Victory assured. Sermons...

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Believing God 77

Sonship in

II Law Of Christian Succession

"Instead of thy fathers snail be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in aU the earth." — Psalm 45:16.

This passage of Scripture has been greatly perverted by the students of the Bible. Many have assumed that it had reference to the wedding of Solomon and the Queen of Egypt, and there is much in the language and figures used to suggest that thought. There is and always has been good and gracious gifts from the union of wealth and wisdom. Solomon, King of Israel, did distribute many valuable gifts after his wedding to the Queen of Egypt, but there were no princes from that union. Rehoboam was the only prince in Solomon's family, and he was not of that union.

Others have studied the prophecy in the light of Jesus' wedding; when on the heights of Mount Zion He shall take to Himself the church and lead her forth without spot or wrinkle over the plains of heaven, after the last angel gets home with the youngest member of the family. Then will Jesus take to himself His bride, clad in white robes, all pure within and adorned with the jewelry of the King. This poetic description has much to interest men, but the princes are to reign in this world —

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right here, before the bells of heaven begin the wedding march of Immanuel. But when Jesus took to Himself the nature of man, and when divinity and humanity was made perfect through suffering, princes were born to exercise power with God and among men in all the earth, and so long as that union is maintained princes will appear with power all divine and the heathen shall be given unto our King for an inheritance, and the uttermost part of the earth shall be possessed by Him.

What, then, are the lessons of the text? First — the fathers must go. We must expect that when they have accomplished their work, be they counselors or warriors, prophets or priests. They are to be advanced. Persia had her Cyrus, Greece had her Alexander, Phidias, Socrates and Pericles ; Rome her Caesar, Cicero and Augustus ; France had her Napoleons and Philips ; England her Nelson, Cromwell and Gladstone ; America her Washington and Lincoln and Grant and McKinley — but they are all gone. To the casual reader this is wrong. It looks like a mistake. We repeat the old query : Why ? Why should a man grow old and disappear when he has acquired his princely powers and the world needs him so much? But the universality of this law forbids criticism. The Great Executive must have some purpose in it, for the same law prevails in all kingdoms. The fields so rich in the expressions of life and forms of beauty, the brooks so full of music, the forests so rich in

Law of Christian Succession.

foliage and the vineyards, orchards and gardens promise so much in harvest that we would keep them as they are alway ; but they are not here to stay. Soon the autumnal winds will blow and desolation follow. Go walk through the fields to-day, and field and forest, so full of life and music yesterday, are leafless and barren. The birds had returned, the flowers blossomed, the brooks were melodious, but, alas ! how quickly they went, and our hills are as barren, our forests as voiceless as the pole is bare, as though they had not been. In all this we see the wisdom of God. They went in view of increasing beauty and power, life and glory. Had they lingered earth's carpet would have worn out, become dusty and unsightly ; the flowers faded, the orchards fruitless. "As the days of the tree are the days of my people, saith the Lord." But in the going of men there is more than the fact of going, for they take with them largely the skill, experience brought them. Their successors may be near, but must acquire skill as their predecessors did. When Elijah went home in his chariot of fire the people were conscious of having lost much that was not to be found in Elisha, hence the cry,

"My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof, we see them no more.

This is the feeling of all who are interested in the unfolding of God's plans. You remember how you felt when you first read of Moses' removal. In him Israel moved and had their being. Eighty

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years were spent in fitting him for a work you felt he was not permitted to perform. From our standpoint he was removed at a time when God's people needed him more than at any time in his whole life, but he went and another took his place. There was a moment in the history of this people when millions cried, "Let me die in his stead." YVe could not see how this nation could go on without Mr. Lincoln at that time. In both cases their successors were not the men we would have placed in authority. Joshua was a good man (said Israel), but he was without experience. And we tried to think Johnson would do, but his life is written, and we live as a natton ; and God is fulfilling His prophecy, proving to the world that the destiny of men and nations are with Him.

