| The Christian Life | December 1940 |
Stones of Help
(Part 2)
STILL another “stone of help” set up for our remembrance and comfort is the experience of Israel at the Red Sea. It brings to mind a poem by Miss Flint, entitled, “The Place of the Red Sea”:
“Have you come to the Red Sea place in your life,
When, in spite of all you can do,
There is no way out, there is no way back,
There is no other way but through?“Then wait on the Lord with a trust serene,
Till the night of your fear is gone;
He will send the winds, He will heap the floods,
When He says to your soul, ‘Go on!’“And His hand shall lead you through, clear through,
Ere the watery walls roll down;
No wave can touch you, no foe can smite,
No mightiest sea can drown.“The tossing billows may rear their crests,
Their foam at your feet may break,
But over their head you shall walk dry-shod,
In the path that your Lord shall make.“In the morning watch, ’neath the lifted cloud,
You shall see but the Lord alone,
When He leads you forth from the place of the Sea,
To a land that you have not known;“And your fears shall pass as your foes have passed,
You shall no more be afraid;
You shall sing His praise in a better place,
In a place that His hand hath made.”
As the poem suggests, God well knew that we, too, would sometimes reach the “Red Sea” place in our lives, when, to advance would seem impossible. He knew that we, like Israel of old, would overlook His promises of care and protection; that we, as did Israel, would often leave Him out of the reckoning, and would be inclined to look to human leaders and material means for our needs. And so He set up this “stone of help” as a reminder of God our Great Helper.
Humanly considered, Israel’s position here at the Red Sea was a most precarious one, hence we can well imagine their frame of mind, as they endeavored to weigh important features of the situation, and wondered why God had instructed Moses to undertake their exodus from Egypt via the Red Sea route. As they looked at the sea, which, to their minds, stood as an impassable barrier to further progress, they perhaps wondered: Has God overlooked the fact that no ships are available, and that we have no possible means of procuring them? Their escape across the sea, therefore, appeared impossible. And, as they observed the on-rushing enemy at their rear, fully equipped for battle, and bent upon their capture and return to the serfdom of Egypt, possibly they thought that surely God had overlooked their lack of fighting equipment with which to oppose Pharaoh’s mighty army. We can, therefore, well imagine their despair, as they appealed frantically to Moses, their visible leader, for protection and deliverance.
But was their situation, despite its gloomy outlook, really such a desperate one? Since God was on their side, were the ships or implements of warfare really necessary for their deliverance? The record itself answers in tones that have reverberated throughout the centuries, and that answer is an emphatic No! That answer declares that, since God was on Israel’s side, defeat was impossible; only victory could result! This answer is the outstanding feature of this “stone of help,” set up for our aid and encouragement; “for … our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.”—Rom. 15:4
In view of this testimony, it is pertinent to inquire, Is God’s arm shorter today than at the time of this experience of His typical people? Is there any reason to believe that He who was able to “send the winds” and “heap the floods” for Israel then, is less able to help us now? Should we think that the great Jehovah who was then able to help pass His people safely across the mighty sea, is now unable to cope with our puny problems? The record “written aforetime … for our learning” answers with a positive and definite, No! We may rest assured that every one of our experiences were foreknown to Him long in advance of their occurrence, and that ample provision for meeting them was made long before they overtook us. He who heeds the sparrow’s fall, who clothes the flowers of the field, and who numbers the very hairs of our heads, is fully aware of every matter touching our lives, and is both willing and able to handle all for our good, if only we serve, obey and trust Him. No experience of ours has surprised Him, nor have His resources for our protection been taxed in the slightest.
When God, on that memorable morning of Nisan 15th, centuries ago, commanded Israel to begin her exodus from Egypt, He knew exactly where the Red Sea was located; He knew it was directly in the pathway He instructed Moses to follow; He knew Israel’s lack of fighting equipment, and He knew equally well that no ships were available for transporting this multitude of people across the Red sea. Nor was He unaware that Pharaoh and his well trained host would follow in hot pursuit, bent upon capturing Israel and returning them to the bondage so long suffered.
Yes, God was fully informed in respect to all the circumstances surrounding His ancient people. But He was equally conscious of the means and methods He would use in effecting their deliverance! He did not, however, give Israel advance information concerning these details. No, these were His secrets, not theirs! These matters were His concern, not Israel’s. It was theirs to obey and trust Him; it was His to effect deliverance!
