The One Great Reality | Page 5

which made me
rejoice. I was sure that God had revealed Himself to her in her time of

need. Those precious words had come true in her case, "In that hour
Jesus rejoiced in spirit and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven
and earth, that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent
and hast revealed them unto babes; even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in Thy sight." [Footnote: St. Luke x. 21.]
Are you saying, "My soul thirsteth for God, for the Living God"? Then
you will have a Personal revelation of God Himself, for that is the only
way the life of God can enter into your soul and mine. Are you longing
to find God? It is not that we find Him, but that He finds us, making
Himself to us the great Reality. We may know wonderful things about
Him, but that is not enough. We must really know Him in our hearts!
The very longing which you have for this personal revelation of God
comes from the loving Father Himself, and He says, "I will give them a
heart to know Me": [Footnote: Jer. xxiv. 7.] so we need never think, ah!
it is beyond me, for He promises to give us the heart to know Him.
I had a striking instance of this some years ago. A working man who
could not read or write told me that he had been converted at our
meeting. He died in the Union Infirmary, and I heard afterwards that he
had been a blessing to many in the ward. He said to me one day, "I
want to tell you what God is to me." In very simple words he described
how he could see it all plainly. How in the beginning, sin came into the
Garden of Eden and then God revealed Himself to the sinner so as to
bring him back to Himself. Again and again his simple testimony was, I
must tell every one what God is to me. This man had learnt to know
God personally through his own need as a sinner, so it is not by earthly
education that we find God, but through the Holy Spirit's teaching, and
then in the Word He reveals Himself more fully.
It is "through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord that grace
and peace are multiplied to us," [Footnote: 2 Pet. i. 2.] so if we have not
more and more grace and peace coming into our souls it is because we
do not really know God.
It makes all the difference in our life when we can say, God is now my
living Father; for it means God in His infinite love has taken my life
into His, and by this personal link of love I take His life into mine.
When He assures us that He is the Living God, it means that He lives
and cares for us. All things, great and small, are under His control. We
have an illustration of this in the present war. Think of our Navy,

scattered over seven oceans, yet all under the control of the
Commander-in-Chief, Sir John Jellicoe. Not one vessel can move
without his orders, no ship can be attacked without his knowledge; the
wireless apparatus is at work night and day communicating every detail.
It brings Sir John word of any submarine sighted, or of any movement
in all the seas round our country, and it carries his orders far and near.
When God tells us that He is the living God, we know that He cares for
us in the same way as a mother cares for her children. We had a
touching illustration of this about a year ago.
Do you remember how we were thrilled with horror when the
Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria, was shot
while driving through the city? He expired in a few minutes, leaving
three children. In those few moments he turned to his wife who was
seated by his side and said these pathetic words, "Sophie, live for our
children." He did not know that she too had been mortally wounded
and would be powerless to care for their orphan children.
It is because our Father-God is the living God, that He can say to us to-
day just as He said to the Old Testament saints, "I am living for you,
caring for you, protecting you." "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." [Footnote: Isa. xlvi. 4.] When He says
to you, "I am God and there is none else," [Footnote 2: Isa. xlv. 22.]