GOD
IS WITH US
by Rev. R.H. Sawyer
“THEY
FEARED as they entered the cloud.”
* * *
Peter, James and John were with the Lord on the mount of transfiguration,
and saw Him glorified with Moses and Elias.
* * *
They
were confused with fear at the sight of these great men who
had come forth from the grave to converse with their Lord,
and in the confusion Peter made a proposal, which, if followed
would have changed the plan of Christian Worship as given
in the scriptures by Christ and the Apostles.
* * *
Peter
wanted to be true to Jesus, but he wanted to add the names
of Moses and Elias, making them equal to his Lord, saying,
“Master it is good for us to be here: let us make three
tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for
Elias: not knowing what he said.”
But God permits no changes in His plans. To Moses He had said,
“See that thou makest all things according to the pattern
shown thee in the mount,” and now the same unchanging
and unchangeable God would give directions to these three
men, Peter, James and John, who were to transmit God’s
will to the world. Even as Peter spoke there came a message
that would never be forgotten by those who heard it. Let us
hear it:
“While he (Peter) thus spoke; there came a cloud, and
overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the
cloud.
And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, THIS is my
beloved Son: hear HIM.”
*
* *
There
have been many things added to the teaching of Christ since
the days of Peter, some of them very beautiful, and appealing,
and probably came from hearts as sincere as the hearts of
the apostle, but, if we are to take God at his word, they
who make such additions, “Know not what they say.”
There can be but one right way in measuring the words and
deeds of Christian men and women: “To the law and to
the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it
is because there is no light in them.”
A Spiritual Inventory
The beginning of the New Year is the businessman’s time
for “taking stock”, or making an inventory of
all his goods, capital, etc., in order that he may estimate
his prospects for a successful continuation of business.
It would be a wonderful thing if every Christian man and woman
would take an inventory of their spiritual assets and liabilities,
casting out all doctrines, and religious customs and personal
opinions and habits that are not according to the law of God,
and the testimony of Christ and the apostles.
Something in the way of a careful consideration of what we
believe, and what we practice as Christian doctrine is not
only advisable, it is absolutely essential to the preparation
that we should make to meet the Lord at His coming.
The last days were to be filled with difficulties for the
Christian: Jesus gave them this warning: “For there
shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew
great signs and wonders: insomuch that, if it were possible,
they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you
before.”
If any man go after these false teachers, and their false
doctrine, it will not be because of a lack of warning from
our Lord himself, but rather from a failure to hear, and heed,
those warnings.
And many have undoubtedly gone after these false prophets
with their pleasing doctrines, in these days of deception
and world-wide fraud. A well-known author, whose religious
writings are read in many lands, recently made this serious
charge: “The Christian religion in its present day popular
form is no longer the divinely inspired religion of Jesus,
but a man made system of pagan and modern ideas carefully
fabricated to conceal rather than reveal, the transcendental
jewels in the diadem of pristine teachings of Jesus the Christ.”
It is not so much a matter of contending with men as to the
truth or falsity of the foregoing statement, as it is of making
a careful search of our own hearts in an honest effort to
determine to what extent the charge applies to us.
When Jesus sat at the Last Supper with his twelve followers
He accused one of them of being a traitor. There was no attempt
upon the part of the twelve followers to fasten the guilt
upon the man who sat next to him, but each man began to search
his own heart.
Matthew tells us, “And they were exceeding sorrowful,
and began every one of them to say unto Him, Lord, is it I?”
Here again we see the power of fear as these men sought to
know their own hearts, and the mind of their Lord.
The fear that fills the hearts of men throughout the world
today, would give place to security and peace, if men knew
that they had the divine approval.
The Psalmist sang from a heart filled with the knowledge of
God’s Presence, and approval, “The Lord is my
Shepherd, I shall not want, He leadeth me ... Yea, though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear
no evil, for thou art WITH me.”
God Is With Us
The popular conception of God is of a Being in some far away
land, somewhere beyond the stars; One in whose presence we
shall stand, to be judged, after death. But David was free
from fear, even of death, because he could say, Thou art with
me. The apostle Paul said to the learned company at Athens
that they were seeking to worship many gods, and that there
was but one true God who was ever present with man, saying,
“In him we live, and move, and have our being.”
The outstanding theme of the scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation
is the presence of God with His people.
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