David Recoverd All

8/9/2019 David Recoverd All

1/130

afcfo ifl[rofa


2/130

Recovered

BAKHT SINGH


3/130

David Recovered AllBakht S ingh

FirstEdition4 th ReprintRevised EditionReprint

- 1967- 1988- April 2001- Max; 2002

Book-Room,HebronGolconda 'x' RoadsHyderabad - 500 020


4/130

C o n t e n t s1.2.3 .4.5.6.7.8.9.

10.11.12.

The Hope of RecoveryThe Lesson of the Axe HeadDavid 's Firs t LossDavid ' s Second LossDavid ' s Third LossLoss: Its Cause, Effect and CureObedience A Secret of RecoverySome Reasons for LossDavid ' s Four th LossSecrets of RecoveryGod ' s Div ine LawsThe Secret of Power wi th God

1111725394958698490

106116


5/130

C hapter 1THE HOPE OF RECOVERY

(1 Samuel 30)DA VID an d h is m en ha d suffered a grea t an d hea v)

loss. Al l the i r houses had been burn t down and the i rwom e n a nd c h i l d re n a nd posse s s ions ha d be e n t a ke ncapt ive by the Amaleki tes . Their loss was so great thateven though they were s t rong men, they a l l began tow e e p l o u d l y . W o m e n c a n w e e p a t a n y t i m e a n danywhere , and nobody wi l l ques t ion them. They canweep in the morn ing o r mid-day o r even ing! They canweep in the bus or t ra in, on the pla t form or outside i t ,and any number o f t imes dur ing the day and nobodywi l l say : Why a re you weep ing so much? But whenm en s ta r t w ee pin g, there m us t be a very ser ious reason.Here were s t rong mi l i t a ry men weep ing , so much andso lou dly th at they h ad n o m or e tears to sh ed (vs. 4) .Thei r tears were a l l dr ied up , the i r throa ts were hot ,an d the ir h ea d s we re aching, so m uc h so tha t they c ouldn o t w e e p a n y m o r e . S o g r e a t w a s t h e i r l o s s , a n d ,humanly speak ing , beyond a l l hope o f recovery .

1


6/130

I n t h e s a m e c h a p t e r , h o w e v e r , w e r e a d t h a t b yGod's help and grace, they recovered al l that they hadlos t and much more bes ide . They recovered so muchthat they were able to pay al l the debts that they hadincur red du r in g the prev ious years . W herever they h adbeen dur ing those years they had been unable to payfor their food and lodging. Whether they s tayed in aplace for a few days or months or for a longer t imethey had been given shel ter and food. We see in theScr iptures that Dav id ha d k ep t a record of the k ind ne ssshown to h im. The re were many good men who hadgiven h im dhal and fowl and mut ton . He knew whohad given him fresh food and who had given him s ta lefood. Verses 27 to 31 give a l is t of the places where heh ad s tayed , an d verse 31 sho w s tha t w here ver he h adstayed, whether for a few days or for a longer t ime, henow sent g i f t s to acknowledge k indness shown, andto pay back his debts .

We al l feel sad when we lose anything, and al l of ushave los t someth ing , somewhere and a t somet ime orother . Some have wept because of what they have los t .Some have los t the i r keys or founta in pens , or haveforgot ten their um bre l las . O ther s ha ve lost their b ed d in gin the t ra in , o r have forgot ten the i r wr i s t watches !Whatever the loss may be i t makes us feel very sad, buti f and whenever we recover such los t th ings we arefi l led with joy. It is a peculiar joy to recover what wehave los t , and especia l ly when there has been no hopeof recovery.

Some t ime ago one bro ther in Hebron was g iven asum of Rs. 130 to pay a telephone bi l l and he kept the

2


7/130

paper and the money in a drawer . He was very busytha t day , and thought he would pay the b i l l the nextday. The next day i t was the same. He was so busytha t he thought he would pay the b i l l the fo l lowingday. The third day, when he went to pay the bi l l , hecou ld no t f ind e i ther the bi ll or the m on ey . He be ga n tosearch for i t throughout the off ice . He opened everydrawer and a lmirah and looked in to every corner , butcould not f ind the bil l or the money.Al l of us were very sad when we heard tha t andbe ga n to sus pe ct different pe rso ns . C ou ld i t be this one?Or could i t be so and so? Then we bought new lockst h a t v e r y d a y a n d b e c a m e v e r y , v e r y c a r e f u l , s osuspicious were we of everybody in the office. Aftertwo months , however , when they were t ry ing to c lean

every roo m in the bu i ld in g they cam e to the back room ,and the re saw an a lmi rah . They wanted to c lean a tthe back of the a lmirah so they moved i t and found ahole in the wall . In that hole they found the bil l andthe a m oun t !What a c lever and h ighly- t ra ined ra t i t must havebeen to have taken i t f rom the one room to the other!W e ha d enter ta ined no ho pe s of recover ing tha t mo ney ,ye t we ha d p ra ye d : ' L o rd , he lp u s t o r e c ove r t ha tamount somehow, and he lp us to ca tch the thief.1 N o wwe had recovered both the b i l l and the amount , and

later a lso ca u gh t the thief! W ha t a joy w as th at recovery!E v e r y b o d y i n t h e c o m p o u n d w a s h a p p y t h a t d a y ,sayin g 'We ha ve reco vered the loss! W e hav e recoveredth e loss!'

3


8/130

So i t is with us spir i tual ly! We have many spir i tuallosses because of our faul ts and fa i lures . There aremany in fact who have lost their joy. Some, because oftrouble and t r ial , may have lost their fai th. Others mayha ve los t the i r con sciousn ess of G od 's presen ce . O thershave not yet learned the secret of f inding God's wil l .Many have los t the o ld power they had when theywere f i rs t born again. Others have lost their f i rs t love.How many hear ts there are wi th some spi r i tua l loss .They are not enjoying their Bibles as before. They havenot got the same burden for prayer as once they had.Some weep openly and some secre t ly , bu t they haveno fai th to recover what they have lost . They want torecover i t but they do not know how to recover i t , andworse s t i l l they have lost the hope of recovery. They

are sa yin g in their hea rts , 'M ayb e I w il l ne ve r get m yformer joy and peace again ' . They may be saying: ' Ican never do the Lord's service as before ' . Whatever i tm ay be that yo u ha ve lost spi r i tua l ly we hav e a messa gefor you. Whatever the cause of your loss may be, thereis hope for you. Your loss can be recovered. Rather ,you can receive much more than you have los t .

The Bible begins with the story of a very great loss(Genesis 3:24), b u t in the sam e bo ok G od h as pro ve d tom an that thou gh in the beg inning A da m lost everything,yet man is able to recover everything through our LordJesus Christ . In Genesis 1:28, God placed Adam in theG ard en of Eden. H e a lso gave him p ow er an d do m inionover the whole ear th and over the f i sh and the bi rdsand animals. In a very real sense he was the king of thewhole ea r th .

4


9/130

Yet, in chapter 3 he was driven out as a thief andhe Word of God says i t was God Himself who drovelim out. In the beginning he could talk to God as mano man, bu t now he was be ing dr iven out f rom thepresence of God. He was driven out from his home inhe Garden of Eden and had to surrender al l his r ights .What a t remendous loss! No man can es t imate the lossincurred by the first man, Adam. But in Revelation 21and 22, w e see h o w the loss in G en es is 3 h as b ee nrecovered. There we f ind man rul ing the new creat ion,which wil l be far more glorious than the old.In fac t God has given to man much more than waslost in G enes is 3 . G od b eg an th e recovery by the po w erof the C ross . Th a t is w h y y ou f ind the w o rd L am brepeated twenty-eight t imes in the Book of Revelat ion.

The m ess ag e is tha t every loss of every s inn er an d everyloss of every believer can be recovered by God's graceand by His help, as revealed in the sacrifice of Calvary.We can d iv ide people in to two groups : There a repe op le w h o ha ve no t received sa lva t ion. So far they

have not found t rue peace . They cannot say that Godhas forgiven their s ins . They are l iving without hopeand without God. Life for them is a life of defeat, ofmise ry , and o f da rknes s . They have no th ing in t heworld that they can cal l their own. They are beggarsl i v ing in po ve r ty an d th us t he i r t im e , m on ey , an denergy are being was ted day by day. That i s one groupof people , who are in darkness , and whose whole l i feis being wasted and lost . When they are about to diethey wil l cry out , knowingly or unknowingly: 'My l i feis w as ted . Soon I w ill be de ad ! b ut m y life is w asted ! '

5


10/130

W ith wh at sor row they wi ll say those w or ds , ad m i t t ingtha t whatever they had possessed , o r whatever theyhad done in l i fe , was only a waste!Examine your own hear t t ru thful ly How is yourco nd i t ion before Go d? Is yo ur life being w as ted ? W ha tare you rea l ly accompl ishing in your l ife by your time,your money, or your energy? Do these th ings give youreal peace and joy? Are you of any use to God? Ganvou say God has used something of your l i fe? Please behones t and t ru thfu l wi th yourself.

As a s inner your l i fe most certainly is being wasted.Th e Scrip tures de scribe ev en our r ighte ou sne ss as f ilthyr a g s . Even th o u g h w e m ay say w e a re a g rea t a ndw e a l t h y p e o p l e a n d c a n b o a s t t h a t w e e a r n m u c hm o n ey , if w e are livin g in sin, G od lik en s ou r best effortsto f il thy rag s . I h av e seen som e rags so dir ty an d rot te nthat even lepers and poor beggars wi l l not touch them.That is l ike the heart of man, fi l thy and hopeless. Evenou r righteousness, in the sight of God, is like 'filthy rags'( Isa iah 64:6) . Unless our s ins are forgiven and ourhearts are cleansed, we shal l remain as f i l thy rags andour t ime, money and energy wil l a l l be a waste . But ,pra ise G od , w e can be t ransform ed into precious s tonesin the House of God provided our hear ts are c leansed.A re you w i l l i n g a n d d e s i r o u s f o r y o u r s i n s t o b eforgiven? Jesus Chris t came into the world and diedand rose again, that we might recover every loss . Eventhough we have was ted our l ives a l l these years , nowwe can aga in become God ' s co-workers and par tners(1 Cor. 3:9).

