Gems from April 2014

March 31

“In the night His song shall be with me.”

(Psalm 42:8)

Nature, of course, shrinks from suffering:

still, when it comes, if we are with God, strength and joy are there.

I have found in the little difficulties I have had much more trial in expecting

trial than when it was there,

When there, I was calm and quiet and in no way uneasy,

whereas, I was, when expecting it.

Out of it, if it threatens, you are thinking of it.

In it, you are looking out of it to the Lord.

(Pilgrim Portions for the Day of Rest)

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April 1

“Thus saith the Lord, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the Lord . . .”  (Jeremiah 9:23-24)*

Chris Langan has an IQ higher than Albert Einstein’s.  Moustafa Ismail has 31-inch biceps and can lift 600 pounds.  Bill Gates is estimated to be worth billions.  Those who have extra ordinary abilities or possessions might be tempted to think more highly of themselves than they should.

  

But we don’t have to be wildly smart, strong, or wealthy to want to take credit for out achievements.  Any size of accomplishment carries with it this question: Who will get the credit?

During a time of judgment, God spoke to the Israelites through the prophet Jeremiah (Note scriptural reference above.*) God wanted His people to prize Him and His excellence above anything else.

If we allow praise to inflate our self-image, we’re forgetting that “every good gift . . . comes down from the Father of lights” (James 1:17).

It’s better to give God the glory - not only because it protects our hearts from pride but also because He rightfully deserves it.  He is God, the One “Who doeth great things and unsearchable  marvellous things without number” (Job 5:9). (Jennifer Benson Schuldt)

Not I, but Christ, be honoured, loved, exalted;

Not I, but Christ, be seen, be known, be heard;

Not I, but Christ, in every look and action;

Not I, but Christ, in every thought and word.

(Whiddington)

We were created to give God the glory

__________________________________________

Our daily Bread, RBC Ministries, Copyright(2003), Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted permission.

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April 2

“As thy days so shall thy strength be.”

(Deuteronomy 33:25)

The question has been asked: “Why are most rivers crooked?”  And the reply is given:  “A river becomes crooked when it follows the line of least resistance.”

There will come times in your experience when it will be necessary to say, “No”; and there is tremendous power in that little word when it is spoken resolutely and courageously.

It has often been like a giant rock by the sea, as it has encountered and hurled back the mighty waves of temptation.  A Christian wrote recently from a country where God’s people are sealing their testimony with their blood, and said: “Our prayer is this: ‘Let me rather die a martyr’s death, than live a life dishonouring to Thee’ “.

Religious freedom is disappearing from the earth; and, even in our own favoured land, the time may come when unbending fidelity will cost us our lives.  Should such a privilege be accorded us, pray God that we may quit ourselves like men.

This, then, is the first of the things that should characterize us as witnesses for our Lord.  With deep humility of heart, but with head erect and soul ablaze, may we face the future unafraid - assured, as we are, that "as our days, so shall our strength be" - and that illimitable grace may be ours till travelling days are done.  (Winsome Christianity)  

“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, 

always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work’ 

(2 Corinthians 9:8).

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April 3

“No man when he lighteth a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light.”

(Matthew 11:33)

Are we allowing anything in our behaviour which is dimming the light?  

How about our next-door neighbours?  

Do they believe in our Christian profession, 

or is our light so hidden that they can not see it, 

and do not even know that we are Christians?

(H.A. Ironside)

(Part 1)

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April 4

“The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single; thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness.”

 (Luke 11:34)

Therefore when my eye is single (single really means“sound"), 

that is, when it is healthy, the whole body is full of light.

My feet do not have any eyes, but my feet know where to go if I have sound eyes;

My hands do not have eyes, but my hands know how to perform a right

If I have sound eyes my whole body is full of light.

On the other had, if my eye is evil, that is, if the eye is diseased, 

then the whole body is full of darkness.

When my eye is diseased I cannot see where to go, 

and I do not know how to use my hands;

I need someone to direct me all the time.

