell their people of what they had learned. The King then went to the men of the tribe and
the Queen to the women, and simply sought to explain to them the message of the
gospel. The people received the message
with gladness and many of them became new creatures in Christ. There was now a great change in the whole
tribe, the idols and their altars were forsaken, and people began to worship
and praise God.
God
used the humble and simple testimony of a poor slave girl to have a great
effect upon this barbaric people. The
gospel message remained among these people for many centuries afterwards.
Sometimes
the Lord is pleased to work in unusual and special ways when people do not have
His word or the usual means of grace, and to use very humble messengers to
spread His word..
Word of warning: Satan is to be avoided as a roaring lion, (1 Peter 5:8) dreaded as a
serpent, ( 2.
Corinthians 11:3) but
above all, to be feared as an angel of
light. (2. Corinthians 11:14)
Warnings about sin: ‘Sin enters like a needle
and spreads like an oak tree.’ ‘Satan’s apples may have a fair skin, yet they
certainly have a bitter core.’ ‘A sin is
two sins when it is defended and excused.’
‘Sin may open as the bright morning, but it will end dark as night.’
The
missionary and the infidel
Some people are very hostile
towards the gospel of Christ, but sometimes they are led to faith in Christ by
a Christian being firm, loving and sincere in dealing with them.
A missionary named Alexander
Paterson explained how he dealt with a man who claimed to be an infidel.
“Your husband, I understand
is very ill.” He said to his wife, as he knocked at the door, “I would like to
see him.” The wife shut the door
violently and went to a neighbour’s house. However Mr. Paterson went inside. He found the man in bed reading the
newspaper. “What do you want?” snapped
the man. “You and I are strangers,” Mr Paterson
replied mildly, “but I hope we will soon be friends. I am a missionary, I heard you were in
distress, and came to see you.” “I don’t want you,” he said gruffly. “But I want you” “And what do you want with me?”
“I want you to come to Jesus,
the Saviour of sinners, and He calls you to come to Him. Let me tell you it is a serious thing to
die.” “Oh! I’ve made up my mind to that, so you need say no more to me about
it.” He took up his newspaper and
continued to read. “What have you made
up your mind to?” “To die. There’s nothing for me but
death.”
“Well, how will it be with
you after death? You know that after
death comes the judgment?” “I don’t want to know any more of you. God is merciful and I’ve no fear of being
damned by Him; He never made man to damn him.”
“I know that.’ replied them missionary, “it is man that damns himself.
The Lord says, ‘You have destroyed your self.’ And He adds, ‘in Me is your help’. ‘Look unto Me,’
says Jesus ‘and be ye saved.” “Oh! I’ve
had enough of you, I want no more of your talk.”
Realizing that he was getting
nowhere, the missionary said. “Will you allow me to pray for you.” “If you like. I don’t care much about your prayer.” The missionary prayed, but the man took up
his paper and began to read. “I’ll come
back and see you.” Said Mr. Paterson. “You may if you like, but I don’t care about
your coming.”
Mr. Paterson visited two more
times and received the same reception. But not despairing he returned for a
fourth visit. “I’ll pray for you once
more.”
As he began, the man continued to read his
paper. But before he had prayed a few
minutes, the paper fell from his hands.
When the prayer was finished, he was bathed in tears, so was his wife.
With a faltering voice, he
took the missionary by the hand, “Will you come back and see me?” “Certainly I will.” And he left them both in
tears.
“Returning the next day, he
found them both reading the Bible. “I’m
glad to see that book in your hands. What led you to lay aside the
newspaper?” “Oh! Sir it was your last
prayer. I felt my heart melt; and every
since I’ve felt myself to be an awful state.
What a sinner I have been? All
that you said to me as a sinner is true.”
“I have said just what that
blessed Book says. Christ died for the
chief of sinners; His blood was shed for you and me. Hear what He says: ‘If we confess our sins,
He is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.” 1. John 1:9. The man was now humble and anxious to know his
sins were pardoned and pleaded for the missionary to come again and pray for
him.
At his next visit, Mr.
Paterson found the man much weaker, but trusting in the Saviour who died for
him, and praising God for the wonderful promises contained in the Bible that
now gave him great comfort and peace. This man soon died, filled with peace and
assurance of his salvation.
Keep holy the Lord’s Day
A barber used to live in the
English town of
One Sunday, he happened to
pass a place of worship just as the minister was announcing his text, “Remember
the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” He realized that he was breaking the law of
God.
