October 26,1996
Dear Br. Trumball:
How are you. I haven’t heard from you
or spoken with you in several years. Since we left Rogersville
and moved to Morristown, we moved again to Del Rio, a small postal
address in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains near North
Carolina, just south of Newport, in Cocke country, I started a
nonprofit company called Homeward-Bound Family Services which
is dedicated to reflecting the glory or character of Christ thorough
instruction in traditional Christian family values. As one of
the missionary endeavors of this company, which is not yet incorporated,
I feel a burden to write to men to encourage them to be all that
they can be for Christ and to reflect His glory in our homes,
families, churches, and communities.
It is our privilege and duty, as Christian
men, to be the leaders in our homes and churches, but only if
we lead in the direction that Christ indicates and in the manner
of His choosing. Christ is looking for a few good men to represent
Himself to the world in this last moment of earth’s history.
His work will be finished by dedicated men, such as yourself,
who love the Lord and know what it means to be humble and self-effacing.
The qualifications, for being a man in Christ’s cause, are
a love for the Lord, and a self-forgetfulness that places a higher
value upon others then self.
Many people desire to go to heaven, but
few will enter its gates. In church, we often hear prayers, such
as this one, “O, Lord, we desire your speedy return so we
may go to heaven.” This type of prayer will never be answered
for it is based on selfishness, what’s in it for me. Self
is prominent and Christ is only the means of fulfilling a selfish
ambition. Heaven sounds attractive, and many desire it for selfish
motives.
But what is the appropriate manner to pray
for Christ’s return and our entrance into heaven? Here is
an example of a prayer exhibiting a true motive that qualifies
us for eternal life with Christ in heaven.
“O, Lord, I renounce my own interests,
for I love you and desire that you may receive your reward. Let
me be nothing and let you be everything. You have suffered enough,
dear Father, and it is my longing that your anguish may end. Cleanse
me of all wickedness that my life may testify for you. Purify
me of secret sins for in this way your distress may cease for
when I sin Christ is put to an open shame and crucified afresh.”
Here is no self seeking other then the self-seeking
of love. Here is no boastful touting of one’s own accomplishments
but a heartfelt recognition that it is my sin that crucified Christ.
Here is expressed no desire for eternity, but a hope that Christ’s
torment, caused by my transgressions, may abate, because I desist
from sin. The man who loves Christ supremely will urge that another
go to heaven in his place, if by this means, he may enjoy everlasting
life. As Moses chose eternal death and Paul preferred to remain
on earth to witness to his brethren and die the common death of
a criminal rather then accept the offer of translation. We must
consider our infinite happiness of no consequence, if another
soul may loose eternity. In other words, Moses, Paul, and Christ
were willing to go hell for ever, that others might live in the
kingdom. This is the only acceptable motive with God for entrance
into paradise.
How do we acquire this motivation? When
we understand what Christ did for us on the cross, how He freely
gave us salvation and righteousness, how He voluntarily took our
sins- and went to hell for us, then we may but dimly discern the
depth of His affection for us, and apprehending it, our response
ought to be such a deep appreciation for His beneficence, that
we may likewise cherish others as He first loved us. If we don’t
share this unconditional self-sacrificing love for others, then
we are none of His and all our prayers, notwithstanding, we shall
never see heaven. This is a high standard of Christian perfection,
but Christ longs to manifest his righteous character to the world,
through us, for one last time before His advent. If sinners cannot
see Christ in us, then they may never behold Him. He cannot restore
His kingdom until the entire world has been warned of coming judgment.
And how is it to be alerted to this peril. Not through evangelists,
missionaries, Bible studies, or church offerings but by the witness
of a transformed life, a radiant Christ-like character and a willingness
to go to hell that transgressors may live in blissful paradise.
Just as the world could only tolerate three
and a half years of Christ’s public ministry before His purity
condemned Him to death, so sinners can only tolerate a few months
of the spotless purity of an entire generation of people who love
as Christ loved. Why hasn’t Christ returned? The world has
not yet seen Christ in us. As it hated Christ, so it will hate
us, but if it doe not hate us then it does not see Christ in us,
and He cannot return. What is causing the delay, our faithlessness
and lack of Christian character.
But Christ will return, as soon as his bride hath made herself ready. The church, the body of believers, prepares herself for her bridegroom by purifying herself of all known and unknown sins and transgressions.
I have every confidence in you, dear brother,
that you will, through the grace of Christ, purge your heart sin,
that you may perfectly reflect his righteous character to others
and hasten Christ’s return, not so that you may obtain your
reward, but that Christ may secure His reward. We work nor for
ourselves but for Christ. His compensation is the sight of his
faithful, refined children standing before His throne, without
spot or blemish, without the least taint of sin upon their garments
or character. We are his recompense. We can ask for nothing greater
then that Christ may be blessed and happy throughout eternity.
May the Lord bless you, your brother in Christ.
Allen A. Benson
