Growing in Grace

“For the Son of Man is come to save that which was lost” (Matthew 18:11).

“It is not the will of your Father … that one of these little ones should perish” (Matthew 18:14).

Perhaps many of you reading this have already memorized today’s first verse, at some time. And maybe you think that a couple of words are left out. Doesn’t it say, “To seek and to save?” Well, it does in Luke 19:10, but here in Matthew it just says, “to save.”

We have one more story from the Titanic. Of course there were lists of all the passengers, and when the survivors were all checked off the lists, they knew right away the names of all those who had drowned. One sad part in the list were the names of a young family from England who were all on their way to Niagara Falls to start a new life — a father, mother, and six children. None of them were rescued. But several days after the disaster, as rescue ships searched the area, they recovered the lifeless body of a little boy floating in the water. There were 109 children traveling on that ship and 53 of them perished.

The rescue ships took all the bodies they found back to the nearest port, which was the city of Halifax in Nova Scotia, Canada. No one knew who the little boy was, as many children were missing. So the sailors buried him in the cemetery there, and put up a marker over his grave, “Unknown child of the Titanic.” For almost 100 years people came to see the various headstones in the cemetery, and many visited this one. As the research into DNA progressed later in the 20th and 21st centuries, researchers were finally able to identify the little boy from a fragment of a bone that was still in his coffin. He was Sidney Leslie Goodwin, the youngest child of Charles and Augusta Goodwin, the family that had been traveling to Niagara Falls.

All this seems so very sad, but do you know that the Lord Jesus always knew whose body was in that grave? And by the time men had figured it out, little Sidney had already been enjoying heaven for almost 100 years!

When little children die before they are able to understand the gospel, and to accept the Lord Jesus as Savior, they have not set their will against God. In these situations, the will of the Father takes over, and they are taken to heaven, for it is not the will of God the Father that one of these little ones should perish. Sadly, as children grow up, many refuse to accept Christ, and end up in a lost eternity.

Those of you who read this cannot claim that you are too young, for if you are old enough to read and understand the gospel, then you are responsible before God. But how beautiful it is to see how God cares for babies and little children who die.

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Growing in Grace Blog by Bible Truth Publishers

“Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?” (Luke 13:2).

In today’s verse, the Lord Jesus was talking to the people around Him when He was here on the earth. We could substitute other people for the word “Galilaeans.” We could say, “Do you think that those on the Titanic were worse sinners than any others, because they suffered in this way?” Jesus went on to say in the next verse, “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise [in the same way] perish” (Luke 13:3). God warns us sometimes by making an example of others, in order to alert us to the danger of neglecting our souls’ salvation.

As the Titanic was preparing to load and sail, my mother’s family were busy packing their cases and belongings to sail from England to North America as well. The Lord allowed that they booked a passage on another ship a few weeks later. At that time my mother was a little girl of two years of age, and she had six older brothers and sisters. They would have travelled 3rd class, and would not have been the ones in the lifeboats! God had His eye on that family and protected them from what would have been almost certain death. They were saved for a purpose. It touches my heart when I think of this, and makes me feel responsible to please the Lord Jesus and tell others about Him.

No, God does not like to punish the people that He made, for He loves them. But sometimes they get very proud and boastful, and forget about Him, while living their lives for their own pleasure. Then He may allow a disaster that speaks to the whole world, as everyone is devastated when they hear of a terrible tragedy. Today we see earthquakes and hurricanes, flooding, droughts, and wars. We should all be listening, and if we know the Lord Jesus, then we can use all these things to tell others about Him — the One who loves them and came to die for them.

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“Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth” (Proverbs 27:1)

April 10, 1912 was a busy day on the docks in Southampton, England. The largest and most luxurious ocean liner in the world was ready to steam out of the harbor, headed for New York City across the Atlantic. Headlines in the newspapers had boasted that the ship was “unsinkable.”

Big cranes swung over the ship, loading all the provisions. There were 40,000 eggs going into the massive kitchen. Five grand pianos were rolled into their places, and a wonderful orchestra had been assembled for entertainment. The passengers were excited. Some were traveling “1st class” and had paid a very large sum of money for their tickets, while others were “2nd class” and many more were “3rd class.” But all expected a pleasant seven-day journey across the Atlantic Ocean.

