The One Great Reality

Part 1

Produced by Charles Aladrondo, Tiffany Vergon, Charles Bidwell, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team

THE ONE GREAT REALITY

LOUISA CLAYTON

Author of "Heart Lessons", "Loving Messages", "Winning and Warning", "Wilderness Lessons", etc.

"I AM GOD, AND THERE IS NONE ELSE"-- Isa. xiv. 22.

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED to all my friends in Rusthall, in loving remembrance of our happy fellowship in the gospel during the past thirty years, with the earnest prayer that the messages may be stored up in their hearts and bring forth fruit in their lives when the voice which delivered them is still.

3, Somerville Gardens, Tunbridge Wells.

FOREWORD

In response to the request of an old and esteemed friend I gladly add a Foreword to the collection of Addresses embodied in this volume.

I do so in recognition of the supreme importance of the great topics that have been chosen, and also in appreciation of the clear and attractive way in which the truth is set forth. May the messages find attentive and receptive readers, and be followed by deep and abiding spiritual blessing.

EVAN H. HOPKINS.

Woburn Chase, Addlestone, Surrey.

CONTENTS

I GOD, THE GREAT REALITY

II GOD, OUR FATHER

III THE SON OF GOD

IV THE SPIRIT OF GOD

V THE VOICE OF GOD

VI THE HANDS OF GOD

VII THE WORD OF GOD

VIII HAVE FAITH IN GOD

IX THE CHURCH OF GOD

X THE KINGDOM OF GOD

INDEX OF CONTENTS

ADDRESS I

GOD, THE GREAT REALITY

Personal knowledge of God, the secret of happiness--Realising His Presence in prayer--Illustrations from the telephone and family life--God is our Father, Saviour, Comforter--The Living God-knowing all, and controlling everything--Illustrations from current events.

ADDRESS II

Part 2

GOD, OUR FATHER

A Chinese convert--Christ's confidence in the Father--Christ reveals the Father--Philip's prayer, "Show us the Father"--What God is to us as Father--How the minister sang the Doxology in an empty flour barrel--The glorious calling of the children of God.

ADDRESS III

THE SON OF GOD

Christ is the Son of God from Eternity--He is sent to be the Saviour of the world--Three questions answered: Where did He come from? When did He come? Why did He come?--A working-man's experience--The story of the pearl necklace--Christ's work of redemption--Sir James Simpson's dying testimony--Hymn, "He came and took me by the hand."

ADDRESS IV

THE SPIRIT OF GOD

God is a Spirit--True spiritual worship--The Spirit of God in Creation and Salvation--The New Birth--The work of the Holy Spirit convincing of sin, and revealing Christ--Searchlights--The loveliness of Christ--The Holy Ghost like a Mother--The Comforter.

ADDRESS V

THE VOICE OF GOD

Jacob's ladder, a type of Christ--Jacob brought face to face with God--What it is to hear the Voice of God--God's first call to man in the Garden of Eden--A perfect link of communication between God and man--The Voice of God speaking in His Word.

ADDRESS VI

THE HANDS OF GOD

Why St. John wrote his Gospel--The safety of the believer--God's hands in Creation, Providence and Redemption--The "Scarred Hands"--The story of a brave shepherd lad--The Hands of Jesus wounded for our transgressions--The Three Crosses.

ADDRESS VII

THE WORD OF GOD

The Glory of God seen in Nature--The Glory of God revealed in the Bible--The dying woman and her rich inheritance--God's Word brings wisdom, conversion, joy and light to the heart of man--Spurgeon's text in the Crystal Palace--A Chinese convert "behaving the Bible"--The Torch that will light you home--A neglected Bible.

ADDRESS VIII

HAVE FAITH IN GOD

Abraham the Friend of God--The greatness of his faith--Faith the gate into Life--Faith the link between the sinner and the Saviour--A missionary's faith rewarded--Illustrations from the telegraph and electricity--The wonders wrought by the touch of faith--Great faith brings Heaven into our souls--The difference between believing and committing.

