The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1902-08-07

this way. he Is near TO us III pPOVlQeuCe6s
and as rule. for the Christian God il
never nearer than when we pass through
trial. We sometimes see farther through
our tears than in any other way, for they
are like telescopes. A friend Of mine was
showing me a picture the other day taken
with telescope camera, in which a mount
ain fifteen miles away was brought so near
that you could study it in minutest detail.
But He is nearest, OF course, IN Jesus
Christ.
/ First He is near as sin-forgiving God.
"There is. therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus, who
walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit" Romans s: l. The thought OF the
Judgment is something awful, but let 1t be
remembered that the word "condemna-
ton" is the same in the Greek as ""judg-
ment," and for those who are in Christ
Jesus, whatever their sins, Judgment is
forever past. .E.
Second: He is near as a promise-keeplng
God. 'For all the promises Of God in
Him are yea, and in Him amen, unto the
glory of God by u.s." II Corinthians !: 20.
There is not in all the exigencies Of our
lives q trial that cannot be onset by
promise of help found in the Bible and
these all centre in Him.
Third: He is near as prayer.answering
God. John 10: 1924, "And in that day We
SudlI d5h N1C llOtAAu6s vSAAAyt.
say unto you. Whatsoever We shall ask the
Father in My name, He will give it you.
Hitherto have we asked nothing in My
name; ask and We shall receive, that your
Joy may be full" This is Gods own word,
and if our prayers have not been answered
the difficulty is with ourselves.
Fourth: He is near as q gracious Father.
Have been so long time with you and
vet hast thou not known Me, Philip? He
that hath seen Me hath seen the Father,
and how sayest thou, then, Show US the
Father? Believest thou not that am in
the Father and the Father in Me? The
words that 1 speak unto you I speak not
of Myself. but the Father, that dwelleth
in Me; He doeth the works" By these
words Jesus wanted Philip to know when
blind and raise the dead and comfort the
sorrowing he had had vision of the
Father in His infinite love.
III.
We have lost the sense of His nearness.
First: In Genesis %: l6, we read, "And
Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said,
Surely the Lord is in this place; and I
knew it not" After Jacob had had his
day of flight and his night of dreams he
awakes to say, ''The Lord was in this place
and knew it not" and the reason he did
not know was because be was deceitful
and dishonest. If we give this the right
arate us from God and hide His face from
us so that He not only will not hear but
He cannot see. BLESSED are the pure in
heart, for they shall see God"
Second: In Exodus 8: 5, we read, "And
He said, Draw not nigh hither, but off thy
shoes from off thy feet, for the place
whereon thou standest is holy ground"
Moses had no idea that he would see God
in the burning bush, for he was not ex-
that we have failed to see Him because
our minds are not set upon Him. He is on
every side of us, and if we did but look for
Him we should see Him at every turn of
life and every hour of the day. Your posi-.
ton may be very unsatisfactory to you,
but it is possible for you in the most me-
NAL place to see Christ just as Paul had
visions of Him constantly, and yet he was
only tent maker.
Third: In Amos 8: 8, we read, "Can two
walk together, except they be agreedw
and that word agreed" in the Hebrews is
phony.U The reason We have lost Step
with God is because we have disagreed
with Him. If we were as Indifferent to
that one to whom we were betrothed is
we have been to the claim of God there
would have been no marriage, and if we
were as indiferent-to the wife of our home
happy home. Oh, that we might agree
with Him to-day and keep step with Him,
we would see Him constantly.
w.
he is near and He will preserve. Psalm
81: 1925, 'The steps of a good man are or
dered by the Lord; and He delghteth in
his way. Though he fall, he shall not be
utterly cast down; for the Lord upholdeth
him with His hand. I have been young,
righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging
bread" It is written in the Bible and
Gods word is always true. Psalm 12l: 3,
HE will not suffer thy foot to be moved;
He that keepeth thee win not slumber."
We may not be conscious of His nearness,
but He is near, just the same. We have
some time been in dark room all alone,
nothing about us. We have touched the
electric button, when suddenly we realized
every side of us. We were not conscious
OF them, but they were near, and we have
lost consciousness of God, and yet if we
had but time to illumine the place where
we live we would see all about us the EVIL
dence Of His presence, peace, pardon, love,
JOY. Oh, that we might live in the fur
nished room of God, for He is near pro-
CcCCluB US, uS1cuuluS US, keeping DdCK C00
pestilence, and so turning aside the arm Of
death from us. Trouble may come very
near, but it cannot overthrow U.S. In
Psalm q: 2, there is q graphic description
of this. when the wicked, even mine en-
emies and my foes came upon me to eat up
my flesh, they stumbled and fell" The
Psalmist has vision of the enemy coming
6ercely against him, just about to lay his
hand upon him when suddenly he stunt
bles and falls. Then in the 10Th chapter
of Acts there is a picture of Peter sleeping
between the two soldiers Herod is just
about to lay hands upon him to bring him
when suddenly the chain snaps and he is
free. This is just like God. Trouble al
most breaks our hearts, but not quite; rea-
sou is almost dethroned, but not alto
gether. He will not suffer us to be cast
down and utterly forsaken.
V.
What help. If we could only get into
the way of saying over and over, 'oThou
art near, O Lord" we should be greatly
strengthened. First: It would keep our
lives pure, for we would not 90 frequently
be lost to sin if we were conscious Of His
nearness.
Second: It would strengthen rs in the
hour Of temptation to suddenly pause and
-AQT1h ~