THE PALM BRANCH IS THE SYMBOL OF VICTORY
"After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could
number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood
before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and
_palms_ in their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation
to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. * * * These
are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their
robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" (Rev. 7:9, 14).
"When this cruel war is over," and the last enemy, death, has been
conquered, and every tribulation has been passed through triumphantly,
then we shall come forth on the victor's side, clothed with white robes,
and waving our palm branches gloriously, having overcome by the blood of
the Lamb and the word of our testimony.
When Jesus made that triumphal entry into Jerusalem, just before His
crucifixion, the rejoicing followers acknowledged His kingly victories,
and did homage by preparing His way, and "took branches of palm trees,
and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of
Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord" (John 12:13).
Not only did the palm branch have the significance of victory in the
Bible, but certain countries have used it as a token of victory and
rejoicing, a symbol or evidence of superiority or success. In our
present day, "to bear the palm" means to come off victoriously. This
expression has evidently been borrowed from the ancient symbol.
What other tree in all the world could so well be used to signify
victory? When we think of its beauty, its perpendicular straightness,
its perennial freshness, its sweet and abundant fruitfulness even in old
age, its almost incomprehensible utility, its successful development
where other trees fail, its natural propensity to ascend heavenward, its
marvelous hardiness with its internal and upward growth, does it not
stand to reason that the palm branch should be the most fitting type of
Christian triumph and joyous victory? No other tree could be used so
well to symbolize the victory of him who is fighting under the banner of
King Emmanuel.
Now, if we are to flourish like the palm tree, then we shall flourish
with victory.
We are taught in the Word that "we are more than conquerors through him
that loved us" (Rom. 8:37). This means that the palm tree saint can
fight and win and be ready to fight again.
David's fight with Goliath illustrates it. He marched out against his
enemy and God's enemy with five sling stones, and the first throw
something entered Goliath's head that made an impression which he never
got over. And then the stripling, shepherd lad had four more stones to
kill four more giants if necessary.
In the economy of God's grace He never arranged for us to be succumbers,
but rather overcomers. Read the marvelous promises of Revelation for
those who overcome. There are seven of them, and note the ascending
scale.
1. "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life which
is in the midst of the paradise of God."
2. "He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death."
3. "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and I
will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written which
no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it."
4. "And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him
will I give power over the nations. * * * And I will give him the
morning star."
5. "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and
I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess
his name before my Father, and before his angels."
6. "Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God,
and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my
God, and the name of the city of my God, which is New Jerusalem, which
cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new
name."
7. "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne,
even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father in his throne."
Wonderful stepping stones to the throne! Seven steps and into glory!
Let us examine them in their order:
1. He eats of the tree of life. Death has slipped away and eternal life
has come. He is living forever _now_. We eat of earth's food to live
here, and we eat of the tree of life to live forever.
2. He has promise of a safe passage and a proper landing. He shall not
be hurt with the second death. Insurance in the King's Insurance
Company, secures a positive guaranty against the second death. Wrapped
in the asbestos robes of full salvation, makes one immune from the fires
of perdition.
3. He eats again; but now it is hidden manna. Hidden manna was inside
the holy of holies. Thus, he reaches the "second blessing" properly
so-called. Now arises special persecution and calumny; but the great
Judge in casting the ballot for the condemned, puts in the white stone
for acquittal: hence, he receives the white stone at this stage. "What
shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against
us?" (Rom. 8:31).
4. Power, the positive side of holiness is now particularly manifested.
Also, the night of trouble, trial, testing, temptations, and tears will
pass away. The "morning star" is seen. He is looking toward the
sun-rising, toward the morning when the Sun of righteousness shall
appear.
5. Now, the "white raiment" of a holy life shines forth particularly.
His outward life and testimony give him away. His hidden life manifests
itself outwardly and differentiates itself from all other life. The
inward glory is shining out to the surface, and his life is seen and
felt. In proportion to the inward glory will the outward effulgence be
manifested. Jesus, on the mount of transfiguration, let the inward glory
out through His garments, and they became garments of light.
