FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   >>  
reason or his faith in a God of love. Whatever the possibilities of the world to come, they are but the extension of the boundless love of God in Christ, and hold out no promise for us if we wilfully neglect our day of grace. But now to pass on to one further source of consolation which comes in its measure to all the bereaved alike; the chastened joy from the thought of the splendid sacrifice the dear one has been privileged to make. Take an illustration--a letter from Major-General Allenby to Lady de Crespigny on the death of her son:-- "Dear Lady de Crespigny,--I and the whole of the Cavalry Division sympathise with you, and we feel deeply for Norman's loss. But I must tell you that he died a hero's death. The brigade was hotly engaged, and on the Bays fell the brunt of the fighting on September 1st. Norman, with a few men, was holding an important tactical point, and he held it till every man was killed or wounded. No man could have done more, few would have done so much. "With deepest sympathy, yours sincerely, "E.H.H. Allenby." How the bereaved hearts in the midst of crushing grief must have lit up with gladness at such a record as that! But to close. The discipline of bereavement consists essentially in the trial of faith, yet at the same time brings with it the power of faith. In bereavement, above all other forms of sorrow, comes the felt need of God; it has been so with countless souls. The answer to the need is the revelation that God makes of Himself in Christ; then comes the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, which dries the tears and heals the broken heart. _Note_.--The question of prayer in connection with God's foreknowledge is so admirably treated in "Some Elements of Religion" (Liddon) that we append an extract:-- "What if prayers and actions, to us at the moment perfectly spontaneous, are eternally foreseen and included within the all-embracing Predestination of God, as factors and causes, working out that final result which, beyond all dispute, is the product of His Good Pleasure? "Whether I open my mouth or lift my hand is, before my doing it, strictly within the jurisdiction and power of my personal will: but however I may decide, my decision, so absolutely free to me, will have been already incorporated by the All-seeing, All-controlling Being as an integral part, however insignificant, of His one all-embracing purpose,
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   >>  



Top keywords:

Crespigny

 

Allenby

 

embracing

 

bereavement

 

Norman

 
Christ
 

bereaved

 

foreknowledge

 

admirably

 
treated

connection

 
question
 

prayer

 

Religion

 

extract

 

moment

 

actions

 

append

 

prayers

 

Liddon


perfectly

 

Elements

 

countless

 

answer

 

sorrow

 

brings

 

revelation

 

understanding

 

spontaneous

 

passeth


Himself

 
broken
 

foreseen

 

decide

 

decision

 
absolutely
 

strictly

 

jurisdiction

 

personal

 

integral


insignificant

 

purpose

 

controlling

 

incorporated

 

reason

 

working

 
result
 

factors

 

Predestination

 

included