Royal Insignia—Blog No. 3
Royal Insignia by E. & L. Harvey, in its very title, focuses on the role of humility in the Christian’s life. It is indeed, as many past saints have witnessed, both by their lifestyle as well as by word and pen, the badge of every true follower of the lowly Jesus. Here are several quotations from this book, revealing what past saints have had to say on the subject:
Thomas Kelly: “Growth in humility is a measure of our growth in the habit of the Godward-directed mind. And he only is near to God who is exceedingly humble. The last depths of holy and voluntary poverty are not in financial poverty, important as that is: they are in poverty of spirit, in meekness and lowliness of soul. . . .“Humility does not rest, in final count, upon bafflement and discouragement and self-disgust at our shabby lives, a brow-beaten, dog- slinking attitude. It rests upon the disclosure of the consummate wonder of God, upon finding that only God counts, that all our own self-originated intentions are works of straw. And so in lowly humility we must stick close to the Root and count our own powers as nothing except as they are enslaved in His power. (pp. 23-24).
Martin Luther: “I pray you leave my name alone, and not call yourselves Lutherans, but Christians. Who is Luther? My doctrine is not mine. I have not been crucified for anyone. Paul would not that anyone should call himself of Paul or of Peter, but of Christ. How then does it befit me, a miserable bag of dust and ashes, to give my name to the children of Christ? Leave, my dear friends, these party names and distinctions. Away with them all and let us call ourselves only Christians after Him from Whom our salvation comes.” (p. 28).
Royal Insignia is published by Harvey Christian Publishers and is available in their Online Christian Bookstore.
Harvey Christian Publishers derives its name from the authors of at least thirty of the books which they publish: Edwin and/or Lillian Harvey. However, it has always been their aim to make available to the reading public, the lives and writings of Christians of the past, whose devotion still inspire and provoke us to follow more closely the Master we profess to serve. And so, in addition to the compilations and biographies compiled and written by Edwin and Lillian Harvey, they have also reprinted books by other authors whose lives and writings urge the reader to get to know our Lord more intimately.
Royal Insignia by E. & L. Harvey focuses on the theme of humility which is in effect, the insignia or badge of every true follower of Christ. This book is a compilation of testimonies and exhortations from past saints who discovered that the way down is always the way up. Here is what John Milton had to say in the first reading:
“It had been a small mastery for Him to have drawn out His legions into array, and flank them with His thunder; therefore He sent foolishness to confute wisdom, weakness to bind strength, despisedness to vanquish pride; and this is the great mystery of the Gospel, made good in Christ Himself, Who, as He testifies, came not to be ministered to but to minister; and must be fulfilled in all His ministers till His second coming.—(p. 8)
In the second reading entitled “The infallible Proof,” Andrew Murray puts it this way: “The chief mark of counterfeit holiness is the lack of humility. Every seeker after holiness needs to be on his guard, lest unconsciously what was begun in the Spirit is perfected in the flesh, and pride creep in where its presence is least expected.” P. 9.
And here is Charles Spurgeon: “It seems that Jehovah’s way is to lower those whom He means to raise and to strip those whom He intends to clothe. If it is His way, it is the wisest and best way. If I am now enduring the bringing low, I may well rejoice, because I see in it the preface to the lifting up. The more we are humbled by grace, the more we shall be exalted in glory. That impoverishment which will be overruled for our enrichment is to be welcomed. “Oh, Lord, Thou hast taken me down of late, and made me feel my insignificance and sin. It is not a pleasant experience, but I pray Thee make it a profitable one to me. Oh, that Thou wouldst thus fit me to bear a greater weight of delight and of usefulness, and when I am ready for it, then grant it to me, for Christ’s sake! Amen.” (p. 14).
“Royal Insignia” is published by Harvey Christian Publishers and is available in their Online Christian Bookstore
“Since then, these three wait on Thy throne,
Ease, Power, and Love, I value prayer so,
That were I to leave but one,
Wealth, fame, endowments, virtues,–all should go;
I and dear prayer would together dwell,
And quickly gain, for each inch lost, an hell.”
–George Herbert. How They Prayed Vol. 2, p. 104.
“God’s goodness
Came to me just now on a friend’s prayer.
I clearly knew them both.
Strange!
A [prayer (that priceless gift); given me,
Arrives, laden with God.
‘Are prayers I wonder,
Empty dishes we present to God
For conveyance of His great goodness?
Why, then, aren’t more prayers given?
Why are we stingy with a prayer
When we need prayer so much ourselves?”
