short or fallen in sin, insult that mighty changeless love. How
often, too, when trials are upon us and we suffer, we lose sight of
Him, the unchanging One, who loves His own to the end, and deep down
in the heart there is unrest, anxiety, as if some evil could come
upon us. Our weakness, our imperfections, our failures and our sins
do not change His love and His grace.
As He was yesterday with His own and kept them, carried them, was
their strength, their help, their refuge and their safe hiding
place, their peace and their comfort, so is He to-day, so will He be
forever. And in faith we can bring it stiller nearer to our hearts.
He is for each the same loving, sympathizing, caring, interested
Saviour, Friend and Lord. He who helped you yesterday, whose love
was about you in the past, who has not left you since He found you
for a single moment, is the same to-day, and will never be anything
less. He will keep each member of His body, He will carry, He will
lead onward, and with His unchanging love and power deal with each,
as it pleases Him. Oh that we might cast ourselves more upon Him and
spend the remainder of our days here (how few indeed!) in a more
utter dependence upon Him, trusting Him, the changeless One. Oh for
a closer walk with Him in these evil days and to taste more of His
love, His unchanging love. How happy, restful, without care and
anxiety God's people _might_ be if only their hearts were fixed upon
Him who is the same yesterday, to-day and forever. Alas! how often
the things seen are more real to us as the real things, the things
unseen. What a joy it ought to be to our hearts to follow Him now,
to learn over and over again that He is the same, who changeth not,
to find His power and strength as of old manifested in behalf of His
beloved people.
Be of Good Cheer.
"BE of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid" (Matthew xiv:27).
"Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God believe also in
Me. In my father's house are many mansions; if it were not so I
would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to
prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto
myself; that where I am, there ye may be also" (John xiv:1-3).
"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world
giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let
it be afraid" (John xiv:27).
"In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I
have overcome the world" (John xvi:33).
"Father, I will that they also whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me
where I am" (John xvii:24).
"Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the age" (Matthew
xxviii:20).
"He hath said I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Hebrews
xiii:5).
"Fear not, I am the first and the last; I am He that liveth and was
dead and behold I am alive forevermore, amen; and I have the keys of
hades and of death" (Rev. i:17, 18).
"Behold I come quickly; hold that fast which thou hast, that no man
take thy crown" (Rev. iii:11).
"Surely I come quickly. Amen" (Rev. xxii.20).
These precious words of comfort and cheer came from His loving heart
and lips. May we take hold of them. How well it is to remember His
words and Himself. How worthy He is; the mighty, the loving, the
adorable Lord! How He loveth us His own, how He careth for us, is
mindful of us and carrieth us, no heart can fully understand, no pen
describe. How He came from heaven's glory long ago, how He the One,
who was rich, became poor for our sakes and died on the cross, that
we might share eternal riches and glory with Him, is the old story,
which never grows old. It is as fresh and new to the believing heart
as it ever has been. And He who bought us with His own blood, loveth
and carrieth us His poor, weak and sinning people with such love and
infinite patience. The past years of our Christian lives, so all of
us must confess, have been filled with many failures. But as we come
to Him with our failures, our sins, our burdens, we find Him the
same loving, tender Saviour. Ah! who can measure the depths of His
love! He will never cease loving those, who have accepted him as
their Saviour and whom He has accepted as His own. In His gracious
hands we are and all His people. The hands which were pierced for us
on the cross are over us and about us. They carry us, guide us, hold
us and keep us. We are His and nothing can separate us from Him in
time and in eternity. With a joyful heart we can say "I am my
Beloved's and His desire is toward me."
O Lord! 'tis sweet the thought
That Thou art mine!
But brighter still the joy
That I am Thine.
Oh, dear Christian readers, how happy we might be if only all this
were constantly real to our hearts and our minds were occupied with
that blessed, glorious One. What joy and blessing we will have, if
we walk closer with the Lord and live that life to which we have
been called, live by the faith of the Son of God.
And the words He left us are just like Himself, Love, Hope and
Comfort. There is nothing to fear for one who is in Him. He would
have His beloved people free from all fear, anxiety and care. Twice
He has told us "Let not your heart be troubled." "Fear not!" "Be not
afraid!" How much these words mean if we consider Him who spoke
them. They must calm every fear and lift the trusting child of God
over all the dark and difficult things on the way. The blessed words
we have quoted are the never failing comfort for His people till
they are gathered in His own presence.
The greatest anodyne, however, He has given to us, the anodyne for
all pains and sorrows, griefs and perplexities is the blessed Hope.
