A FAR, FAR BETTER THING
Today’s Message of Encouragement from Discovering A BETTER LIFE MINISTRIES
(Stories of Real People, Real Events, Real Places) Is dedicated to HELPING Men and Women Find HOPE
THROUGH SHARING GOD’S GRACE and LOVE
(Ron Bainbridge Editor) (November 21st, 2019)
A FAR, FAR BETTER THING
Friends, we read in Charles Dickens Tale of Two Cities, where the prodigal young lawyer, Sydney Carton, has fallen under the spell of Lucy Manette, the doctor’s daughter. He comes to the realization that he has wasted his life and though he knows she can never love him, he feels compelled to tell her how he feels about her and how she has changed him. So he says, “I am like one who died young. All my life might have been.”
Lucie then gently protests that better can be ahead for him, but Sydney Carton insists that it is too late. Then, assuring her that he will never again in all his life so much as hint at what he is now saying, he pours out his sad soul in helpless gratitude to the one who has come to mean so much more to him than his own life. Finally, as he leaves, assuring Lucy that he isn’t worth her tears, he says to her, “For you, and any dear to you, I would do anything. . . . When you see your own bright beauty springing up anew at your feet, think now and then that there is a man who would give his life to keep a life you love beside you.”
Sometime later when Lucie’s French aristocratic husband, Charles Darnay, is arrested in Paris and is to be executed by the revolutionaries, everyone is thrown into mad confusion except Sydney Carton. For the first time in his life his heart and mind agree on exactly what to do.
Following this enlightenment, Sydney makes the necessary arrangements and then spends the night walking through the streets reflecting on what he is about to do. Into his mind comes the Scripture that was read at his father’s graveside. This passage of Scripture was from the gospel of John, chapter 11, verses 25 & 26, where Jesus is saying to Martha: “I am the one who raises the dead and gives them life again. Anyone who believes in Me, even though he dies like anyone else, shall live again. He is given eternal life for believing in Me and shall never perish.”
For Sydney Carton, the dying of the night and the coming of the sun seemed to drive home to him this truth he kept repeating as he wandered through the streets and down to the river.
And so, Carton who looked remarkably like Lucie’s husband takes the place of Darnay and is executed in his stead.
Charles Dickens tells us what Sydney Carton would have said just before dying had he been asked. Among other things, he would have said,
“I see the lives for which I lay down my life, peaceful, useful, prosperous and happy, in that England which I shall see no more.
I see her with a child on her bosom, who bears my name.
I see a father, aged and bent, but otherwise restored, and faithful to all men in his healing office, and at peace.
I see this good old man, so long their friend, in ten years-time, enriching them with all he has, and passing tranquilly to his reward.
I see that I hold a sanctuary in their hearts and in the hearts of their descendants
generations hence . . . . It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.”
And with those words, the book ends!
Reflecting on this event, it’s obvious what Sydney Carton did, did not begin with him. It began with Lucie Manette. She caught hold of his life by her loveliness and redeemed him.
Friend, it’s a lovely thing to redeem those you care for, because there is such joy in the experience. So let me ask each of you a question: Which of you, having made some wise, major sacrifices on behalf of those you love---which of you, seeing their usefulness and peace---regrets the price you had to pay? Doesn’t your joy obliterate all regret?
Isn’t that what the book of Hebrews, chapter 12, verse 2 says of the Cross of Calvary, as the “joy set before Jesus?” --- And with God, as His assurance, Jesus Christ himself said of the time of His death, “I know the Lord is always with me. He is helping me! God’s mighty power supports me. No wonder my heart is filled with joy and my tongue shouts His praises! For I know all will be well with me in death.”--- (Acts 2:25-26).
In the story I have shared with you today, Sydney Carton saw the day when those he had given his life for would welcome the sound of his name. He saw their peace, their usefulness, and their prosperity and he knew that he would “hold a sanctuary in their hearts.”
Friend, there will come a day when all the redeemers of this world will be in the presence of the Great Redeemer, and stories will be told. In fact, sinners who were used by the Great Redeemer to bring other sinners to a Life-Saving relationship with Him will tell their stories and there will be rejoicing everywhere.
You know, it’s a lovely thing to redeem those you love by dying for them. But perhaps living for them until we die is dying for them too. You see, there is more than one way to die for people.
Friend, if you would like help in obtaining a fresh look at the loving grace of God, we invite you to write to Discovering A BETTER LIFE and ask for our FREE booklet, “The Relentless Love of God”. Our address is: P.O. Box 1540, Albany, Western Australia.
Or E-mail us at: bainbridge16@gmail.com
Have a wonderful Day!
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