SOU L CR ISES 
 
 JAMES WILLIAM ROBINSON 
 
 LIBRARY OF RELIGIOUS THOUGHT 
 
MAY 24 1918 ] 
 
 BV4316 .S7 R62 1918 
 Robinson, James William, 
 Soul crises 
 
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 MAY 
 
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 t^O, 
 
 SOUL CRISES 
 
 OUR RELATION TO THE 
 GREAT WAR 
 
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 24 19] 
 
 5/CAL SEViV 
 
 BY 
 
 JAMES WILLIAM ROBINSON 
 
 BOSTON 
 THE GORHAM PRESS 
 
 M C M X V I I I 
 
Copyright, 1918, by James W. Robinson 
 
 All Rights Reserved 
 
 Made in the United States of America 
 The Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. A. 
 
DEDICATED 
 
 To THE Memory of 
 
 SECOND LIEUTENANT GEORGE BUCHANAN SMITH, M.A., LL.B. 
 
 2ND Battalion Gordon Highlanders 
 
 Who Fell at the Head of His Platoon in the Battle of Loos, 
 
 SEFTESiBER 2STH, IQIS, AgED 24 YEARS 
 AND 
 
 CAPTAIN ROBERT DUNLOP SMITH 
 
 33RD Pltnjabi Regiment, 
 
 Indian Army, 
 
 Who Fell in Action at Beaumont's Post, 
 
 Near Kilwa, Kivinji, East Africa, 
 
 June ioth, 1917, Aged 24 Years 
 
 Gallant Sons of the 
 
 REVEREND PRINCIPAL 
 
 SIR GEORGE AND LADY ADAM SMITH 
 
 D.D., LL.D., D.LiTT. 
 
 University of Aberdeen 
 
 Who Are Facing Their Soul Crises with 
 
 Such Sublime Fortitude and to Whom 
 
 I Owe More than I Can Ever Repay. 
 
 They were "lovely and pleasant in their lives and in death they 
 are not divided." 
 
PREFACE 
 
 ^ I ^HE sermons in this volume have been espe- 
 -*" cially addressed to young men. I send them 
 forth practically as they were delivered. If they 
 meet with a reception similar to that accorded 
 their delivery I shall feel justified in consenting to 
 their publication. 
 
 It is an honor to enjoy the friendship of young 
 men, and during my ministry in the West I have 
 been delighted with their generous response to 
 the gospel message. 
 
 In the following pages I endeavor to speak 
 faithfully to all, but I make a special appeal 
 to young men. Western Canada is essentially 
 a young man's country, and certain anxious 
 parents "in the East," who have sons in the 
 West, may be wondering whether their boys are 
 remembering and respecting the claims of reli- 
 gion? To these anxious souls I would say, "We 
 have some of the strongest preachers as well as 
 some of the most enterprising pastors in the West. 
 They have the young man and his needs at heart, 
 and as a rule the response of the young man is 
 beautiful to behold." Our most promising young 
 
 5 
 
6 Preface 
 
 men are alive to two facts : the fact of Christ and 
 the fact of temptation. The more loyal they are 
 to their Saviour and King the more conscious they 
 are of their need to "watch and pray." To every 
 young man life is a series of tests. Daily we have 
 to make choices. Occasionally we have to choose 
 between good and evil, more often we have to 
 choose between the better and the best. As young 
 men 
 
 "We are living, we are dwelling. 
 In a grand and awful time." 
 
 We are facing a most critical time in the 
 world's history as well as a most critical period in 
 our own lives. Greater opportunities and graver 
 responsibilities never faced young men. We are 
 now in the throes of a world-conflict. The issues 
 of this present war are tremendous. We are 
 fighting for the elementary principles of justice 
 and freedom. Into this war we have put our best 
 and we believe we have not done it in vain. But 
 there is a greater war — the perpetual war between 
 righteousness and unrighteousness. In this 
 greater war we cannot be neutral. We cannot 
 even act the part of Interested spectators. Our 
 relation to It is vital and we must fight. Every 
 worthy young man welcomes the opportunity. We 
 are made for war and evil is our foe. The old 
 order Is passing away. What the new order will 
 
Preface 7 
 
 be depends largely upon us. When the present 
 crisis came upon us many of our brave fellows 
 heard the call and marched away. They have 
 given a good account of themselves. It is difficult 
 to keep "heartbreak at bay" as we frequently read 
 that some of our noblest Christian young men 
 have been "killed in action." 
 
 Shall the generous contribution made by our 
 brave brothers on behalf of the New Order be 
 ignored? One of our boys writing to his parents 
 says: "I hope Canada is preparing for the home- 
 coming of her sons. We who have had our bap- 
 tism of fire are different men and better men. But 
 we fear these good impressions will wear away 
 when the boys come home. We will be eager 
 for diversion and there are so many temptations 
 that I fear for the future of Canada unless she is 
 purged and made ready for the home-coming of 
 her sons." 
 
 In the face of such an eloquent appeal let us 
 rally to the Christian Standard. Preparedness 
 has become an international slogan. Moral and 
 spiritual preparedness is primary and fundamen- 
 tal. Let us enter heart and soul into this great 
 moral struggle by enlisting as good soldiers of 
 Jesus Christ. To do a little towards creating an 
 atmosphere conducive to victory is the aim of this 
 volume. 
 
 I gladly acknowledge my indebtedness to the 
 
8 Preface 
 
 Rev. W. J. Dawson, D. D., whose Inspiring books 
 I literally swallowed as a "teen-age" boy, and to 
 all other masters who have written upon the sub- 
 jects dealt with. I feel with Mr. G. K. Chesterton 
 that "I am the man who with the utmost daring 
 discovered what had been discovered before." ^ 
 With the fervent prayer that it may in some meas- 
 ure encourage and inspire young men in their soul 
 crises this message is humbly sent forth. 
 
 J. W. Robinson. 
 Welwyn, Sask. 
 1918. 
 
 * Orthodoxy. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER 
 I 
 
 Facing the Crisis 
 
 PAGE 
 
 . 13 
 
 II 
 
 Ignoring the Crisis . 
 
 . 25 
 
 III 
 
 Can Christ do anything for thi 
 
 
 
 Morally Upright? 
 
 ; 38 
 
 IV 
 
 What might have been! 
 
 . 50 
 
 V 
 
 A Present Crisis 
 
 . 66 
 
 VI 
 
 An Urgent Call 
 
 . 80 
 
 VII 
 
 The Possibilities of the Averagi 
 
 
 
 Man 
 
 . 93 
 
 VIII 
 
 A Moral Tragedy 
 
 . 106 
 
 IX 
 
 A Recall, or the Man Who Cami 
 
 I 
 
 
 Back 
 
 . 121 
 
 X 
 
 Christian Athletes . 
 
 134 
 
 XI 
 
 A Moral Crisis .... 
 
 . 146 
 
 XII 
 
 A Domestic Crisis 
 
 160 
 
 XIII 
 
 A Spiritual Crisis 
 
 174 
 
 XIV 
 
 The Advent of a Conqueror . 
 
 189 
 
 XV 
 
 A National Crisis 
 
 201 
 
 XVI 
 
 The Man We Most Urgently Neee 
 
 ► 212 
 
 XVII 
 
 An Effective Weapon 
 
 224 
 
 will 
 
 Christian Courage . 
 
 238 
 
 XIX 
 
 A Great Specialist . . . . 
 
 252 
 
 XX 
 
 A National Trinity . . . . 
 
 264 
 
 XXI 
 
 A Challenge to Civilization . 
 
 278 
 
SOUL CRISES 
 
SOUL CRISES 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 FACING THE CRISIS 
 
 Lord, ivhat ivilt thou have me to do. — Acts IX, 6. 
 
 npHERE is a certain study which can be made 
 -*- very interesting and which is very profitable. 
 It is a study which appeals to all who wish to 
 know the meaning and purpose of life, and to 
 make the most of theirs. The study to which I 
 refer is biography. We enjoy reading the lives 
 of those who have excelled and while appreciat- 
 ing their respective merits we like to discover the 
 hidden springs of their character. What was the 
 secret of their success ? What was it that led them 
 on to greatness? In our perusal of the biog- 
 raphies of eminent men we encounter certain fea- 
 tures which seem to stand out with more or less 
 prominence. As we ponder the life of any man 
 who has distinguished himself, and whom we re- 
 gard as a hero, whether he be a hero-soldier or a 
 hero-saint, we almost invariably conclude that he 
 was a man of great natural ability. 
 
 In most biographies this aspect occupies a place 
 13 
 
14 Soul Crises 
 
 out of all proportion to other essential, but less 
 congenial factors. It is doubtless quite in order 
 to magnify the genius of the man who has played 
 a conspicuous part in the progress of the world, 
 but with all our love for the romantic we must 
 not forget that it is untrue to life to magnify the 
 genius and minimize the early struggles, the stren- 
 uous efforts put forth by way of preparation for 
 life's work. It is this customary advertising of the 
 brilliant achievements, to the almost total exclu- 
 sion of any hint of a Gethsemane's agony or a 
 Calvary's cross which has made ordinary people 
 conclude that all great men have been favoured 
 with a superabundance of natural ability. There 
 is a partial truth in this statement, but it is not 
 the whole truth by any means. The distinguished 
 man may exhibit his talent with such grace and 
 ease as to lead us to infer that he is one of those 
 geniuses who are born and not made. But ap- 
 parent as it seems in nine cases out of ten, history 
 does not confirm this conclusion. 
 
 Despite the poetic strain in us which lauds the 
 saying that, "Some are born great, some achieve 
 greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 
 them," the diamond must be mined, and even when 
 discovered, it must be ground and polished, and 
 so with every man born with what we term great 
 natural ability. It is my growing conviction that 
 the big majority who distinguish themselves 
 achieve greatness. They rise from the ranks and 
 the most casual observer may acquaint himself 
 
Facing the Crisis 15 
 
 with the fact that a large percentage of the real 
 heroes of the race owe nothing to the possession 
 of the silver spoon. The secret of their success 
 lies in something deeper and more fundamental 
 than great natural ability. What we, in our com- 
 placent ignorance, delight to call great natural 
 abihty, these men of the order of the lion heart 
 call by another name; and were they so disposed, 
 they could open chapters in their history which 
 would inform us that they knew how to "toil ter- 
 ribly." As we scanned those pages we would read 
 of many a bloody sweat, and of many a cross pa- 
 tiently borne ; until they emerged from the gloom 
 in resurrection power, and the world was com- 
 pelled to acknowledge their greatness. 
 
 Another feature which is easily discernible as 
 we study the biography of the great man is, what 
 many are pleased to term, his good fortune. The 
 lines fell to him in pleasant places. He just hap- 
 pened to be there, and things invariably came his 
 way. The whole cycle of events just seemed to 
 wait to confer fresh honours upon him. The 
 worldly-wise account for his fame by a study of 
 astrology. He was born on a lucky day; he had a 
 lucky star, and his whole story is summed up in 
 his being more fortunate than his fellows. 
 
 It is the old story of luck, but luck is something 
 with which he whom the world delights to honour 
 never took time to confer. He was not hanging 
 around with nothing to do in particular when all 
 this good fortune arrested his attention and car- 
 
1 6 Sotd Crises 
 
 ried him on to glory. No ! He was a man with 
 a mission; life had a meaning to him. He had a 
 part to play, and whether good fortune smiled or 
 frowned to that end he came forth ; for that he had 
 toiled incessantly; for that he had risked the loss 
 of all. Others were around before he came upon 
 the scene, but were unequal to the illustrious task. 
 When he came, it was easily recognized that he 
 alone was master of the situation. He was not 
 carried there by luck or good fortune ; he came to 
 his own by the sheer logic of honest drudgery. 
 Luck was an unknown word in his vocabulary. He 
 tarried not for good fortune ; nor feared to face 
 bad fortune, but through good report and evil he 
 kept on his lonely way. 
 
 There are those who seem to partition time off 
 into lucky and unlucky days, who shun super- 
 stitious omens, and believe in lucky stars. One or 
 two things about these people I have observed. 
 Luck is the forlorn hope of the man who was born 
 tired, and who has never conquered his inertia. 
 Luck is the creed of the morally bankrupt. Luck 
 is the god of the spiritually blind, who eventually 
 find themselves in the ditch. Luck sounds very 
 romantic; and is, in fact, quite as romantic in its re- 
 wards as in its promises. It promises something 
 for nothing and eventually its votary dies. On his 
 tombstone write, "This is a man who for forty 
 years was always going to do something; but who 
 was waiting for something to turn up, and lo ! here 
 he lies in a pauper's grave." 
 
Facing the Crisis 17 
 
 The secret of renown lies In something more 
 fundamental than natural ability; in something 
 more reliable than good fortune; it lies in the 
 birth of a single strenuous purpose in the soul. 
 Before the advent of an all-controlling purpose, 
 great natural ability and good fortune pale into 
 insignificance. Such is the potency of an idea, such 
 the power of purpose ! When a man comes to a 
 crisis, faces the issue, and chooses to do the one 
 thing worth while, he has clothed himself with a 
 power before which time and death are impotent. 
 The man without a purpose is like a ship without 
 a rudder: he has no aim in life. He is simply 
 drifting on the high seas, and when hailed by a 
 passing ship, "Whither bound?" he answers with 
 a laugh of derision, "Nowhere in particular; out 
 for a good time." Such a life is bound for the 
 rocks. 
 
 An imperative question for every young man 
 standing on the threshold of life to ask is : "Lord, 
 what wilt thou have me to do?" Such a question 
 is evidence that we have awakened to the greatest 
 issue confronting the mind of man. The words of 
 our text ring with genuine interest for us because 
 they mark the crisis in the history of a soul. Saul 
 of Tarsus was certainly a young man of more than 
 average ability; he was the very essence of devo- 
 tion, and withal eager to succeed. Fortune smiled 
 upon him, and it seemed as though nothing could 
 hinder his ascent up the ladder of Rabbinical fame, 
 when, lo ! a light appeared on the highway of life : 
 
1 8 Soul Crises 
 
 he saw a face; he heard a voice, and all was 
 changed! Here his Pharisaical career terminated. 
 Here he exchanged the path of persecution for the 
 path of martyrdom, and with the cry, "Lord, what 
 wilt thou have me to do?" he pledged himself for- 
 ever the bond-slave of Jesus Christ. 
 
 Will any of you dare to suggest that he made a 
 mistake? No man ever makes a mistake, no mat- 
 ter how favourable his chances of promotion, or 
 how certain his fame, who, with a glorious aban- 
 don, throws policy and caution to the winds and 
 with grim determination cries, "Lord, what wilt 
 thou have me to do?" Sometimes we have to 
 choose between good and evil, and sometimes we 
 have to choose between the better and the best. 
 There is fame, and there is immortality. Fame 
 awaited Saul as a Rabbi, but the Rabbis, even the 
 greatest, have passed off the stage and their great- 
 ness is a memory; while St. Paul who was en- 
 trusted with the future of Christianity grasped the 
 situation, and proved himself its master by over- 
 throwing paganism and conquering the world. St. 
 Paul lives to-day, and easily takes his place at the 
 head of that noble line of heroes and martyrs of 
 whom the world was not worthy. 
 
 In asking you to consider a few features of his 
 remarkable life, I beg no pardons, for I ask you 
 to behold a man: a man who was transformed by 
 the living Christ and transfigured by the power of 
 purpose. I want you to come with me along the 
 Damascus road; that road which is symbolic of re- 
 
Facing the Crisis 19 
 
 pentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus 
 Christ. I want you to see this prostrate man, pale 
 and trembling, with a great fear in his heart, in- 
 tensified by the conviction that he has been living 
 at cross-purposes with God, lifting his face heaven- 
 ward, and I want you to hear him in a subdued 
 voice say, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" 
 He is a conquered man. How truly he could enter 
 into the experience of another who cried, "O Gali- 
 lean, Thou hast conquered." He is a resolved 
 man. He has come to an irrevocable decision. 
 He volunteers his services. He wants to do some- 
 thing for the Lord. What can he do? 
 
 If you and I had looked at that prostrate form 
 we would have asked him to stand up. We would 
 have taken a mental survey of him and then we 
 might have confessed, "We wanted you for an 
 apostle, but your appearance is against you." It 
 was quite true, at least in so far as tradition can 
 be trusted, and St. Paul confirms this conclusion. 
 His appearance was against him. Speaking of 
 himself Paul says, "Who in presence am base 
 among you." "His bodily presence is weak and 
 his speech contemptible." St. Paul's appearance 
 was certainly against him. He was undersized 
 and he was weak-eyed, but he was not weak- 
 kneed. In that little frail body, often racked with 
 infirmity, there slumbered the soul of a giant. If 
 this young man had come up before many of our 
 modern church courts, offering his services as a 
 minister, I'm afraid he would have been rejected. 
 
20 Soul Crises 
 
 A few generations ago a young man presented 
 himself as a candidate for the Christian ministry. 
 He was rejected by one church but he tried an- 
 other. He was none other than Dr. Joseph 
 Parker who began life as an assistant to a mason. 
 Speaking of himself he said, "I early reached the 
 conclusion that God intended me for something 
 higher than carrying bricks." Dr. Parker was a 
 prophet in his day and generation, and he being 
 dead yet speaketh. What happened to a spiritual 
 giant Hke Dr. Parker has, doubtless, been expe- 
 rienced by many others. 
 
 In asking the most momentous question of your 
 life, you may wonder what you can do. In appear- 
 ance you may have a distinct advantage over St. 
 Paul. Healthy in body and supple in limb; 
 well proportioned, strong in muscle and graceful 
 in bearing. A good appearance is not to be de- 
 spised. It is a great asset. If your appearance 
 is against you you may be conscious of a serious 
 handicap, but do not be discouraged. Make your 
 disadvantage a ladder. 
 
 A weak appearance may be glorified by God, 
 and suffered by man, but not so discouragement. 
 Discouragement is a sin which must be dealt with 
 in its early stages or all is lost. Discouragement 
 acts like lead around the body of a strong swim- 
 mer; it weighs him down out of sight. Appear- 
 ance is a serious factor in daily affairs, but when 
 compared with the power of purpose it is a minor 
 detail. 
 
Facing the Crisis 21 
 
 As we Interview Saul regarding his attainments 
 wc quickly conclude that he is a talented young 
 man. He was born in Tarsus of Cilicia. Tarsus 
 was a city of wealth and culture. After receiving 
 a liberal education in his native city, Saul went 
 up to Jerusalem to receive further instruction from 
 the renowned Gamaliel. There he distinguished 
 himself, and prophecy was rife as to his even sur- 
 passing his brilliant master. Naturally a student 
 and burning with a thirst for knowledge, it seemed 
 as though nothing would prevent him becoming 
 the greatest scholar of his time. Scholastic fame 
 was within easy reach. But on the road to Da- 
 mascus he experienced a change which led him 
 to break forever with the past and with a vision 
 of the true meaning and purpose of life he cried, 
 "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" 
 
 When we turn from the consideration of St. 
 Paul's personal appearance to his personal attain- 
 ments we instinctively feel that the tables have 
 been turned. We are standing in the presence 
 of an intellectual giant who commands our admira- 
 tion. Without question we acknowledge ourselves 
 in the presence of one who is our superior. But 
 while we revere him, let us not get benumbed in 
 his presence; for he too had a beginning. When 
 he asked this question he was an untried man. 
 
 Until we set ourselves bravely and persistently 
 to the task we never know what we can do. Most 
 men who have distinguished themselves in life 
 have been almost as big a revelation to themselves 
 
12 Soul Crises 
 
 as they have been to other people. Therefore 
 while conscious of our limitations let us recognize 
 that we belong to the same order of life as Socra- 
 tes and Seneca, Handel and Shakespeare, Luther 
 and Lincoln. Every life has a mission and "who 
 knoweth whether thou art come to the Kingdom 
 for such a time as this?" We all have talents for 
 something, and I am not concerned about ascer- 
 taining the precise nature of your talents : what I 
 am concerned about is this, Are you willing even 
 now, to dedicate them to God? 
 
 Recollect, before you can hope to have the tal- 
 ent of achievement you must utilize the talent of 
 preparation. To every aspiring young life I would 
 say. Have you the talent of application and the 
 talent of perseverance? If you have you are pos- 
 sessed of omnipotence. There are some people 
 who have general talents for everything and par- 
 ticular talents for nothing. Of these people I 
 fight shy. Application and perseverance always 
 tell. 
 
 We have two notable illustrations of this fact 
 in Demosthenes and Coleridge. That Coleridge 
 was a "myriad-minded man" all literary men will 
 agree. His genius was evident to one and all. 
 In his early life no one met him without a sense 
 of wonder and admiration. The apostrophe of 
 Charles Lamb respecting him, as Dr. W. J. Daw- 
 son has so ably expressed it, is "equally famous 
 and pathetic." "Come back into memory, like 
 as thou wert in the dayspring of thy fancies, with 
 
Facing the Crisis 23 
 
 hope like a fiery column before thee — the dark 
 pillar not yet turned, Samuel Taylor Coleridge — 
 Logician, Metaphysician, Bard!"^ What he did 
 produce is the pure gold of literature, but he frit- 
 tered away his time and did practically nothing. 
 Compare Coleridge with Demosthenes. Demos- 
 thenes had an ambition to be an orator, but he 
 was troubled with defective speech. Any one 
 can appreciate how hard it must be for a stam- 
 merer or a stutterer to excel as a speaker, but 
 Demosthenes applied himself with a will. He 
 studied his calling and practised his art on the 
 sea shore with pebbles in his mouth until he be- 
 came one of the few experts in expressing the 
 beautiful but intricate language of Greece. 
 
 One more glance at this young man Saul, and 
 then we must leave him for the present. As we 
 listen to him we become convinced that he is In- 
 tensely devout. Saul was the very embodiment of 
 sincerity. We do him serious Injustice If we think 
 otherwise. He mourns the fact of his having been 
 a persecutor, but confesses that he did It Ignor- 
 antly in unbelief. Never was a man Inspired by 
 loftier motives than Saul, when he set out to over- 
 throw Christianity. But when the light of God 
 flashed upon his soul, he became aware that his fife 
 hitherto had been a huge blunder and trembling 
 with astonishment he cried, "Lord, what wilt thou 
 have me to do?" 
 
 Young people, I do not question your sincerity. 
 
 * The Making of Manhood. 
 
