God's Mysterious Ways Mother's Day

[0:00] In connection with Mother's Day, we've come across a number of articles and things that you've probably seen as well as I have on the Internet. And we've got a couple of items from Rabbi Zacharias' ministry, international ministry.

[0:17] And one is the eight questions that were proposed to Mrs. Zacharias, and she answered those. And they are on the sheet that I told you you can avail yourself of.

[0:31] It's in the literature rack back there. It's got her picture on the front. Make sure that you get one. And another article was by one of their staff members, a vivacious young lady by the name of Jo Vittal.

[0:45] And I don't know if it's Vittali or Vittal, but it's obviously Italiano anyway. And she is a really tremendous, capable young woman, and she adds a lot to the Rabbi Zacharias' ministries.

[1:01] And she has authored an article, and I was so impressed with it. I thought every mother and grandmother really ought to hear that. And I was encouraged to read it.

[1:12] But I told Marie, now this article needs to be read by a woman, a mother. So I've asked Marie, would you come up and read that article, please?

[1:24] I think you will appreciate it. And for those of you who would like to have copies, see Marie afterwards, and she's got a copy that she'll be glad to provide you. Happy Mother's Day.

[1:40] It's okay, sweetheart. I haven't forgotten you. These were the words I found myself yelling down the stairs last week as I frantically scrambled to fetch a bottle of milk for my hysterically screaming son.

[1:55] At 11 weeks old, waiting is a concept he has not yet grasped. Caught up in his little world of immediate need and fierce hunger, to him any delay is experienced as neglect, and any absence as abandonment.

[2:13] It was as I scooped him up to soothe him that it dawned on me that I had heard those very same words before, spoken long ago by another parent.

[2:23] Quote, can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has born? Though she may forget, I will not forget you.

[2:35] See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. Your walls are ever before me. Isaiah 49, 15, and 16.

[2:45] One of the apologetics questions that I hear most frequently on university campuses is the question of why. If both women and men are made in the image of God, Jesus teaches us to refer to God exclusively as our Father.

[3:03] And yet, in doing so, Jesus not only welcomes us into a familial relationship with the God of the universe, making us co-heirs in his household, but he also invites us to discover the love of a father at its very best.

[3:22] Personally, I am so grateful for the way that God has fathered me. Far from feeling undervalued as a woman, he has taught me so much about my intrinsic worth as his child, as well as setting an exemplar to men everywhere of just what it looks like to cherish a daughter.

[3:44] And yet, while Christ has gifted us with the immense privilege of calling God our Father, we miss out on something distinctly beautiful about the heart of God if we overlook the intentional way that God is also likened to a mother throughout Scripture.

[4:02] From the anguish of childbirth, to the intimacy of breastfeeding, to the motherly embrace of a hurting child, to the daily habits of child-rearing, the fierce maternal instinct to guard a child, and the texts for all these are in this other copy that you get.

[4:23] God does not shy away from identifying himself with the most intense emotions and meaningful experiences of motherhood. Indeed, even the repeated description of God as compassionate evokes a sense of maternal care, as the underlying noun at the root of the Hebrew word for compassion is womb.

[4:45] As I embark on this deep learning curve of discovering what it means to be a parent, it is an immense comfort to me to know that I am leaning on a God who can relate to both the heady joys and the intense sorrows of loving like a mother.

[5:02] When my heart is so overflowing with love that I feel like I could flood the world with it, I know I don't need to try and find words to explain that to God. His love for his children runs so deep that we are engraved on his palms and ever on his mind.

[5:20] Isaiah 49, 16 And when my heart trembles at the prospect of what my son might face in the days and years ahead, it settles me to know that Jesus too longs to gather up his people in the fiercely protective embrace of a mother hen.

[5:37] Matthew 23, 37 Last month, my son shed tears for the first time in his life. And as I wiped them away, I experienced a profound yearning to be there, to wipe away every single one of his tears, accompanied by the horrible realization that I cannot be.

[5:57] And yet I take comfort in the knowledge that God can be, that he will be there for every tear shed, and that one day he offers to wipe them all away.

[6:08] This Mother's Day, my first ever as a mother, I am thankful to be discovering a new dimension to God, the God who shows up every day to meet me in the laughter, the tears, the joys, and the fears of motherhood.

[6:23] And so I pray that each one of you mothers out there would encounter that same compassionate God this year, the compassion of a God who not only embraces your children, but who has not forgotten you.

[6:37] Well, today, in keeping with Mother's Day, it's going to be a little different, different messages, in addition to what you just heard.

[6:58] Actually, I'm just going to tell you two stories. First one I want to read, and it goes like this. Charles and Effie Mae were born in the 1870s, shortly after the Civil War ended.

