January 1932
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
22
“ Yes, I have, often.” “ What do you do with them ?”
The Song Near Calvary “And when they had sung a hymn” (Mk. 14:26). ignificant and beautiful words! While His feet are yet standing on the earth, Jesus lifts His heart and voice in songs of prayer and praise. He sings on the very eve of His final and most terrible sufferings. He sings as He is entering that unutterable loneliness which culminated in His sense of being forsaken by God, His sole refuge, hope, and consolation. Involuntarily, our heart prompts the wish: Oh, that we might have heard that song! It may even be that the Sav iour’s voice was not “ cultured,” but we may be sure that it was pure and full of feeling and meaning and not “ a sound ing brass or a clanging cymbal.” For what is real song? What is it that touches and moves and appeals to the human heart? It is not the voice. It is the heart in the voice. It is the love that employs and transfigures and glorifies it. If song is not the language of human affection, it is mere sound. No person, in whose heart that flame burns low, ever raised souls to rapture and adoration with his singing. But here we have love divine—perfect love of God and man — fervent and pure, rising on the wings of melody and chanting the psalms inspired by the very Spirit o f God (cf. Psa. 113 to 118). It was the triumphant finale of the great processional of His life on earth. By this act, Jesus has also consecrated the human voice to the service of God in sacred song. By the hymn in that “ upper room,” the singing of His church has been dedi cated as a means o f giving expression to the Christian af fection of loving, longing hearts . . . Especially ought this song o f Jesus and the events which followed that song prove a mighty inspiration to sing the praises of Him “ who loved us and ioosed us from our sins by his blood.” — T he B ible B anner . Present-Day Fulfillment o f Prophecy [Continued from page 6] T he L abor W orld P reparing The vast world of labor has long known the power of the Mass Man. Here he arises to tell you for whom you may work or may not work, and how long and how much. Already he is furnishing the millions of toilers with the little card that tells them what they can buy and what they can sell. T hen G od ’ s M an S hall C ome But let not the saints be distressed as the godless forces of earth gather themselves together, and the shadow of the Mass Man falls over all the earth. It is only for “a little while.” A Stone is lifted high in the heaven. When Omnipotence rolls that Stone down upon the glory o f the unregenerate, then the world’s Mass Man will become a mass of powdered chaff and dust, and the winds will carry him and his glory into the everlasting oblivion of the godless dominion of hell, out o f which he crept (Dan. 2 :31-45). T he W isdom of G od for H is P eople Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; . . . Gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces. Take counsel together, and it shall come to naught; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us. For the Lord spake thus . . . Say ye not, A confederacy, to them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, . . . I will wait upon the Lord, . . . I will look for him” (Isa. 8:9-17).
“ Doubt them,” answered David with a smile. “ The trouble with most of the fellows is that they are all too willing to believe their doubts and doubt their beliefs. It ought to be turned around the other way.” “ What do you do with your intellectual difficulties, then ? Aren’t there honestly some things in the Bible that you cannot believe?” “ There are many things I cannot understand. But I understand some things which I could not a few years ago, and in a few years, I suppose I shall understand more than I do now. I am willing to wait. But I do not attempt to measure the depth of the Book, nor its worth, by the poor little measure of my brain.” Nelson grinned appreciatively. “ How do you measure it, then ?” he asked, scenting an argument. “ For one thing at least, by the effect it has on my life and on the lives o f others. I have seen a whole life trans formed and marvelously changed by allowing even a small portion of the Book to come into the heart by faith. God asks us to believe it, and to apply only the test of faith and obedience.” “ I don’t know as I like that,” Nelson argued. What did He give us brains for, if He didn’t want us to use them ?" “ Oh, come now, Nelson,” it was David’s turn to smile, “ use a little bit of your brains now. Don’t tell me you have solved every other mystery in the universe. How about the old conundrum of how the same green, grass grows feathers on the goose, bristles on the hog, and hair on the cow? Go cut your mental teeth on that if you want, but don’t insult my intelligence or your own by implying that there is nothing at all you can use your brain on but to question the wisdom or motives o f God Almighty, just be cause you are unable to understand all His thoughts and purposes.” “ I am not the only person who thinks that way. Didn’t you find a general understanding among the professors when you first came to college that the old orthodox beliefs were now practically abandoned by every one, at least in the best informed circles?” “ Yes,” David said slowly, “ I faced it when I first came, and it almost staggered me. I remember once that I knelt beside my bed, and it seemed as though all the forces of hell were determined to make me admit that I might as well give up my faith in Christ and the Bible, for there was nothing to it. But I remembered what that faith had meant to my mother, and to my father and sister and brother, and I am learning more and more what it means to men and women of the highest mental caliber and the widest and finest culture, and I resolved, by the grace o f God, that I would not abandon my position nor throw myself out o f the boat that had carried them until I could see where I was go ing to land. I saw other young men and women throwing away the Bible and faith, and with all of them, it was a leap in the dark, leaving what was solid and true, and land ing in morass and quicksand. When I see something more solid than I am resting on, I may be induced to move, but not until then. They may say I have not a bold, adven turous mind. Well, all right, I have some good horse sense, I hope. As I look on it now, I count that a crisis in my spiritual experience, and I have never regretted it.” “ I guess I am one of those who took the leap in the dark without knowing where I was going, and I have not found anything but quicksand to land on ever since,” Nelson said in a low, husky voice. [To be continued ]
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