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Logos Ministries Incorporated
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Volume 4, Number 1 -- April 1996 IT’S THE PRINCIPLE OF THE THING! (This is the fifth in a series of meditations on principles one can find in the Scriptures; principles that affect the way we live and serve God.) LITTLE BY LITTLE God usually gives us tasks to accomplish which are of increasing levels of difficulty and risk. Our thinking tends to be just the opposite. We feel the only way to demonstrate God's power and our faithfulness is to attempt the most difficult thing immediately. God instructed Israel to a life of obedience. Moses said, "And the Lord your God will clear away these nations before you little by little; you will not be able to put an end to them quickly, lest the wild beasts grow too numerous for you." (Deuteronomy 7:22) This statement puzzles us. We would expect something more spectacular. We want God to dramatically drive out all the nations immediately. Fortunately, God saw it differently! Moses reminded Israel that God will drive all the enemy nations out of the land, but that He would drive out one nation at a time until all were driven out. We should also remember that Moses clearly stated that this was done in order to protect Israel rather than to be a problem for them. You will find the same idea in the New Testament. Jesus said, "...Well done, good slave, because you have been faithful in a very little thing, be in authority over ten cities." Jesus was telling the parable of the pounds. You know the story. A nobleman went on a journey. He entrusted his possessions to ten servants who were to trade with his money. Upon the nobleman's return, he demanded an accounting from the ten servants. The first servant reported that he had doubled what had been entrusted to him. The highlight is what the nobleman said to the servant, "Because you have been faithful in a very little thing, be in authority over ten cities." It was not until the servant had proven himself faithful and capable that the nobleman gave him additional responsibility and opportunity. Consider the life of Joseph. He wore the special coat, not of many colors, but a coat with long sleeves. This means that he was unable to do physical labor, but was being prepared to be the heir of his father, Jacob. Naturally, his brothers, all older than he was, would be upset, enough to kill him or sell him as a slave. Joseph was strong enough to endure this shocking betrayal. Having done this, Joseph was prepared to move on to more difficult responsibilities. We must be clear, God did not cause the temptation by Potiphar's wife, but He allowed it in order to accomplish a divine goal for Joseph's life - prepare him for even greater struggles and opportunities. Joseph was placed in prison, but observe that his punishment was mild. Potiphar had the authority to take Joseph's life. This suggests that perhaps Potiphar did not really believe that Joseph was guilty, but had to do this because of how it would look in the political arena if he did not defend his wife's honor. In prison, Joseph was placed in charge of all the prisoners. Previously, he had been over all the servants in his father's house, then over the servants in Potiphar's house and now over all the prisoners of the facility. With each display of skill and responsibility God allowed new and more difficult levels of responsibility to come to him. Initially, Joseph was responsible to his father, Jacob, then to Potiphar, the chief executioner of the kingdom and ultimately to the Pharaoh himself. It is the same principle of "little by little." You could look at this situation from another perspective. Joseph was responsible for his father's house, then for Potiphar's house, which was much larger, then for the whole prison, which was larger still, and finally for the whole land of Egypt. Little by little. Look at Moses. He had all the preparation for a life of responsibility that a man could ask. His tasks began with the defense of a fellow Jew - just defending one man against another. He was then out in the desert alone with all the herds of his father-in-law. After 40 years of preparation, God confronted him with the burning bush. Moses was prepared for the challenge and did exactly as God commanded. He went to confront Pharaoh. This was more than a single step up in responsibility. Pharaoh was the most powerful man in the world and Moses had to say "no" to him. Normally, that was not a healthy thing to do. Having done this and having been rebuffed, God called upon Moses to go back and confront Pharaoh again even though the people of Israel were upset with the result of his last confrontation with the emperor. Now both Israel and the Pharaoh were angry with him and his decisions. Having secured the freedom of his people, Moses was confronted with angry Jews because of their diet. They wanted to be able to eat as they had in Egypt. Having dealt with this problem, Moses was then confronted with the embarrassing position of being cornered against the Red Sea with the Egyptian army bearing down on his people. God enabled him to lead his people through this dilemma. Having escaped from Pharaoh and his army, Moses was prepared to deal with the 40 years of Israel wandering around in the desert. It is hard to imagine the anger and frustration these people would have when they had wandered 35 years and were still not in the land of promise. If our congress did this, we would oust every one of them. Finally Moses had to confront the embarrassing relatives, the children of Ishmael, who were unwilling to allow Israel to go through their lands. Little by little, God allowed Moses to lead Israel through more and more difficult experiences to strengthen their faith and dependence upon Him. Gideon is another case in point. The first task God gave him was to tear down his father's altar to Baal. Only then, did God talk with him about more demanding tasks of faith and trust. God called Gideon to lead the army against the enemies of Israel. Only after experiencing the faithfulness of God was Gideon able to trust God to reduce the army to 300 men and still expect to win the battle. Notice that it was not that easy. God had to endure the use of the fleece twice and then offer to let him listen to a dream which happened in the life of one of the Midianites. Having defeated the Midianites, God felt Gideon was prepared to deal with the internal problem brought about by the Ephraimites. This resulted in the destruction of the cities of Succoth and Penuel. There is a twist in the story at this