1 Peter 1:13-16, Holiness (3)

We have taught on this passage in the context of an anniversary of the death of five American missionaries in Ecuador.  Perhaps you are familiar with the story.  (The book by Elizabeth Elliot, one of the five widows, entitled Through Gates of Splendor is the best accounting I believe.)  They exemplified 1 Pt. 1:13-16 so I want to share some thoughts about and from these men that show how they came to be in the place of danger.  Most of what we say reflects the aforementioned book.

They were in Ecuador as missionaries and shared a desire to take the gospel to a tribe of Auca Indians, people who had a reputation of not being very friendly to outsiders.  If you ask why these men lost their lives think about this.

Yes No
o x	They didn't know they were in such danger. 1.  During the start of outreach to the Aucas the 5 wives had talked one night about the possibility of becoming widows (p175). 2.  They knew from others (oil workers, missionaries, Aucas who had come out of the jungle) that this was a deadly tribe (p14f).
o x	They had a martyr's complex. 1.  It may have seemed like they rushed headlong into this tragic ending. 2.  But in fact they had spend months using careful planning, bucket drops, etc. to establish a friendly relationship with the Aucas.
o x	It was fate; it was simply their time to go. 1.  The Christianity Today article by Nate Saint's son several years afterwards explained what had happened from pt of view of the Aucas, an unfortunate course of events. 2.  But this does not change the fact that these 5 men were each led, with the support of their wives, to choose Ecuador, the Aucas. I may no longer depend on pleasant impulses to bring me before the Lord. I must rather respond to principles I know to be right, whether I feel them to be enjoyable or not. (Jim Elliot)
o x	They couldn't really do anything else. 1.  Jim was a great communicator to youth and had been encouraged to stay in the US and call youth to God. 2.  Pete expected to teach college. 3.  Ed was in his 1st year of law school. 4.  Nate could have made good money with Shell Oil in the same jungle. 5.  Roger had been on course to teach.
x o	They were obedient to the God Who set them apart for this very thing.

Heb 12:14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:

Ed McCully (in a letter to Jim Elliot): "In all honesty before the Lord I say that no one or nothing beyond Himself and the Word has any bearing upon what I've decided to do. I have one desire now -- to live a life of reckless abandon for the Lord, putting all my energy and strength into it."

Jim Elliot: "No visions, no voices, but the counsel of a heart which desires God."

Jim Elliot: Grieve not, then, if your sons seem to desert you, but rejoice, rather, seeing the will of God done gladly.

Jim Elliot: Rest in this - it is His business to lead, command, impel, send, call or whatever you want to call it. It is your business to obey, follow, move, respond, or what have you.

Pete Fleming: "I think a 'call' to the mission field is no different form any other means of guidance.  A call is nothing more nor less than obedience to the will of God, as God presses it home to the soul by whatever means He chooses."

Nate Saint: A medical problem had kept him from being an Air Force pilot, a severe disappointment that led him to the Word of God, & for the first time he heard the verse "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men." the old life of chasing things that are temporal seemed absolutely insane.

Rog: his military stint brought him face to face with Christ and the fact that his "Christian" walk before was nothing compared to the infinite joy of a life conformed to Christ.

Nate Saint: regarded himself as 'expendable' for the cause of Christ. "During the last war we were taught to recognize that, in order to obtain our objective, we had to be willing to be expendable ... This very afternoon thousands of soldiers are known by their serial numbers as men who are expendable ... Yet, when the Lord Jesus asks us to pay the price for world evangelization, we often answer without a word, We cannot go. We say it costs too much. ... God didn't hold back His only Son, but gave Him up to pay the price for our failure and sin.  Missionaries constantly face expendability." 

Pete Fleming, from his HS valedictory speech: "Where shall we look? Where shall we go? I believe that we have a right to go back to the Bible for our anchorage.  Here we have a recognized foundation ... let us build upon it."

 Grieve not, then, if your sons seem to desert you, but rejoice, rather, seeing the will of God done gladly.

Jim Elliot:

I have had to make a cross of two logs, and lie down on it, to show the Indians what it means to crucify a man.

I may no longer depend on pleasant impulses to bring me before the Lord. I must rather respond to principles I know to be right, whether I feel them to be enjoyable or not.

Oh, the fullness, pleasure, sheer excitement of knowing God on earth!
Rest in this - it is His business to lead, command, impel, send, call or whatever you want to call it. It is your business to obey, follow, move, respond, or what have you.

Those whimpering Stateside young people will wake up on the Day of Judgment condemned to worse fates than these demon-fearing Indians, because, having a Bible, they were bored with it - while these never heard of such a thing as writing.

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."