The best is yet to be - Chambers, Oswald

John 4

The best is yet to be is really true from Jesus Christs standpoint. There is nothing noble the human mind has ever hoped for or dreamed of that will not be fulfilled, and a great deal more.

1. In emancipating vision

But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; and it shall come to pass in the last days, saith god, i will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: and on my servants and on my handmaidens i will pour out in those days of my spirit; and they shall prophesy. (acts 2:1618)

The vision of the agnostic, the socialist, the imperialist, or the christian is the same; they all see the thing that is right a time of peace on earth, a state of goodwill and liberty at present inconceivable. There is nothing wrong with the vision, and there is no difference in the vision, because its source is the spirit of god. The thing to be criticised is not the vision, but the way in which the vision is to be realised. Your sons and daughters refers to the men and women who have no concern about the redemptive point of

View. The spirit of god sways men who do not know him, and they talk gods mind without a knowledge of him personally. My servants and my handmaid- ens are those who not only see the vision but have become personally related to Jesus Christ.

2. In haphazard ways

And he must needs go through Samaria. ( john 4:4)

One great thing to notice is that gods order comes to us in the haphazard. We try to plan our ways and work things out for ourselves, but they go wrong because there are more facts than we know; whereas if we just go on with the days as they come, we find that gods order comes to us in that apparently haphazard way. The man who does not know god depends entirely on his own wits and forecasting. If instead of arranging our own programmes we will trust to the wisdom of god and concentrate all our efforts on the duty that lies nearest, we shall find that we meet god in that way and in no other. When we become amateur providences and arrange times and meetings, we may cause certain things to happen, but we very rarely meet god in that way; we meet him most effectively as we go on in the ordinary ways. Where you look for god, he does not appear; where you do not look for him, there he is a trick of the weather, a letter, and suddenly you are face to face with the best thing you ever met. This comes out all through the life of Jesus christ; it was the most natural thing for him to go through Samaria.

And we know that to them that love god all things work together for good, even to them that are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28 rv ). It is not faith to believe that god is making things work together for good unless we are up against things that are ostensibly working for bad. Gods order does come in the haphazard, but only to those who love god; the only way in which gods order is recognised in our lives is by being what Jesus calls born from above (RV mg). Gods order comes to us in the ordinary haphazard circumstances of life, and when we are in touch with him the sacrament of his presence comes in the common elements of nature and ordinary people. The real meaning of the word sacrament is that the presence of god comes through the common elements of the bread and the wine. If you are of a religious nature you will be inclined to put store on the symbol, but beware lest you put the symbol in the place of the thing symbolised; it is easy to do it, but once you mistake the symbol for what it symbolises, you are off the track. Consider the lilies of the field, said Jesus; we consider motor-cars and aeroplanes, things full of energy. Jesus never drew his illustrations from these things, but always from his fathers handiwork. A lily grows where it is put and does not fuss; we are always inclined to say i would be all right if only i were somewhere else. If our spiritual life does not grow where we are, it will grow nowhere.

3. In exuberant vitality

If thou knewest the gift of god, and who it is that saith to thee, give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. ( john 4:10)

Jesus Christ never preached down to the level of his audience; he did not rely on human understanding, but on the interpreting power of the holy spirit in a human mind. The disciples frequently misunderstood what our lord said, but he banked everything on the work of the holy spirit. Howbeit when he, the spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you into all the truth (rv ). Jesus surprised the woman of Samaria by his extraordinary generosity of mind how is it that thou, being a jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Our lord knew who the woman was, but he did not talk with the smile of a superior person, my poor ignorant woman, when will you understand what i say? He let her talk about what she knew, and she talked with a growing wonder behind it. The first thing jesus did was to awaken in her a sense of need of more than she had, and until she got the length of asking sir, give me this water, he did not say a word about her sin. We don’t take Jesus christs way, our first aim is to convict people of sin; Jesus christs aim was to get at them where they lived. No man can stand the revelation of what he really is in gods sight unless he is handled by jesus christ first. Jesus christ takes a saviours view of what is wrong, not a sentimental view. He gently and firmly handles what is wrong in order to remove it. If thou knewest the gift of god, . . . Thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. Jesus is referring to the gift of the holy spirit. Unless i receive a totally new spirit, all the believing and correct doctrine in the world will never alter me; it is not a question of believing, but of receiving. The symbol Jesus uses is that of a well of water, springing up into everlasting life. Everlasting life is the gift of god himself; it springs up and expresses itself in a strong family likeness to Jesus. The great sign that a man has received the holy spirit is that he begins to manifest the fruits of the spirit. Life manifests itself as life, not as nervous hysterics. I am come that they might have life, said Jesus, and that they might have it more abundantly. This well of water is full of the ease and power of god which never exhausts itself, but continually recuperates us as we spend it out.

The message of the gospel is not that god gives a man a clean heart, but that he gives him a pure heart. Jesus never says, decide for me, but come to me in your absolute emptiness and let me fill you. Christianity is not a clean heart empty, which means a collapse sooner or later, but a life passionately full of personal devotion to Jesus Christ, and a determined identification with his interests in other men. For the father seeketh such to worship him.