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December 29, 1909. THE PRESBYTER
(.loci. Tljc time thus spent would not be too long or
tiresome. We ouerht to leave the hmnse
? ? -6 '
it was indeed good to be there. If we do not, and can
not enjoy our Sabbaths here in God's service, mingling
with his people, will we be fitted or ready for the
one Sabbath of eternal glory and worship in the heav
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vniy uumer \V. W. M.
Statesville, N. C., December 14, 1909.
THE DELAYED ANSWER.
So it seems to us. We have prayed but no answer
comes. W e have craved for that which is IpmtimatP
but no voice responds. We have prayed in faith, believing
that God is able and also in the assurance that
our petition will be heard, but the hours drag wearily
into days, and no message comes to us out of the
darkness. More than this?not only is there no answer
of love, but apparently a denial of the prayer. A
relentless course ot events crushes out hope. The
heart sinks in the sorrow and yet can not turn away
from Him whom we love and whose love has often
been shown to us. Is there no answer? Is God forever
silent?
Sickness comes into the home in Bethany; rapidly
the disease makes its progress. "O that Jesus were
here." But he is far away. Faith sends the messenger
in haste with the simple word of faith in the assurance
of a love which will not hesitate or delay: "He
whom thou lovest is sick.'' No more direct appeal
could be made; no more effective argument could be
used; no greater confidence could be felt. But death
cast its shadow of gloom. The messenger returned,
but instead of the Master with him, he brought simply
a message; a message which seemed to mock both
love and faith: "Believe and thou shalt see the glory
of God. There was no explanation, but simply a message
which made the mystery of the delay greater. We
know the end of the wonderful story, but they who
were actors in the scene were in darkness. They only
knew that they sent a tender message to the Lord,
and yet he did not come to them. He who could have
averted the sorrow did not do so.
A A T 1 1 -? T ....
i.m /ci jcsus lovt-u mem. uove is sovereign in its
methods, and chooses its own time. To us there is
mystery; back in the mystery there is wisdom as well
as goodness. It may have been that Jesus was so
engaged in his ministry of love to those about him that
He could not come without a loss to those waiting on
His grace. There is a larger purpose in God's grace
than we may see. The greater good must prevail
The workings of God's providence cover a great area
of life and the individual must at times be subordinated
to the greater good to the greater number. We
do not know the complex interests involved. Life
has many relations which we do not see. To grant
us our petition might involve others in loss in some
form. We may illustrate: A messenger is sent to a
minister with a strong appeal to come in haste, but
he is so engaged in his proper ministerial work that
to go immediately would make a serious break in the
work in which he was doing a greater service. God
is not limited as we are, and yet there is an order in
liis work which he does not set aside. He has other
ways of accomplishing the desire of our hearts and of
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4
IAN OF THE SOUTH 7 '
His heart, and in His sovereign love He works for
the largest good. * ,, .
We are led a step farther?the delay is because of
His love. Love prompts the delay which fills us with
disappointment and sorrow. "Jesus loved Martha and
her sister and Lazarus; ... therefore he abode two
days where he was." There is first the appeal to faith:
"Believe and thou shalt see the glory of God." In
J * J
>y?di way uia not yet appear; there was no explanation,
simply an appeal to confidence in Him and in
God. And for two days He did not go. To Paul
the answer was: "My grace is sufficient for thee."
Faith requires trial for*its full development. Time is
an elenlent, for grace does not set aside the laws of
our nature. There are experiences which can not be
without time for the mental processes involved. It is
through such trial of faith that the finest Christian
character is developed. The peculiar sweetness of
grace which sometimes so far transcends ordinary experience
that it seems like the glory of the Transfiguration,
comes through delayed answers and great
suffering and sorrow.
The delaved answer comes with n trr*?at<?r Kicccinm
- e> -* "'" """bDown
through the darkness and bitterness of overwhelming
sorrow the way led to a greater light. It
was life, but life back from the closed portals of death
is greater and better than life before the portals were
entered. Isaac loosed from the altar is dearer than
if the journey to the mountains had not been made.
More than this?when the delayed answer comes,
r* J
uoa is nearer. I lie greater answer in peace and comfort,
the sufficient grace, reveals him in his greater
love. In this the supreme desire of the soul is answered,
''That I may see Thy power and Thy glory."
?United Presbyterian.
RESULTS.
Results are not only proof of the good or evil of certain
courses of action or lines of thought or doctrinal
principles. Tendencies are as much an indication of
wVlOf O ro ' ? ' 1 '
a .v. iuca> in process 01 actual cieveiopment
or application will manifest what they are
by showing, in advance of their ultimate results,
whither they lead. The wise will see danger afar off
and avoid it.
The tendencies of the "new theology' have been well
described in a contemporary thus: "A pantheistic
God, instead of a personal God; a human Savior,
instead of a Divine Savior, infallible scholarship, instead
of an infallible Bible; 'modern thought,' instead
of a 'thus saith the Lord ;' a development of religious
ideas from the human mind, instead of a revelation
from God; the natural in all things, the supernatural in
nothing,; reformation, instead of regeneration; culture
instead of conversion ; a change of environment, instead
of a change of heart; the energy of the flesh, instead of
prayer and faith; interest in the secular, instead of
zeal for religion; nobody afraid of hell, and nobody
caring much about heaven ; everybody coming out right
anyhow, and nobody on the wrong track except those
who cling to the faith once delivered to the saints."
YVo;*;?~ f~- ...M. ?- ?
iui """ waning wun mm.?rrances K.
Havergal.