The lesson for us is obvious. Ample provision has been made for all our necessities, but as with Israel, so with us: God sees fit to test our faith through many experiences in order that we may reach the point of spiritual development that will enable us to trust Him in the hours of trial and stress as well as in those of peace and quietude; in the hours of darkness, as well as in those of sunshine. He wishes to bring us to the point where the sentiments expressed by the poet will be those of our own hearts; where we can join our hearts as well as our voices in the song:
“I’d rather walk in the dark with God
Than go alone in the light;
I’d rather walk by faith with Him
Than go alone by sight.”
God wishes to develop us to the point where the Apostle’s declaration will express the sentiments of our own hearts: “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:19) But He wishes us to understand that what He proposes to supply is our need, not necessarily what we may think we need. Sometimes there may be quite a difference between our actual and our fancied necessities. This is illustrated in Israel’s experience at the Red Sea. They, no doubt, thought they needed ships or fighting equipment, but did they? No! they needed neither! What they needed was faith and trust in God; what they needed was confidence in His ability to deliver them from the clutches of their enemy, and in His willingness to do so! But it was herein that they failed, but God did not fail them. And what more could they ask? So it is with us: God. has not promised to let us in on His secrets; He has not promised to give us advance information concerning the method and means He may be pleased to use in effecting our deliverance from trials, difficulties and perplexities, but He can and will deliver us nevertheless. It is for us to cultivate this quality of complete submission to His will and confidence in His willingness and ability to perform. May we ever bear this in mind, and trust Him for assistance, regardless of how dark the outlook may appear.
“STONES OF HELP” IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
Let us now turn our attention to the New Testament and note therein some “stones of help” which God has set up for our encouragement. Let us first examine that familiar though frequently forgotten text in Romans 8:28. All Bible students have observed it time and again, but often have failed to quote it in its entirety. We usually say, “All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.” Now, we admit that this is good so far as it goes, but it doesn’t go as far as God intended when He inspired the Apostle to record it for us. The difficulty is that part of the apostle’s statement is omitted; and two of the missing words form a most important portion of this “stone of help.” Les us see what these words are. The words we need to grasp with a firm hold, and keep prominently displayed in. this “stone of help” are, “we know”! We need to do more than merely suppose, think or hope that all things work together for good to God’s people! Indeed, we even need to do more than know that such is true. What we need is to know that all things work together for our individual good! Nothing less than this will give us the benefit God designed for His people in setting up this “stone of help.” We must reach that condition of spiritual development where we are able to confidently lay our finger on this “Eben-ezer,” and say, in full assurance of faith, “This was placed in the Bible for my own personal benefit; this is mine!” It will be then, and not until then, that we shall have developed the measure of faith and trust in God most pleasing to Him—that measure necessary to a successful outcome of the great race in which we are now participating.
Yes, we must know that all things—not merely a few—“work together for our good”; and we must know this every day of our Christian experience. If we do not know it, then this “stone of help” might as well be omitted from the Bible, so far, as we are concerned. But if we are able, with God’s help, to keep our eyes firmly fixed upon it, and accept its testimony as personally applicable to each and every one of us, then it will have a depth of meaning and an importance hitherto unknown. It will be then that the sentiments expressed by the poet will represent our own convictions:
“He hath set no bounds, no limits,
To His ceaseless gifts of love,
He hath named no times, no seasons,
When His pledge untrue shall prove.”
God repeatedly informs us that He changes not; He repeatedly gives us to understand that all His promises are yea and amen and that a promise once made will stand forever; it is good today, will be tomorrow, next year, and throughout our entire Christian experience.
Now the question logically arises, How may we develop full assurance of faith, the only degree of faith that will prove effective and effectual. We answer in the words of the apostle:
“I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” (I Cor. 9:27) We must live the truth, if we are to hope for the full assurance of faith. We must practice in our own lives, that which we preach to others. And if we hope to live the truth, and effectively preach it to others, we must, of necessity, know what is truth, and what is not truth. This means that we must do more than merely read our Bibles, Scripture Studies, etc. We must do more than merely attend class meetings. While these things are good so far as they go, they do not go far enough. Neither of them, nor all together, will enable us to develop the degree of faith that will please God, nor even the faith that will rejoice our own hearts. The step necessary to accomplish these results is study, real, sure enough study. And let us not overlook that this includes the study of ourselves—our own lives—as we seek to walk the narrow way of sacrifice day by day. All other study will be valueless and immaterial if we overlook the importance of our own thoughts, words, and conduct, if we fail to apply God’s truth to the daily affairs of life! Let us, therefore, do some real studying, the kind that will produce results in our lives, for in thus doing, we shall be able to “know that all things work together for our good, because we love God, and are called according to His purpose.”
