Elisabeth Elliot's Testimony

[Applause] picture a small clearing in the amazon jungle there are six or eight little thatched houses none with walls only two people are awake who is singing and i did count 70 repetitions and the only other person is wearing clothes she sits in her hammock by the fire pondering the mysteries of the ways of god and she thinks of one scripture passage loaded now with meaning we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the all-surpassing power is from god and not from us we are hard-pressed on every side but not crushed perplexed but not in despair persecuted but not abandoned struck down but not destroyed we always carry around in our body the death of jesus so that the life of jesus may be revealed in our body yes i thought i'm a clay pot like the pots these alco women make nobody's interested in the pot they're all alike all made from the same clay what interested them was the contents i'm here to be a vessel to share somehow this priceless treasure the light of the knowledge of the glory of god in the face of jesus christ paul's predicament seemed to describe my own hard-pressed perplexed struck down etc how did i come to be in such a strange place eleven years earlier a man named jim elliott spoke of missionary service as the categorical imperative for his life an unequivocal commitment to the will of god let it cost what it may in my college yearbook he signed his name and added a scripture reference second timothy 2 4 i think you girls can imagine how long it took me to grab my bible and look up what i was hoping might be a cryptic message [Music] this is what i found a soldier on active service will not become entangled in civilian affairs he must be holy at his commanding officer's disposal jim knew that he was disposable in 1956 he and four other missionaries sang a hymn together we rest on thee our shield and our defender and then they went into what we knew was very dangerous territory from which no one seemed to have come back alive they were trusting god to give them an opening for the gospel for the gospel all five were slaughtered ming kaye the man in the little house near mine was one of those who did the slaughtering and vince was now singing about god obedience is our task the results of that obedience are gods and gods alone i prayed what seemed a ridiculous prayer at the time of jim's death lord if there's anything you want me to do about the alkas i'm available god's leading was clear there was something and so i found myself sitting by my fire thinking of those loaded words we who are always alive are being given over to death for jesus sake so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body life comes out of death the five men did not succeed in their mission as they hoped but letters have come to us from all over the world telling of the impact of their testimony god seems to have laid out the order of things not for the general and brilliant triumph but for the hidden sanctification of individual souls in 1948 i was one of a group of college students who went to present missions missions at another christian college jim elliott was the speaker he closed with words by amy carmichael he gave a witness the witness which is a life that speaks much louder than anything that we can say god has given me unimagined privileges as a result of the death of those men and i want to encourage you to believe that the will of god is always far different from what we imagine far bigger far more difficult but unspeakably more glorious these are the words that jim used that day speaking to those college students hastil no scar no hidden scar on foot or side or hand i see thee sung as mighty in the land i hear them hail thy bright ascendant star hast thou knows scar hast thou no wound yet i was wounded by the archers spent leaned me against a tree to die i swooned and was rent by ravening beasts that compassed me hast thou no wound no wound no scar yet as the master must the servant be and pierced are the feet that follow me but thine are whole can he have followed far who has no wound or scar

Channel: The Elisabeth Elliot Foundation

Views: 34,672

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Id: 6qjcJGrmHhI

Length: 8min 12sec (492 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 21 2021