It is of the utmost importance that the heart be established in the certainty of every “Thus saith the Lord.” These are days of research and criticism, when things are not taken for granted because taught by one’s forefathers. Everything nowadays is thrown into the crucible and tested, the most hoary and time-honored beliefs are being treated like everything else. The analyst and dissectors can keep their hands off nothing; even the Word of God is not too sacred for their fingers. With great pretensions to learning and superiority, the impious critics discuss the Sacred Oracles and audaciously pass judgment on what the Holy Spirit has written for our learning.
This is not an age of faith in and reverence for God. The world, like a drifting ship, is already in the shallows and will soon be on the rocks. Get clear of this world’s wreckage!
Thank God, Satan has not skimmed all the cream of scholarship. Along with this irreverent study of Scripture there are to be found pious men, nothing behind their contemporaries in learning, who are prayerfully examining the old Bible verse by verse and line by line, whose conviction of the Divine authorship of the whole volume is assured. These holy men exhort us: “Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of” (2 Tim. 3:14). Let us heed the exhortation, and stick with assurance to “the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”
Let us now consider a few things which in the Word of the Living God are said by the Lord to be “sure.”
A Sure Foundation
“Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure” (2 Tim. 2:19). If we were to believe the modern “prophets,” then the Church’s belief all these centuries has been quite wrong, and accordingly the bulk of Christian people are laboring under false conceptions of God.
These philosophers and scribes of the “new age” are pretending to be on the mountaintop, and calling to us to leave behind the “foggy mists” of those old doctrines for which many of our ancestors suffered martyrdom.
No, please God, we shall abide by the Book despite the sneer and ridicule of the modernists. As the winds of doctrine blow, we must believe God and stand by the old Book, being resolute in believing it from cover to cover and fearlessly proclaim its doctrines. Christ’s blood and righteousness is our plea, and around His Cross we rally.
On Him must the soul build its hopes for heaven, and must see to it that its confidence is resting in the sacrificial work of Christ. Nothing can shake the Cross nor destroy the peace it gives.
A Sure Dwelling-Place
“And My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places” (Isa. 32:18). The poor world is all unrest, and the hearts of men are failing them for fear as they see the last great storm coming toward them; there is no peace of heart, and nothing seems sure. Only the Christian whose faith is in the “more sure word of prophecy” can be unaffected by all around and wear a smiling face and sing, “All, all is well!”
“A thousand may fall at thy side and ten thousand at thy right hand” (Ps. 91:7), but we have the preserving care of our Lord. Satan may come as a lion and roar against us, but we are assured the adversary is not to harm a hair of our head, for they have all been numbered by our heavenly Father. Oh, the comfort of a peaceable habitation, a sure dwelling, a quiet resting place; and the bliss of knowing that God does not forget His saints in this world. His eyes are upon them, and His angel encamps round about them for their protection. To whom or to what can people go for peace and rest who will not have the Bible?
A Sure Hope
“Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast” (Heb. 6:19). Life with no hope beyond the grave is like a blind man wandering over dangerous and forbidden ground. He does not seem to know that at any moment he is in danger of falling over a precipice and meeting an awful end. The sun is so warm, the air so fresh, the birds sing so sweetly; he can hardly believe there is anything awful in Nature. Poor man! His views of Nature will meet a tragic end. Multitudes are just as deluded, being blinded by the god of this age to all danger; they can laugh at warnings and pooh-pooh the idea of God taking vengeance on His creatures. But suddenly they too are cast down into destruction, a dreadful fate befalls them, and the old Bible comes true. What height of folly to pretend to know better than God!
The Christian’s hope is a thrilling hope. Should he be called to pass through the “vale of death” there is no such thing as “a leap into the dark” or entering into “the unknown.” The Word of God, when received in faith, sheds a clear ray of light on the future which brightens as the end draws near. The believer’s spirit emerges from the “shadow of death” into broad daylight, the light of the Saviour’s presence. We shall see Him and be like Him in that day, and forever reign with Him. The Christian’s hope is a blessed hope! Weary plodder, the far-off glory gleams through the portals of the heavenly city to encourage us along the way. As the hymn writer has stated: “Now to work, to watch, to war; and then to rest for ever.”
A Sure Word
“We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place” (2 Pet. 1:19). Men are calling out for more light, and all the while they are rejecting the Scriptures apart from which there can be no light. Satan’s wise men profess to throw wonderful light on all matters of faith and doctrine; but having the sun to guide us on our way, what need have we to borrow a lantern? Ah, these deceivers who beguile unstable souls, one day they must die, and the Word of God they pulled to pieces in life will be used at their funeral and later on will condemn them. Christ has said: “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away” (Mt. 24:35). The devout soul says with the Psalmist: “It is time for Thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void Thy law. Therefore I love Thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold. Therefore I esteem all Thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way” (Ps. 119:126-128).
A Sure Judgment
“We are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth…who will render to every man according to his deeds” (Rom. 2:2-6). Nothing can be more certain than God’s judgment of mankind by the Man whom He has ordained, Jesus Christ. “Every one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Rom. 14:12). To think of it is most alarming; but there it is. The ungodly of this world will meet at the Great White Throne; the people of God will meet at the Judgment Seat of Christ. The former will be judged for their evil deeds and their rejection of Christ, receiving eternal judgment; the latter will be judged as servants of God, their lives and service coming under review and valued as to what they are worth.
Notwithstanding the fact of one day meeting God, there is an indifference about the whole thing which is appalling; the unsaved people go on as though God does not know, or if He knows, He does not care, and will pass over matters very leniently; and Christians are to be found who trade on God’s grace, who complacently fold their hands as they talk of their “standing in Christ,” and can go on in worldliness, pleasure, and ease. Is there to be no reckoning for these? Is their life-account to pass unaudited? No, the day is coming!
A Sure Reward
“To him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward” (Prov. 11:18). There can be no doubt of this. Every little act of service, even to the gift of a cup of cold water in the Lord’s Name, will not be overlooked. Much which has been faultily done will doubtless be highly valued because of the loving heart which did it to please. Many dear souls are badgered with the thought that their lives are of so little value that they need not hope for anything; others will get a reward, but they are too unprofitable. There is such a thing as undue depreciation of our efforts for Christ, and the tempter makes capital out of this morbid thought by tormenting the life of many who are really doing acceptable service. Such desponding thoughts can never be of the Holy Spirit, for while He will always teach us to set a modest estimate on the value of our work, He always desires to cheer us with the prospect of a sure reward for service rendered to our Lord. Thank God, the reward is a divine certainty as much as anything else.