least, very unsettling to human faith and very depressing to the ordi- nary Christian who does not know enough about God's style to deter- mine whether He said a thing or not, and who is not sufficiently fa- miliar with the internal signs of inspiration to determine whether any particular writing reveals God truly or not. And this condition of things is the darkest part of the outlook at the opening of the twentieth century. •"Jpie Offense of the Cross. By Sir W. Robertson Nicoll, LL.D. In these, days true followers of Christ have to endure, not open persecution, though to that it may come, but sneering, mockery, scorn. They may have more of it to endure, and the signs are that they will. Says a recent writer: "There is an awful mystery about the future of Christianity." What seems tolerably certain is that in the .coming time there will be new and fresh difficulties, constant and augmenting struggles. The battle will increase, it will not diminish. Christianity will be faced by the pride, the wealth, the intellect of the world. The languid indifferentism which has replaced the challenge of mortal defiance will not always continue what it is, will become more openly disdainful of those who take part in the great war of Christianity against that wisdom of this world. The Christian will be judged a fool or a hypocrite. In proportion as the strife for commercial supremacy becomes mbre fierce, those who stand aside from it, who believe that there are nobler ends in life than making money, and that the things of God and the soul are beyond price, will be bitterly jeered at. Nor will the social ostracism, which punishes zealous Christians, become less stern. There are about us signs of a corrupting and decaying society. Old 1 checks are being removed, and if we are to trust those who know, the descent is rapid. The time may soon come when the Christian believer will be openly flouted by the principalities and powers that rule. In such a time he will need a strong heart to believe steadily that the things that are not will bring to nought the things that are. Our Lord and His apostles were fully aware of this; but even as the Lord Himself took the weight of shame, so His followers must. It was the shame of the Cross that was our Lord's extreme trial. The deeper we go into the mystery of the Saviour's life, the more we shall understand this. It was the actual, essential part of His discipline. He made acquaintance during His ministry with contempt and hatred and calumny, and after so many leagues of weary road He came in full sight of the Tree. He was betraved by His apostle, sold for a slave's price, scourged, crowned with thorns, reckoned amongst the trans- gressors, made a spectacle to the world, and to aA^ls, and to men. Who shall declare His humiliation, tell what it all meant to Him; as He hung naked there? Even though from His Cross He looked far and wide through time and eternity, over all kindreds and nations; even though He saw the sure fulfilment of His lifelong dream as He prayed that God would remember all His offering and accept His burnt sacrifice—nevertheless, it was true that reproach broke His heart. He
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