Romans 8.28. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren,” As the years go by we all become more grateful than we have ever been in the past for what the gospel has brought to us. We see with our eyes that we have been drawn from many countries of the world to gather under this canvas, this in itself is a wonderful sight, but far more than that we are in the kingdom of God. We have been drawn by the power of the gospel of Gods dear son and found today in the kingdom of God today enjoying precious privileges.
When I first listened to the gospel there was a force, a power invisible to the eye but certainly felt in my heart. I was so far from God living in sin and degradation and the Lord had pity on me and showed mercy and sent two servants to our district and by the power of God brought about a change in my heart. This gospel brought a change to the centre of gravity, it used to be in the world and this gravity could have eventually taken us to a Christless grave. We are now inside of this marvellous fellowship of the kingdom of God and our centre of gravity is not in the centre of the world but in heaven and that is why we are drawn to heaven. That is why we are journeying heavenward and as we look into our lives; we will find that in our day to day living our entire life is gravitating to heaven. God draws us and keeps drawing us closer and closer to him. The work of God in every age is in the human heart and that is where Jesus was most concerned as he daily gave his life.
My father worketh hitherto and I work, the work in the human heart. The disciples were slow to grasp this point and we are often slow to grasp the importance of that. One time the disciples wanted Jesus to take notice of the magnificent buildings of the temple, the beautiful stones and Jesus had quite a time to wean their minds from that temple to think of the body where the heart is, where Jesus longs to work. God has always laboured human lives to win and Christ did the same work and many of us heard this gospel outside of this country in far off places and made one in Christ and that thought alone has often been a source of inspiration to me. This one thought helps me to go out again and again. I see many men and women every day as I used to be and if it had not been for the gospel I would have been where they are today. True Christianity means Christ living in the human heart and this indwelling of Christ is what we are taken up with, most concerned about seriously. Christ dwelling, living, reigning in an individual life.
At Antioch men and women were first called Christians, likely some people saw Christ followers and they reminded them of Christ, they resembled Christ. The same today when we meet another dear brother and sister in Christ, we see something of Christ in their lives and there are few things that touch a person’s heart so much, to see the likeness of Christ in fellow labourers and in God’s children. Coming away from a sister’s funeral someone remarked, “she was Christlike”, a great tribute to her. We know that all things work together for good, Paul was not guessing, he said, we know, not what might or might not be, a real conviction.
Another conviction Paul had was that if this earthly tabernacle is dissolved, we know that we have a temple of God, eternal in the heavens, he was certain of this. This conviction comes to all who love God; whose hearts are aflame with love for God as Paul was. In one’s life there are many events great and small, some minute details, everything all work together, harmonize to those who love God. No experience or event is ever isolated or unrelated, but all working together for good and we just need to trust, have the simple belief of a little child and that person is truly blest. We sometimes get concerned about some things that take place around us, we are over anxious and if we could just have a simple trust and belief, we would have peace and this has a very quietening effect upon us.
I believe Mary had that, Jesus was there and Martha was working so hard, but Mary said nothing and what needed to be said Jesus said it, Mary’s trust and belief in Jesus had a quietening effect upon her. God does not do anything at random, many of life’s activities we may feel are unrelated but God does nothing at random, he is very precise, he has a plan laid out for us and God wants to work that out in our life in life’s short day here. We realise better today the brevity of life and we are soon cut off and then we fly away. I see birds on the ground and I see them fly away and there is nothing left in the place where the bird was perching. I see the waterfowl take off from the water and the water is as ever it was no telling where the bird was. God has plans to work out in our lives so we want to keep our all on the altar till life’s little day is over.
God did foreknow long ago that we would be conformed to the image of his son and this is the great work that God wants to accomplish and we want to keep in his hands. Jesus said to his disciples, follow me and I will make you to become fishers of men and we are all in the making now, there is some shaping, some molding taking place in our lives. He said that he would make them to become, there is a process and God wants Christ to have the preeminence in our lives, our human nature is so strong, wants to exert itself. Human nature is like a piece of cork and if you don’ t hold it down it will not stay down; the very nature of cork is to come to the surface. We need the help of God to keep it down, as the urge is always there to come to the top.
Paul said, “I keep my body under”, God’s grace enables us to keep the old nature down so that Christ can rule and reign and have the preeminence in all things we say and do day by day. This is the process that God is working out in our lives and we want to let him do it so someday the work will be complete. How sad that many will come to the end of life, with the work of God incomplete, how sad. We feel that we are not a product of our privileges for some of our brethren are in places where they are underprivileged, but this does not matter for God is working in their lives too. We are a product of the steady, silent molding pressure over many years to make us like his dear son.
If we are too big Christ will not be seen but spiritually speaking if we are humble enough, small enough then people will see past us and see the image of Christ behind us. There are not so many private potteries in our country now, they are mostly large automated factories where they mass-produce pottery and the factory is spotlessly clean. The private pottery is not so clean, they work with mud in their hands and there the clay is transformed into a vessel of beauty and usefulness, it is not by chance. Some clay is brought from the hills, some from a rice paddy but that is not important, the important thing is that the clay is not in the hills now, it is in the house of the potter. There is a possibility of the clay being worked over, being transformed. I hope that we will continue to keep our lives in the hands of the potter so that he may do his work in making us into a vessel that will be a blessing in this world that is so dark and so sinful.
Truth Archive 