24 Soul Crises 
 
 It may be as transparent as the noon-day light, but 
 sincerity is not all. May not your life with all its 
 good intentions be wrong? Have you recognized 
 and acknowledged the Kingship of Christ? Let 
 your life be guided by an intelligent purpose, and 
 henceforth and forever may it be your purpose 
 and mine to live Christ! 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 IGNORING THE CRISIS 
 
 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, <who 
 for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye knonv how 
 that afterivard, ivhen he ivould have inherited the blessing, he 
 ivas rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he 
 sought it carefully with tears. — Heb. XII, 16-17. 
 
 JACOB and Esau are brought before us, by the 
 •^ sacred historian in a very realistic manner. 
 Taking the two young men as they are depicted to 
 us, they present a very profitable and interesting 
 study. As we look at them our first impression 
 is that they are not akin. One is red and rough 
 and ready; the other is white and smooth and 
 deep. When we are fully convinced that they are 
 brothers and twins at that, we marvel at the strik- 
 ing contrasts to be found in the same family. 
 Doubtless we often have remarked upon the dif- 
 ferences in children: difference In disposition, of 
 ambition, and of appearance, In numbers of fam- 
 ilies we have known. 
 
 These two boys have no family resemblance 
 whatever and as they grow to manhood they ex- 
 hibit different traits of character. Esau was a cun- 
 ning hunter, while Jacob was a plain man dwelling 
 in tents. Jacob was shrewd, calculating and 
 
 25 
 
26 Soul Crises 
 
 crafty; whereas Esau was frank and goodnatured; 
 but withal reckless and impatient of all restraint. 
 
 These two brothers come upon the stage as 
 actors in a scene which reveals their character, 
 and decides their destiny. In the first act we see 
 the sturdy but famished hunter returning from the 
 chase, and we impulsively sympathize with him as 
 we see him staggering along and almost falling 
 with exhaustion. In the foreground we see his 
 scheming brother preparing a tempting meal. He 
 has been watching for a favorable opportunity, 
 and now he is determined to have his price before 
 his brother shares his meal. The mess of red 
 lentils looked very savoury, and the smell of it 
 simply took Esau by storm. We are told of the 
 Arab by those who know him well, that his hunger 
 is madness. That madness is now upon Esau. 
 Being a hearty eater at any time and knowing the 
 pleasure of gratifying a good appetite he ex- 
 claimed, "Feed me, I pray thee, with that red — 
 that red!" He did not know what to call it: but 
 it looked good to eat, and it would satisfy the 
 cravings of hunger. 
 
 And Jacob said, "Sell me this day thy birth- 
 right." The birthright was more than a title. It 
 was an honour which carried with it certain dis- 
 tinct advantages. In the Jewish economy the first- 
 born was signally favoured, he was consecrated 
 to God, he received a double portion of the inheri- 
 tance, he became the recognised leader or chief of 
 the tribe, and had a right to demand a particular 
 
Ignoring the Crisis 27 
 
 blessing from his dying father. 
 
 By meditation, Jacob had peered into the future; 
 and had a fairly accurate idea of the advantages 
 accruing from the birthright; while Esau had 
 thought little or nothing about it. And without 
 the slightest suspicion that he was nearing a crisis 
 he burst out, "Behold I am at the point to die, and 
 what profit shall my birthright do to me?" No! 
 Esau! thou art far from dying! A dying man is 
 not quite so vehement. Thy words are an outburst 
 of passion rather than a cry of pain! Esau is 
 suffering from a lack of patience. Other men have 
 been as hungry, and tightened their belts. Why 
 didn't he set to work and prepare his own meal? 
 Surely Jacob did not have a monopoly of all the 
 red lentils in the country. Had Esau exercised 
 patience, and behaved like a full grown man, in- 
 stead of acting the part of a giant baby, he would 
 not have ignored his crisis. 
 
 What a tempted man needs is patience, staying 
 power, the ability to hold out. If he can hold out 
 long enough, the demon of darkness will release 
 his grip, and he will emerge from the struggle 
 victorious. 
 
 In the second act upon this stage the bargain has 
 been accepted, the birthright has been sold, and 
 Esau is busy satisfying the cravings of hunger. 
 As we watch the two brothers we hardly can re- 
 frain from remarking that one lives to eat, and 
 the other eats to live; one has a stomach, and the 
 other has a soul; one is a kind of digesting ma- 
 
28 Soul Crises 
 
 chine, the other thinks, and, whether commendable 
 or not, he gets things going his way. It is hardly 
 necessary to say, that as they stand neither of them 
 is a saint. In fact one of them does not wish to 
 be regarded as a saint. He had little use for 
 prayers and pious looks. They might be all very 
 well for his aged father; but as for his slick 
 brother a fine kind of saint he would make. 
 
 Although Jacob was no saint he ultimately be- 
 came one. To begin with he did not give much 
 promise of sainthood; rather he was full of faults, 
 and among others he was guilty of the detestable 
 fault of meanness. Jacob's conduct has been a 
 problem to a great many young men ; but whatever 
 view you take of Jacob remember that God did 
 not countenance his wrongdoing. "Whatsoever a 
 man soweth that shall he also reap," and Jacob 
 was no exception. 
 
 On the other hand Esau was frank and free; 
 an openhanded fellow with an honest heart. He 
 was the kind of a young man you Hke to meet, 
 but when you have been in his company for a 
 while you have his depth. At first he can charm 
 you with his hunting adventures, but you soon tire 
 of hunting stories, and when you begin to talk 
 on any other subject to Esau, he is at sea. All 
 he can wax eloquent about is a good square meal; 
 his last carousal, or his anticipation of the next. 
 You have met those amiable Esaus. They are 
 fine fellows; but if you take them away from their 
 favourite subjects of appetite or sport, they are 
 
Ignoring the Crisis 29 
 
 dumb. They can tell you nothing about the best 
 authors; for they do not read those books which 
 are worth while and which are the best thoughts 
 of the noblest brains that ever throbbed. They 
 do not care for music; for they do not sing the 
 songs that have led battalions on to victory. They 
 are strangers to the divine power of sacred song. 
 As for art they may gaze upon it, but they cannot 
 see its inner beauty. They have the eyes of a 
 hawk but the vision of an owl. How keen-sighted 
 they are 1 By a kind of instinct they can discern a 
 beast in the forest, or a ball upon the field, but 
 they are blind to the really beautiful in art, in 
 nature and in history. 
 
 A would-be critic said to Turner, ''I never see 
 such sunsets as you paint." 
 
 The artist replied saying, "Don't you wish you 
 could?" 
 
 As for the sacred name of religion, these Esaus 
 have no use for it; they are emphatically unspirit- 
 ual. They can see no need for ministers and 
 churches and Sundays and endless expense. We 
 have Esaus around us who glory in their physical 
 strength, as though the body were everything, 
 but as for their souls they never seem to give them 
 a passing thought ! They are strong and swift 
 and clever. They win our admiration as athletes, 
 and, indeed, they are splendid animals; but in 
 moral calibre and spiritual force they are as chil- 
 dren who have not yet begun to walk or talk. 
 These Esaus with their splendid physique are full 
 
30 Soul Crises 
 
 of promise, but unless the body hands the reins 
 of moral government to the soul, they will plunge 
 forward into madness and ruin. 
 
 Esau sells his birthright, eats his meal, and 
 goes out as though nothing had happened, but he 
 has not gone for good, he will return again, and 
 when he returns he will be brought face to face 
 with his folly. 
 
 In the third act an old man sits upon the stage. 
 He Is almost blind. Isaac imagines he is about to 
 go the way of all flesh, and before he makes his 
 exit from the stage he intends to bless his first- 
 born. Esau Is called and given his instructions. 
 **Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, 
 thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, 
 and take me some venison; and make me savoury 
 meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I 
 may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die." 
 Esau goes on his errand, and presently in comes 
 Jacob dressed as Esau, and bringing with him 
 savoury meat. Isaac cries, "Who art thou my 
 son?" 
 
 Jacob tells the first of his three lies, and steals 
 the blessing. He retires, and has just made good 
 his retreat, when In comes Esau saying, "Let my 
 father arise, and eat of his son's venison, that 
 thy soul may bless me." 
 
 Isaac trembled, and said, "Who? Where is 
 he that hath taken venison, and brought it me, and 
 I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have 
 blessed him? Yea, and he shall be blessed." 
 
Ignoring the Crisis 31 
 
 "And when Esau heard the words of his father, 
 he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and 
 said unto his father. Bless me, even me also, O 
 my father!" 
 
 We are profoundly moved by this exceeding 
 great and bitter cry. It is always an affecting 
 sight to see a man in tears; but to hear a strong 
 man crying out in an agony of anguish is simply 
 heartrending. We feel the tragedy of his posi- 
 tion as we take our stand by the side of poor heart- 
 broken Esau. The tragedy is this: his tears are 
 of no avail, the blessing has been pronounced upon 
 the head of another, and what is done cannot be 
 undone. Our hearts vibrate with genuine sympa- 
 thy for Esau as the consequences of his folly break 
 upon him like a bolt from the blue. We instinct- 
 ively take sides with him as he vows vengeance on 
 his brother, and as for the part played by his 
 mother we regard such treachery as beneath con- 
 tempt. But we must exercise a care. 
 
 There is a law in the moral realm which we 
 break at our peril; and we are all too eager to 
 look for sympathy and excuse ourselves when the 
 consequences of our wilfulness are brought home 
 to us. 
 
 As for Jacob, he also sinned and that most 
 grievously. He played the detestable part of a 
 sneak and a coward. The blessing went with the 
 birthright and had Jacob been a truer man he 
 would have chosen a more honourable means of 
 obtaining it. 
 
32 Soul Crises 
 
 The present seems an opportune time for vent- 
 ing our wrath upon all the crafty and cowardly 
 conspirators that ever have lived; upon all the 
 scheming, self-seeking Jacobs at work in modern 
 times, but we must refrain. 
 
 Jacob's meanness is no excuse for Esau's folly. 
 Esau is a type of that vaunting individual who 
 gaily intimates that he is going to sow his wild 
 oats. The would-be Esau had better reflect upon 
 his course. There is seed-time and harvest In the 
 moral world, and harvest time comes with uner- 
 ring certainty. Esau's behaviour over a mess of 
 pottage was anything but commendable. His im- 
 patient utterance then was a seed sown which 
 grew into an exceeding great and bitter cry. "Be- 
 hold, I am at the point to die : and what profit 
 shall the birthright do to me?" His words re- 
 veal a lack of reverence. If he had thought se- 
 riously what the birthright meant to him he would 
 have been more reluctant In parting with it. His 
 demeanour suggests that he had thought little or 
 nothing about it. He did not appreciate the fact 
 that his father was a patriarch and that, in the 
 natural order of things he would succeed his 
 father, and have the unspeakable privilege of 
 walking and talking with God. 
 
 A lack of reverence is a serious defect In a 
 young man's character. But you ask, "What did 
 Esau know about reverence?" He was not a 
 heathen or we might excuse him. It is to be 
 feared that many poor heathen groping in pagan 
 
Ignoring the Crisis 33 
 
 darkness have reflected more upon the majesty and 
 mystery of human life than many of our young 
 people living in Christian homes. They fail to 
 see any advantage in having a godly father and a 
 praying mother. Esau-like they are despising 
 their birthright. Esau had opportunities for 
 healthy reflection. Though modest, his father 
 was a distinguished man, a man honoured of God 
 and esteemed by his fellows, but Esau cared for 
 none of these things. Life to him was a hunting 
 ground, and as far as we can gather from the 
 sacred records, he had no more reverence for God 
 and the world than had the animals he stalked in 
 the chase. Besides, even though he was not a god- 
 fearing youth he might have exhibited a degree 
 of self-reverence which makes a man feel the dig- 
 nity of human life, and to, at least, ask himself 
 the questions, "Whence?" and "Whither?" 
 
 Is not lack of reverence one of the outstanding 
 defects in the life of the modern youth? Rever- 
 ence is an intuition of the soul. It suggests mod- 
 esty in the presence of mystery. Reverence should 
 be more in evidence in the home, in the church, 
 and in the world. Young people ! Recognize the 
 dignity of human nature, and the uniqueness of 
 your own individuality. Consider your relation- 
 ship to God and ponder the words of the Psalmist 
 concerning man, "Thou hast made him but little 
 lower than God, and crownest him with glory and 
 honour. Thou madest him to have dominion 
 over the works of Thy hands" (R. V.). A "littU 
 
34 Soul Crises 
 
 lower than God!" 
 
 What manner of persons ought we to be? As 
 our responsibilities dawn upon us we will stand in 
 awe, like Moses before the burning bush, or like 
 Jacob we will cry, "Surely the Lord is in this place 
 and I knew it not." Reverence is an essential 
 feature in the character of all who appreciate their 
 birthright. Had Esau been as eager to feed his 
 mind as he was to gratify his appetite, he would 
 have been a king among men. 
 
 It is one of the appalling aspects of our modern 
 life that so many who might have graced promi- 
 nent positions are feasting their lower nature and 
 leaving their souls to starve. "Behold, I am at 
 the point to die : and what profit shall my birth- 
 right do to me?" Esau's outburst not only sug- 
 gests a lack of reverence, but reveals a lack of self- 
 control. He could not hold himself in check until 
 he had decided whether he was acting wisely or 
 foolishly in agreeing to such terms as Jacob made. 
 His lower nature had possession of the reins. He 
 had yielded to its voice so often that now it would 
 brook no refusal. It cried out for a mess of pot- 
 tage, and regardless of the price it must have it. 
 
 At first the lower nature makes very modest de- 
 mands, but as these demands are gratified it as- 
 sumes alarming proportions, and eventually drags 
 the higher nature along as a captive in chains. 
 Beware of the power of appetite ! To lose your 
 self-control puts you very much in the position of 
 a man on a run-away horse. You do not know 
 
Ignoring the Crisis 35 
 
 where the brute will carry you. 
 
 Esau's impatient outburst also reveals his pro- 
 fanity. It is a terrible indictment to label a man 
 profane. In the Bible Esau is referred to as that 
 "profane person." The more we study his act and 
 attitude the more are we convinced that this in- 
 dictment, although severe, is just. "Profane." 
 The word of God very clearly demonstrates that 
 we cannot tamper with our religious privileges. 
 We trifle with them at our peril. A reckless disre- 
 gard for a high and holy calling which carries 
 with it an enduring inheritance reaps its own har- 
 vest. A despised birthright culminates in an ex- 
 ceeding great and bitter cry. Irreverence leads 
 to profanity, and a lack of self-control prepares 
 the way to fornication. 
 
 Esau's eyes were eventually opened to the con- 
 sequences of his folly and he tried to repent: to 
 undo the past, but he was too late. Tears — not 
 even tears of repentance — could give him back the 
 birthright he had despised. How full of warning 
 is Esau's example to us ! "Lest there be any for- 
 nicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one 
 morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know 
 how that afterward, when he would have inherited 
 the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no 
 place of repentance, though he sought it carefully 
 with tears." 
 
 What a volume of suggestion there is in that 
 word, "afterward I" There is an "afterward" in 
 every life. If a man has lived for God there is 
 
36 Soul Crises 
 
 an afterward of abiding peace, "in the evening it 
 shall be light." If a man has "sown the wind, he 
 shall reap the whirlwind." His afterward shall 
 be one of sorrow and remorse. 
 
 What have we done with our birthright? We 
 have a birthright before which the birthright of 
 Esau pales into insignificance. His birthright car- 
 ried with it great privileges, but ours makes us 
 "heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ." 
 If it was a sin for Esau to despise his birthright, 
 ''how shall me escape if we neglect so great sal- 
 vation?" 
 
 Esau was too late for the blessing which went 
 with the birthright but when he was convinced of 
 the consequences of his youthful folly he pleaded 
 with commendable tenacity before his father, and 
 he did not plead in vain. As we listen to his 
 heart-broken accents, "Bless me, even me also, O 
 my father!" we are moved with compassion. 
 Esau is beginning to appreciate the value of spirit- 
 ual things. As he continues to plead, "Hast thou 
 not reserved a blessing for me?" we are reminded 
 of a crisis of our own when we said, "I will arise 
 and go to my Father." Esau's final plea pre- 
 vailed. "Hast thou but one blessing, my father? 
 bless me, even me also, O my father!" 
 
 "And Esau lifted up his voice and wept." 
 Moved by the importunate cries and tears of his 
 son, Isaac said unto him, "Behold thy dwelling 
 shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew 
 of heaven from above; and by thy sword shalt 
 
Ignoring the Crisis 37 
 
 thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall 
 come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, 
 that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck." 
 This lesser blessing was the reward of Esau's per- 
 severing prayer even at the eleventh hour. 
 
 The past is beyond recall, but the present and 
 the future are yours. Christ came "to seek and to 
 save that which was lost." He is seeking for you 
 and says, "Him that cometh unto me, I will in no 
 wise cast out." 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 CAN CHRIST DO ANYTHING FOR THE MORALLY 
 UPRIGHT? 
 
 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scrip- 
 ture, and preached unto him Jesus. — Acts VIII, 35. 
 
 THE divinity of Christianity is seen in its trans- 
 forming effect upon all types of character. 
 During its onward march from the day on which 
 its Founder hung on Calvary's hill to the present 
 it has given ample proof of its adaptability to meet 
 the requirements and supply the needs of every 
 age and clime. In each succeeding generation, it 
 has been the power of God unto salvation to every 
 man, woman, and child, who has believed with the 
 heart unto righteousness. The reclaiming and re- 
 newing of moral and physical wrecks is often re- 
 ferred to as the peculiar glory of our holy religion. 
 This is a buoyant truth which shines as a star of 
 hope to the man standing on the brink of despair. 
 This truth we reiterate with sacred joy: Christ is 
 able to save to the uttermost "all that come unto 
 God by Him." 
 
 When the members of the Jewish sanhedrim, 
 as they were straining for evidence to convict 
 Peter and John, beheld the lame man healed they 
 
 38 
 
Can Christ do Anything for Upright? 39 
 
 could say nothing against it. They were too 
 prejudiced to say anything in its favour, but so 
 evident was the fact of restoration that try as they 
 might, they could say nothing against it. Jesus 
 heals the lame man. This is one of the unan- 
 swerable arguments which support His claim to 
 be the Son of God, and the Saviour of the world. 
 When men like St. Augustine, John Bunyan, and 
 Jerry McAuley give an unvarnished statement of 
 their vices and then proceed to relate how they 
 were plucked as brands from the burning, we mar- 
 vel. And when we reflect upon their transformed 
 lives, radiant with the beauty of holiness, and their 
 strenuous labours as ambassadors of Christ, we 
 are constrained to magnify God for His grace in 
 them. Let this truth be universally proclaimed: 
 there is hope and pardon, life and immortahty for 
 the hardened, blackened transgressor. Yes, even 
 for the man who has lost faith in himself and his 
 fellows; there is mercy and salvation for him if 
 he will seek the Lord in sincerity and in truth. 
 
 But is this the only type of character with which 
 Christ is able do deal effectively? By no means. 
 He welcomes all sorts and conditions of men, and 
 whether their diseases are appalling to themselves 
 or not taken very seriously. He diagnoses every 
 case, reveals to each his true condition, and in 
 His mercy heals them all. "Whosoever will, may 
 come, and partake of the water of life freely." 
 
 In this address It is my Intention, in so far as I 
 am able, to show what Christ can do for those who 
 
40 Soul Crises 
 
 are morally upright. There are large numbers, 
 especially of young people, who have been reared 
 in Christian homes, who have been shielded by 
 Christian influences, and who regularly attend 
 public worship. Many of these pride themselves 
 upon their clean lives, and such are to be com- 
 mended for their uprightness. But what is the 
 Lord Christ able to do for them? Will He say 
 to such, ''Your training has been so satisfactory 
 and your lives so free from open transgression 
 that you may be saved by proxy" ? No I He will 
 not say that; although He fully appreciates all the 
 good there is in every life. 
 
 Good deeds, not even engaging in church work, 
 will save us. "Not of works, lest any man should 
 boast." The Ethiopian eunuch is a type of those 
 who are morally upright, and we will see what 
 Christ did for him. Let us make a brief study 
 of his character. "Behold, a man of Ethiopia, 
 an eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen 
 of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her 
 treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to wor- 
 ship, was returning, and sitting in his chariot read 
 Esaias, the prophet." This eunuch was a re- 
 markable man. There are several things in his 
 favour, and I trust we shall benefit by his example. 
 He was a man of culture. This is evident from 
 the statement that he was a man of great author- 
 ity, also from the position which he occupied as 
 treasurer for Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. 
 There is considerable difference between a man of 
 
Can Christ do Anything for Upright? 41 
 
 culture and an Ignoramus. We may infer rea- 
 sonably that this eunuch had Improved his oppor- 
 tunities for getting knowledge and experience. 
 There is no royal road to success, and when we 
 read that he was "a man of great authority" we 
 are reminded of days, and months, and probably 
 years of diligent study by way of preparation for 
 his life work. 
 
 As a rule ignorant people are not given posi- 
 tions of responsibility. Whatever methods of pro- 
 motion may have obtained in the past there is no 
 uncertainty about the methods in vogue to-day. 
 This is preeminently an age of scientific knowl- 
 edge. It is brains and not patronage that counts. 
 It is what a man is, and not what his rich uncle 
 or his father is, that determines his position in 
 the realm of affairs. By our own merits we stand 
 or fall. If we would live effectively, we must 
 specialize. Henry Ward Beecher thrilled the stu- 
 dents of Yale University when he gave utterance 
 to words well worthy of our thought. He said, 
 "Know something about everything, but know 
 everything about something." In any sphere It is 
 by no means satisfactory to have just enough prac- 
 tical knowledge to retain a certain position : the 
 demand which is becoming more and more Insist- 
 ent Is that we become experts In our respective 
 callings. We are not merely supposed to occupy 
 certain positions, but to grace them with efficiency 
 and success. It will hardly be necessary for me to 
 enlarge upon the advantages of youthful diligence, 
 
42 Soul Crises 
 
 and faithful application. The day will come when 
 the diligent youth will be rewarded with a posi- 
 tion of trust and honour. It is easy to talk of the 
 eminence of men like the late W. E. Gladstone, 
 but did they slip into their positions by accident? 
 Look across the years ! See the youth Gladstone 
 carefully utilizing half hours in study that his 
 school mates were spending in play. 
 