6


11/130

Ha ve you se e n a good ga rde ne r work ing upon agood f ie ld or a good garden? What prepara t ion he putsin before he s ta r t s working tha t ground. Once i t mayhave been very bad and hopeless , ful l of thorns andthist les, but after a few months the very same field wil lbe y ie ld ing f ru i t s in abundance and many co lour fu lf lowers . Every inch of i t i s used . To produce theseresu l t s , the ga rden had to be worked upon day andn igh t . T he g round ne e de d m uc h p re pa ra t i on . E ve rys tone had to be rem ov ed , then the seeds had to be s ow na nd wa te re d e ve ry da y , a nd fo r we e ks a nd m on thswatched over day by day. I t i s hard to bel ieve a t lastthat i t is the same land or f ield that is now yielding al lthese th ings .

In the same way God who compared us to f i l thyrags, wi l l be able to say, 'My beaut i ful husbandry! Myb e a u t i f u l g a r d e n ! 1 T h a t is h o w y o u r lif e c a n betransformed. Every loss incurred by your s ins can bere c ove re d . Be c a use o f you r s i n s you ha ve b rough treproach upon your own name , your fami ly name andthe name of your God . Through your s ins you haveruined your l i fe , heal th and body. Because of your s insyou are fa r away f rom God. You have not the leas tunders tand ing o f the th ings o f God . You a re a foo lbe fore God and wha tever you a re do ing i s a was te .You wi l l d ie wi thout hope .

Do you w an t to be t ransform ed? We hav e a m essagefor yo u. Co m e to the feet of the Lo rd Jesus Christ . C om ewith a repentant heart , feel ing sorry for your s ins. Thisda y t he L ord wi l l f o rg ive you a nd t r a ns fo rm you .

7


12/130

T ha t is w h y H e c a m e in to t h i s w o r ld t o se e k a ndto save you.

T h i r t y -one ye a r s a go m y l i f e wa s be ing wa s t e d ;com pletely an d absolutely w asted . I w as then living alife of sh am e, defeat a n d b ar re n n es s, b u t I can testifythat all that I now7 say and do are of e ternal abidingvalu e. If I do som eth ing w ro ng m y Lord is there to correctme and chas t i se me and br ing me back.David suffered four great losses in his l ife-time, andwe too as believers suffer in our life-time great losses.By the grace of God and His help David recovered al lt he se l o s se s . I n e ve ry c a se t he re wa s no hope o frecovery, but by the help of God he recovered al l thosefour great losses, and not only what he had lost , butmuch more bes ide . We a lso as be l ievers in the LordJesus Chris t , suffer many losses because of doubts andfol ly , bl indness and defeat , but f rom God's Word wecan see h o w ev ery s p i r i t ua l loss in a be l i ev e r canbe recovered .

With the d iv is ion of Pakis tan and India in 1947,many Hindus and S ikhs were d r iven ou t f rom the i rhomes , and when they were to ld by the Governmentto p re p a re a list of the thin gs th ey h ad lost or left b eh in d ,they gave the i r l i s t s to the Government in hope o frecover ing some compensa t ion . But many gave fa l sestatements. If they had lost Rs. 6,000 they mentionedRs. 26,000.

Th at is w or ld ly w isd om ! Be ho ne st and s incere wi thGod and yourse lves and le t God recover your losses8


13/130

for yo u. Pray to H im : 'Lord, do Th ou h elp m e to recov erall m y losses. ' H av e you lost yo ur peace? H av e you lostyour joy or has your fa i th become somewhat weak? Isyour mind fu l l of doubts? Have you los t your hungerand appet i te for God 's Word?

I know some people who can ea t a g rea t dea l o fr ice . They can ea t a f i r s t , second , th i rd , and evenfour th he lp ing! They want a dozen chappatis, a d o z e npurees, curds, e tc ; yet when they are s ick they refuseto ea t even a smal l quan t i ty . Everybody look ing a tsuch a man knows he must be s ick! ' I saw him ea t somuch before ' , he thinks, 'but now he refuses to eat andneeds to be forced! 'S p i r i tu a l l y , w h a t h a s h a p p e n e d to y o u r a p p e t i t efor God 's Word? In the ear ly days of your Chr is t ianl i fe you used to read many chapters and wi th grea tj o y a t t e n d e d e v e r y m e e t i n g , b u t n o w y o u f i n d i tdi ff icul t to re ad e v en half a ch ap te r . You h av e lostyour appe t i t e fo r God ' s Word , los t your burden fo rp ra ye r , l o s t you r unde r s t a nd ing o f God ' s W ord a nd

you do not know how to enjoy God 's presence . Youhave los t many pr iv i leges in the House of God. Pleasetel l G od frankly of a ll y ou r losses an d th en pray : 'N ow ,Lord, do Thou help me to recover a l l my losses. ' Youare assured f rom God ' s Word tha t you wi l l r ecovermuch more than you have los t .There a re som e laun dr ies in En glan d, w he re , if yourclothes are lost or torn by the dhobi, they wil l write toyou and say: 'We are very sorry tha t your dhoti orshir t has been lost or torn, please le t us know exact ly

9


14/130

what i t was! ' For i f your c lothes are lost or torn whilein the i r se rv ice they wi l l make good your loss . Uponrece iv ing your compla in t they wi l l say , 'P lease le t uskn ow yo ur m e a s u r e m e n t s , a n d we wi l l g ive you a ne wga rm e n t . ' E ve n t hough t he c oa t you ha ve l o s t m a yhave been an o ld one , they wi l l g ive you a new onei n s t e a d .

T h i s h a d h a p p e n e d to m e i n E n g la nd , no t inIndial Onc e t he l a undry spo i l e d m y c oa t , a nd t he ngave m e m on ey fo r a ne w o ne , w i th wh ich I go t oneeven be t te r . But God wi l l do much more for you thanE ng land d id fo r m e . H e w i ll g ive yo u m uc h mo re th anyou los t . Bu t you mus t be hones t and t ru th fu l andsincere and tel l Him all about your loss. We will seef ro m G o d ' s W o r d a s w e s t u d y f u r th e r h o w D a v i drecovered his four losses, and then how we also canrecover al l that we have lost spiri tually.

10


15/130

Chapter 2THE LESSON OF THE AXE HEAD

(2 Kings 6:1-7)T H E R E a r e m a n y p e o p l e w h o a r e c o n t i n u a l l ysuffering sp iritua l losses in their lives. But w e believe th atGod wants us to recover every loss; He does not wantu s t o l o s e a n y t h i n g . W h e n H e g i v e s u s s o m e t h i n g ,w h ate v er i t m ay b e, H e gives i t to us to enjoy a n d retainfor eternity. We are given everlasting life, not for a fewyears only , but fa r e te rn i ty , and tha t l i fe must f lowin us a nd t h rough us fo r e t e rn i t y . E ve n t hough t heenemy may seek to prevent the f low in fu l l measure ,

God wants to remove every obstac le and ensure a fu l lf low all the t ime.In the tap s in yo ur h om e, there ma y not a lw ays be afu l l f low of water . Nothing i s wrong wi th the watersupply, for there is plenty of water in the water tank;

bu t the re i s a b lockage in the wa te rp ipe . You ge t ap l u m b e r w h o k n o w s h i s j o b a n d h e r e m o v e s t h eobstacle an d th e w ate r f low s freely once aga in. In otherhomes there a re of ten leaking taps . The tap goes onleak in g h o u r a fte r ho ur an d the re is m uc h w as ta ge ,11


16/130

yet i t needs only a new washer and the leaking wi l ls top . We once had such a tap at the back of our houseand i t kept on leaking for many years , and much waterwas was ted . Nobody would take the pa ins to pu t on ane w w ash er to s top the leakage . Then one day som eonehad mercy upon us and changed the washer , and thetap s topped leak ing .

There a re a l so many leak ing be l iever s . They a rewas t ing every th ing : the i r t ime , money and energy a reb e i n g m i s - s p e n t . S o m e t i m e s o n l y a s i m p l e t h i n g i sn e c e s s a r y t o s t o p t h e l e a k a g e a n d w a s t a g e . Y et,whether we lose th ings th rough negl igence or th roughfolly the loss can be recovered. The Scripture tells usthat whatever i s los t spi r i tua l ly can be recovered. I tmay seem imposs ible , but by the help of God, by Hisgrace and by His word, there can be recovery.

That s imple lesson is taught to us in the s tory in2 Kings 6:1-7 about the young prophets . Those youngm en w ere s tu dy in g w i th Elisha an d they found the placetoo small for them. They wanted a larger house, and forthis they needed wood. They had to go beyond Jordonto cut the wo od ; so they all got toge ther an d w en t there,an d even th ou gh they w ere yo un g m en, and the sons ofthe prophe ts , they had some wisdom, and took wi ththem Elisha (verse 3) .

They could hav e sa id , 'W hy shou ld w e be bo theredwi th an o ld man? He cannot he lp us in any way. Hecannot walk long d i s tances . I f he comes wi th us wemay have to car ry him, feed him and serve him. ' Thatis h o w m an y y ou ng peop le fee l. They think they should12


17/130

not serve their fathers becau'se they have studied onlyto the third class, and cannot spell even one word ofEngl ish. Young people today think they know so muchm ore th an their elders. M aybe their fathers cann ot sp eakfluent ly . Perhaps they stut ter and mutter before theycan ut ter even one word. So the young people quest ionwhv thev should go to such o ld men and women wi ththe i r pe rsona l p rob lems . They th ink they a re morec lever than the i r pa ren t s o r re l a t ions , and fo r tha tr e a son t he re a r e m a ny young l i ve s t ha t ha ve be e nruined through fo l ly . These young men however hadun de rst an di ng , an d s ho w ed it by their reque st for Elishato go wi th them.