As Christians we are to have a single, or sound eye.

We will keep our eyes fixed on Christ when the eye is sound.

(H.A. Ironside)

(Part 2)

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April 5

“If any would not work, neither should he eat.”

(2 Thessalonians 3:10)

“In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread.”

(Genesis 3:19)

Industriousness and faith go hand in hand.  

It does not signify, however, that one has real faith in God because he gives up temporal 

employment and declares he is going to trust the Lord to meet his needs.

There is a difference between faith and presumption.  

Faith acts on the revealed Word of God.  

Presumption attempts to harness God to a human program, and the result is inevitable failure.

God has promised to answer the prayer of faith.  

He has never promised to gratify the desires of men who do not act according to His Word. 

(Selected)

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April 6

“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”

(Colossians 3:1-2)

Nothing will ever divorce us from occupation with the passing things of time 

except the consciousness that our citizenship is in heaven and our portion is there.

This will not lead us to be indifferent to our obligations as temporary residents of this world, 

nor will it have a tendency to make us indolent or 

careless as to proper provision for daily life.

But it will deliver us from worry and anxiety, and it will give us the quiet confidence 

which enables us to rest in the Lord as we endeavour to glorify Him

in all the responsibilities He puts upon us. 

(H.A. Ironside)

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April 7

“They helped every one his neighbour; and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage. So the carpenter encouraged the the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the sodering: and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved.”

(Isaiah 41:6-7)   

A father and son were walking along a beach after a powerful storm.  In fact, the storm was so strong that as the waves crashed and the wind blew, thousands of starfish were washed ashore and left far from the water they needed to survive.  Most would die in the heat of the sun before the end of the day.

As they walked, the father and son began a rescue mission, picking up starfish one by one and throwing them back into the ocean.  When the boy looked at the thousands of remaining starfish, he became discouraged. "Dad, there's too many, what difference will it make? There’s no way we can save them all."

The father looked at the starfish in his hand.  He told his son, "This creature would have never made it back into the ocean on its own."  As he threw the starfish back in the ocean, he said,  "Son, we're making a difference to this one."

You and I can make a difference too . . . even if it's only one by one.  God has called each of us, not just the preacher or the missionary, to share the gospel and or be a voice of encouragement to someone.  Bless someone.  Make a difference today.  (With thanks - S.L.)

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April 8

“Thou hast kept the good wine until now.”

(John 2:10)

We are told that this miracle occurred on the third day (John 2:1).

It makes us think of His resurrection and, like the joyful symbol of wine,

what a thrill that thought brings to our hearts.

Yet concerning the Saviour’s thoughts, 

who can doubt that considerations of His own Marriage Supper 

were in the mind of God’s omniscient Son?

As ever, when men have served the best they have, God gives what is far better. 

And the best is yet to be!

We have here and now the abundance of joy, sharing His joy with Him.

Immeasurably greater will be our joy and His, in His presence forevermore.

(R.E. Harlow)

“He and I in that bright glory one deep joy will share,

Mine to be forever with Him, His that I am  there.”

(Francis Bevan)

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April 9

“I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot:  I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.”

(Revelation 3:15-16)

What is lukewarmness in the life of a believer and how can it be avoided? 

Lukewarmness is a state of being indistinguishable from the surrounding environment.

A glass of cold water left on the table for a period of time becomes like the air around.

Likewise a hot cup of coffee will reach the same room temperature if left in that environment.

This is what characterized the Laodicean church.

They were no different than the world around them.

Is that the state of the church today?

Have we lost our sense of being different from the world?

Are we indistinguishable from it?

Are our lives governed by God’s call to be holy or are they 

governed by a desire to be accepted by worldly peers.

A look at what consumes my thinking, time, money and affections will give me the answer.

(Adapted)

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April 10

“So teach us to number our days.”

(Psalm 90:12)

According to verse 10 of this psalm, the allotted span of our life is 70 years.  

This equates to 25,567 days, and everyone of them is a precious gift from God.