 The Ethiopian eunuch was a trusted servant. 
 He was at home in the realm of finance, and he 
 graced his position by efficiency and honour. 
 Again, He was a religious man. We are apt, with 
 a meaning glance, to speak of a man as being of a 
 religious turn of mind. But any man who passes 
 religion by, as a subject not worthy of his notice, 
 Is either a superficial observer of the cardinal facts 
 of human life, or the owner of a very shallow 
 mind. A man's religious attitude Is a determining 
 factor In his career. This eunuch did not regard 
 religion as a mere matter of sentiment, but as a 
 vital reality. He was true to the light he had, 
 and any man who is true to the light he has will 
 ultimately be led to the true light. To begin with, 
 he was a heathen, but paganism had nothing in it 
 with which to satisfy the spiritual requirements of 
 his nature, so he renounced paganism, and em- 
 braced Judaism. Some critics are of the opinion 
 that the Jewish religion was introduced Into Ethio- 
 pia by the Queen of Sheba, on her return from 
 visiting Solomon. This is hardly probable, al- 
 though it is patent that the eunuch was well versed 
 
Can Christ do Anything for Upright? 43 
 
 in the faith he had embraced. He believed it to 
 be the truth, and he was consistent In performing 
 the duties his new faith required of him. Of his 
 sincerity we are assured by the fact of his pilgrim- 
 age to Jerusalem to attend the feast. Although he 
 was high in the social scale, and one of the leading 
 statesmen of his country, he did not neglect his 
 religious obligations. Had he been so disposed, he 
 might have discovered a few excuses fully as rea- 
 sonable as are generally given to justify absence 
 from public worship, but he was too good a man 
 for that. As a rule those people who have most to 
 do along domestic, agricultural, and commercial 
 lines have most time to attend to their moral and 
 spiritual interests. This eunuch's conduct enables 
 us to see that he was a man of sincere devotion. 
 
 He was the proud possessor of a copy of The 
 Law and the Prophets, and consequently an ardent 
 Bible student. In modern life books multiply so 
 quickly that we fail to appreciate their worth. 
 Centuries ago Bibles were few and expensive; 
 and where one was to be found, chained to a stand 
 in a church, and a reader was available, there 
 were many eager listeners to the truth. That the 
 eunuch had in his possession a copy of the Hebrew 
 scriptures Intimates that he was a man of con- 
 siderable wealth. Note carefully where his Bible 
 was. He did not have It put away at the back of 
 his chariot. In these days It seems as though many 
 Bibles were too precious for every day use, judg- 
 ing by the places in which they are to be found, 
 
44 '^oul Crises 
 
 provided one can be found, when the preacher 
 makes a pastoral call. Let us see to it that we 
 never become too busy to read a portion of the 
 word of God every day. A well-thumbed Bible is 
 a fair indication of a prosperous soul. This man 
 was not ahead of us in possessing a Bible, for in 
 the majority of homes there are two or three, but 
 he certainly appears to advantage when we re- 
 member that the minister caught him in the act of 
 reading it. He did not pick it up and open it at 
 random when he saw Philip coming, for he was 
 engaged in a very thoughtful study of the fifty- 
 third chapter of Isaiah, and if ever a man was 
 near the Kingdom it was he. The supreme mo- 
 ment in his history was fast approaching. 
 
 In estimating the character and conduct of this 
 eunuch, you will readily agree that he compares 
 favourably with the morally upright persons I de- 
 scribed at the beginning of this address. It is 
 sometimes a hard proposition to convince these 
 good people of their need of Christ. A favourite 
 plea of theirs is, "What better can I do?" or 
 "What better can I be?" The defect of their po- 
 sition is that stress is laid on good works, instead 
 of saving faith. It is imperative that we avoid 
 confusion in this matter. It is not a question of 
 being made better: it is a question of being re- 
 made. Christ offers a new heart and a new spirit 
 to morally good people, as He does to all men, 
 and the need is imperative in every case. "Ye 
 must be born again." 
 
Can Christ do Anything for Upright? 45 
 
 This eunuch was a good man in every respect. 
 He was a splendid business man, and he was in- 
 tensely religious, yet he was not a Christian. 
 Brethren! let us rest satisfied with nothing short 
 of a whole-hearted surrender of ourselves, just 
 as we are, to Jesus Christ. Any man who seeks 
 for the truth as this man did will most assuredly 
 find it. Man's extremity is God's opportunity. 
 
 Shall we now consider the change he experi- 
 enced? There is something very sad in the experi- 
 ence of this devout worshipper, and the sadness is 
 intensified when we consider that he is not alone. 
 He had come on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the 
 express purpose of quenching his thirst at the well 
 of truth. He had studied Judaism until he came 
 to respect and embrace its teaching; but withal, 
 the demands of his nature were not satisfied, and 
 he took this long journey to appease the heart 
 hunger which all men have felt. The teaching of 
 the Hebrew scriptures appealed to him so strongly 
 that he wondered if there were anything more in 
 them. He had been to Jerusalem, had joined in 
 the Temple services, and was returning dissatis- 
 fied. He had an idea that the last word had not 
 been spoken concerning those scriptures. And in 
 his perplexity he took up the book, and began to 
 read aloud, pondering every word, "He was 
 wounded for our transgressions." There was 
 something very precious and consoling in that 
 chapter, also something deeply mysterious and 
 tragic in the thought of the innocent being 
 
46 Soul Crises 
 
 punished for the guilty. He could not understand 
 it. However, he continued to read, "He is led 
 as a lamb to the slaughter." 
 
 Just then, he was accosted by the voice of a 
 stranger, who in a friendly manner asked him if 
 he knew what he was reading. He replied, "How 
 can I except some man should guide me?" He in- 
 vited Philip to come up and sit with him. The 
 preacher was glad to be of service. When it 
 comes to questions of this nature never hesitate to 
 ask your minister, for we are your servants for 
 Christ's sake. The eunuch said to Philip, "I pray 
 thee of whom speaketh the prophet this?" 
 Philip replied to the eunuch's question by 
 preaching unto him Jesus. He related how the 
 prophets had spoken of the sufferings of Christ, 
 and the glory that should follow, told of the 
 mighty promises, told how the Jews had been ex- 
 pecting the Messiah. As these two men sat and 
 talked, the growing wonder in the eyes of the one 
 lent eloquence to the tongue of the other. And 
 as Philip was enlarging upon the glory of Mes- 
 siah's kingdom the eunuch grasped his arm, and 
 asked, "Has He come?" O the pathos! the 
 yearning behind those words, "Has He come?" 
 In every age and in every country men have been 
 looking and longing for some word of God; and 
 you speak of the Messiah, but tell me this, "Has 
 He come?" It was the unspeakable privilege of 
 Philip to break the news to this seeking soul, that 
 He of whom the prophets had spoken had come. 
 
Can Christ do Anything for Upright? 47 
 
 Can you Imagine the thrill of heavenly delight 
 which quivered through the eunuch's frame? I 
 tell you of a truth, that preacher and his auditor 
 were being watched by the angels. O stupendous 
 gospel ! He has come I He, who is the bright- 
 ness of the Father's glory, and the express Image 
 of His person. Hallelujah! He has come! 
 
 The enchanted listener then urged Philip to de- 
 scribe the Messiah. Can you conceive a sublimer 
 task? Philip, to thee Is given an opportunity an 
 archangel might well be proud to embrace, to 
 describe Jesus. We can sympathise with him In 
 his dilemma for he is conscious of attempting an 
 Impossible task. 
 
 Hear him as he cries, Where shall I begin? 
 Shall I describe His face? His face baffles de- 
 scription, but It beamed with divine compassion on 
 the erring ones, it frowned upon the hypocrite 
 and the oppressor. It was sought and worshipped 
 by the children; It was so arresting In its expres- 
 sion, that sinners, haunted by Its strength and 
 beauty, forsook their sins and followed Jesus. 
 
 Shall I describe His hands? Those hands with 
 which He laboured to support His widowed 
 mother, those hands with which He touched blind 
 eyes and restored sight, those hands with which 
 He touched the bier and gave a young man back 
 to his mother, those hands with which He touched 
 the poor leper as He said, "I will, be thou clean." 
 Shall I describe His feet? Those feet which 
 trod on errands of mercy from the manger to the 
 
48 Soul Crises 
 
 cross. Jesus, my Lord, was betrayed; He was 
 mocked and scourged. Base men struck Him in 
 the face; and those hands and feet were pierced 
 with spikes, and nailed to the cross. He was 
 crowned with thorns and suspended to die, for sins 
 not His own. Philip told of His death and burial, 
 of how He rose again, and ascended to glory. 
 
 The trembling eunuch gasped, "Is salvation of 
 the Jews?" 
 
 Philip hastened to inform him that the Chris- 
 tian program embraced the world. There was 
 salvation for all, for Jews and Ethiopians. Hav- 
 ing the privilege of one for an audience, he 
 preached a personal Saviour. Turning and facing 
 the eunuch, Philip said, "Christ died for you. 
 Do you believe it?" 
 
 The eunuch replied, "I believe that Jesus Christ 
 is the son of God." His response to the gospel 
 message was immediate and his confession left 
 nothing to be desired. "And seeing water the 
 eunuch cried, 'What doth hinder me to be bap- 
 tized?' " The chariot was brought to a standstill, 
 and he was baptized. 
 
 Have you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ? 
 Then what is your next step? The probability is 
 that you already have been baptized. Were you 
 not brought to the font by believing and praying 
 parents? They were faithful in teaching you the 
 good and right way, and it may be they have 
 passed from their place in the church visible, which 
 as yet you have never joined. Why tarry? What 
 
Can Christ do Anything for Upright? 49 
 
 doth hinder you to become a member of the body 
 of Christ? Your life may be flawless, so was the 
 eunuch's. But neither morality nor religion will 
 save you. You need Christ, and Christ needs 
 you. Without further delay identify yourself with 
 His cause, and by your confession, your character, 
 and conduct preach Jesus to others. 
 
 Just a parting glance at these two men as they 
 bid each other good-bye. After a most affection- 
 ate farewell they separate to meet no more until 
 they meet In heaven, but the Christian eunuch goes 
 on his way rejoicing. No more heart-hunger! 
 No more anxiety! He need go no more on a pil- 
 grimage to Jerusalem. With Peter he can say, 
 *'Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the 
 words of eternal life." "He went on his way re- 
 joicing." O Christ! how many Thou hast sent 
 on their way rejoicing! Think you, this eunuch 
 kept his religion a secret? No! He told the 
 story o'er and o'er. Whenever he got an oppor- 
 tunity he preached Jesus. "Go thou and do like- 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN ! 
 / have played the fool— I Sam. XXVI, 21. 
 
 THIS is a remarkable expression, especially 
 when we consider it as a man's verdict re- 
 garding himself. As a rule man blames the other 
 fellow for his folly and wherever circumstances 
 will permit he endeavours to justify himself. 
 Here is a man who has reached a crisis. He has 
 made all the excuses available to shield himself 
 and now acknowledges the part he has played. 
 It is only fair to state that Saul was not always 
 a fool. Billy Bray, the quaint Cornish preacher, 
 said we had to become fools for Christ's sake and 
 suggested some of us did not have much to learn 
 in that direction as we were fairly big fools to 
 begin with, but Saul was not one of these. 
 
 Before you condemn any man take a compre- 
 hensive survey of his life. Give him credit for 
 all his good qualities, and then if he fails after 
 giving promise of worthy achievement, it is a fear- 
 ful reminder that the best of us have nothing to 
 boast about, that we are only secure as we are 
 kept by the power of God ! In many respects 
 
 50 
 
What Might Have Been! 51 
 
 Saul was a model young man. He was a type of 
 the young man who takes everybody by storm. 
 We are kindly disposed to the young and the fair 
 at any time, but we are simply captivated when 
 youth is as good as it is handsome. We are fav- 
 oured with a description of Saul's personal ap- 
 pearance in the second verse of the ninth chapter 
 of the first book of Samuel. "Now there was a 
 man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, a mighty 
 man of power. And he had a son whose name 
 was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and 
 there was not among the children of Israel a good- 
 lier person than he: from his shoulders upward 
 he was higher than any of the people." Saul had 
 a splendid physique. He was tall. 
 
 It is the ambition of every healthy youth to be 
 big, and Saul was one of nature's gentlemen. I 
 suppose it is an advantage to be tall. Some of us, 
 I have no doubt, once thought ourselves a good 
 deal bigger than we are. We were somewhat 
 consoled when we heard that there was many a big 
 good-for-nothing. But a big good-for-nothing 
 will not excuse a little good-for-nothing and of 
 the two evils which would you choose? It is quite 
 natural to want to be fully as big, if not a little 
 bigger than the average. God has put a divine 
 aspiration in our hearts and the desire to be big 
 springs from a longing to do a big work. God 
 hath set eternity in the hearts of the sons of men 
 and when we are true to the highest we cannot be 
 satisfied with anything really small and superficial. 
 
52 Soul Crises 
 
 But we must not run away with the idea that tall- 
 ness Is always measured by inches. One day Na- 
 poleon was reaching for a book which proved to 
 be beyond his reach. An officer stepped up, 
 reached the book and handed it to the Emperor, 
 with the remark that sometimes it was a good 
 thing to be tall. The Emperor indicated how 
 stature was to be measured when he curtly re- 
 plied "Longer not taller." Watts says: 
 
 "Were I so tall to reach the pole, 
 Or grasp the ocean in a span, 
 Man must be measured by his soul 
 The mind's the standard of the man." 
 
 Size counts, no doubt, but mere bigness is not all, 
 and in the final issue it is not what you can reach 
 but what you can grasp. It is a good thing to be a 
 physical giant, but a moral and spiritual giant is 
 infinitely higher both in the sight of God and 
 man. 
 
 Saul was not merely tall in stature, he was also 
 good-looking. He was decidedly attractive. He 
 was the "beauty" or "ornament" of Israel, "a 
 choice young man and a goodly, there was none 
 goodlier than he." We all want to be good-look- 
 ing, and if we are not blessed with a striking 
 personal appearance, let us at least look as well as 
 we can. How to appear to the best advantage 
 seems to be the problem of some people's existence. 
 We have our professional beautifiers who guar^ 
 
What Might Have Been! 53 
 
 antee to make us look several years younger than 
 we really are, and if we are willing to submit to 
 their treatment they can give us any complexion 
 we may prefer. Appearance may have its merits, 
 but a true man is not built for show. "Man look- 
 eth at the outward appearance, but God looketh 
 at the heart." Beauty of character Is to be pre- 
 ferred to beauty of feature and the beauty of 
 holiness to the beauty of figure. If we were half 
 so much concerned about our souls, as we are 
 about the adornment of our bodies, we would cul- 
 tivate a beauty that would not forsake us in our 
 gray hairs. 
 
 Saul was not only tall and attractive, he was 
 obedient. It was his prompt obedience to his 
 father's command that sent him on a trifling er- 
 rand, but which in reality led him to the throne 
 of Israel. Young men ! the most trifling duties In 
 life will decide the success or failure of your ca- 
 reer. It is an old-fashioned ethic which demands 
 obedience to parents, but no wise man will say 
 that it is out of date. Unless you learn the grace 
 of obedience in your own home, there Is trouble 
 which may amount to disaster ahead of you. 
 
 Besides being obedient, Saul was generous. 
 When his servant suggested that in the city there 
 was a man of God who could tell them the where- 
 abouts of the asses which had strayed, and that 
 they had better go to him, Saul hesitated, saying, 
 "What shall we bring to the man? for the bread 
 is spent in over vessels, and there is not a present 
 
54 Soul Crises 
 
 to bring to the man of God : what have we ?" And 
 it was only when his servant assured him that 
 there was the fourth part of a shekel of silver 
 left, that Saul consented to go. 
 
 A generous youth always appeals to us, and as 
 a rule he has many friends. I was not at all sur- 
 prised when I read of Henry Ward Beecher's say- 
 ing to the students of Yale University that a mean 
 man never made a successful minister, and his 
 saying may be applied to every honourable calling 
 in life. Generosity is a pleasing feature in a 
 young man's character, but unless it is directed and 
 controlled by the grace of God, it may lead to 
 extravagance and indulgence. 
 
 Finally, Saul was modest. This is a virtue few 
 of us suffer from to any great extent. When 
 Samuel the prophet said to Saul, "And on whom is 
 all the desire of Israel? Is it not on thee and on 
 all thy father's house?" 
 
 Saul answered and said, "Am not I a Benjamite, 
 of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? and my 
 family the least of all the families of the tribe of 
 Benjamin? Wherefore then speakest thou so to 
 me?" Humility and reverence are graces we 
 should strive to cultivate. The instructor does 
 not like the pupil who will not be told. A mer- 
 chant has very little use for the apprentice who 
 thinks he knows the business better in a week than 
 he does himself. Nobody has much use for tKe 
 man who seeks to impress upon all and sundry, 
 that he knows it all. We are all learners, and al- 
 
What Might Have Been! 55 
 
 though we may think that our heads are crammed 
 full of knowledge, our heads are not so very big 
 after all. One of the first signs of knowledge is 
 a consciousness of our own ignorance. Modesty 
 becomes us all, and so does reverence. Look at 
 Saul as he reverently kneels before the prophet 
 while that august person pours the anointing oil 
 upon his head and consecrates him king. It is a 
 beautiful sight, and as we gaze upon it do we not 
 feel that we owe reverence to those who are en- 
 deavouring to prepare us for our kingdom? We 
 owe a debt of gratitude to the prophets w^ho have 
 assisted in anointing us for our life's work, to our 
 parents, to our teachers, and to our masters. 
 Therefore do not try to find fault with them. 
 Recognize and appreciate their good qualities, 
 their regard for you, their patience with you, and 
 their oftentimes thankless task. 
 
 Now that we have got better acquainted with 
 Saul we begin to entertain high hopes for his fu- 
 ture. There he stands ! a big, handsome generous- 
 hearted fellow, an obedient son, a worthy citizen, 
 and crowned with the majesty of modesty. There 
 he stands ! the young man upon whom the Divine 
 choice has fallen, in whom so many hopes are 
 centred, and who is to enjoy the unspeakable privi- 
 lege of leading the soldiers of God on to victory. 
 Yes, there he stands, as many young men stand 
 to-day, ready to begin to sow upon the field of 
 time, while sympathetic onlookers, some with anx- 
 ious hearts, are wondering what the harvest will 
 
^6 Soul Crises 
 
 be. If ever any one made a good start Saul did. 
 He was admirably adapted to his work, and he 
 made a most promising beginning. His first battle 
 was prophetic of a triumphant reign. "Nahash 
 the Ammonite came up, and encamped against 
 Jabesh Gilead: and all the men of Jabesh said 
 unto Nahash, make a covenant with us, and we 
 will serve thee. And Nahash the Ammonite an- 
 swered them, 'On this condition will I make a cov- 
 enant with you, that I may thrust out all your 
 right eyes, and lay it for a reproach upon all 
 Israel.' And the elders of Jabesh said unto him, 
 'Give us seven days' respite, that we may send 
 messengers unto all the coasts of Israel : and then, 
 if there be no man to save us, we will come out to 
 thee.' " These messengers were despatched; they 
 informed the people, and the people lifted up their 
 voices and wept. "And, behold, Saul came after 
 the herd out of the field; and said, 'What aileth 
 the people that they weep?' And they told him 
 the tidings of the men of Jabesh. And the Spirit 
 of God came upon Saul when he heard those tid- 
 ings, and his anger was kindled greatly. And he 
 took the yoke of oxen, and hewed them in pieces, 
 and sent them throughout all the coasts of Israel 
 by the hands of messengers saying, 'Whosoever 
 Cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so 
 shall it be done unto his oxen.' And the fear of 
 the Lord fell on the people, and they came out 
 as with one consent." 
 
 How inspiring to read of Saul's preparations 
 
What Might Have Been! 57 
 
 for his first encounter with the enemy! He acted 
 so promptly and so gloriously that he proved him- 
 self a king, both by nature and by grace. With- 
 out the slightest hesitation he showed that he was 
 master of the occasion; and unconsciously he made 
 such a display of the essential elements of leader- 
 ship that the Israelites were swept into the ranks 
 as one man. And with such a leader in such a 
 cause no wonder he faced, and fought, and utterly 
 routed the foe. So far Saul has been all that we 
 could reasonably desire. He has displayed his 
 genius as a citizen, as a soldier, and as a king. 
 We are somewhat bewildered to think that a ca- 
 reer so full of promise should eventually close in 
 such a tragic manner. 
 
 But when we look into his history a little more 
 closely we see where he made his first mistake. 
 In the celebration of this victory over the Am- 
 monites, "Saul and the men of Israel rejoiced 
 greatly." Here we have the first intimation of 
 his spiritual pride. From that day forth Saul was 
 bigger in his own eyes, and perhaps he never read 
 the words, "Pride goeth before a fall." 
 
 Young men, amid your most brilliant achieve- 
 ments remember to whom you are indebted for 
 your gifts, and strive earnestly to cultivate the 
 spirit of gratitude and meekness. "Who maketh 
 thee to differ from another? And what has thou 
 that thou did'st not receive?" When success is 
 crowning your efforts it is a time to rejoice with 
 trembling. Saul had been faithfully warned by 
 
58 Soul Crises 
 
 the prophet that if he did wickedly, he would be 
 consumed, and warned we all have been. 
 
 What was the first step taken by Saul on the 
 downgrade? Impatience. A garrison of Philis- 
 tines had advanced as far as Geba. Jonathan 
 smote them, and to avenge themselves the Philis- 
 tines came against Israel in full force, and were 
 as the sand upon the sea shore for multitude. 
 Samuel instructed Saul to wait for seven days, 
 when he would come and offer sacrifice. On this 
 occasion Saul revealed his real character: self-will, 
 impatience, and disobedience. He waited until the 
 morning of the seventh day, and seeing no sign 
 of the prophet, took on himself the awful respon- 
 sibility of offering the sacrifice. He had just made 
 an end of offering when Samuel arrived, saying, 
 *'What hast thou done ?" Saul endeavoured to jus- 
 tify himself but the prophet replied, "Thou hast 
 done foolishly: thou hast not kept the command- 
 ment of the Lord thy God, which He commanded 
 thee : for now would He have established thy king- 
 dom upon Israel for ever. But now thy kingdom 
 shall not continue." Had Saul waited another 
 hour or two he would have saved his kingdom to 
 his sons in their successive generations. 
 
 Alas ! how much we lose by our impatience. 
 What other sin is so rampant to-day? Impa- 
 tience is one of the outstanding sins of our time? 
 Everybody is in a hurry, we have to rush through 
 with everything we undertake to do, we are getting 
 impatient of abiding God's time, and so, like Saul, 
 
What Might Have Been! 59 
 
 we sacrifice principle for expediency, and risk our 
 souls for gain. Impatience Is the secret of gam- 
 bling. Men are too Impatient to acquire gain by 
 legitimate methods, and so seek quick returns on 
 the wheel of chance. Many a young man plays 
 his cards well for a while, according to his own 
 notion, but no matter how well he plays, sooner 
 or later, he will acknowledge, as those unnatural 
 fires consume his manhood, that he has played 
 the fool. 
 