All the latest technology had gone into the design and building of this ship named the Titanic, but there was something lacking. As the 2,200 passengers and crew took their places on board, they did not know that there were lifeboats for only half that number. And they did not know that God had His eye on that ship, and that it would never reach New York City.

As we wake up each morning, we do not have any idea what may happen during the day ahead of us. But those of us who know the Lord Jesus as our Savior and have been washed from our sins in His precious blood do not need to have any fears. If the Lord Jesus chooses that day to gather me up in His arms and take me home to heaven, then it would still be a good day! A wonderful day, in fact.

Shortly after midnight on April 15th, the Titanic struck an iceberg, and it tore a huge hole in the side of the ship. Within a few hours that massive boat was at the bottom of the ocean. That “unsinkable” ship had sunk! Over two thirds of the people on board perished that night in the icy water. There were many acts of bravery as quite a few of the women and children were put into the lifeboats; 705 people were rescued but 1,500 died that night.

But remember, God never leaves you without a way to escape coming judgment, the way so many of those on the Titanic were left to drown because there were not enough lifeboats. He is offering you a pardon right now. You would not have stood on the deck of that ship that cold night and refused to get into a lifeboat. Do not wait another day to accept God’s offer of a pardon!

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Growing in Grace Blog by Bible Truth Publishers

“When I blow with a trumpet … ye also shall blow the trumpets … and shall say, For Jehovah and for Gideon” (Judges 7:18 JND).

“And the three companies blew the trumpets … and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands … and they cried, The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon” (Judges 7:20).

By the time that the battle was to be fought, Gideon knew that only the Lord could give him the victory over the Midianites. Gideon had only three hundred men, while the Midianites were “like grasshoppers for multitude” (Judges 7:12). He knew very well that he could not win the battle in his own strength, and the Lord had arranged it this way so that Israel would know that only the Lord had delivered them.

But then Gideon gave his men further instruction. They were to hold lamps in their left hands, and trumpets in their right hands. The lamps were probably torches of fire, burning at the ends of thick sticks of wood. At first the torches were hidden inside pitchers made of clay, but when they blew the trumpets, they were to break the pitchers so that the torches could be seen. Then they were to cry, “For Jehovah and for Gideon.” The men did not use swords, for they already had their hands full. They did not have any hand with which to hold a sword, but they did not need them.

But when the men cried out, they did not say what Gideon told them to say. See our verse for today! Instead they said, “The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon.” Gideon had more faith than his men, but the Lord gave them the victory, for all the Midianites fought with each other. Of course the men had swords, and eventually they used them later, but the Lord won the battle without any fighting at all by Gideon and his three hundred men.

In our lives we too are engaged in a spiritual warfare, and we do have a sword — “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17). But sometimes we must simply let the Lord work on our behalf, and if we let our light shine, and witness for the Lord, He will win the battle for us. Then as He should He gets the praise and glory for it.

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“And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many … Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return … and there returned of the people twenty and two thousand” (Judges 7:2-3).

“And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many … by the three hundred men that lapped will I save you” (Judges 7:4, 7).

I am sure most of you have heard the story of Gideon and his three hundred men, and how they defeated a huge army of the Midianites. Perhaps you have sung the song about him in Sunday school — “Brave Gideon had three hundred men, the Midianites had a host,” etc. But at first Gideon had many more than three hundred men — he had 32,000 men. The Lord said that this was too many, and so He told Gideon to tell anyone who was afraid to go home. As a result, 22,000 of his men went home — more than two-thirds of his army.

This is a good lesson for us too. We should be dependent on the Lord, but if we are afraid to face the world and stand up for the Lord, it is better for us not to attempt to serve Him until we have walked with the Lord a little longer, and have learned to go out in His strength. If one person is afraid, he will tend to make others afraid. The Lord had already given these instructions to Israel in the law, telling them that anyone who was afraid should not go out to battle. See if you can find this verse; it is in the book of Deuteronomy.

However, even though Gideon had only 10,000 men now, the Lord said that they were still too many. The Lord told Gideon to test them in an unusual way; you can read about it in Judges 7. He was to take the men to the water to drink. Most of the men got down on their knees to drink directly from the water, while a few scooped up water in their hands and lapped it, like a dog. Then the Lord said that those who scooped up water with their hands should be the ones to go to war — only three hundred men. Why was this?

