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January 17, 1912 ] T H E F
seen. (c) His invisible goodness and providence,
(d) The obligation of worship and adoration.
This is evident from the clause, "Who changed
the truth of Ood into a lie; and worshipped and
served the creature rather than the Creator."
But as we recur to this objection under another
head, let us continue.
(4) The law of continuity in the spiritual domain
of God is not merely coincident to the law
of continuity in the material world; it is a revelation.
It is God's modus operandi in both spheres.
We heard a Methodist say once that God's knowledge
was so absolutely boundless that he did
not need a plan. That is his intellect was so
great that he had reached the verge of insanity
rnis, However, is not a biblical idea. Let us
consult the first chapter of Epliesians and see
if God works without a plan; we have said before
he never trusts anything to the sublimity of luck.
The beetle and the bee are both moulded on a
most beautiful and exquisite model. "He hath
chosen us before the foundation of the world."
For what purpose? according to what plan? the
same that was devised before the foundation of
the world, viz.: that we should he holy and without
blame before him.
In love having predestinated us unto the
adoption of children by means of Christ Jesus,
according to the good pleasure of his will.
"Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all
wisdom and prudence. Having made known unto
us the mystery of his will, according to his good
pleasure which he hath purposed in himself."
Observe again (a) his having "chosen us before
the foundation of the world" is perfectly in conformity
to the doctrine of predestination as the
great "law of continuity" in heaven, (b) "The
good pleasure of his will." What is God's
will? Simply his eternal purpose to work out his
plans, (c) "The mystery of his will." This is
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where the magnificence of the eternal and the
insignificance of man meet. Science sometimes
reaches the limits of her investigations and treads
the verge of an abysmal depth. Spencer calls it
'' nescience.'' It is where the immortal God confronts
the mortal man. (d) In this Law of Predestination
he has abounded toward us "in all
wisdom and prudence" and "according to the
riches of his grace." The word prudence abov^
conveys a poor idea to the reader; it means the
infinite intellectual power of God.
Hamburg, Arkansas.
The only serious matter is to discover the
prepared path. We may do this by abiding fellowship
with the Spirit. Remember how when
Paul essayed to turn aside trom the prepared
path of life, and to go first to the left to Ephesus,
and then to the right unto Bithynia, in
each case we read, the Spirit suffered him not.
For the most part the trend of daily circumstances
will indicate the prepared path; but
whenever we come to a standstill, puzzled to
know which path to take of three or four that
converge at a given point, let us stand still and (
consider the matter, asking God to speak to us
through our judgments and to bar every path
but the right. When once the decision is made,
let us never look back. Let us never dare to
suppose that God could fail them that trust
him, or permit them to make a mistake. If
difficulties arise, they do not prove us to be
wrong, and probably they are less by his path
than they would have been by any other. Go
forward. The way has been prepared; the
mountains are a way; the rivers have fords;
the lions are chained; the very waves shall
yield a path; the desert shall be a highway
to the land that flows with milk and honey.?
P. B. Meyer. j. L , ^
'RESBYTERIAN OF THE SC
A BLESSING WITHIN A CHASTISEMENT.
BY REV. THOS. E. CONVERSE, D. D.
In the twelfth of Hebrews we read that "no
chastisement for the present seemeth to be joyous,
but grevious; nevertheless afterward." As a
general statement this is most true. But there
ax-e exceptions. To one of these exceptions we
would draw attention because it may bring a
measure of peace and comfort into some hearts
that are sore. We have before us an example
from the Scripture of at least one chastisement
that, even during its continuance, was a joy and
blessing to the sufferer. It was such a joy and
blessing that we doubt whether?if an offer of
instant relief had been made?whether he would
have coi sen ted to be at once set free from the
suffering. Such a picture, bearing the imprimatur
of Go . himself, may be a comfort to many a
reader.
The sufferer was Zacharias, a priest in the days
just before Jesus, and later the father of
John the Baptist. He had been praying, praying
earnestly, either for a son, or for the coming
of the Messiah. The Angel Gabriel came to
him in the temple and gave him the promise of a
son?of a son who should be the child of his old
age, regenerate from birth, consecrated as a
Nazarite, a preacher of wonderful power, a
preacher blessed with many conversions, and the
forerunner of the Messiah.
In the spirit of unbelief, Zacharias replied,
' Whereby shall I know this?"
