March 16, 2008 – 21:48 (GMT +5:30) – 27oC (80oF) – Chennai, India
In my last blog I mentioned that the one image that stood out in my mind from the trip is simply the overwhelming immensity of the work yet to be done. The vast populations of Indians who have not yet heard about their Savior, the wonderful message of the gospel and the hope that it brings. But there is another image which I forgot about, yet the Lord has reminded me, which is a far more joyful image, and I think will prove the more enduring of the two.
This evening, exhausted from the cumulative effects of the trip, the sickness, and moving into my new apartment, I feel asleep on my couch while attempting to go through my emails. I slept for a couple of hours and when I woke up, being very tired in my spirit as well as my body, I turned to a long time favorite hymn of mine, as I know it is for many of you as well, hymn 463 “For All the Saints”. Especially verse 5 of this hymn has seldom failed to refocus my thoughts on that which is truly important and the glorious and wonderful hope that we have in Christ.
5. And when the fight is fierce, the warfare long,
Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
I could hardly begin to recount all the times the Lord has used this hymn to strengthen me. But what surprised me was that it was not verse 5 that struck me today, but instead verse 7
7. From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast,
Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
Singing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
With this verse I thought of the people of Appikatla. I can see them right now 35 people, who cannot read or write, yet they have bibles and hold them as if they are the greatest possessions on earth. 35 people listening as I preached, and every time I mentioned a bible passage, Isaiah 1;18, Gen 2:7 etc., they moved as if to look up those passages in a Bible they could not read. I remember thinking that night how much I wished I could teach these people to read, so that they also might be able to read what they rightly prized but could not use on their own. But tonight while listening to hymn 463 I thought of these 35 people who by the grace of God are His. I don’t know about others, but I know that for myself it is very easy to be very troubled by the vast multitudes of people who die without the Lord. And certainly that is a terrible image, but when we turn our eyes instead to the 7,000, to the glorious multitude, to the countless host, of which these 35 people are a part, that is an image which can not fail but to bring the praises of God to our lips, and to restore to our hearts the “joy of [His] salvation.” I don’t have the book with me here to look up the exact quote, but I remember C. S. Lewis also making reference in his book the Screwtape Letters to how glorious the sight is of the entire Church spread out throughout all time, the entire host of God, men and angels alike arrayed in garments of white, victorious by the grace of God and the blood of the Lamb. By the grace of God through the efforts of His servants Pastor Yesubabu, the Benjamins, and probably many others, here are 35 people who are also part of that host. Perhaps someday in that life which is to come I will sit and they will come and share with me the Word of our God in a language that we all understand. It is easy to become discouraged when we look at what we do not have and how many there are against us, how much there is to do, and how limited our resources, but what great joy to see instead all that we do have and the vast multitude that are with us, even the power of God, that is the Word of God, against which no foe can stand.
Blessed be the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who has not forgotten His promises to our father Abraham but has instead raised up according to His wondrous mercy a countless host too numerous to count to the praise of His wondrous name.
Let Israel now say, “His mercy endures forever.”
Let the house of Aaron now say, “His mercy endures forever.”
Let those who fear the LORD now say, “His mercy endures forever.”
Psalm 118:2-4
-In the name of our risen Lord, who has called us to an eternal inheritance,
Matthew Ude