knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him’ (2 Cor. 5:21).” I explained that Jesus Christ came into the world to be a sin bearer, that He went to the cross to give His blood as a ransom for sinners, and that God is going to take to heaven all those men and women who put their trust in this Son of God, who was manifested to take away sins. That young man looked away to the cross and believed that the death of Christ was for him—a death in his stead. God gave the lad assurance of the forgiveness of all his sins, and he passed into the valley of the shadow of death without a question, without a fear. He is in the glory now because he knew that Christ was mani fested to take away sins. My friends, do you know this truth? No matter what else you know, if you do not know Christ as an aton ing Saviour, you will never reach the Father’s blessed home above. But, praise God, if you do know this blessed truth, it matters little what else you do not know; all will be well. Is the blood of Christ the ground of your hope of eternal salvation? God save me from ever preaching, and you from ever believing, a bloodless theology! T he B lessed A ssurance of G od ’ s U nfailing P urpose We examine another wonderful verse: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28). How strange are some of God’s ways with us! Very often we cannot understand why He deals with one man this way, and another that way. He may take away that man’s health, and leave this one well; He may allow one Christian $20,000 a year and another not a penny! What strange and in explicable things occur in the providences of God! Some time ago a Christian friend and I were recount ing our experiences over a period of twenty-five years. Among other things, this friend told me that before the great depression of 1929, he had supported ten mis sionaries. But when the collapse came, his entire for tune was swept away, and many a day he and his wife sat at the breakfast table, drinking coffee without cream or sugar because they did not have sufficient money to buy them! My friends, never try to find out reasons for the providences of God. If you do so, your soul will get into darkness. Just trust God, and you will learn some day that all the tears and heartaches were just as es sential for the building of your Christian life as were the days of gladness and sunshine. Poor Jacob cried, “All these things are against me,” when he heard that Benjamin was wanted in Egypt after Joseph had been taken away from him. But he learned later that the very things that were against him worked for his good, and for the preservation of his whole family. So, my friends when you stand on the glory side and look at the pathway along which you have come, you will thank God for the loving heart that planned and for the pierced hand that led you on life’s way. Let us say with the Apostle Paul in triumphant assurance that we too know that all things work together for good! Some years ago, when I was a pastor in Minneapolis, Minnesota, I had» in my congregation a woman who had spent the last ten years of her life upon a sickbed. She scarcely knew a day without pain, and yet she gave herself to the giving of thanks to God for the very thing through which she was passing. She was assured that her multitude of physical woes was pre paring her for some service in the glory. After her triumphant death, her husband found the following poem in her Bible. At the funeral service he requested that I read it to the congregation. I pass it on to you because it may help you to understand the meaning of your tears. The title of it is The Weaver: AUGUST, 1947
My life is but a weaving Between my Lord and me: I cannot choose the colors; He worketh steadily. Ofttimes He weaveth sorrow, And I in foolish pride Forget He sees the upper, And I, the under side. Not till the loom is silent And the shuttles cease to fly, Shall God unroll the canvas And explain the reason why. The dark threads are as needful In the Weaver’s skillful hand As the threads of gold and silver In the pattern He has planned.
And so, in joy or sorrow, in sickness or health, in riches or in poverty, in life or in death, our testimony is to the assurance of God’s unfailing purpose: “We know that all things work together for good.” He knows, He loves, He cares; Nothing this truth can dim. He gives the very best to those Who leave the choice with Him.
Colorado Mountains in Early Autumn.
Paa* Seven
Made with FlippingBook Online document