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ByDeath by Ko y Robertson
I w o n d e r why Mother doesn’t come, ’ said Janet as I she looked anxiously out through the kitchen toward the back of the house. “ Guess I’ll go and see what’s keeping her.” Lois Robertson had put the lunch on the table for two of her children and was going to sit down with them when she excused herself. “ Just a moment, and I’ll be back,” she had said. “ Just a moment . . .” These were her last words, for only a moment later she lay prone on the bathroom floor, the victim of a sudden brain stroke. Never again would those who loved her hear the sound of her voice, know the concern and care that only a mother can bring to a home. Never again would she speak to the maids or to the people in the neighborhood, urging them to follow Christ. Her time on earth had ended. God had called her home. “ God’s finger touched her, and she slept,” as a line from Tennyson so beautifully expresses it. She had gone immediately into the presence of the one whom she loved and served, Jesus Christ her Lord. Early in January of this year, 1959, I spent some days in meditation on the Word of God and the Lord impressed my heart in an unusual way with the truth of Philippians 1:20. “ According to my earnest expecta tion and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.” At that time, because of particular per sonal needs, I chose and claimed the truth of this verse to be fulfilled in me. Of course when I picked this verse I was thinking about life — knowing that so many things needed to be accomplished — that Christ might be magnified in my body.” I was also conscious, how ever, of the other part — but never dreamed that God in His wisdom would see fit to bring the touch of death. And now, as I contemplate what God has done, I am confident that Christ will be magnified in the going home of this one who was so dear to me. God had given us a good life together. We had had the privilege of a fruitful ministry in several countries of the Orient — multiplied blessing — three wonderful children. Yes, God had brought us into a large place because somehow it seems we must have been precious in His sight. On the morning of April 10 I was on a Tokyo bound train, returning from ten days spent in setting up and preparing for a series of seven city-wide evangelistic crusades we are handling this year. During the ride I spent several hours in reviewing passages of Scripture that the Lord had made precious to my heart. I can remember clearly this question which ran through my mind at that time: “ Lord, what would it take to have me go ‘all out’ for Jesus Christ — to have my life really dedicated to Him and His work here in Japan?” Little did I know what was to come. As the train arrived in Tokyo I called Lois on the phone and we talked for some time. We made arrangements to go out in the afternoon with the kiddies. But when I called the house on my way home a few hours later another man who is with
Lois Raws Robertson, whose husband is the director of the Navigators for the countries of Asia, and her three children, Susan 5, Keith 18 months, Janet 6. Mrs. Robertson is the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Addison C. Raws who direct the Colony of Mercy and the Victorious Life Conferences of Kes wick, N. J. Mrs. Robertson is now in the presence of Christ. our mission answered the phone. He told me that God had taken my Lois to be with Himself. Mulititudes of thoughts naturally flooded over my soul, but verseé from the Word of God leapied into my heart as the taxi in which I rode made its way to my home. Immediately Job 1:21 and Job 9:12 flashed into my heart. God had given Lois and me these verses — perhaps in preparation for this hour — when we were separated in China over eight years ago. At that time she was with the China Inland Mission, her life dedi cated to tribal work in China. I was with the Navigators, not particularly called to one country, but to do a special job of training men. God led me out of China and at the same time indicated she was to stay. These verses had meant much to us in those days. However, God in His grace made it possible for us to be married later and to spend eight glorious years together. Now again the truth of these passages in Job came home to my heart: “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. Behold, He taketh away, who can hinder Him? who can say unto Him, What doest thou?” Humanly speaking, this death of our loved one is a great personal loss, to me and as well to my family and friends. But through the eye of faith we know that this is not a tragedy. I firmly believe that death is the crowning event in the life of the Christian. Death is the time when the saints “ rest from their labors,” when they throw off the chains of sin and corruption and step into the glorious liberty of heaven itself. Oh, what a grand, glad day that will be for all who have put their trust in Christ! God is the God of the living — not of the dead — and Lois has simply stepped into new life, to forever worship before the throne of God unimpaired by the veil of flesh that binds us in this life. This is the real tragedy. Here in Japan there are over ninety million people, only about one-third of one percent of whom have honestly faced the claims of Christ and yielded their lives to Him. Millions upon millions are lost in darkness — and there doesn’t seem to be the dedication to the task of getting the Word out that there ought to be. Our churches are cold, our meth ods out-dated, our devotion to Christ small. Organization has taken the place of spirituality — program the place of piety. Oh, how we need to pray and labor and look to God in deeper devotion if we are effectively to call the dead unto life! “ . . . That with all boldness . . . Christ shall be mag nified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death!’
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