“LO, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions” (Eccles. 7:2929Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions. (Ecclesiastes 7:29)). Thus wrote Solomon, the wisest man of his day. And that he was right in his calculation was evident. That man soon began to scheme and invent is seen written upon the sacred page of Holy Scripture according to the Book of Genesis. They began in the early chapters, and have been going on ever since. “Let us build us a city,” they said, “and a tower whose top may reach to heaven.” How ambitious and full of pride man was, coupled with the forgetfulness of his Maker! They sought to gain eminence and reputation. Having begun to do this, God said, “Nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do” (Gen. 11:4, 5, 64And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. 5And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 6And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. (Genesis 11:4‑6)). Evil ideas prompted the heart of man, which is only evil continually. Such is the comment of Scripture; and may we not say, as it is written, “Let God be true, and every man false”?
Man evidently does not like to retain God in his thoughts. So that that which was spoken by God through His prophets and apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ appears on the surface today, despite the education and culture that man in his fancied wisdom boasts himself in. They are “without hope and without God in the world.” But God has intervened, blessed be His Name; He has “devised means, that His banished be not expelled from Him” (2 Sam. 14:1414For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him. (2 Samuel 14:14)). Wondrous fact that God could set One at His right hand―the delight of His heart―to be a mercy-seat through faith in His blood, and thus to declare His righteousness― (wonderful declaration!) through the forbearance of God. All through the ages down to the present time we see how God did, and does, forbear with man. Is not man an object of interest to God? But listen. The day of grace will not always be extended to you, for God has appointed a day in the which He will judge the world by that Man Whom He Hath ordained; whereof He has given assurance unto all men in that He hath raised Him from the dead (Acts 17:3131Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. (Acts 17:31)). What will the issue of that day mean to you if still careless and indifferent? You will pass out of the world in that condition you will assuredly come under His all-seeing eye and unsparing hand for judgment. You will then have missed your last opportunity forever. Awful thought! See to it, and that right early, “NOW, in this thy day.”
“There are no pardons in the tomb,
And brief is mercy’s day.”
Not long ago I went with a friend of mine to visit a man in one of the States of America. He was evidently dying, but did not appear to be conscious of it. When asked how he was, he said in a boastful way, “I shall soon be able to go to work.” But before a week had expired he was dead.
How solemn it is that man desires to leave God out of his thoughts. He plans and schemes, as did Jacob, until God comes in that He may withdraw man from his purpose and hide pride from man. How great is His mercy to His creature, who ever lived and desired to live for his own will and lust. God will make you feel your necessity of Him. He may take you by a way similar to that of Jacob or Job, but the end will be blessing. He is a God that delights in blessing. Happy is that man who accepts the blessing from His hands.
“How wondrous a Saviour is God’s blessed Son!
How great and eternal the work He has done!
God’s glory maintained by His death on the tree,
While mercy flows freely to you and to me.”
E. I. E.