While they were there fe l l ing the wood, one youngm a n lo s t h i s a xe he a d , wh ic h f e l l i n to t he wa te r(verse 5) . He could not have been a very c lever youngman, or he would have seen to the axe before he setout . He ought to have seen tha t the axe handle wass t r o n g a n d t h e h e a d f i r m l y a t t a c h e d . B u t b e i n gi n e x p e r i e n c e d , h e b e g a n c u t t i n g t h e w o o d w i t h o u tnoticing that the head was loose, and at the first strokethe axe head fel l into the river. I t was a deep river andthe young man began to c ry out : 'Now, what sha l l Ido? ' That axe d id not be long to h im. He had borrowedi t f rom somebody e lse , and must have promised tha taf te r he had cut the wood, he would re turn the axesafely to the owner . As the son of a prophet he mustkeep h i s p romise .

T he re a r e m a ny pe op l e who know how to bo r row.They a re ve ry , ve ry c lever . Whenever they want toborrow anything, par t icular ly money, they look very13


18/130

innocent , and say, ' I wi l l pay you back immediate ly,the very da y I get m y w ag es. ' By the ma nn er they speak,the lender 's heart is softened. He says in his heart , ' Imust he lp th is poor man. He looks a good man, andwi l l sure ly keep h is word . ' So what the borrower asksis g iven to h im. But does he keep h is word? Thingstha t we re bo r rowe d l a s t ye a r a r e no t r e tu rne d ye t !When you remind such peop le , a t f i r s t they answernicely, but af ter a few days they become your enemies.They know how to borrow, but they never learn howto pay back.

Many bel ievers have lost their joy and peace andrights in this way. They cannot keep their word. Theyd o no t kee p their pro m ises . They d o no t pay their debts .But the young man in th is s tory , even though throughhis own fol ly he had lost the axe head, he wanted tore turn i t . He had no money to buy a new one and tha tis why he was sad. 'Alas, what shal l I do? How can Iface that man? I said so solemnly, "I wil l bring backyo ur axe safely to you." N o w I ha v e lost it. W ha t shallI do? 'He was a wise young man , however , and ins teadof going to the young people , he went to El isha. Hecould have sa id , 'My young companions , my axe hasfal len into the water , please go into the water and geti t for me. ' Being a wise young man, however , he went

to El i sha , an o ld man, ra ther than to the young men(verses 15:16). He said to him, 'Alas, my master! ' Hehad fa i th that i f anybody could help him, a t any t ime,it w as only El i sha (verse 15). W he n tha t yo un g m a nwent to El isha and appealed for help, he confessed his14


19/130

inabi l i ty and acknowledged his fa i lure . He said, 'Alas,m y ma ster , w h at I sho uld do?1 Elisha said, 'Show methe place w h er e the axe fe ll.' So the yo u ng m an po intedit out , and Elisha cut down a branch of the tree anddropped i t in to the water . Immedia te ly the axe beganto float . Like a piece of straw, the iron came to thesurface and began to f loat on the water. That is howthe young man recovered his loss . I t i s a s imple s tory,b u t full of de ep m ea ni ng , to teach us h o w every spiri tualloss can be recovered.

We should note that in the f i rs t place, the youngm en re qu este d El isha to go w ith them . In the sam e w ay ,m a k e it a p o i n t , w h e n e v e r y o u g o a n y w h e r e , a n dwherever you go , to make sure tha t the Lord JesusChrist , the t rue El isha, goes with you. Don' t dependupon your own s t rength or wisdom for your b less ingor prosperi ty . I f the Lord does not go with you, thenwha tever you do , wi l l never be p rosperous .

Secondly , when you do lose someth ing , do no t beashamed to confess i t . Th i s young man cou ld havesa id , ' I t was no t my fau l t ; t he hand le was b roken ' .But he made no a t tempt to cover h is faul t . Confessyour faul ts readi ly . Do not cover your fol ly and shame;and do not go to others for help, go direct ly to theLord Jesus Chr is t . The yo u n g m an f irst came to El isha .You also go f i rs t to Chris t . Go to His feet . Humbleyourself and confess your loss and fa i lures to Him.

Let your prayer be : 'Alas , my Master , what sha l l Id o ? ' Let Chris t take you to the place where the losstook p lace . Be wi l l ing and prepared to see how God15


20/130

will help you. That st ick cut by Elisha speaks of theCross of the Lord Jesus Chris t . For our s ins He hungon a t ree and died for us, and by the same Cross ourloss can be reco vere d . The i ron beg an to sw im , tho ug hit is impossible for iron to swim. But in the hand ofEl isha such a feat was nothing. In the same manner , i tis by faith w e ap p ly the C ross in our l ives, an d th ro ug hit we wil l see every loss recovered.

N ow , tha t yo un g m an could go for th wi th a newexperience and a new fai th. The loss had been fullyrecovered , and he had a lso recovered h is peace andjoy and wisdom. May God he lp you in the same way.Remember this simple rule. First of al l , show Himthe place where the loss began in your l i fe and go to

that very place and say, 'Yes, Lord, on such and such ad a t e , an d at su ch a n d suc h a t ime, I be ha ve d l ike afool, and that is why there is this loss in my life. ' If yougo to the Lord with that confession, by the power ofthe Cross, He wil l help you to recover every loss. TheCross is the power of God, and fai th is necessary asimple and l iving fai th.

'David recovered al l . ' Put your name in the placeof David's and realize that you can recover your loss,whoever you may be ; and you can a lso ge t much moretha t yo u ever lost . O u r Lord is w ith u s. H e said: 'Lo, Iam wi th you a lways .1 Do not hesi ta te to go to Him.Tell Him your losses. Believe also that He died on theC ross on yo ur behalf to he lp yo u to recover tho se losses.

16


21/130

Chapter 3D A V I D ' S F I R S T L O S S

(1 Samuel 29-30)LET us a lways remember this point , that spir i tualloss can be fully recovered. However great vour lossmay be and whatever i t s cause , i t can be recovered ,and in fact , in recovery we receive much more thanwe have los t . However , we mus t be wi l l ing to obeyGod ' s Word and His d iv ine l aws which no man canchange, nor can they be changed by wealth, educationor position. What is more, these laws are applicable toeverybody.W e ha ve seen al read y that Dav id suffered m uch loss .Even though he was a good, wise and kind king, and am an after G od 's o w n heart , he w as deceived by the devilon four occ asions an d suffered four great losses, bu t w iththe help of God, and by his grace he recovered all . Let

us look at the causes for the four losses, and then seehow he recovered all that he lost.Th e first is in 1 S am ue l 29:1-4. D avid w an te d to jointhe arm y of the Ph il ist ines against Saul . Saul w as D avid 's

17


22/130

en em y a n d tr ied to ki ll h im o n several occasions becau seGod had chosen David to be king instead of Saul . Formany years Saul was t ry ing to k i l l David and Davidwas running here and there seeking shel ter . At last hefound shelter with the king of the Phil ist ines.

T h e P h i l i s t i n e s , l e d b y t h e i r p r i n c e s , g a t h e r e dtogether and went to ba t t le aga ins t Saul . David wentwi th them, but the pr inces of the Phi l i s t ines becamesuspic ious and sa id : 'He i s a Hebrew and what i f heleaves our a rmy and jo ins Saul ' s? ' Only Achish , theking, t rus ted D avid . H e sa id , 'I ha ve kn o w n D avid verywel l for many years . He has been staying with us forsuch a long t ime, we can surely t rust him. ' The otherprinces of the Phi l is t ines did not bel ieve David and hewas compel led to go back, very sad and d isappointed .He was sad because he thought : 'Saul , my enemy,has been t rying to ki l l me al l these many years . I havedo ne h im no ha rm . Even thou gh I cou ld ha ve k il ledhi m on tw o occasions , I spa red h im an d ye t he w an tsto kil l me.1 At l a s t he had jo ined the a rmy of the

Phi l is t ines who were going up against Saul to bat t le .D a v i d k n e w t h a t S a u l h a d b e e n a n o i n t e d k i n g b ySam uel an d th ou gh Sau l ha d been d i sobed ien t to God ' sW ord, ye t he w as s ti ll G od ' s ano inted . Th at is w h y G odh ad n ot a l low ed D avid to touch Saul , bu t D avid ha dbecome impat ient . He was t i red of suffer ing, so he wassaying in his heart , ' I have done no harm to Saul andyet he wants to ki l l me. I have no shelter or place tos tay; I am d ep en d in g on m y f riends for m y hom e, foodand clothing. How long can I suffer? There is a l imitto everyth ing . '

18


23/130

That i s how we a lso a rgue in our hear t s when oursuffering goes on for a long t ime. We say, 'How longcan I suffer? After al l , I a m a h u m a n b ein g. I a m n ot anangel . I am no t a su pe rn a tu ra l b e ing . Look a t poo r m e,for the last so m an y ye ars I ha ve bee n suffering so m uc h.I read m y Bible an d do ev ery thin g I can to please G od .I am no t do ing any bo dy any ha rm , and ye t G od doesnot look on my affliction. 'Tha t is ho w w e s t a rt m u rm ur in g . We hav e do ub t sand fears and we begin to use the wrong weapons toovercome our t r ia ls . But David was a man of God. Heknew God. He had exper ienced God ' s in te rven t ion onmany occas ions , and he a lways went to God for he lpand consul ted the Lord before he went anywhere . Heknew also how to find the wil l of God.In 1 Sa m ue l 3 :1 -10 we see h o w D avid co ns u l t edthe hig h pr iest to f ind G od 's wi l l before g oing an yw he re.In the Old Testament the high pr iest wi th the help ofthe s tones of the Ur im and Thummin was able to f indGod 's wi l l , so any person having any mat te r upon h is

hear t consul ted the h igh pr ies t . He would go to h imand say: "Please f ind out God 's w rill for me in thismat te r . "Now David knew tha t on many occas ions God hadbeen w i th h im to he lp h im , ye t on th is occasion , w i tho ut

consul t ing God, he had joined the Phi l is t ines ' . Ratherthan depend upon the Lord he had become impa t i en tto t ake revenge upon Sau l , and was say ing in a humanw ay : 'I ha v e suffered so m u ch at the h a n d of Saul . Eventhou gh I ha ve be en an oin ted k ing , ye t here I am l iv ing19


24/130

in caves w i th ou t she l te r and ho m e and food. I am no tgoing to wai t any longer .1 So he had decided to jointhe army of the Phil ist ines.