[7:20] Charles was French, and Effie Mae was Irish. And together, they would have eight children, six girls and two boys. Two of the six girls, Jenny and Marilyn, would succumb to the epidemic of diphtheria that took a toll on thousands during the 1920s.

[7:46] Dorothy, the second oldest of their girls, was born in 1916. And in 1934, Dorothy met and fell in love with Wayne.

[7:59] She was 18, and Wayne was 20. The courtship became involved and intense, as the courtships of youth often do.

[8:11] With the hormones of youthfulness in full flourish, Wayne and Dorothy decided to give them maximum expression.

[8:21] And because actions have consequences, the reasonably predictable occurred. Dorothy was pregnant.

[8:37] Wayne promptly proposed marriage, and Dorothy accepted. But Dorothy's parents, her father Charles in particular, did not accept Wayne's offer and desire to marry Dorothy.

[8:53] In fact, Charles went so far as to tell others that if Wayne showed up anywhere he could see him, he would shoot him. Everyone who knew Charles and his volatile temper knew that he was not issuing an idle threat.

[9:14] So, warned to take the threat seriously, and with the cooperation of friends who had served as messengers, Wayne arranged for secret meetings with Dorothy to further talk about what to do.

[9:28] Meanwhile, the intensity of Dorothy's father never lessened, and some feared for both of them, Wayne and Dorothy. Leaving the situation to be unresolvable, Wayne left the area, seeking a job elsewhere.

[9:46] But this was now the 1930s, and the Great Depression was in full swing. Meanwhile, Dorothy continued with her pregnancy while living at home under the predictable, tense atmosphere created by the uncontrolled passion of teenagers.

[10:06] No doubt there were abortions performed in 1934, but none of them were legal because abortion was widely viewed as the murder of the unborn child that was considered to be a human being.

[10:22] Still, for the right amount of money and the right connections, an abortion could be obtained, and no doubt many were.

[10:33] Everyone knew of cases where unmarried girls unexpectedly left for another town to visit an aunt or relative that no one even knew existed, only to return months later.

[10:47] Before she left home, rumors circulated that she was pregnant, but she did not appear to be so when she returned home. Some had their baby and gave it up for adoption.

[11:00] Such was not uncommon, even for couples who were married, because times were really dire in the 1930s. Another child to be responsible for could easily be placed in a home where a child was wanted.

[11:17] Besides, wanted by people who could properly care for it. In addition, the stigma and family embarrassment was for many something the family refused to tolerate.

[11:30] Pregnancy out of wedlock in the 1930s was looked upon far differently than it is today. Birth control pills and most other preventive devices didn't even exist in the 1930s, and the few precautions that might be taken were generally unreliable.

[11:51] Couple that with the often unrestrained passion of youth who could always rationalize taking this sexual liberty by assuring each other.

[12:03] After all, we both know we're going to get married anyway, right? So why wait? And sometimes the urge is just too compelling and the youngsters succumb to the temptation and engage in what then was considered highly unacceptable.

[12:25] It is amazing, however, is it not, how our culture has completely changed regarding this issue today. Not only is pregnancy out of wedlock no big deal, neither is abortion.

[12:42] Neither is marriage without the benefit or living together without the benefit of marriage. We have undergone a radical change in our culture today, and it is not for the better.

[12:54] Some of these things that we've just talked about are pulling this nation down. I can remember, and I'm sure you can too, but times have changed.

[13:08] There was a time when you could send your son or daughter off to a university or college, and you knew that the boys were going to be in the boys' dorm, the girls were going to be in the girls' dorm, and there the tweens shall meet.

[13:22] And today, that's considered old-fashioned and unacceptable. And today, we have all kinds of promiscuity taking place along with the abortions and everything else and the transmission of sexual disease, and our universities are a veritable hotbed of it all.

[13:41] And the administrations, much to our dismay, actually encourage and endorse it. It is supposed to be part of our freedom. So, the nation is paying a tremendous price.

[13:56] What shall we say about young people like Wayne and Dorothy that engage in taking liberties that they are not entitled to?

[14:08] Well, who says they're not entitled to them? After all, sex is a natural inclination. It's a natural drive. And it would be wrong to repress it.

[14:19] And this is the kind of argument that we get. And yet, we've got a biblical standard, and the Bible tells us that we are to avoid fornication.

[14:29] And that includes sexual activity outside of marriage. And it would also include sexual activity if you are married with anyone besides the one to whom you're married.

[14:42] So, the problem is this. The Bible makes it very clear what the standard is for believers, but we would be the first to admit you can't expect unbelievers to comply with biblical standards for behavior.

[14:58] Can you? Of course not. They are not subject to the law of God. Neither indeed can be. So, we have to deal with this. But, it all has to do with what's at the top.

