Our first promise for today is found in 1st Peter 3:13: “And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good ?”
This is a wonderful promise, is it not? But we notice there is a condition attached, We Must Be Followers Of That Which Is Good. Just what is meant by being followers of that which is good? It means that we must be the children of God in the highest sense of the word. It means much more than attendance at meetings, no matter how faithful; and even a zealous study of the Bible and other religious literature will not by itself enable us to claim this promise. Just what is required, then, if we are to live up to what God expects of us as His children ? Let us carefully study the 13th chapter of First Corinthians — it would be much better if we memorized it in its entirety, and pondered upon it daily. Paul tells us that we can even give our bodies to be burned, but if we have not Love, it will avail us nothing. This is certainly a sobering thought; without love we can never enter into the kingdom. Having love in our hearts does not mean to merely like people, do them a good turn occasionally, and never do them any harm. It means all the things mentioned in that remarkable, unsurpassed chapter of First Corinthians. Many articles and books have been written on this chapter, and nothing much could be added to what has been said already; but, perhaps, from a different point of view, a little more might be said some time later on. Just let us remember, if we are true followers of that which is good in the deepest sense, we can claim God’s promise of protection, and absolutely nothing and nobody can harm us, until, like Jesus, Our Time Is Come See John 7:6).
The second promise is found in Psalms 4:8, and is along the same lines as the first. “I will both lay me down in peace and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.”
We are to claim God’s protection in the daytime as we go about our daily occupations or any hazardous work. Likewise, we can sleep in perfect peace, with the knowledge that He is watching over us, and nothing that is not God’s will can possibly hurt or harm us. People with an evil conscience are afraid to go to sleep, fearful of unconsciousness, afraid that some terror of the night might overtake them while they are helpless to defend themselves. But we, His children, need have no fear. We do not need to worry about defending ourselves, God will defend us if we are truly His. Even death need have no terrors for us, for we will but sleep until Christ awakens us when He comes.
The third promise is found in Proverbs 10:22: “The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.”
Are some of us among those who are not blessed with much of this world’s goods ? Do we worry and grieve about ? If we do, let us stop and think about these things for just a moment. Would we exchange what we have for anything that our seemingly more fortunate friends possess? Some of us have friends that we are likely, in depressed moments, to envy just a little. For instance, the author has a friend who has a wonderful husband, kind and loving children, a beautiful home and everything that anybody in this world might long for. She is a good woman, an excellent wife and mother, and a friend that, from every standpoint, is definitely worth having. She is very happy, and wishes nothing more from life than what she already has. But her knowledge of and reverence for God are vague, and He never enters her life except when occasionally she dutifully goes to church. What will happen to her, though, if she loses any or all of these things? What will she have to comfort her then ? At present she is rich in the things this world has to offer, but in the law of averages, it is almost certain that at some time she will, like so many others, suffer the sorrow that seems to be the lot of the majority of mankind in this present evil world. But the blessing of the Lord makes HIS children rich in everything enduring and worth while Now, something That cannot and will not pass away. It is in this sense that God adds no sorrow with His blessings, no sorrow that is not transcended by His love, and the peace that we know from the sure knowledge that all that happens to us is ordained of God and is for our best good (Romans 8:28).
The fourth promise is found in Psalms 30:5: “For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favor is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”
God’s anger even with a godless world will endure but a moment in comparison to the eternity of time. For us, it is more grief than anger, and it endures only as long as we are unrepentant of our sins and shortcomings. “For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust” (Psalms 103:14), so when we truly repent and ask for forgiveness, it is instantly ours, and we know the joy of His presence once again. “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” We will sometimes weep through this long, dark night; when we lose our loved ones, and when our friends or relatives turn against us because of our faithfulness to God’s Word. We will weep when we are ill, when the darkness seems impenetrable, and when we are left alone with no one near and dear to help us. But, unlike the world, our tears are not altogether despairing tears, for we Can have God’s help any time we turn to Him wholeheartedly, ask Him for it, and Believe That We Will Receive It. He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5), and “Joy Cometh In The Morning” when we are delivered from this world’s ills. And it will be Everlasting Joy.
The fifth promise is found in Psalms 34:19: “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.”
This is somewhat along the line of the third promise. The righteous do sometimes seem to have more afflictions than the people of the world, because God is polishing us as a rough diamond is polished, and we know that some rough diamonds need much more polishing than others do. God does not deal with the people of the world. Therefore, their tribulations are the outcome of their own acts, or are accidents that befall them because of different experiences that have no relationship to God, and they have no Father to whom they can turn in their time of need. But God knows all about our tribulations, and they serve a useful purpose that IS working out for our best good, although we may not see it at the time they take place. No doubt many of us have looked back after a severe trial and realized how much more sympathy we then had for poor, suffering human beings; how much kinder and more loving we were; how much nearer we felt to God. The way to the kingdom is not easy, tt never has been, and never will be. But we counted the cost when we surrendered ourselves in the waters of baptism, and we must not look back as did Lot’s wife, or ask to go back to bury our fathers or any similar things (See Matthew 8:21, 22). God does not mean that we are not to love and take care of our families; he has enjoined us to do this in many places in the Scriptures. But we must put Him first, and having “put our hand to the plow” (Luke 9:62) we must not look back longingly at the things we have left behind. We must keep on the rugged path with our hand in God’s, and sooner or later the Light Will Shine Through the clouds, and we will see how He has led us day by day.
The sixth promise is found in Psalms 46:1-3: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.”
We know that the earth will not literally be removed, but that the earth, or order of things as we know them will be removed to make way for the new earth that will come into being when Christ’s kingdom is set up. The literal mountains will not be carried into the sea, but kingdoms and governments as they now are (represented by mountains) will be cast into the sea (people), that is, some of the rulers will be violently removed and brought down to the level of the ordinary citizens of the world. The waters (people) will roar; that is, there will be revolution and anarchy, and we see the beginning of that even now. The mountains (kingdoms) have already begun to shake, and soon will be struck by the stone cut out of the mountain, and they (the kingdoms) will be ground to powder (Daniel 2:44, 45). But do God’s children need to be afraid of all this ? Certainly not. Not if we have made the Most High our habitation (See Psalm 91). “A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee” (verse 7). The main thing is to Be In Christ, to walk with Him, to keep ourselves free from the entanglements of the world, and look with joy for the deliverance soon to come.
The seventh promise is found in Psalms 41:1: “Blessed is he that considereth the poor; the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.”
We must consider the poor, literally poor, or poor in faith and love toward God. We must clothe and feed them if they need it, visit the hospitals, homes for the elderly, orphans’ homes, etc. Of course we must also “preach the word in season and out of season” (2nd Timothy 4:2) wherever we may go. We never know when the seed that we have sown will be watered by someone else (if not by us) and will in due time blossom forth in faith and obedience to God. The world is so full of troubled and suffering people, we have them on every side. So let us go forth and do all we can to help them and ask God to bless our efforts as we go. “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10). We repeat, we Must preach the Word every place we go, but, sometimes, performing little acts of kindness will even more effectually preach the Gospel, for they will See our good works, and be blessed by our acts of kindness; and thus we will lay the groundwork for the written and spoken word.
May God bless us all as we enter into the New Year and help us to live closer to Him, as we watch and pray for His second coming.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One