Georgia Historic Newspapers

    THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN.
•ATTBDAT, rfBXVAIT % M*
THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
_ By REV. JAMES W, LEE,
PASTOR TRINITY METHODIST CHURCH
God we know through the thought
He bu expreeeed In the thing! He hu
made. Oar tawiMn o( Him to veri
fiable and universally valid, for we
can pat It to the teat In practical llfa
* Intelligence upon
By the reaction of
the perception! he hae of nature, man
knowa that be Onda the thought put
Into It by the divine mind, beeauee be
can re-embody It in outward forma.
Man aharae In the mind of God or alee
he could not read what He hae writ
ten. He knowa God In eo far aa the
thought expreteed In nature and hu-
ilty enable! him to recognise what
mtfitrr
He thlnke. Whan the reason reacts
upon the perceptions the reader has ot
the printed page, and gets Ideas of
David Copperfleld. he may be sure that
he knows Just as much of Dickens as
be has revealed of his thought In his
story.
When nature and man are correctly
understood we can look through them
directly Into the mind of the author ot
both. Through "Ivanhoe," "The Heart
of Midlothian" and "Kenilworth" we
look Into the mind of Sir Walter Scott,
and at the same time Into our own
mind. God's two great books are man
and nature and through them we can
know Just as much of His nature as
He reveals In them. The knowledge
of the Author of these great volumes
Is gained after exactly the same fash
ion foUowed to get knowledge of their
cootents. When we open the book
of nature, to learn of It we have Intui
tions of the author of It. When we
open the book of human life to learn
nr It ere also have Intuitions of Its au
thor. All knowledge begins with Intui
tions and In all ages along with the
perceptions man has bad of nature and
of himself be has had cognitions of
God.
The reason Is equally as capable of
putting together into general Ideas and
conceptions, the separate perceptions
the mind has of God. as It Is of form
ing general Ideas of the separate per
ceptions It has of the world or of man.
To deny this Is to deny that Ood exists,
and to deny tnat He exists when man
In all ages and climates und In all
stages of culture has lieen perceiving
Him, Is to accuse the human race ot
mental derangement. And If humanity
Is craey In that It has perpetually be
lleved Itself to have had a vision of the
Creator wheu In fact there has been
no divine being to see. then Its denials
or affirmations are without the slight
est value.
Man's knowledge of Ood Is valid and
verifiable and therefore science, be
cause be la endowed In a finite sense
with the very attribute? of God. and
not only forms Idea* out of the Impres
sions received from matter, thus get
ting Into hie mind the thought of the
Almighty, but he la capable of em
bodying his Ideas again In the very
matter from which he received them.
Handel hears the music the* Is tangled
and mixed In the roar of the eea, or
the howling of the winds, -or In the
fury of the hurricane. H) organises
them In his mind, be reduces them to
the measure and rhythm of melodv.
Then ha goes to the organ and sends
them forth In vibrations finer and moiu
thrilling than they ever were before.
The music the winds stitke from the
trees, and the waters call from the
rocks and the seas oeut out of the
cliffs and the lightnings split from the
forests Is not to be compared with that
Ood makes through man. When the
notes fall obt of the seas and the shores
and the woods and the minerals Into
the responsive, susceptlnle souls of the
masters and are so grasped by them
that they know ho*- to sport with them
and thro*- them back In oratorios and
anthems, then we have the raw mate
rial of music as Ood prepared It clari
fied and refined In consciousness and
multiplied In depth and helghth by all
the Joy and sorrow, hope and despair,
love and tragedy of human history.
Then It Is that even great battles. In
which men's souls were tried, with their
triumphs’and their defeats, are con
verted Into song. The Infinite scale
of harmony takes finite form In the
human soul and the thunder of the
world's trouble is pulverised Into the
undulations of melody. Through the
violin a consecrated son of toll like
Stradlvartus translates the pain and an
guish of life Into hymns of victory.
Paderewski stations a piano between
himself and the flaming suns and
demonstrates hie aonshlp to the author
of all harmony. By means of his In
struments he describes to the eyes
called ears the vast landscapes, the
deep valleya the wondrous mountains
stretching away to Infinity within the
unmeasurable territory of the human
spirit.