There was really nothing wrong with getting on their knees to drink, but it is a picture of taking it easy in this world, and enjoying the good things down here. Also, while they were drinking, they could not be on guard. But the ones who scooped up water knew they had work to do, and a battle to fight. They drank quickly, and in a way that allowed them still to be on guard.

This is the way we should treat the good things God gives us in this world. We need things like food, water, clothes, a house to live in, etc., but we should not be thinking so much about those things. We are here to live for the Lord’s glory, and to fight the Lord’s battles as Christians. It is important to be like Gideon’s three hundred men, who took the water quickly, and who then were ready to go out to battle.

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“Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer … So will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:15-16).

Esther is another very interesting book of the Bible, and shows how the Lord preserves and cares for His people, even when they are in a foreign land, and perhaps are not honoring Him as they should. The book of Esther takes place during the reign of king Ahasuerus, whose real name was Xerxes. He reigned from 485 B.C. to 474 B.C., so the book of Esther took place some years before we read about Ezra and Nehemiah.

Esther was a young girl whose parents had died, and a relative named Mordecai had adopted her as his own daughter. They did not live in the land of Israel, but lived in the Persian empire, where their ancestors had been taken by Nebuchadnezzar. She was apparently a very attractive girl, and eventually the Persian king Ahasuerus chose her for his queen. This was of course quite a wrong thing for a Jewess to do, for they were not to marry outside of the people of Israel. This is probably the reason that the name of God is not mentioned in the whole book of Esther, but we certainly see God working on behalf of His people.

A man named Haman was a high official in the Persian government, and he did not like Mordecai, nor did he like the Jews as a people. He wanted to get rid of them all, and persuaded the king to kill all the Jews on a certain day. Mordecai appealed to Esther to go to the king, and to ask him to do something about this. However, it was against the law for anyone, even the queen, to go into the king’s presence without being invited. The king might welcome someone who came in, but he also might execute them, if he decided he did not like their coming in to disturb him. But Esther decided to go in, and to trust the Lord as to the king’s reaction.

I will not tell you the rest of the story, but read it for yourself in the book of Esther. It is all very interesting, and remarkable how the Lord used Esther to deliver the Jews from harm. Also, let us remember that the Lord can, and does, still work today on behalf of you and me, to protect us.

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“So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them” (Genesis 1:27).

Today a lot is being said out in the world concerning gender issues, and many young people are becoming confused by what they are hearing. Suddenly, within the last few years, the world has decided that people can choose their own gender, rather than being satisfied with the gender with which they were born. Boys can decide that they want to be girls, and girls can decide what they want to be boys. Same sex marriages have become legal in many countries, and homosexual behavior is not only permitted, but honored. So called “Pride parades” are often organized to promote this kind of behavior. Those who speak out against this kind of thing can be accused of “hate speech” and may be liable to punishment.

We do not want to go into all the reasons why these new attitudes have suddenly developed out in the world, but we would point out to all of you young people that the Word of God strongly condemns any such behavior, in both the Old and the New Testaments. It is a very sinful thing, and ultimately comes about because “they did not like to retain God in their knowledge” (Romans 1:28). As a result of their giving up God, we read that “God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to practice unseemly things” (Rom. 1:28 JND). We see this all around us in the world today, for as God is given up, and people try to live without Him, God is allowing this serious moral evil to overtake us.

Let us trust the Word of God, and recognize the sinfulness of all this. The Word of God is plain, and we need simply to follow the clear teaching of the Bible. Let us have nothing to do with this sinful behavior; it is not of God, but rather something Satan has devised.

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“And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we can incorruptible” (1 Corinthians 9:25).

Probably most of you have heard of Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone. He was born in Scotland, then immigrated with his family to Canada, and eventually moved to the United States. However, his summer home was in Baddeck, Nova Scotia, and he spent much of his time there, even in winter.

