Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 1973
“Though He is not far from each one of us.” Acts 17:27.
WHEN man disobeyed his God he died spiritually and that death consisted in the separation of his soul from God. From that moment man began to think that God was far away and this has since been his religion in all ages. Either he has said, “There is no God,” or he has believed the visible creation to be God, which is much the same as having no God. Or else he has thought God to be some far-away, mysterious Being who takes no notice of man. Even after obtaining a better conception of God, he has thought Him hard to find and hard to be entreated of. Because his own heart is far from God, he imagines that God’s heart is far from him. But it is not so. The living God is not far from any one of us, for, “In Him we live, and move, and have our being.”
The nearness of God to man is a teaching of Revelation. Look back to the record of the Garden of Eden and see an early evidence of God’s nearness to man. Adam, having transgressed, hid himself among the trees of the garden, but in his hiding place God sought him and the Voice of the Lord God was heard, walking among the trees of the garden and saying, “Adam, where are you?” Man will not seek God, but God seeks man! Though man’s voice is not, “Where is my God?” yet God’s voice is, “Adam, where are you?” All through history God has been familiar with man. He has spoken to him in divers ways, but principally through chosen men. One after another He has raised up Prophets and by their warning voices He has pleaded with men and invited them to seek His face. His own voice might have caused dismay and distance and so He has used human voices, that He might come nearer to the heart. All the history of the chosen nation, as we read it in the Old Testament, reveals the nearness of Jehovah. Whatever we read upon the page, we know that within, above, or behind it, the Lord is near, even when He seems to have hidden Himself. In these latter days, the Lord has come still nearer to us, for He has spoken to us by His Son. The Son of God became the Friend of sinners—could He come nearer than that? The Word was made flesh and dwelt among men and men beheld His Glory. Bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh is the Christ and yet He is very God of very God. In Him God is next-of-kin to man and manhood is brought near to the Eternal Throne. Christ Jesus is God and Man in one Person and thus the closest union is formed between God and man. Verily, verily, the Lord God is not far from each one of us in His own dear Son!
Today, though Jesus has gone up on high, the Spirit of God abides in the midst of the Church and thus, again, the Lord is near. The Comforter is still at work. The Convincer still presses upon man’s conscience sin, righteousness and judgment to come. Still does the Holy Spirit work with the Word of God, directing His ministers so to speak that their hearers shall perceive a personality and pointedness in the Word delivered. Oh, you that hear the Gospel, be sure of this, that the Kingdom of God has come near to you in a very special sense! I may say of you with an emphasis, “He is not far from any of you and you are not far from the Kingdom of God.”
That God is near by His Omnipresence and by His gracious dealings with men is the clear teaching of the inspired volume. To the enlightened mind, God is evidently seen to be near in the works of Nature. Whose voice was it that we heard last night thundering overhead? Who fashioned the drops of rain that refreshed the fields? Who breathed the gentle breeze which cooled and cheered the drooping flowers? Who has sent us this day so clear, so calm, so bright, “the bridal of the earth and sky”? Who is creating for us our harvests and preparing food for man and beast? It is God that does this, doing it in ways beyond our comprehension, yet doing it before our eyes! There is no other force in the universe save that which is derived from God. There is no other life except the life which has leaped from the eternal Self-Existence. God is in ALL! Above us in the stars He shines, but He also works in the grass beneath our feet. Each dewdrop gleams
His glory and every grain of dust bears His impress. He is within us, keeping our hearts in motion—and around us, giving to the air we breathe its power to sustain life.
So also is the Lord very near in Providence. Albeit that this godless age seeks to banish God, yet is He present in the transactions of every day. All things come from Him, both the little and the great. He ordains, rules, or over-rules. Pestilence and famine, earthquake and hurricane are His heavier treads—and days and nights, harvests and springtides are His gentler footsteps. The events of history, whether on a large or small scale, betray an evident design and arrangement. All things work together with singular accuracy and punctuality to accomplish a lofty purpose. It is the fashion, nowadays, to say that these are coincidences. It is a pretty word for boys to play with! Some of us observe God’s Providences and we are never without a Providence to observe. We see the hand of God in daily life and we are glad to do so, though we are laughed at as poor fools. Those who can see may well be content to bear the jests of the blind! In my own personal experience I have met with numbers of singular and special tokens of God’s working in Providence, some of which I would scarce dare to tell because they might seem incredible. I remember preaching at Halifax, in a huge timber building which was erected for the purpose. During the previous day the snow fell heavily and it lay deep upon the ground. Nevertheless, the people came in their thousands and thronged the enormous edifice. And gratefully do I remember how they went away to their homes in safety. They had no sooner cleared the building to the last man, than it fell in one gigantic ruin! Why had it not fallen when the crowds were there? In my joy that no one was harmed I thought that God was there, and I praised His holy name. Was that a piece of superstition?