Francis Harper Message for 7/12/2019

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Francis Harper
wbfrmsup@iowatelecom.net


Francis Harper Message for 7/12/2019

Dear Ones,

Occasionally we grow tired of struggling against the natural man in us. We need to pray that our strength and vision be renewed, if this happens. I often think of these words of scripture: “From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life” (John 6:66-68). We must never forget the words of Jesus: “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh to the Father but by me” (John 14:6).

What If They Had Quit?

(A Dream)

Years ago I dreamed a dream, and in my dream five men – Peter, Andrew, Matthew, John, and Paul – were seated on a hillside, looking out over the Sea of Galilee. It was twenty years after the Day of Pentecost, and they had met by appointment to talk over a crisis in the lives and programs of three of their number.

The work was going hard with them. Paul had suffered the loss of all things; Peter had left all to follow Christ, and was finding it hard to support his family; and Matthew had just had a flattering offer at a large salary and an interest in the business to return to his old place in the customs house.

Peter, as usual, opened the discussion. He said: “My wife’s mother has opened a boarding-house in Capernaum; it will cost us almost nothing to live with her while we are getting started again, and I have a chance to buy back my interest in the fishing business. I can make a good living and a little more by fishing five days in the week, and I will have all my Sundays for evangelistic work in the cities around the lake. I am getting along in years and am afraid I can’t stand the pace at which I have been working. And then, too, I need the money.”

Paul said: “Aquilla and Priscilla have been greatly prospered in the tent-making business in Ephesus, and have offered me a position at a good salary to open a branch business in Philippi, and from there to work out and establish and supervise the business of the principal cities in Macedonia. I can do this work; it will not be any harder for me than the care of all the churches, and I will have all my Sundays for Christian work, and can lay by a little something for the rainy day, which I can see is coming.”

John, who was leaning against Peter, felt a big tear drop on his hand, and looking over at Paul, he saw his jaw set, the old fire come back into his eye, and the old war-horse look into his face, as he quietly said: “Men, I don’t think we need to talk about this any more; let us pray.”

And as they prayed, the things of time and sense receded; a light breeze rustled in the near-by tree-top, reminding them of that “rushing mighty wind” on the day of Pentecost and of the marvelous power with which Peter had preached the gospel on that day. They seemed also to see the Master himself standing on the shore just a few rods away, and to hear Him saying to them again, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a draught,” and “Fear not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men.”

They looked, and the evening caravan for Tyre was just swinging into sight. “Good-bye,” said Paul. “I must catch the next boat for Ephesus, and I will get Aquilla to put up the money for a campaign in that old city that will shake the whole of Asia.” “Good-bye,” said Peter. “Andrew and I will just say good-bye to the folks, and we will have time to join the midnight caravan for Babylon, and may go on East as far as the land of Sinim.”

“Good-bye,” said John, and he sat there alone till the stars came out and the waves on the beach, impelled by the rising wind, sounded like the voice of many waters, and he said to Him that stood by: “Lord, do not charge this thing against them. I have felt that way myself at times, as Thou knowest; and I would have left this work but for the fact that Thou didst prevent and strengthen me. They, too, are ready to live and to die for Thee, as I am. “And now, Lord, let us see Thee ever before us, ever to hear Thy voice and walk and work with Thee.

My Love to All,

High Priest Francis Harper

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Come, Walk With Me



The Lord invites each of us to come and walk with Him. He said to Enoch: “. . . abide in me, and I in you; therefore walk with me” (Genesis 6:35 IV).

“When we walk with the Lord in the light of His word, What a glory He sheds on our way! While we do His good will He abides with us still and with all who will trust and obey. . . . Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet, or we’ll walk by His side in the way; What He says we will do, Where He sends we will go, Never fear, only trust and obey” (Hymns of the Restoration #371).

Keeping in step with the will of God is our greatest challenge. The desires of the natural man are invariably opposed to the will of God. Even Jesus struggled in the Garden of Gethsemane. Submitting to the will of God is never easy for the natural man. Jesus prayed: “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done” (Luke 22:42).

Peter boasted, “Lord, I am ready to go with you, both into prison and unto death” (Luke 22:33). “And the Lord said, I tell you, Peter, . . . the cock shall not crow this day, before . . . you will thrice deny that you know me” (Luke 22:33-34). Are we ready, are we able, to walk with the Lord in doing His perfect will? Far too often, “. . . the spirit indeed is willing; but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:38 IV; 26:41 KJV).

Jesus cautions those who think they are ready and able to walk in the will and way of God. When Salome, the mother of James and John, asked Jesus to sit her sons at his right and left hand in the kingdom, he said, “ye know not what you ask, Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of . . .? They said unto Him, “We are able” (Matthew 20:20-21).

I recall singing, “Are ye able, saith the Master, to be crucified with me . . . Lord we are able, our spirits are thine, remold them, make us, like thee, divine. Thy guiding radiance above us shall be, A beacon to God, to faith and loyalty.”

We need to count the cost of walking with God. “And it came to pass, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head” (Luke 9:57-58). “And he said unto another, “Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father [This seems to be a legitimate excuse]. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead [spiritually] bury the dead; but go thou and preach the Kingdom of God. . . . And Jesus said unto him, No man having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God” (Luke 9:59-60, 62).

I believe the parable of the great supper will soon be fulfilled. When the servants said to those who were bidden, “Come, for all things are now ready, . . . they all . . . began to make excuse[s] . . . none of those men who were bidden, shall taste of my supper” (Luke 14:17, 24).

We are walking with God when we are anxiously engaged in doing His will. How many excuses do we have? Many are too busy today to spend the necessary time to know His mind and will, and to experience the pleasure of His presence. “For in His presence is fullness of joy” (Psalm 16:11). All too often we are too busy to study his Word and pray; too busy to walk with Him in that closer, dearer company. “O Master, let me walk with thee” (Hymns of the Restoration #280).