To those who are younger, this may seems like a copious amount, 

but to those who are older, 25,567 seems all too few.

Whether young or old, if we misuse even one of our days, we cannot turn the clock back.

It is gone - an investment made or lost.

In light of the fact that, at the Judgment Seat of Christ, 

our Lord will ask us to give an account of every one of our days, 

let us use our time on earth wisely.

(John M. Clegg)

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April 11

“Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not . . . I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth Thee.”

(Job 42:3,5)

It has been said - and it is much for the observation of our souls - that 

"we should take care how we traffic with unfelt truth.”

A time of peace is a time in which the mind may indulge itself,

and handle knowledge at leisure or speculatively.

But knowledge is not divinely attained, truth is not spiritually learned,

if the mind have it as a speculation, or as propositions 

which the intellect digests and traffics with.

(J.G. Bellett)

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April 12

“As My Father hath sent me, even so send I you.”

(John 20:21)

- Nothing  can justify a lack of tenderness in the presentation of the truth.

- We have to labour in faith, and in proportion to our confidence in God will be our expectation of blessing.

- I suppose we shall never know the full result of our service until we appear before the judgment seat of Christ.  And it may be then that what we esteemed the least at the time will there be shown to have been richest in results.  (Edward Dennett)

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April 13

“Unite my heart to fear Thy name. I will praise thee,  O Lord my God, with all my heart.”

(Psalm 86:11,12)

Whatever enfeebles attachment to Christ destroys power.

It is not gross sin that does it, which of course will be . . .  judged;

but it is the little things of every-day life which are apt to be chosen before Christ.

(Footprints for Pilgrims - J.N.D.)

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April 14

“And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day.”

(Isaiah 58:10) 

Let thine own soul go out to the hungry (French).

Let the hungry ones find thy heart (German).

Lean thy soul to the hungry ones (Tamil).

Bestow on the hungry that which thy soul desireth (RV Margin). 

These are different ways of saying the same thing, but each adds something to it.

The loving Lord strengthen us to live this life of love.

Don’t forget, you who have to do with little children, 

that even a tiny child can be hungry though it doesn’t quite know why.

And bigger people can be hungry too, though they may not say so.

Look our for the hungry and you will find them.

He who has satisfied you with Himself will lead you to them.

(Whispers of His Power - Amy Carmichael)

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April 15

“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”

(Revelation 21:4)

In every life there will be some “dark valleys.”  Difficult days cannot be avoided.  In fact, the lives of some believers seem to be filled with affliction and suffering.  But for the child of God, thee is glorious relief just ahead . . . the return of Christ and the promise of a land of endless delight in heaven.

The prospect of God’s tomorrow also means a time of joyous reunion with loved ones who have preceded us.  Truly “there’ll be songs of greeting when Jesus comes.”

William Orcutt Cushing knew the meaning of “dark valleys” in his life.  After more than twenty years of ministry for His Lord, he suddenly lost his ability to speak.  Then his wife died at the age of forty-seven. During this "valley period” Cushing became interested in hymn writing and wrote more than three hundred hymn texts, including such other favourites as: “Under His Wings,” “When He Cometh,” and “Hiding in Thee.”

Ira David Sankey, composed the music and used this hymn in many gospel meetings conducted by evangelist D.L. Moody.  The simple repetitive message and singable melody still provide encouragement and comfort to God’s people.   

There’ll be no dark valley when Jesus comes; . . .  to gather His loved ones home.

There’ll be no more sorrow when Jesus comes; . . . to gather His loved ones home.

There’ll be songs of greeting when Jesus comes; . . . to gather His loved ones home. 

(Adapted - KWO)

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April 16

“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."

(Luke 23:34) 

The first words of our Saviour from the cross reveal the eternal purpose of His incarnation -

that forgiveness would be made available to all sinners.

This statement was not a blanket, universal salvation of all who were at Calvary that day.

The unrepentant thief was not forgiven.

Nor is the death of Christ a means whereby everyone will one day be forgiven and saved.