Now comes the announcement that his name will not be blotted out of the
book of life. While it is possible to pass the point in sin, where the
soul fixes its destiny for damnation, so it seems that there is a point
in the progress of spirituality and grace and overcoming, that fixes the
soul's destiny for glory. His name is confessed before God and the
angels. The veil is getting very thin here, between the overcoming
pilgrim and paradise. In fact he is living mostly in heaven now.
6. He is now counted a pillar in a peculiar sense. Like the pillars of
ancient Egypt and Babylon where great monarchs carved their names,
battles, victories, marvelous achievements, and chiseled their pedigree
and dynasty, so God takes this time-honored, battle-scarred,
self-sacrificing pilgrim at this stage and makes him an illustrious
pillar in the temple of God, and writes in his favor his victories and
exploits, his overcoming life. He is to go no more out. As some are
sealed for eternal damnation in this life, so he is sealed for eternal
glory.
"I will write upon him." Yes, God will carve upon him victories and
conquests. He will write upon him the city of God--his sure destination.
Like the address on a sealed letter, with the government of the country
back of it to see that it arrives safely at its destination, so with
God's "epistles," "sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise," with the
address of his destination plainly written thereon, and with the
government of all heaven interested in seeing him through, we see the
overcoming saint nearing the Great White Throne. The end is near; he is
overcoming to the last. He has been ascending the steps, till now he
sees inside the pearly gates, and one step more will put him inside.
7. Here he is in glory at last, and a place with Jesus in His throne.
Exalted place! With Christ, the great Overcomer, he sits down with Him
in His throne. It is more than finite minds can comprehend. Surely, it
will pay to be true to Jesus and be a final overcomer.
When we read these wonderful promises to the overcomer, and see with
what precision and certainty he is made to ascend the spiritual scale to
glory, we scarcely wonder, that before we reach the close of Revelation
we hear the sudden announcement: "He that overcometh shall inherit all
things."
"And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith" (1
John 5:4). The overcoming, victorious life is the only kind that
satisfies the soul and qualifies for spiritual success in this world.
The outside world is looking upon us, and if they do not see something
in us beyond that which they see in themselves, there will be no
inducement from our standpoint for them to make any change.
God has provided a life in which it is possible to "rejoice evermore,
pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks." The psalmist said, "I
will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my
mouth." No person can, by mere volition, bring himself into a frame of
mind to bless the Lord at all times and have His praise continually in
his mouth. The harassing trials and nagging disappointments incident to
earthly life are too many and too severe to admit of the everlasting
praise life without the grace of God within. And many with a measure of
God's grace have not become acquainted with the secret of continual
praise. Let us look at two statements, one in the Old Testament, and the
other in the New Testament.
"All these things are against me" (Gen. 42:36).
"All things work together for good" (Rom. 8:28).
The first statement comes from Jacob; the second from the Apostle Paul.
Paul said he had learned whatsoever state he was in, therewith to be
content (Phil. 4:11). Jacob was looking at the mere external, and
judging accordingly. What were the things that were against Jacob? "Me
have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and
ye will take Benjamin away. All these things are against me." But Jacob,
you are very much mistaken. The very things you say are against you,
are all working together for your good. Joseph, right now is in Egypt,
the governor of that land, and is not dead as you suppose. Simeon is all
right under Joseph's watchful care, and Benjamin will be in the best of
hands. Joseph went before, to be a loadstone to draw Simeon there, and
Simeon is a loadstone to draw Benjamin there, and Benjamin will be a
loadstone to draw you there and all the rest of the family to preserve
you alive and to bring about God's wonderful plan and providence in the
Hebrew nation. No; the trouble with Jacob was with his foresight; had
that been half as good as his hindsight he never would have said what he
did.
Perhaps Paul did not have so much to contend with in his day. Let us
see. "In labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more
frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes
save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I
suffered shipwreck, a night and a day have I been in the deep; in
journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils
by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city,
in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false
brethren; in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger
and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Besides those
things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of
all the churches" (2 Cor. 11:23-28). In spite of all these, hear his
overcoming, victorious faith say: "All things work together for good."