[15:11] With what we were talking about in the nine o'clock hour this morning. We are living in a time that has just absolutely overwhelmed our culture.

[15:23] and it is not only multiculturalism, but there is an item that is even bigger than that and it has to do with morality, with the relativity of morality and of the relativity of right and wrong.

[15:43] As we were discussing in the nine o'clock hour, the tendency is for when there is no overarching authority, when there is no fixed reference point, when there is no moral north star, everyone becomes their own north star.

[15:59] Everyone becomes their own standard setter. And, like the book in the Bible in the Old Testament concludes that there was no king in Israel in those days and everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

[16:13] And that simply means that when there is no king, there is no central authority. And the Bible sets forth a picture that in a very real way, God is our king.

[16:27] God is the king over all the earth. And he sets the standards for right and wrong and for moral behavior and so on. And you can violate those standards, but when you do, there is always the consequential price to be paid for it.

[16:42] And yet, we do it anyway, don't we? We violate those standards. And what is it that we are counting on? Well, I know exactly what Wayne and Dorothy were counting on.

[16:54] They were counting on repentance and God's forgiveness. And I'm sure that God's forgiveness was in place. And they enjoyed God's forgiveness because after all, we are flawed human beings.

[17:08] And this is not to minimize sex outside of marriage, not to say that it's no big deal because it is a big deal. But people are people and we are subject to yielding to temptations that we know we ought not to yield to.

[17:21] Yet when we do, there is beneath us those everlasting arms that are ready to receive us and welcome us and forgive us and pardon us when we go astray.

[17:34] And that's, I'm sure, what happened with Wayne and with Dorothy. And you may not know exactly what your response is to all of this, but I know what my response is.

[17:48] My response is, thanks, mom, for life. Thanks for life. The product of Wayne and Dorothy's raging hormones is standing here before you.

[18:06] And God does work in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform. So thanks, mom, for life. Now in a completely different vein, I want to talk about something that, okay, I'll admit it, I don't want to be negative, but I'm going to be honest.

[18:33] Young people are going to be absolutely bored stiff with this. But here it comes anyway because it deserves a hearing. And this is something that I did before and it didn't even occur to me to have it recorded because it wasn't, and it wasn't.

[18:51] And I don't know how many people came up to us afterwards and said they wanted a recording of it and we didn't have one together. So I said, we'll do this again sometime. And I can't think of a better time than Mother's Day because what I'm going to share with you is a perfect example of how mischievous kids, sometimes the kind of kids that you think you can't do anything with, and by the way, this is a guy thing because what this involves is something that would never occur to girls because they're entirely too genteel, too polished, and too refined.

[19:32] But not so for us guys. And we are capable of, well, a lot of mothers know what guys are capable of. But anyway, this is just to go to show you that for any mother who may have a son in her charge that she sometimes finds exasperating or doesn't know what to do with or how to handle or what in the world is where did this kid come from?

[19:59] Maybe there was a mix-up at the church or at the nursery or at the hospital and I didn't get the right kid or something. Anyway, all kinds of things. But you may wonder, what in the world does this have to do with anything?

[20:17] These three volumes are entitled The Theocratic Kingdom. The Theocratic Kingdom.

[20:27] And they were authored by a local Lutheran clergyman. George Nathaniel Henry Peters is the author of this massive three-volume set of theological books, The Theocratic Kingdom.

[20:52] There isn't any way that I can tell you, and if I could, you probably find it hard to believe. This is perhaps the most magisterial work that has ever been created in the English language having to do with this subject.

[21:16] And yet, it is virtually unknown, even by many clergymen. And one of the things that makes this so extraordinary is that the author, George Peters, had to compile these writings in the late 1800s, when he had to write probably by candlelight or by kerosene lamp, because electricity hadn't even been invented, and neither had typewriters been invented, and everything was in longhand.

[21:55] He had an affliction of eye problems, some kind of eye disease. He regretted that it kept him, that it limited him in his study and writing, sometimes limited him to 16 to 18 hours a day.

[22:13] This man was absolutely phenomenal, and I just cannot express how extraordinary he was, or how scholarly he was, or how learned he was.

[22:30] Let me share a little bit of a biography about him. This was written by John Stoll, who was the chairman of the Department of Biblical Studies at Grace College, and he said regarding this work, in 1883, an obscure work.

[22:50] Focus on that. Obscure. What does that mean, young people? Obscure means it's very little known, very little understood, very little even heard of.

[23:01] In other words, obscure is kind of like the equivalent of a veritable nobody. An obscure work by an unknown author was published in three volumes entitled The Theocratic Kingdom.

[23:17] This work was to ultimately have a profound influence on the eschatological thinking of students of the Bible. Now, that's just a big word, eschatological.