* * *When David and h is men re turned to Ziklag thevfound the i r houses burnt . They found the i r women andchi ldren gone and their s tuff looted by the Amaleki tes .All this was due to David 's fa i lure . He ought to haveconsul ted God before going to the Phi l is t ines, but hadbe e n de pe nd ing upon h i s own wi sdom a nd s t r e ng th a tthat t ime. When he came back, he found that a l l thehu ts ha d been burn t and tha t the enem y had taken aw aytheir stuff and the women and children as captives. Sothev al l began to weep, and they wept loudly and long.

They wept t i l l they could weep no more, so great wasthe i r sor row.D a v i d ' s m e n e v e n w a n t e d t o s t o n e h i m . W h e n

t roubles come, even our f r iends become our enemies!(1 S am ue l 30:6). D avid w as greatly distressed becau sethe people spoke of stoning him. They were his soldiers,but because of their t rouble they wanted to stone theirleader! D avid w as left alone. The Phil ist ines did no t w an thim, and now his own men were saying, 'We wil l s tonevou. ' He was alone, quite alone. He had lost his wivesand chi ldren everyth ing . Then suddenly he came tohis senses (verse 6). Underl ine these words, and one daythev wil l help you when you are forsaken by your dearones, and when even those whom you love forsake you.David encouraged himself in the Lord. He came to h issenses and said, 'O God, forgive me for my failures, for

20


25/130

no t f inding Y our wTill before I joined th e Ph ilistines. Lo rd,forgive m e. N o w I h av e n ob od y to be m y friend or tosympathise wi th me. '

Then David sent for the priest , Abiathar, and askedhim, 'Please, f ind out God's wil l for me. What shall wedo? Shall we go against our enemies the Amalekites? 'God said, 'Yes, go. ' Again he said, 'Now, Lord, if we go,wil l we recover al l that we have lost?" And God said:(verse 8, last part) 'Without fail , without fail , you willrecover all.1God spoke and David be l ieved God and they wentafter the Amalekites. In the field they found an Egyptianlying on the ground, sick, so they gave him some foodand water . He was revived and David asked h im, 'Whoare you? ' He sa id , ' I am one of the servants of theA m alekites a n d o n the w ay I fell sick an d m y m aster leftme in the field and they are gone. ' With the help of thatman David found the place where the Amaleki tes weree nc a m ping , a nd t he y we re e a t i ng a nd d r ink ing a nddancing wi th joy . Suddenly David and h is men came

upon them and recovered the i r wives and chi ldren , andstuff, and also spoiled the Amalekites. The spoil was sogreat that they were able to pay in full all the debts theyhad incurred. As we had seen ear l ier David a lso sentgif ts and presents to a l l the people with whom he hadbeen staying.We read in the next chapter 31:3-6 about the batt le

of the Philistines against Saul. In that battle Saul died.W he n D avid h ad t ried to kill Saul, G od w ou ld n ot a l lowh i m to d o s o , b e c a u s e S a u l w a s G o d ' s a n o i n t e d .

21


26/130

Now Saul and his sons had been ki l led in the bat t le .There had been no need for David to f ight against Saul .Unknown to Da v id , God wa s work ing on h i s behalf.God had chosen David for a great and high service. Hew as not only Go d's king bu t ha d been chosen by G od asa pro ph et . He w as not only G od 's prop het , bu t one w h ohad also received from God His heavenly plan. That iswhy he had to be refined in many refining fires. We asbelievers have also been chosen by God for a very highand lof ty purpose and that is why we too have to gothrough extreme suffering to be ready for that calling. Itis for us to find out God's will for our lives.In the Old Testament , people had to go to the highpriest , but now God Himself is our High Priest . He is

our Saviour , our Lord, our King, our Friend, and alsoou r A dv oc ate . W e can go to H im at an y t im e. The pr iestwa s g ive n two s tone s , t he Ur im a nd t he T hum m im ,but now the Lord Jesus Chris t has put in us these twostones divine l ight and d iv ine t ru th . According toPsalm 43:3 when we go into the house of God to f indGod's wi l l , His l ight and His t ruth, as the indwell ingChrist in our heart , wi l l lead us.

He is our t ruth and our l ight and our guidance. Butmany be l ievers do not exerc ise the i r r ights . Wi thoutconsul t ing God they go to somebody else for advice .Some bel ievers make their own plans and use their ownbrains. They think much more of their fr iends and theirw or ld ly w isdo m . Rather than be gov erned by G od 's wil lthey are gov erned b y wo r ld ly wisd om . Th us , in businessan d m arr iage and o ther m at te rs they m ake mis takes andwhen you quest ion them: 'Why did you not wai t for

22


27/130

G od's will? ' they reply, 'H ow long could I w ai t? I ha vew aite d for so m an y years . M y hair is bec om ing grey,and who will marry me if I wait too long? No! no! thisw on ' t w ork! I hav e wai ted , an d w ai ted , an d I can w ai tno longer.1

That i s the reason why many are suffer ing today.They have neglec ted God 's wi l l and los t God ' s p lan ,an d he nc e are suffer ing he av y loss . O ne day , like D avid,they wi l l weep t i l l they can weep no more , and eventhe i r f r iends wi l l forsake them. Everyone wi l l l eavethem. Then they wi l l know wha t i t cos t s to fo rsakeGod's wi l l , and to fa i l to seek His guidance.Be su re to f ind G od 's w il l. Please do n ot go w ith thePh i li s tines , w h eth er they are uncles , au nts , or re la t ions .D o n o t u s e y o u r w o r l d l y w i s d o m for a n y m a t t e r ,whe the r t he y be f a m i ly m a t t e r s o r c hu rc h m a t t e r s .Otherwise , be p repared to weep and weep , and to loseeven your in t imate f r iends .

Fina l ly , David came back to God. Oh! thank Godfor the humil i ty and meekness wi th which he came toG o d a n d e n c o u r a g e d h i m s e l f in t h e L o r d . D a v i denqui red f rom the Lord , and the Lord spoke to David .Then David recovered a l l and much more than he hadlos t . I t was a b lessed day. He and h is men re jo icedand the women and chi ldren re jo iced . They got backthe i r househo ld stuff, and David was a l so able to payevery debt .

Now you can p rove fo r yourself, that not only wil lGod r e c ove r you r l o s se s , bu t you r so r rows wi l l be23


28/130

ch an ge d to joy w h e n yo u com e back to the Lord . Dono t d ep en d o n the Phi l i st ines an d you r fr iends b ut learnto put your t rust in Chris t a lone. Learn to enquire ofGod in every s i tuat ion, seek to know His wil l , to hearHis voice and to obey Him, and though the s i tua t ionmay be impossible , s t i l l obey Him.

24


29/130

C hapter 4D A V I D 'S S E C O N D L O SS

(1 Chronicles 13 & 15)NOW let us look at the second great loss that Davidhad incurred. Let us f i rs t read two port ions from God'sW ord . Th e first po rtio n w e find in 1 C hro n. 13 an d thesecond in 1 C hro n. 15. W ith w h at zeal an d labour D avidsought to bring again the ark of God to i ts place. But

alas! Instead of gathering the Israeli tes and the sons ofAaron and the sons of the Kohathi tes as commandedby God in N um be rs 4 and 7, he used h is ow n h u m a nwisdom and zeal to carry the ark in a new cart . Thish ad bee n d o ne b y the Phil istines in 1 Sam. 6.You m ay rem em ber h o w the ark of G od wa s cap turedby the Philistines in 1 Sam and how, because of it a greatjudgement had fal len upon them when they set the arkfirst in the house of their god Dagon, and then sent it to

Gath and Ekron. Wherever the ark of God was taken theju d g em en t fell (1 Sam . 5:10-12). A t last in C h ap te r 6 thePhilistines sent the ark of God back to the land of Israel.

25


30/130

Years la ter , when David thought of br inging the arkof G o d a g ain to i ts plac e he first im itate d the P hil ist ines.God had so c lea r ly commanded in Numbers 4 :15 and7:9, that the ark of God was to be carried only by thesons of Kohath , the sons of the Levi tes , upon the i rshoulders . I t was never to be carr ied in a car t . Yet nowD av id in his zeal , inste ad of co ns ul t ing w ith the Levi tes,c onsu l t e d wi th t he c a p t a in of t hou sa n ds a nd hu nd re d s ,as w e rea d in 1 C hr on . 13 :1 . "An d all the co ng reg at ionsaid that they would do so, for the thing was r ight inthe eyes of al l the people" (verse 4).

The resul t was tha t the a rk was p laced on a newcar t an d on the w ay the oxen s tum bled a nd w h en Uzzaput for th his hand to s teady the ark, the anger of theL ord wa s k ind l e d a ga ins t Uz z a so t ha t He sm ote h im .Thus they could not br ing the a rk to i t s p lace . But inc h a p t e r 15 w e r e a d ho w D a v id r e pe n t e d of t h e ve rys e r i o u s m i s t a k e m a d e in c h a p t e r 13 . T h e n h e g a t h e r e dt h e L e v i t e s a n d th e c h i l d r e n of A a r o n t o g e t h e r(1 C h ro n . 15 :4 -5 ; 11 -13) , a n d con fessed tha t he h adnot sought the Lord af ter the divine order revealed sop l a i n l y a n d c l e a r l y i n t h e b o o k s o f N u m b e r s a n dD e u t e r o n o m y , a n d c o n s e q u e n t l y h e a n d t h e w h o l enat ion had suffered a very heavy loss . Now when hebegan to obey and fol low the divine order as revealedin the W or d of G od , w ith gre at joy he an d al l the pe op lewere able to bring the ark of God to i ts r ightful place(1 Chron. 15:28) .