 Impatience Is the secret of the liquor traffic. 
 Think you that the liquor dealer Is In the business 
 because he Is actuated by philanthropic motives? 
 An eye-witness related to me the following Inci- 
 dent. A certain man was drinking one evening In 
 a bar-room. It was getting late when a woman 
 entered, and going up to the man she asked him 
 for some money to buy food for their starving 
 children. Her husband turned around and for 
 answer, deliberately struck his wife In the face, 
 knocking her senseless to the floor. The hotel 
 proprietor came rushing In, and seeing the woman, 
 the wife of that husband and father, who had been 
 transformed Into a demon through drink, that 
 mother of starving children In a land boasting of 
 civilization and liberty, that poor half-starved 
 creature lying In that condition on the floor, and 
 looking at the men present who were patroniz- 
 ing the bar, he said, "This Is awful boys, but 
 there's money In It." 
 
 Young man. If there Is money In It for the pro- 
 
6o Soul Crises 
 
 prietor what is there in it for you? Indulgence, 
 pauperism, and possibly the gallows, or a drunk- 
 ard's grave. Can it be that the prophecy is being 
 fulfilled in your case which reads, "The fool and 
 his money are soon parted?" 
 
 If we yield to the temptation to become impa- 
 tient of honesty and integrity in seeking a liveli- 
 hood, and pay too big a price for success, in the 
 midst of our questionable gains, we will hear a 
 voice saying, "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall 
 be required of thee." 
 
 God gave Saul another splendid opportunity of 
 redeeming his character, but in this he failed 
 through disobedience. The command was, go and 
 utterly destroy the Amalekites. Saul went in 
 obedience to this command, and destroyed the 
 Amalekites with the exception of the king and the 
 best of the sheep and oxen. "And Samuel came 
 to Saul: and Saul said unto him, 'Blessed be thou 
 of the Lord; I have performed the commandment 
 of the Lord.' And Samuel said, 'What meaneth 
 then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and 
 the lowing of the oxen which I hear?' " Again 
 Saul sought to excuse himself and to blame the 
 people for the spoil. The prophet was not to be 
 silenced by Saul's excuses. In solemn tones he 
 replied, "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice. 
 Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, 
 He also hath rejected thee from being king." 
 When Saul heard the worst he acknowledged 
 the cause of his failure, and said, "I have 
 
What Might Have Been! 6i 
 
 sinned: because I feared the people, and obeyed 
 their voice." 
 
 Like many to-day, Saul feared the people more 
 than he feared God. Through disobedience he 
 won a flock of sheep and a herd of cattle, but at 
 what a price ! In the moral realm, every man pays 
 the price. The price Saul paid was his kingdom, 
 and in that awful transaction he lost his God. 
 Here we have a concrete illustration of sin in its 
 working. Progress is made along "a way that 
 seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are 
 the ways of death." At the point of departure 
 from the path of righteousness, we discern the 
 unmistakable features of pride, this leads to im- 
 patience, impatience of piety, impatience of hon- 
 esty, impatience of conscientious scruples, and this 
 prepares the way for disobedience to God and 
 every accepted standard of right. The man who 
 has been playing with evil is like Saul who "wFst 
 not that the Spirit of the Lord had departed from 
 him." 
 
 Having sinned away his day of grace, Saul, 
 who had been distinguishedTor his generous cour- 
 age, stands subdued before the uncircumcised 
 Philistine, Goliath of Gath. Daily this haughty 
 heretic comes forth to defy the armies of the liv- 
 ing God. What a sorry part is now being played 
 by a man who had once been a hero ! \ man 
 who had once faced a crisis in a terrible might, 
 and without waiting to ask the reason why, had 
 hewed his oxen to pieces, sent portions through- 
 
62 Soul Crises 
 
 out Israel, had raised his army as if by magic, 
 had struck terror into the hearts of the Ammon- 
 ites, and now, to be brow-beaten and intimidated 
 by a single Philistine must be mortifying in the 
 extreme. It would be a farce were it not the 
 story of a great moral tragedy. Is there none to 
 be found in the ranks of the regulars to take away 
 this reproach? No! not one. The uncertain de- 
 meanor of the handsome giant of Israel has had 
 a deadly effect upon every man on the field. 
 
 To save the day, God sends forth a young man 
 after His own heart. The youngest son of Jesse, 
 the ruddy shepherd youth who has been sent with 
 supplies to the ranks, and who has not yet learned 
 to doubt the might of God, goes against the Philis- 
 tine, and smites him dead with a stone from his 
 sling. For this deliverance David is praised by 
 the maidens of Israel who celebrate the victory by 
 singing, "Saul hath slain his thousands and David 
 his ten thousands." This popular recognition of 
 David's achievement enrages the jealous Saul, and 
 he secretly determines to take David's life, and 
 thus cheat Providence by disposing of all possible 
 rivals. An evil spirit came upon Saul and at 
 times he was insane. He attempts to take David's 
 life, but David escapes; and can you imagine any- 
 thing quite so tragic as the insane Saul on a fool's 
 errand, seeking to slay the Lord's anointed? 
 
 Many are on the same errand to-day. "Fret 
 not thyself because of evil doers." Some of us 
 fret a great deal and are daily kept in bondage. 
 
What Might Have Been! 63 
 
 Even David said, "One of these days I shall fall 
 by the hand of Saul." No, David! thou art re- 
 served for something great ! and you poor annoyed 
 soul, if it hath pleased God to reveal His son in 
 you. He has a work for you to do; and by fret- 
 ting yourself because of evil doers, you may be 
 unfitting yourself for your divinely appointed task. 
 
 It was on one of these escapades against the 
 innocent and unoffending David that the pursued 
 came upon the pursuer. David caught Saul and 
 his followers asleep and his servant urged him to 
 smite, but David said, "The Lord forbid that I 
 should stretch forth mine hand against the Lord's 
 anointed: but, take now the spear that is at his 
 bolster, and the cruse of water, and let us go." 
 David withdrew and waited; and when Saul and 
 his soldiers came forth he cried to Abner and 
 Saul knew his voice. David lifting up the king's 
 spear asked what evil he had done. And Saul 
 smitten with a sense of shame cried, "I have 
 sinned: return, my son David; for I will no more 
 do thee harm, because my soul was precious in 
 thine eyes this day: behold, I have played the fool, 
 and have erred exceedingly." 
 
 Saul, thou art near to a more enduring kingdom 
 than the one thou hast lost! Thou hast never 
 been nearer the fulfilment of the majestic prom- 
 ise of thy youth than thou art now ! How near to 
 repentance unto life, and yet how far! 
 
 We have to pass over much that is interesting. 
 We cannot spend his last night with him. But 
 
64 Soul Crises 
 
 where will you find a sadder story of a soul that 
 has made shipwreck of faith and of a good con- 
 science than that which relates how poor, godless, 
 wretched Saul, mad with despair, flung himself 
 upon his bloody sword, and died the death of a 
 suicide? Poor Saul! He played the fool in his 
 life, and crowned his folly by dying as the fool 
 dieth. As a warning to others write upon his 
 tombstone, "I have played the fool." 
 
 Usually a man plays the fool a long time be- 
 fore he knows it. In fact, he thinks he is smart 
 and getting ahead of everybody, he carries him- 
 self with a self-satisfied air, when, all unknown to 
 nobody but himself, he is playing the fool. A 
 man plays the fool a long time before he will ac- 
 knowledge it. His usual plea is, "I see no harm 
 in it, the company is congenial, and I am no fool." 
 Eventually with all his fine parts, in the face of 
 murdered opportunities and a wasted frame he 
 cries, "I have played the fool." 
 
 The once mighty and majestic Saul has fallen, 
 and mourn for him as we may, we cannot bring 
 him back to play his part again. We pass this 
 way but once. What's done cannot be undone. 
 The one redeeming feature in this dark picture 
 is that the people of Jabesh-Gilead remembered 
 Saul as they knew him, the victorious monarch. 
 They rescued his body from the Philistines and 
 buried him with every token of reverence and re- 
 spect. What a different career Saul's might have 
 been. O that he had been true ! But all our 
 
What Might Have Been! 65 
 
 wishes avail nothing. There Is one wish we have, 
 however, we wish he had not been such a fool as to 
 think he could cheat God. What part are you 
 playing? 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 A PRESENT CRISIS 
 
 What shall I do then ivith Jesus which is called Christ? — 
 Matt. XXVII, 22. 
 
 THE scene to which we are introduced by the 
 words of our text did not have much more 
 than a local significance when it was enacted, but 
 time has proved it to be one of the most significant 
 dramas ever played upon the stage of history. 
 Jesus stands in the open court of the governor's 
 palace in the presence of Pilate and His accusers. 
 He has been tried by His fellow countrymen, and 
 in their judgment found worthy of death. The 
 charges brought against Him had been of too 
 flimsy a nature, even to satisfy a bigoted Jewish 
 tribunal. False witnesses had been engaged to 
 swear away His life, but they utterly failed in 
 their undertaking. After hearing several wit- 
 nesses the high priest said unto Him, " 'I adjure 
 thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether 
 thou be the Christ, the Son of God.' 
 
 ''Jesus saith unto him, 'Thou hast said : never- 
 theless I say unto you. Hereafter shall ye see the 
 Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, 
 and coming in the clouds of heaven.' 
 
 66 
 
A Present Crisis 67 
 
 "Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, 
 'He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need 
 have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard 
 this blasphemy. What think ye?' 
 
 "They answered and said, 'He is guilty of 
 death; *' 
 
 After suffering shameful treatment at the hands 
 of these chosen people in which they spit in His 
 face and smite Him with their hands saying, 
 "Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that 
 smote thee?" He was brought into the presence 
 of Pilate to have their decision confirmed. There 
 He stands before Pilate awaiting his judgment! 
 As we gaze upon the scene we cannot help feeling 
 it is a solemn moment for Christ. It is an anxious 
 time when a man stands in a court of law awaiting 
 the decision of the judge respecting a minor of- 
 fence, but what must it be to the man just prior 
 to the pronouncement of the sentence when life 
 and death are hanging in the balance? There was 
 nothing very exceptional in the circumstances of 
 this trial. Those interested, as on similar occa- 
 sions, sought to make the most of their side of the 
 situation. Often before, Pilate had heard their 
 arguments, had pronounced judgment, and dis- 
 missed these troublesome Jews without a serious 
 thought. To show his utter disregard for what 
 the Jews termed holy ground he once issued or- 
 ders for the execution of certain disturbers of the 
 peace whose blood he mingled with their sacrifices 
 without a qualm of conscience. 
 
68 Soul Crises 
 
 But there Is no gainsaying the fact that he is 
 ill at ease to-day. What accounts for this change 
 in Pilate as he sits in circumstances so familiar? 
 Merely the difference of a few details. The first 
 of these is the demeanor of the prisoner. This 
 prisoner is in a class by Himself. Other prison- 
 ers acted so differently. Invariably they sought 
 to justify themselves, while this prisoner is calm 
 and resigned. There is such a look of gentleness 
 in His features; and He is so dignified in His bear- 
 ing as to make Pilate feel uncomfortable. This 
 was a new feeling for Pilate. Yesterday he was a 
 big man : the man of the hour; a man in authority; 
 the Roman procurator; a dread force to be reck- 
 oned with — one whose words made men tremble, 
 but to-day he feels weak and uncertain in the pres- 
 ence of this poor, despised, lonely man. Never 
 before had he seen such a prisoner as this. He 
 had often seen prisoners show their teeth, and 
 vow vengeance on their tormentors, but this pris- 
 oner Is so different. 
 
 Pilate thinks, and the more he thinks the more 
 he hesitates. Presently a happy thought strikes 
 him. It was customary at the feast to release a 
 prisoner whom the people desired. In prison lay 
 a notable outlaw who had been guilty of murder. 
 Here was Pilate's opportunity to get out of a diffi- 
 cult situation; and believing they would choose 
 Christ he cried, "Whom will ye that I release 
 unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus, which Is called 
 Christ?" At this juncture he received a message 
 
A Present Crisis 69 
 
 from his wife saying, "Have thou nothing to do 
 with that just man: for I have suffered many 
 things this day In a dream because of Him." A 
 dream! What did he care for a dream? At any 
 other time he would have laughed at a dream and 
 Ignored It, but to-day he cannot act like himself at 
 all. Try as he will he cannot suppress the tumult 
 raging within. What are these misgivings and 
 these warnings? And what do they signify? For 
 I am not naturally superstitious: and with these 
 thoughts In his mind he calls again to the people, 
 "Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto 
 you?" And to his dismay they choose Barabbas. 
 Then In reply to their choice he cries, "What shall 
 I do then with Jesus which is called Christ?" And 
 the people persuaded by the priests answer, "Cru- 
 cify Him." 
 
 This request startled the already perplexed and 
 hesitating Pilate. This was the first time the Jew* 
 had requested that one of their countrymen should 
 be degraded by such a shameful death. Pilate 
 took the prisoner behind, and In a short time re- 
 turned, saying, "I find no fault In Him." This 
 led the mob which was reaching the height of Its 
 frenzy to yell in louder strains, "Away with Him, 
 away with Him, crucify Him." And as a final rea- 
 son they cried, "We have a law, and by our law 
 He ought to die, because He made Himself the 
 Son of God." Pilate hearing this charge was the 
 more afraid. Thinking that he might reach a 
 satisfactory conclusion of this event which is deep- 
 
70 Soul Crises 
 
 ening Into tragedy he takes his prisoner again Into 
 the judgment hall. Here, behind the scenes, there 
 Is no apology, no passionate pleading for His life 
 on the part of the prisoner, and what Pilate 
 wanted above everything else was for this strange 
 man to speak. When shall we learn the eloquence 
 of silence? Pilate said, "Hearest thou not how 
 many things they witness against thee?" And He 
 answered him not a word. This intensified Pi- 
 late's anxiety and making a supreme effort to re- 
 assert himself he said, "Speakest thou not unto 
 me? Knowest thou not that I have power to 
 crucify thee, and have power to release thee?" 
 
 Jesus answered, "Thou couldest have no power 
 at all against me, except It were given thee from 
 above." The scene has taken a dramatic turn. It 
 is not now Christ standing before Pilate, it Is Pi- 
 late before Christ. It Is Pilate who is being 
 judged and he finds that the question he has just 
 asked the multitude expresses his deepest thought: 
 
 "What shall I do then with Jesus which is 
 called Christ?" That was a solemn moment for 
 Pilate ! This is a solemn moment for you ! In 
 a more real sense than you are aware your decision 
 during this hour will decide your destiny. "What 
 shall I do then with Jesus which Is called Christ?" 
 This is a living question. It is a question which 
 demands our deliberate and reverent attention. A 
 more real question could not occupy our thoughts. 
 The answer to this question more than any other 
 has stood for the rise and fall of nations. In 
 
A Present Crisis 71 
 
 getting Pilate to grant their request to crucify 
 Christ the Jews thereby thought to destroy Him, 
 but the crucified Christ was not destroyed. What 
 His enemies did with Him to end Him was really 
 the starting point of a momentous power, a.power 
 that has changed the current of the world's history 
 and still governs the ages. Christ and Him cruci- 
 fied is the master force in history. He is the 
 supreme commander of the world's forces to-day. 
 We find Him everywhere and try as we may we 
 are compelled to acknowledge Him the unavoid- 
 able Christ. As Dr. W. J. Dawson has suggested, 
 "We met Him at our feasts, in our temples, in 
 our streets, in our fields, among our law-makers, 
 over against our treasuries, in our homes, among 
 our children, at the burial of our dead." ^ Jesus 
 is the most real person that we meet and the words 
 of Pilate have become a National Question. 
 "What shall I do then with Jesus which is called 
 Christ?" The very existence of nations depends 
 upon their attitude to this question. 
 
 It was so with the Jews. They had privileges 
 beyond compare. To them Christ came. To 
 them He preached. Among them He laboured. 
 In Galilee and Judea He was a familiar figure as 
 He went about doing good, healing the sick, re- 
 storing the blind to sight, and raising the dead. 
 He taught them as one having authority, and not 
 as the scribes. He lavished His love upon them, 
 and pleaded with them, but in spite of His love 
 
 ^ The Evangelistic Note. 
 
72 Soul Crises 
 
 and compassion they rejected Him. That nation 
 with a unique past, boasting a succession of elders 
 and prophets who through faith had subdued king- 
 doms and wrought righteousness, stopped the 
 mouths of lions and quenched the violence of fire: 
 these, the children of the prophets, knew not the 
 time of their visitation. As our Lord neared the 
 city of Jerusalem, — Jerusalem once so renowned 
 for her valiant sons, sitting secure as a queen 
 among the nations, Jerusalem, extolled for her 
 zeal and devotion to God, once the joy of the 
 whole earth, — how did He view it? His view 
 of it is given In one of the most pathetic passages 
 In literature. "When He beheld the city He wept 
 over It, saying, Tf thou hadst known, even thou, 
 at least in this thy day, the things which belong 
 unto thy peace ! but now they are hid from thine 
 eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that 
 thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and 
 compass thee round, and keep thee in on every 
 side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, 
 and thy children within thee; and they shall not 
 leave In thee one stone upon another; because thou 
 knewest not the time of thy visitation.' " 
 
 Jerusalem wrote her doom In human gore when 
 she cried, "His blood be on us, and on our chil- 
 dren." To-day the Jew is an outcast in the earth. 
 He indeed is a man without a country; an exile 
 from his native land. 
 
 What was true of the Jews was also true of the 
 Greeks. As we study Plato's philosophy and read 
 
A Present Crisis 73 
 
 his Ideal State, we marvel at the range and grasp 
 of his brllHant mind. We hardly can refrain from 
 thinking that an Empire with such sons would 
 impress and triumph over surrounding nations, and 
 continue her march until she had completed the 
 conquest of the world. But Greece was only as 
 brilliant as she was short-lived, and how fearfully 
 true are the words when applied to her, "The 
 world by wisdom knew not God." When St. Paul 
 came Into contact on Mars Hill with some of the 
 sons of Greece who spent their time In nothing 
 else, but either to tell or hear some new thing, 
 they listened to him, but when they learned that 
 his gospel was Christ and Him crucified, some 
 mocked. Yet who will deny that Paul was preach- 
 ing a gospel of which he need never be ashamed? 
 It was not Greece, however, but Rome, that 
 was brought face to face with the question "What 
 shall I do then with Jesus which Is called Christ?" 
 Rome decided to crucify Him afresh, and to oblit- 
 erate every reference to His name. War was de- 
 clared on the Christians, and by a series of dire 
 persecutions Rome did her utmost to crush the 
 cause of the Nazarene. Although it meant 
 penury, suffering, and death in its most revolting 
 forms, thousands gladly laid down their lives, and 
 eventually Christ conquered. The imperial might 
 of Rome was Impotent before the constraining 
 love of Christ. And what shall we say more? 
 Western civilization owes Its victories to "Jesus 
 which is called Christ." The most superficial ob- 
 
74 Soul Crises 
 
 server cannot fail to see that those nations which 
 have risen from obscurity to power are those 
 which have embraced Christianity. We talk very 
 eloquently to-day about education and politics; and 
 in the estimation of some these and not religion 
 are the important questions. But the great proba- 
 bility is, that if we had had no Christianity there 
 would be no education or civil rights of any worthy 
 character. Who has given us our educational 
 and moral standards? "Jesus which is called 
 Christ." 
 
 When we begin to consider our statesmen, we 
 find ourselves not so much concerned about what 
 they have said as what they have done, not so 
 much which party do they represent, as what do 
 they stand for? Have they the best interests of 
 their fellows at heart? Do they stand for justice 
 and humanity: and before we are aware of it we 
 are asking our statesmen what they are going to do 
 with "Jesus which is called Christ"? Only by 
 the recognition and application of Christian prin- 
 ciples can modern nations hope to go on prosper- 
 ing. We belong to a nation of which we have 
 every reason to be proud, and may we as loyal citi- 
 zens from the least to the greatest take up the 
 resolution of Abraham Lincoln, that prince among 
 Christian statesmen. When the Civil War was 
 raging a man said to him, "I hope God will be on 
 our side." 
 
 "Sir," said Lincoln, "I have never yet asked 
 myself whether God was on my side or not, but I 
 
A Present Crisis 75 
 
 tell you what, sir, I am determined to be on God's 
 side." 1 
 
 "What shall I do then with Jesus which is called 
 Christ?" This is a Commercial Question. Some 
 of you may be shocked at the idea of any one 
 talking about commerce in a religious service. We 
 have talked too long as though Christianity were 
 for the Sabbath day, something to be laid care- 
 fully away with our Sunday clothes, too delicate to 
 stand the wear and tear of every-day life. Un- 
 less Christian principles are introduced into com- 
 mercial circles and practised in commercial life 
 we may despair of national salvation, to say noth- 
 ing of the salvation of the world. If you are not 
 a better business man, more conscientious, fully 
 trustworthy, deviating neither to the right hand 
 nor to the left, because you are a Christian, then, 
 in reality, you never have known Christ, or you 
 have decided against Him, and voted for the re- 
 lease of Barabbas. How exceeding sinful and 
 shortsighted people are who prefer Barabbas to 
 Christ! How humiliating it is, in this the twen- 
 tieth century to have to confess that Barrabas is 
 still at large. Barabbas is a robber, it is his na- 
 ture to take, and, given an opportunity, he will re- 
 lieve you of all you possess. Christ gives and 
 from an economic standpoint, if from no higher, 
 you will one day acknowledge that "Godliness is 
 profitable unto all things having the promise of the 
 life that now is, and of that which is to come." 
 
 ^ The Divine Challenge. 
 
76 Soul Crises 
 
 Whether you realize It or not, Jesus stands beside 
 you as you work. He Is near you as you buy and 
 sell and get gain. And often He speaks to you 
 and endeavours to ascertain what Is going to be 
 the end of all your efforts. "Take heed and be- 
 ware of covetousness for a man's life conslsteth 
 not In the abundance of the things which he pos- 
 sesseth." "Man shall not live by bread alone, but 
 by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth 
 of God." May all our commercial enterprises be 
 so conducted as to be an aid and not a hindrance, 
 to the development of Christian character. 
 
