Date: 5/01/2003 00:26:10 -0700 From: "Beth Chesed" To: The Body of Christ Subject: SET YOUR HOUSE IN ORDER CONGREGATION BETH CHESED PO Box 25116, Federal Way WA 98093-2116 Messianic pastor: Jim & Marie Watt (hesed607)
This is a general word of the Lord to the whole body of Christ about getting our house in Order by Jim Watt and Basiliea Schlink.
(The lesson is from “I Found the Key to the Heart of God,” – Basilea Schlink)
INTRODUCTION: For months many of us in the Greater Seattle area have been burdened on behalf of a friend – whose illness is unto death. The following excerpt by Basilia Schlink, God’s servant in her own words, shows the severe struggle she underwent. Though she did set her house in order, and did make serious and thorough preparation for her home going to be united with Jesus – yet God reversed the word as He did with Hezekiah.
Consider the honesty of heart of Basilea Schlink as she spells out for us the inner agony and conflict she endured, before being ushered by God into His reprieve on her behalf.
HER ACCOUNT. About the same time that I canceled the journey to Indonesia, someone mentioned to me – quite apart from my illness – that the Lord had shown him that I should withdraw more into seclusion. There I should prepare to go to my eternal home, set my house in order, equip our spiritual daughters for later times and train Mother Martyria’s and my successors for their task. Strangely enough, the doctor expressed himself similarly, even though such thoughts would not normally have occurred to him. In seclusion I had many matters to attend to, but scarcely had I drawn apart when the Spirit of God came over me, constraining me to write down a great deal for the time after I had departed from this life. It was like an outpouring of grace when God granted me an abundance of spiritual legacies for the Sisterhood of Mary concerning the coming time of disaster, for the various sections of our commission as well as for the Sisters who would later bear the responsibility for the Sisterhood. As I was writing for my daughters in view of later times, I was filled with anguish and trepidation. An excerpt from my diary reads: “I am suffering torment. The air is pregnant with destruction and this is what awaits them!” I felt the urgency not only of preparing myself for the day the Lord would call me to my eternal home, but of preparing and settling everything for my daughters by that time.
Like an undertone during those weeks a gentle melody was playing in my heart. ‘O heavenly home, your radiance beckons to me…’ In spite of all my sorrow that the ministry of traveling to other nations had come to an end, a secret feeling of joy welled up in my heart. ‘Home! Home! Soon I shall go home to my Lord Jesus!’ My fervent longing was to be with Him forever.
A special atmosphere of holy solemnity rested upon those weeks while I was away from the Mother House in complete seclusion -- the solemnity of parting grief, the solemnity of the joy of soon going to my eternal home, mingled with anguish at the thought of all that awaited my daughters, who had to stay behind.
Eternity drew close – the City of God, the pilgrim’s destination bathed in light. From that time onwards I began to sing with greater awareness: “There is a golden city bright, Far, far from tears and suffering, And he who sees this place of light Will ne’er on earth be satisfied; He’s filled with secret longing.”
The nearness of eternity made me face the reality of death quite differently. Up till then I had considered death mainly as the privilege of going home to my Lord, and indeed immeasurable joy flooded my heart at the mere though of going home soon. one of my favorite Bible verses was, ‘To me to live is Christ, and to die is gain’ (Philippians 1:21). For many years now I had an experience similar to that of Paul, who wrote, ‘I die every day.’ (1 Corinthians 15:31). Thus I was filled with great expectancy and joy at the thought of going to my eternal home, for the longing for heaven always corresponds to the suffering and spiritual dying beforehand.