Af ter th is grea t event David wrote the wonderfu lsong of tha nk sg iv ing w hich w e hav e as Psa lm 105 , an dwe f ind those words express ing the thoughts tha t f i l led26


31/130

the heart of David after the ark had been brought to i tsp lace . "O g ive th an ks un to the -L ord , ca ll u p o n H isNa m e , m a ke known Hi s de e ds a m ong the pe op l e , t a l kye of all His wondrous works" etc. (vs. 1-7; 14, 15).D avid 's he art w as full of praise an d he w as exu l t ingin the Lo rd, a n d s ay ing to the peo ple : "Seek ye the L ordand His s t rength, seek His face evermore" (verse 4) .Unless we seek God's face constantly and try to f indHis heavenly plan in every mat ter , seeking to fol lowH is ord er in a ll ou r act ivi ties , du t ies an d p lan s, w h et h erin the house or in the church, we are bound to suffervery heavy loss . We cannot be governed by our zea l ,o r w i sdom , o r j udge m e n t .

Today there i s very grea t loss among God 's people ,be c a use o f t he f a i l u re t o fo l l ow God ' s W ord . Fo rexam ple , G od ' s W ord is so c lear tha t e lders an d deac on sare never to be chosen by elect ion, but that af ter muchprayer and oneness o f hea r t they shou ld be b roughtforward , and only a f te r they have been fu l ly tes ted ,should be se t apar t .

Alas! for this sp ir i tual m inist ry in the H ou se of G od ,w e f ind in a lm ost every pa r t of the w or ld , an d in a lm ostevery Chr is t ian congregat ion , tha t the e lders or churchcommi t t ee members , o r wha tever you may l ike to ca l lthem, a re e lec ted by vo t ing . Even those peop le whobel ieve in f inding elders by prayer become so carelessand neg l igen t in th i s ve ry impor tan t t a sk tha t wi thou tg r a y i n g to g e t h e r as G o d ' s s e r v a n t s a n d c o - w o r k e r sconcerning th is mat te r , they are governed by a man ' shuman qual i f icat ions, by his abi l i ty to speak, or by his

27


32/130

worldly posi t ion or o ther resources . That i s why thereis so much st r i fe and content ion and jealousy in somecongregat ions , because- those tha t were defea ted in thee lec t ion of church commit tee members or e lders beginto f ight wi th those who were e lected, and this s t r i fehas i ts effect on al l the people in the congregation. Theresul t is ba r ren ne ss an d sp i r i tua l infancy, and peo plecome and go away hungry f rom the serv ices .

Again in the ear ly church , when the be l ievers werein need they t rusted God. They never had to beg forthe ir m on ey , no r had to go ab ou t g iv ing h in ts to o thers ,bu t t rus ted God , and God he lped them.I n t h e s e d a y s , h o w e v e r , it h a s b e c o m e q u i t e a

fash ion , when be l i eve rs want money , to s t a r t g iv inghints , or making appeals , even going to the extent ofus ing h igh-press ure m eth od s in o rde r to squeeze m oneyfrom pe op le 's po ck ets . Such mo ne y can no t be sancti fiedby G od , an d becau se such peop le ha ve enti re ly igno redthe W ord o f God a nd t he o rde r o f God , t he y a r esuffer ing spir i tual losses.

T hough Da v id wa s a g re a t k ing , a nd ha d fough tmany ba t t l e s , and was a man a f t e r God ' s own hear t ,yes , e ve n t hough he wa s a ve ry wi se k ing a nd Godhad used h im migh t i ly , ye t he was t ry ing in h i s ownwisdom to br ing the a rk of God to i t s p lace , and a l lthe peop le thought i t was the r igh t th ing to do . Theyal l agreed wi th h im when he suggested to the mi l i ta . -vcap ta ins and genera l s and o f f i ce r s that t h e y s h o u l aorgan i se a g rand mi l i t a ry p rocess ion and b r i n g h o m ethe a rk i n t r i um ph . T he y all thought that they were

28


33/130

doing a great service for God, but i t was a l l ent i re lya c c o rd ing t o t he i r own wi sdom , a nd no t a c c o rd ingto the Word of God and the divine plan.

La te r when David repen ted o f h i s mis take , Godforgave him, for God is merciful and gracious, and ifwe hum ble ou r se lve s a nd c on fe s s ou r f a i l u re s a ndmistakes, He forgives us and helps us to recover everyloss. The resul t was that a great joy was experiencedby t he who le na t i on a nd God ' s W ord wa s honoure dwhen the ark of God was carr ied to i ts place upon theshoulders of the sons of the Kohathi tes as God hadc o m m a n d e d .Now the ark of God speaks of the Lord Jesus Chris t

Himself. O nly those w h o are t ru ly bo rn aga in and thosewho are cal led by him have the pr ivi lege of present ingH i s c l a i m s a n d s h o w i n g t o t h e p e o p l e t h e w a y o fsalvat ion. Alas! Again we f ind in these days so manymen who are never cal led by God to His service , butare s imply thrust into the mission f ie lds. The resul t i sthat more than sixty-five per cent of the missionarieswho go out f rom countr ies l ike England or Scot land orAmerica or Canada or Austra l ia , never re turn to theirrespe ctive m iss ion fields after their first term of five y ea rsi s over . They go back home disappointed , and in manyc a s e s b r o k e n h e a r t e d . T h e y g o b a c k w i t h a m e n t a lbre ak -do w n because they w ere never called by G od, bu twere sent out by some commit tee , or because of somehuman in f luence .

In the same way , many pe rsons have been g ivenposit ions in Christ ian circles, because of their wealth or29


34/130

posi t ion, but they have never been cal led by God forthat service, and are therefore unable to govern churchaffairs according to God's wil l .

The same can be said about marr iages. There are som a n y p e o p l e w h o u s e th e ir h u m a n w i s d o m w h e n th eyc ons ide r m a r r i a ge . As young pe op l e t he y l i ke e a c hother , and are very much at t racted to each other , butthey are governed only by those feelings of affection orlove or a t t ract ion. Maybe they are posi t ive a t that t imeth a t G od w a n t s t h e m to be j o ine d t og e th e r a s lifepartners, but they never seek the face of the Lord.I a m t a l k i n g a b o u t b e l i e v e r s , n o t u n b e l i e v e r s ,be cau se as bel iev ers w e ha v e the pr ivi lege of be ing ableto seek God's face and find his wil l on every matter .

God has promised to speak to those who seek His faceand His wi l l . There a re many be l i eve rs , who , ra the rt h a n c o n s u l t G o d a b o u t t h e i r m a r r i a g e s a n d a b o u tG od 's choice for the m , co ns ult the m selv es, their feel ingsand emot ions , o r consu l t the i r f r i ends and re la t iveswhom they respec t , and never go down on the i r kneesabout the mat te r . They refuse to pray wi th o thers whocould he lp them by prayer to f ind God 's wi l l , and tha ti s why the re a re so many unhappy homes . They beg intheir m arr ied l ives w ith hig h ho pe s, bu t soo n af terwa rdsthe cou ple find th a t they can no t ge t a long together an dthere is constant s t r i fe in the family, and unhappinessin the i r own hear t s .

I n t h e d i v i n e o r d e r w e , a s b e l i e v e r s , h a v e t h eprivi lege of f inding God's perfect wi l l in every mat ter ,whether i t be church ac t iv i ty , or minis t ry or any o ther30


35/130

service in the house of God. In these days there aremany people ful l of zeal , who have a great desire totake the gospel to many parts of the country and evento the world. With zeal they go from house to house,s t ree t to s t ree t, an d cou nt ry to cou nt ry , sp en din g m uc ht im e , m one y a nd e ne rgy , ye t t he y do no t s e e m toaccomplish much, nor do they see much frui t .

For the f i rs t few months they may be very happya s t h e y s e e p e o p l e b u y i n g b o o k s a n d s h o w i n g a ninterest in the Word of God, but there are very few,compara t ive ly speaking, who are rea l ly born aga in asa resul t . We cannot blame them, because we are a lsoto blame in s imilar mat ters .I kn ow from m y ow n exper ience , w h en I firs t b ega nm y m inist ry in K arachi several years ago in 1933 .1 us edto go f rom house to house and s t ree t to s t ree t wi thgosp els an d book le ts in m an y langu age s , because therewere people from many parts of India l iving in Karachiin thos e da ys . I w o u ld b eg in my service ear ly in themorning and was able to d is t r ibute a la rge number of

b o o k s a n d t r a c t s a n d B ib l es , a n d m a d e m a n ywonde r fu l c on t a c t s .M a n y H i n d u s , M o h a m m e d a n s a n d S i k h s s h o w e dinterest . Th ey inv i ted m e to their ho m es an d I w as ab leto s i t wi th them and ta lk wi th them for hours about

the way of salvat ion. I gave them my test imony, but Isaw no resu l t s . Very few were rea l ly born aga in . Itho ug ht , how ev er , tha t I h ad do ne my d uty! Af ter a llsouls a re not born aga in in one day, and God in Hiso w n t ime w o u ld b less w i th fruit. But I got d iscourag ed,31


36/130

and became t i red , and wondered why the re were nores ults . So I b eg an to pr ay : 'Lo rd, w h y is it tha t I do n' tsee resu l ts for my labo ur a n d m inist ry? I m iss m an ym eals , I w alk so m an y m iles , I spea k to so m an y peo ple ,I make much sacrifice, yet I do not see any result for i tall. '

A n d G od said to m e clearly: 'I ne ve r told you tomiss so many meals , or to go without food, or to walkso many mi les . You are doing everyth ing in your ownwisdom .1 I t was a shock to me. In the beginning, theLo rd ha d sp ok en to m e ev en before I cam e to Indiatha t I w as never to m ake m y ow n p lans , bu t som eho wI ha d no t fu lly u nd ers to od w ha t those w or ds m eant .

