The Goodness of God   

"The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance" (Rom. 2: 4). 

The sin of the age, among all classes and nations, is ingratitude to God. If heaven would pass away and hell would burn up, every man and woman in the universe should serve God anyway, for His great benefits bestowed upon them from day to day.

Now reader let us take a retrospection of our lives and notice the unmerited favors which God has so graciously bestowed upon us from time to time.

First: We are out of hell; if we had justice dealt to us, we would have been in hell where Hope and Mercy are strangers. Think of the many times we have sinned against God by breaking His laws time and again, yet He has spared us a while longer. Just think of the millions who are in hell, who did not sin against Him as long as we have. There are souls there who were cut off before they reached the age of twenty. But we are yet in the land of Mercy and Pardon. O, the marvelous goodness of God!

Secondly, God in His great mercy granted us a second chance, i. e., when man was put on trial in Eden and fell, God gave him another chance to regain His favor, by giving His Son to die for him, which favor was not granted to the fallen angels, but they are "Reserved in everlasting chains under darkness, unto judgment of the great day" (Jude 6). Satan would give a million worlds, if he had them, to have the privilege we have of praying, repenting, and obtaining the favors of God, but it can never be granted. O think my brother! What a great privilege we have which devils and lost spirits are deprived of. They only committed one offense that we are aware of, and were cast down to hell without being granted a chance to repent. You and I have offended God times without number, and still the door of mercy is open to us. But 0, how soon it may close, if we do not accept the long offered pardon.

Third: Our lives are prolonged. Friend, it is actually a miracle to be alive, when we look around us and observe the many instruments of death that are thick in the land to hurry mortals home. Think of the thousands that are killed yearly by the fast railroad cars and the thousands that go down to a watery grave every year, and the thousands who are killed in the cities yearly by gas explosions, electric cars, runaway horses, and adulterated foods, etc. When we consider how much poisonous food enters our systems, why it is only God who keeps us alive. Think of the poisonous meats, and stale eggs and the stale canned food that we get, which doubtless has been canned for years. O, it is only the goodness of God that we are alive! How true are the words of the poet, who says,

"Death rides upon the passing breeze,

And lurks in every flower;

Each season has its own disease,

Its perils every hour." 

Fourth: We still enjoy health. Men do not realize what a God-given blessing it is to have health. It is not properly appreciated until it is gone. But when we visit the sick rooms, and the hospitals, the health resorts and other places and see the hundreds of souls that are there, shut in, confined to a bed or a dark chamber or in an invalid's chair, or hobbling on a pair of crutches, or raving in an insane asylum with reason lost in their stormy brain; then and not until then, do we know how to appreciate the goodness of God by giving us health.

Fifth: God keeps the lamp of hope burning in our breast. O, what a miserable world this would be if the lamp of hope would be blown out! Amidst sorrow's bitterest cup we are encouraged to hope it will be sweeter to-morrow. In disappointment's gloomiest vale, we are encouraged to hope for a brighter day. Under poverty's cold iron hand, we cheer up, and, with inspiring hope, look for better times. But life would be a burden without the lamp of hope. This is why hell is so gloomy and dismal because hope dies in every breast that crosses its threshold. It is a place where hope is a stranger, where for hope and joy they reap despair. Now, dear readers, do you think that God is making any unfair demand on you by requiring a wholehearted service Now from this hour surrender yourself to Him completely which is your reasonable service and you will be greatly benefited both in this world and the world to come. Amen.