Man can crave aesthetic Joys no
sweeter than he can find In an atmos
phere beat Into rhythmic agitation by
the waves which roll In from the spir
itual depths of the great composers.
When measured pulsations from seas
of harmony rise around his anxious
heart he ceases to argue and to ques
tion. He give* himself up to the dlryc-1
lion the currant Is moving. He find? j
himself floating out from the shores
where h* was confined and tempted
and almost ruined and voyaging to- !
ward the country of his Ideals and hie I
aaarfullne hnssia Pnv dftam lima kalssw '
everlasting homo. For the time being!
be la caught and quieted and soothed. I
and, while he knows he Is drifting, yet,
hie conscience approves, for he It com- j
fortad by the conviction that he is
moving toward no dangerous rocks or 1
unfriendly coasts, but straight toward j
the harbor he was ordained from be-
"Somewhere In the distant purple seas
A golden isle to gleaming:
Where anchor all the argosies
We tend out In our dreaming."
"The tidal wave ot deeper souls.
Into our Inmost being rolls
And lifts us unawares
Out of all meaner cares."
It I* a long way from the tom-tom • f
the savage to the piano of the modern
performer, und from the Incantations
of the Indian snake dance to the meas
ured precision of the ore he* Ira, but a
comparison of this kind shows how far
man has .traveled since he began *o
breaths and how completely he has
brought with him the whole realm if
sound. The savage with his crude de
vice for agitating the atmosphere was
Beethoven before he learned to manip
ulate the Instrument from which to
strike the Ninth Symphony. This no
ble expression of harmony we call
divine, because we can not resist ths
Impression that from the soprre of all
melody It came
"Our soula are organ pipes of divers
stops
And various pitch: each with Ite proper
note#
Thrilling beneath the eelf-tame breath
of God.
Though poor alone, yet Jclned are
harmony."
That eubllme form of beauty to
which la given the name of architec
ture, Illustrates the difference between
marble lying In the mountain and the
same material after man has lifted it
Into the Parthenon. The temple of vir
tue on the Acropolis at Athega Is but
the extematlxatlon of the spirit of
Though Hs la so bright and we am so
dim.
We are made In Hie Image to wtti
Hun."
"Are copies of the things In beai
mors eloss.
Mom clear, more near, more Intricately
linked
Mom subtle than men guess."
Before the temple at Athens and
ths church at Cologne all minds aur-
-render. Nothing can be conceived
finer la classic or gothic architecture.
• They exhaust ths subjects thay Ittus-
; irate and embody.
. Whether from the standpoint of the
’ one or the other, each may be said to
he an expression of ths mind of Ood.
For man. created In Ihe Image of Ood.
whom mind Is a finds copy of Ihs mind
of God. knows not and nsvtr can know
better how to express himself In tem
ples of stone made with hand*
When man Is contemplated as ths
highway of the divine mind, through
whose sensibility and reason and re
productive powers God Is completing
creation. w« get a conception of him
unspeakably great. Through him God
subllmhte* and refines all malarial
things. Through him rooks pass up
• Into HI Petsra at Roms, coloring mat
REV. JAMES W. LEE.
Phidias. It stood In him before u ever
took the form of stone, and the form
of It was In Ihe eternal mind before II
was In the mind of Phidias The pile
ot magnificence on the Rhine at Co
logne Is but a majestic stone expres
sion of the soul of Melster Gerard, who
designed It six hundred and thirty
years before It was completed. He sew
It more than half a thousand years be
fore the Emperor William and Ihe sov
ereign princes of the German empire
did on ths day of Its dedication. In
mo. But the sketch of the Cologne
cathedral waa In the Infinite mind be
fore It was ever In the thought of
Melster Gerard
'Take all In a word: the truth In God's
breast
Lies trace for trace upon ours Im
pressed :
ter ascends Into ihe transfiguration of
Raphael, aound Is lifted Into Haydn's
•'Creation,' 1 words are converted Into
Tennyson's "In Memorlsm." Iron Is
turned Into mowers snd reapers and
sisam engine*. and th» planet la
changed from a wilderness Into a gar
den. And all this Is owing tr> the fart
that man by means of intuition and
reason has organised the Ideas of God
Into science, and then by the construc
tive powers of the mind has re-embod-
led them In the objects of creation. He
not only receives the world Into him
self, he also sends II back from him
self with hts own Image and super
scription stamped upon It. He Is not
only a knower; he Is also a creator. He
not only perceives and conceives, he
eleo reproduces snd constructs. He
knows and does In a finite way what
the Author of hts being knows and does
In an Infinite way. Traveler* passing
from Vienna to 8t. Petersburg change
cars on the borders of Russia. This Is
made necessary by the difference In
gauge of the railway lines from those
outside the empire. But when materiel
objects, plants and animals arrive at
the border lines separating the ktog-
from the Kingdom of
could net possibly bays say i
It. The veritable knowledge we
Ml «f sensation and
of nature
man they are not under the necessity
even of changing cars Along tbs
earns highways of trsvel they pass
over from one domain Into the other.