–Marguerite Estaver. (How They Prayed Vol. 2, p. 49. Used by permission as published in the Wesleyan Methodist).
How They Prayed Volume Two is the second in a three volume series which are published by Harvey Christian Publishers and is available in their Online Christian Bookstore.
“ I am convinced that we have far too shallow views of that command to pray for our enemies. It means vastly more than to say, ‘God bless our foes.’ It means that we are to take them on our heart in good earnest, and intercede for them, particularly, lovingly, perseveringly—pray for them till out of a loving heart we can unite their highest welfare with our own.. . .
“Not only must we pray long and fervently for our positive foes, but pray much for religious people who are cold and severe to us; for if we do not keep our hearts warm and pure, and very tender to everybody on earth, we lose that sweet sense of oneness with Jesus which is worth more than all the friendships of creatures.” (pp. 80-81)
“Every man’s character depends on his prayers. It will be seen, at the final judgment, that all holy character will be in exact conformity to what has been the prayer-life of the individual. There is a history to prayer which is so interior and spiritual that we ourselves are not able to analyze it, or to mark its various degrees, and it would take the intelligence of an angel to write out the history of the prayers of God’s people. Doubtless, it is this that will be manifested at the time that the prayers of all saints are brought to their culmination and completion.” (page 83.)
The above quotations are taken from How They Prayed Volume Two. This book is the second in a three volume series which are published by Harvey Christian Publishers and is available in their Online Christian Bookstore.
If you find this busy age crowding out time for prayer you are not alone. The saintliest believers today are having a struggle. It seems the enemy is doing his utmost to distract God’s children from what is their greatest weapon against him. Battles are won or lost before the fight begins. There are so many factors that make for victory. David had the victory well before he ever heard of Goliath. We do well to associate with victors if we are to gain the victory ourselves. Try reading “How They Prayed” or “They Knew Their God” for encouragement.
We now have twenty-five titles available on eBook readers. They must be purchased through Amazon or the Apple Store. We are adding new titles to this list and pray it helps get them to a wider field.
Not in the tumult of the rending storm,
Not in the earthquake or devouring flame,
But in the hush that could all fear transform,
The still, small whisper to the Prophet came.
O Soul, keep silence on the mount of God
Though cares and needs thro round thee like a sea;
From supplications and desires unshod,
Be still, and hear what God shall say to thee.
O rest, in utter quietude of soul,
Abandon words, leave prayer and praise awhile,
Let thy whole being, hushed in His control,
Learn the full meaning of His voice and smile.
–Mary Rowles Jarvis.
This poem can be found on page 98 in the third volume in the How They Prayed Series, written by Edwin and Lillian Harvey and published by Harvey Christian Publishers.
Many of us have some sort of filing cabinet in our possession. We may be in the habit of filing away past letters especially if we run a home business. We file away past tax forms, legal documents, drawings and letters of our children when young—the list could go on and on. For a few of us, however, filing is more than a pastime—it is a business, you could almost say, an obsession. This was true of my mother, Lillian Harvey, who, over the years, built up a room full of filing cabinets in which were stored thousands of clippings, articles, and sermons from a wide variety of books and magazines. Years ago, when spending most of the winter in bed on account of severe bronchitis attacks, mother read avidly and began to set aside passages which would touch her heart. These she eventually would file away under topics, or by Scriptural passages, or under biographical headings.
Then, one day, she and her husband, Edwin, were reading together when several verses 12 and 13 from Psalm 48 struck them forcibly: “Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that ye may tell it to the generation following.” This seemed to them a word from the Lord especially for them—the towers, bulwarks and palaces represented the church fathers; reformers; missionaries; pastors; authors and martyrs of past generations. Edwin and Lillian were to preserve their stories, their exhortations, their examples for the present generation and generations to come. True, many readers might have heard of these saints, but only vaguely and some not at all. By compiling books from their files, Edwin and Lillian would be able not only to bless the reader with the quotations used, but introduce them to the books from which these clippings had been taken.
And so Kneeling We Triumph Vols. One and Two; The Christian’s Daily Challenge; The Royal Series; Soul Sculpture and many others were painstakingly compiled and printed and are still available in the Online Christian Bookstore of Harvey Christian Publishers.
–Trudy Harvey Tait
Patricia St. John, author and former missionary to Morocco, is well known for her children’s books. Treasures of the Snow, Tanglewoods’ Secrets, Star of Light, to mention just a few, have been read and treasured in many Christian homes both in Great Britain and here in the USA. Patricia also wrote biographies and various other helpful devotional books.
