Address—C.D. Andersen
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Shall return to Mark's Gospel chapter 10. Mark's Gospel chapter 10, verse 17. And when he was gone forth into the way.
Became 1 running and kneeled to him and asked him good master.
What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why call us thou me good? There's none good but one.
That is God 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.
And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth.
Then Jesus, beholding him, loved him, and said unto him.
One thing.
Thou likest.
Go thy way, sell whatever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven. And come, take up the cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that say, and went away grieved, for he had great possessions.
One thing thou lackest.
Wasn't very much, was it?
Just one thing.
Some might think, well, that's insignificant, just one thing lacking. That's not so serious.
But in this case, it really was serious.
He had measured up quite well.
Keeping the commandments observing them.
Now no doubt he was that kind of a person, very diligent.
But he was diligent in other ways too, for we find that he had great possessions.
He was industries very ambitious, energetic and he had amassed.
Quite a fortune by this time, and when the Lord said to him, One thing thou likened, Go thy way, shall whatever thou hast.
And give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven. And come, take up thy cross, and follow me. He was grieved.
He was grieved. What was the matter?
He valued his possessions more than the blessed Lord.
More than following him.
What a test for him. What a test for him.
To leave it all, give it all away.
And take up the cross.
And follow the Lord.
Well, he wasn't ready to do that.
If the Lord were speaking to each one of us, what would He say to us?
Would he say this to us? One thing thou like us. And then he put the finger on the problem.
Like he did here.
Go thy way, go thy way.
That's significant, that word thy way.
This young man was going.
His own way.
And of course, going his own way, living his own life.
He couldn't possibly do what the Lord told him to do. There were those that followed the Lord in the way, but it was the large way.
And the only way we can follow the Lord.
Is to go his way.
He says go thy way and do this. He couldn't.
He was grieved.
He didn't want to give up his possessions.
He would rather have his fortune than the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord speaks of the cross. Take up the cross.
Well, the Lord took up the cross. What a heavy cross it was.
He was weighed down under the weight of it. That is that cross in which he was crucified.
But the Lord had a cross.
In doing the will of God the Father, and he didn't hold back.
He did always those things that pleased the Father.
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He said I have a commandment from the father.
To lay down my life and to take it again.
And he wasn't going to stop short like this young man did.
He went all the way.
When we think about that, how the Lord Jesus Christ went all the way.
And complete, perfect obedience to God his Father, taking up that cross, bearing that cross, and allowing himself to be nailed to that cross.
A cross of shame.
The cross where he bare our sins in his own body on the tree that place. The cross where he showed up God's heart, His heart of love for this poor world.
When we stand face to face with that blessed law.
Who took up his cross?
Are we going to say no, I won't take up my cross?
I will not take up the cross.
The cross, and I am sure it refers to the Lord's cross.
But we can make it our cross, if we will.
Take up the cross and follow me.
Well, it meant a decision on his part.
And he wasn't ready to make the decision, but he's in favor of the Lord. He made a decision, all right.
He was grieved and he wouldn't give up his possessions.
He wasn't like Rebecca that we heard about last night.
She says I will go.
This young man wasn't ready to go. He wasn't ready to follow the Lord.
He was grieved.
I think of somebody else that was grieved.
We might look back in Genesis.
Chapter 21. Genesis Chapter 21.
Abraham and Sarah had just gotten a son in their old age, Isaac.
And of course, the little boy was growing.
And it came to the time that he was weaned, and that was a special time.
A time of great rejoicing and a time of feasting.
It was a great day in Abraham's house.
When Isaac was recognized as the seed, as the air, as the one that would take the place.
As the air in that house. Somebody else had been born in that house before though.
Ishmael about 14 years before Ishmael came along.
While he's born after the flesh.
But Isaac was born according to promise we read in Galatians.
And it should have been very plain to Abraham the difference between the two.
What we find here in verse eight. And the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned.
And Sarah saw the son of Hager the Egyptian, which he had borne unto Abraham, mocking.
Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bond woman and her son. For the son of this bond woman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.
And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son.
It was grievous to Abraham.
I believe Abraham.
Is expressing something that's.
A type in everyone of our lives, this young man that we read about in Mark's Gospel.
We read that it was grievous to him to think about giving up his possessions to follow Christ.