point. Having been prepared for greater responsibility; having seen God at work defending His people and meeting their needs, Gideon then faltered. He made an ephod for himself. He made a very valuable contribution to his country, and the people gave him the bounty they had accumulated on the trip. Instead of using this for God and the people, he used it to make himself a wealthy man and accumulate honor for himself. In the process, Gideon led the people back into the idolatry that God wanted him to wipe out. Paul is another example of this principle. He only confronted the opposition of a few disciples and apostles, at first. As time went on, God used him to bring the Gospel to more and more people. This always arouses opposition. He was able to handle it because God had prepared him "little by little." If you look at the lives of the other apostles, you will see this same principle at work. God is at work in the lives of His people, but always "little by little." Like a child learning to swim. He/she wants to get out into the deep water. parents, however, know the dangers and want the little one to stay close to the shore. In our daily hardships and confrontations, God is teaching us little by little to cope with the opposition that always accompanies our growth. When you think of it, we should thank God for "little-by-little." Cordially in Christ, O. William Cooper WE'RE PACKING BOXES AGAIN!! Yes, we are moving. When we moved to Colorado, Bill's mother came to live with us and we added a small apartment to our home, but she is now in a nursing home. This house is just too big for the two of us, so we are moving into the foothills about 50 miles northwest of Loveland. This will not happen for another month or two, but it is coming. You can still reach us at our same address and phone number for a while, but we hope to be moved by May 1. Our new address will be as follows: Logos Ministries 581 Cucharas Mountain Drive Livermore, Colorado 80536 We do not know the phone number yet, but when it is firm, we will pass it along to you. In the meantime, we pack and write and write and pack. TEACHING We have recently learned that Bill will teach at The Course of Study School again this year. He will teach the first year class, as usual, and will teach the Bible study course ( twice) as he has in previous years. He hopes to teach Inductive Bible Study and Cooper's Greek in the evenings. Bill has also been asked to return to the Ukraine again this Fall. He will leave on September 5, begin teaching on Labor Day. In two weeks time, he will teach a course in the book of Hebrews. This will require teaching all morning and part of the afternoon each day. He will return on September 22. We would encourage you to pray for our trip to the Ukraine this Fall. Each year, it has been more difficult to get our visa and get the materials we take with us to that needy country. Last year, it took about 8 weeks to get the materials for a dental office to clear customs. There are also serious restrictions on medications that we want to take along because there are none available in the Ukraine. This year, we are going to take as many office supplies as we can to assist the college with this very expensive budget item. Not only are these things expensive; much of the time, they are not available. If you have anything of this nature to send, I will be glad to take it along with me. I need the materials by August 1, to send them out in time to arrive before I do. SPIRITUAL LIFE RETREAT For several months, Bill has been preparing to lead a Spiritual Life Retreat for the North Indiana Conference. He will be dealing with the ingredients of Spiritual growth. This will be held at St. Joseph Conference Center in Tipton, Indiana, October 17-19, 1996. You may remember that we are praying for the ministers and congregations of the North Indiana Conference each day until the time of the retreat in October. We invite you to join us to pray daily that God will bless them richly; that God would use their lives and ministries for His glory. INDUCTIVE BIBLE STUDY BOOK PRINTED For many years, students have asked that we print the content of the course Bill teaches at The Course of Study School each evening. The first part, dealing with Inductive Bible Study is now at the printers and should be available by the time you receive this newsletter. The book on Inductive Bible study appears on the order blank at the close of this newsletter. The title of this volume is DISCOVERING THE MESSAGE OF SCRIPTURE, A Step by Step Guide of How To Do Inductive Bible Study. The second module, Learning to use the Greek New Testament when you don't know the language, has been written and will be sent to the printers when the second half is finished - How to use the Hebrew Old Testament when you don't know the language. The title is, DIGGING DEEPER. Through the winter of 1995, 96, a surprising amount of writing has taken place. Bill has taught a course in the book of Judges. The preparation for this course has been written up and will be the next book written when the material for the Spiritual Growth retreat has been completed. As indicated earlier, Bill will teach a course in the Epistle to the Hebrews when he goes to the Ukraine. This material will also be put into book form just as soon as possible. IS IT SAFE?! As events in the Ukraine take more ominous turns, several people have asked if it is really safe to go there. In the five trips to the Ukraine, Bill has never felt that he was in any danger. The Seminary is located between two warring Mafia groups who are struggling for control in that section of the country. We have seen members of the Mafia walking through the campus with their sub-machine guns slung over their shoulders. We have seen their sentries standing guard outside their respective compounds on either side of the seminary. Should these two factions have armed confrontation, someone at the seminary could get hurt. Their political situation is becoming more volatile. There is increasing danger of Americans being held up on the train going from Kiev to Donetsk. We try to offset this danger by renting an entire compartment for our travel to and from Donetsk. This is not a guarantee, but it gives us more security. Another alternative is to take a plane instead of the train. The plane, however, is Aeroflot. It is not the safest airline in the world. Ultimately, God is the source of our trust concerning our safety. No one is always safe, anywhere. We are in His hands as we travel there to serve Him. You might pray for our safe return. |
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