A teacher made a remark once that often comes to mind these days. After having heard of his need of the Savior, he remarked, "You cannot be sure of the things of which you speak, as there are no absolutes. Everything is relative." He went on to tell of the "gray areas" of life, in which it is impossible to know with accuracy what is true.
It makes my heart sing to think of the absolutes of God. We are not left in the world to wander about in "gray areas," indecision, "ifs" or "maybes," or in our own experiences and opinions. As those who have accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, have we taken time today to thank God for the faith to know and be persuaded of His verities? Have we paused to thank Him for the Scriptures which present the Savior simply and clearly as the only One able to meet our need? Have we thanked Him for a Book which gives clear answers and principles for every question, problem or trial with which we shall ever be confronted?
It is a grand thing to rest upon the absolutes of God: It is this which lifts the believer's spirit, and gives settled peace in a turbulent world. This confidence in God's Word is the very thing Satan has attempted to undermine from the beginning, when he posed the subtle question to Eve, "Yea, hath God said?"' This implies that God hasn't really spoken to mankind; we are free to live independently of Him. The political, economic and moral conditions in the world today reflect the tragic results of man's refusal of God's absolutes.
Nowhere else are the great questions of life unlocked but in the Holy Scriptures. The look of faith will find our relationship with a loving God, our purpose for being on planet earth, our eternal destiny. Indeed, our hearts ought to be full of praise for His love in revealing His mind to us.
When God's absolutes arrest us, we are led to the very Person and presence of our Lord Himself. Sadly true for many of us is the fact that too often our lives give evidence that this is not our experience. We readily receive the promises and assurances of God's Word, but give less attention to His commands. Yet for blessing, the latter is linked to the former.
The New Testament's one proof of love is obedience. Our Lord's words come to mind, "If a man love Me, he will keep My words." John 14:2323Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. (John 14:23). This is a consistent absolute throughout Scripture. hi the Old Testament we are taught that God prefers loving obedience to the many sacrifices we might bring or make (1 Sam. 15:2222And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. (1 Samuel 15:22)).
God has not saved us merely for our pleasure, but that we might become conformed, not to this world, but to His Son (Rom. 8:2929For 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. (Romans 8:29)). Yet many of us are scarcely distinguishable from the world that rejects Him. Is there a lack of apprehension of what it cost our Lord Jesus to rescue us by His atoning work on the cross? Have our habits, attitudes and lifestyle become so enmeshed with the spirit of the world that the freshness of first love is no more than a dull memory? Have we forgotten the great absolute of Scripture, "Ye are not your own.... Ye are bought with a price" 1 Cor. 6:19,2019What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. (1 Corinthians 6:19‑20)? Have we been for so long accustomed to following Jesus afar off, and to living among those who follow Him afar off, that we are unaware of our poverty of spirit?
To enjoy and be consistent with the absolutes of the Word of God, we must give more than a casual assent to New Testament Christianity. It must possess our hearts and affect our entire manner of life, as well. Separation, obedience, humility, simplicity, modesty, self-control, and cross-bearing must be made a living part of our everyday conduct, and come fully under the control and authority of our risen Lord. There is no other course open to those who claim His name, and desire to testify of Him, and experience blessing in their lives.
According to the New Testament, the true Church is composed of regenerated, forgiven sinners who differ from all other human beings in that we have received a superior kind of life imparted to us at the time of receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We are children of God in a sense not true of other created beings. Our origin is divine, and our citizenship is in heaven. We worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. We have espoused the cause of a rejected and crucified Man who has pledged that He will return soon to take us home to the Father's house (John 14:1-31Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (John 14:1‑3)).
In the meantime, we carry His cross, suffer whatever indignities men may heap upon us for His sake, act as His ambassadors, and do good to all men in His name. And—praise God—our Lord provides the power and means for all.
Another of God's verities is that "all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." 2 Tim. 3:1212Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. (2 Timothy 3:12). The Scriptures promise no immunity from persecution as long as the Church is on the earth. This is what we must expect. Those who may not be called upon to face the firing squad or the concentration camp, will nevertheless be confronted with the world's hatred, The weapon of ridicule—the sneer, the snide remark—claims its conquests for the power of evil as well as physical attacks.
In a day like ours, persecution may make the mind its target rather than the body. How imperative then for us to clothe ourselves in the whole armor of God.
How blessed it is that we can plant our feet upon the Rock in the midst of a sinking, drifting world, and grasp whole-heartedly the absolutes of the Word of God. And who can estimate, my dear friends, the results if we would throw ourselves down before Him with an open Bible, and cry, "Behold Thy servant, Lord! Be it even unto me even as Thou wilt."