| J. R. Miller | Page 4 |
It would have been of no avail, however, merely to command them to be of good cheer, if he had not put sources of joy within their reach. He did not remove sorrow and pain out of their lives; rather, he said, “In the world ye have tribulation.” Nor does this religion benumb and deaden human sensibilities, so that Christ’s friends do not feel grief and trial as the world’s people do. On the other hand, it makes the heart more tender, so that it suffers even more keenly from the sorrows of life than does the heart unsoftened by divine love. The secret of joy which Christ gives we learn from his own words — the last words spoken in the upper room, as he led his disciples out toward Gethsemane: “These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye may have peace. In the world ye have tribulation: but be of’ good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
It is in the last of these great words that we have the secret of the good cheer which he commands. “1 have overcome the world.” He met the world in all its terrific power, and was victorious over it at every point. Thus he became able to be our refuge in all the world’s strife. “These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye may have peace.”
The all-victorious Christ is like a great rock in a weary land, to whose shelter we may flee in every time of sorrow or trial, finding quiet refuge and peace in him. There is a word in an old prophet which tells all the story. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord forever; for in the Lord Jehovah is an everlasting rock -a rock of ages.” We have hints of the meaning of these words in some rare human friendships. Here and there is a man who seems like a fragment of the rock of ages to those who trust in him. When other friendships fail, he still stands constant and true. You are always sure of him. You turn to him in your weakness and danger, and you find strength and refuge in him. His love “balms like summer warmth the sting of tears, the ache of sorrow, the shy, cold hurts which sting and smart, the frets and cares which underrun the dull day and the dreaded morrow.” In his presence dark things seem light, and however heavy your burden, you feel you can go on bearing it after seeing him. In the atmosphere of his love your heart’s wounds receive healing.
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