Post by veterinarian on Apr 26, 2010 16:23:54 GMT -6
I just received my copy of Martha Snell Nicholson's “Ivory Palaces”. I was pleasantly surprised to find a small brochure inside the book titled “A Letter”, also written by Nicholson. Here it is:
A Letter
Dear Friend:-----
When I was a very small child I prayed earnestly that God would send me a letter. It was to be written on fine white paper edged with gold, and it was to tell me how much He loved me, and to show me how to be good. I wanted it desperately, and every morning before I laced my shoes, I would run out to the front porch to see if it had come. It hurts yet to think of my bewildered disappointment, as the days and weeks passed. And yet, beside me as I write is my letter from God, on fine white paper edged with gold, bound in a volume called the Bible. In it He tells me how much He loves me, and shows me how to be good.
Throughout all the ages men have been searching to find out God, seeking to trace His face in the starry heavens, His footprints in the mountains and plains, thinking to take His measure with their finite minds, even striving to shape His image with their hands.
Suppose that God had never communicated with man in any way, and that after ages of groping for Him, word should come that on a certain day there would be one message from Him. Can you not imagine the scene? No one would sleep the previous night, and long before daylight great crowds, hushed and awed with wonder, would gather and wait in tense expectancy, straining their eyes to the heavens above, so long mute! Finally, fluttering down from the blue, would come that precious word from Almighty God Himself! How the crowd would surge forward to learn what He had said! Who would dare to touch it, to pick it up? The message would be stored in a waterproof, fireproof vault, and would be the dearest treasure of the human race.
Would it not be terribly unfair of God to put us here to stumble in the dark, and then have a day of Judgment when we would learn to our horror that certain things were required of us, and that we should be punished forever because we had not fulfilled these obligations? Certain things ARE required of us, and we SHALL be separated forever from God if we do not accept the Way of escape He has provided. BUT He HAS been just and fair with us, He HAS told us plainly all about it.
Marvelous, wonderful beyond imagination, that the great God would so condescend, that He would have it all put down in black and white, in our own language, so clearly that we need have no uncertainty about it. We can by careful study understand His spiritual laws, which are as immutable and orderly, as His laws governing the physical world.
He tells us of the past;--facts that the great scientists are still endeavoring to discover. He tells us of the present, of mighty world movements which are confounding the wisest statesmen, and making their hearts fail them for fear. He tells us of the future, unveiling to us mysteries undreamed of by the man ignorant of His Word. Philosophy and science give us only the record of human reasoning and discovery. They can go only as far as the human mind can go; but the Bible is the voice of AUTHORITY!
I need not speak here of its matchless beauty and perfect diction. That it is the revealed Word of God is the fact which most concerns us. Let no one tell you that man wrote the Bible. “Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
If you will really study the Bible you will be convinced that man could not have written it. Things dovetail too well. God is a God of order, of clarity of thought. There is no confusion, no contradiction, when rightly understood. Each part slips into place as perfectly as the parts of a perfect machine.
Here the plan of the ages unrolls before us, beginning with the account of the creation in the first book of the Bible, and continuing down through the drama of human history to the final consummation of this earthly creation, in the last book of Revelation.
God tells us how man, created in His own image, sinned, and the whole after existence of the human race, and the physical world as well, was changed. Looking ahead through the ages, God planned a way out for man. Infinite justice would demand the punishment of the sinner, yet infinite love longed for his redemption. God is both. You see the dilemma? You know, of course, what He did, Jesus Christ our Lord, the second Person of the Trinity, took on Him the form of human flesh and dwelt among us. Upon Him, Who was sinless, God placed the sins of the whole world, individually and collectively, for your sins and mine; as well as the agony of being separated from His Father. He died in our stead, and all who accept by faith His atonement for their sins, and receive Him as their Lord and Saviour, are “born again” into the family of God. And thus God's love and justice met together at the Cross of Christ.
This great subject of the atonement is the central theme of the Bible, from the promises in the first chapters of the Old Testament, through types and symbols, such as the blood on the doorposts when the Passover was instituted, the tabernacle with its priesthood and offerings, the brazen serpent, etc., down through the prophecies God's dealings with a fallen race are seen, until we come to the consummation in the redemptive work of Christ. Then on through this present age of grace and the wonderful happenings just ahead of us, the Rapture of the Church, the Tribulation, the coming again of our Lord to reign, and so on through the eons to come.
