Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1914-12-03

@A their consolation
and in many a
happy moment their chief Joy.
"a There is a kind Of certainty
about this text that gives 1t a Pc
culiar value. I'VE know that all
things work together for good, 1t
is not a surmise but a convictfon;
not a conclusion based merely upon
the testimony Of others, but a pos
session Of u own experience. We
know 1t from the word of God, and we
would rather trust that than u W
understanding. We know 1t indeed
from the very nature OF the case, for
given the existence Of a God, holy,
just, allpowerful and good. it must
be as the text says. To deny 1t Is to
deny God. We know 1t from the his
whose pages are illuminated with its
truth, but especially do we know II.
from the record Of our own lives. II
we are true Christian men and WON.
en-, we can look back over the past
year in all its vicissitudes and set
our seal to 1t as fact.
(2) There is a universally In the
range of the text which gives 1t a
peculiar value. I'VE know all things
works together for good" What q
measureless compass there is In that
declaration! In the mind Of the In.
spired writer, the AL things" as In.
dictated by the context, are very espe-
cially "the sufferings Of this pres
ent time;" but there is no reason
why we may not employ the language
In the broadcast and most comprehen-
sive sense. Things known and things
unknown, defeats and victories, losses
and gains, the small and the large.
all are working together for good to
them that love God. It Is easy to be-
lieve this when all is prosperous and
happy, but faith clings to 1t when
the clouds lower and the storms rage.
It is that which distinguishes the
Christian from the man Of the world.
(3) There is a sense of divine &C.
tivity in the text. "All things work
together for good" God does not al
low things to come to pass by chance.
but has IN arrangement In everything,
a plan, a purpose bringing forth ef-
fects. He is continually %subverting
and conserving, scattering and bring
ing together. in order that he may
find stones to polish for a temple into
which he may enter and permanently
abide.
a. Then think of the harmony ex-
p~ressed-"all things work together
for good" There is no discord or
opposition in the heavenly counsels,
though we may not always perceive
this with our ayes of flesh. Like Han
nah More's dialogue OF the two
weavers, we may sometimes think
that
The rood are troubled and oppressed,
AND all the wicked are the blessed.
But when we reach that world Of light.
And view these works Of God Alright,
Then shall we see the Whole design.
And own the work Is all divine.
But finally, It is the particularly OF
this text that we need most to dwell
upon. 1t is to Them That Love
God" and to them only, that all
things work together for good. But
men in their natural state do not
love God, nor a they love him.
There must be created within them
the clean heart and renewed within
them the right spirit before they a
love God. And this is Gods own
work in them, which he does when
they believe his testimony concerning
his son, Jesus Christ. Have you cone
this? Have you yet by faith received
Christ as your Savior and confessed
him as your Lord? There was a time
when Paul who wrote these words,
did not himself love God, though he
was very religious and very active In
HIS religion. But one day he saw
Christ In the glory and submitted
himself to him, and all this was
changed. He then loved God because
he had come to know that God first
loved him and sent his son to be the
Precipitation for his sins.
And 80 this text gives us Paul's
own testimony. He had had a Won
derful life especially after his remark.
able conversion. Read his own de.
scription Of It In Second Corinthians
from Chapter II, Verse 81 to Chap.
ter IL, Verse IL, and see what II must
have meant to him to utter such
words as these. In everything had
he seer the hand of God SO svividly
and the most unpromising circum.
stances rebound to his own good,
that no mathematical proposition
could have been more clearly demon.
strated to him than this. He had
triumphed much at Antioch and
Ephesus, but he had been stoned and
give up for dead at Lystra; ship.
wrecked on the Mediterranean. and
Imprisoned In Caesarea and Rome;
and yet nevertheless, all these things,
one as well as another. had been
working together for good. He does
not except a single event that did not
minister directly and Immediately to
his enrichment in the knowledge and
love OF God. II therefore we belong
to God through Christ as he did. let us
submit. and wait, and obey and trust,
for he who hath said: BE still and
know that am Cod" said also,