To leave it all for the Lord Jesus to give the blessed Lord the first place in His life.
And isn't this true of us? We go through this kind of an experience.
Perhaps there's we're grieved over the fact that there's something we have to give up.
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For Christ.
It was grievous to Abraham here in this case.
Well, I believe Isaac here's a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, and Ishmael is a type of the flesh.
I'm not talking now about being saved.
Everyone who is accepted the Lord Jesus Christ in truth is saved, and He has Christ in his heart.
And when Christ comes in immediately.
That old fleshly nature begins to act up.
It's like the Indian expressed it, he said. Before I was saved, it was like I had one dog inside of me.
But it was sleeping all the time. It didn't disturb cause me any difficulties.
But then after I was saved, I felt like I had two dogs in me and they were fighting all the time. The battle began, then the flesh began to act up.
Wasn't happy about having Christ in the heart.
Have you ever gone through anything like that?
And perhaps you've been faced with giving up something, giving up this thing of the flesh and that thing of the flesh that which appeals to the fleshly nature.
And it's grievous to you to give it up.
But God is telling you that He has a claim upon you. The Lord Jesus is telling you that He has a claim upon you.
And he wants you to yield.
He wants you to give him the 1St place, the topmost place in your heart.
And I'm sure that there are many that have gone through grievous moments just because of this very thing, but God's not satisfied with anything less than putting the Lord Jesus Christ on the throne in our hearts.
And it will be a great day of feasting. It will be a happy day when we do it. We need the grace of the Lord to do it. Abraham needed the grace of God to recognize what.
What God's will was, what his plan was.
Verse 12 God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight, because of the lad, and because of thy bond. Woman, in all that Sarah has said unto thee, hearken unto her voice, for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.
Isaac.
He decides now.
And.
He says yes, I submit to it. If you look back further.
17th chapter of Genesis.
We read about the promise given to Abraham.
Verse 15.
And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarah thy wife, thou shalt not call her share I, but Sarah shall be her name.
And I will bless her and give thee a son, also her.
I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations. Kings of people shall be of her. Then Abraham fell upon his face and laughed.
And said under said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is 100 years old, and shall share that is 90 years old, Bear. And Abraham said unto God, All that Ishmael might live.
Before the Is that what we feel?
Is that the problem with us?
Oh, that Ishmael might live before thee.
Oh, that God would recognize the flesh and allow me to have this and that and the other thing that is attractive to the flesh allow me to have.
No, God says, I'm going to give you another son, and in Isaac shall thy seed be called. He's going to be the one.
The one above all others.
I trust we learned that lesson.
That this is God's mind, that the Lord Jesus Christ should be the one above all others in our hearts, in our lives.
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In every sea. Now let's go to another scripture.
In John's Gospel.
Thinking about the man that was born blind. John Chapter 9.
Verse 24.
Then again, call thee the man that was blind and said unto him, give God the praise. We know that this man is a Sinner that is referring to Christ.
He answered and said, whether he be a Sinner or no, I know not one thing I know.
That whereas I was blind, now I see.
Well, they go ahead and question him some more about this.
But I'm interested in this expression. One thing I know.
That whereas I was blind, now I see we had something to say in the reading meetings about repentance. Repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
And there's not salvation without repentance.
Because if a person is not repentant, he has not seen his need of a Savior, he has not seen his terrible, sinful, lost condition.
He has not seen.
That he has to do with the Holy Garden. He is not fit for God at all.
There must be repentance, there must be taking sides with God against ourselves. Well, it seems to me this is what we have in this expression. One thing I know that whereas I was blind.
That man realized what condition he was in. He was blind.
But he also says, Now I see.
You see, there are two things.
Realizing his blindness.
And knowing now that he's been healed.
But he didn't really know who Jesus was yet.
But he was testifying to the fact of what Jesus had done.
And even went to say so far as to say in verse 33, if this man were not of God, he could do nothing.
While those that were listening didn't like that, they answered and said unto him, Thou art altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out.
Well, he wasn't fully acquainted with the Lord Jesus Christ yet.
But it wasn't long.
Says in verse 35, Jesus heard that they cast him out, and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?
He asked and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hath both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. Oh, what a revelation to this man.
And what was the effect upon him? He said, Lord, I believe, and he worshipped him.
Well, if you're the Lord, you've been healed of your spiritual blindness.
