Newspaper Page Text
April ai, 1909. THE PRESBYTERIA
ger of the body, nor the toil and sorrow of life, but
the sin which is the spring of all these things.
A multitude of sinful souls moved the Savior of men
to a profound compassion. They were estranged from
God, and had no care. They were sinful, and had no
repentance. They were dying and had no hope of
hfe. They were perishing for the bread of life, and no
man had given unto them. They were in the far off
land and had no thought of return to the Father's
house. Surely .a multitude of sinful, unrepenting, and '
unsaved men is a sight pitiful beyond measure.
It is not, said that our Lord was moved with anger
or indignation. He was moved with compassion, for
they were as sheep without a shepherd, and "He began
to teach them." He began at once to tell them of the
love of God, and of the Good Shepherd they so sadly
reeded. "He is the same, yesterday, today, and forever."
He has the same compassion for the multitude
today, for the city full, for the great assembly, for
the thousands scattered in the mountains, for the
swarming people of the great continent.
How can it be that we who are his, and have the
mind and the spirit that were in him, are not moved
with the same compassion? There are so many around
us, so many in our home land, so lpanv across the seas,
as siieep without a shepherd. Mortality is upon them
all, and burdens of want and pain, of toil and sorrow.
And beneath, and far worse, the awful disease of sinful,
unbelieving heart.
May the same compassion so touch our hearts, that
it be a supreme desire to send and to go to tell them
that there is a Shepherd and green pastures and an
eternal fold.
nPTTMTCM T7AT CJT7? AVin i-r.T-.TTT-.
A aimawiM) xnj-<0?i A1N1/ lHU?i.
Expectancy of increasing good must be rational and
reverent. There is a reckless way of assuming that all
is going well, which betokens little care as to whether
it be so or not, or else a superficial estimate of the real
merit of serious, problems. The Calvinist is essentially
an optimist. He believes that God hath for his
own glory foreordained whatsoever conies to pass. He
believes that God is sovereign in human affairs and that
he is glorified whether by life or by death. The optimism
of faith made the Covenanters the valiant and indomitable
people that they were, because they knew
that their God was supreme, and they believed that he
would vindicate the right, as he had enabled them to
see it. Through weary years their expectations were
not realized, for many a fond hope was disappointed,
many a cherished tie was severed and many a high
aspiration was doomed to disappointment in literal fulfillment.
But it is wonderful how their courage did not
waver and their faith failed not. These were optimistic
not because all seemed to be going merrily. There were
"killing times" that broke their heart-strings and filled
their homes with mourning, but their faith failed not.
Why this undaunted courage, this persevering confidence?
Because they believe.-f in their sovereign God
and that their slain and ascended Lord was on the
throne. They believed that he was a covenant keeping
God who fulfilled the promise made unto the fathers.
They were not optimistic because they superficially re4
' i
*
N OF THE SOUTH. 5
garded serious, deplorable, tragical conditions, nor because
they thought lightly of iniquity and esteemed
sin and righteousness as only relative terms. They could
weep with a depth of sorrow which shallower minds
could not feel, but they could praise and rejoice in their
Redeemer and plead his promises as they looked into
his face through their tears. They were apprehensive
of the enormity of prevailing sin at the very time that
they exulted in the fact that the Lord God omnipotent
reigneth. They believed in the ultimate triumph of
truth even when the enemy was coming in like a flood
and the powers of darkness seemed utterly unrestrained.
Their confidence was unshaken by the earthquakes of
violence and steadfast amidst tempests and floods of
human passion.
In the writings of the apostle we discern the same
master principle. No man ever saw the hideousness of
sin with clearer vision, nor regarded it with profounder
loathing, nor was more sensible of its peril or the ruin
which it wrought. His heart bled as he contemplated
it and his words flamed as lie depicted it. His sentences
descriptive of pharisaical hypocrisy and of heathen sensuality
arc at once the expression of profound indignation
and of poignant grief. Yet when he turns to the
triumphs of the Cross his words glow with rapturous
anticipation. He at once gets a vision of unfailing
fruition and of boundless progress. He stands on
heights that storms do not reach and on a foundation
that can not be moved. "All things are yours," says he,
"All are yours and ye are Christ's and Christ is God's."
There is much of spurious optimism in the nonchalance
with which many regard present day conditions.
These are times of impending change. Moral
forces are in action which threaten the foundations.
Home life is neglected. Social life abounds in improprieties
and worse. Public affairs are corrupt. Commerce
is on the basis of the strong against the weak.
Religion pleads for minimizing the divine element and
stressing the human. Inspired truth is sneered at and
the most modern human devices are exalted. It ft well
to look on the bright side, with a cheerful face and a
happy heart, but it is brazen and cruel to ignore the
portentious agencies of evil and the industrial and moral
enslavement of the submerged one-half. To calmly contemplate
the panorama of life's tragedy is overwhelming.
There is a call to vigilance and action such as the
Church has rarely heard, and he who believes in his
soul that "the Lord of hosts is with us and the God of
Jacob is our refuge" will most effectually and expectantly
respond to that call.
M.
Some attribute the lack of any special leadership in
the Church to the fact that most of our men who would
ordinarily be leaders "are occupied with schemes that
mean eitner service to tneir own ambition or else the
building up of an ecclesiastical machine." It is undoubtedly
true that if half the energy that is spent in
"organizing" were spent upon the direct work of the
Church for souls the ingathering would be greater, and .
tho ministry of many would be richer.