The Great Promise
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Many of the sorest sorrows in this world are caused by broken promises. Oft and again the tradesman is brought to bankruptcy, because the promissory notes which he held proved to be worthless. How many a home is shadowed by the sins of violated vows; hearts are broken by the broken promises of wedlock. "Until death us do part" is the solemn engagement fluently spoken—but it is the "death" of affection or of moral character which brings the real parting.
While human promises are so often broken by either willfulness or weakness, it is a glorious thought that there is one Faithful Promiser whose word is surer than the everlasting hills. Sometimes his providence seems to be contradicting his promises, as when he assured Paul of the safety of all on board the ship; but all in good time, the shipwrecked crew and passengers escape safely to land on the broken pieces of the ship. We are often too hasty in judging our Heavenly Father, and as often mistake what he has agreed to give us. He never agrees to give us wealth or health, or freedom from care or sharp affliction. But "this is the promise that he has promised us, even ETERNAL life."
A great deal more than deliverance from the condemnation of sin is signified by this word "life". It is the inbreathing of a new principle by the Holy Spirit; it is the vital organic union of the soul, to the Son of God. Because he lives—we shall live also. Our whole spiritual nature is elevated, ennobled, purified, and strengthened by having this Christ-life infused. We do not lose our individuality or our responsibility to do our utmost in watchfulness or in work. The disciples on Galilee in the night-storm must all pull at the oars, even though Jesus was on board both as pilot and preserver. Christ's almighty grace bestows the new life, and maintains it, and most lovingly aids it; but after all, you and I must do the living. If we have only a gasping, feeble, fruitless life when he offers to give it "more abundantly," then it is our own criminal fault. We must work out our own salvation, even while he is workingin us and upon us.
The real grandeur of this grand promise, is that Jesus guarantees never to desert us. "My grace is sufficient for you" means all that it asserts. "No man shall be able to pluck you out of my hands" means that the hand that holds is omnipotent; all our concern must be to stay in that hand. We are kept by the power of God, through faith, unto salvation.
A young minister, while visiting the cabin of a veteran Scotch woman who had grown ripe in experience, said to her, "Nannie, what if, after all your prayers and watching and waiting, God should allow your soul to be eternally lost?" Looking at the youthful novice in divinity, she replied, "Ah, let me tell you, that God would have the greatest loss. Poor me would lose her soul, and that would be a great loss; but God would lose his honor and his character. If he broke his word, he would make himself a liar, and the universe would go to ruin." The veteran believer was right. Our only real ground of salvation lies in God's everlasting word. This is the promise which he has promised; let us cleave to that.
If the title-deed to my house is safely lodged in the register's office of Brooklyn, why should I lie awake at night for fear of ejectment from the premises? It is my business to continue in the house, and it is the city's business to keep secure my title to it. Just two things are essential to a Christian's hope of salvation. The first one is that he must be sure that he is alive—and life is self-evidencing. A corpse never breathes or answers questions. As long as you really breathe out honest penitence and desires after God, as long as you feel any degree of genuine love to Jesus, as long as your lips move in sincere prayer and your hands move in obedience to Christ's commandment, you are not a corpse; you are alive. The life may be too languid and feeble—but it is alive. Make sure of that by honest self-searching, and by a comparison of yourself with what Christ demands. When your state corresponds to the Christian's state, as described in the Bible, you have the witness of the Spirit that you are his. Having this actual life, strive to have it more abundantly; the more you have, the richer, purer, stronger, and more useful you become.
Being assured that we are born again and are living today, the other essential is from God, and belongs exclusively to him. You and I have nothing to do with it—God will take care of his own promises. If he said, "He who believes has everlasting life," you have nothing to do except believe and obey.
Last year I sat at eventide on the battlements of the castle of Mar Saba, and looked down into the deep gorge of the Kidron. All night I lay secure in the strong fortress while the jackals howled and the Bedouin prowled without. So may every child of God who has lodged himself in the stronghold of the divine promise rest securely, and let the devil's jackals howl as loudly as they choose, or the adversary lie in wait outside the solid gateway. "This is the promise that He has promised us—even eternal life." Cleave to that! As long as we trust God in Christ, and attest our faith by our conduct, we may roll the responsibility of our salvation upon God himself.
But will this life outlast the grave? Will it reach across that great mysterious chasm that separates us from the unseen world? Will it be eternal? These are the questions which sometimes torment the survivors when they have gone down to the shore of the unbridged river, and watched a beloved child or husband or wife disappear slowly out of sight. "Can I feel sure that there is a heaven for that loved one to land in?" But nobody comes back from that other world, nobody ever will come back, to bring a single syllable of assurance. The boats on that river of death all head one way; there are no "return trips."
Suppose that one should come back and tell us that he had actually found a heaven, and entered it, and participated in its splendors and joys. If we believed the statement, it would have to be on a single human authority. But if we would believe the witness of a man, is not the witness of the Almighty God infinitely greater? If we are only to feel sure of a heaven on the testimony of somebody coming back to each one of us, then would we consent to exercise a faith that glorifies a worm of the dust and dishonors the God of the universe. For one, I would rather trust a single word of divine promise—than a million human assertions.
Just open to the first chapter of that epistle which the Holy Spirit wrote by Peter's hand, and read the third, fourth, and fifth verses. If you, as a follower of Christ, do not feel sure of an "inheritance reserved for you"—then you would not believe though an army of saints came back from the skies. Then trust God! Let your faith be
"The living power from heaven,
That grasps the promise God has given;
Securely fixed on Christ alone,
Your trust shall ne'er be overthrown."
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