The constitution of the human mind
corresponds to ths constitution of na
ture. for both are expressions of tha
divine mind. Being one In their ort-, In n garden to n literal copy ef thera
gin. when they come together they as to the linage on the plots of a pho-
i thought they <
A syetim of tram In
with nod Identical with the
Th«r average man th
coalesce snd cooperate In the prodne-l
tlon of science, which Is n revelation of
Ood. being fashioned by our
reacting upon the things of nature
God has sent to stimulate It and stir
ft to activity. Science as universally
valid and verifiable knowledge la not
created, but constructed by the intelli
gence out ot elements through which
the Creator egpreeses Hie thought, as
cloth la not created, but woven by the
loom out of cotton produced In the
fields. The- house of knowledge the
mind builds by reaction upon the tim
bers which compose It does not re-
semble the pile of mental lumber out
of which It le fashioned. The raw ma-
tarsl of the rational dwelling place
consists of sills and planks end raft
ers. cut out of logs by the sawmill, but
these do not become the finished home
until by the activity of sensation and
reason they are lifted Into the form
of the architect's Idea. When the
house Is completed It Is not a photo
graph of the trees from which It le
framed, but It must resemble the
thought of e house contained In Ihe
universal mind that expressed Itself
through the forests and through the
reason of man. If this were not true
man would be able to find more In hie
reaeon to turn them Into a shelter from
the storm than the mind back of alt
things provided for. A house le the
result of a combination between the
reason of man and the thought ex
pressed In the groves, it le totally
unlike the materials of which It le
composed, but In so far SB it Is an ex
pression at correct principles, the Ideal
form of |t must be the same both In
the finite and the Infinite mind. If
■he universal mind repeats itself on a
limited scale In the mind of man. then
It must follow that whatever la true
In the one la true In the other, and
that whatever Is beautrful In the one
beautiful In the other, and that
whataver Is good In the one la good In
the other. It le not the world we see
and hear and taste and touch that we
translate Into science, but It Is the un
derlying thought expreeeed In It end
through It. If It embodied no mind we
tographer the literal copy of a manto
There Is as much difference kn
ead miss aa
they grow oat of Urn ground and eaafc
aa tha sensation And reason of tlm
•dentist reacts apaa and replants to
hie Imagination as then to between
trees tn the woods had houses on the
streets. Blossoms without stlmulats
ths senses of sight and smell end thus
do become the bam element* of ta*|^
patch of beauty and fragrance trans
planted by the student at plants into
thought There could be no Interior
without the exterior powers, but one to
a different kind from the other, as to
a brilliant Persian rug (mm wool oa
a sheep's back. The significance of
science to found In the fact that It Is
the thought of God organised Into ho-,
roan thought It to sections of omatoi
science man has transferred into hie
own mind. When one thoroughly mas
ters "The Critique of Pure fUsson."
he translates from the words to which
Kent embodied hto conception of th*
universe. Into hto own mind. If such
e person could visualise hto Ida* at
the sum of things gained tor a close |
study of the Critique It would be Meae-I
tlcal with that of the Koenlgsborgt
glOod creates the honeysuckle, bloo-
»nm through the honeysuckle bush.
The plant Is completely paaatvo and
Interposes no obstacle to the dlvtoa!
process of making that radiant little!
Item of the Southern woods. So, wheal
men unconditionally consecrate them-)
selves tn the divine thought expressed
In nature, and to the divine will active
In nature and tn the divine beauty dee- •
orating nature and discovers them
end repents them, we may nay that tha!
objects tn which they are reproduced i ?