[23:29] It just means last things. It's another word like for prophecy. Eschatological has to do with the study and interpretation of the last and final things that are going to take place upon the earth, and it's called eschatology.

[23:46] In 1952, Dr. Wilbur Smith, a name probably that doesn't mean a thing to most of you, but Dr. Wilbur Smith at the time was at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, and he was generally considered to be the world's foremost authority regarding the subject of Christian literature of all kinds, ancient and modern.

[24:10] I mean, what Dr. Wilbur Smith didn't know about literature, particularly English literature, just wasn't worth knowing. This man was quoted, recognized as a world authority. And in writing a preface to the theocratic kingdom, here's what Wilbur Smith said.

[24:26] No writer of a major work in the field of biblical interpretation in modern times could have lived and died in greater oblivion and experienced less recognition for a great piece of work than the author of these three great volumes devoted to biblical prophecy.

[24:51] Yet, this clergyman, never becoming nationally famous, never serving large churches, passing away in such comparative obscurity, wrote the most important single work on biblical predictive prophecy to appear in this country at any time during the 19th century.

[25:13] And I would just add to that and say, and it must also include the 20th century, this work stands absolutely, completely apart from all others.

[25:27] These three volumes of over 2,200 pages give an exhaustive treatise on the whole field of eschatology. Dr. Smith was quick to point out in his preface that the author of these volumes must have read everything of importance in the major areas of history, science, literature, and theology.

[25:50] from an examination of the index, one learns that over 4,000 different authors are quoted from the church fathers of the second century down to his own decade.

[26:05] No one else has ever written a work on predictive prophecy in which statements are so heavily supported with reference to the relevant literature as has George N.

[26:19] H. Peters. He was born in 1825 in Pennsylvania and died at the age of 84.

[26:29] and one of the things that makes him and his writing so significant is that he was a Lutheran clergyman. Some may say, well, what's so unusual about that?

[26:42] Lutheran clergymen have brains too. Well, that's true, but this was a Lutheran clergyman who obviously enjoyed the camaraderie, the fellowship, the respect of other Lutheran clergymen in the area with whom he was very well associated, but he was completely out of step with all of them, theologically and doctrinally.

[27:08] I do not understand how he functioned in that kind of climate. A lady whom I had the pleasure to meet who was Dr.

[27:19] Peter's granddaughter said that she could recall Sunday afternoons at her home, and they lived right here in Springfield, on Leffels Lane, on the corner of Leffels Lane, and I think it was Ontario Street, in the south end of Springfield.

[27:38] She said she could remember Lutheran clergymen coming to the home where Dr. Peters was staying, and in his later years he was in ill health and didn't get out much, and she said they would come straight from church, and they were dressed in their garb, in the clerical garb, the collar and everything, and they would sit there in the room for sometimes three and four hours talking to my grandfather, and actually she said, they were just arguing, they would raise their voice, and they were pounding on the table, and they were just, and she said, and I was only about six or seven years old at the time, and I didn't understand anything that they were talking about, and she said, and they would present their arguments or a point, and she said, and I can still hear my grandfather say, yes, I hear you, and she said, and he always talked in a very calm, low voice, yes,

[28:39] I hear you, but the Bible says, and she said, that's all she could remember, he kept saying, but the Bible says, and sometimes they would really be angry, but he never, he never raised his voice, and he would just respond with, yes, but the Bible, and then he would quote some numbers and some verses, and that, of course, was what he was, he was defending a tremendously unpopular position regarding the doctrine of future things.

[29:14] Dr. Peters was a pre-millennialist, and all, I mean, virtually all of his Lutheran brethren clergymen were amillennial.

[29:28] They were all into replacement theology, which they brought from Romanism, that Martin Luther brought with him, which says that the church has replaced the state of Israel, and Israel has no more future in the plan and program of God anymore than Ireland or Holland or someplace like that, and the new Israel is now the Christian church.

[29:52] And Dr. Peters, of course, took exception to that, and he was like a fish swimming upstream. And by the way, I trust that you probably know this because I've said it enough times now, the position that we take here is pre-millennial and pre-tribulational, and we believe that God has made covenant promises with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that he will not violate.

[30:15] And even though Israel is set aside in disobedience and unbelief, they are under temporary blindness until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in. And then God is going to put Israel back on the main track, and he is going to fulfill all of the promises made to the fathers.

[30:33] This is the burden of prophecy, and it has to be interpreted at face value as it is given. That's the way Dr. Peters interpreted it, and that's the basis for the writing of these books, is setting forth that position.

[30:47] So it was difficult for him. It had to be difficult for him because he was all alone. No one else stood with him in this position, and yet he was so convinced of his position because of what he believed the scriptures to teach, and I could not agree more.