And if you have the assurance of your salvation, trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ, you've also realized that you were blind, that the Lord has healed you now.
Are you satisfied with that? Is that all you want?
Just to remember that you were blind and now you're healed, you can see.
It's a wonderful thing to have our spiritual eyes open, to be given spiritual understanding, to understand the Lord, to understand His Word, and to see the spiritual things, because the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, they're spiritually understood.
Nor he doesn't stop there. He's not satisfied just simply with knowing that now he can see and he's healed.
He's still glad to speak about the one that healed him. That's a nice thing to do, to give a testimony as to what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for you.
To tell of Him to others that He is your Lord and Savior.
Now he sees the Lord Jesus face to face. If he'd still been blind, he couldn't have.
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But we were saved.
We see the Lord Jesus Christ by faith.
We see Him as our savior.
And in the assembly we see Him, because he says, where two or three are gathered together under my name, there am I. In the midst of them we see Him. By faith we see Him.
And when we see him.
In the assembly.
What do we do?
Do we worship Him?
This, I believe, is what the Lord was bringing this man to to worship.
This is what he was doing with the woman at the well in the fourth of John.
Bringing her to the place of worship.
Making a worshiper out of her.
And her heart was so filled with the Lord Jesus Christ and thoughts of Him.
That it overflowed and that's what worship is, isn't it?
The overflow of a heart filled with Christ.
And here this man now.
His heart is filled to overflowing.
And he's worshiping Christ, one thing I know.
He had come to know the Lord Jesus Christ, now the one who did the healing.
Whom to know is life eternal, that I might know him?
And the power of his resurrection. Know him, not just know something about him.
As we read the Bible, we find out many things about the Lord Jesus Christ. But to know Him?
Be acquainted with him, have an intimate knowledge of him, to have the knowledge of association with him, walking with him, talking with him.
And letting him speak to us through his word. It's hard for me to imagine.
A person knowing the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior.
And not wanting to bow in prayer and talk to him.
But I've heard of some.
They get caught up in the world of this world. They're so busy, they don't have time to pray.
In the morning, they don't have time to pause in the evening and pray.
They're not even as wise as those camels that had to kneel down.
Be unloaded.
And kneel down again. Take up the burden.
How could you ever bear the burdens of the day without kneeling down before the Lord?
We can't. It's impossible. Something's going to happen to us if we forget this kneeling.
When we get the burdens rolled off our hearts.
And we, when we get grace to bear the burden of the day.
I was speaking to.
A couple of young men and they acknowledged that we couldn't do without prayer.
And would acknowledge too, that if we forgot to pray.
The day turned out to be a ragged day.
Seemed to be a day frayed at the edges. Things didn't go right, something wrong?
There wasn't really a settled calm and peace in the heart.
Have you ever had that experience? You go through the day and there's something sort of worrying you?
Or how we need to get into the presence of the Lord.
And unload everything on him, cast our care upon him and get grace to face today. Let us turn to Luke's gospel, Luke chapter 10. One thing I like us.
One thing I know.
Now here we have another one.
Verse 42 of Luke 10.
One thing is needful now that's preceded by Buck.
But one thing is needful, and Mary has chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her.
For what was the occasion? We're quite well acquainted with it.
Martha had received the Lord into her house.
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And Mary was sitting at Jesus feet hearing his word, and Martha was busy out in the kitchen.
And perhaps there was a little more work than Martha felt that she could do.
And so she says to the Lord, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me?
To serve alone. That wasn't a very nice thing for it to say, was it?
Lord, dost thou not care?
She didn't realize really in her heart who the Lord Jesus was, who it was that was there in her house. Of course she cares.
He cares about every one of us. He sympathizes with us as high priest up on high. He's touched with a feeling of our infirmities. He does care.
And I'm sure he cared about Martha.
But Martha goes on to say, bid her therefore that she helped me.
Well, she was telling the Lord something in a way that was out of place. Martha got out of place in this.
But I believe Mary is a picture of one that takes her place at the feet of the Lord Jesus in submission.
Now I know there's there's a movement on today called the Lib movement.
And I don't think it's a very nice movement because the Lord.
Has directed that.
That the woman should be in the place of subjection.
And he has directed that the woman should wear the head covering.
To show the subjection of the assembly to the Lord Jesus Christ.
