THE LORD’S FAITHFULNESS

Hearken unto Me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne by Me from the belly, which are carried from the womb: And even to your old age I am He; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you; I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you. (Isaiah 46:3,4)

The year 1979 is past. It is as all the years before, time becomes eternity. The end of the year speaks to us that everything changes in this world. The best of this world is much labor and sorrow, and it is impotent to given an enduring substance. We fly away, but where are we going? There is time no more, as the angel swore. It means eternal well or woe.

The axe is laid at the root of the tree. The past year speaks of it, because as the year has passed, so our life is passing. Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade man. May the happiness of God’s people, which was also experienced in the past year, make us holy jealous. God’s work does not pass by, but it will be for time and eternity, as the Lord is faithful. How clearly is this described in the above mentioned text. In this chapter we read about the fall of Babylon, which oppressed Israel: “Bel bow-eth down, Nebo stoopeth.” These are the gods of the Babylonians; their images are laid upon beasts and carried away in exile. What a contrast between these idols and the God of Israel. The idols are only wood and stone, and they cannot give any help at all. The Lord will not forget His people, He will take care of them. Do you feel the contrast? The idols must be carried, but God carries His people and never changes: “Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel.” These words are a testimony of God’s free grace. Jacob and Esau were brothers, by nature the same, as all men, without God. But the Lord made a difference where there was no difference, out of free sovereign grace. What God was for Jacob, we can find everywhere in the Bible. Is the same not experienced by all God’s people? It is eternal love, which is revealed in time. God was the first to quicken and bring His people from darkness to light. See this in the house of Jacob, how wonderful the dealings of the Lord were. Joseph went as forerunner to Egypt, Jacob followed with 70 people and they became a great nation. Did the Lord not care for them? The Lord has made all things well, although it has been in incomprehensible ways. Could we not say the same at the end of the past year? It is true, there have been many serious callings of the Lord, but does the goodness of the Lord not also testify against us? Many have been sick, but they have been cured by the Lord. Some have been at the gates of death, but the Lord delivered.

There was much grief too, but the Lord has strengthened. In a word, the kindness of the Lord was great, while we multiplied our sins and often forgot the Lord. So it has been with Israel, a forgetful nation, but the Lord did not forget them: “Hearken unto Me, O house of Jacob and all the remnant of Israel, which are borne by Me from the belly, which are carried from the womb.” The Lord delivered them from the greatest misery out of Egypt, and when they sinned at Sinai, and when they were in the promised land. Oh, there is no end to the help of the Lord: “I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands.” Therefore the poet says: “Forget not all His benefits.”

What has the Lord been in our personal life, in the family, the church and in the school? God’s goodness is as high at the heavens. He has carried us until this moment. How necessary that it brings us in true humiliation before the Lord. The Lord gave bread to the hungry and strength to the heavy laden. Remember and see how the Lord carried us in spiritual life. The Word and Sacrament, the means of grace, were administered in our midst to continue the instruction of us and our children. How necessary this is, because we are always seeking salvation on the wrong place, while it is to be found in Christ only. Often this is not understood, but we must lose our foundations to find rest in Christ. It is a difficult way and a great mystery to be saved out of free grace. Then it becomes necessary that the Lord carry us. He was the beginning of our salvation, but this care must continue, otherwise it will be lost. Now Isaiah says: “And even to our old age I am He; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you; I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.” This Word of the prophet points to Israel in Babylon. The Lord will carry His people, deliver them and bring them again to Canaan, just as He had brought them out of Egypt. In Egypt they were safe behind the blood, the angel of destruction passed by if he saw the blood. So the Lord is the same for Israel. He is unchangeable because of the Covenant, although they are in Babylon.

The walls of Babylon will fall, which kept Jacob in prison. This is not because they are worthy, but only for His Covenant. Of this forgetful people the Lord has said: “Is Ephraim My dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore My bowels are troubled for him: I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the LORD.”

What a wonder if we may understand something of this mystery, how it is possible that the Lord remembers this spiritual Israel: only for Christ’s sake! He took this people for His reckoning according to the pleasure of the Father: He will have mercy upon them. How necessary that we personally may have part therein! The end of the past year speaks of the end of our life and of the end of all things. Therewith is also related the promise of the Lord to make all things new, which is only possible in Christ. Then we must be cut off from Adam and implanted into Christ. The Lord warns so seriously: “Prepare to meet thy god, O Israel.” We must appear before God and we cannot exist before Him in ourselves. When the Lord calls us: “Come now and let us reason together,” then there is only debt. The end of the year tells us that we must give an account before the Lord. He has given so many temporal blessings to our lands, which are undeserved blessings, because as nations we have forsaken the Lord more than ever before. Nobody seems to be concerned about the honour of God. Nobody mourns because of our sins and because we live so far away from God.

How is it in our personal life? The Lord has called from Sunday to Sunday that death is in us, but life is in Christ.

Many empty places have come in our midst, and the Lord called: “Set thine house in order, for thou shalt die and not live.’’

As in business the books are closed at the end of the year, so the Lord takes inventory what this year and our whole life has been before Him. What will the outcome be for us? Oh, when we are for our own account, then there is no future; the books will be closed with an eternal loss!

In the past year you have heard, that man is incapable of doing any good and inclined to all evil. The Lord will punish sin. So God’s justice and man’s condemnation is preached, that under the administration of the Holy Spirit we may feel the need of the righteousness of Christ.

We do not hear much about advancing in the work of grace, because most of God’s people are satisfied with their experience. We may not cast away God’s work in beginning, but it is no foundation to rest upon. The salvation is in Christ only. When we need Him as a helping Saviour, then there has not been much of an increase. When we are poor and needy, empty of all that is of ourselves, then the Lord will reveal something of the fullness in Him.

Spiritual life goes up and down, but Christ is unchangeable for His Church. May the Lord give in this year a need for Him. Even when your sins are as scarlet, they shall become white as snow; if red like crimson, they will be as wool. The Lord will remain the same for His church: “And even to your old age I am He; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you.”

This is the unchangeable God, Who promises this. Everything changes, but not the Lord. Mal. 3:6 “For I am the Lord, I change not.” This is experienced in the personal life of God’s children, Job 5:19: “He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.” As a mother cares for her children, so the Lord cares for His children from the moment they are found in the open field. Also during their journey the Lord is faithful. The Lord promises everything they need all the days of their life, from their youth to their old age, in Christ Jesus. The Lord promises to carry, to bear and to deliver them. That means, that He will not forsake the work of His hands; that He will not give a burden which is too heavy, but also that He will give timely help.

The year 1979 is ended and time becomes eternity. So it will become eternity for all of us, but there will be an eternal difference between converted and unconverted. God’s children will be carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom in eternal glory. What a future for the church! The end of the year also preaches the end of our life for the unconverted. We should not have great expectations of the future, because the signs of the times speak of darkness in the future. The powers of socialism and communism, which is atheism, increase. The signs of the great tribulation are there, as the antichristian powers increase.

It is still the time of grace and the way of salvation still is preached. May the Lord cast down the reign of Satan in our life and make us subjects of Him. As we enter the new Year 1980, I hope that the Lord may be for us what Isaiah promised the church. “The gates of hell will not prevail against the church.” The Lord has carried His church in the past, in 1979; He is the faithful God up till now and as the unchangeable God He will take care of His church in the unknown future of 1980.

The Lord remember us and extend His kingdom among us and all over the world to the glory of His Name and the encouragement of Zion.

Rev. A.M. DenBoer Norwich

Christ can triumph in a weaker man than I am, if there be any such.

-Samuel Rutherford

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