Once in four years one-half of this great Republic spends money, time and energy to prove that unless a change comes the nation will go to destruction ; while the other half, with equal earnestness, assert that if there is a change we must perish. Changes occur, but we go on, with here and there a little ripple. Great men die ; others become demented and childish, but the nation lives ; and may there not be another side to this picture or tapestry woven for some floor we have never yet seen? We allow ourselves to think that there is great danger in these sudden and radical changes ; their importance to us is very great because we are confined to local effects, to the loss of friendship, and that experience and counsel which is so important in the running of the interests known to us, forgetting all about the wider sweep and the more general good that is to come to the race. We question the removal of the fathers without the ability to transfer their skill and give to others the benefit of their experience, but God in running this world is not locking alone to the interests of the United States or to the results made manifest in time,, but to the broader interests of the nations of the earth and the endless harvest, when the kings of the earth shall bring their glory into everlasting habitations on high. We can see that this law brings good to those who go, for if our conception of the Christian's exit be correct, there is an enlargement of his horizon, a broader sweep given to his influence and a grander world of opportunities in which to operate with enriched experiences and agencies.

Here Paul ministered to a few hundred, but on taking his departure his utterances were gathered into epistles, and to-day he speaks to millions where once he spake to individuals, and his influence for good is increasing continually. Handel sat at an organ in a cathedral to finger the forte in the presence of a few admirers. Xow his Easter anthem, "Hallelujah Chorus," "Israel in Egypt," "Samson in Blindness'' and others are ringing throughout the ages. The melody and harmony of his great soul is an inspiration to the millions who are seeking to reproduce the Christ life among men. God's

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purpose is that of good to the greatest number of persons in all lands and ages. Hence He has problems awaiting us as we advance. The going up into the higher grades makes for our glory in assuming the responsibilities they bring. God knows what He is fitting us for and what lessons we need to learn. Did you ever know of a man, woman or nation developing any strength or influence without being made responsible for some interest or principle. We must learn to make, build, rule or reign by experience. Nay, in all this there is gain both to those who go and their successors.

Secondly — We have a positive statement, "Shall be the children." Such a statement is of infinite value, both to the retiring and the witnessing. To the believing this brings rest. The future is not to be measured by visions and senses, for this pledge passes beyond appearances, signs and circumstances into the verities of Jehovah.

Circumstances may throw the law from its wonted course, and cause it to produce unwonted work, or fail to accomplish any work, yet God holds the train of events and His promise is the mainspring, unbroken, unbiased and unmoved.

You may have seen a tree clinging to a rock robed in ice. As you looked you felt how impossible that this tree should bear fruit. There is no earth on its roots, no foliage on its limbs, sap or appearance of life in its trunk. It is dead and buried in ice. But you were hasty and possibly false.

The promise does not depend upon appearances. Did the roots of that tree reach means of supply? Will the sun return this way? If, so the ice will melt, the late grown twigs will bud and blossom and even fruit may hang where icicles now sparkle in the frost. So in the study of this prophecy we can go back of the things which are seen, back of ministry and organizations, to the demands and promise of supply, remembering always that the things which are seen are temporal, while those things which are not seen are eternal.

The hands may catch on the dial and fail to indicate the movement or report the time, but God is moving on and with accelerated movement He reaches out daily to set events and give time to all things, for His purpose is everlastingly sure and in His promises His people may rejoice in hope of endless triumph. Herein is our hope : When Abraham died his faith lived; when Elijah went up Elisha took his mantle and with it parted the Jordan ; if the ark falls into the hands of strangers God is sure to send for it and bring it back ; while His church is on the sea of changes Christ is at the helm, and heaven and home are at the masthead, for "instead of the fathers shall be the sons."

We are apt to think the sons are not equal to the fathers. Where are the Otises, Adamses, Madisons, Jeffersons, Randolphs, Harrisons, Franklins and Washington^ of Colonial days? Where are the Chases, Grants, Shermans, Sheridans, Stantons,

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McPhersons, Thomases, Logans, Garfields, McKinleys and Lincolns of the sixties? Where? If the demands were on us that were on the people in Colonial days or in the days of our civil w T ar there would be no lack. They confronted problems unlike those of to-day. Their problem was slavery. We call for men who can sweep a fleet from the seas without the loss of a man ; to take a well-fortified city without firing a gun. These are days that alarm little men, and some men whose counsel was sought in other days are passed by to-day. Ours is a worldwide conquest now. The question to-day is not : "Do we need Cuba and the islands of the sea?" but "do they need us?" — not do they want us, but do they need us. The North American Indian did not want our Pilgrim fathers, but most men believe their coming was of God and for the good of the world and the opening of the gates for the expansion of American civilization is as much the movement of the divine as any movement of the past.