ADDRESS IX

THE CHURCH OF GOD

The Church of God: Past, Present, Future--Its Beginning and Growth--The Church the Body of Christ, a Living Union--The Church the Bride of Christ, a Loving Relationship--The Glory of this Union--Three Great Surprises--The Old Man's Message; Love, Eternal Love--The Four Precious Words--"Labelled and Ready"--The Glorious Future of the Church of God--The Church will show forth God's Grace and Glory in the Ages to come.

ADDRESS X

THE KINGDOM OF GOD

"Bringing the King back"--One King, Jesus, His entrance into Jerusalem--The Jews rejecting their King--His Kingdom in our hearts--Make Jesus King--The Cross the Way to the Throne--The dying thief received into the Kingdom--The King's Victory over the Powers of Darkness--The Coming King--The Glory of the Lord revealed--Christ's Reign on Earth--Rutherford's testimony--Miss Havergal's Prayer--The Eternal Kingdom.

ADDRESS I

GOD, THE GREAT REALITY

Part 3

PORTION OF SCRIPTURE--Hebrews xi. 1-6.

God is the one great Reality. Will you close your eyes for a moment and say those words over again very slowly so as to let them burn into your inmost heart and soul. The Word of God tells us that "The Son of God is come and hath given us an understanding that we may know Him that is true": this means that we may personally know Him that is Reality. In the wonder of that moment when we first know that God is real and that God is near, then we cry out, "My God, how wonderful Thou art." To have personal knowledge of God is the secret of assurance and happiness, and to put real trust in Him changes our whole life, for then we can say, "I have a wonderful God."

To know God is Eternal life; to know Him fully, brings "life more abundantly"; to know Him with no veil between, is glory--life.

If you look again at the 6th verse of the 11th chapter of Hebrews you will notice a very clear statement: it says, "He that cometh to God must believe that He is," or to put it in other words, "the man who draws near to God must believe that there is a God."

Do you believe in God? Is He real to you? Here is one test. When you pray do you realise His Presence? Is He so close to you that it is like speaking into His ear?

It was this text, "He that cometh to God must believe that He is," which first awakened a worldly gentleman named Brownlow North to think about his soul. God's Spirit showed him that he had never really believed in God and that all his former religion was worthless, "for without faith it is impossible to please God." As soon as he had really learnt to know God, he devoted all his life to preaching the Gospel. He told every one that the first thing we need is to believe there is a God. Many of his friends who were rich and well educated were thus brought to a personal knowledge of God for the first time. He that cometh to God must believe that He is really there. Have you ever been conscious of the Presence of the living God? You must make sure that He is near before you can really pray.

We have an illustration of this in the telephone. You first put the speaking tube to your mouth and then you say "Are you there?" In any case you make sure that the person to whom you wish to speak, is listening at the other end. Although you cannot see any one, you know he is holding the receiver so as to hear what you say.

When you begin to pray always pause for a moment and remember that you are speaking to God. Do not say a word until the Holy Spirit puts you into direct communication with God. The Psalmist was quite sure that God was really listening to his prayer, for he says, "I love the Lord because He hath heard my voice and my supplications. Because He hath inclined His ear unto me therefore will I call upon Him as long as I live." [Footnote: Ps. cxvi. 1, 2.] And again, "I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice, and He gave ear unto me." [Footnote: Ps. lxxvii. 1.] It is in this way we realise that there is a God, a personal living God.

I asked a Christian man one day if he had prayed about some work which was offered to him, and his reply was, "Yes: I am on the telephone." Can you say the same? As soon as you have spoken through the telephone you put the receiver to your ear to listen for the answer. Many people pray without expecting to get an answer. They are like children who knock at a door and then run away before it is opened. The prophet Micah says, "I will wait for God, my God will answer me." [Footnote: Mic. vii. 7.] Yes, he expected to get an answer.

The Lord Jesus says, "When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut the door, pray to thy Father which is in secret." [Footnote: St. Matt. vi. 6.] When a child wants to tell his father something very private he whispers it in his ear. I daresay you have noticed that the telephone at the General Post Office is enclosed in a box, so that no one can overhear what is said. There are many things we say into God's ear which we could not tell to any one else. It makes Him very real to us, if we can say in our inmost hearts, "O God, Thou art my God, my very own Father."

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