There is probably no department in the Christian life which is more
desired and for which more prayer is offered, than the victory
department. There are so many trials, disappointments and annoyances
from day to day, that if one allows them to overcome him he is
constantly confronting failure and chagrin. But to know that one is from
day to day and moment to moment living in the praise and overcoming
life, gives him a joy and satisfaction that is simply glorious in the
extreme.
There are many Christians who go through the world in a sort of
up-and-down, to-and-fro, in-and-out, zigzag way that is certainly
discouraging. To have victory today and defeat tomorrow, keeps one on
edge all the time, not knowing which way the battle is going to turn. A
lesson from the Book of Joshua is encouraging. When he began that
wonderful series of conquests just after crossing the Jordan into
Canaan, it was victory after victory. Here is a sample of the records:
"And he did to the king of Makkedah as he did unto the king of Jericho."
Then follows like statements in almost the identical language except
that the cities are different, showing that he took the last city and
conquered it and its king in precisely the same manner as he did the one
before. God had previously promised him that he should have just that
kind of victory in Canaan. "Hereby ye shall know that the living God is
among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the
Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and
the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites" (Joshua 3:10).
Notice two things in this: It was to occur in Canaan, and there were to
be seven nations conquered. Is not this typical of Holy Ghost victory in
the sanctified life? Canaan is a type of holiness, and seven is the
perfect number. God wants us to have perfect victory from day to day
over all our foes, and He will supply that which will enable us to
overcome.
So many so-called soldiers of the cross are living simply on the
defensive with scarcely a thought of spiritual, aggressive warfare. Look
at the great battles that have been won in the world's history. Were not
most of them won by the aggressive side? Look at the whole armor of God
as the inspired pen of Paul pictures it out in the sixth chapter of
Ephesians; the helmet for the head, the breastplate for the vital organs
of the body, the shield for the whole man, and a sword to do aggressive
execution. We see the whole front of the man protected, but what about
the back? There is no protection for that part of the body, for God's
soldiers are not expected to turn their back to the foe. If they do,
they are sure to be hit. When the writer was a boy, accompanied by other
boys, he discovered an old Indian burying ground on the beach bluff near
Santa Barbara, California. They had seen indications of such a place,
and were diligently searching for the exact spot. Finally, they
discovered some rib bones sticking out of the bank, where the constant
washing of the waves had in time crumbled the bank down. With shovels in
hand they went about the delightsome task of uncovering the dead, with
the hopes of finding wampum, arrowheads, pottery or any other relics
which might have been buried with their owner. Finally, a section of an
Indian's backbone was unearthed, and upon examination it was found that
an arrow head had pierced the vertebra, just missing the spinal cord,
and was wedged in like a nail driven into a board. The question might be
asked: "How did the arrow head get into that Indian's backbone?"
Evidently, because the Indian was on the retreat, and his enemy shot him
in the back.
Where is the victorious life, when life is spent simply in the humdrum
of daily routine of selfish interests? No wonder people have an
up-and-down experience. No wonder they never get anywhere outside of the
treadmill of life. God wants us to branch out and bless the world and be
conquerors. In the Garden of Eden we read about the wonderful river that
flowed through it and watered it; but it was not self-centered nor
self-contained; it branched out. So it is in sanctified human experience
today; the Edenic stream of full salvation flows through the soul, but
it does not stop there and center itself in the individual. The stream
waters one's life and experience, but it flows out and on to bless
others also. The Edenic stream started out as one stream, but the
account tells us that it branched out into four streams and watered the
world around. So it is with that soul who will let the Holy Ghost have
His way with him. Out of his inmost being will flow rivers of living
water. This fourfold Edenic stream went out in four directions, to the
four quarters of the earth, so to speak. Four is the human number of the
Bible, and when one gets the Holy Ghost, he is expected to branch out to
the people everywhere and water the world with the precious water of
life. Holiness is not self-centered. It consists of two elements--purity
and power. If one has the thought of purity alone when he seeks the
blessing, he has a one-sided idea of it. There is a power side which
enables the possessor to conquer. Purity for the individual, and power
for the world; or in other words, power for aggressive warfare.