N o w I be g an to see tha t w e as bel ievers in the LordJesus Christ can seek His face, and before we begin ourday we can ge t His heavenly p lan . That day , I dec idedthat I was not going to go out . The Lord was going tospeak w rith m e first ; so I co nt in ue d in pray er, an d aftera long t ime of prayer God spoke to me, and said to me:'Today I want you to go to a p lace ca l led Soldier ' sBazaar .' I cal led m y fr iends, an d said: 'G od has sp ok ento m e, tha t there is so m e sou l rea dy in Soldier 's Bazaar.Kind ly come wi th me . '

They answered, ' I t is very far off; i t must be aboutfour mi les f rom here , and i t i s now a lmos t midday .Bes ides , i t i s a ve ry ho t day . Le t us go tomorrowm or ni ng , w h e n it is nice an d cool .' I sa id: 'N o, the Lordha s spo ke n c lear ly a nd I be l ieve there is som e hu ng ryh e a r t w a i t i n g fo r t h e m e s s a g e , a n d w e c a n n o td i sappoin t h im. We mus t go .1

32


37/130

So, ra th er un w il l ingly , they agreed to com e w i thm e. We had to walk. In those days we never went bybus or tram from place to place for gospel work. Afterhaving walked about three or four mi les we saw anopen space before a shop, and we s tood there , sang asong and began to g ive a message . A Mohammedancam e ou t of the sh op an d said: 'No w look here, I am aM o h am m ed an an d th is is m y shop . I w on ' t a llow a nyC hris t ian to pre ac h before m y sh op . ' I said, 'W ell , G od 'sm essag e is nev er forced u p o n an yb od y; if w e leave you,y o u w i l l h a v e t o g i v e a n a c c o u n t t o G o d o n t h ejudgement day. We have been sent by Him, and i f youdo n ' t wa n t us , w e wil l go aw ay. Only you be pre pare dto give an account to God for this! '

We moved on fur ther , and again we saw an opens p a c e , a n d s t o o d t h e r e , s a n g a s o n g a n d b e g a n topreach. Then there came a pol iceman. He said: 'This isa pol ice s tat ion. You cannot s tand here.1 I said: 'Lord,You told me to go to Soldier ' s Bazaar , and nobodywants us . ' However, we decided to go s t i l l further , sowe went on , and aga in saw an open space , and theLord sa id: 'Now, s top here! ' So we preached and sanga song, and had a word of prayer . We a lways have aword o f p raye r be fo re we p reach , fo r we f ind byexperience that i t is much bet ter to begin the messageby prayer . We have made i t a ru le wherever poss ib leto go down on our knees , for hearts are softened asthey see us going on our knees and cal l ing upon Godto help us to give His message, and asking that thehe are rs m igh t rece ive G od ' s m essage . So w e pra ye d ,an d after I h a d f in ished the m essa ge an d h ad a w o rdof p raye r , a man came to me , a man ca l l ed Amar

33


38/130

Nath, and sa id to me: 'Mis te r , the Lord has sent youfo r m y s a k e . I a m a H i n d u g r a d u a t e fr o m P u n j a bUnivers i ty , and have been go ing about in sea rch o fpeace for four years , but nobody can he lp me. I haveb e e n to m a n y w e l l - k n o w n H i n d u p l a c e s , b u tso m eh ow I ha ve no t found sa ti sfact ion . '

He a dde d t ha t he ha d be e n wi sh ing t o m e e t som et rue Chr i s t i ans , bu t he never knew where to go . Andhe fu r the r sa id : 'I w as so h a p p y w h e n I h ea rd yo upe op le s ing ing Ch r i s t i an song s . I am s ure God ha s sen tyou for my sake .1 T ha t da y he found pe a c e ; a nd agre a t joy cam e in to m y he ar t as I saw tha t m an y w ereread ing ou t o f the Bib le and f ind ing t rue peace inC h r i s t .From that day the whole picture changed. The Lordtook us to all kinds of places; some being even lonelyplaces; and though, numerically, there were few people,the Lord began to save souls. We had decided we wouldpray together and find God's plan and then go out , andas we did so, people were saved and we began to see

results. The work has never ceased since.I r em em ber an o the r t ime som e years ago w h en G odspoke to me and told me to go to a very lonely vil lageca l l ed Bu rnoo l . I h ad n ev er be en the re myself, b u th av in g p ra y ed aga in I he ar d th e voice of G od: 'Go to

Bu rnool! ' so I sa id to m y friend: 'Co m e on , let us g o! A ta v i l lage ca l led Burnool there i s someone ready. ' Heagreed, and we set out . I t was a very far off place. Wehad to go by t ra in about a hundred mi les , then walkfor some distance, go by boat and then walk again.34


39/130

I s imply kn ew there w as some bo dy there, and tha twe must go. We took a few books wi th us , and theLord told me to take an Urdu Bible also. So havingt ravel led near ly a l l day, by t ra in and boat and thenwalking, we came to the vi l lage ca l led Burnool jus tbefore su nse t . I w as s ta n d in g on one corn er of thecrossing and my fr iend on the other s ide, and as I wasstanding there, a man came up to me. He said: ' I cansee vou are a Ch ris tian. I am a M oh am m ed an . This ism y vi llage, an d I w o n' t a l low any Ch ris t ian to prea chin my village.1

I said: 'W ell, it is qu i te t rue yo u are a M o h am m ed an ,and this is your vi l lage, but I am not sent by any man.I can tell yo u truthfu lly, I w as sen t by G od . I d o n ' t w or kfor any society, and am not paid for my work. I usedto ha te the Bible a n d I us ed to ha te Ch rist ian s. I w asbrought up in the Sikh re l ig ion, and the Lord JesusC h r i s t Himself, w i t h o u t m y h e a r i n g a s e r m o n o ra t t e n d i n g a m e e t i n g , m e t m e in t h e m o n t h ofD ecem ber 1929, an d ch an g ed m y life com pletely. Lateron I gave my whole l ife for God's service in 1932, andnow He com m an ds m e , and I go w here H e s ends me . Iobey His Word. He is a l iving Saviour who died for al ls inn ers . A n d I ha ve h ea rd His voice, for I nev er eve nknew the name of this vi l lage. '

Then he asked: 'All r ight , where are you s taying? 'an d I said: 'Righ t he re. ' 'Very w ell, ' he said: 'Co m e a n dstay w ith m e!' 'That 's ve ry k ind of you! ' I said, an d hean sw er ed : 'Sup po se I invi te the pe op le, wil l yo u give am e s s ag e ? ' A n d th a t m a n , a M o h a m m e d a n h e a d m a nof the vi l lage, sent his servants and gathered a large

35


40/130

num be r o f H indus a nd Moha m m e da ns , a nd he h im se l fbe cam e m y interpre ter . After I h ad g iven the m essag e,many peop le showed in te res t and bought books , andwent home, and then we had some food .

A f te r w e h a d f oo d t o g e t h e r , a M o h a m m e d a npol iceman came to me. He said 'Mister , God sent youfor my sake. ' He then told me that someone had givenhim an Urdu gospel some years ago, and he had readi t again and again, wai t ing for someone to come andexplain more fully the way of salvation. I t was for thisreason God had told me to take the Urdu Bible! WhenI gav e i t to h im h e w as so thankfu l , a nd soon foundt rue peace .I n t h i s w a y , w h e n e v e r w e w e r e a b l e t o p r a ytoge the r we found resu l t s , and b less ing , and God ' spo w er in a ne w w ay . Th is ha d .h ap pe ne d no t on ly once,b u t a ll d o w n these p as t thi r ty- tw o years of the m inist ry.We have found by exper ience tha t when we are ableto wai t upon the Lord suff ic ient ly and pat ient ly forany m inist ry, the Lord h as been w ith u s in a very special

way. That i s why there i s such b less ing when we haveg o s p e l c a m p a i g n s , g o s p e l m e e t i n g s a n d h o l yconvocat ions . We pray and God showers h is b less ings .Because we seek God 's p lan for our minis t ry , wenever had to a sk fo r money . Nowadays we f ind so

m an y p eop le w h o w h en they ha ve a b ig project in v iew,and have no money , beg in to beg . They fee l qu i t ejus t i f ied in asking for money, and use a l l k inds ofwor ld ly methods , even to t ak ing money f rom ungodlypeople . They do not see from the Word of God that the36


41/130

apos t les nev er ha d to beg for mo ney . Peop le them selvesw e r e c o n s t r a i n e d , a n d w e r e t a u g h t h o w t o g i v ejoyfully. We have found in our own service for the Lordin India al l these years that we never had to give anyhint for money,

Somet imes the need had been very grea t , but wehave prayed together and because i t i s the Lord ' s workand He i s re spons ib le fc r our needs , He has a lwayssuppl ied i t . We never had to wai t even a s ingle day topay any bi l l . We have the promise that the Lord wil lpay everyth ing on t ime. However , in every case , wehave to make sure f i rs t of the Lord 's plan and His t imefor any campaign, or for any gospel minist ry of anykind. We do not look to any man, in India or in anyother country, for help. But we seek to fol low God'so rde r .

This is very important for our personal l i fe, for ourfamily life, and also for our church life. If we followthe d iv ine o rde r then we know tha t God Himse l f i sresponsib le for a l l our needs . When we use our ownw isd om , l ike D avid , an d chan ge Go d 's order , w e suffervery he av y loss , an d th is is a grave w ar ni ng to us ab ou tthe necessi ty for wai t ing upon the Lord, for obeyingHis Word and fo l lowing His order .

In the bui lding up of the church this is par t icular lynecessary . We want shepherds a f te r God 's own hear t ,and we have to pray wi th the church for days , maybeven fo r weeks and months , to f ind those whom Godhas cal led and prepared and chosen for this great task.Whatever the responsib i l i ty we have to bear in God 's

37


42/130

service we must a lways seek God's face and His plan.W e m t i s t n e v e r t r y t o c h a n g e th e W o r d of G o d ,by say in g th a t w e a re l iv ing in a n ew age , an d indifferent days.

G od 's W ord ca n never chan ge , so pray tha t the Lordwil l help you to recover every loss that you may haveincurred whether in your serv ice through serving Himin your own wisdom, or in your marr ied l i fe becauseyou marr ied without seeking His face to f ind His wil l .P e r h a p s t h r o u g h y o u r r e p e n t a n c e o t h e r s w i l l b eprofi ted, and if in your married l ife you indeed bothr e p e n t o f t h e m i s t a k e y o u m a d e , a n d a s k G o d ' sforgiveness, then He wil l surely forgive you, and youwill not only recover every loss, but your l ives wil l beused of Him to the blessing of others .

