spirit.
“Have faith,” he continued. “Believe in yourselves and in the goodness of one another. Know that in yourselves and in those that stand near you, you see the image of God. For mankind is in the image of God.”362
When he spoke these words it completely changed those who heard them, as the witness reported, “For a while sanity returned to the faces around me… some of us continued to be held by the strength of that voice, the voice of a man who believed and who wanted us to believe.”363 It is truly miraculous that a man could see God in a miserable and hysterical mass of humanity such as this. His faith was a powerful witness to God’s love for the men on that prison ship then and for us blessed to read about it today.
Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered.
September 9
Robert Taylor was pastor of the Fort Worth Baptist Church when he joined the Army in 1940. He was sent to the Philippines where he was assigned as chaplain to the 31st
Infantry Regiment. Immediately after war was declared, Taylor’s unit went into action against the Japanese on the Bataan Peninsula. During this campaign he earned the Silver Star for rescuing wounded soldiers under enemy fire. When the Philippines surrendered, he became a prisoner of war and ministered to thousands of fellow captives in the Cabanatuan camp hospital. In 1944 he spent fourteen weeks in solitary confinement for smuggling food and medicine to patients.364 One prisoner, known to be an atheist, called Taylor a “tower of strength.”365 Another prisoner observed a dying soldier ask Taylor how to have a relationship with God:
The young man, cognizant of his spiritual indifference in the past, asked if it was all right to straighten things out with God just because one was about to die. Taylor responded to the young soldier by telling him that God’s response to our need is not based on our timing but on his great love for us. On that day, by the power of God, that young man gave his life to Christ. Afterwards, the young man reached up, took his dog tags, and with a jerk broke the chain and handed them to Taylor. As he placed them in the chaplain’s hand, he squeezed it gently and a wide smile crept over his face.366
This is a story of one man’s faithfulness and God’s timing. By his faithful service, Robert Taylor earned the respect of the soldiers around him and became an effective witness to the power of the gospel. He was the right person at the right time for this soldier, who was able with Taylor’s gentle guidance to put his faith in Christ at the time and place that God intended. We are called to be equally faithful in his service. We must gently share the gospel when appropriate and patiently wait for God’s timing to bring about the hoped-for result.
And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
September 10
When the Marines invaded Saipan, Saburo Arakaki was an eighteen-year-old student at the local vocational school. Forced into the hills by the fighting, he evaded the Americans for months. He finally surrendered to one of the detention camps where he found great tension between those who favored continued resistance and those who were convinced the war was over. The young and idealistic Arakaki was persuaded to murder two Japanese civilians who were leaders of the “defeatist” group. The teenaged assassin was soon caught, tried, and sentenced to death. Months later, while awaiting his execution, he learned that his sentence had been commuted to life in prison.
With no hope for the future, Arakaki was sullen and hateful toward his captors. About a year into his sentence, someone gave him a small booklet written in Japanese. He saw it was a short course in Christianity and knew he wanted nothing to do with anything western, much less religion. Yet his longing to read anything in his own language temporarily overcame his intense antagonism. He was soon reading about the Bible and amazingly found the words being absorbed into his heart. He described his feelings:
[The Bible] is truly an ancient book, but it has continued to be read even today. In it is something precious that captivates the hearts of people. In it is hidden the profound wisdom of God… No matter how many times one reads the Bible, there is always fresh meaning in its words words that will satisfy the longings of the heart.367
The effect of Scripture on this young man was profound, as one who knew him observed: “These words sank into Saburo’s heart like precious droplets of water soaking into the arid desert sands. He read on, brushing aside the thought that this was the Christian Bible he was reading about.”368 By God’s written Word alone, a transformation was begun in the heart of this bitter young man.
The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever.
September 11
As Saburo Arakaki read through his booklet on Christianity while imprisoned in Hawaii, he began to learn about Jesus Christ. He identified with the fact that this man had been falsely accused and executed for something he did not do, and yet taught about mercy and offered forgiveness of sins to the world. As Arakaki’s resistance seemed to melt, he longed to read more about this intriguing figure. He got his wish when he unexpectedly received a Japanese language New Testament that he began reading under a single light bulb in a dark basement of the prison. One passage from John, chapter 12, penetrated deeply into his heart, as he thought to himself,
Jesus says that… He came not to judge, but to save the world. A sinner can be saved. The agony that I suffered fighting against approaching death as a convict on death row can’t possibly compare with the final agony of those two men that I killed. Now the only thing I can do is to ask for forgiveness from God and pray that they rest in peace.369
