The Difference between Knowing and Being

5 December 2016

Dear Friends,

When I wrote yesterdays PB letter I had a suspicion that perhaps my heated wrath may not have been Spirit of Christ. That is why I closed with the remark,”Do you think this is the Spirit of Christ?

Knowing something and being something are not necessarily the same thing. I know I should be a better Christian but knowing that does not make it true. An alcoholic knows that he should stop drinking, but knowing that does not make him sober. I know it is my disposition to be very quick with harsh biting words, and in the back of my mind I am occasionally aware that that may not be the Spirit of Christ.

This morning I was reading again the Song of Solomon and noticed that the most prominent point of beauty the Jesus sees in His Bride is that she has doves eyes (S of S 1:15; 4:1). It is significant that the Bride says the same thing about Jesus, that He has doves eyes (S of S 5:12). You don't have to be a deep Bible scholar to know that doves eyes are speaking of the Holy Spirit. We all know that the Dove is the universal emblem of the Holy Spirit (Jn. 1:32). Nothing could be more descriptive. There is a distinct difference between the eyes of a dove and a hawk. There is a difference between the eyes of a lamb and a fox. A friend once had the devil come to speak with her in her kitchen. I asked her, “What did the devil look like”. Miriam replied, “He was handsome.” One of the most handsome beings she had ever seen. Then she added, “But his eyes”. Some time later I was over there for supper and Miriam brought a magazine over to show me. There was a picture of a tiger. Miriam said, “Look at those eyes. That is what the devil looks like.” Cats eyes. We have a very bad poisonous snake in Japan; a mamushi. A new missionary once asked me, “What does a mamushi look like?” I told him that they look very much like a garter snake in the states. But their eyes... “If you ever kill one look at the eyes. You'll know”. Some time later John told me, “I killed a mamushi the other day. You were right. As soon as I saw the eyes I knew it was a mamushi”.

I have read Song of Sol. hundreds of times and I am very familiar with the expression, doves eyes. They said of Robert Murray McCheyne, that his rebukes were the most terrible because he was so tender. But that is not bill cook. I am much better at swinging the headman's ax than the tender rebukes of McCheyne. But with a voluminous response to yesterdays letter and the Word from the Lord this morning it is pretty clear what would be the best approach Thursday night. It will take an unusual intervention of the holy Spirit to pull this on off. I can't do it, but maybe Jesus can.

When the Lord met with Elijah in the cave, the first thing He showed Elijah was the strong wind, the earthquake, and the fire. But God was not in any of that. Then the still small Voice. It was the still small Voice that caused Elijah to cover his face. (1 Kn. 19:9-13).

Oh, Lord, please let that still small Voice be heard in the hearts of the benighted folks Thursday night.Salvation is of God. They need to be saved. Lord let them be saved Thursday night. Please do it for Jesus sake; Amen.

                         bill