4 March 2018
Dear Phyllis,
In
the 1970s I was the most blessed man on planet earth. I had one of the
best jobs in Japan and lived in the finest house in the country. More
than that, Karuizawa was unchallenged as the number one town in Japan.
The thing that made Karuizawa so special was the environment. We were
located at exactly 1,000 meters (3,ooo feet) at the base of an active
volcano, Mt. Asama.
In
the 1960s and 70s riding a train in Japan was so bad you could hardly
see from one end of a coach to the other. Taking the train home from
Tokyo to Karuizawa was just like being in a smoke house and when you got
off you felt like a smoked salmon. It was an exhilarating experience
just to get off the train. Taking a deep breath of cool, fresh,
Karuizawa mountain air was a sensual experience. The air smelled like
steak, and the cool tap water in Karuizawa was more delicious than the
finest French wine. My property was easily the best land in Karuizawa.
It was all by itself slightly higher than any other place in town on the
base of Hanareyama. I built a prayer tower for myself and would go out
there to meet with the Lord every morning. In the early morning,
frequently there would be fog over town and looking down on it was like
being in heaven looking down on the earth. And off in the distance I
could see the snow capped Japanese Alps. Oh my goodness it was
wonderful. But getting home was not the main attraction. I loved my wife
and two sons. I loved my house and everything in it but there was
nothing I would swap for my family. Being with my family was the
greatest pleasure.
Samuel Rutherford wrote, “The Lord has opened His door and taken
a
poor sinner into His house of wine, and has left me so sick of love for
my Lord Jesus that if heaven were at my disposing I would not give it
for Christ, and would not be content to go to heaven except persuaded
that Christ were there. … Christ has come and run away to heaven with my
heart and love so that neither my heart nor love are mine. I pray God
that Christ may always keep them without reservation.”
In
his classic The Sands of Time hymn Rutherford wrote, “The Bride eyes not
her garment but her dear Bridegrooms face. I will not look on glory but
on my King of grace. Not to the crown He giveth but to His pierced
Hand. The Lamb of God is all the glory of Imanuel's land.”
This
is what it is all about. It maybe trite but it's true; the most
important thing is not the blessing but the Blessor. We love things but
do we love the One Who gives them more? Reading Rutherford has convinced
me that there is so much more of Christ to be had right now than what
we experience. There is no doubt, that if we knew Him better we would
love Him more. In writing of Jesus, Solomon said, “As the apple tree
among the wood, so is My Beloved among the sons. I sat down under His
shade with great delight, and His fruit was sweet to my taste (S of S.
2:3). I trust you can identify with that. There have been some
outstanding men in this world and we have some very dear friends, but
are there any that compares with Jesus. It is one of the high light
blessings of salvation to be able to say, “I sat down under His shadow
with great delight”. There are a lot of pressures and problems that beat
down upon us like a scorching sun. The burden of sin and daily
struggles. But when we learn that Jesus is willing, and wants, to bear
that for us; oh my goodness what relief! Man howdy that feels good. What
a blessing to be able to sit in the shade of Jesus. Let Him take the
heat. And the things He gives us. You know the song Count Your Blessing.
Have you ever tried to count them one by one? You can't. You can start
but we will never get to the end of all the blessing Jesus gives us
daily. His apples are oishi (delicious) but we should never get to the
place where we enjoy the apples more than the tree.
It
has been my privilege to personally know a number of great Christian
men. But there is one unusual brother that I would put in the top ten of
men who have had the greatest influence on my life. Bill Schak was
about the nearest to nothing of any Christian that I had ever met. He
was a simple farm boy from a small town 5 miles from Mariana, Florida.
Bill's heart was good but it would be a compliment to call him a baby
Christian. His English grammar was so bad sometimes you wondered if
English was a second language with him. In 1960, when the Russ O'Quinns
returned to the states, we had to get a new Bible teacher for the adult
Bible class at the Church of the Open Door. Of course I was the logical
candidate. I had the best knowledge of scripture and was the most gifted
teacher. But somehow I got passed over and Bill was selected to teach
the class. Grief. But no one knew what the Lord had in store. When Bill
got that Bible study he panicked. He decided to study 1st
Peter and started at verse one. I would stop by his room on Monday
evening and say, “Le's go get some ice cream and a coke.” Bill would
say, “I would love to go with you but we have 1 Pet. 1:1-5 for our study
Sunday. I have no idea what it means and I can't go out tonight.” That
was the story of Bill's life for the next six months. I never saw a man
with such fanaticism for studying the Bible in my life – before or
since. And it shouldn't be surprising that the Holy Spirit began to show
Bill some things that were really deep. It was just like Song of Sol.
1:4 says - “Draw ME and WE will run after You”. This is one of the first
spiritual laws that we find in the Song of Sol. There is an interesting
play on pronouns – ME and WE. The spiritual law is this; when God
begins to draw one person to Himself the result of that is plural -
“Draw Me and We will run...”. It wasn't long before that Bible class was
the main point of the church. It was not uncommon that when two people
from that class got together mid-week the main topic of conversation was
the Bible class last Sunday.
Bill
told me that he got to the place that if he woke up in the middle of
the night his mind was either studying the Bible or praying for friends.
Nothing else crossed his mind. Day or night his mind was totally
absorbed in the Word of God. I believe Rutherford was a man like that.
He said Jesus had taken his heart and run off to heaven with it. Oh
blessed loss. Bill Schak was a man like that. Would to God there were
more like him. The reason Bill had such an impact on my life was because
I saw what the Holy Spirit could do with a man that had little natural
resources and make a giant out of him. Bill has always remained a model
for me but I have never come close to his stature and I have never
taught a class that provoked more interest than Bill's.
I
love wood working. I love making things. I can sit for hours thinking
about how to make something. There is nothing wrong with that. But oh
that I had an obsession for Jesus. Rutherford wrote, “Oh, that I could
peek trough a hole in the gate to heaven or climb up to a chamber-window
to gaze upon that lovely Face. Time, time, why are you so cruel to me?
When will it be that I shall be with my lovely Beloved?” There is a man
with a real obsession for Jesus.
I
fear there is an enormous gap between the Lord and ourselves. Why should
this be. Is there any restraint in the heart of God? What Jesus told
Nicodemus about the heart of the Father (Jn. 3:16) and the fact that the
Father sent His Son on such an expensive mission should settle any
doubts about what God thinks. And the fact that Jesus came, plus all
that He told us while He was here should settle any question about His
desire. And the Holy Spirit... . That one just blows my mind. In the
Trinity, I wonder Who suffers the most. Jesus only had to put up with us
for 33 years but the Holy Spirit has indwelt carnal Christians for
2,000 years. It is abundantly clear that the heart of God longs for our
fellowship. In looking for the problem, that leaves only us.
Oh Lord feed us with hunger. Give us a craving for Yourself. Oh Lord draw us and we will run after You.
bill
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