•rs at the same time expressions of'
tbs divine and the human mind. It
waa the deep coovtctloa of the old vto-
lln maker of Cremona, Antonio Strad-
evlri. that God chose him ee on* to*
etrument through which to make vlo.fl
I Ins. George Eliot represents him JM
being ridiculed by one of hto nelghbora
because of his de ' ‘ ' mm*
and saying to him:
cc
THE SOUL OF FOLK
Text: Matthew ix; 36: "But when
Hs saw the multitude He wee moved
with compassion on them.”
I i
By REV. JOHN E. WHITE,
JL
PASTOR SECOND BAPTIST CHURCH
-iL
T HERE are two accounts of this
Incident, one by Matthew and
one by Mark. Both agree In the
statement of fact that "when He be
held the multitude He was moved with
compassion.'
How did they know that Christ was
moved? He did not say *o. It la an
Interesting question end not unlmpor.
tauL 1
It may have been communicated to
them by the Holy Spirit. 'These men
wrote as they were moved along by
the Holy Ghost." The sympathy of two
worlds met In Jesus. Every .throb of
His human heart has Its heavenly
thrill. That great thronging, suffering
multitude waa mirrored through ths
Incarnate One In the heart of Father,
Bon and Holy Ghost. Ths divine love
brooded wherever the son of man halt,
ed. Heaven eonverred her tenderness
In Him. When He beheld the multi
tude Hie compassion aa a fact became
an event of spiritual history, to be
brought later Into the conecloueneee
of those disciples as they recalled the
scene end came to write a» they were
"moved along by the Holy Ghost.”
They wrote aa eye-witnesses. They
saw with thalr own human eyesight
that Christ waa moved. His emotion,
possibly His tears, certainly a great
stirred.face of compassion they saw.
This Is the simpler, plainer explana
tion. and It leaves no necessity for ap
pealing tn tt|* first.*
Christ was visibly moved. The words
translated "moved with compassion"
originally Imply a powerful feeling.
They mean more than a pitying glance,
more then a passing sentiment of In
terest and kindness. They suggest a
moving experience, accompanied with
physical expression. Christ wee manl-
fectly moved with compaselon.
It la well for those who discredit
and despise the emotional In religion
to take note of this. They do not Ilka
the man who wears his heart on hie
sleeve. Well, Chrlet wore Hie there.
A gentlemen said that years ago he
went to Dundee to the home of Robert
Murray McCheyne, who died when only
It years of age. and for whom all
Scotland wept. An old man took him
Into McCheyne’s study end drew
chair for him and said: "Sit down In
this chair and draw ii up to that table
and pul your elbows down upon the
table snd rest your head upon your
hands. Now, let your tears fall. That
Is the way my pastor used to do."
Then he took him into the church. Into
the pulpit and he said: "Stand here
and pul your elbows down on the pul
pit and let your Mad rest upon your
hands and let the tears fall. That la
the way my pastor used to do."
There are Christian teachers who
disparage appeals to the heart and
gtve an Inferior place to those who
appeal to It. There are critics who do
not conceal their contempt tor the
preacher who urges, persuades and
passionately exhorts. Very well. There
le a danger, but It le not aa greet aa
their danger. Longfellow said: "That
Is no sermon for me In which I can
not hear the heart beat." Daniel Web.
ater said he preferred the country
preacher who spoke tearfully to Daniel
Webster, the sinner, to the city pastor
who spoke learnedly to Daniel Web
ster. the statesman. I doubt not be
tween th* Intellectual, logical, scien
tific and philosophical man In Ihe pul
pit or In Ihe pew and the man whose
heart Is quick, coming readily to tears
as he beholds suffering and sin. and
who 1s strong In his lender sensibili
ties, whose power le mostly heart pow
er. that the balance of Christ -likeness
will fall wtlh Ihe latter. .
Now, II Is this quality In Christ that
charms us. Hla compassion explains
His power. The heart of Christ Is Hie
secret of His Influence. H|e gentleness
made men great and they followed and
loved Him. The world of friends
which our Lord holds In the hollow of
Hie hand are under the magic of Hla
sympathy. This was the profound fact
understood by Him and enacted Into a
great working principle by Him when
He said: "And L If I be lifted up. will
draw all men unto me." An Impressive
comment upon this was given by Na
poleon. On 8t. Helena He amd: "Alex
ander. Charlemagne and myself have
founded great empires. We founded
them upon force and they have crum
bled. Jesus Christ founded a kingdom
and He founded It upon love. Today,
though He has been dead eighteen
hundred years, there are millions who
would die for Him."