 "What shall I do then with Jesus which Is called 
 Christ?" This Is a Domestic Question. All who 
 can speak from experience will bear witness that 
 one of the grandest Institutions we enjoy Is the 
 Christian home. Many a young man has wan- 
 dered far astray, and as he wanders in the far 
 country of sin he Is indifferent to many calls, but 
 there is one song he cannot listen to with indif- 
 ference. It is "Home, sweet Home." What has 
 Christ done for our homes? What has He done 
 for Father? He has given him a father's heart 
 and made him like work. We speak to-day, and 
 rightly so, of the dignity of labour. We recog- 
 nize the ennobling nature and Influence of honest 
 toll, but lest we forget that It Is something com- 
 paratively new for men to regard manual labour 
 favorably, I wish to remind you that when Plato 
 wrote his Ideal State it never crossed his mind 
 that a state could exist without slavery. Work 
 
A Present Crisis 77 
 
 was fit only for slaves. Slaves were regarded as 
 beings of an inferior order, and treated accord- 
 ingly. A Roman could torture his slave and put 
 him to death and no one asked the reason. To- 
 day slavery has been abolished, and labour upon 
 which the Roman looked down with disdain is hon- 
 oured and appreciated. Every respectable man 
 is employed; when he finds his right sphere he 
 enjoys his work, and when the day's work is done 
 there is a smiling welcome home. 
 
 What has Christ done for Mother? Mother! 
 one of the dearest names in our language. Can 
 we Imagine what mothers have suffered, and how 
 they have been degraded? Even to-day in heathen 
 lands the mother Is regarded as a being without 
 a soul, and Is treated with the indignity of a slave. 
 In Christian lands, woman is not merely respected 
 but revered, and she takes her place, by his side, 
 as the helpmeet of man. As we value the love 
 and care of our mothers, let us remember that 
 we owe It to Christ. 
 
 What has Christ done for the child? In the 
 days of His flesh, Jesus took a little child and 
 set him in the midst. There he stands to-day. 
 For him we live, for him we toil, for him we pray. 
 In Rome a father could put his child to death and 
 no one asked any questions, but Jesus said, "Suf- 
 fer the little children to come unto Me, for of such 
 Is the kingdom of heaven." 
 
 Fathers! Mothers! Sons! and Daughters! you 
 have heard a little of what Christ has done for 
 
78 Soul Crises 
 
 your homes. Then what are you going to do with 
 "Jesus which is called Christ"? Is He a guest in 
 your home? Does He share its joys and its sor- 
 rows? Can you imagine a more sublime sight 
 than that of every member in the home kneeling 
 around the family altar, as the father prays, 
 "Behold me, and the children whom Thou hast 
 given me?" Is yours a Christian home? 
 
 Finally this is an Individual Question. "What 
 shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ?" 
 What was the cause of Pilate's failure? Nothing 
 more or less than public opinion, the fear of man; 
 he was afraid of the crowd. Once again Jesus 
 stands in the hall of judgment, not in Jerusalem, 
 but at the bar of your conscience, and Pilate's 
 question faces you. What are you going to do 
 with it? Did you say you were going to laugh it 
 off? Exercise a care lest you laugh and ignore 
 this question until it is too late. God has given 
 His best to save you from sin to holiness, and if 
 you trample underfoot the blood of Christ the day 
 may come when "He that sitteth in the heavens 
 shall laugh." Like Pilate, Jesus is left on your 
 hands. The question is not, am I a church mem- 
 ber? or am I religious? the question Is "What 
 shall I do with Jesus?" It is to be feared that 
 to some religious people Christ will say, "Depart 
 from Me, I never knew you, ye workers of In- 
 iquity." If your pleasures are of such a nature 
 as to come between you and Christ, what are you 
 going to do with Jesus? Will you by your actions 
 
A Present Crisis 79 
 
 crucify Christ afresh and cling to your sinful pleas- 
 ure? It is not, what language shall we employ 
 to express our contempt, our utter loathing for 
 Pilate, as he stands hesitating and endeavouring 
 to shirk his responsibility, and then against his 
 better judgment falling miserably down and yield- 
 ing to the request of an insane mob. The ques- 
 tion which will be a savour of life unto life or of 
 death unto death for you to decide now is, "What 
 shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ?'* 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 AN URGENT CALL 
 
 And as Jesus passed forth from thence, He saiv a man named 
 Mattheiv, sitting at the receipt of custom: and He saith unto 
 him, "Folloiu Me." And he arose and followed Him. — Matt. 
 IX, 9. 
 
 IN our text we see our Lord on His way from 
 one preaching service to another. Before go- 
 ing down from Capernaum to the sea-shore, He 
 conducted a most inspiring service in a house in 
 the city. What made this service so inspiring? 
 As we consider the outstanding features of a good 
 service, we acknowledge several answers might 
 be given to this question. The service might have 
 been inspiring because of the Preacher. It is al- 
 ways inspiring to hear a really great preacher, but 
 what must it have been to hear Jesus preaching 
 the gospel of the kingdom? The service might 
 have been inspiring because it was well-attended. 
 The attendance was large. The place was simply 
 crowded; standing room was at a premium. A 
 good congregation is always inspiring to a preach- 
 er, and while our Lord's inspiration did not de- 
 pend on large congregations, we have reason to 
 believe, He was greatly encouraged by the pres- 
 
 80 
 
An Urgent Call 8i 
 
 ence of so many people desirous of hearing a mes- 
 sage from God. The service might have been 
 inspiring because It was so representative. All 
 classes were represented from the holy Pharisee 
 to the despised Publican; and whether they be- 
 lieved or rejected the message, they heard It. 
 They would, In all probability, speak of It to their 
 friends, and to have "an Hebrew of the Hebrews" 
 become a disciple would be a most Inspiring 
 achievement. 
 
 As a matter of fact, the service was inspiring 
 because of an Incident which occurred when It 
 was in progress. Four men came carrying a friend 
 on a mattress who was sick of the palsy. They 
 sought admission by the doorway In vain. But 
 nothing daunted they ascended to the roof of the 
 house by the outside stairs, made an opening and 
 lowered their friend through just In front of the 
 Lord Jesus as He was preaching. If you and I 
 had been In that congregation when those men 
 began to break up the roof we would have been 
 greatly annoyed. Perhaps it did annoy some of 
 His hearers, but it did not annoy Christ. It was 
 rather an alarming mode of procedure, and we 
 can see the angry glances cast at these men, but 
 not a word of rebuke from the Preacher. Where 
 others saw men disturbing a religious service, 
 "Jesus saw their faith." These men were In earn- 
 est, they dared to do the unusual to get to Christ. 
 The sick man was healed of his infirmity, his sins 
 were forgiven him, and what looked like spoiling 
 
82 Soul Crises 
 
 the service was the means of making it most in- 
 spiring for "immediately he arose, took up his bed, 
 and went forth before them all: Insomuch that 
 they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, 
 'We never saw It on this fashion.' " 
 
 Turning from such an Inspiring service to watch 
 the Preacher go down to the sea-shore seems very 
 trivial Indeed, but It may be worth while. "And 
 as Jesus passed forth from thence He saw." To 
 me, it Is of surpassing interest to learn what Jesus 
 saw, both In and out of His services. The modern 
 preacher on his way from one preaching service to 
 another would probably see nothing of Interest 
 except his notes, but Jesus used His eyes. To Him 
 the path from one service to another was full oi 
 possibilities. He was Interested in everything that 
 had any bearing upon His work. He saw the dia- 
 mond In the rough. He saw promise and possi- 
 bilities where others saw only the degraded and 
 the outcast. "And as Jesus passed forth from 
 thence He saw a man." There is nothing very re- 
 markable In that. It would be nothing new to see 
 a man between Capernaum and the sea-shore. 
 When we go down to the sea-shore we are so self- 
 centered that men appear to us as so many things, 
 varying In Importance as they contribute to our 
 pleasure or comfort. But Jesus was not on a pleas- 
 ure trip. He did not go down to the sea-shore for 
 the good of His health. He went down to the sea- 
 shore because it was a good place to preach, and 
 as He went down "He saw a man." 
 
An Urgent Call 83 
 
 It would be Interesting to know what His pros- 
 pective audience saw. Like them we probably 
 would have been attracted by the amount of busi- 
 ness being transacted at the toll-booth, or inter- 
 ested in the foreigners who were paying their 
 dues, before passing along the great commercial 
 highway. We might have remarked upon the 
 well-filled money bags, or the money stored up in 
 sight, but Jesus saw a man. He was not inter- 
 ested in the money in the toll-booth. He saw 
 something more precious than all the gold in the 
 Indies, He saw a man ! We might have been ex- 
 cited by the crowd, but Jesus concentrated His 
 gaze on a man. We talk about the masses, of so- 
 ciety, of the classes, and of requiring so many 
 hands to run the machinery of the world, but in 
 spite of our distinctions Jesus sees men. He looks 
 at the individuals. He sees a man in a crowd. 
 He knows His man when He sees him, and in 
 spite of adverse appearances He never makes a 
 mistake. If we had been with Jesus as He went 
 from the city down to the sea-shore and He had 
 said to us, "I am looking for a man who will write 
 the first gospel," wc would have said, "Lord! We 
 don't doubt your genius, but, in our opinion, you. 
 need not look there. The Publicans have a hard 
 name, and generally speaking, they have a bad 
 reputation. No ! Lord, the toll-booth is not the 
 place to look." Yes ! We could have given sev- 
 eral arguments against the probability of finding a 
 suitable person there. But Jesus looked and "saw 
 
84 Soul Crises 
 
 a man named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of 
 custom, and He saith unto him, 'Follow Me.' And 
 he arose and followed Him." That man wrote 
 the gospel which bears his name. 
 
 Let us take a look at the circumstances under 
 which Jesus found him. He was sitting at the re- 
 ceipt of custom. "Along the north end of the 
 sea of Galilee there was a road leading from Da- 
 mascus to Acre on the Mediterranean, and on that 
 road a customs-office marked the boundary be- 
 tween the territories of Philip, the tetrarch, and 
 Herod Antipas. Matthew's occupation was the 
 examination of goods which passed along the 
 road, and the levying of the toll. A Jew serving 
 on a great highway was prevented from fulfilling 
 requirements of the Law, and was compelled to 
 violate the Sabbath law, which the Gentiles, who 
 conveyed their goods, did not observe." ^ Jesus 
 found Matthew at his work. We are very apt to 
 imagine that Jesus can only find men in church, 
 such, however, is not the case. He can find men 
 wherever men are to be found. To-day, as in the 
 days of His flesh, our Lord visits our places of 
 business as truly as He visits the church. Does 
 such a thought ever cross your mental horizon, 
 that Jesus visits you as you work? He comes to 
 us as we buy and sell and endeavour to get gain. 
 He comes when we least expect Him and asks us 
 if we are content not merely with our wages, but 
 with the kind of work we are turning out. When 
 
 * Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels. 
 
An Urgent Call 85 
 
 we are tempted to countenance a dishonest trans- 
 action, He comes and suggests that we are get- 
 ting the worst of the bargain, for he who lives by- 
 fraud shall perish by the same. In His presence 
 we feel we cannot be anything but honourable. 
 He comes to us when we grow impatient of ad- 
 verse conditions, He reminds us that our bread 
 and water is assured, and intimates that we are 
 not merely engaged in making a living, but under- 
 going discipline to develop a life. Whether we 
 recognize Him or not, we enter upon another 
 day's work with a light heart, and our labour be- 
 comes a means of grace. 
 
 Matthew was so engrossed in business that he 
 did not observe the Sabbath law. He had to work 
 seven days In the week and apparently had no 
 opportunity of hearing the mighty Prophet about 
 whom everybody was talking. How graciously 
 our Lord accommodates Himself to our circum- 
 stances. If Matthew cannot find time to go to 
 hear Jesus, Jesus will go to visit Matthew. If 
 you cannot come to church to worship Him, in 
 the fellowship of His people, He will come home 
 to you, and you may recognize Him in the break- 
 ing of the bread, in the opening of the sacred page, 
 and in causing your heart to burn with you as He 
 begins at Moses and expounds to you the Scrip- 
 tures. He sends His servants into your homes 
 with this promise to encourage them, "He that 
 receiveth you receiveth Me, and he that receiveth 
 Me receiveth Him that sent Me." Adverse cir- 
 
86 Soul Crises 
 
 cumstances are no barrier to Christ. He sees us 
 under all conditions. We may receive a surprise 
 visit from our Lord, and when He comes let us 
 ask Him to enter into partnership with us. 
 
 Having seen where Matthew was, and what he 
 was doing, let us endeavour to see what kind of 
 a man he was. He was a publican and whatever 
 virtues he might possess he would not get much 
 credit for them because a publican and a sinner 
 were synonymous terms. "In Galilee the publi- 
 cans had to collect, not for the imperial treasury 
 (as in Judea), but for Herod Antipas, the 
 tetrarch. But whether in the service of the hated 
 Roman Emperor or of Herod Antipas, who was 
 in complete subservience to him, the tax-gatherer 
 was most unpopular with the Jews; for, apart 
 from the obvious liability of the method to abuse, 
 the mere fact of the money being thus raised for 
 an alien power was detestable in their eyes. And 
 no doubt the publicans were often drawn from the 
 lowest ranks in consequence." ^ Matthew was the 
 son of Alpheus. Who Alpheus was, or to what 
 station in life he belonged we cannot determine, 
 for we know nothing about him with the exception 
 of his name. However, the fact is well estab- 
 lished, that Matthew was a publican; for he desig- 
 nates himself thus in giving the list of the disciples. 
 Although he wrote the gospel from the Jewish 
 standpoint, and set forth the majesty of King 
 Jesus, he is silent about himself with the excep- 
 
 ^ Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels. 
 
An Urgent Call 87 
 
 tion of acknowledging that he was a pubhcan. 
 
 Evidently he was not renowned as a teacher 
 or preacher, for he is never mentioned in the 
 Acts of the Apostles as going on a preaching tour, 
 or even of taking a public part in the Christian 
 campaign. Although not gifted as a speaker, he 
 excelled as a writer, and he has left a worthy- 
 memorial In the gospel which bears his name. 
 Every man after his own order. When Jesus went 
 in search of Matthew, He knew the kind of man 
 he wanted. And although nobody would have 
 been more surprised than he, on the day when 
 Jesus saw him at his work, if It had been sug- 
 gested that he would live to write a gospel, yet 
 he did it and he did it well. In thinking of a tax- 
 gatherer's becoming one of the literary artists of 
 the world, we are forcibly reminded of what 
 Christ can do for any man who responds to His 
 call. Any man who yields himself unreservedly 
 to Jesus Christ will not only become a revelation 
 to the world, but a revelation to himself. There 
 Is a beautiful humility in Matthew's designation 
 of himself as a publican. Humility Is always be- 
 coming. Isaiah exhorts us to remember the rock 
 from whence we were hewn, and the hole of the 
 pit from whence we were digged. Can we not 
 say with the Psalmist, "I waited patiently for the 
 Lord; and He Inclined unto me, and heard my 
 cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible 
 pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon 
 a rock, and established my goings. And he hath 
 
88 Soul Crises 
 
 put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our 
 God." 
 
 If the Pharisees had been asked for Matthew's 
 character they would have given It without hesi- 
 tation. He was a publican, and no one but a repro- 
 bate would be engaged In a business like that, 
 He was a Sabbath-breaker and consequently ostra- 
 cised from all decent society. Yet strange to say 
 when Jesus was looking for one who would write 
 the story of His earthly pilgrimage, He chose not 
 a Pharisee but a publican. 
 
 Not many wise, not many mighty are called for 
 the simple reason that the mighty and the wise 
 are satisfied with themselves. They glory In their 
 wisdom or they glory In their might. And noth- 
 ing Is so fatal to progress as satisfaction with 
 one's self, whether It be with one's character or 
 achievements. Jesus sees not merely what we are 
 but what we may become. He discovers the slum- 
 bering giant and awakens him to action. He 
 comes to publicans and sinners, to those who are 
 conscious of their need of Him and says, "Pub- 
 lican, I want thee to become a prophet; Sinner, 
 I want thee to become a saint." 
 
 The call of Matthew was very dramatic. It 
 is a thrilling moment in the history of the soul 
 when it responds to the call of the Master. "And 
 as Jesus passed forth from thence, He saw a man, 
 named Matthew sitting at the receipt of custom; 
 and He saith unto him, 'Follow Me.' And he 
 arose and followed Him." This call was ad- 
 
An Urgent Call 89 
 
 dressed to a busy man. That was the kind of 
 man He was looking for. Jesus never calls a 
 loafer. For that type of an individual, He has 
 no use whatever. He was a tremendous worker 
 Himself, He made every minute count. On one 
 occasion, when His disciples prayed Him to eat 
 bread, He said, "My meat is to do the will of 
 Him that sent Me, and to finish His work." The 
 King's business required haste, and to extend the 
 boundaries of His Empire. He wanted men of 
 enterprise and enthusiasm. The watchword of 
 His Kingdom is, "Work while it is day; for the 
 night Cometh when no man can work." 
 
 No one has a keener eye for a business man 
 than Jesus. At a glance He can tell the mental 
 and moral calibre of the man. One look, and He 
 knows whether a man is occupying a position 
 worthy of his talents. No leader in any sphere 
 of labour has such a faculty for discovering men 
 as Jesus Christ. 
 
 Our Lord is vitally interested in the working 
 man. He is the Friend of all but especially of 
 the burdened and the oppressed. He has cham- 
 pioned the cause of the working man; and to 
 every working man He comes to-day saying, 
 "Follow Me!" Will you, like Matthew, respond? 
 Do you plead that you cannot serve God in your 
 business? Then, like Matthew, leave it, and the 
 sooner the better. Do you plead lack of time to 
 attend to religion apart from business hours? 
 Then serve God in your business, and your whole 
 
90 Soul Crises 
 
 life will be transformed Into one grand act of 
 worship. The call of Christ is from sin to holi- 
 ness, from death to life, from the power of Satan 
 unto God. This call came not only to a busy man, 
 but to a capable man. 
 
 Jesus has a purpose In every call and a place 
 for every life. He Imparts His Spirit unto His 
 followers and they become new creatures. Old 
 things pass away and all become new. He speaks 
 to a young rake, saying, "Follow Me and I will 
 make thee St. Augustine, one of the greatest of 
 the Church Fathers." He speaks to a drunken, 
 blaspheming tinker, saying, "Follow Me, and I 
 will make thee John Bunyan, the immortal 
 dreamer." He speaks to an obscure cobbler, say- 
 ing, "Follow Me, and I will make thee, William 
 Carey, the apostle of modern missions." He 
 speaks to you, to-day, saying, "Follow Me, and 
 I will show thee what great things thou must do 
 for My name's sake." 
 
 How many of the publican class Christ has 
 called! And what a noble army has responded. 
 Will you respond? Jesus calls you. Shall He 
 call in vain? Will It be put on record against 
 you, "I have called and ye have refused?" Are 
 you going to say to your Lord what Felix said 
 to Paul, "Go thy way for this fime, when I have 
 a more convenient season I will call for thee?" 
 That convenient season never came. Matthew 
 responded Immediately and cheerfully. "And he 
 arose and followed Him." Without any reluc- 
 
An Urgent Call 91 
 
 tance, without any misgivings, he arose and fol- 
 lowed Jesus in the way. Will any one dare 
 to charge Matthew with indiscretion? Had 
 Matthew declined the call, he would have lived 
 like an ordinary publican and died unknown. But 
 he obeyed! Conseguently his name will never 
 die. His Christian work is his perpetual memo- 
 rial. Who then is willing, like Matthew, to fol- 
 low Jesus all the way? 
 
 You ask if I am aware of the tremendous de- 
 mand I am making; of what it means to follow 
 Jesus all the way? Your thought is the price you 
 will have to pay by becoming a Christian. It is 
 a good thing to count the cost. You say, It meant 
 little or nothing then to follow Christ, but con- 
 sider what it will mean to-day! Think you it 
 meant little or nothing to Matthew? It meant 
 everything to him. It is highly probable that it 
 meant more to him than it will mean to us. It 
 cost him something to give up his position, for 
 no man was in that business simply for the love 
 of It. The man who wanted to make money 
 quickly became a publican. What had induced 
 Matthew to become a publican we know not, but 
 this we do know, at the call of Christ he left all 
 and became an ardent disciple. You are thinking 
 of what it will cost to make the effort. Think 
 deliberately what It will cost If you refuse the call. 
 Some calls we cannot afford to Ignore, and above 
 all we cannot afford to Ignore Christ's. 
 
 Matthew was proud of the call. And to cele- 
 
92 Soul Crises 
 
 brate this new departure in his life he made a 
 feast in his own house, and invited a great mul- 
 titude of publicans and others to meet his newly 
 found Master and Lord. Matthew did not steal 
 into the kingdom as though he were ashamed of 
 such a proceeding. He was honoured by such a 
 call and by a public reception in honor of the 
 Master, and by his subsequent loyalty and devo- 
 tion he endeavoured to prove himself worthy of 
 that august occasion when the Son of God came 
 to him, a sinful publican, and said, "Follow Me." 
 History has proved that Jesus made no mistake 
 in His man. He sought and found, not a 
 preacher but a church historian. 
 
 Jesus is calling you. He has something for 
 you to do. Let your response be as prompt and 
 as hearty as that of Matthew. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE POSSIBILITIES OF THE AVERAGE MAN 
 
 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. 
 And he said. Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but 
 Israel: for as a prince hast thou poiver ivith God and vjith men, 
 and hast prevailed. — Gen. XXXII, 27-28. 
 
 J SUPPOSE there is a tragedy in every life. 
 At least, there is a tragedy in the life of 
 every man who wanders away from God, and a 
 double tragedy in the life of the man who never 
 comes back. The experience I wish to portray 
 is that of the man who has gone into the far coun- 
 try of sin, who has tasted its dead sea fruit, and 
 who is resolved to return to his father's house. 
 
 That it is not always an easy matter to return 
 is illustrated by the experience of Jacob. Jacob 
 was born under the most favourable conditions. 
 He was a son of pious parents, and doubtless the 
 subject of many prayers. His father was a pa- 
 triarch; and a divine messenger had said, respect- 
 ing him and his brother, "the elder shall serve the 
 younger." From the first there was a marked 
 contrast between these twins. "And the boys 
 grew; and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of 
 the field; and Jacob was a plain man dwelling 
 
 93 
 
94 Soul Crises 
 
 in tents." Jacob impresses us favourably, and 
 even he was not a "born saint." Strenuous ef- 
 forts have been put forth to prove his inherent 
 goodness, but argument has had to rest on very 
 slender evidence. Let us endeavour to see what 
 he was by nature, also what he became by the 
 power of divine grace. Jacob was no better and 
 perhaps no worse than the rest of us. He is a 
 fair specimen of the ordinary man. 
 
