March 1927
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T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
untouched the beast. These are his fundamental possess ions which established him in a domain of his own and elevate him to a.pedestal far above his earthly associates, and these are the factors upon which we rely to sustain our position that man is not an accident, but a creature of special creation moulded by an intelligent, designing and omnipotent Creator. Man’s transcendent position at the top of world activ ity has been attained by his superlative performance of mind and soul made possible by his distinct and superla tive endowments; and his abiding responsiveness to his self-activity, and his continued reaching toward his Cre ator, both made possible by the God-breath within him, must forever establish him in a domain apart—a king of earth, but a God-equipped pilgrim, ever traveling upward to the realm beyond, so long as he walks in the truth.
does not owe his supremacy to physical prowess, primitive superstitions or modern conjectures, but to his innate, on- ward-growing, universal religious urge. There will never come a time when man can lay aside his tools of progress and sit in complacent ease upon the top of the world, for if he is to continue to subdue and have dominion over the earth and himself as well, he must needs be active in cultivating the native fertility of mind and soul that have so gloriously kept him in the vanguard of world achievement. M an ’ s .F undamental P ossessions The gift of conscious self-cultivation; the gift of a guiding intelligence leading him on in his world adven ture; the universal urge toward his God are the vital points at which a magnanimous God touched man and left
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The M ystic of Ur B y T he E ditor - in -C h ie f
T HE story of the Mystic U r is outlined in a striking way in a word found in the Epistle to the Hebrews:
from the old world and the old way of life and launched put upon a new method of life, which meant a new and living experience. M ystic M ust B e C ommitted to G od No mystic can go far on the mystic path until he has definitely committed himself to God and His way of life. Abraham did not understand all about the life that he was committed to when he first set out. In fact these words tell us he did not know what it was going to lead to. He knew God and he knew that God knew the way and he was willing to trust Him. This is the essence of saving faith and the thing that makes possible the development of the Christian life. It is the life that Jesus Christ came to make possible to His people. In this life the mystic comes to the second experience of the mystic way. As he walked in the new way he came to know the mind and the will of God and he passed from one experience to another until at last he came to the realization of the full thought of God concerning him. This is usually spoken of in mystic language as the exper ience of illumination and also comes as a result of the obedience to the revealed will of God. The fundamental basis of it is set forth by Jesus Christ when he says, “If any man willeth to do his will he shall know.” This kind of knowledge is the result of a conscious willing to do the will of God and it is the light of life. While Abraham was willing to walk in the will of God he had light, but whenever he turned aside, as in his experience in Egypt and Philistia, he immediately lost the gleam and was plunged into unutterable darkness. I dentification of S oul This light that comes from a life that is obedient to God leads to the third great experience in the mystic way, that of the mystic union or identification of the soul with God. In the case of Abraham, he so walked with God that he came to be known as the friend of God, but this experience meant more than mere friendship. It meant that he was so identified with the purposes and plans of God that he became the father of the faithful in all of the generations to follow. He had intimate fellowship with
“By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out unto a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing whither he went . . . For he looked for the city which hath the foundations, whose builder (or archi tect) and maker is God.” (Hebrews 11 :8 and 10 R. V.)'. . ■ ■. ; ‘
These words contain all the elements of a true mystic life and supply a fairly adequate outline of the life of Abraham. First of all they involve a living knowledge of God, which is the basis of all mysticism. Abraham must have known God and was able to recognize His call and this came in a first hand knowledge of the Eternal. It also means that he must have had a saving experience of God. In the 10th chapter of Hebrews, the 39th verse, we are told the writer of the book and those to whom he was writing were of the company that had faith unto the sav ing of the soul. This saving faith is the faith that is illus trated in this 1 1 th chapter and one of the illustrations given is that of Abraham. He had this faith when he left Ur of the Chaldees, for the writer tells us that it was by faith that he obeyed and went forth seeking the city which hath the foundations, whose builder and maker is God. In other words, it was only this kind of a faith that would make possible the venture upon which he set out. We have every reason to believe that when he set out from Ur he was conscious of the fact that he was obeying God and while he did not know whither he went yet he knew he could trust the One that was calling him. Such an experience is not thinkable apart from a saving knowledge of God. In obeying God he experienced the first great stage of the mystic life, which is usually spoken of as purgation. This is the experience in which the mystic turns away from the things that are wrong or hindering him and is separated to the things that are calling to a new and a different life. Abraham was separated from his loved ones and his home and country, but he was separated to God and the new way. This means he was separated
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