Gabriel answered, "Because thou beiievest
not'' therefore 4 4 thou shalt be dumb and not able
to speak, until the day that these things shall
be performed." Here we have
I. TILE FACT OF TliE CHASTISEMENT.
Not all sufferings are chastisements. The sufferings
of Christ were not. In Revelation 2:10,
we lead, "Behold the devil shall cast some of
you into prison, that ye may be tried;" in which
trial rather than chastisement seems to be in the
mind ol the Saviour. But Gabriel told Zacharias
that his suffering was chastisement. And it was
severe suli u-ing. To be suddenly rendered both
deaf and dumb; to suffer it not in private, but
publicly; to feel that for the present it was incurable;
and that it must continue for months;
to feel that it was the seal of God's displeasure;
to find himself thereby cut off from occupation as
teacher; and cut off (because of a physical defect),
from administrations at the altar?all thi3
made the chastisement severe.
U. THE OCCASION OP THE CHASTISEMENT.
The occasion of it was not what men call a
great sin. It was not murder, or lying, or theft,
or Sabbath breaking. It was simply unbelief.
The words of Gabriel are, "Because thou believest
not."
The reader will notice that God puts this, his
protest against unbelief, right at the beginning
of the New Testament record. It is as if he were
saying to each of us, that if we believe not, we
may expect like dealings from God. We may
fancy that unbelief is a small sin; at this point
God throws on it the searchlight of his Word, and
causes us to see that in his sight it is a grave
matter.
Especially- is this message timely at the
present day, when so many men within the
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ministry, are questioning this part of the "Word,
either the book of Daniel or of Genesis, or Isaiah.
On the part of Zacharias, God demanded faith,
even although the angel was promising what
seemed contrary to the laws of nature; on the
part of men of the present day, God demands
faith in his revealed word.
m. THE BLESSINO CONTAINED IN THE CHASTISE4'
MENT.
And now we come to the peculiarity of this
) U T H (51) 3
chastisement, that the blessing was not only to
follow alter the chastisement, but was to be
found within it.
1. It was natural for Zachanas, or for Elizabeth,
or lor any that heard of the occurrence to
question whether the temple occurrences were a
fact or whether perhaps it was a dream or an
imagination. The dumbness was, to him and to
all, an attestation of the reality of what he had
seen and heard in the temple. The reality of the
dumbness was a proof of the reality of the message
and the promise.
2. The dumbness assured him that the speaker,
Gabriel, was really a messenger from God with
power and authority to deliver this message.
The same power that sent the loss of speech is
able to fullil the promise of a son of the old age,
and of the early coming of the Messiah, lie was
made sure that the message was divine.
J. The dumbness made liini see his sin of unbeuei
Oejore it had been indulged to the extent
of hardness of heart. When the chastisement of
David for his sin with Bathsheba was deferred,
the heart of David was so hardened that at Nathan's
lirst message the king showed no conscience
of sin. The early chastisement of Zacharias
saved him from this fearful evil, it led the
sulferer to immediate penitence and pardon and
to the joy of restoration to the favor of God.
Would Zacharias have been willing to be deprived
of this?
4. The dumbness of Zacharias added to the
future mduence and usefulness of his son, John
the Baptist. When, thirty years later, John
began to announce that the Messiah will be here
within a year, the crowds would naturally stop
and ask whether this was a real message from
God, or only the ravings of an enthusiast. This
dumbness gives an elfective answer. John's birth
was in fulfillment of a special message from God;
liis message was appointed by God thirty years
ago, and the immediate dumbness of Zacharias
and the sudden restoration of his hearing and
his power of speech is the best possible attestation
that this John has been sent by God to deliver
this message. No wonder that with this attestation,
John was enabled to turn the hearts of the
fathers to the children, and to turn "many of
the children of Israel unto God," tneir Saviour.
Even in the period of his suffering Zacharias
could see that his suffering was to be the future
attestation of the message of his son John.
IV. AND THEN ' ' AFTERWARD.''
"Afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of
righteousness." When the day of the circumcision
of the child arrived, the chastisement was
released. Then what ?
During the months of his suffering Zacharias
has learned to be poor in spirit. But blessed are
the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
neaven.
lie has gained a nearness to God beyond anything
in his former experiences.
He has discovered that God always answers
prayer. But more; he has learned that the
answer which God plans is immeasurably richer
than are our petitions. Zacharias had prayed for
a son of ordinary character and opportunities.
God has given him (1) a son of his old age; (2)
a son of heavenly promise; (3) a son of special
usefulness in his own day in converting sinners;
(4) a son whose influence should be felt directly.
not indirectly, through all generations to the end
of the world; (5) a son who should bless not only
the Israelites, but every nation on earth, and (6)
a son who should have the honor of being the
forerunner of the Messiah himself. "Yes,
"after" the chastisement, Zacharias enjoyed the
fruitage of his suffering in a manner that may
give us occasion to ponder. "For whom the Tjorii
loveth, he chasteneth."