 His life was profoundly influenced by two men 
 who did not have a beneficial effect upon him. 
 These two men were Esau and Laban. They 
 represent the two extremes in wickedness. Esau 
 was a splendid animal. We admire him and we 
 pity him, but we imitate him at our peril. He 
 was a man who must have pleasure regardless of 
 the price. Laban was an unscrupulous hypocrite. 
 Esau was such an easy mark that Jacob was 
 tempted to overreach him, while Laban was so 
 far-seeing as to make capital out of Jacob. These 
 two men are types of those who can always be 
 found in the far country of sin, and strange as 
 it may seem, they do not live together, but dwell 
 near the opposite borders. Esau occasionally can 
 take a wild excursion inland, but his home is near 
 the border. He can be very religious at times. 
 His sins are largely the results of neglect and 
 indifference. Laban was much farther inland. 
 He dwelt near the opposite border, — just a little 
 removed from perdition. He had use for reli- 
 gion only in so far as it paid. His was the sin 
 
The Possibilities of the Average Man 95 
 
 of covetousness and duplicity. He deliberately 
 planned injustice and was prepared to grow fat 
 by oppression. 
 
 The sad experience of Jacob bids us beware of 
 sin in its initial stages, of trying to gain the right 
 by wrong means. ''The wages of sin is death." 
 This is a dread fact we are apt to overlook. At 
 first sin allures and captivates. The more we 
 meditate upon it, the more attractive it appears; 
 until we are convinced that it would be folly not 
 to avail ourselves of what seems to be a providen- 
 tial opportunity. It was thus with Jacob. He 
 had been told by his devoted mother that he was 
 to succeed his father. Esau, his brother, was of 
 such a reckless disposition that he did not appre- 
 ciate such an honour, and was clearly unfit to be 
 entrusted with it. The more Jacob thought of 
 the birthright the more determined was he to get 
 it. One day while at his tent preparing a mess 
 of red lentils, a favourable opportunity presented 
 itself. Esau, who had been out on an unsuccess- 
 ful hunting expedition, approached the tent in a 
 famishing condition. As soon as he espied the 
 mess of pottage he cried, "feed me I pray thee 
 with that red." "And Jacob said, 'Sell me this 
 day thy birthright,' . . . and he sold his birth- 
 right unto Jacob." Sin presented itself to Jacob 
 in the light of an advantage. It was an oppor- 
 tune time for driving a shrewd bargain, but in 
 reality it was taking a mean advantage. He had 
 wronged his brother and he knew it. Conscience 
 
g6 Soul Crises 
 
 rose in rebellion and charged him with over- 
 reaching, but he lulled it to sleep. At the outset 
 sin always appears to be a decided advantage. A 
 favourable opportunity presents itself for selfish 
 gratification and indulgence. Nobody will know. 
 Then why should I not embrace this oppor- 
 tunity? A mean advantage is taken of another's 
 weakness, of another's ignorance, or of another's 
 love, and the outraged monitor within proclaims 
 the awful fact that God knows, that an indelible 
 record has been made of the deed, and in a voice 
 that refuses to be silenced it says, "Thou hast 
 wronged thy brother, thou hast wronged thy 
 sister, thou hast wronged thy home, thou hast 
 wronged thy body, thou hast wronged thy soul." 
 One sin prepares the way for another. The 
 sin of meanness prepares the way for falsehood 
 and hypocrisy. The propagating power of sin 
 is seen in the stealing of the blessing. Isaac had 
 been told that the elder son should serve the 
 younger, yet he determines to bless Esau. So 
 about forty years before his decease he imagined 
 he was at the point of death, and calling Esau 
 he instructed him to go to the field, to bring 
 venison, and to make savoury meat such as he 
 loved that his soul might bless him before he 
 died. Rebekah overheard what passed between 
 Isaac and Esau, and evidently thinking that God's 
 purpose would not be fulfilled, she determined to 
 interfere on Jacob's behalf. Jacob loved his 
 mother, and she led him into a snare. But he 
 
The Possibilities of the Average Man 97 
 
 knew he was doing wrong, and when he went into 
 his blind father's presence he intended saying as 
 httle as possible. Having gone so far, he found 
 it easier to go farther. One falsehood was 
 needed to hide another; and when he left his 
 father's presence he was a deliberate liar. 
 
 There was a good deal of selfishness in both 
 parents. It is on record that "Isaac loved Esau 
 because he partook of his venison." There are 
 a great many of this kind of lovers in the world 
 to-day, people who love you for what they can 
 get out of you. If those with whom you associate 
 do not love you for what you are, keep your eyes 
 open. A young man with a well-filled purse al- 
 ways can find companions to sing, "He's a jolly 
 good fellow," while they are drinking at his ex- 
 pense, but when his cash is gone, they suddenly 
 remember an important duty they must perform 
 without delay, and they leave the poor, deluded 
 mortal friendless and forsaken. Selfishness, cruel 
 and heartless, is the way of the world. 
 
 Jacob's parents were guilty of partiality. "Isaac 
 loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison; but 
 Rebekah loved Jacob." Rebekah, by interfering 
 with the purpose of God, succeeded in undoing 
 the very end she sought to achieve. Esau had 
 disappointed his parents in his marriage, and so 
 Rebekah tried by every possible means, as she 
 thought, to keep Jacob at home. So she assisted 
 him to deceive his father, but she was the one 
 to be the most cruelly deceived. That piece of 
 
98 Soul Crises 
 
 dishonest work quickly bore fruit. Jacob had to 
 fly before the fury of his enraged brother. His 
 mother told him to flee to Haran and tarry a 
 few days until his brother's fury had turned 
 away. Jacob departed and his mother never saw 
 him again. 
 
 Try as we may, we can hardly enter into 
 Jacob's feelings as he stepped out from home. 
 It is hard to leave with the good wishes of all 
 behind, but when you have to bid farewell to 
 all that memory holds dear because of your own 
 deliberate sin, it is harder still. Turning away 
 from the home of his childhood, the home of his 
 youth and young manhood, Jacob knew that his 
 own sin had closed the door behind him. His 
 mind doubtless would be filled with the thoughts 
 of sadness mingled with remorse. Oh, the 
 tragedy of it! Driven from home by one's own 
 evil deeds! Young people honour your homes! 
 If you have to leave home in disgrace, you will 
 find this to be a cold, cruel world, to say nothing 
 of the broken hearts left behind. Let this truth 
 burn into your soul. "The way of transgressors 
 is hard." 
 
 Amid conflicting thoughts, Jacob walks on till 
 eventide, and with a strange sense of loneliness he 
 settles down for the night. That was a memor- 
 able night. As he slept he dreamed, "and behold 
 a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it 
 reached to heaven : and behold the angels of God 
 ascending and descending on it. And, behold! 
 
The Possibilities of the Average Man 99 
 
 the Lord stood above it and said, 'I am the Lord 
 God of Abraham thy father, and the God of 
 Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will 
 I give it, and to thy seed; and thy seed shall be 
 as the dust of the earth; . . . and in thee and 
 in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be 
 blessed.' " After receiving many exceedingly great 
 and precious promises Jacob awoke and said, 
 " 'Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it 
 not.' And he was afraid, and said, 'How dread- 
 ful is this place ! this is none other but the house 
 of God, and this is the gate of heaven.* " 
 
 Jacob was running away from home, but he 
 could not get beyond the jurisdiction of God. 
 Some of you are trying to run away from good 
 influences, and some of you may be riding at 
 a stretch-gallop into vice, but remember, there 
 is a God above, and you cannot escape from Him. 
 If we had a true conception of God's greatness, 
 I believe we would be overawed. David sinned 
 and when his iniquity bore fruit, and trouble came 
 in like a flood he cried, "Oh that I had wings 
 like a dove ! for then would I fly away and be 
 at rest." But he bethought himself and said, 
 "If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell 
 in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall 
 thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold 
 me." 
 
 The Lord told Jacob that He would be with 
 him, would bless him, and make him a blessing; 
 yet such was his vision of God's resources that 
 
100 Soul Crises 
 
 he immediately said, "Give me enough to eat 
 and to wear and if thou art able to do this thou 
 shalt be my God." This goes to prove how near 
 we may come to God without being made wise 
 unto salvation. He with a tenderness surpassing 
 human thought is constantly speaking unto the 
 children of men, and giving them the promise of 
 the life that now is, and of that which is to come, 
 but their thoughts are so crammed with worldli- 
 ness, they will not take time to consider their 
 royal inheritance in Christ Jesus. Yes! It is 
 possible to attend divine worship, and remain 
 a stranger to the God of all grace. 
 
 Jacob continued his journey down to Haran, 
 and there took up his abode. He seems to have 
 become somewhat of an adept in making bar- 
 gains, but Laban was more than a match for him. 
 Shortly after his arrival he bargained for a wife, 
 Rachel whom he loved, and Laban made him 
 work fourteen years for seven years' wages. He 
 was deceived repeatedly. His wages were 
 changed ten times, but these deceptions were only 
 the beginning of his sorrows. Here he began 
 to reap the wild oats he had sown. He reaped 
 for many years and a bitter harvest it was. If 
 crafty at home, he is by no means reformed down 
 in Haran. He waxes worse and worse, and 
 stoops to practise deception whenever possible. 
 
 Reforms are seldom the result of running away 
 from home. If you wish to live an upright life 
 don't run away from home, run away from your 
 
The Possibilities of the Average Man loi 
 
 sins, run to "the Lamb of God which taketh away 
 the sin of the world." 
 
 Eventually Jacob hears the call of God. "I 
 am the God of Bethel, arise." God had not for- 
 gotten Jacob, nor His promise to him, although 
 Jacob evidently had forgotten God. How pa- 
 tiently and persistently God follows us with His 
 offers of mercy. He comes to you to-night as He 
 came to Jacob of old, saying, "I am the God of 
 thy youth, arise. Thou hast been down here in 
 the Haran of sin too long. Shake off thy filthy 
 garments, and accept the robe of my righteous- 
 ness which fadeth not away." I beseech you to 
 give heed to the voice of God. There is some- 
 thing noble and majestic in you which cannot find 
 rest in the foreign land of sin. 
 
 Jacob was a fugitive, exiled from home, de- 
 ceiving and being deceived, yet his life was pre- 
 served. Esau and Laban schemed but they could 
 not touch him. God had set his hand upon Jacob 
 for good. Although you have been unfaithful 
 to the highest within you, and wandered far from 
 the path of rectitude, do you not marvel at the 
 providence of God in sparing you? God has 
 watched over you with incessant care, when you 
 cared little or nothing for yourselves, and unless 
 you deliberately refuse, there is a sphere in which 
 you are going to be made eminently useful. You 
 may yet become mighty men of God. 
 
 Jacob stole away from Laban like a thief. 
 True to his character, it was beyond his power 
 
I02 Soul Crises 
 
 to change. Jacob was a deceiver by nature. If 
 he had not met God at Bethel, he doubtless would 
 have become one of the cleverest scoundrels of 
 his time. God only knows where we might have 
 been, had we not been restrained by the influence 
 of good people around us. But a time comes 
 when devices fail and clever forgeries are laid 
 bare, and all the concoctions of a lifetime pass 
 before the vision with failure and defeat written 
 over every one. The crisis in Jacob's life has 
 arrived. All his schemes avail nothing; and the 
 marvel in this time of tragedy is that he de- 
 termines to meet God at Bethel. Men are able 
 to sail down the smooth stream of time farther 
 and farther away from God; but there is one 
 storm in the life of all in which they are saved 
 or lost. 
 
 While prosecuting his journey to Canaan, 
 Jacob sent messengers to tell Esau of his ap- 
 proach, and if possible to find grace in his sight. 
 The messengers returned saying, "We came to 
 thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet 
 thee, and four hundred men with him." Then 
 Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. Things 
 are looking serious for poor, penitent Jacob. He 
 is in a terrible plight. What can he do? To 
 fight he is unprepared. To retreat is impossible. 
 Then what can he do? He must act quickly for 
 Esau is coming and four hundred men with him. 
 In this perilous hour he remembers the promises 
 of the God of his father; and for the first time 
 
The Possibilities of the Average Man 103 
 
 in his life he prays. 
 
 Do you remember the first time you really and 
 consciously prayed? "And Jacob said 'O God!' " 
 If we pray when in trouble there is no doubt 
 about our sincerity. After prayer, Jacob took 
 a number of his cattle, divided them into droves, 
 and sent them by the hands of his servants as a 
 present to Esau. Then he sent all that remained 
 across the brook Jabbok, "and Jacob was left 
 alone." 
 
 Before Jacob will be fit to enter and possess 
 the promised land his nature must be changed. 
 As Jacob, the supplanter, he cannot enter the land 
 of promise. "And there wrestled a man with 
 him until the breaking of the day. And when he 
 saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched 
 the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's 
 thigh was out of joint as he wrestled with him. 
 And he said, 'Let me go, for the day breaketh.' 
 And he said, 'I will not let thee go, except thou 
 bless me.' And he said unto him, 'What is thy 
 name?' And he said 'Jacob.' " My name is sup- 
 planter. In this reply there was a humble con- 
 fession of his subtle scheming nature. I have 
 been an overreacher, a deceiver, my life has been 
 an acted lie. I confess and deplore the fact that 
 by name and nature I am a supplanter. To his 
 open confession the divine wrestler replied, "Thy 
 name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: 
 for as a prince hast thou power with God and 
 with men, and hast prevailed." 
 
I04 Soul Crises 
 
 The sorrows of the night are passed, Jacob 
 emerged from that Inevitable struggle a con- 
 querer. He is Jacob the defrauder no more, for 
 old things have passed away, and all have become 
 new. He is henceforth to be known as Israel, a 
 prince who has power with God and prevails. 
 
 Many men have a stained past, but if they are 
 now turning the world upside-down by their 
 prayers, it is conclusive evidence that they have 
 been abundantly pardoned and turned from the 
 power of Satan to God. The demand of these 
 critical times is for men who can pray. Praying 
 men are the salt of the earth, the light of the 
 world. Wilberforce began a crusade against 
 slavery. Men laughed him to scorn, but he 
 laboured on until England was shaken from 
 centre to circumference, and the name of Wilber- 
 force and Liberty became a household word. 
 What was the secret of his success? Wilberforce 
 knew how to pray. Oh for a baptism of divine 
 power which will make us men like Luther, Knox, 
 and Wesley! — men who revolutionized the 
 world by their prayers. They were moral giants 
 in their day and generation. 
 
 But heroes for God and humanity have not 
 all become mere names of a glorious past. The 
 leaders and reformers of to-morrow are to be 
 found in our churches to-day. The call of Christ 
 comes to you saying, "Arise!" Respond to the 
 call ! Rise to the occasion and play the man ! If 
 in your hearts you know that you are supplanters, 
 
The Possibilities of the Average Man 105 
 
 defrauders, that you are living beneath your 
 privileges, that God and the world have a right 
 to expect greater things of you; if these are your 
 true sentiments, there is hope for you, and by the 
 power of the Holy Ghost you may become princes 
 and have power with God and prevail. You too 
 must meet God in Christ. The crisis of your life 
 has arrived. Act now! Plead the promises of 
 God, the mighty promises of pardon, of peace, 
 of adoption and power, those glorious promises 
 which are all "Yea" and "Amen in Christ," and 
 you shall be saved, and go forth to bless the 
 world. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 A MORAL TRAGEDY 
 
 He then having received the sop ivent immediately out: and it 
 ivas night. — John XIII, 30. 
 
 THE history of Judas is full of warning and 
 instruction. We are favoured with an ac- 
 count of his call, of his work, and of his exit 
 from the stage. Knowing the end of his career, 
 from the beginning, we are liable to imagine that 
 he was a failure from the outset. However we 
 may speculate about this idea, there is nothing in 
 the narrative to support it, and besides, it is con- 
 trary to everyday experience. Many a man has 
 begun well, has given promise of becoming a 
 bright and shining light, has betrayed his trust, 
 yielded to inclination, to pleasure, to passion, and 
 ultimately gone out into the night. To say what 
 some people who apparently have no time for 
 religion, are continually saying, "If I'm born to 
 be saved, I'll be saved; and if I'm born to be lost, 
 I'll be lost," is to subscribe to the creed of Fate. 
 The sooner we give the lie to such an unchristian 
 notion the better. It arises from the teaching 
 which is so rampant to-day, and which is so per- 
 sistently taught by materialists, that man is a ma- 
 
 io6 
 
A Moral Tragedy 107 
 
 chine, and therefore not responsible for his ac- 
 tions, whether they are good, bad, or indifferent. 
 If man is not responsible for his actions, then 
 Christianity is a delusion, and the sooner we pull 
 down our churches and burn our Bibles the 
 better. 
 
 But man is a morally accountable being. This 
 doctrine of non-responsibility only needs to be 
 looked at to be condemned. If there is no such 
 thing as sin, and man is not morally responsible 
 for his actions, it is not only religion that will 
 have to go; everything that belongs to law and 
 order, to honour and justice, will have to go with 
 it. Let us not delude ourselves, we are morally 
 responsible for our actions. Obligation is rooted 
 and grounded in our nature. God has given us 
 the awful power of choice. We may choose 
 good, and we may choose evil. What we do, we 
 do deliberately. 
 
 Before we subscribe to the creed of Fate let 
 us acquaint ourselves with the plain teaching of 
 Scripture. St. Peter writes, "The Lord is not 
 slack concerning His promise, as some men count 
 slackness; but is long-suffering to usward, not 
 willing that any should perish, but that all should 
 come to repentance." St. Paul states, "God will 
 have all men to be saved, and to come unto the 
 knowledge of the truth." 
 
 Some people profess to believe that Judas had 
 to be lost. If we were more fully acquainted with 
 our Bibles we would see that he had repeated 
 
io8 Soul Crises 
 
 warnings and opportunities to turn from the path 
 he deliberately chose. The career of Judas is 
 a true commentary of sin in its workings. He is 
 a type of the man who is only partially spiritual. 
 He heard Christ's call and accompanied Him as 
 "He went about doing good," but he was not 
 fully consecrated to his holy task. He compro- 
 mised with evil until he was led captive by the 
 devil at his will and committed an act, the nature 
 of which makes every honest man tremble at the 
 possibilities of his own sinful nature. 
 
 In reviewing the life of Judas let us not sit in 
 judgment upon him, rather "let him that thinketh 
 he standeth take heed lest he fall." First of all 
 then let us glance at his life as an apostle. It 
 is evident that at the beginning of his apostolic 
 career, Judas felt the thrill of a great emotion. 
 This is the only way we can reasonably account 
 for his becoming a follower of Christ. There 
 must have been that act of renunciation which 
 every man makes who leaves all to follow Christ. 
 It means a great deal to follow Christ in these 
 days, but it meant a great deal more then. There 
 was the question of his home and its associations 
 which Judas cheerfully left. It means something 
 to leave home. It means a great deal to a father 
 when his son leaves home. There is a great deal 
 of anxious thought of which the son knows little 
 or nothing. I have read of a father who ac- 
 companied his son to the railway station. The 
 son was going to try his fortunes on the troubled 
 
A Moral Tragedy 109 
 
 sea of the world. As the father bade his son 
 good-bye he said, with a face that revealed his 
 strong emotion, "If you disgrace me, It will break 
 my heart." If it means something to a father 
 when his son leaves home, what does it mean to 
 a mother? Only a mother knows! We may 
 surmise a little as we see an occasional tear steal 
 down her cheek, as we hear her loving counsel; 
 and as we see her retire to her room to pray for 
 the well-being of her boy. It means something 
 to a youth who is leaving home, It may be for a 
 town or city far away, and when at last he finds 
 that the domestic tie has been severed and he is 
 alone in a strange place, he retires to his room to 
 meditate, to live again those glorious days of 
 childhood, to think perhaps for the first time seri- 
 ously of all the love and care that has been 
 lavished upon him by his devoted parents. And 
 he vows that he will do all in his power to be 
 a credit to them. Blessed indeed is the youth if 
 at that moment he drops on his knees, and by 
 faith puts his hand Into the hand of Christ. 
 
 Then there was the question of occupation. 
 We are not in a position to say what enterprise 
 Judas was engaged in when Christ called him 
 but no doubt it would be worthy of his talents. 
 There was no gainsaying the fact that Judas was 
 a clever young man. His talents were recognized 
 Immediately by Christ who made him the 
 treasurer of the Apostolic band. It is the young 
 man of unquestioned ability who receives our ad- 
 
no Soul Crises 
 
 miration. It is the young man of indisputed in- 
 tegrity who commands our respect. It is the 
 brilliant young man who is most exposed to the 
 fierce blast of temptation. Whatever enterprise 
 Judas was engaged in, he gave it up to follow 
 Christ. Then last, but not least, there was the 
 question of pride. There is little doubt that 
 Judas, as a talented young man, stood well in the 
 good graces of his fellow citizens. To run counter 
 to their wishes, to break with them, would require 
 no mean moral effort. To throw in his lot with 
 Jesus of Nazareth, who was making a bold at- 
 tempt to achieve the impossible, would be re- 
 garded by his friends as an act not merely of 
 folly but of insanity. Even in our own times, 
 after centuries of the indisputable benefits of 
 Christianity, when young men begin to follow 
 Christ they are labelled by the worldly wise as 
 fools and madmen. If young men find it neces- 
 sary to take a determined stand to-day, what 
 must it have meant then when everybody who 
 wanted to be recognized as somebody looked 
 askance upon the strange Man who made no secret 
 of His intention of establishing a kingdom of 
 God, a kingdom which was "not meat and drink, 
 but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy 
 Ghost"? 
 
 It is easy for us to imagine with what joy we 
 would have hailed the call to be an apostle, but 
 if the Lord Christ were walking our streets to- 
 day, as He did in the days of His flesh, and we 
 
A Moral Tragedy III 
 
 heard Him denouncing as a hollow sham the re- 
 ligion of some of our most prominent church 
 members, I'm afraid we would pass by on the 
 other side. But Judas, and let us not hesitate 
 to give him his due, left all and followed the Man 
 of Gahlee. Yes! He left all I He made the 
 grand renunciation. He left all that was behind 
 and then ! Oh ! How we would like to picture 
 his triumphs as an apostle ! But facts are against 
 us. He signally failed to grasp in its fullness the 
 life and the vigour which Christ sought to impart. 
 As far as he went, he did splendidly, and had he 
 absorbed the spirit of the Master, caught His 
 imperial vision, and thrown himself body and 
 soul into the work, there is every reason to be- 
 lieve that he, too, like Peter and James and 
 John, would have gone on to attain glory, honour, 
 and immortality. 
 
 The tragedy of his life is that his enthusiasm 
 was short-lived. He lost his first love. His 
 ardour dwindled to conventional conformity, and 
 while he kept up a respectable appearance before 
 the Lord Christ, his heart was far from Him. 
 
