Tne Unknown Tomorrov? A NEW YEAR’S SERMON PREACHED YEARS AGO BY ONE OF ENGLAND’S GREAT PREACHERS AND A MOST TIMELY MESSAGE FOR TODAY Bp ALEXANDER MACLAREN
“ It is not for you to know th e times or th e seasons, which the F ath e r h ath pu t in his own power.” Acts 1:7. The New Testam ent gives little en couragement to a sentim ental view of life. Its w riter h ad too much to do, and too much besides to th ink about, for undue occupations w ith pensive remembrances or im aginative forecast ings. They bid us rem ember as a stim ulus to thanksgiving and a ground of hope. They bid us look forward, bu t no t along th e low levels of earth and its changes. One g reat fu tu re is to draw all our longings and to fix our eyes, as th e tender hues of th e dawn kindle infinite yearnings in th e soul of the gazer. W hat may come is all h id den; we can make vague guesses bu t reach nothing more certain. Mist and cloud conceal th e path in fron t of the portion which we are actually trav ers ing, b u t when it climbs, it comes out clear from the fogs th a t hang about th e flats. We can trac k it w inding up to th e th rone of Christ. Nothing is certain, b u t th e coming of the Lord and “ our gath ering togeth er unto H im .” The words of th is tex t in th e ir ori ginal meaning point only to the ignor ance of th e tim e of th e end which Christ had been foretelling. B u t they may allow of a much w ider application, and th e ir lessons are in en tire conson ance w ith th e whole tone of S cripture in reg ard to th e fu tu re. We are stand ing now a t th e beginning of a New Year, and the influence of th e season is
felt in some degree by us all. Not for the sake of repressing any wise fore casting which has for its object our p reparation for-probable duties and exi gences; no t for the purpose of repress ing th a t tru stfu l anticipation which, building on our past tim e and on God’s e te rn ity ,, fronts th e fu tu re w ith ' calm confidence; not for the sake of discour aging th a t pensive and softened mood which, if it does nothing more, a t least delivers us for a moment from the ty rranou s power of tfie present, do we tu rn to these words now; b u t th a t we may tog ether consider how much they contain of cheer and encouragement, of stim ulus to our duty, and of calming fo r our h earts in th e prospect of a New Year. They teach us the lim its of our care for the fu tu re, as they give us the lim its of our knowledge of it. They teach us th e best remedies for all anxiety, th e g reat thoughts' th a t tran- quillise us in our ignorance, viz, th a t all is in God’s m erciful hand, and th at, whatever may come, we have a divine j)ow er which will fit us for it; and they bid us anticipate our work, and do it as th e best counterpoise for all vain curiosity about w hat may be coming on the earth. 1. The narrow lim its of our knowl-. edge of th e future. We are quite spre th a t we all shall die. We are su re th a t a mingled web of joy and sorrow, ligh t shot w ith dark, will be unrolled before us— b u t of any-
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