January 1932
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flame of fire; the motives of our hearts will be laid bare; and our dealing with our brothers and sisters in Christ will be taken into account (Rom. 14:10). Yes, the whole of life from the moment we trusted Christ till our translation will be adjudicated by Him then. “ If any man’s work abide . . . he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire” (1 Cor. 3 :14 ,15). Some of you will have heard of Dr. Cuyler. There is an incident in his life that comes to remembrance. His little boy, George, was very seriously ill. The doctor gave no hope of his recovery. Mrs. Cuyler was sitting at the bedside almost heartbroken at the prospect of losing her treasure. George was a true believer and had been seeking to comfort his mother with the thought of what it would mean for him to be with the Lord Jesus Christ, and to be there to welcome Mother and Father when they came. Tired with his efforts, he closed his eyes and dozed. The mother remained intently watching for any change that might come over his features. After a while, his face be t this season of the year, it is always helpful to take a look back over the past, and then to turn our eyes to the future. Looking to, the past, we learn lessons from our failures and our successes, from our trials and our victories. And looking to the future, we make our consecration and claim power for better service. Such an attitude of mind is entirely scriptural; for we find some helpful injunctions as we study the words “ hitherto” and “ henceforth” as they appear in the Word of God. M arking the P lace of T riumph “Hitherto” is a very suggestive word. It carries us back to some event of the past and bases our plea or praise on that event. In 1 Samuel 7 :12, it occurs in the connection in which we want to use it here: “ Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.” For a long time, conditions in Israel had been bad. More than twenty years before the incident of this text, Israel was overcome by the Philistines, and the ark of God had been taken captive. After a period of years, it had been returned to Israel, and Israel had triumphed over the Phil istines. In commemoration of that victory, Samuel set up this stone. It is well to mark the places of our triumphs; for when we come to such a place, our hearts are stirred and our faith is encouraged to lay hold of God for new victories. There is a story of a colored man who had much d if ficulty in holding fast his profession. There was a certain sin which was a besetment, and when he fell, Satan would accuse him o f never having really accepted Christ and being born again. On one occasion, after a particularly hard fight to recover and maintain his faith, he drove a stake down at the place out in the woods where he had “ prayed *Pastor o f St. Paul’s M. E. Church South, San Jose, Calif.
came radiant with a smile, and opening his eyes and turning toward his mother, he said, “ I have had a peep through the gate. It was very beautiful. It was ever so lovely, but, Mother, what do you think Jesus will say when He sees me ?” That is a question that comes back to my own heart continually. What will He say when He sees me? What will He say concerning my home life, concerning the way in which I have wrought in business ? Oh, that God would work so graciously in the heart of each one of us who names His name, that we might be filled with this desire, inspired by this ambition, to be well pleasing unto Him in every detail of life, in every bit of service. He has prom ised all the resources of His fullness for our enablement day by day and all the way, so that there will never be a moment when we may not count upon that all-sufficient grace, however sore the trial, however great the testing which we may have to face through the coming year. “ Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and ex hort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received o f us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more” (1 Thess. 4 :1 ). through:” Always after that, when the tempter came, this simple-minded believer would rush out into the woods near his cabin, and pointing to the stake, he would cry ou t: “ See dar, Debbil, I ’se done settled it right dar. Glory!” And when he began to shout the victory, Satan fled as he always does (2 Chron. 20:22). This soul had found the secret of real victory, and he had no more trouble with his besetting sin. Let us learn to drive down a stake. S ome “ H itherto ’ s ” Standing as we do at the threshold of a new year, let us look back on the places of victory, and let us shout as Samuel did, “ Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.” Do you recall when, in answer to prayer and through your faith in the blood, the Lord saved you ? Do you recall when He led you to a full surrender and consecration for service ? Do you recall that hard place you were in, when you saw no way out, but when you cried to Him, and He opened the way? Do you recall how many times, even in the past year, He has marvelously intervened ? Looking back, the long years over, What a varied path! And yet, All the way His hand has led us, Placed each hindrance we have met. N ot S erving S in There are four scriptures which gather up the thought of “ henceforth,” and which challenge us to a higher life for the year toward which we are now so rapidly moving. Our first “ henceforth” is found in Romans 6 :6 : “ Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” Sin is a terrible taskmaster, and all those who are in bondage to it are in a pitiful plight. Multiplied thousands [Continued on page 15]
HITHERTO. . . HENCEFORTH . . . By ARTHUR T. O’REAR, *San Jose, Calif.
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