 What is wrong with our churches to-day? Is 
 it not precisely this: that we are half-hearted? 
 That our attention is too much divided, that we 
 are endeavouring to serve God and Mammon? 
 This half-heartedness is in the pulpit as well as 
 in the pew. Is the charge true, so frequently 
 made, that we preach as though we were almost 
 ready to apologise for the content of the message 
 
112 Soul Crises 
 
 which has wrought more radical changes than 
 all other messages combined? The charge may 
 be quite uncalled for, but, for the sake of Him 
 whose we are and whom we serve, let us give 
 ample evidence that we believe the truths we 
 proclaim. "If the trumpet shall give an uncer- 
 tain sound who shall prepare himself for battle?" 
 If there is no danger, why any need for alarm? 
 If a lion in our midst got loose, we would quickly 
 overcome our reserve. We might even risk our 
 lives to save a child from his terrible jaws, and 
 with the handiest available weapon we would 
 challenge the beast to mortal combat. What we 
 need to realize is that we are daily exposed to 
 evils infinitely more aggressive than any lion that 
 roams the wilds. Our fathers used to say, "The 
 devil goeth about as a roaring lion seeking whom 
 he may devour." And they preached as though 
 they believed it. Now, some of us say quite 
 candidly, "There is no lion." Others of us are 
 saying, "There may be a lion, but in any case he 
 has lost his teeth." And a number of us, by 
 our indifferent attitude are saying, "Let him 
 roar." Brethren ! our half-heartedness is peril- 
 ous. Beware! lest in our case, it lead into the 
 gulf into which Judas by transgression fell. 
 
 Is it not lamentable that young preachers 
 should be studying the latest commentary to see 
 if they are still to believe in a devil? My ex- 
 perience leads me to remark that they do not need 
 to go so far. If the devil could demoralize an 
 
A Moral Tragedy 1 13 
 
 apostle who then can be saved? No compromis- 
 ing Christian can be saved. One of the glaring 
 detects of present-day religion is that so many of 
 us have a name to live and are dead. But if we 
 are alive in Him we need not fear. So long as 
 we are loyal to Christ we are invulnerable. Too 
 many of us who are preaching the gospel are 
 like lions chained. Our diction must be fault- 
 less, and we must of necessity be held in by cul- 
 tured restraint. One feels like saying to the 
 advocates of restraint, of the man of God who is 
 so liberally endowed, "Loose him, and let him 
 go." Oh to be swayed with a passion for right- 
 eousness ! To recognize fully, and to feel keenly 
 the tremendous issues at stake! The awful pos- 
 sibility of men becoming traitors or saints, a 
 Judas or a St. Paul ! 
 
 The subtle forces of evil are still at work in 
 the home, in the church, and in the world. Con- 
 sider who Judas was. He wasn't a heathen, he 
 was a Christian, and a Christian apostle at that. 
 If the devil could take possession of an apostle, 
 under the very eye of Christ, we should realize 
 once for all that nothing but whole-hearted devo- 
 tion to Christ and His cause will save us, and 
 the people to whom we preach. You may still 
 contend that Judas was not an apostle at heart. 
 Possibly not. But who are we to sit in judgment 
 against Judas? Will any of us affirm that our 
 motives are without alloy, that our loyalty is be- 
 yond question? If we rightly read our hearts, 
 
114 Soul Crises 
 
 we will have no Pharisaic thoughts nor harsh 
 words to level against the man who became a 
 traitor. 
 
 This leads us to the oft repeated question: 
 Why did Christ choose Judas as one of the 
 twelve? The inference underlying this question 
 is that Christ saw the end from the beginning. 
 Even though He did, one thing is certain: The 
 Lord had a perfect right to call "unto Him whom 
 He would." Is it not possible that Christ chose 
 Judas to avert a great moral disaster? He chose 
 him because He saw in him great possibilities 
 both for good and evil. He saw the bent of his 
 nature and, in His compassion, gave him the 
 unique privilege of making his calling and elec- 
 tion sure, before His eyes. When Judas re- 
 sponded to the call of Christ he was full of high 
 and holy aspirations, and possibly he vowed in 
 his heart, by his loyalty and devotion to become 
 the very chiefest apostle. The tragic close of 
 his career must not blind us to the fact that at 
 the outset there was a most promising beginning. 
 If we are so interested in our Lord's choice of 
 Judas, has it ever dawned upon us to ask why He 
 has chosen us? "Ye have not chosen Me, but I 
 have chosen you." Christ sees a divine possibil- 
 ity in every one of us. He never fails to see the 
 diamond in the rough, and had Judas been true 
 to His Lord, the story of his life would have been 
 very different. 
 
 When did Judas begin to go astray? That is 
 
A Moral Tragedy 115 
 
 hard to determine. We only can conjecture. 
 The only man who could have told us was Judas. 
 Every individual who is trifling with, or being 
 driven almost to desperation through secret sin 
 could give us a fairly good idea as to when it 
 was first encouraged, if he would. Very small 
 and almost imperceptible are the beginnings of 
 sin, but how quickly it grows to a giant before 
 whom we quiver in dismay! The first hint we 
 get of the apostasy of Judas is given by our Lord, 
 about a year before His crucifixion. ''But there 
 are some of you that believe not." Jesus knew 
 what was going on in the heart of Judas long be- 
 fore He gave this first gentle rebuke. A greater 
 significance is given to many of our Lord's re- 
 marks when we remember the disloyalty, the dis- 
 honesty, and the consequent disaster of "one of 
 the twelve." Judas started on the down grade 
 when he began to encourage and entertain dis- 
 loyal thoughts about the Master. What is the 
 cause of disloyalty? UnbeHef I If you begin to 
 doubt people, if you cease to believe In them or 
 their principles, you will soon cease to love them. 
 What led to this change in one who began so 
 bravely, who promised so well? Judas was dis- 
 appointed. He had expected something different, 
 and so had all the disciples. They entertained 
 hopes of a political kingdom and of an honoured 
 place In the cabinet. They were soon Informed 
 of their delusion, for Jesus told them plainly that 
 His kingdom was not of this world. He tried 
 
ii6 Soul Crises 
 
 to educate them to the Idea that the Kingdom of 
 God was something more impressive, something 
 more magnificent, something more enduring than 
 they had ever dreamed. Consequently the eleven 
 became more attached to their master. Their 
 lives were transformed by faith and hope and 
 love, but not so Judas. He gradually became em- 
 bittered, and instead of growing in grace he be- 
 came absorbed in side issues. His disappoint- 
 ment developed into unbelief. How full of 
 pathos are our Lord's words, especially when we 
 consider His persistent efforts to get Judas to 
 share the same spiritual vision that He was seek- 
 ing to impart to the rest of His disciples ! "But 
 there are some of you that believe not." The 
 measure of a man's love is determined by his 
 faith. Great faith bespeaks a great love. There 
 are two kinds of unbelief, intellectual and emo- 
 tional. They are Intimately related. When one 
 dies the coffin may be ordered for the other. Of 
 Intellectual unbelief we have very little to fear. 
 What we do need to fear, and that persistently, 
 is Infidelity of the heart. This is where Judas 
 fell down. He ceased to love ardently, passion- 
 ately, and his affections which had been bestowed 
 upon his Lord were transferred. It follows with 
 unerring precision that when a man ceases to 
 love the Lord with a strong, healthy devotion, 
 he ceases to live as every lover should live. In 
 pleading for a whole-hearted devotion of our- 
 selves to Christ it may not be amiss to say, "Thou 
 
A Moral Tragedy 1 17 
 
 shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, 
 with all thy mind, and with all thy might." Let 
 us beware of "infidelity of the heart!" We never 
 know where it may lead. What a sorry sight to 
 see a man transferring his love for the Lord to 
 "the love of money." 
 
 How thoroughly Judas was out of sympathy 
 with Christ and His Teaching is evidenced by his 
 remarks at Bethany when Mary opened an ala- 
 baster box of ointment "and anointed the feet 
 of Jesus!" "Why was not this ointment sold for 
 three hundred pence, and given to the poor?" 
 He was quite insensible to the fragrance of 
 Mary's immortal deed. He begrudged the loss 
 of three hundred pence, and received a well- 
 deserved rebuke from the Master. John throws 
 a flood of light on the besetting sin of Judas when 
 he replies, "This he said, not that he cared for 
 the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the 
 bag, and bare what was put therein." By this 
 time Judas had sunk so low that he was dis- 
 honest. He had cultivated the pernicious habit 
 of pilfering. He waxed worse and worse until 
 Jesus said, "One of you is a devil," but every 
 warning was heard by Judas without the slightest 
 concern. In that eloquent act of our Lord, when 
 He washed the feet of His disciples. He washed 
 the feet of Judas. Yes! He washed the feet of 
 one who was already contemplating His betrayal. 
 That was enough to soften a heart of stone, but 
 there was no response from Judas. When He 
 
Ii8 Soul Crises 
 
 had finished the Lord said, "Ye are clean, but 
 not all." Shortly after He was troubled in spirit, 
 and testified, and said, "Verily, verily, I say unto 
 you, that one of you shall betray me." This 
 startling intimation filled the hearts of those 
 eleven honest men with dismay and fearing lest 
 they might be foiled by the deceitfulness of their 
 own hearts they eagerly asked, "Lord, is it I?" 
 They were all deeply grieved but Judas, and it 
 seems after the question had gone the rounds 
 that, to save his face, he said; not, "Lord, is it 
 I?" but, "Is it I, Rabbi?" The breach was 
 widening between him and the Master. Our 
 Lord's reply is full of significance. "What thou 
 hast said, there is no need for me to say." 
 
 It is painfully apparent that when a man is 
 untrue to Christ he becomes untrue to himself, 
 he loses his self-respect, he sacrifices his honour, 
 and after that he is capable of anything, even 
 treachery and suicide. All previous entreaties, 
 all previous warnings have failed, and now the 
 final crisis has come. What will Judas do? Will 
 he confess the detestable part he has been play- 
 ing? Not he! He receives the sop, goes "im- 
 mediately out, and it was night." The blackness 
 of that awful night has never been relieved. It 
 is always night when a man turns his back upon 
 the Lord Jesus Christ. Up to this time Judas 
 had been tempted of the devil. Now he who long 
 ago transferred his affections, transfers his ser- 
 vices from Christ to Satan. He becomes demon- 
 
A Moral Tragedy 1 19 
 
 possessed. And not content with deserting he de- 
 termines to betray the Master with a kiss for 
 thirty pieces of silver. Can you imagine a deed 
 more unspeakable? 
 
 Yet Judas does not stand alone. You regard 
 such an act as his with abhorrence, but Judas did 
 not become a traitor in a day. This soul tragedy 
 can be traced to waning zeal, to disloyalty to 
 Christ. What of your affections? Where are 
 they placed? Do you love gold more than you 
 love God? Is your creed "Get money honestly if 
 you can, but get it?" Beware! "What?" you 
 say, "are you charging respectable people with be- 
 traying Christ?" Yes! We have betrayed Him, 
 and often for less than thirty pieces of silver. 
 
 One more glance at Judas. "When he saw" 
 Jesus condemned the full significance of his 
 diabolical deed, burst in upon him, and rushing 
 into the presence of the chief priests, he cried, 
 "I have sinned in that I have betrayed the inno- 
 cent blood." He threw down the money and 
 then went out and hanged himself. How heart- 
 rending is the last sermon Judas preached! "I 
 have betrayed innocent blood." O Judas, why 
 didst thou not turn and glance at the Saviour? 
 His look might have broken thy heart, as it 
 broke Peter^s heart, and thou mightest have been 
 saved, even in the eleventh hour! Christ did not 
 expel Judas. He left Christ, and the last word 
 recorded of him is, that he went "to his own 
 place." That, and no other, in the end, will we 
 
I20 Soul Crises 
 
 all find. What place are we preparing for? The 
 money we sell our souls for, we are going to 
 leave behind, so that those who led us as oxen 
 to the slaughter may buy an "Aceldama," a "field 
 of blood." As we meditate upon the tragic close 
 of a career that opened so full of promise, let us 
 remember that disloyalty may end in disaster, and 
 reverently pray 
 
 "More love to Thee, O Christ, 
 More love to Thee!" 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 A RECALL, OR THE MAN WHO CAME BACK 
 
 Go . . . tell His disciples and Peter.— Mzrk XVI, 7. 
 
 IN the gospels the character of Peter is very 
 early portrayed. He is shown to us in his 
 glory on the heights, also in the valley, crest- 
 fallen and ashamed. That we may form a true 
 estimate of his worth, all sides of his character 
 are brought under our gaze. He comes on the 
 scene a sturdy fisherman, he plays a dramatic part, 
 and makes his exit from the stage as a martyr. 
 He made huge blunders, but these must not blind 
 us to the fact that he was a great man, he was 
 a diamond in the rough, and he did a work for 
 God, the greatness and extent of which eternity 
 alone will fully reveal. Let us consider briefly 
 his life and work. Before we venture to criticise 
 Peter, it will be necessary for us to recall our own 
 experience to see if it has all been sunshine, if it 
 has all been singing, if it has been one long un- 
 interrupted triumph. If it has, we will not be 
 able to sympathize with the failings of Peter. It 
 will be quite foreign to us why he so often made 
 mistakes. But if our experience has not been a 
 brilliant achievement, if there have been times 
 
 121 
 
122 Soul Crises 
 
 in our Christian career when we felt like stealing 
 away into the darkness rather than walking in 
 the light, if we have been down in the valley 
 through some humiliating experience, if since we 
 began to serve God we have had dark days as 
 well as bright, then there are some useful lessons 
 to be taught us by the ups and downs of Peter. 
 
 To begin with, let us look at his devotion. His 
 devotion may be summed up in his call, his 
 candour, his courage, and his confession. Before 
 he became a disciple he was arrested by the fiery 
 preaching of John the Baptist. The message of 
 that stern preacher of righteousness made a pro- 
 found impression upon Peter. He became an 
 ardent seeker for the Truth. To his habits of 
 temperance and frugality, he added the habit of 
 piety. He identified himself with the great 
 preacher of righteousness. He listened with awe 
 to every message, and his imagination was fired 
 by the prospect of the coming of the mighty one 
 who would baptize with the Holy Ghost and with 
 fire. 
 
 One day Andrew, his brother, with a new light 
 in his eye and a new ring in his voice, came and 
 said, "We have found Him," and he took Peter 
 to Jesus. Jesus was impressed with Peter as 
 soon as He saw him, and gave him the name by 
 which we know him. As yet Peter was not an 
 apostle, but he was a Christian, and when, some 
 months later, Jesus passed by the place where 
 Andrew and Peter were fishing. He called them. 
 
A Recall, or the Man Who Came Back 123 
 
 "And straightway they left their nets, and fol- 
 lowed Him." When Christ called, Peter was 
 ready. Without hesitation or reluctance, he left 
 all. He did not begin to weigh the pros and 
 cons, he knew that the Person who had captured 
 his affections wanted his services, and straightway 
 he followed Him. 
 
 What did it mean for Peter to respond to the 
 call of Christ? Some people say it did not mean 
 much, as he had not much to leave. However 
 that may be, he was whole-hearted in his response. 
 On another occasion he said, "Lo ! we have left 
 all and followed Thee." Whatever that all was 
 it would cost an effort to leave it. There were 
 his boat and his nets, and with these he had 
 earned his living. But whatever the cost, what- 
 ever the sacrifice, Christ calls. Therefore fare- 
 well boats, nets, and friends, henceforth I am go- 
 ing to follow Jesus. Can we say we have left 
 all? 
 
 Peter's immediate response to Christ's call was 
 prophetic. He always decided quickly. He was 
 essentially a man of action. His candour was 
 sublime. He was so natural and exuberant that 
 wherever he put in an appearance the place be- 
 came instinct with life. There was a delightful 
 uncertainty about Peter. We are not always sure 
 what he will do or say, but we can count on his 
 doing or saying something. 7^he social instinct 
 was strongly developed in him. He was easy to 
 get acquainted with, and when he comes upon the 
 
124 Soul Crises 
 
 scene we begin to feel at home. Peter was almost 
 a total stranger to reserve. Some good people 
 maintain that Peter talked too much. Perhaps so, 
 but if a certain few talk too much in the Lord's 
 presence, do not a great many of us talk too little? 
 We are indebted to Peter for talking. If he had 
 not done so we would not have had such an in- 
 teresting new Testament. We know more about 
 Peter than any of the disciples. He had an 
 honesty of purpose, and an integrity of soul that 
 we cannot but admire. One day the Lord bor- 
 rowed Peter's boat, "and He sat down, and 
 taught the people out of the ship." When He 
 had finished speaking He asked Peter to launch 
 out into the deep, and let down the nets for a 
 draught. With delightful candour he said, 
 "Master, we have toiled all the night, and have 
 taken nothing, nevertheless at Thy word I will 
 let down the net." 'I am an experienced fisher- 
 man, and I don't think it's any use, but we'll try 
 it anyway.' "And when they had this done, they 
 enclosed a great multitude of fishes : and their net 
 brake." Peter was astonished beyond measure. 
 He felt he was in the presence of the Master 
 Fisherman; One who knew infinitely more about 
 fishing than he did. 
 
 Peter's courage was as pronounced as his 
 candour. While faith was struggling into being 
 in timorous souls, Peter's was learning to walk. 
 His courageous venture upon the water was 
 simply grand. He is the only fisherman so far as 
 
A Recall, or the Man JVho Came Back 125 
 
 my knowledge goes, who has the unique distinc- 
 tion of having walked upon the water. He was 
 ready at a moment's notice to put Christ to the 
 test, and by so doing achieved the impossible. It 
 is of the very nature of faith to attempt and ac- 
 complish the impossible. O that Christ may be 
 as real to us as he was to Peter! 
 
 Peter's courage was one of the chief elements 
 of his character, but even his courage pales be- 
 fore his confession. When told by His disciples, 
 of the controversy among the people as to who 
 He was, Jesus asked His disciples, and Peter 
 answered and said, "Thou art the Christ, the son 
 of the living God." His confession marks an 
 epoch in the training of the twelve. There was 
 a loyalty about Peter, he was a born leader and 
 his devotion to his Lord left nothing to be de- 
 sired. He enjoyed fellowship with Jesus for 
 three years. He laboured faithfully to extend the 
 Kingdom, went on a missionary tour, and even 
 cast out devils in the name of Christ. 
 
 Some of us were brought to Christ in a similar 
 manner to Peter. Some John the Baptist alarmed 
 us by the announcement that even now the axe 
 was laid at the root of the tree, that the advent 
 of a new order was at hand, and before our won- 
 dering eyes, he cried, "Behold the Lamb of God!" 
 Or some Andrew, some modest but enterprising 
 Andrew, came and said, "We have found the 
 Messias," and he brought us to Jesus. Like 
 Peter we may have done great things for God. 
 
126 Soul Crises 
 
 We may have preached the gospel and even cast 
 out devils in the name of Christ. We may have 
 known Christ more than three years, and our 
 devotion to our Master may be unquestionable, 
 but possibly, like Peter we have yet many things 
 to learn. 
 
 Shall we now take a look at Peter's mistakes. 
 Peter was very self-reliant. He had a great 
 amount of confidence regarding his own ability. 
 Peter to him was a very important person. He 
 sometimes tried to dispute the point with the 
 Master and because of his self-assertiveness, he 
 often descended quickly from the mount into the 
 valley. After his inspiring revelation from 
 heaven regarding the divinity of his Lord, Christ 
 said, "Blessed are thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh 
 and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my 
 Father which is in heaven." Immediately after 
 this hearty commendation, the Lord began to 
 speak of what He must suffer in Jerusalem. And 
 Peter, who had not yet learned that we pass 
 through death into life, "began to rebuke Him 
 saying, 'Be it far from Thee, Lord: this shall not 
 be unto Thee.' But He turned, and said unto 
 Peter, 'Get thee behind Me, Satan; thou art an 
 offence unto Me; for thou savourest not the 
 things that be of God, but those that be of men.' " 
 
 On another occasion our Lord went up into 
 a mountain, taking with Him Peter and James 
 and John, and was transfigured before them. 
 Moses and EUas appeared, and Peter wanted to 
 
A Recall, or the Man JVho Came Back 127 
 
 build three tabernacles. This was a great 
 blunder. A Christ always on the transfigured 
 mount would not be able to meet the needs of 
 perplexed disciples, a distracted father and a 
 demon-possessed boy below. A transfiguration 
 experience, without contact with the struggling 
 world, would be a delightful experience, no doubt, 
 but it would not tend to make Peter a very strong 
 or a very useful saint. I believe Peter fully in- 
 tended to prove himself a valiant Christian sol- 
 dier when he said, "Though all men shall be of- 
 fended because of Thee, yet will I never be of- 
 fended." But Peter did not know himself as 
 his Lord knew him. He had great lessons in 
 humility to learn before he could be of any real 
 service to Christ. When the disciples were con- 
 tending who should be greatest, Peter was one 
 who thought he had a right to the first place. 
 
 As the earthly career of our Lord neared its 
 close He warned Peter that he would deny Him, 
 but Peter protested, "Though I should die with 
 Thee, yet will I not deny Thee." The next scene 
 is in Gethsemane. The Lord was exceeding sor- 
 rowful, and if ever He needed the sympathy and 
 prayers of His disciples it was then. Peter was 
 one who was asked to watch and pray while the 
 Master underwent His dreaded experience. An 
 hour elapsed, and the Lord returned to find 
 Peter, what? Sharing with Him in sweating 
 great drops of blood? Pouring forth his en- 
 treaties to God that He will strengthen His 
 
128 Soul Crises 
 
 Master? This same Peter who a few hours be- 
 fore declared his readiness to die with Him — 
 how does He find him? Does He find the en- 
 thusiastic Peter praying and prevailing before 
 God? Alas, No! A great change has passed 
 over Peter. He is asleep ! This is the sign of 
 a threatening storm. The enemies of the Son 
 of God are at hand. He is betrayed, Peter 
 awakes and follows afar off. The inevitable 
 result follows. The storm breaks, and Peter the 
 great is fallen. He denies his Master in this 
 grave crisis. He loses his courage and his honour 
 before an insinuating maid. "Then began he to 
 curse and to swear, saying, 'I know not the man.' 
 And immediately the cock crew." 
 