We read last night in Genesis 24 about Rebecca.
As soon as she was in the presence of Isaac.
She put a veil on. She covered herself.
She came down off the camel.
She took a low place.
But just think of the blessing that was Rebecca's.
Just think of the place of blessing that was her.
And she was a comfort to Isaac. Isaac was comforted.
After his mother's death.
Who are the comfort it would be to the blessed Lord if He saw subjection on our part?
And shone out by the sisters in wearing the head covering.
Now in connection with that, I might say this that it says in First Corinthians 11.
That the man is the glory of God and the woman is the glory of the man. So you have two glories there.
The glory of God, the Lord Himself, and the glory of man.
Now just from saying that.
I think any sister in here can see.
That when we're in the assembly in the presence of the Lord.
If she is the glory of the man, that glory ought to be covered up.
And if the man is the glory of the Lord, that ought to be uncovered. So you see how simple it is.
The woman, the glory of the man, must be covered up.
It's not just some custom we have.
Not something.
That the Apostle Paul got out of his own mind? No.
Came from the Lord as part of the revelation connected with the truth of the Church.
And I believe every sister that sees the truth of this should be so happy to wear that covering.
Because she knows she's covering up the glorious man that must not shine out or be displayed in the presence of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, here's monster taking the low place sitting at the feet of Jesus.
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And the Lord says one thing is needful. This is needful to sit at the feet of Jesus.
This is what I want and it's needful.
Want to rebuke? This must have been to Martha. Actually, he didn't say it in so many words, but it meant what you're doing, Martha, is not needful right now, but what Mary is doing is needful.
One thing is needful, and Mary has chosen that good part, the good part of sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to his Word, which shall not be taken away from her. I'm not going to take it away from her.
If that's what you want, the Lord wants you to have it.
He's back of it. He's all for it, to have you sit at his feet. And oh, how much we miss by not sitting at the feet of the Lord Jesus. We've been sitting at the feet of the Lord these days, and the Lord's been faithful to us. He's been speaking to us, He's been ministering to us, and we thank Him for it all.
One thing is needful. Oh, don't forget that one thing that's needful.
One thing that I like is, Oh yes, we can be lacking one thing. I know. Do we have that assurance that our sins are gone, forgiven, washed away in the precious blood of Christ?
That we have new life in Christ Jesus. We have the Spirit of God dwelling in our hearts. That we're really healed from our blindness.
Do we want this one thing that's needful? The Lord says it's needful, and if He says it's needful, we ought to feel it.
And really secret. Now let's turn to Psalm 27. Psalm 27, verse 4.
Now this also is a Psalm of David. We've had much about David brought before us.
And certainly.
We get the feelings of the Lord Jesus Christ expressed and many of the things that David says. Verse four One thing have I desired of the Lord that will I seek after.
Now there's some determination there on the part of David.
That I may dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty or the graciousness of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple, or to meditate with joy in his temple.
One thing have I desired.
One thing is needful, and I think this ties in with the one thing that's needful.
Now he says one thing. Have I desired?
You've heard that it's needful, this one thing. Do you want that one thing?
Well, there are many things that come up to hinder.
I remember when after come back from Africa, after we'd served over there in the Congo for 10 years.
We came back to this country and I didn't want to.
Take the place of a clergyman anymore. I didn't want to hire out as a pastor of a church anymore. I'd seen too much truth.
So I went to work. I worked as a Carpenter, worked as a shipwright in the shipyards, as a joiner, putting in cabins into boats.
Then after a while I felt I wanted to be out on the farm.
It was out in Portland, OR where my parents were at that time, and that's where I worked in the shipyards was in Portland.
But I knew my father had a farm still back in Nebraska, out at Bolus, where I was born and raised.
And I had acquired a little little property. Property wasn't as expensive then as it is now.
The Lord had really helped me because we came back from the Congo with nothing.
Left everything, left the mission, left system, and we left all the support that we had, all those who had been used of the Lord to supply our needs left at all, and we had nothing.
Perhaps just the clothes that we were wearing when we came home.
But the Lord took care of that, started out working for a dollar a day. But I felt I wanted to get back on the farm. So this property I had in one house in Portland and the place we were living on South of Portland.
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And I was talking to my father one day about it. I'd like to get back on the farm with the family.