What it did mean was this: Christ’s sacrifice for sin was sufficient and available for all.

If there is a desire to come to the fountain of His grace, it flows for every seeker.

Forgiveness is for “whosoever will.” 

"Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul!"

Has He saved yours?

(Milton Haack)

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April 17

“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up.”

(James 4:10)

- It is always well, when people are seeking a place, to let them have it to their heart’s content; for, most assuredly, the very place after which they have foolishly aspired will be the scene of their signal defeat and deplorable confusion.

- You may sometimes see men envying others in a certain sphere of service, and longing to occupy that sphere themselves.  Let them try it; and they are sure, in the end, to break down and retire, covered with shame and confusion of face.

- It will most generally be found that loud talkers about the liberties, rights, and privileges of God’s people are, in reality, seeking their own exaltation and advantage.

- Nothing can be more worthless than seeking a place for oneself.  It is sure to end in disappointment and confusion.

- The grand thing for each one is to be found filling his appointed place and doing his appointed work; and the more humbly, quietly, and unpretendingly, the better.  (Food for the Desert)

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April 18

“And things which are despised, hath God chosen."

(1 Corinthians  1:28)

Notice that all the men whom Christ called around Him were weak men in a worldly sense.

They were all men without rank, without title, without position, without wealth or culture.

Nearly all of them were fishermen and unlettered men; 

yet Christ chose them to build up His kingdom.

When God wanted to bring the children out of bondage,

He did not send an army; He sent one solitary man (Moses).

So in all ages God has used the weak things of the world to

accomplish His purposes. 

(D.L. Moody)

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April 19

“O Lord my God … hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which Thy servant prayeth before Thee to day: That Thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day.”

(1 Kings 8:28-29)

We live in difficult times in which homes have become a special target of the enemy of our souls.  Many men and women are avoiding marital commitments altogether; others are breaking their commitments when faced with difficulties; and society accepts such actions as excusable.

We may well ask with David, “if the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3).  Will they go along with the wicked current of the day?  Or do they have to suffer and feel helpless?  Neither, for divine resources are available to them.

Do we care about our homes?  Then let us cry to the Lord our God for each member of our family.  We live in a very dangerous world.  If our son were sent to the battlefield, we would pray earnestly for his safety day and night.  Should we not also pray for our children’s safety when all the powers of the devil are ranged against them?

He attacks them at school, when with their friends, when they are reading books or magazines, and especially when they are sitting before the most dangerous piece of furniture called the TV.  

If we ask the Lord that His eyes may be open upon our homes night and day, let us also remember that He is of purer eyes that to behold evil.  (A.M. Benham)

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April 20

"But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.”

(Genesis 50:20)

What a God we serve!

Only He can manipulate the depravity of man to serve the purposes of His grace and mercy.

Jacob’s sons had through jealousy and hatred, brutally treated Joseph, their brother.

Yet God took the scattered pieces and fitted them all together to save the world from famine. 

What a foreshadowing of the Cross!

There man manifested his evil, nailing the sinless Jesus Christ to a cross.

In sovereign grace, God turned their actions into His greatest act of love, and

“by His stripes we are healed.”

(Edwin Fesche)

"The very sword that pierced His side

Drew forth the blood to save."

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April 21

Minus to Plus

"Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions,

in distresses, for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong."

(2 Corinthians 12:10)

Paul turned his stumbling-blocks into stepping-stones.  John Bunyan in Bedford Jail, 

Fanny Crosby in a prison of blindness "out of weakness were made strong.”  

Long is the list of saints through the ages who have turned minus to plus by the grace of God.

Paul gloried in infirmities.  We glory in strength.  Paul gloried in tribulation.  Most of us grumble.  

The Christian does not resent his affliction.  He does not merely resign himself to it.  

He rises above it and transmutes it into a blessing.  He is “more than conqueror.”  

This kind of book-keeping turns liabilities into assets.  This world cannot understand it.  

“What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ,” says Paul.   

And then what seems loss he turns to gain!

