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Abraham
Lincoln’s
Devotional & Creed!
By
Pastor Max Solbrekken, D.D.
When asked about his faith on CNN’s ‘Larry
King Live’, Christopher Reeves answered by saying,
that his religion was similar to that of Abraham Lincoln who
stated, “When
I do good, I feel good and when I do bad, I feel bad.”
That of course, is only a sound bite of what
President Lincoln really believed and practiced. What he was
referring to was the spiritual state of having a
healthy conscience!
I have access to many of the statements that
great American president made and committed to paper! In
April 1974, while conducting a Gospel Crusade in
Yellowknife
,
NWT, I had the privilege of spending some quality time with
the Baileys at
the
Pentecostal
Church
! As
a parting gift, they very graciously presented me with a
book called ‘
Lincoln
’s
Devotional’.
It is a reproduction of the devotional which
President Abraham Lincoln carried in his pocket and read
from on a daily basis. It has photos of the original book
titled, ‘The Believer’s Daily Treasure’, as well as the page
bearing Abraham Lincoln’s signature!
‘Lincoln’s’
Devotional, printed by Channel Press, Great Neck, NY
in 1957, carries an introduction by Carl Sandburg. He
reported that in 1849 when
Lincoln’s
second son Edward Baker died - after 52 days of illness -
the officiating minister, Rev.
James Smith of the First Presbyterian Church of
Springfield, Illinois, began a friendship with the
Lincoln
family!
Smith had been a rather wild fellow growing up in
Scotland
and a
scoffer of religion, but was later converted to Christ and
entered the Ministry in
Kentucky!
,
Sandburg
writes: “It wasn’t long after Eddy’s death that the
Lincolns
rented
a pew in the church. In 1852 Mrs. Lincoln took the sacrament
and joined in membership. Pastor
Smith presented
Lincoln
with
a copy of his book, ‘The
Christian’s Defence’, a reply to infidels and
atheists. Lincoln read the book, said he was interested,
later attended revival meetings held in the church and
served in several capacities, but when asked to join the
church, said he ‘couldn’t
quite see it’
. “In
the same year, the Religious Tract Society of London,
England, published a daily devotional titled ‘The
Believers’ Daily Treasure’ or, ‘Texts
of Scripture Arranged for Every Day in the Year’. On
the title page appeared this verse
from Psalm CX1X:72:
‘The
law of Thy mouth is better unto me
than thousands of gold and silver.’
“How Abraham Lincoln acquired his copy of the
devotional we do not know. In 1852 he received as a gift at
least one other book concerned with religion, but there is
no word to be found of the ‘Believer’s
Daily Treasure’. It could have been a gift from Mary Lincoln; sometime after 1847,
Lincoln
gave
her a large family Bible, and perhaps this handy,
vest-pocket book was a present from her in return, one he
could carry with him for occasional reading on the Old Eight
Circuit.
“We do know that on the inside cover of the tiny
book of Scripture and verse,
Lincoln
signed his name
with typical abbreviation. And from this we can surmise that either the volume itself or the person
who presented it to him was held in deep regard, for
throughout his life
Lincoln
was sparing in the number of books in which he wrote
his name. His
signature, it would seem, was inscribed more as an
expression of strong interest or affection than as a
precaution against a book’s becoming lost, strayed, stolen .
“From
his earliest reading days as a boy,
Lincoln
turned
to the pages of the Bible, and over all the years of his
life he went on with his reading of it, often quoting from
it in private conversation and public addresses. He and his
family owned several Bibles.
“Writing
to Mary, the sister of his best friend, Joshua Speed, he
said, ‘Tell
your mother that I have not got her present with me, but I
intend to read it regularly when I return home.’ The
gift was an Oxford Bible. In 1864 he received a beautiful
Bible from a group of Negroes from
Baltimore
.
In acknowledging it,
Lincoln
said,
‘In
regard to this great book, I have but to say it is the best
gift given to man.
“In proclamations, in recommendations of thanksgiving
or of fasting and prayer, and in numerous references to God,
Providence
, the
Almighty, the Common Father,
Lincoln
gave the impression to the multitude that he had a
creed.
“A clergyman
– William E. Barton – sought to formulate such a
statement of faith from Lincoln’s own words, changing
the text merely to the extent of transposing pronouns from
plural to singular, making other slight modifications, and
prefixing the words, ‘I believe’. The result was almost liturgical, containing
expressions such as these:
‘1
believe in penitential and pious sentiments, in
devotional designs and purposes, in homages and confessions,
in supplications to the Almighty, solemnly, earnestly,
reverently.