But now I came to see Death in a new light, in his formidable aspect. Death could be described as the greatest foe of all, for according to Scripture he is ‘the last enemy to be destroyed’ (1 Corinthians 15:26). Death, whom various Bible passages refer to as a person, is a terrible and fearsome specter as I came to realize. At the grave of Lazarus Jesus was ‘moved with deep anger’ (John 11:38 The Living Bible) at the power of Death, and He wept. Death brings immeasurable grief and heartache, turning a living person into a corpse in a single moment, destroying a flourishing life with his icy-cold breath. Great men of God and hymnists of old, having personally suffered deep anguish as they faced the dreadfulness of this reality, composed many songs about the awfulness and grimness of death. And everyone who lives in the light, accepting the truth about himself will be able to repeat wholeheartedly the words they prayed: “When I am in the throes of death And must draw my final breath, Lord Jesus, hasten to my side And help me past the stormy tide. Shorten the hour of death’s agony…’
I could see the relentlessness with which death ends our lives and all our activities. When death befalls us, it is no longer possible to repent. Our last chance is over. We cannot make any more amends. We shall reap the harvest of that which we have sown. Death exposes our life for what it really is.
With death on the threshold it was surprising that I too was reminded of all that I had done or failed to do in my life, and of instances when I had not borne in patience and love those who had caused me distress. Above all, I was conscious of having failed the Lord Jesus by not showing Him enough devotion, not bringing Him enough sacrifices in love and thanksgiving for His supreme sacrifice, His forgiveness and His love. Events in my life, my manner, my words and actions in certain situations and with certain people passed before me accusingly. During the following months and years the Lord granted me periods of deep contrition. At the same time, however, I was filled with immeasurable gratitude that in His grace Jesus opens the door to heaven for truly penitent sinners for the sake of His blood that He shed in atonement for our sins. The word ‘grace’ became the most precious word of all to me, for looking back on my life, I could no longer find anything good in it.
The contrition that the Lord imparted to me in the latter years of my life was deeper and more lasting than I had ever experienced before, giving rise to the heartfelt plea, ‘Help me to show love where I have failed to do so! Give me a fervent desire to sacrifice in repects where I have sacrificed too little. Let me prove my dedication to You in the midst of suffering and chastening. For the last years of my life grant me the grace to spend myself more than ever for Your kingdom and the commission You have entrusted to us; accept me in all my weakness.’
Now, as life was drawing to a close, I was reminded of Jesus’ words, which had made such a strong impression upon me during my critical illness in 1958. ‘I glorified thee on earth, having accomplished the work which thou gavest me to do’ (John 17:4). That was my prayer – to be able to accomplish all that had been entrusted to me. ‘Let me fully accomplish the ministry unto my daughters. Help me to fulfill the ministry to the nations by other means now. Grant that in the last years of my life I may continue with the ministry of warning and challenging others, no matter what the cost may be. Help me not to give up this task, even though I find it so hard. Let me carry out these commissions through times of seclusion, by sharing Your suffering and anguish over the apostasy of men and over their sins, which are mounting up to heaven. Lord Jesus, give me the strength to do everything possible for the commission that has been my primary task since 1952 – to help to gather those who love You from all over the world and to prepare them for the day of Your coming. Do not let me grow weary now at the end of my life when the attacks of our adversaries and their libels are increasingly disrupting the fellowship of love among Your own and almost destroying this aim of faith altogether.’
In the face of death and eternity we act differently that before. No doubt God instills this impulse into the human soul so that we take advantage of the short time left and make amends as much as possible while we are still living on earth. Consequently, these years were a time when the greatest contrasts were reconciled for me: I was older and extremely frail; yet I accomplished more that ever and seldom had my working days been so long as now. Time and again when I was in a state of utter exhaustion, I would receive new strength from the Lord, living solely from His miracles. I spent much time apart with Jesus and yet I was able to achieve more than ever for the Sisterhood, the foreign branches, the Sisterhood of Thorns, the retreat guests, as well as for the writing and radio ministries.