He became very troubled and worked
that Sunday with a heavy heart. After
some time he talked to the minister, who advised him to stop trading on the
Sabbath day. He replied that his best
customers would be lost and he soon would not have sufficient money. He was so
troubled that he could not sleep and prayed to the Lord to lead him.
Finally, he gave up working
on the Lord’s day and began to attend the worship of
God, which he delighted to do. People now left off coming to his shop, and
called him nicknames such as, ‘Puritan’ and ‘Methodist’. Soon he had to give up
his good shop and operate from a dark room under a house.
Late one Saturday evening, a
man came requesting to be shaved before the Sabbath. The poor barber had to admit that it was too
dark to shave him and he did not have any money even to buy a candle. The man
gave the barber some money and while he was being shaved he thought about how
poor the man was.
He said to the Barber, “I
would like to hear your life story, but I am too busy now. When I return I will
come and talk to you. What is your name.” “It is William Reed.” replied the barber. “William
Reed!” replied the stranger – William Reed!
Where do you come from?” “From
“Come with me, I want you to see a person
who says his name is William Reed of
~The Catechism~
Question
18: ‘Wherein consists the sinfulness of
that estate whereinto man feII?’ Answer: It, ‘consists in the guilt of Adam’s
first sin, the want of original righteousness, and the corruption of his whole
nature, which is commonly called original sin, together with all actual sin
which proceed from it.’
Every boy and girl knows what it is
like to feet guilty when they do
something wrong - taking a lolly when they shouldn't
or breaking something that cost mum and dad money. Because we are moral
creatures, wrongdoing makes us feel guilty. Yet even if we never fell guilty we would still be guilty
before God because of what Adam did as our representative [see Romans 5: 121.
It is not unlike the situation between parents and children - boys and girls
usually turn out to be what their parents make them. Until we are born again we
remain what Adam has made us!
That means we also lack the purity God expects of us. You have all seen
weddings where the bride has been dressed in a beautiful white gown. The
whiteness is a symbol of purity. Before Adam and Eve sinned they were pure from
all uncleanness. The Bible calls this
righteousness. Sin, however, is the worst kind of uncleanness. Now no one
is pure in God’s sight. Unless, that is, He makes us pure through faith in the
Lord Jesus.
A further consequence of Adam’s
foolishness in
And just so we can’t blame Adam for it all God also sees our actual sins - the things we do and say
every day ~ are wrong in God's eyes. Our dreams, our imagination, our bad
thoughts, our unkind words, things we do that we
shouldn't and things left undone we should have done - it all leaves us guilty before God. But the wonderful
news of the Gospel is that all of it
can be taken away and cleansed by the Lord Jesus when He becomes our Saviour. What about you? Do you trust Him to make you a new person
with God as your friend? Read 1 John 1: 8-9.
Obedient child
In
earlier times, trains were diverted to different lines by a signalman, who
operated large levers to change the train tracks.
On
one of the railroads in
He
shouted as loud as he could to his son, “LIE DOWN!” The great steam train
roared along the line and was diverted to its proper track. The father rushed to where the son had
been. He was fearful that the son might
have been crushed. But to his delight
and relief, the
son was unharmed. He had obeyed his
father’s word immediately.
If
he had asked why or argued with his father, he would have been instantly
killed. His obedience resulted in his life being spared. God’s commands are not only right, but they
are for our good.
Anger turned away
A father whose son began to
pray, was filled with rage, he said, “John, you know that I am an enemy of religion,
and prayer is not allowed in my house.”
But still John continued to pray.
The father at last angrily
demanded, “You must give up God or me. You must give up praying or you will
never enter this house. I will give you
till tomorrow to choose.” John prayed much during the night, and next morning
he was determined to serve his God.
“Well” said the father, “what is the answer?” “Father, I cannot violate
my conscience, I cannot forsake my God.” “Then leave immediately.” the father
ordered. His wife also agreed with her
husband.
“Leave immediately,” said
John mildly as he stepped outside the house. "There is one request I would
like to make before I go.” The father
agreed to just one request. “It is that you and mother would kneel down with
me, and let me pray for you before I go.”
They all knelt down and John prayed for them with such grace and love,
that they were both melted in their hearts. They said with tears, “You need not
go John, come and stay with us.” John
did return, and shortly afterwards the parents began to pray, and the family
became Christians.
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Printed edition of Spy Magazine is published
by:
Southern Presbyterian Church
Launceston:
“We invite you to
worship the Lord with us each Lord’s Day.”
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