[31:04] He pastored several churches, and think of this, if you will. Now this is remarkable. This would have to say something about the character and the demeanor of the man. How could someone holding those positions be invited to Lutheran churches to pastor them when the position they held was the complete opposite of his?

[31:28] Yet he must have had a bearing and a demeanor and a winsomeness about him that would actually cause him to be in demand in these places.

[31:40] And without apology, he would teach what he believes and the scriptures, and this theocratic kingdom was something that was, I'm sure, underway at the time, and yet the churches that he pastored held doctrinal positions that were the complete opposite.

[31:56] So they take a position that there is, that this is the millennium, we're living in the millennium, the amillennials say, that, but it's a spiritual millennium, and there will not be any literal reign of Christ on earth at all, period.

[32:12] Christ is reigning right now on earth. We are living in the millennium. This is it. Now, that's a stretch, but if you understand what the conditions are supposed to be that exist in the millennium, we don't see any of them.

[32:31] It's because they are not here. There will not be, the kingdom will not come in and be established until the king comes. And when the king comes, he will establish that kingdom.

[32:45] We are not going to. And this work, this massive work, is just, it's captivating, it's spellbinding, it's just, there are 25 pages, listings of scripture references from Old and New Testament.

[33:02] 25 pages listing authors and books and periodicals, 32 pages listing index, everything is so well supported and verified.

[33:14] It is amazing. And as one has said, this man must have read virtually everything. He had to have been one of the most well-read individuals. And you just read the references that he cites there and the pages.

[33:28] It's just absolutely stunning. Well, when I was a student at Cedarville College at the time, I can well remember different classes, Bible classes, and faculty members talking about G.N.H.

[33:41] Peters, G.N.H. Peters and the theocratic kingdom. And this was a pretty costly set back then. And it was more than I could afford to shell out for going to school in the G.I.

[33:55] Bill. And we had two babies at the time. Couldn't afford that kind of money. But I would go to the library and look at that theocratic kingdom and go through it. And I was just absolutely awestruck by the thoroughness, the detail, the argumentation, the scripture backing for it.

[34:10] It was just absolutely amazing. Very often it would come up in different classes that we would be taking. And then one of the professors there at Cedarville, and it was Dr. Williams, I think, and he's with the Lord now, but he was an Old Testament professor.

[34:26] He was talking about the theocratic kingdom. And he says, yeah. And he said, and you know, Dr. Peters lived right there in Springfield. I said, really? Oh, yes. He was a Springfield boy and he pastored some churches.

[34:37] So I found out a little bit about he was a student of Wittenberg. And this was back in the years when Wittenberg had a divinity school that's called Hamma Divinity School. And Dr. Peters was in the first graduating class of a Hamma Divinity School.

[34:53] And I don't know how they let him graduate because he would have graduated with a completely different doctrinal position, but he never wavered from it. And one day, very interesting thing happened.

[35:10] In my last couple of years at Cedarville, I was supplementing my income by being a church custodian. And I had flexible hours and my paycheck was the same every week.

[35:22] It was $19.80. The 20 cents was taken out for the city income tax. And that was my paycheck. And hamburger was three pounds for a dollar.

[35:35] And my wife, Barbara, knew more ways of doing things with hamburger than you could imagine. And we got along just fine with that. And the GI Bill. And in my custodial job at what was then Blessed Hope Baptist Church, and it has since closed its doors and they have merged with Berea Bible Church.

[35:54] But this was a fairly new building then. It was located out in the North End on Kensington Avenue. And one of my responsibilities was to open up the church in the morning, be the first one there, and then to close the door when the service was over and be the last one to leave every day, every Sunday.

[36:14] And we had a couple of small children at the time. And this one particular Sunday, I went to lock up the building, and I put my key in the lock to turn it, and the lock wouldn't turn.

[36:32] And I couldn't lock the building. I couldn't unlock, couldn't turn the key at all. And I thought, well, what is this? What's going on here? And I thought, well, maybe the lock is broken.

[36:45] Well, it didn't seem to be broken, but the key wouldn't work. And I didn't know what to do. I couldn't lock the building. And I called the pastor, and he said, well, don't worry about it. He said, just leave it unlocked.

[36:56] It'll be okay overnight. And maybe tomorrow, you can take it to the lock repair shop and get it fixed. And I said, well, where was that? And he said, well, there's one down on Main Street.

[37:08] It's called Peter's Key. And they'll be able to say, you can take the lock off and take it down there. So I said, okay. So next morning, Monday morning, I went over, and I took the lock off the door, took clear off the door, and went down to Peter's Key Manufacturing.

