It is for us, in the midst of the general craze, to hold fast to truth and wisdom. Hold on to the Bible; hold on to the daily reading of the Bible; hold on to the precepts of the Bible; hold on to the duties and assemblies commanded by the Bible; hold on to the spirit and maxims, and the principles, and the hopes and loves and practices of the Bible. And we shall have great peace, even now; now, when iniquity abounds and the love of many waxes cold, and the brother with hatred stands ready to betray the brother to death.
Even now, in times of evil and stress and affliction and dishonour, great peace have they that love Thy law, but, oh, when the storm is past, when judgment has uprooted righteousness, when compassion has forgiven iniquities, when pity has wiped the tears from our eyes, when the God of Israel's power and love shall have healed all our diseases and strengthened us with immortal life, and spread the pavilions of His everlasting kingdom in the land of promise and peace, who then shall measure the peace that will be the portion of the loved of God?... "The Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended."
R. R.
‘General craze’ sums up the state of our world! What says the scripture? "This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of men, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterwards they join the dead." Ecclesiastes 9:3 The world is in ever increasing turmoil, many are finding it increasingly hard to cope and it could be said mens hearts are beginning to fail them for fear of what is coming. I am currently searching through Health Centre records in the area where I am based as part of my research into certain aspects of mental illness. I big component of this work is looking into depression; the searches bring out literally in the thousands those who have experienced depression to one degree or another. In fact, world wide research shows that the incidence of depression is second only to coronary heart disease!
Now Jesus said that it would be like the day of Noah prior to his return. Apart from the violence and pleasure seeking, the one characteristic that stands out is a lack of enthusiasm for the Truth as we would say. So those words of Bro Roberts ring out like a trumpet blast: ‘Hold on to the Bible; hold on to the daily reading of the Bible; hold on to the precepts of the Bible’.
David wrote: "Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long". Psalms 119:97 Is that our level of love? There maybe few left who hold to ‘sound doctrine’, but what peace it brings! A great peace of mind now, that can look past the present state to the Kingdom to come. A peace of mind that looks to the beauty of the Lord Jesus and loves being in his service above all. A peace of mind that trusts in the mighty overruling hand of God. This brings that state of mind about which David writes: "But I have stilled and quietened my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. " Psalms 131:2 That is peace indeed when the inner turmoil is stilled, the strivings of self ended and the mind rests quietly in the ways of the Lord our God. Thus David wrote:
"Great peace have they who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble." Psalms 119:165
Andy P.