We hear of people who “lose the savings of a lifetime.” 

But what you really save in a lifetime is what you lay up in heaven, 

and you cannot lose that.  

And out of earth’s darkest day you can coin heavenly wealth.

Turn your minus to plus!

(Day By Day - Vance Havner)

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April 22

“I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel.”

(Exodus 16:12)

It is not enough remembered that all our complaints, our expressions of unbelief, 

our murmurings, are against the Lord, and come immediately into His ears.

How often would our sinful words die away on our lips

 if this thought were in our minds.  

If the Lord were visibly before our eyes, 

we would not dare to utter what we often permit 

ourselves now to say in the hastiness of our unbelief. 

 And yet we are really before Him, 

His eyes are upon us, and He hears our every word.

(Edward Dennett)

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April 23

“Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.”

(Job 28:28) 

Here, then, is the divine secret of wisdom: “The fear of the Lord.”  

This sets the conscience directly in the presence of God, which is its only true place.

The object of Satan is to keep the conscience out of this place - 

to bring it under the power and authority of man - 

to lead it into subjection to the commandments and doctrines of men - 

to thrust in something between the conscience and the authority of Christ the Lord, 

it matters not what it is; it may be a creed or a confession containing a quantity of truth, - 

it may be the opinion of a man or a set of men - 

the judgment of some favourite teacher, - 

anything, in short, to come in and usurp, in the heart, 

the place which belongs to God’s Word alone.

This is a terrible snare, and a stumbling-block - 

a most serious hindrance to our progress in the ways of the Lord.

God’s Word must rule me - 

God’s pure and simple Word, not man’s interpretation thereof.  

No doubt, God may use a man to unfold that Word to my soul; 

but then it is not man’s unfolding of God’s Word that rules me, 

but God’s Word by man unfolded.  

This is of all importance.  

We must be exclusively taught and exclusively governed by the 

Word of the living God.  

(C.H. Mackintosh)

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April 24

“For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come."

(1 Thessalonians 1:9-10)

To wait for the improvement of this world is not Christian hope at all. 

You might as well wait for the improvement of the flesh because there is just as much hope for that as for the other. 

As to death­ although that might intervene ­it is never once presented in Scripture as the true hope of the Christian. 

There is not a single passage in the entire New Testament in which death is spoken of as the hope of the believer. 

On the other hand, the hope of the Lord’s coming is bound up in the most intimate manner 

with all the concerns and associations and relationships of life.

(C.H.M. with thanks D.H.)

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April 25

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.” 

(Psalm 23:4).

I picture I see that valley now.

The Shepherd is conducting His flock toward their fold:

luxuriant pastures; quiet resting-places.

Suddenly that path turns downward and begins to wind toward the ravine below.

On the one side is a precipice, yawning in sheer descent to the steep river-bed, 

where the water foams and roars, torn by jagged rocks.

On the other side, the mountain firs cast a somber shadow in the deepening twilight.

It would be dark there in the most brilliant noon.

Such is the valley through which the great Shepherd once went alone;

by which He now conducts all His flock to their home.

Death is not an abiding-place.

It is a valley through which we walk.

Darksome, lonely, infested with evil things; 

but we do not pitch our tents there.

We pass through it to our rest!

(Traveling Toward Sunrise)

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April 26

Divided and Multiplied

“How many loaves have ye?" (Mark 6:38).

“When He had taken the five loaves . . .  He brake the loaves.” 

(Mark 6:41) (Compare Mark 14:22)

“They that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men."

(Mark 6:44)

Yea, did’st thou place thine all into His hand, 

And did He mar it?  O then understand

’Tis thus He deals with every loaf He takes;

Ever, before He multiplies, He breaks.

Himself was broken; for the famished soul

Ne’er could partake of Him, were He yet whole.

Alike in Nature and in Grace ’tis shown,

The corn of wheat must die, or bide alone.

See, then, this thing is true in Him and thee;

E’en as the Master, must the servant be. 

In broken fragments must the bread be passed -

Made small at first, but multiplied at last.    

