ONE can understand the feelings of a debtor, who —finding himself utterly unable to discharge his debt—receives back from the compassionate creditor his bill of indebtedness with the word "Settled" written across it and duly signed, etc. What a relief to a helpless man struggling to pay what he owes! You may be sure the receipt would be carefully put away on some file, perhaps, where he might find it at any time if the need arose.
Yet we live, alas! in a world of robbery and of change. We can well suppose, therefore, such a thing as the file being got at and the receipt stolen and destroyed. And, if the creditor should turn out to be a changeable man, he might make a fresh demand for the canceled debt. For man is capable of anything. But oh, how different is God in His unchanging righteousness and goodness—the Father of lights, from whom cometh every good giving and every perfect gift; and with Him is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. The Psalmist could say too, "Forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven" (Ps. 119:89).
For those who have to face, as we all have, ETERNITY—either an eternity of woe with Satan in the lake of fire, or of bliss with God in heaven, a "settlement" now of an issue so immense, without fear of displacement, must be of the first importance; and this assurance God's word gives for the believer's enjoyment. It was not a heavenly visitor, but "the word of the Lord" that came to Abram before he expressed his wish for a son of his own to be his heir. And again it was the word of the Lord that came unto him, "This shall not be thine heir, but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir" (Gen. 15.). And in that same chapter it is recorded that Abram "believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness." Abram confided in what God had said. In the same way to-day we have to do not with conjectures, priests, angels, or anything or anyone else, but with God's word. "The word is nigh thee, and in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that is, the word of faith which we preach" (Rom. 10:88But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; (Romans 10:8)). I could never know by, or from, myself or others, how utterly bad, ruined, and lost I am, but God's word reveals the fact. And it is an infinite blessing to bow to all God says about me, "Dead in trespasses and sins" and "by nature children of wrath." If I do not own "I have sinned," I make God a liar, for He says, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." If I do not own I am lost, I have no interest in Jesus, for the "Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost"; and He came "not to call the righteous but sinners." Hence, taking my place as a "sinner," I. unquestionably say, He came to call me. Confessing I am "lost," I confidingly say, He came to seek and to save me. And blessed be His name, His word is settled in heaven. To God's word I bow, judging me as a worthless and lost sinner as it does, but bringing me life and salvation because I believe the testimony of God who cannot lie nor change. Here, then, I rest, not on the depth of my repentance (for how could this be deep enough?) but on what God has declared in His imperishable word.
Then there is the other side. Peter says, "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were redeemed (not with... but) with the precious blood of Christ." Here, then, there is the knowledge of redemption which He came to give by the remission of sins; and the same apostle adds, "being born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible, by the living and abiding word of God." Verily, "all flesh is as grass," and the highest thoughts of the human intellect as the flower of grass. To faith the grass has withered, and the flower has fallen, "but the word of the Lord endureth forever"; and to make for us, as it were, assurance doubly sure, it is added, "And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.”
In the Gospel of John (and there only), an exceedingly blessed collocation, is used, "Verily, verily," a sort of double oath as it were, coupled with the authority of the words of the Lord Jesus, "I say unto thee," or "unto you," as the need required. And to-day, when the right to have the known and enjoyed possession of eternal life is questioned, if not denied, how grand is the Saviour's declaration, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word and believeth him that sent me hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation (judgment), but is passed from death unto life." "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming and now is when the dead (dead in trespasses and sins) shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live" (John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24)). What is this, of course, but eternal life? And to clench the matter further, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life" (John 6: 47). This portion of God's word also is settled in heaven. May the reader believe it, rejoice in it, and give God the thanks due to Him. For "this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life" (John 5:11, 1211He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk. 12Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk? (John 5:11‑12)).
W. N. T.