[37:23] And then it was on Washington Avenue. Of course, that's all changed now. That's all torn down. Everything's moved. It was on Washington Avenue, the old Key's Peter's shop.

[37:36] And I went in there, and the gentleman came up and says, can I help you? And I said, well, I don't know if we need to replace this lock or what, but it just won't turn. The key won't turn.

[37:46] And he said, let me take a look at it. And he looked at it, and he said, well, give me a couple of minutes, and I'll see what I can do. And he went in the back room, took the thing back, and he came back in about five minutes and was turning the key just fine, and everything was okay.

[37:59] And I says, I thought the thing was broken. He said, well, he said, there was something in there. I don't know what it was, but it was interfering with the function of the key, and the key wouldn't turn. So whatever it was or however it got in there, I don't have any idea.

[38:12] But anyway, I got it all cleared out, and it works fine now, and I put a little bit of stuff in it. And I said, fine, and I turned around, and I said, how much do I owe you? And I think he said, a dollar fifty or something like that.

[38:23] And I paid, and I started to turn around to walk away, and I thought, as I did, I saw the name again on the door, Peter's. And I stopped, and I turned around, and I said, you don't by any chance have any connection with George N.H.

[38:43] Peters, would you? And he perked up, and he said, you know about George Peters? And I said, well, I sure do. I said, I've read some of his books.

[38:53] I said, he just did this wonderful thing on the theocratic kingdom. And he said, well, he was my great-grandfather. I said, really? George N.H. Peters was your great-grandfather.

[39:05] He said, yeah, and his name was Peters, too. And I said, is that right? And he said, yeah. And he said, he was quite a scholar, wasn't he? And I said, boy, he sure was. I've gone through his theocratic kingdom, and I've been so impressed with it, and my only regret is that he didn't write other things.

[39:22] And he said, oh, he did. He wrote a lot of other things. And I said, really? He said, sure, sure. He wrote lots and lots of things. And I said, well, they were never published, were they?

[39:35] Whatever happened to them? And he said, well, my mother has them in her attic. Really? Your mother has them in her attic?

[39:48] Oh, yeah. She's had them there, stored there for years and years, and they just didn't know what to do with them, but they knew they were valuable, and they didn't. So she just put them up in the attic, and that's where they are.

[40:01] And I took a deep breath, and I said, do you suppose there's any way that I could see those? Oh, well, I don't know.

[40:13] Why not? I'll give her a call. You give me your phone number, and I'll give Mom a call and tell her that somebody's interested in them, and I'll give her your number, and maybe she can call you.

[40:29] And I said, okay, that would be wonderful. Well, about three days later, she called. Her name was Miller, and she owned a woman's hat and hosiery shop in downtown Springfield.

[40:41] Her name was called Miller's Frocks, something like that. And she told me who she was, and she said, I understand you're interested in my grandfather's manuscripts. And I said, well, I would just absolutely love to see them.

[40:55] Well, I don't see why that couldn't be arranged. She said, you come out, and she gave me a day and time, and she says, and I'll see if I can have them available for you. And you talk about being in seventh heaven.

[41:07] I was walking on air, and the time rolled around, and I knocked on the door. She lived there on North Limestone, big, beautiful home. And maid came to the door with a frilly little apron and everything, you know.

[41:23] And I said, Mr. Wiseman, I called and said, oh, yeah, she's expecting you. She's in the study in there. And she escorted me in and went into this large room, and there were stacks of grocery bags.

[41:42] Brown grocery bags, full size. Each one was stuffed with hand written manuscripts by G.N.H.

[41:55] Peters on legal-sized paper, beautifully written, all in hand, in ink, very legible, very easy to read.

[42:08] He had the Gospel of John, over a thousand pages, stacked like that, in this. And all of these sacks, grocery sacks all over the place, on the Old Testament, the New Testament, Gospels, Acts, the Book of Revelation.

[42:24] I almost passed out right there in the living room. I mean, I thought I'd die and go into heaven just being in there. It was just absolutely amazing. And I said, you've had it?

[42:35] Well, she said, we just didn't know what to do with them or who would want them, but we just knew that they couldn't be thrown away. And I said, oh, no, no, no, they couldn't be thrown away.

[42:47] And I said, ma'am, I would relish the opportunity to go through these, to edit these, and to try to get them published.

[43:00] You would, she said. I said, this material is outstanding. It needs to be, it needs to be made available. Really, you think so?

[43:11] And I said, I absolutely think so. She said, well, what would it cost? How much would you charge to do that? And I said, ma'am, I feel like I need to pay you.

[43:23] I said, this would be an education for me. I wouldn't require anything. I'm not interested in any royalties, any percentages or anything. I would just welcome the opportunity to do it.

[43:36] And she said, well, let me think about it. I said, okay. About three days later, she called and she said, I've talked with my attorney and he has drawn up a contract.