(Bells & Pomegranates - James M.S. Tait)

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April 27

“[Jesus] saith unto His mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith He to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.”

(John 19:26-27)

John’s response to this request by the Lord nailed to the cross just a few feet away was not, 

“Mary, if you ever need  anything, be sure to call,” 

or I’ll drop by a week from Monday to see how you’re doing.”

Instead, he took full care of her “from that hour,” literally, “from that moment.”

If we could comprehend what Christ suffered on the cross for us, 

we too would respond with the same swiftness that John did

when our Lord gives us a task to do.

(David J. Logan)

Lest I forget Gethsemane; lest I forget Thine agony;

Lest I forget thy love for me, lead me to Calvary.

(J. Hussey)

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April 28

“And He looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury. And He also saw a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. And He said, of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all: of all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.”

(Luke 21:1-4)

“The church of Laodicea . . . I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would that thou wert cold or hot . . .  because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.”

(Revelation 3:14-17)        

"Need and Faith” are our “two mites”.

They are to us what the two mites were to the poor widow - all our “living,” all we have.

Yet, casting them into the treasury, God counts them of far more value than all the boasted abundance of Laodicea.

They are the servants, too, that open all doors to the Lord. 

They permit no barrier to keep Him at a distance.

That gracious waiting Lord then may enter, and sweet communion follow as He sups with poor “Need and Faith” -

Himself providing all the provender for that supper-feast.

(F.C. Jennings)

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April 29

“Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it . . . that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”

(Ephesians 5:25,27)

A thousand affections flow from Christ’s heart to His members, not from fellowship with any more particularly, although down here He might have felt it more with John than with James or Peter.

But up there every member of His body can comprehend by individual experience the surpassing love ever occupied in nourishing and cherishing its object.

It is only the power of Christ in His own living person that can keep, sustain, and nourish, and at the end present it to Himself a glorious body without spot or wrinkle.

When it comes to risen life and our being up there in heavenly places, we must needs have One to care and act for us there - a Master, every moment occupied and dealing with us. (Gleanings From The Teaching of G.V. Wigram)

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April 30

“Behold NOW is the accepted time; behold, NOW is the day of salvation.”

(2 Corinthians 6:2)

I recently read an account of the sinking of the great ocean liner, Titanic, which is purported to be a very accurate history of that tragic event.  As I read and pondered its record, the thought often came to my mind, “if only . . .”.  If only the owner had not demanded the captain race through that dark night in order to break the speed record for crossing the Atlantic.  If only the warning message had been immediately heeded.  If only the helmsman would have steered the great ship differently when he saw the ice berg. . . . if only. 

But to me, the saddest facts were two shocking statements made by eye-witness survivors.  First, many people did not believe the reports of trouble until it was too late.  They did not take advantage of the life boats, though the crew spent well over an hour pleading with and begging many people to get into them - all the while, being routinely refused!  The majority of the life boats were only partially filled - some with as few as a third of their potential capacity.

The second, and even more shocking fact was that there was evidently another ship within sight of the sinking Titanic - just a few miles away!  Many survivors testified to seeing the lights of a large ship in the near distance.  this convinced many other passengers who foolishly refused to get in the life boats, that help was close at hand.  They were sure the ship would come to their aid and need not trouble themselves leaving the comfort of the Titanic.

Yet, in spite of urgent distress calls, that “ghost” ship suddenly turned and left the scene of the terrible catastrophe!  Some experts theorize that the ship may have been a foreign vessel that was illegally in those waters.  Others suggest its wireless operator had gone to sleep and did not receive the distress call.  Whatever the realities, all these circumstances added up to a horrible fate for over 1500 souls.

“And when neither sun not stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.  Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me . . . And NOW I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you, but of the ship.  For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, saying, fear not . . . God hath given thee all them that sail with thee . . . I believe God that it shall be even as it was told me" (Acts 27:20-25).  (The Journey of Life - Doug Nicolet)  

N.J. Hiebert - 5510