Stupenduous and fascinating beyond works, this letter which God has written us! Can anyone study it and remain unchanged? It is practical too, with explicit directions for our daily walk. There is no contingency which it cannot meet. There is wisdom and guidance, strength and security for you within these pages, and there is peace. This precious Word is the Bread of Life to the hungry soul, and Living Water to them that thirst. It is a lamp unto the feet of the living, and a pillow for the head of the dying. It tells of five kinds of crowns to be won, and describes our future home in heaven.
Dear child of God, you who have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, how much time do you spend daily with this wonderful letter from God? Can you expect spiritual growth without spiritual food? Some day you will look upon the blessed face of our Lord in the home He is preparing for you. You will gaze upon the wounds in His hands and His feet. O, what shame to admit you seldom read His letter to you!
The Lord I love went on ahead
To make a home for me. He said
He would come back again, and He,
O, gracious love, He wrote to me!
He knew I was so weak and blind
And foolish that I could not find
The road alone. He told me things
The all earth's wise men, and its kings,
Have never guessed, yet I foreknow
If I but read His Word. And O,
Such depths of love on every sheet!
My soul is trembling at His feet.
What would He think of me
If when I saw Him I should say
“I was too busy every day
To read what Thou didst write to me;
I really hadn't time for Thee!”
And you other dear friends who are still unsaved, will you not read His written Word, and in it find that living Word Who was made flesh and dwelt among us, and Who is your only hope of salvation? Can you be indifferent to His matchless love and sacrifice? Can you possibly be indifferent to your own fate? That voice of Authority speaks very plainly indeed about you. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Rom. 8:23. “The wages of sin is death--”, yet “He Who knew no sin was made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Cor. 5:21. Was ever a bargain like this? My guilt for His glory, my pain for His peace, my night for the light of His face! “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my Word, and believeth Him that sent me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into judgment, but hath passed out of death into life.” (John 5:24, R.V.)
“As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” (John 1:12)
Dear friends, as I close this little letter to you I make this one last plea. God has written to you. His Word is true and unchangeable. He says plainly there are two courses open to you: on one hand, enmity, and eternal separation from Him if you reject His blessed Son; on the other hand, acceptance of Christ which makes you a child of God. “...and if children, then heirs; heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.” And having offered you these riches which are far beyond our feeble imagining He says “Whosoever will may come. Now is the accepted time.” He is knocking at the door of your heart. Will you not open to Him, and receive Him as your Lord and Master, and trust Him as your only Saviour?
Your friend in the Beloved,
MARTHA SNELL NICHOLSON
A Letter
Dear Friend:-----
When I was a very small child I prayed earnestly that God would send me a letter. It was to be written on fine white paper edged with gold, and it was to tell me how much He loved me, and to show me how to be good. I wanted it desperately, and every morning before I laced my shoes, I would run out to the front porch to see if it had come. It hurts yet to think of my bewildered disappointment, as the days and weeks passed. And yet, beside me as I write is my letter from God, on fine white paper edged with gold, bound in a volume called the Bible. In it He tells me how much He loves me, and shows me how to be good.
Throughout all the ages men have been searching to find out God, seeking to trace His face in the starry heavens, His footprints in the mountains and plains, thinking to take His measure with their finite minds, even striving to shape His image with their hands.
Suppose that God had never communicated with man in any way, and that after ages of groping for Him, word should come that on a certain day there would be one message from Him. Can you not imagine the scene? No one would sleep the previous night, and long before daylight great crowds, hushed and awed with wonder, would gather and wait in tense expectancy, straining their eyes to the heavens above, so long mute! Finally, fluttering down from the blue, would come that precious word from Almighty God Himself! How the crowd would surge forward to learn what He had said! Who would dare to touch it, to pick it up? The message would be stored in a waterproof, fireproof vault, and would be the dearest treasure of the human race.
Would it not be terribly unfair of God to put us here to stumble in the dark, and then have a day of Judgment when we would learn to our horror that certain things were required of us, and that we should be punished forever because we had not fulfilled these obligations? Certain things ARE required of us, and we SHALL be separated forever from God if we do not accept the Way of escape He has provided. BUT He HAS been just and fair with us, He HAS told us plainly all about it.
Marvelous, wonderful beyond imagination, that the great God would so condescend, that He would have it all put down in black and white, in our own language, so clearly that we need have no uncertainty about it. We can by careful study understand His spiritual laws, which are as immutable and orderly, as His laws governing the physical world.
He tells us of the past;--facts that the great scientists are still endeavoring to discover. He tells us of the present, of mighty world movements which are confounding the wisest statesmen, and making their hearts fail them for fear. He tells us of the future, unveiling to us mysteries undreamed of by the man ignorant of His Word. Philosophy and science give us only the record of human reasoning and discovery. They can go only as far as the human mind can go; but the Bible is the voice of AUTHORITY!