Whoever became a conqueror that stayed always in one little, beaten
path? The world is so big, the possibilities are so great, and the grace
of God so boundless, that it looks as if we all ought to set our stakes
for bigger results in the Christian life. One day we were passing along
a street in a certain city and observed a gentleman constructing a very
peculiar piece of frame work, and our curiosity was so aroused that we
went over and asked him what he was building. He answered, "I am
building a razzle-dazzle." He then explained what that was. He said that
a razzle-dazzle was something like a merry-go-round, except that as it
went round and round it also went up and down. We thought how many
people in their so-called Christian life are riding the razzle-dazzle.
They want to be going and moving, but they are going round and round,
and not only that, they are going up and down, up and down, and never
getting anywhere in their experience. Now, we never were much in favor
of running off on tangents, but in this case we think it would be very
advantageous to strike a tangent and take a bee-line for Canaan.
Many are hindered in their victorious life by the "little foxes which
spoil the vines." Their spiritual wall which surrounds them seems to
admit so many of the aggravating cares, that they find themselves
frequently overcome thereby. "Salvation, will God appoint for walls and
bulwarks" (Isa. 26:1). "But thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy
gates Praise" (Isa. 60:18). When we remember that "God is our
salvation," and "Our God is a consuming fire," and this God, the
consuming fire, is the wall of salvation around us, we believe the wall
is so high that the devil's little foxes can not jump over it; so thick
they can not bore through it, and so deep they can not dig under it.
This is surely a blessed protection for those on the inside. But the
promised protection of God is still more. He will insphere His trusting
child and make him doubly safe, and make his surrounding simply
glorious. Notice the divine insphering: "As the mountains are round
about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people from henceforth
even forever" (Psalm 125:2). Here is the Lord all around us. "Because he
is at my right hand, I shall not be moved" (Psa. 16:8). The Lord is by
our side. "Underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deut. 33:27). The Lord
is beneath us. "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High
shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty" (Psalm 91:1). The Lord is
over us. And we are also taught that we may abide in Him and He will
abide in us. Think of this marvelous protection: the Lord all around us,
by our side, underneath us, over us, in us and we in Him. Then shall we
allow the trifling things of earth to conquer us and spoil our
experience? How often we hear one say words like this: "I wouldn't give
up my experience for all the world," and then possibly in an unguarded
moment go down over something not worth a quarter. We once heard of a
sailor that had braved the sea and storms for years, and finally got
drowned in a bucket of water. While drinking he had some fit or accident
which caused him to fall, so that his face was buried in the water and
he was strangled to death. Be careful of the little things; they are
sometimes more dangerous than the bigger ones. A brother was once
accosted by one of the Lord's workers and asked how he was getting along
in his Christian experience. He replied that he got along very well
usually through the day, but when he went home from his work in the
evening, his wife nagged at him so much that he invariably lost out. He
would be blessed along through the day, but when that nagging spirit of
his wife got started, even though he would hold out for some time and
keep the victory, yet as sure as he would open his mouth, the victory
was gone. He told the worker that he had an experience like a pelican.
He then described how the pelican would start out in the morning and
load up its big pouch with fish, and then in the evening it would start
for home, whereupon the little birds would get after it and peck it
first on one side of the bill and then on the other, till the poor
pelican would throw its head around from one side to the other, and
finally its mouth would fly open and out would go the fish, which was
just what the birds were after. He said he had a pelican experience;
that he would get along well through the day, but the constant annoyance
of the wife in the evening would finally cause him to open his mouth,
and away would go his victory. Many a blessing has been lost, simply by
opening the mouth. It is much harder sometimes to keep the mouth shut
than to open it. "So he openeth not his mouth," was the attitude of Him
who was our example.