THE following is the biographer’s account of some of the closing words of the famous Prince Bismarck, Germany’s great Chancellor and statesman, who has made his name great in history:
“Nobody loves me for what I have done. I have never made anybody happy; not myself, nor my family, nor anybody else. But how many I have made unhappy! But for me, three great wars would not have been fought. Eighty thousand men would not have perished. Parents, brothers, sisters, and widows would not have been bereaved and plunged into mourning.
“That matter, however, I have settled with God. But I have had little or no joy from all my achievements; nothing but vexation, care, and trouble.”
Such is the humiliating confession of Germany’s greatest Chancellor.
Never loved for what he did!
Never made anybody happy!
Never made himself happy!
My reader, if you are found treading the thorny road to human glory and happiness, let the words of Bismarck arrest your fruitless travail. Soul-satisfaction is not found on that road.
Leaving his quiet country life in 1851, he entered the political world, with one great ambition—the aggrandizement and consolidation of the German Empire. In this he fairly succeeded. Germany’s millions adored him, and hung with unbounded confidence on his words.
But who could have guessed the unsatisfied cravings within? “NEVER MADE MYSELF HAPPY” —such is his upright confession!
What a comfort to be able to turn to Another, even to the Lord Jesus, for He can disclose to us the secret of true happiness. Let us consider Him who is called “Wonderful, the Mighty God.” By His almighty fiat He called worlds out of nothing. He placed each one of them in their appointed place. By the touch of His creatorial hand He worked wonders on this little globe on which we live. Every blade of grass, every flower, every beam of light, every dewdrop, He made to sparkle with the glory of His infinitude. He then created man to enjoy it all.
The story is soon told. Man sinned. Creation fell with him, its delegated head, and in a few short years the whole world was filled with violence (see Gen. 6:1111The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. (Genesis 6:11)), so that God repented that He had made man on the earth.
Then came the moment for the masterwork of divine omnipotence, by which He showed His glory, and by it gained, and is gaining, the love of millions. Never could it be said of the Lord Jesus, as of Bismarck, “Nobody ever loved me for what I have done.” Millions from every land rise up and call Him blessed, and love Him with adoring hearts. Before this glorious person, who is called “Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:66For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)), hosts of happy angelic beings cry “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts” (Isa. 6:33And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. (Isaiah 6:3)).
This blessed Person, in marvelous condescension, left His heavenly glory. He came, a poor man (though ever God, the Son), into this world of human woe, and trod His way, devoted to God and man. He opened His beneficent hand wherever He went. And, oh! how abundantly He blessed. None but those willfully hardened by sin could come into contact with Him without learning the grace of His heart.
Then culminated that lovely life—not in senate house, nor on throne of king, but on a public gibbet. Uplifted between heaven and earth, spectacle for men and angels, He offered His life as the Atoning Sin-bearer. He was not driven to that cross by the frenzy of the maddened crowd. He went to Calvary moved by the power of unselfish love for you and me. Who could have touched His life? He said, “No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.” (John 10:1818No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. (John 10:18))
Though led as a lamb to the slaughter, yet it was as a willing victim He offered Himself to God. Though allowing men to carry out their satanic desires, it was, nevertheless, fulfilling the determinate counsel of God. Profound fact! He went to the cross in love all divine, for you and me. Let every host in heaven and earth adore Him. He is worthy of creature adoration.
What a contrast to Prince Bismarck is this blessed Prince of Peace! Jesus brought joy to the heart of God. He has made the writer supremely happy, and can make the reader happy too. Will you allow Him?
Perhaps you say, “How can He make me happy?” First, by the removal of all your sins by His precious death. Second, by justifying you, and bringing you into peace with God. Third, by setting you before God’s face in cloudless favor. Fourth, by giving you His Spirit to flood your heart with His infinite love, and causing it to flow forth to God the Father in a Te Deum of endless praise. Where shall I stop in enumerating what He will do for you?
It is not a chancellor, but a Sovereign, who claims a place in your heart. Many a loyal subject has died for his sovereign; but here—wonder of eternity—is a Sovereign who has died for His disloyal and rebellious subjects.
Will you not surrender to Him, and own Him Lord? Let me entreat you to do it now. He waits to make you supremely happy. You may not desire to know Him; but, oh! how He longs to make Himself known to you. He wants to relieve your conscience with words of forgiveness through His precious blood. He wants to satisfy your poor empty heart with His own incomparable love. May the story of all His goodness in life and death bring you to repentance. Then at His feet you will be assured of a thousand welcomes. No frown. No rebuke for all your indifference. Nothing now but grace, boundless grace, grace divine and unmerited.
May it be yours to trust this blessed Saviour who died for you, to love Him, serve Him, and wait with satisfied heart for His coming again. Then shall we who know Him see Him as He is, and be like Him forever; then shall everlasting adoration and glory be His. He shall be eternally loved for what He has done.
Then, too, will He, as “Prince of Peace,” bring to an end the violence of men, and usher in His glorious reign of righteousness, peace, and joy; when men shall turn their swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks, and learn war no more.
J. H. L.