Let us look briefly to another New Testament “stone of help” set up for our encouragement. In II Corinthians 9:8 we read: “God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.”
We believe all will agree that this is, indeed, a real “Eben-ezer.” We are sure no one will claim that there is anything doubtful or half-hearted about it. On the contrary, it is clear, definite, positive, fully expressive of faith and confidence. But do we always remember just how strongly Paul states the matter? Do we, really? Or do we sometimes forget what he said, and think of the text something like this: I hope God is able to make a little grace abound toward me; that I, sometimes having some sufficiency in a few things, may perform occasional good works.
Have any of us ever had such sentiments as these respecting God’s ability and willingness to solve our problems? If so, let us read the text again and again; yea, let us study it until we get its import thoroughly fixed in our minds. And, as we thus study, let us remember that the word “all” means much more in the Bible than it does in the daily newspaper! Let us not think that when men say “all” they mean it, but when God uses the same word He does not mean it. Let us illustrate: If we read a local merchant’s advertisement in the paper, stating he will place all his hats on the bargain counter at $1.00 each we would expect him to make good on his statement, would we not? If he is an honorable merchant, we would not expect him to withhold three-fourths, one-half, one-fourth, or even one hat from the sale, would we? No, we would expect nothing of the kind, but would feel that he is obliged to include every hat in his store. We would feel that anything less than this would be unfair; anything less would not meet the requirements of his advertisement.
The lesson from this illustration should be obvious. It is this: shall we set a higher code of morals, a higher standard of veracity for a local hat merchant than for God? Shall we expect him to be more honorable and truthful than the great Ruler of the universe whose perfection of character is so absolute that comparison is impossible? Surely not. Rather let us remember that when God, through His mouthpiece, says “every” He does not mean “a few”; when He says “always” He does not mean “occasionally”; and when He says “all” He means exactly that and nothing less!
But some one may still be inclined to doubt; he may still hesitate to place full confidence in this “stone of help” where the apostle is so generous with his use of the words “abound,” “always,” “every,” and “all.” He may feel that when God had the apostle pen these words He had in mind only the brethren with naturally lovely, amiable dispositions; or, perhaps, such may feel that He probably meant the five talented brethren, and that, after all, he, himself, is not included in the apostle’s statement.
To such we answer, God foresaw this very condition; He foreknew that some of us would have this very difficulty, hence He used the same beloved apostle to set up another “stone of help” for our encouragement and comfort. It is found in II Corinthians 8:12 and reads thus: “If there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.”
How encouraging! How helpful! How satisfying! In the language of the poet:
“How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said?
You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled.”
Yes, the Bible does contain a veritable picture gallery! God has indeed set up one “Eben-ezer” after another in both the Old and New Testaments. And, what is more, He has made it plain beyond peradventure that these helps are for each and everyone of His little ones: none are overlooked: all are included, irrespective of their natural dispositions whether they are lovely and amiable or are otherwise, and regardless of whether they possess many or only a few talents.
What, then, shall we say to these things? “If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31) Shall we not join heartily in the sentiments expressed in the following poem:
“Hitherto the Lord hath helped us,
Hitherto His hand hath led,
Hitherto His arm protected,
Hitherto His bounty fed;
Will His love desert us wholly,
Will His heart our need forget,
Will His presence clean forsake us,
Who hath never failed us yet?“Still His constant care surrounds us,
Keeping watch by day and night,
And His faithful promise tells us,
We are precious in His sight.
He hath set no bounds, no limits,
To His ceaseless gifts of love;
He hath named no times, no seasons,
When His pledge untrue shall prove.“Let the Past we know assure us
Of the Present’s certain aid,
Till the Future’s dark forebodings
In the light of faith shall fade;
Still He hears our supplications,
As our days our strength shall be,
And His grace is all sufficient
For the needs of you and me.”