[43:50] If you would be willing to sign it, I would be glad for you to have them and work with them. So I rushed right over and there was a contract all neatly drawn up. Part of the first part, blah, blah, blah.

[44:02] Part of the second part. And you sign right here and she signed and I signed. And I took those things out to the car, put them in the car, took them home and showed Barbara, my wife, and she just, she just about fainted too.

[44:19] She said, this is, this is Peter. This is Peter. I said, honey, this is the real deal. This is G.N.H. Peters. And he had signed some of them, put the date on them and everything.

[44:30] Oh, it just happens. So within a few days after I calmed down a little bit, I called, I called Moody Bible Institute.

[44:42] They've got a publishing arm, Moody Press. And I said, I told him who I was and I said, I have some manuscripts of G.N.H. Peters. And he said, the theocratic kingdom, Peters?

[44:56] And I said, yes. Well, he didn't write anything else but the theocratic kingdom. And I said, oh, yes, he did. I have them in my possession.

[45:08] What do you have in your possession? And I told him there was a long pause on the other line. And he said again, who is this? And I told him and I said what I had.

[45:19] And he said, you're you're serious, aren't you? And I said, well, I absolutely am serious. This is nothing to kid about, to joke about at all. This absolutely I'm serious. And he said, would you be willing?

[45:31] Would you be willing to have the first hundred pages of maybe his work on the revelation typed up and sent up to us? I said, I'd be happy to.

[45:43] Well, I didn't type. My typing consisted of the scriptural method, which was seek and you shall find, you know, hunt and peck. But my sweet wife, Barbara, was an outstanding typist.

[45:57] And she had and this was back in the days when when the royal was king, you know, in the Underwood typewriters. And she pecked out those hundred pages and I sent them up there to Moody Bible Institute.

[46:10] And three days, three or four days later, I got a call. And they said, well, yeah, that's Peter's all right. I said, well, I told you. He said, yeah, but we just we really appreciated seeing for ourselves.

[46:23] And I said, well, what's it going to take to get these published? And he said, well, that's where I have some bad news. I said, OK, boy, they're going to want a bunch of money up front or something.

[46:35] And I said, what's that? And he said, we're unable to publish them. I said, why? Why would that be? And he said, because we know when we submit a book for publication, we have to be reasonably sure that we can sell a minimum of X number of copies in order to just break even.

[47:01] And I'm sorry to say this, but the caliber of preachers and clergy that we have today just would not be willing to invest the time and effort that it would take to mind these things and to get them in workable for their sermons or whatever.

[47:23] He said, don't get me wrong. This stuff is great. It needs to be published. It needs to be available. But we just can't do it. He gave me a couple of other publishers for possibilities.

[47:36] One was Craigle in Grand Rapids. Another was Urban's in Grand Rapids. Another one was Baker Bookhouse. These were all in Grand Rapids. They called it Little Jerusalem up there. And they all said essentially the same thing.

[47:49] This work really needs to be published. But they just couldn't do it. So I was heart sick. I mean, I was just really down. I didn't know what to do. So I just stored them.

[48:01] Just put them in one of the bedroom closets, stacked neatly. And there they were for years and years. And one day, Barbara says, you know, we ought to be thinking about downsizing, getting rid of some stuff.

[48:19] And this is right about the time that I had just retired from Grace Bible Church. That was in November of 2005.

[48:31] And after having been here 35 years and you all gave us a wonderful retirement party and send off and everything. And she says, you need to do something with these manuscripts.

[48:43] What are you going to do with them? And I said, I have no idea. I'm sure, you know, with the clergy clientele being where it is, you know, 20 years ago, it's probably even worse now.

[48:54] They wouldn't even think about it. So, and then I got this brilliant idea. Dallas Theological Seminary, a school that I had always planned on attending but was unable to because when I graduated from Cedarville, the babies kept coming and the money kept going.

[49:15] And we just didn't get there. But that was my favorite school. That was where Dwight Pentecost was and who wrote things to come. That's where Charles Ryrie was and John Walvert and all of these giants of the faith.

[49:30] And I thought, maybe I ought to just donate these to Dallas Theological Seminary.

[49:41] She said, I think that would be a good thing. So I got on the phone and I talked to the head librarian at Dallas Seminary. Told him who I was and I said, I have some manuscripts of G.N.H. Peters.

[49:56] He said, The Theocratic Kingdom, Peters? And I said, yes. And he said, well, he didn't write anything other than The Theocratic Kingdom. And I said, oh, yes, he did.

[50:06] And I enlightened him and I told him about the other publishers and the success. And I said, I would like to donate these to Dallas Theological Seminary if you would accept them.