It was the sympathising Jesus who
took twslvs unlettered fishermen and
moulded them into master spirits,
was a miracle of compassion. The
scheme of that kingdom which Chrlet
preached organised Itself around God's
heart. The supreme energy of It la
grace. Its chief figure Is that of a
Lamb. Its gospel Is a simple love story
Of a great God who so loved the world
as to give His only begotten son.
Ths Fatherhood of God.
More clearly than In any preceding
age are men realising that sympathy,
compassion, love are the mein force of
the Christian dlapensailnn. Jeaua Christ
IS Just being understood ns the expres
sion of Ood'e fatherhood In the terms
of Hie sonthlp. In Him we see whet
men have not always seen—the Father.
Therefore, heaven was never as near or
so dear to this world ns It le today, and
Ood never meant so much tn men as He
does today, because love la aaeumlng
Hs throne over religion and life. Jeans
Christ Is making God's love, the great
est thing In heaven, to be also the
greatest thing In the world. Thus earth
REV. JOHN E. WHITE.
le lifted heavenward and heaven
brought to earth/
II le by and by the truth of Ihe
fatherhood of God that will regulate
the march of humanity False Ideas
of fatherhood, the parental relation
wrongly conceived and mischievously
unbalanced has for a time prejudiced
Ihe truth In our eyes. But we are com
ing out of that. After a while we will
not be found saying that God must do
and be a certain way because an earth
ly father would do that way. but we
will be agreeing that earthly fathers
must correct their conduct by the con
duct pt the Father In heaven. Com
passion le not weakness. The sympa
thy that distinguished Christ was u
keen as a sword. He had compassion
upon Ihe multitude. This Included the
Pharisees, but fresh on the air were
words of burning Invective against
thalr whole cult of strained righteous
ness. It Is the compassionate Christ
that themes me moat. "Depart from
me. for 1 am a sinful man, oh, Lord."
It le Hla love that lashes. It Is Hit
ernes that breaks my heart. The wrath
ihet we shell dread moat Is the wrath
of the Lamb, which It only to say that
Ihe compassion of Jesus. His pro
found sympathy. His perfect IdentRy
with men tn thetr greatest experiences
and His grace end mercy will be our
severest judgment.
What Moved Christ.
tVhat did Christ see in the multitude
that stirred 111m so deeply? It was
the multitude Itself X great crowd
Is e most Impressive spectacle. II Is
calculated to move the coldest heait
and uulrken the most sluggish pulse.
A vast compact agxreasttnn of human
belnas gathered together for any pur
pose will suggest Ihe most solemn re
flections. When Xerxes beheld his Im
mense army, history tells us that he
hurst Into tears, reflecting that with
himself In a few short years not one
man of them all would he upon Ihe
earth Christmas Evans, the gr*at
Welch preacher, when he at ood before
Ihe ten thousand people who had gath
ered to hear him preach to the fields,
waa by the sight so moved that ha
crowded his sermon Into one word.
"Eternity," repeated solemnly thirty
times over, till the air eras full of Ihe
cries and prayers of tho people.
'And when He beheld the multitude
He^wia mured with compassion." Ob. recorded of Christ tn this
the power and the pathos of a great
throng! Our Lord felt that and mors
deeply than we eon. •
The Value ef a toal
The supreme Incentive of Christ's
compassion was the soul of a man. Ex
aggeration la impossible when we seek
to measure Its value In his eyes. "He
must needs go through Samaria." Why
"needs"" Just for one soul and that of
a despised woman and she to an adu.
teress. His estimate of a soul's value
was the co-ordinating principla of Hto
method In every conduct ot His Ilfs.
In the theory snd practice of Hie min
istry. Hie patience with such a men
as Peter. Hie purposeful alignment on
the side of the outcast. His fellowship
with publicans snd sinners, the leaning
of /His life Inward tho lower moral
levels of humanity and His tendency
tn consort with the discredited sections
of society ere to be explained only by
the fan that Christ saw deeper that
men saw through their painted glasses,
and valued men by the unaaeeatable
quality called “soul."