I need not speak here of its matchless beauty and perfect diction. That it is the revealed Word of God is the fact which most concerns us. Let no one tell you that man wrote the Bible. “Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
If you will really study the Bible you will be convinced that man could not have written it. Things dovetail too well. God is a God of order, of clarity of thought. There is no confusion, no contradiction, when rightly understood. Each part slips into place as perfectly as the parts of a perfect machine.
Here the plan of the ages unrolls before us, beginning with the account of the creation in the first book of the Bible, and continuing down through the drama of human history to the final consummation of this earthly creation, in the last book of Revelation.
God tells us how man, created in His own image, sinned, and the whole after existence of the human race, and the physical world as well, was changed. Looking ahead through the ages, God planned a way out for man. Infinite justice would demand the punishment of the sinner, yet infinite love longed for his redemption. God is both. You see the dilemma? You know, of course, what He did, Jesus Christ our Lord, the second Person of the Trinity, took on Him the form of human flesh and dwelt among us. Upon Him, Who was sinless, God placed the sins of the whole world, individually and collectively, for your sins and mine; as well as the agony of being separated from His Father. He died in our stead, and all who accept by faith His atonement for their sins, and receive Him as their Lord and Saviour, are “born again” into the family of God. And thus God's love and justice met together at the Cross of Christ.
This great subject of the atonement is the central theme of the Bible, from the promises in the first chapters of the Old Testament, through types and symbols, such as the blood on the doorposts when the Passover was instituted, the tabernacle with its priesthood and offerings, the brazen serpent, etc., down through the prophecies God's dealings with a fallen race are seen, until we come to the consummation in the redemptive work of Christ. Then on through this present age of grace and the wonderful happenings just ahead of us, the Rapture of the Church, the Tribulation, the coming again of our Lord to reign, and so on through the eons to come.
Stupenduous and fascinating beyond works, this letter which God has written us! Can anyone study it and remain unchanged? It is practical too, with explicit directions for our daily walk. There is no contingency which it cannot meet. There is wisdom and guidance, strength and security for you within these pages, and there is peace. This precious Word is the Bread of Life to the hungry soul, and Living Water to them that thirst. It is a lamp unto the feet of the living, and a pillow for the head of the dying. It tells of five kinds of crowns to be won, and describes our future home in heaven.
Dear child of God, you who have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, how much time do you spend daily with this wonderful letter from God? Can you expect spiritual growth without spiritual food? Some day you will look upon the blessed face of our Lord in the home He is preparing for you. You will gaze upon the wounds in His hands and His feet. O, what shame to admit you seldom read His letter to you!
The Lord I love went on ahead
To make a home for me. He said
He would come back again, and He,
O, gracious love, He wrote to me!
He knew I was so weak and blind
And foolish that I could not find
The road alone. He told me things
The all earth's wise men, and its kings,
Have never guessed, yet I foreknow
If I but read His Word. And O,
Such depths of love on every sheet!
My soul is trembling at His feet.
What would He think of me
If when I saw Him I should say
“I was too busy every day
To read what Thou didst write to me;
I really hadn't time for Thee!”
And you other dear friends who are still unsaved, will you not read His written Word, and in it find that living Word Who was made flesh and dwelt among us, and Who is your only hope of salvation? Can you be indifferent to His matchless love and sacrifice? Can you possibly be indifferent to your own fate? That voice of Authority speaks very plainly indeed about you. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Rom. 8:23. “The wages of sin is death--”, yet “He Who knew no sin was made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Cor. 5:21. Was ever a bargain like this? My guilt for His glory, my pain for His peace, my night for the light of His face! “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my Word, and believeth Him that sent me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into judgment, but hath passed out of death into life.” (John 5:24, R.V.)
“As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” (John 1:12)
Dear friends, as I close this little letter to you I make this one last plea. God has written to you. His Word is true and unchangeable. He says plainly there are two courses open to you: on one hand, enmity, and eternal separation from Him if you reject His blessed Son; on the other hand, acceptance of Christ which makes you a child of God. “...and if children, then heirs; heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.” And having offered you these riches which are far beyond our feeble imagining He says “Whosoever will may come. Now is the accepted time.” He is knocking at the door of your heart. Will you not open to Him, and receive Him as your Lord and Master, and trust Him as your only Saviour?
Your friend in the Beloved,
MARTHA SNELL NICHOLSON
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