"I will come again and receive you unto myself" was spoken long ago,
and yet it is still unfulfilled. Almost the last petition of His
great high-priestly prayer is the petition to have His own with
Himself in the Father's house. "Father, I will that they also, whom
Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am." This prayer is still
unanswered. "Behold I come quickly" are His own words in the third
chapter of Revelation, words so full of meaning for us, exhorting us
to hold fast what we have. And in the very end of the Book, almost
the last word of the Bible is the last word He ever spoke. "_Surely_
I come quickly. Amen." He has not spoken again after this last
utterance, so full of assurance. The next time His blessed voice
will speak will be when He comes into the air and gives the mighty
shout (1 Thess. iv:16) which will call the saints from their graves
and ourselves from earth's sorrow together with them to meet Him in
the air. That blessed Hope is the great anodyne, the soothing as
well as inspiring truth of the Bible, which stands next to and in
closest relation with the Gospel. That blessed Hope is an imminent
Hope. How cheerless it would be to think that the Lord cannot come
for many years, that He cannot fulfill His blessed promise. How
cheerless, yea, how depressing and discouraging it would be if it
were true that the true believers must pass through the great
tribulation, suffer under Antichrist, taste of the wrath, which will
then be poured out. Such an expectation would not be a blessed Hope,
but a depressing outlook. But blessed be God this is not the
teaching of the Word, but only the invention of man. We are not to
wait for the apostasy, the great tribulation, great earthquakes and
disasters, but for Himself. He may come at any time and call us into
His presence. To wait daily for Him is the true Christian attitude,
which is a mighty power in the Christian life, walk and service. How
we shall be weaned away from the passing things of this age, how we
shall look upon all in its true light and be faithful witnesses for
our Lord, if we walk in this daily expectation of meeting Him. And
this we need. The Lord Jesus Christ must become more real to our
hearts. Our fellowship with Him, our trust in Him, our walk in Him,
our waiting for Him, all must become more real. The Holy Spirit in
His power will accomplish this in our lives. In the awful darkness,
which is settling upon this age, only such can abide faithful who
cling closer to the Lord and who wait for His coming. The Lord grant
this to all His people.
He'll come again,
And prove our hope not vain;
We wait the moment, oh, so fair;
To rise and meet Him in the air;
His heart, His home, His throne to share--
O wondrous love!
Make Haste.
THE little book called Solomon's Song, in the Hebrew "the Song of
Songs," because it exalts and describes the Bridegroom, closes with
that longing cry, "Make Haste my Beloved." How this applies
dispensationally we do not follow here. It is the same desire for
Himself, which is found almost the last thing in the Bible, the
great prayer, "Even so come Lord Jesus." The soul which knows Him,
follows closely after Him, and gets daily more of Himself will ever
long for Him and for His Coming. The desire and prayer will arise
many times each day from such a heart, "Make Haste my Beloved"
--"Even so, come Lord Jesus." The Holy Spirit ungrieved and unhindered
in the believer will not alone produce this desire, but keep it
alive in the soul and make it more intense. One may hold the Second
Coming of Christ in a mere intellectual way; there is no profit in
that. The blessed Hope must have its seat in the heart and
affection. It is therefore a good test of our spiritual state. If
our hearts are crying more for Him, longing to be with the Beloved,
and we daily sigh for Himself to come and take us home, we are then
certainly walking in the Spirit. Such a desire will also lead us
into holiness of life and true service for Him. And as we look about
us at the condition of things, surely only the Coming of our Lord
appears to be the remedy. Nothing less than that event can arrest
the dreadful conditions and bring the long promised deliverance.
"The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until
now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first
fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves,
waiting for the adoption, the redemption of the body" (Rom. viii:22-23).
What a day it will be when at last He descends into the air to
call His own, His Beloved together! What a day it will be when
together with those who are raised from their graves we shall be
caught up in clouds to meet HIM in the sky! What a day when He
purges the earth by fire and comes with all His Saints to reign.
Make haste! Even so, come Lord Jesus!
Lord Jesus, come!
And take Thy people home;
That all Thy flock, so scattered here,
With Thee in glory may appear.
Lord Jesus, come!
"Soon the day-dawn will be breaking
And the shadows flee away;
Now, by faith, in joy and gladness,
I await the coming day,
For I know my soul is safely
Hidden in His wounded side;
And anon He sweetly tells me
I shall soon be satisfied.
Lo! He tells me _now_ His secret,
Cheering with His heavenly smile;
Telling me, in love's low whisper,
It is but 'a little while;'
Yes, for soon, to brightest glory,
He will fetch away His bride;
Then I'll shine in His own likeness,
And be ever satisfied!"