Why Is It that Christ to loved by th*
rich end Ihe great now* Why le II that
the whole upper cruel of exclusive so
ciety does not throw Him overboard,
ostracise Him aaf disassociate Itself
from the cause of Christ on account of
His plainly writ disregard of the con
ventional classifications of society? It
le because they know that after all He
waa right, eternally right, and they are
wrong, except aa they acknowledge the
value of an Immortal soul under what
soever covering of fine linen or ng It
may beat.
Tha richest man. the most aristocrat
ic man. If he Is a Christian, would not
change the conduct and the course her*
Ihe could. The^l
the Christian religion as It deals purely
on Ihe level of human conditions. Is
Christ's valuation of the soul of every
man. Thsnk God He knew what was
In men and that there was more In
Him than seamed to ha. When Christ
said: "What than It profit • an rl
he gain the whole world sad lose hto
own soul?" He gave a heart to th* final
rial:
win come at last to raalto* the u
age. All true compassion, nil real east
to help end save men must be kindled
at this fire In the heart of Ood—the I
realised value of the human *ouL Th* |
Christian worker must come here t*
be touched with a coal oft this altar..
You will go out Into the highways and
hedges only aa you realise there’s I
something there worth going tor. Ton:
will work and pray for tho unsaved j
exactly to the level of your ballet In.
Ihe value and the peril of their soula.!
the direction of others and did not*
blase you and society at OIL still to!
there enough In the soul to move you!
with compassion." It may bo a little
thing lo save a man. hut It Is every
thing to the man saved.
"He that wlnneth soula to wise."
There are many things wo need to I
know and many things we may know,
but one thing, may God’s spirit let as I
ell know as the Scripture salth: "Let I
him know that ha which coororteth the
sinner from the error of hto way shall i
save a soul from death and shall hide a
multitude ot sins."
CHRIST'S MESSAGE TO THE DISCOURAGED
By REV. EVERETT DEAN ELLENWOOD,
PASTOR UNIVERSAL1ST CHURCH
O NE of the most Insidious tees to
human progress is discourage
ment The man who Is In most
genuine need of pity I* th* one for
whom hope has ceased to beckon. Our
cate Is never desperate so long ns we
believe In God. In ourselves, In the
worth end dignity of our work, and In
the fundamental Integrity of our fel
lows. So long as this saving faith re
main* we may successfully repel all
assaults from without, end restrain the
mutinous forces within our spiritual
being.
But there comes n lime, perhaps,
when tome long cherished and faithful
ly fostered scheme meets temporary
defeat, and we egperience that sudden
rhllling of ardor and enthusiasm which
we have named disappointment.
Then there perches unbidden upon
our shoulders a persistent little imp
of the spiritual underworld, refusing to
be Immediately dislodged, but contin
uing with ue ee we go about our ac
customed task of the day. And Into
"ur ear he whispers continually hie
suggestions of the miserable uncertain-
<y of the outcome of all human effort,
'he entire unreliability of the average
man. and the frithltaaneae of the fates
which hold In their power the weal or
woe of the race. At first we utterly
refuse to listen, but by hto very per-
"Isience he finally wins an audience,
end then the work of the destroyer has
begun. He fella you that you are dis
couraged, and at first you stoutly and
laughingly deny It. but at last hl»
wheedling tones of commiseration win
vnu. and you agree heartily wjth your
tormentor, that you have good cause
for your discouragement
' >ne of the' hem places In view Ihe
finished product of this subtle Imp of
darkness, to In th* office or reading
room of any one of the . heap lodging
houses of any of our cities, one of
those establishment* which exist as
the refuge of the "down and out” club
and offer a place to sleep and a break
fast for ten cents Here In the hope-
leas or cynlc.il, or vicious faces, and
drooping shoulder.* und ihuffllnf
movements of the crowds of men who
patronise these plans, one may read
the Incarnate no nage of that spirit of
destruction which l» able In persuade
men lo become discouraged And as
the eyee behold nnd Ihe soul perceives,
tho yearning, pllvlng. Indignant heart
•ends rill » nilshly.prayer tn the God
of hope nfio ot power that some fn-
vlndble Influence shall he furnished to
Slav this demon of the lowest hell who
robs Ihe world of Ihe best efforts of
men. Shu's hope and destroy* happi
ness «nd hides by Ihe shadow of hit
presence. Ihe radiant hill lops of aspi
ration No genuine prayer Is ever un
answered Behold! Ihe only anewer lo
everv sincere prayer of the human soul
stands, already knocking, at the door.
