Religious Press Bereau

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXIX, Issue 13139, 13 September 1940, Page 7

Religious P ress Bereau

LtiO— A* "verse for to-da y

_ coul shall bo joyful m And T a' shall rejoice in his saleLo Ps 35:9. ration-"* s -

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td Tord was speaking not of peaeewhen law and order pref" Uo \v'is preparing His own foi f calamity, -war and distress day 3 , hle They were to be in the Un ?f l nf b R ail —and yet they were ,n ‘ , in peace, untroubled. How 10 iHt be? How can it be to-day? C °Tnose words were spoken on the JTof Olives. " A little later, in 'upper Room, the Lord said more £ut It. and gave to His own the secret— yes, the secret lor to-day. I;", not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me John 14:1). Andin-the onginal.it is not so much a statement as a command (see marginal reading). . I, “Believe- in God.” jj "Believe also in me.” Think of the sweep of that first .rent Injunction to the Jewish mind land still more to, our own. What reason they had to believe in God! God, who hgd- been . their dwelling, place in all generations; God, who had delivered them in countless perils, provided for them under impossible conditions, led them through hopeless perplexities; who had always made a way of escape and proved Himself to be “a God of deliverances” to His people. Had they reason to believe In God? Had He borne with their failures and unfaithfulness, with their unbelief, and sin? Had He restored their soul, spread for them a table in the wilderness, spiritually as well as actually, and watched over them by day and night as the never-failing “Shepherd of Israel?”

“Believe In God”

I Is not He “El Shaddai,” “the God * tot is enough?” Hitherto He has | helped us; and shall He not still provide? Believe in God, above the firmament, still, on the Throne the prophet saw, when his eyes were lifted from the turmoil and threatening of ’things around him. Believe in God, unchangeably the same, always “a Wy present help” in time of need.

And thus, “let not your heart be

troubled.” , And has, the experience of two thousand years, since then, lessen-

td our reasons for confidence in the ' same Almighty One? Do we not toow Him as Father whom- they hew oul y as God? Has He not '" iven us Infinitely more proof of His !ove a «d purposes of endless blessias? Rightly do we trust Him to 'how "in the ages to come . . . the exceeding riches 'of his grace in his : hindness towards us through Christ jesus -” And shall we.not trust Him [ Ol present distress in which we •‘»(1 ourselves. It may have come 1 apon Us w ihh the suddenness of an i !Jnex Pected storm, but was it unforH "Before they call, I lj !! answer ’|s the assurance of One | "o is ever on. the watch to succour [ «is people. • ? time for steadfastness : •], °PP° r tunity to show to ' , and powers in - ii,? enly places »” as well as to the I J*** »orld around us. that we ' !sr!if nd kROW m have « a G °d who bein ° Ver us heware of easy 5 oCv ' u^ e(^ -With second causes, so ; ^ me Believe in cj f.. re all that-would draw such ? T 6 attitude that meant so ! atmorj! S? 011 Taylor< of blessecl ; nrciimJ lhere must ‘be only One i C “ CetOUStal ‘f=-andthat,

I Believe also in Me.” 1 *ill!!! leave you comfortless: tight in tO . you -" God with us, OUr greater Sl i Uati ° n to ’ clay! Yesth? PierrtL G, ?' and Sayiour ” with * r (eet - h& j >a He loves! “Believe m all the days - to Efficient o ne . ed ‘ Have we an allan aVlour * ,i an all-mighty b? Bis Uial COme t 0 us but V. ***** a ad through His Ss love'U« lng eVer se P ai ’ a te us ii, He able to save to the AH i ' at * COme onto Gdd .by tender h His hands - and it is 3^ Is looking Y °v D ° a °t let , 1 BUch a tijae as tbi s. 8 dlsa PPoint Him who

says, “Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.”

Saved from the depths of sin and suffering such as few have ever known, John Newton wrote amid the conflict of a much-tried life; Why should I fear the darkest hour Or tremble at the Tempter’s power? Jesus vouchsafes to be my Toyer. By the grace of the ever-present Saviour we to may know the blessedness of the untroubled heart —for is He not “the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever?” THE ANTIDOTE TO FEAR We are living, in trying, tragic days, when our faith is being tested to the uttermost. The condition of affairs in a warring world has thrown us back absolutely upon God as our only source of security and peace. There is no reason for fear as to the future, since God will be Sovereign and Controller of events in the days that lie ahead, as He has been in the past. The message that Isaiah brought to the people in. his time comes to us to-day, to lift us out of the region of fear into the higher altitudes of faith in God. “Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not; behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; He will come and save you” (Isa 55:4). The present is a time for a diligent, believing study of the Bible, in'order to learn something of God’s purpose in the sad situation with which we are faced; it is also a direct call to all Christians to pray without ceasing- that out of the ashes of the conflict there may arise a rejuvenated Church and a new world, through its inhabitants ■ being made anew in Christ Jesus.

Let strong, unwavering faith in God banish all base fear from our lives.