Well, he says, I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll trade you that farm I have back there for the property you have here. So we just changed titles.
And we came east and we lived on the farm for 4 1/2 years. But what I'm getting at is this.
It was during the busy season.
And.
This morning.
We didn't take time as we ought to as we used to before the Lord. We used to take about 1/2 an hour in the morning.
To be before the Lord, to read his word and pray family altogether.
This morning I think it was just a short prayer that I prayed and out I went to start the tractor.
It wouldn't start. It had been running the night before and I couldn't understand this, what had happened. I took the Magneto off, cleaned it, put it back on, still wouldn't start. But when the half hour was up.
It starts, what a rebuke to me.
How the Lord spoke to me.
It's like the Lord saying.
You took that time away from me. You can't have it either.
It was just wasted, absolutely wasted. And isn't that the way we do oftentimes? We're robbing the Lord and we're robbing ourselves and the whole thing is wasted. Are we wasting time? When you take time with the Lord, you're not wasting time.
Well, this is something of what David was feeling. I believe one thing of our desire to the Lord that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life, and behold the beauty of the Lord, the graciousness of the Lord, and to meditate with joy in His temple, in His presence.
Is that what we desire? To spend time in His presence, to behold His face, to see His graciousness?
To come into the presence of the Lord to the throne of grace, to obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Is that really what we want? Or I trust that we have that desire? Now there's just one more.
One thing.
Over in Philippians.
Chapter 3, Philippians Chapter 3 and verse 13.
Brethren.
I can't knock myself to have apprehended but this one thing I do.
Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the price of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
The Apostle Paul had one thing before him. This one thing I do.
There's one thing I do, there's a negative side, the positive side.
But he had the Lord before, and he had the Lord before him in resurrection. And this is what he was looking forward to, to being with the Lord in resurrection. He says in verse 11, If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
The resurrection, the one out from among the dead, the special resurrection of believers, Saints of God. If by any means the apostle was really saying it doesn't matter how rough the path is, it doesn't matter how many difficulties I encountered.
I'm going on through. That's what I'm looking forward to, to the resurrection.
I'm pressing toward the mark for that prize of the calling on high in Christ Jesus.
Well, he had the Lord before him, didn't he?
One thing I do.
Well, how could he do the first part of this? For getting those things that are behind? Because he had the Lord before him. He had the positive before him.
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And the whole chapter.
What we have said there, like in verse seven, what things were gained to me? Those I counted lost for Christ. How could he say it? Because he had Christ before him.
Christ with him down here, but looking forward to being with Christ in glory.
Ye doubtless, and I count all things loss for the Excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I've suffered the loss of all things.
Well, he was telling some things there in verses 4-5 and six.
And you wouldn't say that they were actually bad things, no.
Touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
But he found something far better than these things that he was occupied with before.
He had whereof he could trust in the flesh. He was circumcised a day of the stock of Israel. He was of the tribe of Benjamin, and Hebrew of the Hebrews a Pharisee.
I suppose there were many in his day that envied him his position.
And I suppose they wondered what was the matter with him.
He gave it up, gave it all up.
Because now he had Christ, and he had Christ before Christ here, and Christ before him in the glory.
The Lord never left him, He was always with him.
He could write Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? And then he lists a whole long list. He says nothing, Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
Ah, he had found the one who really loved him, the Messiah, the Savior, the Son of God. And you know, immediately after he was saved, he preached Jesus as the Son of God. He hadn't believed it before. He had heard about Jesus. Perhaps he said, oh, he's just a man, or he had listened to those that knew about him.
He'd swallowed it all. Now he found out.
He is the Son of God because he spoke to him from heaven on the way to Damascus when he was persecuting the believers.
What a vision he got of the Lord Jesus Christ when it pleased God to reveal his Son and me, he writes to the Galatians.
And Christ was so real to him that he was longing for those Galatians.
One thing.
Travailing in birth again until Christ be formed in you. This is what he was longing for, for those Galatians, because they sought lost sight of Christ.
Some had come along and said you have to add something to that Christ isn't enough, is Christ and is in Christ and that no.
The Apostle Paul found out that Christ was enough and all that he needed, and he'd have had a revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ in his soul. Have you had to do with the Lord Jesus in reality?
Well, I trust that.