The 8avior of the World. .
Would that fhe world might forget
It* monstrous theological fiction of a
primal "fall" and the consequent end
less agony Of an Inherited depravity!
would that the terrifying crackle of
the Imaginary flames of n future hell
were not so powerful to make men In
different lo Ihe cure of the hells which
hum unheeded and unchecked In hu
man hearts today! Then we should
lake Jesus at Ills word and eagerly ac.
cent Him a* a present Savior of a
present w-nrld We should be able then
to understand that when He declares
Ills mission lo be lhat of ihe brlnger
of more abundant life, mean* a life
which mav be lived and enjnywi by the
n^i and women who walk Ihe paths
of th** world and share In IU toll* and
its triumph*.
It 1* small wonder that so many men
of logical minds and unstulttflad reason
refuss to recognise the claims of Chris
tianity upon their live*, when wo re
flect that so large a percent*** of th«>M
who speak for It present It an th* aaf*st
and surest tempo from a threatened
evil, existent only In myth-fed Imagi
nations. while they apparently regard
as only Incidental Ite operation against
the actu.il evils of today. It la aa
though a man up to hla neck In a
quicksand should be told by the eym
pathetic passer-hv that his present
plight, taough .possibly uncomfortable.
Is not really Important, but that the
vital thing is that he should be told
how to avoid the foreet Are which It Is
rumored la fiercely burning beyond the
distant range of mountains.
The world will not be saved and
Christ will not con* Into Hla own In
th# hearts of men until we can recover
from our mad pasaton for dealing In
theological ‘’futurities.**
Christ s mission to the world Is that
of a present savior for living, strug
gling souls, rather than that of a a.ife
Insurance against a future conflagra
tion And he who saves his brother
from discouragement has rescued an
Immortal soul from hell and put his
feet upon the road to heaven He who
revives dormant hope and quickens
anew the courage and stimulates the
will, hns performed Indeed a miracle
wonderful and as precious to the
wledge of men as though he opened
the gates of the grave and bade the
dead come forth
The only salvation from discourage
ment Is through the life, not by the
death of Jesus of Nasareth.
Ths Promise ef Victory.
Yet In the very statement of the
means by which we are to achieve the
virtory of Chrlst’a promise, there !*
REV. E. 0. ELLENWOOD.
for some, the suggestion of disappoint-
msnt. Thrist offers to the world the
only certain cure for the deadly dis
ease of dls< oiiiMgement. vet for many
the remedy proves, at first, too narolr
release front the conflict le*offered
safe hi»\* u provided for t’.e craven
soul Coincident wfth the assurance ..f
triumph f »r the surging spl’lt of aspi
ration thei»* Is ahm the calm and de-
liberal** promise of the persistence of
*f th** •dements i»f disc turag«Mitent
primrose path to i^-rfe. tlon Is
pointed out. No rn**»-gar*an<tetl avenue
of escape from the worries and frete
ami care* of life I* made clcax to us.
We arc not to be permitted to win our
battles by running away from them
We .ire not to be made strong by ab
staining from toll. The obligation* of
the earth Ilfs are still strong upon us.
and it of them we are to win the J
and the peace of heaven.
Ami here Is Just Ihe difficulty of the
actual acceptance of the Christian life
by ths averags Christian It Is so
much eaaler to quarrel about the ort*
f in of Chrlat than It Is to follow Him
t is so much more to our liking to
search diligently far evidence to sup
port ••ur own spertal theory i«%arrttng
Ills parentage than It Is to bring about
that ’ hanged life which constitutes be.
lief In Him Undoubtedly we would.
In the rtrst domination of our weakness
and our selfishness, prefer that Christ
had promise*! unending bliss snd
perfei t peace as the Immediate result
of our intellectual acceptance of Him.
Then we should all lw ready to say,
"Lord. I believe ‘ Christ puts no pre
mium upon selfishness and latlness,
but pointa rather lo their complete
overthrow.
