THERE are certain facts that are incapable of change, certain truths that never alter. On the other hand, ideas and suppositions that may have been accounted as facts have been proved thoroughly false, and under the hand of time and the march of intellect have been utterly discarded.
But truth is truth always, and, whether pleasant or unpleasant, whether it meets our wishes or otherwise, it remains ever the same. And for this we may be truly thankful. Only fancy, if it were possible for some great fact connected with daily life, such for instance as the succession of the seasons, to become false, what would become of us? Could the farmer not reckon on summer following spring, how could he cast his seed into the furrow? The risk would be too great.
The summer may, doubtless, prove sadly unpropitious, and his expectations as to harvest may be blighted, still he builds on the fact that, as summer follows spring, so he may proceed with his sowing. Nor is he disappointed. And, if a weather-prophet should announce to him a wet summer, does he then abandon his seeding? Certainly not. The prophet may be right or he may be wrong, but the farmer reckons on the great and universal fact of seed-time and harvest. Now if this be true in the transitory things of time, how much more in those of eternity!
There are in the Word of God certain solid facts that are immutable. No weather-prophet, nor critic, nor philosopher may filch them from us, or persuade us by his learning or wisdom that they must change. Let us stick firmly and faithfully to them. They are simple, and fundamental, but infinitely important.
Sin―it’s awful and eternal demerit.
Atonement by Blood―its absolute necessity.
Repentance―apart from which there is sure perdition.
Faith in a dead and risen Saviour—with present justification.
Unbelief―and eternal punishment.
These are five, and only five, of the many mighty facts of Scripture which allow of no change nor alteration. They are of vital moment; and it is just because of their tremendous importance, that our enemy, the devil, and many of his tools, are doing all they can to deny, in some way or other, their significance.
“We know better now,” it is said by such. “We have the light of criticism, and the accumulated learning of nineteen centuries, and we consider that the Bible-theory on these points is inaccurate.”
Ah! that theory is so unpleasant. It condemns sin, and declares judgment, and thus crosses the proud will of man; hence it must be set aside!
Alas! for the same book tells of love and grace, and God’s pardon and favor―the one no more than the other. Its balance is perfect; its truth infallible. Why play with one fact, and leave the other untouched? What is unpalatable must be taken with the other― “God is Light,” and “God is Love.”
I happened lately to be at the station of C―, a junction for B―. I heard from the lips of an old porter what I had heard from him twenty-five years before― “Change here for B―.” The words and the accents were identically the same. For a quarter of a century had this man announced his message without a single variation, and thousands upon thousands of passengers must have been rightly guided by it. He stuck to his fact. Had he varied it, on the idea that the times had changed, or science altered things, what mischief he would have caused!
M’Cheyne, of lovely memory, said that every Gospel sermon should have three R’s-Ruin, Redemption, and Regeneration (meaning new birth), and he was right.
Friend, stick fast to the grand old facts of the Bible. If you should be still in your sins, believe them; if, through grace, you are a child of God, hold on to them. “Heaven and earth shall pass away, my word shall not pass away.”
J. W. S.