He was a very dedicated man who worked long hours on things that interested him, and eventually, in 1876, he managed to make a working telephone. He became very famous for this, and very wealthy too. He was interested in a lot of other things as well, and was one of the founders of the National Geographic Society. He was also very interested in flying machines, and was involved in designing the first airplanes. While it was Wilbur and Orville Wright who actually invented the airplane, it was Alexander Graham Bell and his younger assistants who first publicly flew a plane over a kilometer, and won a prize offered by the Scientific American. He also designed and built a speedboat that set a world record.

He was a man who wanted to make his mark in this world, and he said once, “I want to be remembered for my WORK!” He certainly is remembered, as the telephone is now used all over the world. He received many honors, including honorary degrees from well known universities, and invitations to speak all over the world.

However, it seems that he had no time for, or interest in, eternal things, and although he knew the Bible and could quote from it, there is no evidence that he was ever saved. This is very sad, for although his name is well known on earth, it is not likely written in the book of life.

Let those that know not second birth, Labor to write their names on earth My joy is this, that grace divine, On heaven’s scroll has written mine.

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“Moreover the Nethinims dwelt in Ophel, unto the place over against the water gate toward the east” (Nehemiah 3:26).

“From above the horse gate repaired the priests, every one over against his house” (Nehemiah 3:28).

“After him repaired also Shemaiah the son of Shechaniah, the keeper of the east gate” (Nehemiah 3:29).

“After him repaired Malchiah the goldsmith’s son … over against the gate Miphkad” (Nehemiah 3:31).

The water gate would also speak to us of refreshment, for water in the Bible is often a picture of the Word of God. The fountain speaks of refreshment, while water speaks of a constant steady source of peace and blessing. We all need water for our natural bodies, and we need the regular “washing of water by the Word” (Ephesians 5:26). That is, we need the Word of God every day to wash away the things that we contact every day in this world.

The horse gate is perhaps a picture of strength, for the horse in the Bible often speaks of strength. But it must not be our own strength; it must be the Lord’s strength. The Lord says in the Bible, “An horse is a vain thing for safety” (Psalm 33:17), yet if we rely on the Lord, He is able to protect us.

The east gate was special, for it was the gate through which only Lord could enter, or the Prince who represented Him. We read in Ezekiel, “The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east … the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate” (Ezekiel 46:1-2). This will happen in the millennium when the Lord Jesus reigns as the rightful King. The east is where the sun rises, and the Lord will enter in at that time like the rising Sun, to bring blessing to Israel.

Finally we have the gate Miphkad, which is difficult. It means “the gate of the appointed place.” We might take different meanings from this, but perhaps it means that while we are down here in this world, the Lord has an appointed place for us to come together and worship Him. We are not free to go just anywhere we like. If we really wish to be where the Lord is, He will lead us there.

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“The valley gate repaired Hanun, and the inhabitants of Zanoah” (Nehemiah 3:13).

“But the dung gate repaired Malchiah the son of Rechab” (Nehemiah 3:14).

“But the gate of the fountain repaired Shallun the son of Colhozeh” (Nehemiah 3:15).

The valley gate would perhaps be a picture of what we read about in Psalm 23:4 — the “valley of the shadow of death.” Sometimes in our Christian lives we feel as if we are on a mountaintop, while at other times we seem to be in a valley. You may remember a time when the Syrians were badly defeated by Israel. The Syrians said, “The Lord is God of the hills, but He is not God of the valleys” (1 Kings 20:28). But the Lord is looking after us just as much when we go through a valley as when we are on a mountain. The Syrians were again badly defeated, because the Lord was with Israel. Let us remember that the Lord is also with us, even if we seem to be in a valley in our life.

The dung gate was probably the gate out of which they carried the manure from the animals. It was necessary to do this, and sometimes in our lives there are things that need to be carried out. Manure has a smell to it, and it is not nice to have large amount of it around our homes. In the days of Nehemiah they had plenty of horses, and the manure needed to be taken away. So you and I need to deal with those things in our lives that are not pleasing to the Lord, and to get rid of them.

But what comes next? The fountain gate, which speaks of refreshment. The Lord Jesus could tell the woman at the well of Sychar that “the water which I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into eternal life” (John 4:14 JND). When we get rid of things in our life that are not pleasing to the Lord, then the Spirit of God can use the Word of God to bring real refreshment to us. I suggest that this is the meaning of the fountain gate.

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