In the world, ye shall have tribu
lation but be of.good cheer. I have
overcome the world " This is the cheer
ing message of the Favior of men. and
this Is the method by which He pro.
poses to effect salvation for many a*
are able to accept his g>u*pel And
this plain, simple statement of life's
greatest truth has been perverted and
distorted by multitudes ?f men In an
effort to palliate spiritual laxlnees and
find a short cut to happiness
The Help of the Human Jeaua.
It Is only aa we are able to think of
him ns a man spe.iklng t > men. that
Jeaua Is able to bring to us the cur* for
discouragement, for It Is onlv in this
understanding that Ills wonts have
reallv any deep meaning for you and
for me. Wa can understand without
any difficulty. Just what H* means
when He assures ua that In the world
tribulation will forever await us. We
have found It to be even eo. and the
statement only confirms our eipecta-
tione. Ilut In our hearts no answer
ing thrill of triumphant hope follows
Hla cheering assurance that He hae
"overcome the world," unless In our
minds there la the firm conviction that
He hae entered completely Into our ex
periences. that Hla was Indeed a human
life, like unto our very own. that Hie
aspirations. Ills longings. His passions.
Ill* Impulses, were the same as those
wWch 'wage such continual warfare In
ttie breast* of Hla brothers who tool*
t >dav the Joy# and sorrows of the life
of earth Jesus can not bring to us the
cure for discouragement unless we are
able to believe that He. too. knew at
timee the full horror of its power
To conceive of disappointment having
residence In the heart of deity la to
drive the human mind back Into the
gloomy wilderness of snthropomorph
lam. nnd put a clog upon the prog
ress of Intelligent worship. The Idea
of a discouraged Hod Is an attempt to
harmonise* two distinctly different
ideas. It is a philosophical Impooslblll-
ty. and the onlv result of such an at
tempt Is intellectual confusion
Therefore. It is to the human Jeaua.
rather than to the theological Christ, lo
whom we shell come with confidence
for the cure fv«r discouragement. It la
to thejnsn who wept over Jerusalem,
whose heart was saddened by the faith-
lessness of Hi* close followers In the
hour of His direct need, who cried out
In the terrible agony of His momentary
despair. “My Ood’ My Ood’ Why Raat
TRaii fnrefilfAR \le»’" ll Ifi ttlffi lii'lAFW
Th<>u forsakon Mr’" it le Hie victory
that must b* our hope Our half-
hearted attempt, lo approximate the
Meals for which He lived, for which
grasp whet He meant when He MU. J
"Be ot good cheer. 1 have overcome the |
world!" The ehrinhtng. timid eewl be. ,
cornea brave end hea the boldneee to
force Itself to eey and believe "beeauee
He le my brother, a man like myealt [
therefore I ran do what He hae done."
Patiently men do are lake up our
teak of mattering Hie raethoda and ap.
plying them to the needs of our own
Uvea We ceaae to ask Him lo touch
our soul* end heal them of thalr dis
eases. but humbly do w» desire to he
taught tha leeeone of ocr telvaMon. W*
begin to lean. that he who ova room**
the world la be who matter* R. nor he
who deetroy* or who fonakee It. Wt
begin to learn lhat heaven I* not roach,
ed nor to hotl escaped merely by get
ting away from lb* earth, we learn,
too. that tho world which Christ over-
came, and which He can help u* to
overcome, I* not th* world without, but
tho world within, tho world which w*
can no mor* tecepo than wo may hop#
to oacapo our own touts. And perhaps
our Aral conacloue victory will be when
wo have sufficiently overcome aetfleh-
neet to forget our frantic effort* for
tho salvation of our own souls. In our
effort* to bring heaven to the hearts of
other ~
And than will dtecouraga-
ment become for ua an Impossibility,
for aa wa shall dwell In our thoughts
mor* and Mato Upon the environment
and the circumstance, of tha oaly per.
feet human Ilf* yet lived apon the earth
a* shall be ashamed to be dleeaurggsA
Born In a stable, reared in poverty,
forever an autre.' and the object of
suspicion among those for whoan He
set: It He upon that btack hill of tha
three email* could stUI have hog*,
what right ha* any man at ua to toe*
—gel