[50:18] And he said, if we would accept them? Are you serious? And I said, well, I can't think of a better place for them. And he was absolutely elated.

[50:29] And he said, of course, we'll accept them. He said, I will be glad to pay for whatever it costs to ship them down. You let me know however you want.

[50:40] I said, I wouldn't consider shipping these. I wouldn't trust anybody with these. I will hand deliver them to your seminary.

[50:51] Really? And I said, absolutely. So I was talking to my best friend, Daryl Henderson, about that. He thought that was a good move.

[51:02] Give them to Dallas. And he said, you know, if you're going to deliver those, you're going to take them down there. We ought to make a little pleasure trip out of it. After all, I was retired now.

[51:13] This was January or February of 2006. So Barb and Daryl and my Barb and I, we got in our car and we took off with our whole back end loaded down with all of those manuscripts heading for Dallas, Texas.

[51:29] And we had a wonderful time. Dental department had a great outing, great get together. Got down there and these guys were just beside themselves. And after we wheeled them in there in this big cart, faculty members from the school started pouring in to look over.

[51:46] And some were saying things like, I wasn't sure I even believed this, but this is Peter's, all right. And they were looking at those. And they said, well, Mr. Wiseman, we want you to know this is much appreciated and very opportune because we just dedicated a new wing of our library and it is all temperature controlled and moisture controlled and it would be perfect for storing these and we want to get them available as soon as we can and get them online so they'll be available to the world.

[52:21] and they are now. They are now. The Peter's manuscripts can be obtained online and you can see just about anything of them. So we were just absolutely elated.

[52:33] We had a great trip. Got home and that was like January or February and March the 12th of that same year Barbara went to glory.

[52:45] No warning, no symptoms, no anything. And but we had a wonderful trip that last time. That was our last flame. And we with the Hendersons and the Wisemans and we've both been married the same amount of time and we were going to take a trip to the British Isles.

[53:04] We had our reservations already made and we were going to set sail that that spring. And then of course that was all that was all canceled. So anyway what I want to share with you mothers is simple fact that sometimes the things that your youngster comes up with and does that might just drive you up the wall you have no idea what God may be thinking or how God uses things in very unusual extraordinary ways.

[53:36] And I'm going to ask somebody by the name of Scott Cutliffe to come up here now and he's going to tell you the rest of the story about how this whole thing came about.

[53:46] the discovery of the theocratic kingdom manuscripts and everything that went along with it. Thank you.

[54:00] Now I feel like Paul Harvey. Now for the rest of the story. I'll get right to it. I was the kid in 1962 10 year old kid who squirted a little shot of airplane glue in the lock at the church and it wasn't until years later I don't think I'd ever told anybody that story except Sheila she knew about it but we were visiting with Marv and Marie and sitting down reminiscing after lunch and I happened to mention that story and I said it was after Awana or Pioneer Boys I think it was we were playing outside we were dismissed early well one kid had a tube of glue and I thought wouldn't it be funny if and that's how a lot of things started you know how they used to explain you had

[55:08] Satan sitting on this shoulder and Jesus on I'm sure Satan had my good ear because he would say wouldn't it be funny if and I filled in the blanks so Ken Anderson I think it was who was locking up the church that evening we were waiting for him to come down and I thought it would be funny to put a little bit of that glue on the lock and so he would have glue on his key so we did and we waited a few minutes Ken came down and he put it in to lock it which it locked okay and then the next thing I knew he turned around and he said who did this all the other nine boys looked directly at me which was my clue to run and so it was no doubt who did it well he chased me down and I thought

[56:10] I'm 10 I can run pretty fast he was washed up I thought he was an old guy of 24 you know but he had me by the arm in about 10 yards and took my hand and put some of that glue right back on my hand so first biblical principle I guess I learned is you reap what you sow if you sow glue in the lock you reap glue in the hand so anyway I re-relate this story to Marv and I remember his expression he goes huh now he's putting the piece together so had I not put out of mischief the glue in the lock that he repaired and took to the locksmith you might have all had different sermons for the past 50 years so

[57:14] I just want to close with saying mother the moral of the story is even when your mischievous child seems to be up to no good you may have no idea how God can turn it around and use it for something good happy mother's day again God bless you enjoy the rest of your day mothers milk this day for all it's worth real quick just a reminder if you got one of these cards write down a couple of questions right now even if you can't think of anything things like what to expect from your kids or grandkids tantrums attitudes devices screen time social media discipline and spanking here's some ideas for you spiritual training what role should grandparents have and if you can't think of anything at all because you got it all figured out just think of the questions you wish your neighbors would ask about their kids all right and go ahead and give those cards to me or

[58:19] Mike or you can leave them on your chair we'll kind of come out and pick them up thank you