Thus I can never thank the Lord enough for this new chapter in my life, which began in the spring of 1970 as I lay ill and eternity drew near with its solemn warning, ‘Prepare yourself! Cancel the travels abroad! Set your house in order!’ Even if I could not understand why the ministry to the nations seemed to end so abruptly, the truth that God’s thoughts and purposes are far more extensive and marvelous than we could imagine applied to this situation in particular. Without my having to travel, this ministry now reached all parts of the world. The commission that had been entrusted to me at Mount Sinai was carried out on a far larger scale than if the journeys had been undertaken. At the same time I was able to set my house in order and equip my spiritual daughters; during my times apart with the Lord the commissions were underlaid with inner suffering ever anew, and thus they developed and branched out. Tears over my shortcomings enabled me to speak with a new and greater emphasis on the holiness of God, his coming judgments over sin, repentance as the only way to deliverance, His beckoning love that seeks us in these last times and the blessed expectation of the coming King.
Accordingly the latest pamphlets in the series dealing with relevant topics were written from the perspective of eternity and death. The practical manual in the battle of faith against sin, So wird man anders (You Will Never Be the Same), which was mentioned earlier, and two other books – one about the realms of angels and demons, and the other about the after-life – were also products of these years.
WORD OF APPLICATION: Graham Cooke of Great Britain tells of a certain home-call of a most valuable servant of God. To Graham it just did not seem so much as God’s will, but a device of the enemy to rob God’s Kingdom prematurely of this ministry.
He gathered 32 intercessors to wait on God to receive from the Spirit words and phrases on behalf of God’s will for this man. He took and crafted these together into a prayer of intercession. The 32 faithfully prayed and proclaimed this crafted prayer for 71 days. on that day when two hospitals took x-rays before operating, not a trace of the tumor that had suddenly grown from the size of a pea to a baseball – could be found!
God is still God, and is no respecter of persons. What He has done, He can do. His ear is not heavy to hear, not His arm held back to save.
Following are some intimations, Scriptures and words of the Spirit that have come from intercessors and prayer warriors on behalf of our friend. on the basis of these consider this “crafted” prayer. As many as the Spirit of God inclines the heart – please join with us daily on behalf of our friend – for a similar miracle. May it too bring glory to God our Father and Jesus.
2 Kings 20:1-11 – I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you; on the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. And I will add 15 years to your life. John 4:11 – This illness is not unto death; it is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by means of it. 2 Corinthians 4:8. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair. 1 Corinthians 12:8-11. At the right time, the “gift of faith” in a special way will come.. A grain of mustard seed doesn’t think, nor argue. It just does that for which God created it. Philippians 1:23-26. For your sakes I will stay, though for my sake I would rather depart to be with the Lord. Philippians 2:8-9. Jesus humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him.
A CRAFTED PRAYER: “Our Father, we thank You for speaking to many of us on behalf of our friend. Like King Hezekiah and Basilea Schlink, the word of the doctors and friends spelt the end. But You are God! And because of unfulfilled commissions, and because of the help Your servant can yet be to Your many churches – both city and local – we believe that he fits the pattern of Hezekiah and Basilea Schlink.
We hear Your Spirit whispering to our spirits similar words Jesus spoke concerning Lazarus – This illness is not unto death; it is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by means of it. We also hear Your words by the Spirit through Paul concerning apostles – We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair. THIS in the natural is our friend’s position, and we boldly apply these spiritual words to his position.
Just as Jesus humbled Himself unto death, and You, Father highly exalted him – so our friend has faced the reality and certainty of death from our human point of view. Rees Howells through identification with a dying person accepted death on her behalf – but then found that Jesus had already taken death upon Himself! Just so, Jesus is conqueror of death for our friend. Jesus’ death applies to all of us. We need not die ahead of time as those who did not discern Jesus’ spiritual body. Our friend DISCERNS the members of Your spiritual body.
Therefore, because You bid us come and reason together with you from Scriptures and words of the Spirit, in boldness and with confidence we come to Your throne of grace in this time of need. We as his helpers unroof the roof and lower him at Your feet. Defeat the enemy! Overturn his counsels! Release our brother from premature death that he, like Hezekiah and Basilea Schlink, may fulfill the commissions You have allotted to him. In Jesus’ all-encompassing Name we pray! Amen.”