Our sons have come to the dawning of a new day in the history of the race, and none were ever more loyal and patriotic than the children of the twentieth century in America. The life that bounds in them comes to us out of a glorious past. It brings to the nation the wisdom of the wise, the wealth of the ages, with possibilities of immeasurable gain. Our resources are attracting the whole world, while men who loan money are hastening to our shores, in order to avail themselves of the wealth we offer. It is said, upon good authority, that our soil, this side of the Alaskas, would feed a billion of people, and if we turn our attention to the wealth beneath the soil the last ten years have produced millions of dollars' worth of metal. Truly has Matthew Arnold said : "America holds the future." And to our children this law means more than to any kingdom or age.

The waves of the sea roll, dash and break on the rockbound shore, breastwork or breakwater as of old as their predecessors did. The glorious gifts of summer that enrich our fields and orchards yield to the blasts of winter and leave the poles as bare and cheerless as before, but we may avail ourselves of the experience and achievements of the fathers, if, with the spirit of Sergeant Carney, we seize the flag and enter the conflict where the fathers leave it and rush on to victory. Every one I address this hour may step upon the shoulders of his predecessor and look beyond the mountains and clouds that hinder his vision, or enter into battle on the eve of ultimate victory because of the warrior's experience. This was the faith which enabled Abram to see a nation rising out of the ashes of his only son. To march from Mount Moriah to Mt. Zion with songs of triumph and everlasting joy. It enabled Joshua to shout through the walls of Jericho, and the boys in blue to climb the heights of Mt.

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Lookout and see victory in the sunset of apparent failure.

For the sons some things have been forever settled. No anarchy can ever be rooted or widespread among the American people. Its hold is broken. Its day is past. It had a fair chance in the city of Chicago to appeal to the curiosity, sympathy and patronage of a million and a half people, and failed. When I came into possession of that fact my fears in reference to its hold were forever dismissed. No ; we are a religious people and so perfect is the liberation of the soul along these lines as to demand churches and schoolhouses everywhere. When you stop to consider the sienilicance of this one fact — that by voluntary offerings we are building eleven churches a day ; that is, a church for every working hour and one to spare in this Republic. The future has a brighter outlook than has been visible at any other period. Thirty years ago a celebrated blasphemer began his cry against the Bible and the church — twenty thousand churches have been built since then, and he was not able to overthrow the humblest altar on the farthest frontier. Again, the great questions in constitutional law have all been forever settled.

The most important thought contained in the text is in the last clause : "Whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth. First, the children are here.

"Ah, what would be the world to us If the children were no more?

We should dread the desert behind us Worse than the dark before.

What the leaves are to the forest,

W ith light and air and food.

Ere their sweet and tender juices

Have been hardened into wood.

That to the world are children.

Through them it feels the glow,

Come to me, O ye children,

And whisper in my ear What the birds and the winds are singing

In your sunny atmosphere.

For what are all our contrivings.

And the wisdom of our books.

When compared with your caresses,

And the gladness of your looks ?

Ye are better than all the ballads

That ever were sung or said.

For ye are the living poems,

And all the rest are dead.

Yes, I know there are stains on my carpet, The traces of small, muddy boots;

And I see your fair tapestry glowing, All spotless with blossoms and fruits.

Yes, I know there are four little bedsides, Where I must stand watchful each night,

While you go out in your carriage, And flash in your dresses so bright.

. No, keep your fair home with its order,

Its freedom from bother and noise And keep your own fanciful leisure, But give me my four splendid boys."

It is God's plan and purpose to make us princes by inheritance, but some get so engrossed in busi-

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ness as not to develop the talent of their own children, and hence their business, honor and glory is transferred to other hands. I once came from a funeral service leaning on the arm of the city marshal. He remarked to ine : "That was a very sad case." I answered : "No ; for those seven men were all sons of this man." ''Yes.'' ''Are they not equal to the father in every sense?'' "Yes." "Was he not a true American and a Christian?" "Yes." "I wish every Christian American citizen could multiply himself by seven." He had lived well. The possibility of princes in all the earth is yours. Did it ever occur to you that another may take and wear the crown and honor for which your fathers fought, and to which you are rightfully entitled? But be assured if, like Hophni and Phineas, you are not prepared to do the work and receive the honor God will call some Samual to take your place Fathers, mothers, have you thought about leaving your offspring to manage your business and wear your honor? The responsibility for the future is great. If our sons are to succeed in the years before us they must be robust and well-trained and equipped. Remember, a well-equipped mind in a frail body is like a great engine in a rickety old mill. You dare not start it for fear it will jar the building down.