38


43/130

C hapter 5DAVID'S THIRD LOSS

(2 Samuel 11)DAVID recovered all. N o w le t us , each one , pu t d o w nour own names in tha t f ragment , c la iming the t ru th ofthose words by fa i th , and praying that the Holy Spir i tmay engrave them upon our hea r t s . Even though youm a y b e e x t r e m e l y s t u p i d a n d c a n n o t r e m e m b e ranything e lse , t ry to remember those few words: David

recovered all.Put your own name in the f ragment as you repea t

t h e w o r d s a l o u d , a n d p r a y t h a t t h e y m a y t r u l yrepresent your own exper ience . I t does not mat te r howgrea t yo ur loss m ay h av e been or h o w e\ er shamefuli ts cau se, yet i t can be recov ered . O ur Lord Jesus C hris tcame in to the wor ld tha t every loss incurred by anys i n n e r , i n a n y c o u n t r y , a n d t o a n y d e g r e e , m i g h tbe recovered .

All of us have lost many things from the days of ourchi ldhood. We have los t books , penci l s , rubbers and39


44/130

fountain pens in our school days. Some have lost theirchappals, a n d o th e r s t he i r ke y s ; o th e r s a g a in t he i rf o u n t a i n p e n s a n d w a t c h e s . - C a n y o u i m a g i n e h o wmany th ings you have los t down the yea rs? Try toprepare a l is t and then imagine a l l those things beingbrought back to you one day! What a great joy i t wouldbe!

In the sam e w ay , m an v ha ve lost thei r hea l th , som etheir f r iends, others their chi ldren, and yet others theirjoy. Just imagine what i t would be l ike to get back al lthese th ings , to recover whatever has been los t . Butwhat an even greater joy would be ours i f we couldrecover a l l that w7e h av e los t sp i r i tu a l ly . W e are sofoo l i sh , we do no t know how m uc h we a re l o s ingspir i tual ly . We require the help of God to help us toest imate r ight ly our spir i tual loss .

Th e story of D av id 's third loss in 2 Sa m uel 11 ha s amessage for both believers and unbelievers. First of al l ,we are made to see the wickedness and decept ion ofm an ' s hea r t . W hoev er we m ay be , ho w eve r good andn i c e w e m a y l o o k o u t w a r d l y , w e a r e i n w a r d l y a l lequally defiled, fil thy and dirty7. There is no truth inour l ives . We do not want to know our t rue condi t ion .When we are told about i t , our pr ide is hurt . That iswhy many peop le a re o f fended and hur t when read ingGod ' s W ord .

They are l ike the ugly man who had never seen am i r r o r . O n e d a y w 7h i l e w a l k i n g o n a f o o t p a t hsomewhere, he found a mirror . He looked at i t and forthe first t ime saw his black face: i t was blacker than

40


45/130

coal wi th th ick hanging l ips and ears . When he sawhis ugly face in the mirror he got so angry that he tooka piece of s tone and broke the glass . He said to themirror , 'What do you mean? You are insul t ing me. Iam not as black as that . You are a l iar . ' He broke themirror , but that did not change his face.

N on e of us w an ts to see our t rue cond i tion. W e w an tto look somewhat bet ter than we are . There are somew h o in their ho m es w ear v ery dir ty c lothes. Their vashtteslook as if they h ad n o t be en w as h ed for six m o nt h s. Theirpil lowcases are so fi l thy and thick with dirt that theylook as i f they have not been washed for three years .Yet , when these people go out , they look so nice andsweet , so c lean and smart .

There a re o ther people who in the i r drawing-roomsha ve ev ery thin g so c lean an d nice w ith costly furni ture ,But w h e n yo u go into their ba thro om , you req uire a c lotht o c o v e r y o u r n o s e . W h e n y o u g o t o t h e k i t c h e neverything is black and fi l thy. Why is this? Because thelady of the house i s working, she takes hours to washhe r ha ir an d dr es s nicely, b u t h as no t im e to care for h erh o u s e . I n t h e s a m e w a y , s p i r i t u a l l y s o m e p e o p l eoutwardly a re one th ing and inwardly a re another . TheLord knows the t rue heart condi t ion of each one, andH e will tel l u s exactly w h a t is ou r real in w ar d con dit ion .Even tho ug h i t m ay be very hu m bl ing , it is good to kno wwhat the Lord has to say about our t rue condi t ion.

When you go to a doctor for t rea tment , unless yourt roub le i s p roper ly d iagnosed you cannot be t rea ted .There is a disease cal led tuberculosis . In the ear ly days

41


46/130

they d id no t k n o w it s cause an d ma ny th ou gh t tha tthey were pos ses sed wi th demons , i f t hey had tha tdisease . The pat ient was lef t in some corner to die ,som et ime^ for m an y years . W hen , ho w eve r , m en foundthe cause of the disease, they also discovered a cure.W h e n I w e n t t o D e n m a r k , t h e r e w e r e m a n ysan i tor ium s all s t an din g em pty . In the early day s w h enthey did not know the cause of the disease , there werem a n y p a t i e n t s ; b u t w h e n t h e y f o u n d t h e c a u s e a n d

the remedy, tha t d isease has been eradicated f rom theco un try . In the s am e w ay i t is go od to know , the realcond i t i on o f our hea r t s . Do no t be angry when theL o r d , t h r o u g h H i s s e r v a n t s , a n d t h r o u g h H i s W o r d ,shows you your t rue heart condit ion. The Bible says thehear t of man is despera te ly wicked and who can knowit? (Jeremiah 17:9).

N o w let u s look at th e s tory of D avid in 2 Sam . 11 .W he n w e f ir st me t h i m in 1 S a m u e l 16:18, nobody cou ldh a v e b e e n m o r e c u l t u r e d a n d g o o d t h a n h e w a s .Everybody admi t ted th i s . F rom his youth he had beena Go d-fearing, wise , ho nes t an d goo d m an . Also he w ascho sen of G od. N o w a m a n of any cas te or cou ntry m aybe h ighly edu ca ted an d cu l ture d /b ut tha t does no t m ea nthat h is inward heart i s changed . People do not knowtheir inward nature. David was not born to l ive a l i feof sin.

The re a re some chi ldren who are born wi th ev i linclinations and as they grow up they show signs of evilhabits, judging by their words and manners. That w a snot true of Da vid. He w as a good m an, l iving a go od life

42


47/130

for many years. He hated evil and kept away from it .But unknown to David there was a h idden evi l na turesom ew here , an d unless G od fu lly ch ang ed h im , he couldnot be used in any great measure .

The incid ent in 2 Sam . 11, h ap p en ed in Dav id 's l ifeso that David might see himself as God saw him. In avery cunning and sub t l e way he was t empted by thedevil. In the first verse of the chapter, we realize howt h e d e v i l h a d b e e n w a t c h i n g a n d w a i t i n g f o r a nopportuni ty to br ing before David this temptat ion.

The t ime had come, we are told, for the kings to goto war ; and David was a man of war , a mighty man,but , ra ther than go to war as he ought to have done ,he sa t a t home in Jerusa lem. Outwardly th is was onlya very small fai lure, but in the sight of God i t was avery grea t fa i lure . He was a man of war , and shouldha ve gone t o wa r himself. Ins tead , he s tayed behindin Jerusalem.

The secon d v erse te lls us it w as eve nt ide an d tho ug hD avid wa s a m ighty m an he h ad b een s leeping unt i l theevening. There a re so many people l ike th is who ares leeping when they should be awake . They can s leepanywhere and a t any t ime, even in meet ings! Then i fsomebody wakes them up and te l l s them not to go tosleep, they say, ' I was not sleeping, I was just praying! '

In th is subt le way the mighty man became a lazyman. Can you not see how s tep by s tep the devi l wastem pt in g D avid? Rem em ber the devi l is a very cun ningan d w icke d foe. In a very c un nin g w ay h e t r ied to br ing

43


48/130


49/130

Uriah , however , d id not go home but s lept a t thedoor of the king 's palace. Again David pressed him:'Uriah, you are st i l l very t ired, you can take a few days'leave.1 N ow , gene ral ly , w h e n a soldier app l ies for leave,i t takes six m o n th s before it is san ct ione d. E ven th ou ghhe may say, 'My wife is sick, ' the authorities will say:'You cannot go . ' But here David i s saying, 'Wi thoutappl ica t ion your leave has been extended for so manyd a y s . ' N o b o d y u n d e r s t o o d w h y .

But s ti ll U riah d id n ot go his hou se. W hile the arm ywas on the ba t t l e f i e ld he would no t seek h i s owncomfort . So David's t r ick did not work! Finally, he hadto cause the death of Uriah through Joab. How sad! Aw ise king f inally b eca m e a m urd ere r . He neve r in tend edto m urde r h im . He ha d no t hough t o f be c om ing a nadu l te rer . H e nev er kn ew tha t h id d en p ar t of h is na ture .I t i s on ly whe n t e m pta t i on c a m e tha t he kne w howevi l his heart was.

There a re some diseases tha t a re not evident whenthey are f i r s t cont rac ted , even though we may carrythe germs in our bodies. I t i s only af ter many yearsthat we discover the fact . We do not know i t becausewe are wel l , and s leeping wel l and a lso have hungerfor food. When people hear we are i l l , they say, 'Wedid not know tha t you were not keeping wel l .1 Aftermany years we may begin to fee l i l l and may evenbe c om e ve ry se r i o us ly i ll, b u t w e ne v e r kn e w tha tdisease had been in us al l thctse years.

