The Signs of the Times, vol. 11

May 7, 1885

“Notes on the International Lesson. Philippians 4:4-13. Christian Contentment” The Signs of the Times 11, 18, pp. 278, 279.

MAY 17—Philippians 4:4-13

“AND the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” To enjoy peace is the Christian’s privilege. Genuine peace belongs to the Christian alone, and if he has it not, he is living far below his prerogative. “Acquaint now thyself with him (God) and be at peace.” Job 22:21. “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27. “But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest.... There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.” Isaiah 57:20, 21. There is no peace apart from a course of obedience to God. “O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.” Isaiah 48:18. God has made ample provision, and has given abundance of assurance of peace, and it may be ours if we will only let it. SITI May 7, 1885, page 278.1

PAUL says, “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.” God has called us to peace, he wants us to enjoy it; he wants us to let it rule in our hearts; but we allow so many things to come upon our hearts to perplex and annoy, that his peace cannot rule, we do not let it. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in thee.” Isaiah 26:3. Our minds must be stayed on him; our trust must be in him; then, and for this reason, it is that he can and will keep us in perfect peace. It is upon these same conditions that Paul bases our enjoyment of the peace of God which passeth all understanding. He says, “Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” We are to yield to him implicitly, to trust to him wholly, and count his choice the best; to say freely and from a full hearts, “Thy will be done.” Does not he know more about us than we know about ourselves? Does not he know all that awaits us, before it comes to pass, while we know nothing about it? While we know not what a day may bring forth, he knows the end from the beginning. Then is not he the only one to trust? “Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.” Jeremiah 17:7. SITI May 7, 1885, page 278.2

JESUS again and again presses this thought upon us. And he tries his very best to show us how abundant, how far-reaching, and how intricate the care of our Father is for us. The texts are familiar to all, but the lesson of the texts is familiar to very few. He instances the birds of the heaven, and that “your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye of much more value than they?” If he feeds the birds, and we are of much more value than they, then will he not “much more” feed us without our wearying ourselves with anxiety about it? Then he says, “And why are ye anxious concerning raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; ... yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” See Solomon arrayed in his robe of snowy whiteness, his jeweled kingly crown upon his head, sitting on his royal throne of ivory and gold, of which “there was not the like made in any kingdom;” or see him in his chariot of the cedar of Lebanon, its spokes of solid silver, “the bottom thereof of gold, the covering of it of purple,” drawn by the most beautiful horses, and surrounded by sixty of the finest young men in the kingdom, clothed in garments of Tyrian purple, and their long hair sprinkled with gold dust so that it sparkled with the reflected sunbeams. It required a great deal of anxious thought to set Solomon in all this glory, yet what was it all compared to the “tint that decks the rose, or paints the lily fair”? Nothing. Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. SITI May 7, 1885, page 278.3

WHEREFORE, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you? Matthew 6:30. SITI May 7, 1885, page 278.4

BUT the Saviour is not done yet. In Matthew 10:29 he says: “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.” Four farthings make an English penny, but that is two cents of our money. Two farthings therefore would equal one cent, and one farthing equals one-half a cent. Two sparrows therefore being sold for half a cent, the value of one sparrow would be but the half of half a cent, or one-quarter of a cent. One sparrow, of the value of only a quarter of a cent, “shall not fall on the ground without your Father.... Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.” What our Saviour would have us understand, is that nothing of as much importance as a quarter of a cent, can befall the child of God without the Father’s notice; that his care for his children is so great as this. Yet this is not expressive enough. Jesus goes a step further, as far as he can in human language: “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” Nothing, therefore, of as much importance as a single hair can come upon a child of God without the Father’s notice. Taking these four illustrations together, it would seem that the Saviour tried to draw out our minds to grasp the greatness of the Father’s care for us, and that human language cannot express it. SITI May 7, 1885, page 278.5

IT was in view of this that Peter said, “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” 1 Peter 5:7. And why shall we not? Has he not done all that he can to assure us of his loving care? And having done all this, can we not trust him? It was thus that David saw it: “Trust in the Lord and do good; ... and verily thou shalt be fed.... Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.” Psalm 37:3, 5. It is for us to do what our hands find to do, to do it in the fear of God, and leave all the consequences with him. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God.” Romans 8:28. Appearances may be otherwise, as with Jacob of old, when he cried out in anguish, “Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away; All these things are against me.” Genesis 42:36. But instead of all these things being against him, God was making every one of them work for his good. So it is with us all; there will be times when apparently all things are against us, but we have no right to think so, because all these things happened to those of old for examples, and they are written for our admonition. “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” Romans 15:4. Therefore, “Trust ye in the Lord forever; for in the Lord Jehovah is the rock of ages.” Isaiah 26:4, margin. SITI May 7, 1885, page 278.6

PAUL had learned this lesson of trust; he had learned upon whom to cast his care. And thus he had learned Christian contentment. “For I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” Philippians 4:11. And having learned this he could rejoice in the Lord. This the Philippians knew, for it was in their own city where Paul and Silas were beaten with “many stripes,” and in their own prison where the feet of these two men “were made first in the stocks,” and where at midnight they “prayed and sang praises unto God... And suddenly there was a great earthquake... and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.” Acts 16. They knew of these things and could recognize the voice of him who, though still a prisoner in chains, could sound the cheerful note, “Rejoice in the Lord.” “Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I say, Rejoice.” SITI May 7, 1885, page 279.1

THE Scriptures recognize no such idea as that we cannot control our thoughts. The wicked is directly commanded to forsake his thoughts. “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts.” Isaiah 55:7. The Lord wants us to think his thoughts. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8, 9. Yet, “Though the Lord be high, he hath respect unto the lowly.” He dwells not alone in the high and lofty place, but “with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” The Lord by his Spirit has moved men to record the thoughts which he has concerning us, and which he would have us think concerning him, ourselves, and one another. “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:5. SITI May 7, 1885, page 279.2

BUT those things of which God would have us think, can never be better written than they have been by Paul, as chosen in the lesson for to-day: “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” And thus we all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, shall be changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. SITI May 7, 1885, page 279.3

A. T. JONES.