‘I believe
in blessings and comfort from the Father of Mercies to the
sick, the wounded, the prisoners, and to the orphans and
widows. I believe
it pleases Almighty God to prolong our national life,
defending us with His guardian care. I
believe in His eternal truth and justice.
‘I believe
the will of God prevails; without Him all human reliance is
vain; without the assistance of that Divine Being I cannot
succeed; with that assistance I cannot fail.
‘I believe
I am a humble instrument in the hands of our Heavenly
Father; I desire that all my works and acts may be according
to His will; and that it may be so, I give thanks to the
Almighty and seek His aid. I
believe in praise to Almighty God, the beneficent
Creator and Ruler of the Universe.’
“When
Lincoln
was
asked by Henry C.
Deming, Congressman from Connecticut, the reason he had
not joined a church, ‘with his obvious interest in religious matters and his familiarity
with the Bible’, the President replied: ‘When any
church will inscribe over its altars, as its sole
qualification for membership, the Savior’s condensed
statement for the substance of both law and gospel, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor
as thyself,’ that church will I join with all my
heart and soul”.
His law partner, William
H. Herndon, quoted Lincoln as saying that his religion
was like that of an old man he once heard at a church
meeting: ‘When
I do good,” the old man had said, ‘I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad; and that’s my religion.”
About eighty years after his death, a printed
statement was recovered in which Lincoln answered campaign
charges that he was ‘an open scoffer at Christianity’ by
saying, in part, ‘I have never denied the truth of the Scripture’ and
‘I do not think I could myself, be brought to support a
man for office whom I knew to be an open enemy of, and
scoffer at, religion.’
Carl Sandburg states: “John Jay, grandson of the
great Chief Justice and a notable Civil War figure himself,
was reported by Frank
D. Carpenter as saying that he had seen Lincoln reading
a pocket edition of the New Testament’!
Speaking to his friend, Joshua Speed in 1864,
Lincoln
said:
‘Take all this book (the Bible)
upon reason that you can, and the balance on faith, and you
will live and die a better man.’
On
another occasion President Abraham Lincoln declared: “I
want my preacher to act like he’s fighting a swarm of bees
when he preaches!” Making a point about dishonesty
the President said: “How many legs does a dog have if you
call the tail a leg? Four!
Calling the tail a leg doesn’t make it a leg.”
GOD’S
GIFT: A CLEAR CONSCIENCE!
An old French proverb states: “There is no pillow as soft as a clear conscience.” The old man
that Abraham Lincoln was referring to was testifying about
the peace and contentment one receives when doing good in
contrast to the guilt and condemnation that nags on the
conscience of the wrong doer!
The
Bible gives us the solution!
St. John
states:
“For if our heart condemn us,
God is greater than our heart, and God knoweth all things.
Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we
confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we
receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do
those things that are pleasing in His sight.” (1 John 3:
20-22)
The
questions arise: “What makes our hearts condemn us,
and steals away our faith or confidence toward God? Answer:
Sin! What then, is the solution? The forgiveness of sin
that we receive through Christ’s vicarious death for us on
the cross and the shedding of His precious blood for our
salvation!
The Bible states: “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one
with another and the blood of Jesus Christ God’s Son
cleanseth us from all sin.” (1 John 1: 7) Again
the Holy Scripture says: “How much more shall the blood of
Christ, Who through the Eternal Spirit offered Himself
without spot to God, PURGE
YOUR CONSCIENCE
from
dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9: 14)
St.
Paul
who
had been a fanatic and enemy of the Christians, with the
blood of martyrs on his hands, declared: “There is
therefore now NO
CONDEMNATION
to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the
flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Romans 8: 1)
My friend, may the Lord bless you and keep you in His
love, grace and peace both now and forevermore! Ame n.
Afflictions
Can Help MOLD CHARACTER!
By
Pastor Max Solbrekken,
D.D.
“Who
in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up
prayers and supplications with strong
crying and tears unto Him that was able to
save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared; Though He were a Son, yet
learned He obedience by the things which He suffered;
And
being made perfect, He became the author of eternal
salvation unto all them that fear.”
(Heb.
5: 7-9)
Although Jesus Christ was true
God, He was also true man through His incarnation. When He
came to redeem us - even though He was God the Son - He
became a servant and had to be tempted as we are, and suffer
pain and adversity, yet without sin or sickness! (Phil.