Again, the intellect must be trained rather than loaded. In Northfield there is an old house where five children were educated by a mother, left by the

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death of her companion with seven children to care for and educate. At every meal Scripture was recited by every member of the family, daily prayers were offered in that home. Soon one of those boys was led away to sea ; voyage after voyage w r as made without returning home. The boy had become a man. Daily the mother prayed for her son. One day there appeared a stalwart frame before the door with bowed head, fearing lest his mother was dead. He turned and walked away to the churchyard to see if she was there, but returned to be greeted by the welcome voice: "Come in; come in!" "No ! no! not until my mother forgives me;'' was sobbed out. The lessons of home had not been lost. That woman's name was Mrs. Moody — D. L. Moody's mother, who lived to pray for her son in his great work.

The cry is for entertainment, and the danger is in trying to make that which is instructive and helpful so entertaining that brilliancy becomes the price of life. In 1812 a ship was set on fire and loosened from its moorings a few miles above the Niagara Falls. The night was dark and as that burning ship floated down the river, all on fire, it presented a very brilliant and entertaining scene for the mischievous boys, but to the men who had invested their all in preparing the ship for sea it was not so entertaining. So, to the young and thoughtless, there is entertainment and brilliancy associated with dissipation, often securing a following that is coveted ;

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but what is it to the father and mother whose lives have been poured out in preparing that son or daughter for usefulness? May not angels weep while others are amused over genius on fire with passion ?

Life's problem is to overcome the world, the flesh and the devil. To do that we must become princes. God crowns with princely power all who surrender. The wrestling and agony of Jacob was in getting to the point of surrender. Peace came when General Lee surrendered. So is it when a heart surrenders to Christ. Jacob's first prayer was for help to do something himself. Had it been answered it would have led to slaughter. The wise engineer does not increase the power of an engine when it is off the track. You do not give the wayward boy more money with which to increase his misery. Death to sin is necessary in order for life to God. Jacob must suffer the crucifixion of self in order to become a prince, and so must you. Moses took on the halo of the crown when in Sinai he saw his weaknesses in becoming angry and breaking the tables on which God had written his law. Abram walked in the friendship of Jehovah when he was able to trust God without the visible presence and was ready to offer Isaac on God's altar. Even Jesus could not make known the glory of the resurrection and the glorification of the saints until personally He surrendered to death and walked forth in robes of victory. Perfect rest and undisturbed confidence was reached by Jacob when all things visible had faded and the human strength gave way to weakness. The apostles found, the key of power when all forms were called in. When the hills were dusty and barren hunger called forth those flashes of divinity that led the people to cry : "Behold the Messiah !" And to-day all development, growth of power and achievements in the religious world is along this line. Oh, for a cyclone from heaven, to break these selfconstructed barriers that now shut us out from God, then we might go up into the Alpine heights of Christian joy to be forever with the Lord.

Fathers, if you have done your best for those who are to succeed you, you may go confidently to your reward, for one of the two pictures will certainly follow.

There is an old legend of the White Hand. There was a king who glorified not in pomp or power, but in deeds of love. He scattered gifts for the poor. One day a bishop seized his hand and blessed it, saying : "May this fair hand, this bounteous hand, never grow old." That king was slain in battle, and as the custom was, his limbs were taken off and exposed to public gaze, and long after all the rest had perished that hand remained unchanged, pointing upward toward heaven. Jesus may be to every home that hand, constantly ministering unselfish devotion, and will remain pure and white in the heaven of glory after earthly honors have faded and crown and jewels have perished.

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There is another picture in which mother appears asleep at the wheel, while angels come to fan her brow, cool the weary head and gather up the halffinished work to complete it. Old, yet true to the faithful ones. What we cannot do angels, who are our ministers, will finish. The angel who came when Peter, John and James slept, will come when weariness overcomes.

Ill

GARMENTS OF STRENGTH AND BEAUTY.

"Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion, and thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem.' ' — Isaiah 52: 1.