Why was th i s s to ry about David recorded in theBible? It is for our admonit ion, that we may not be also45


50/130

deceived by the devi l . I t is good to know how the devi lcan deceive us . All of us are born with s inful natures ,but that lesson was learned by David only after he hadsin ne d, as he sa ys in Psalm 5 1, 'Behold, I w as sh ap enin in iqui ty . ' W e saw in 1 Sa m uel 16 ho w the p eo plewere a l l saying what a f ine young man David was a fine God-fearing man, a man of s t rong fai th, lovingand good to a l l . None of these human qual i f ica t ionscan las t forever . No man can be always good, and noeducat ion of anv kind can change our inward nature .We are all born with a sinful nature and one day thatsinful na tu re will m anifest itself an d m ak e u s do sham efulthings , perhaps af ter many years .

You cannot h ide your t rue condi t ion before God.God uncovers our s inful nature in order to forgive andchange us . Before God could use David as his chosenv e s s e l , H e h a d to c h a n g e a n d t r a n s f o r m h i m , a n dc leanse an d pu rg e and wa sh h im. N ow see w ha t Davidsavs in Psalm 5 1. H e h ad rea l ized w h at he w as an dthe true condition of his heart (verses 7, 9 and 10). Thev e r v s a m e D a v i d w h o w a s so h i g h l y a d m i r e d b ye v e r y b o d y i n t h e w h o l e c o u n t r y is m a k i n g t h i sconfess ion. He was making i t wi th a broken hear . t . 'OGod, give me a c lean hear t . Give me a new hear t . Giveme a pure hear t and purge me and c leanse me, andwash me thoroughly, and blot out a l l my iniqui ty .1

You must be wi l l ing to know your t rue condi t ion asGod sees i t . A man may say to you, 'You are a s inner . 'And you reply , 'What r ight do you have to ca l l me as inner? You ask my neighbours and my fr iends . ' Butwhat does God th ink about you? P lease a l low God to

46


51/130

examine you. Cal l s in , s in! There are some people whoare blind, but if you say 'O blind man, ' they get veryan gry . But w h e n v ou say: 'Sur D as! h o w are you ? ' , thenthey are very happy. In Nor thern India ' they never ca l la bl ind man, a bl ind man; they call him Sur Das, aftera very famous bl ind Hindu poet . The Bible cal ls s in ,s in . Whoever you may be , whether a lawyer , a doc tor ,a cu l tu red man , a r i ch man , a poor man , o r a wiseman, before God you are a s inner , a te r r ib le ru inedsinner un d er co nd em na t ion , an d a filthy m an , a dr iedleaf and a faded flower only, a worm and mere clay.

The Bible savs we are born that way. Praise God al lthese th ings can be changed. A s inner can become asaint . A fil thy m an c an be clean sed . A sinful a n d defiledm an can be c lo thed w i th heav enly g arm ents , an d freedfrom all his sins. Confess to God exactly what you are.Do not t ry to make any changes in your condi t ion. Say,'Yes, Lord, I am a sinner, ' but do not say: ' I am muchbet ter than my neighbour. ' Do not say: ' I am a graduatesinne r , or a cu l tur ed sinner . ' If yo u say such thin gs yo uw ill re m ai n as yo u are . Because G od lov es yo u, tell H imyour t rue condi t ion and say before Him: 'Lord, washm e. I a m fi lthy a n d defi led. O G od , create in me a cleanhear t . Take away my old na ture . '

I n t h i s wa y you wi l l r e c ove r e ve ry l o s s . Yourperishing l i fe wil l become abundant ly frui t ful . Everyw o rd y ou spea k and ev ery th in g you do wi l l br ing for thabiding frui t and the very memory of your s inful l i fewil l be gone. When God forgives, He forgives forever .Man wi l l not do tha t . They cannot forge t . But whenGod forgives, He forgets forever and covers your s ins.

47


52/130

Your sins wil l be gone forever. They wil l be blottedout , because the Lord Jesus Chris t died in your s teadand paid the full price of your debt of sin. Ask Him toc leanse your hear t , for wi thout your request He cando nothing. Wil l you say, 'O Lord, create in me a pureand a c lean hear t . Wash me and purge me and c leansem e thoroug hly . ' He wi l l hea r and answ er p ro v id ed youare s incere and humble before Him.

48


53/130

Chapter 6LOSS: ITS CAUSE, EFFECT,AND CURE

DAVID recovered all. The very words indicate loss .A s w7e have said before, we have all suffered losses ofmany kinds. Even i f we lose old chappals we are sorryfor a few days. Sometimes the dhobi loses an old shirtwith many holes in i t , but even then we feel sad anddemand tha t o ld sh i r t back. As human be ings , we aremuch concerned wi th mater ia l th ings . But a re we asconcerned about our spir i tual losses? Remember, everysecond tha t we spend wi thout the Lord Jesus Chr is t i san eternal loss.

M an y yea rs ago I m et a grey-ha i red , a lm ost b a ld-he ad ed o ld ma n . W hen I ques t ioned h im , 'Have youexper ienced God 's sa lva t ion? ' he began to a rgue wi thm e. H e tho ug ht I kn ew n o th ing abou t the w or ld , an dw ha tev er I sa id to him , he m ad e fun of. He seem ed tobe th inking: 'He ' s jus t a boy. How can he he lp me? 'Af ter m an y m o nt hs , I m et the o ld m an again . H e cam eto me with tears and said: 'Brother , do you recognise49


54/130

me? ' I sa id , 'Yes, so m an y m on th s ago you cam e to su chand such a place. ' Then he told me, 'After you left me,I bec am e res tless an d ev en th ou g h I t r ied to forge t yo urw o rd s I cou ld not. ' H e h ad b een com pel led by the Ho lySp ir it to rea d th e ver ses I h a d g iven him . Th en he sa id:'I d i sco vered m y posi t ion , h o w I w as l iv ing in d ark nes s ,and how the Lord Jesus Chr is t would forgive my s insw h en I accep ted H im as m y pe rson a l Sav iour. ' Th enhe began to weep and said: 'My l ife for sixty years hasbeen w as ted . N ow I w an t to be used of Him . I hav eaccepted the Lord Jesus Chr is t . ' He kept saying aga inand aga in , 'My l i fe has been wasted and the bes t yearsof m y life a re go ne . N ow , I w an t to sp en d the rem ainin gfew days to please my Lord. '

D o yo u k no w tha t yo ur life is no th in g b ut wa sted inthe eyes o f God un less your s ins a re fo rg iven? InJoel 1:4 w e rea d of four k in d s of insects w h ic h eat a w aythe crops of the fa rmer , palmerworm, the locusts ,t he c a nke rworm a nd t he c a t e rp i l l a r . Som e t im e s t hefa rmers wi th g rea t hope work ve ry ha rd day and n igh tto t i l l the land and sow the seed. The seed comes upbut when the t ime comes for reaping the harves t , theyf ind tha t someth ing has come in and des t royed thec rops . Maybe one part of the crop is eaten away by thep al m er w o rm , a n d ano the r par t of the f ie ld by the locust,and a th i rd pa r t by the cankerworm, and the four thpart by the caterpi l lar . How much is lef t? Nothing!

Al l i s gone! What does God say? 'Oh ye s inners ,why do you waste your life?' Your life is l ike that fieldw h i c h is b e i n g e a t e n a w a y b y t h e p a l m e r w o r m ,cankerworm, locus t and ca te rp i l l a r .50


55/130

W he n we we re c h i l d re n we ha d m a ny ba d ha b i t s .In our s tubbornness we kept on gr ieving our parents ,do ing many wrong th ings , and was t ing our t ime , bu taf terw ard s w e learne d ou r m istake . Th en w e said, Tf Ih a d w o rk e d h a rd e r , I w o u ld no t ha ve f aile d in t heexams.1 As we grew o lde r , we became s laves to thelusts of y o u th a n d by all those lust ful desires w e w as tedt h e b e s t y e a r s o f l i f e . M a n y y o u n g p e o p l e w h e ncorrec ted and ins t ruc ted by the i r parents and teacherswi ll r ep ly , 'W ha t do you kn ow ? You do no t kn ow w h a tlife is! You are too old to u n d er st an d . Y ou don ' t ev enknow how to use a cake of soap. You old Daddy, youwipe your face on the c loth that you wear , but we areuniversi ty s tudents . See this nice cake of scented soap,and th is n ice towel to wipe the face wi th! How canyou teach me a ny th ing? '

That i s how many of us in our youth have wastedour t ime , money and energy . When we had a wea l thof s t rength and opportuni ty , we l ive a l i fe of shame.Then the t ime came when we began to ea rn money .By unfa i r m ean s w e earn ed an d saved m on ey for thelove of mo ney , an d w e becam e so pr ou d. W e sa id , 'Ho wclever I am . In a sh ort t ime I h av e ga the red so m uc hm on ey . W he n I re t i re , I w i l l bu y a piece of land an dbui ld a ho us e w ith m an y ro om s an d l ive a life of com forta n d p l e a s u r e a n d e a s e w i t h m y c h i l d r e n a n dgra ndc h i ld re n a round m e . '

But old age wil l come, and your chi ldren wil l leaveyou one by one. Your teeth a lso wil l fa l l out . Yourm on ey w i ll go to doc tors . T hen you w i ll w ee p an d say:'My l ife has been wasted for these forty years. My l ife51


56/130

ha s be e n wa s t e d a nd i s gone . My ye a r s ha ve be e ne a t e n b y p a l m e r w o r m s , l o c u s t s , . ca te r p i ll ar s a n dc a n k e r w o r m s .1

Indeed, th i s may be your condi t ion today. You areconscious that your l i fe has been wasted and is beingwasted. Be of good cheer . There is hope even for you.You can recover every loss . However great your lossmay be and however humbl ing , s t i l l your loss can berecovered. Your l i fe can be abundant ly frui t ful , andevery minute you spend wi l l y ie ld ever las t ing f ru i t .Th at is w h y ou r Lo rd Jesus C hr is t cam e in to th is w or ld .In Jo hn 15:5, H e say s: 'I a m the vin e an d yo u are thebranches. ' I t i s by abiding in the Lord Jesus Chris t thatwe may oring for th abiding frui t . Every past loss ofany number of years , wi l l

Date post:	30-May-2018
Category:	Documents
Upload:	hebronmumbai
View:	229 times
Download:	0 times

David Recoverd All

Documents