GOD desires to make manifest the knowledge of Himself “by us in every place.” In order that this may be done, it is essential that we recognise Him in every place. He will not reign in our lives without our consent. It is by our consent. It is by our co-operation that all is to be done. “If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land.” “Willing” is the present acting of the will. “If ye be willing,” is therefore to say, If the present acting of your will is that God shall be glorified that His will shall be done, and you yield yourself to His will, ye shall eat the good of the land. “Choose ye this day,” each day, “while it is called to-day,” “whom ye will serve.” Thus it is that in order that God may make manifest the knowledge of Himself by us in every place, it is essential that we acknowledge Him in every place.PTUK January 28, 1897, page 54.1

To acknowledge this is only to acknowledge the truth. It is so much the truth that it is the truth whether we acknowledge it or not. When Paul stood on Mars Hill, with a crowd of the greatest heathen before him, among whom there was not one Christian, he spoke the word of God,—that He is “not far from every one of us.” Not far is near; so that He is near to every man in the world. So near is He, indeed, that He stands at the very door, He will most gladly enter and reign in the life, and make manifest the fragrance of the knowledge of himself by that man in every place.PTUK January 28, 1897, page 54.2

The Lord being thus near even to the heathen, and thus near to those who continually refuse to open to Him the door of their lives, how much more is it true that He is near to those who have opened the door, and have yielded themselves to Him. To all these He says, “I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” “I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand.” “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.... Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.” Yea, even “the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”PTUK January 28, 1897, page 54.3

All this shows that nothing can enter your life or mine, of the value of a sparrow, but that God is there to meet it and watch over it, and make it turn to our good and to His own glory. It shows that nothing can enter your life that is of as much importance as one of the hairs of your head, but that God is there to meet it and make it turn to your good. And thus “we know that all things work together for good to them that love God.” Therefore it is written that “the God of all comfort,” “comforteth us in all our tribulation.” This world is a world of trial, of difficulty, of trouble. “Man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.” Such being the sort of world that this is, so long as we are in this world, we shall meet, and we are only to expect to meet, just such things as are in the world. We are not to ask to be kept from the trials that this world presents, but to be kept while in them. We are to ask for grace and discernment to find God there, that we may find His grace in every trial, His power in every difficulty, His comfort in all our tribulation.PTUK January 28, 1897, page 54.4

This, too, not only that all the experiences of this world may be made to work for our own good and our own salvation, but also that by all these experiences we may be prepared the better to pass on that salvation to those who do not know it. Indeed, this latter is the very point dwelt upon in the passage which declares, “The God of all comfort,” “comforteth us in all our tribulation.” Here it is in full: “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.” As the object of God’s comforting us is to make us able to comfort others, it is plain enough that the purpose of our meeting the trials that this world affords, is to enable us to help other people who meet these same trials. In order for us to be a real help to others, we must understand their experiences, their trials, their troubles.PTUK January 28, 1897, page 54.5

People who are of this world only, have only the experiences that this world affords. But God wants them to know a better experience than any of these. He wants them to know Him. He wants them to know Him everywhere and in all things. He wants them to know His power and His comfort, that will take all these experiences, and turn them to the salvation of those who meet them. And you and I, who profess to know Him, who have taken His name upon us,—He expects that we shall acknowledge Him in all these things, and that we shall thus find His power and His comfort turning all the bitter into sweet, turning for us all that seems to be against us, and thus be ourselves made able to comfort them that are in any trouble, with the comfort which we ourselves have received from God when we were in the like experiences that others meet who do not know God. Thus the Lord proposes to cause us always to triumph in Christ, and also to make manifest the knowledge of Himself by us in every place and to all people.PTUK January 28, 1897, page 54.6

A. T. JONES.

January 21, 1897

February 4, 1897