2:5-8)
The Bible says: “For we have not an High Priest
which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities;
but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without
sin. Who His own Self bare our sins in His own body on
the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto
righteousness: by Whose stripes ye were healed” (Heb.
4:14, 15; 1 Pet. 2:24).
The amazing thing is that although Jesus was born
without sin, He nevertheless had to be tried and tested as a
perfect
human being, and “learned obedience by the
things which He suffered.” (Heb. 5:8)
Although Jesus was perfect in His divinity,
He also had to be perfect in His humanity so that He could be the perfect
Saviour, able to atone for our sins as the perfect Sacrifice –
without spot or blemish – and rise again in power to be
the perfect
Judge over men, angels and (demons) fallen angels!
WHY
DID JESUS HAVE TO SUFFER?
The Bible gives us the answer: “…because Christ
also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that we
should follow His steps: Who did no sin, neither was
guile found in His mouth: When He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened
not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously.”
(1 Peter 2:21-23)
HE IS OUR GREAT EXAMPLE!
He showed us how to live in the Spirit, making a total
commitment to God our Father, and to die victoriously ‘in
the faith’! “For if we be dead
with Him, we shall also live with Him: If we suffer,
we shall also reign with Him: if we deny Him, He will
also deny us.” (2 Tim. 2:11, 12)
The Bible says: “Yea, and all that will godly in
Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. (2 Tim. 3:12) “The
Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are
the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of
God, and joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer
with Him, that wr
may
be also glorified together.” (Rom.
8:
16
,
17)
THIS IS
REAL CHRISTIANITY: “For by one
Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jew
or Gentile, whether we be bond or free; and have been all
made to drink into one Spirit. And whether one member suffer, all the
members suffer with it; or one member be honoured,
all the members rejoice with it.” (1 Cor. 12:
13,26)
The Holy Spirit urges: “Remember them that are
in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also
in the body. Here is good news: “There hath no temptation
taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful,
Who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are
able: but will with the temptation also make a way of
escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” (1 Cor. 10: 13)
GO
D CAN TURN OUR
PROBLEMS
INTO VICTORIES!
1.
TO
DIRECT US ~
Joseph
(a type of Christ) was rejected by his brothers and sold as
a slave. He did not give up, however, but by God’s grace
he rose above his troubles and made a new life in
Egypt
.
When his brothers discovered his identity, they were
afraid. Joseph assured them: “But as for you, ye thought evil against me, but God meant it for
good, to bring to pass, as it is today, to save much people
alive.” (Gen.50: 20)
The afflictions that Joseph suffered at the hands of
his brothers as
well as Potipher’s wife (who lied and falsely accused him), were used by
God to give him direction and to eventually place him on the
throne next to the Pharaoh!
2.
TO INSPECT US ~
Abraham went
through a severe process of testing when the Almighty asked
him to sacrifice his only son Isaac (a
type of Jesus) with the belief that God would raise
him from the dead, to fulfill His earlier promise of a great
and lasting posterity to the patriarch!
While obeying God’s command, the angel of the Lord
stopped Abraham, saying: “Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything to him: for
now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not
withheld thy son, thine only son from me.” (Gen.
22: 12)
Abraham had passed the ultimate test by being willing
to obey God, even in such a drastic matter. He inadvertently
became the only historical and theological type of God Himself giving His only
Son, to die on
Calvary
which is situated on
Mount
Moriah
, as the only vicarious Saviour for all
sinners – past, present and future!
Abraham called that place Jehovah
Jireh meaning ‘the
Lord sees, will provide for Himself a sacrifice’! Jesus was the sacrifice that God provided in the place of Isaac!
And what was the outcome for Abraham?
Here it is: “And
the angel of the
Lord called unto Abraham the second time, and said, By
Myself have I
sworn, saith the Lord, for
because thou hast done this thing , and hast not withheld
thy son, thine only son; That in blessing I
will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the
sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess
the gate of his enemies.
“And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because
thou hast obeyed My voice.” (Gen.22: 16-18)
3.
TO CORRECT US ~
After his tragic sins of committing adultery with Bathsheba and then murdering her husband Uriah the Hittite, David’s transgression caught up with him. He
had covered it up and married Bathsheba, who was pregnant
with his child, but God had some unfinished business with
him!
David’s actions displeased the Lord, and He sent
the prophet Nathan to the king with this message:
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