“THE LORD WILL NOT CAST OFF FOREVER.”
By Lewis C. Sheafe
THE prophet says, “The Lord will not cast off forever.” Lam. 3:31. Shall we then sin because this is a fact? Shall we live as we list; walk after the imaginations and desires of our evil hearts, and fulfil all the lusts of the flesh, because we believe God’s gracious assurance that “He will not cast off forever”?—God forbid! Could any one who has faith in the everlasting love, the covenant faithfulness, the boundless goodness, and the immutability of the precious promises of God, find in his heart to say, “The religion of Jesus Christ ‘is a vain thing; it is of no use to serve God; we may as well let the ‘reins lie loose upon the neck of our lusts, and take our fill of sin; ‘for the Lord will not cast off forever’?”—No, believer; this is not the language of such a faith. Faith in the love of God works by the love of God (Gal. 5:6), and purifies the heart (Acts 15:9). It is the goodness of God that leads men to repentance. Rom. 2:4. The Lord loves and pities as a Father; therefore He corrects us as children. Ps. 103:13. If He makes us smart for our sins, it is that we may have a hatred for sin, which is the only thing that can harm us. If He puts us into the furnace of affliction, it is only to take away our dross, and lead us to glorify Him in the fires. Isa. 24:15. The dear Lord frequently afflicts His people; but never casts them off. Ps. 94:14. He may veil His face, and to our discontented sight it may seem as if we were cast off forever; but even then it is but for a moment, and everlasting kindness succeeds a moment’s absence. Isa. 54:7, 8. He does not afflict willingly. Lam. 3:33. He never grieves us for His pleasure, but for our profit. While He holds the cup of affliction in one hand, He has the cup of consolation in the other; and He often makes use of affliction to deliver us from troubles. Let us rejoice in it all, and say, “Bless the Lord, O my soul.” “We love Him, ‘because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:19. And His love is like Himself, “an everlasting love.” Jer. 31:3. Then we “are all children of ‘God by faith in Christ Jesus.” Gal. 3:26. “If children, then heirs; ‘heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.” Rom. 8:17.