That we might speak the same sentiments as the apostle Paul, forgetting those things which are behind, reaching forth unto those things that are before are. There may be things that we're gloring in, looking back at. What have we got to glory in? Let him that glorious glory in the Lord.
That's the only way, the only one in whom we can glory. We can't glory in our attainments, what we have done, forgetting those things that are behind, reaching forth unto the things that are before, pressing toward the mark, down to the goal. I press. It's really the sense of it. Are we pressing toward that goal?
Well.
If we have given the Lord Jesus Christ that one place in our hearts that belongs to Him, if we've seen Him as the one above all others, I'm sure we'll be pressing down to the goal for resurrection Morning, longing to be with the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe He's coming soon.
Coming soon.
I read something the other day which was a report.
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And I take it that the report is true.
That there are many vultures over in Palestine.
And usually vultures lay just one egg each.
Those vultures are known to be laying 4 eggs apiece now.
Hatching out four times as many vultures.
I connect that with what we have in Revelation 19, where it speaks of the Lord coming out of heaven.
To meet all of his enemies.
To judge the nations.
What's taking place?
Well, we have. Their verse speaks of an Angel in the sun, calling the birds together to that feast, to feast upon the flesh of men.
And horses, kings, all that great throng that's going to come down there to Palestine.
Is God already making preparations for that?
And we have to be gone before that. The Lord must come and take us home before that ever takes place, because we are seen in that 19th chapter of Revelations coming out with Him to be associated with Him when He judges this world. Just think of the place the Lord is going to give us an association with Himself.
Are we afraid to give Him the highest, topmost place in our hearts?
To give him that place that really belongs to him. Are we ready for this one thing?
May the Lord help us to just be more devoted to the Lord Jesus.
To have a harsh 1. To be occupied with him. Oh I'm so thankful for these meetings where we've been occupied with the Lord Jesus Christ and His precious Word and know how we need it in these last days. Shall we sing again #318?
Just before we sing this few minutes left, I want to tell the story of Nowisha over in the Congo.
Now Wisha was one of the 10 or 12 young men.
That used to travel with me from village to village when I was preaching the gospel.
And I wish you came under the sound of the gospel, and under the conviction of the gospel, and accepted Christ as his Savior.
And that meant he gave up paganism, he gave up idolatry. Now wish you was the son of a chief. And he came along with me to earn a little money, because I paid them for going along with me, carrying my things.
And he was interested in earning some money because the day would come when he would want a wife, and perhaps he was already paying on the dowry for his wife. So he needed this money, but he got saved.
Well, we're finished that trip.
Came back, came back to the mission station. He went to his village, which was just a little ways from the mission station.
And in a few days I heard he was sick. The report came to me. Now Wish is sick, very ill. Oh, I thought the trip must have been too much for him.
He couldn't take it. Maybe This is why he's sick, but I went over there to the village and I found him lying outside of his Hut.
On a map.
Trying to get some warmth from the sun because he had terrible chills.
And when I came up to him, I could hardly recognize him. He'd already gotten terribly thin. And I saw him lying there. And I said, and I wish you what has happened to you.
Oh, he says. They got me. They hate me now.
I used to be liked and looked up to here in this village, but since I accepted Christ as savior and have given up paganism.
They hate me and somehow or other they poison me. How they've done it, I don't know. But he says it's very likely that one night while we were sitting eating, and they usually eat after dark, so they can't really see what they're doing. But they have the basket of fruit in front of them, and several of them will be sitting around the basket eating out of that one basket. And it's a ball of food that's made out of the flour cassava root.
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And so each one is taking his portion on the site where he's sitting, he says perhaps.
There was an enemy of mine, unbeknownst to me, sitting on the other side, and he had poison under his fingernail and he deposited it over on my side. And he says they can carry enough poison under their fingernail to kill a man. And he says this is going to kill me. He says I know this poison. I've seen it work before. I've been instructed in how to use it.
And now they've poisoned me.
And I know the reaction.
Oh, but I said we don't want you to go.
You've just come to know the Lord and we need you here and we be sad.
He said don't worry about me, I'm going to be with the Lord.
It cost him his life to follow the Lord, to give the Lord the place that belonged to him in his heart cost his life. But he's with Christ, which is far better now that young man just wrote a paganism.
Taking that stand, doesn't it shame us? May the Lord keep us.