The one all-prevailing, all-consuming evil of the ages has been and is indifference. Indifference to evil and crime. Indifference to personal responsibility for its presence and reign. When the prophet was awakened from his dreams and had a vision of the possibilities in the economy of God for Israel, he cried as one awakening from a deep sleep or escaping from the snare of a subtle enemy : "Awake from thy weakness and unsightliness."

If I am not mistaken, that is the great danger of this day in our own beloved land. It is not that our people have become reckless and profane. No ; our sons are better than we were. There were wicked men and women, evil plans and devices, in our days. Good men and women were vigilant and untiring in their works of love, but no more so than those of to-day. Nay; good people when aroused are more humane and self-sacrificing than they ever were in all the history of the race. But we have grown indifferent to the fact of sin and its havoc in our midst. More than one hundred thousand men have died in drunkenness during the year

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1905. Over their graves is written, "No drunkard shall inherit the kingdom of heaven." They passed our doors, and more are on the way. We know it, stagger at the awful fact, but pass on without much effort to lessen the number. If there was a rock in any channel where half as many vessels were wrecked the Government would empty its treasury or double its navy to protect its shipping. The same is true of other interests. Every mail brings tidings of some railroad or coalpit disaster, and we have only time enough to spare to glance over the list of killed and injured to see if any of our immediate friends were among them. Then we buy a ticket over the same road and journey with the same officials in authority as when the disaster occurred. A score of statesmen, educators, commanders and distinguished lecturers have died during 1905. We have reason to believe their style of living shortened their days. And yet we strive hard to live as they lived or become as indifferent as though v/e had a lease on life forever and were to live in this world eternally. Such indifference robs the best of men and women of that sense of responsibility so indispensable to safety.

Familiarity with crime often robs men of all sense of personal responsibility for its increase. Only a few weeks ago a gentleman of respectability was asked to aid in closing a place of sin and death, but he replied, knowing that the placing of his signature to the remonstrance would close it : "No ; I am not in that business. I am not responsible for their business. I attend to my own affairs. Let them do the same." One week later, as he was on his way to the station to meet his family, the newsdealer's cry, "Wreck — many lives lost!" was heard. It startled him, but he said : "Well, there are many trains on this line. It is not mine." But it was, and in an hour the lifeless forms of wife and daughter were before him, while surgeons were attending the badly injured younger daughter. The engineer of the freight train had visited that very saloon, left it in an intoxicated condition, only to run his train into the oncoming express. This man awoke, then, to the fact that it w T as his business to aid in removing that institution of ruin. It will be a sad day when men lose sight of the fact that they are personally responsible for the safety of others to the measure of their ability. I am not here to abuse the church. There never was an hour when God's people were more intelligent and spiritual in their relation to Christ. But it is impossible for us to feel as we once felt toward individuals who are off the track or out at sea in a merciless storm. I remember the first time I ever saw an intoxicated man reeling and staggering in his effort to reach home. Oh, that sight ! I could not keep the thought of his wife and children from my mind. Now it is an hourly occurrence, and they pass by unnoticed. I know my heart is not less tender. I know I appreciate the conditions of sorrow, home and danger a

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thousand times more keenly than then, but were I to give the same attention to each case it would unfit me for anything else. The conditions are all changed. The church and saloon are in the same block ; vice and virtue look out of the same window. We are hand-to-hand in our conflicts now and there is but one way out and that is by the development of a generation of men and women who can stand in the presence of sin and not yield to temptation ; men and women who can say, as Jesus said: "The prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me." Personally, I think we have been thrashing the old dead leaves from off dead trees and beating about the dens of sin and death with carnal weapons long enough. I believe our only hope is in the law of life in Christ Jesus. What, then, is the strength of the church ?

First — The incarnation of truth; God's Word is truth. His entrance giveth light. The light that lighteth every man who cometh into this world is the Word and the Word is God. When He comes in there is light, and sin takes on its heinousness^ as in the case of poor Hansen, reported by ex-Attorney General Griggs : Hansen was an unchristianized pagan — an Indian. He was thoroughly regenerated by the entrance of truth. Then he saw things in a new light. Until that time he could chase the deer on Sunday as on other days. He could steal from his neighbor without any sense of condemnation ; murder, if need be, to get revenge or gain ;