 As the followers of Christ, none of us have 
 reached absolute perfection. There was a time 
 when we thought we were nearing perfection, 
 but now we see it afar. Like Peter, we have 
 made mistakes. When we have attended a trans- 
 figuration convention we almost have forgotten 
 the perishing multitudes. When we first began 
 to serve the Lord we thought we were somebody, 
 and we determined to live a life minus mistakes. 
 We had great revelations of God's goodness and 
 at times we did exploits. With Peter we felt 
 like saying, "Though all men forsake Thee, yet 
 will not L" But have we lived up to our ideals? 
 No ! When we were most urgently needed to 
 charge the forces of unrighteousness; when it 
 was imperative for us to come up to the help of 
 
A Recall, or the Man Who Came Back 129 
 
 the Lord against the mighty, we failed. And, 
 we must confess the scandal before high Heaven, 
 we were asleep ! The Lord have mercy upon 
 us I 
 
 And bad as that was, there is something even 
 worse. Some of us are asleep now I Can it be 
 that we form part of a sleeping church? This is 
 an alarming state of affairs. The church asleep 
 and the devil awake. May God in His mercy 
 arouse us from our slumbers I We have ne- 
 glected to watch and pray, we have walked afar 
 off, we have denied our Lord. What a ship- 
 wreck we have made of it! How we wish we 
 had given more heed to the danger signal, "Let 
 him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he 
 fall." Like Peter, by our negligence and selfish- 
 ness we have thrown our crowns in the dust. 
 
 Let us now look at Peter's repentance. Peter 
 was in the mire, his fall had been real and great. 
 But he had not dropped out of his Master's sight, 
 for in the very act of denying his Master, "the 
 Lord turned, and looked upon Peter." Only a 
 look! — a look of injured love — but it broke 
 Peter's heart. That never to be forgotten look 
 reminded Peter of his Lord's warning words. 
 "And Peter went out and wept bitterly." What 
 anguish! What bitterness crushed his spirit! 
 What have I done? I have basely denied my 
 Lord! Can there be any forgiveness for such 
 cowardice at such a time as this? There He is 
 in the midst of the soldiers! Look! They smite 
 
130 Soul Crises 
 
 Him ! they spit upon Him, and, oh ! horrible to 
 relate, they have crucified Him, but mine is the 
 greater sin; for I have not merely forsaken Him 
 but denied Him! Now I am of all men most 
 miserable for Christ is dead and the last word 
 He heard from my lips was one of base denial. 
 What! Christ dead! No! Peter. He lives 
 and He has sent you a message, "Go, tell my 
 disciples and Peter I go before you into Galilee: 
 there shall ye see me." It's just like Him to send 
 a message like that, and although covered with 
 confusion I am going to Him. Yes Peter! Go 
 direct to Jesus! As soon as He saw him, the 
 Lord saw that Peter was a changed man. Three 
 times He asked him the same question, "Simon 
 Peter, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?" Peter con- 
 fessed his love, and in reply to the question asked 
 for the third time said, "Lord, Thou knowest 
 all things; thou knowest that I love thee." If 
 we have sinned, let us with Peter return unto the 
 Lord. He is waiting to forgive us, and will re- 
 member our sins against Him no more. He wants 
 every one of us to help in the extension of His 
 kingdom. 
 
 This time we leave Peter in a prayer meeting. 
 He is in the right place and if we are going to 
 be of use to our Master, we cannot do better 
 than to join him. Let us now briefly look at 
 Peter's wonderful career after Pentecost. Peter 
 is one of those who has been told to wait for the 
 promise of the Father. "And when the day of 
 
A Recall, or the Man Who Came Back 131 
 
 Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one 
 accord in one place. And suddenly there came 
 a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty 
 wind, and it filled all the house where they were 
 sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven 
 tongues, like as of fire, and it sat upon each of 
 them : and they were all filled with the Holy 
 Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as 
 the spirit gave them utterance." A remarkable 
 change has been wrought in Peter. He has been 
 transformed by the power of the Holy Ghost. 
 He is now fully instructed; fully equipped for 
 service and to work he goes with a will. 
 
 Spirit-filled Christians could not hide in ob- 
 scurity. They came forth, and were soon the 
 centre of attraction. As they proclaimed the 
 gospel message, the people were amazed and 
 marvelled, saying one to another, "What meaneth 
 this?" "Others mocking said, 'These men are 
 full of new wine.' " New wine has been responsi- 
 ble for a great many demonstrations, but these 
 men are intoxicated with the wine of God. Peter 
 began to preach. To his wondering audience he 
 said, "These men are not filled with wine as ye 
 suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. 
 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet 
 Joel: 'And it shall come to pass in the last days, 
 saith God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all 
 flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall 
 prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, 
 and your old men shall dream dreams.' " Peter 
 
132 Soul Crises 
 
 preached a sermon such as the people had never 
 heard. He charged them with the death of the 
 Son of God, and told how God had raised Him 
 up to be both Lord and Christ. He preached 
 with such power that his hearers were pricked in 
 their hearts and cried out to Peter, and the rest 
 of the apostles, "Men and brethren what shall 
 we do?" As a result of that sermon about three 
 thousand people believed, but this was only the 
 beginning of Peter's wonderful career. 
 
 Now he naturally became a recognized leader 
 in the Christian church. He proved himself to 
 be both courageous and courteous. To him fell 
 that honour of opening a door to the Gentiles. 
 To him we are greatly indebted for the gospel ac- 
 cording to St. Mark, he wrote two epistles, and 
 eventually died as a martyr. 
 
 Peter's career is most encouraging to those 
 who realize they have failed, and who are de- 
 termined to come back. Thank God for the re- 
 claimed Peters ! O you Peters ! what powers 
 are slumbering in your nature ! What glory yet 
 awaits you I Come back! Christ is calling for 
 you. Seek His face, seek the fulness of the spirit, 
 wait upon God until you too are baptized with 
 the Holy Ghost. 
 
 And what shall I say more? Are we not all 
 Peters? And the tragedy of our Christian ex- 
 perience is that we not only have denied our 
 Lord, but in too many instances we are living on 
 the wrong side of Pentecost. "Have ye received 
 
A Recall, or the Man Who Came Back 133 
 
 the Holy Ghost since ye believed?" May our 
 Father in heaven baptize us now and send us 
 forth, like Peter, to see "signs and wonders 
 wrought in the name of Jesus." 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 CHRISTIAN ATHLETES 
 
 They that ivait upon the Lord shall reneiv their strength; 
 they shall mount up ivith ivings as eagles; they shall run and 
 not be iveaty, and they shall ivalk, and not faint. — Is. XL, 31. 
 
 ^T^HIS is one of the many passages contain- 
 -■- Ing such a wealth of suggestion that one is 
 at a loss which line to follow. When we look 
 into the heart of this verse we see strength and 
 wings, also the promise of walking, or even run- 
 ning without faintness or fatigue. It provokes 
 thought along so many avenues that I have de- 
 cided to take you along one known to the athlete. 
 Strength and wings, energy and endurance, what- 
 ever else they suggest, they are indispensable to 
 every would-be athlete. There are very few 
 healthy people who do not admire the athlete. 
 He is so strong, his body is so well-proportioned, 
 his muscles are so well-developed, and he is so 
 clever as to captivate the eye and win the ap- 
 plause of all who hope to win their laurels. The 
 grace and ease with which the scratch man wins 
 the race arouses the enthusiasm of one and all. 
 Great hopes are entertained, and extravagant de- 
 mands are made upon a favourite athlete, by his 
 
 134 
 
Christian Athletes 135 
 
 loyal supporters. Should the athletic reputation 
 of the town, school, or college be at stake, they 
 centre their hopes in him. And when he goes 
 into the race, he goes in not merely for exercise, 
 or to trifle with the reputation of his school. He 
 goes in with one grim determination, and that is 
 to win. When the race has been won, and the 
 threatened reputation saved, all the students are 
 simply delirious with delight. He is the hero of 
 the occasion, and is lionized by all with whom he 
 is identified. 
 
 But sometimes a star performer miserably fails 
 to justify the hopes centred in him. There may 
 be various reasons for this, but as a rule there 
 is only one. A wise athlete runs no unnecessary 
 risks, he underestimates himself rather than 
 otherwise. He is faithful in his daily exercises. 
 He studies his weak points, and seeks to over- 
 come them by diligent practice. On the day of 
 the race he is cool and collected. His previous 
 faithfulness is a guarantee of his being in good 
 form. But while some men at the beginning of 
 their career underestimate themselves, after a 
 few easy wins the majority develop an unwar- 
 ranted confidence. Samson-like they abuse their 
 strength, and vainly argue that what they have 
 done before, they can do again. They wist not 
 that their strength is departed. It is a humiliat- 
 ing moment when a popular favourite becomes 
 conscious that he has more than met his match, 
 and as a result of his own folly is being outdis- 
 
136 Soul Crises 
 
 tanced in the race by a much Inferior competitor. 
 The excuses of loyal supporters only intensify 
 the remorse of the man who is painfully aware 
 that he is now a good "has-been," and that be- 
 cause of his own neglect. 
 
 This Is a parable of the Children of Israel at 
 the time of this prophecy. As a people they en- 
 joyed the distinction of having been divinely or- 
 dained a nation. By signal acts God had identi- 
 fied Himself with His people. They had a unique 
 history. They had won many laurels as the 
 chosen athletes of God. Their uncompromising 
 fidelity to truth and righteousness had given them 
 prestige. God had put the fear of them into the 
 hearts of all possible rivals. They enjoyed many 
 exceeding great and precious promises. God had 
 intimated that His athletes were to run to some 
 purpose. "One would chase a thousand, and two 
 would put ten thousand to flight." In their best 
 days they figured in many thrilling events. As 
 spiritual athletes they had broken the religious 
 record. And brilliant as had been the achieve- 
 ments of the past, greater glories yet awaited 
 them. But alas ! They became careless and in- 
 different. They gradually neglected the steady 
 practice of righteousness, and withal, regarded 
 all possible rivals with haughty contempt. Amid 
 present prosperity, they forgot their Trainer, and 
 distinguished athletes became more of a memory 
 than a reality. They were guilty of the common 
 sin of presuming on their past. Consequently 
 
Christian Athletes 137 
 
 they went down to defeat and shame 
 
 The prophecy beginning with the fortieth chap- 
 ter of Isaiah was delivered to Israelitish captives 
 in a strange land. They had miserably disap- 
 pointed the high hopes entertained of them, and 
 as they sat by the rivers of Babylon, they were 
 painfully conscious that they were good ''has- 
 beens." Like the crestfallen ex-champion who 
 has suffered defeat through folly, they hung their 
 harps upon the willow trees. 
 
 But granting that an athlete has sinned against 
 himself as Israel had sinned against God, if he 
 be a true and worthy man he is not content to 
 drift down to disgrace and ruin. He pulls him- 
 self together, faces the situation with candour, 
 forsakes the evils which contributed to his defeat, 
 and determines to transform present defeat into 
 personal conquest and future glory. Perhaps 
 there is nothing more pathetic and inspiring than 
 to see a man, a good "has-been," trying to come 
 back. 
 
 Israel in exile had leisure enough to think. 
 They thought with pain of their past. They re- 
 gretted their folly and into the sphere of their 
 servitude came a man who reminded them of 
 their glorious past, he also told them if they 
 would they could come back. They looked at 
 him with eyes which had gazed into the abyss of 
 despair. They had a renowned history, but their 
 national glory was gone. They were not equal 
 to the demands made on their strength. The race 
 
138 Soul Crises 
 
 was so trying that even their youths were faint 
 and weary, while some of their young men in 
 endeavouring to gain the lead had fallen in their 
 tracks. To those who once ran well, the prophet 
 proclaimed the one sure method by which they 
 could come back, and gain even greater distinc- 
 tion than they had enjoyed in the past. "They 
 that wait upon the Lord shall renew their 
 strength; they shall mount up with wings as 
 eagles; they shall run and not be weary, and they 
 shall walk and not faint." 
 
 If we are at all acquainted with the needs of 
 our own nature, we will not wish to tarry just 
 now to discuss the question whether there was 
 only one Isaiah or two. We will appreciate the 
 significance of this prophecy, and feel deep down 
 in our hearts, that Israel's history is our own. 
 We will not discuss the question of how or when 
 we entered the contest. Doubtless we all entered 
 for the Christian race full of vigour and en- 
 thusiasm. We were determined to run straight, 
 we were indifferent to the crowds, we had our 
 eyes fixed upon the Leader and Crowner of the 
 race, and, although we are loathe to confess it, 
 we distinguished ourselves as we ran in the way 
 of God's commandments. But, sad to relate, al- 
 though we kept up great speed for a while, we 
 gradually slackened our pace, and were guilty of 
 something that no whole-hearted athlete is guilty 
 of, we turned around to see how the other com- 
 petitors were progressing, and when we saw so 
 
Christian Athletes 139 
 
 many circumspect people walking leisurely be- 
 hind, we thought we had been going too fast. 
 Having taken our eye off the magnetic Leader, 
 other objects began to attract our attention, and 
 we lingered. Since then instead of running 
 straight on, we have been running across the 
 track, inspecting its borders, and sometimes won- 
 dering if it would not be easier to run with the 
 multitude to do evil. We have got tangled up 
 with the cares of this present world, and beyond 
 an occasional sprint, we have not been getting up 
 much speed lately. The race has been teUing 
 upon us. We are weak and languid and only an 
 imitation of our former selves. We have been 
 hopelessly outdistanced by those who ran straight 
 on, without deviation to the right hand or to the 
 left. To tell the truth, we are often tempted to 
 give up, and although we mean to keep on, we 
 are sadly conscious that we are capable of a 
 better performance. What we need is the old 
 incentive that we had at the beginning of our ath- 
 letic career to urge us forward. We will find 
 the true incentive to increased speed where we 
 left it. "They that wait upon the Lord shall re- 
 new their strength; they shall mount up with 
 wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, 
 and they shall walk and not faint." 
 
 I>et us note carefully the instructions given, to 
 see the requirements and possibilities of all Chris- 
 tian athletes. Everything hinges upon our atti- 
 tude. Therefore let us learn what our attitude 
 
140 Soul Crises 
 
 should be. "They that wait upon the Lord shall 
 renew their strength." We are to "wait upon 
 the Lord." We all know what it means to wait. 
 Have we not occasionally made an appointment 
 with a certain party, to meet at a given hour? 
 We have gone to the place at the specified time, 
 but the other party has not yet arrived. After 
 an elapse of fifteen minutes, we begin to get rest- 
 less, and should the other party put in an appear- 
 ance an hour late we are simply furious, that is 
 if we are still there. But the full meaning of 
 waiting is by no means exhausted by the method 
 which exhausts our patience. An athlete, who is 
 expecting to compete in a great event, is not likely 
 to be standing around waiting for something to 
 turn up. Nor should idle and unprofitable wait- 
 ing have any part in the program of those who 
 wish to excel in the Christian contest. Let us 
 revise our notions of waiting. It is possible to 
 wait upon a person while he is engaged in con- 
 versation with us. This is always true of the 
 Lord, He is always there and ready to be en- 
 quired of. By appointment we wait upon a 
 lawyer for advice, or upon a doctor for medical 
 attention. At a given time the athlete waits upon 
 his trainer, to receive instruction and also to un- 
 dergo strenuous practice. From the athlete we 
 may learn some useful lessons. If he is prepar- 
 ing for an event which will decide the champion- 
 ship of the Dominion he is faithful and diligent. 
 He takes nothing for granted. And we ought at 
 
Christian Athletes 141 
 
 least to be as faithful and diligent as he: for we 
 are preparing to "adorn the doctrine of God our 
 Saviour in all things." To do this effectively our 
 waiting upon God will need to be freed from the 
 haphazard periods, the spasmodic efforts of the 
 past. Faithfulness is more to be desired than 
 genius. Let us cultivate the fine art of waiting. 
 At a given hour every day, let us wait upon the 
 Lord in prayer and meditation. Waiting upon 
 the Lord is not enough if it be merely formal. 
 As the most difficult feats of the athlete are per- 
 formed in private, so must it be with us. We 
 must strive to realize the presence of God and 
 agonize until we renew our strength. 
 
 The athlete is able to appear to advantage 
 in the contest, because he has been drilled and 
 tested behind the scenes. This has been the un- 
 failing method of the athletes of God. During 
 the most trying and eventful periods of His 
 earthly ministry, as others were retiring to sleep, 
 our Lord would retire to a mountain, and spend 
 the whole night in prayer. In the birth pangs 
 of the Reformation, Luther said he had so much 
 to do that he could never begin to accomplish it 
 unless he spent three hours a day in prayer. 
 Luther waited upon the Lord, and this was the 
 secret of his strength, when on his way to Worms, 
 to appear before the Roman Catholic tribunal. 
 His timorous friends fearing foul play, sought 
 to dissuade him. Luther replied to the effect, 
 that if there were as many devils as there were 
 
142 Soul Crises 
 
 tiles on the housetops, en route, he would defy 
 them all to go and answer the charges brought 
 against him. No athlete of any consequence is 
 always exhibiting his powers. He may practise 
 three months for one race. 
 
 The most difficult lesson we have to learn is to 
 wait. The trouble with too many of us is, that 
 we are always on parade. Consequently our re- 
 ligion, instead of being rooted and grounded in 
 love, by patient and persistent waiting upon God 
 in faith and prayer, is quite superficial. The only 
 claim some of us have to be Christian athletes 
 is a form of godliness. We need more than the 
 form, we need to receive such a steady influx of 
 strength from God that we always may be as- 
 sured of victory. Every man, who has done any- 
 thing worth mentioning in the world, has con- 
 quered before the battle was fought, has won the 
 race before it was run, and if we are to dis- 
 tinguish ourselves, as did Enoch and David and 
 Paul, we must cultivate the art of waiting upon 
 the Lord. Everything depends upon our attitude, 
 for only those who wait upon the Lord renew 
 their strength. 
 
 How sensible is the message of the prophet! 
 Those who have a surface knowledge of religion 
 tell you it is a fragile thing and its confessors 
 weak. We have not so learned Christ. When 
 the great evangelical prophet of the exile came 
 to a people prostrated by weakness, he told them 
 how they could receive strength, strength to run 
 
Christian Athletes 143 
 
 the race God had set before them. Strength! 
 Robust, manly strength is what we all require. 
 St. Paul says, "Be ye strong in the Lord and in 
 the power of His might." Martin Luther said, 
 "God wants strong men and He cannot do with- 
 out them." 
 
 "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew 
 their strength." There are various ways in which 
 w^e may wait. Our waiting may be in some quiet 
 retreat or in the midst of our daily task. Let us 
 cultivate both methods: for only thus will our 
 attitude be one of perpetual waiting. Let nothing 
 interfere with your stated periods of devotion. 
 Take time to meet with God in private, but do 
 not rest content with these occasional interviews. 
 It is your privilege to wait upon God by medita- 
 tion as you are in the midst of your affairs. By 
 all means cultivate this attitude by being re- 
 sponsive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, 
 and you will rejoice as a strong man to run a 
 race. 
 
 "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew 
 their strength; they shall mount up with wings 
 as eagles." Here it is made plain, that our atti- 
 tude determines the atmosphere we are to breathe. 
 The strong wings and the penetrating eye of 
 the eagle suggest the calm, clear, bracing atmos- 
 phere in which we are to move. The athlete lives 
 in an atmosphere higher than the rabble. One 
 of the first impressions we receive of a champion 
 is that he is head and shoulders above his fel- 
 
144 Sotd Crises 
 
 lows. He Is In a class far above many of his 
 enthusiastic supporters. Even though he might 
 be given to habits of indulgence he cheerfully for- 
 goes them, to give himself a chance. The athletes 
 of God move in a higher atmosphere still. They 
 are "in the world but not of it." They walk in 
 the light as He is in the light. Here the atmos- 
 phere is clear, and we enjoy fellowship with the 
 Father and with His son Jesus Christ. The alti- 
 tude may be high but it is safe. It is a boon to 
 be up here, for by faith we can see the hills of 
 God, and the atmosphere is bracing. Up here 
 in the clear, calm, bracing atmosphere of faith 
 and prayer we can see the "city which hath 
 foundations, whose builder and maker is God." 
 It was in this glorious atmosphere that the stal- 
 wart athletes of old lived and moved and had 
 their being. "These all died In faith, not having 
 received the promises, but having seen them afar 
 off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced 
 them, and confessed that they were strangers and 
 pilgrims on the earth." Oh, you who are sitting 
 in weariness, down In the valleys, come up here 
 and fill your lungs with the fresh air of heaven. 
 Those of us who are even slightly acquainted 
 with the hill country of God, say with Peter", 
 "Lord, it is good for us to be here." 
 
 Do you want to know how to get up? "They 
 that wait upon the Lord shall renew their 
 strength; they shall mount up with wings as 
 eagles; they shall run and not be weary, and 
 
Christian Athletes 145 
 
 walk and not faint." If, as we have seen, our 
 attitude determines the atmosphere we breathe, it 
 also determines our ability. The two indispens- 
 able elements which determine the career of an 
 athlete are energy and endurance, and these are 
 promised to all Christian athletes. 
 
 In these days we hear a great deal about com- 
 parative religion. Certain individuals, in their 
 ignorance, would like to impress upon us that the 
 older religions are as good as Christianity. We 
 joyfully recognize and appreciate all the good in 
 these ancient religions. But when we begin to 
 study them we get tired, and there is nothing in 
 the dead religions of the past to arouse us from 
 our spiritual inertia, and that is what the world 
 out of Christ is dying of to-day. The secret of 
 the Lord is with them that fear Him. Christ is 
 not a dead religious thinker, whose memory we 
 revere. He is a living Person, who in resurrec- 
 tion triumph, is teaching us how to distinguish 
 ourselves upon the Christian course. He is set- 
 ting the pace for us, and insists that we follow 
 His steps. Christianity is more than a set of 
 rules, it is a life. It is a race to be run, a con- 
 quest to be achieved. Of ourselves we are weak, 
 in our own strength we cannot even figure in the 
 race, but the strength which God supplies through 
 His eternal Son gives us energy to run and not 
 be weary. As Christian athletes, remember the 
 race is not to the swift, but to those who continue 
 to the end. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 A MORAL CRISIS 
 
 Behold this dreamer cometh. — Gen. XXXVII, 19. 
 
 THIS was an expression of contempt. It 
 was born of envy. It was spoken In de- 
 rision. It was meant to be a brand, it was worn 
 as a laurel. It gives us an insight into the char- 
 acter of Jacob's sons. They were hard-headed, 
 matter-of-fact men. They believed in wheat and 
 sheep, but they had no use for dreams. They 
 had all breathed the same atmosphere, for they 
 were all the sons of Jacob. They all had the 
 benefit of his training, yet they were as opposite 
 as the poles. They lived in one world, Joseph in 
 another. ^'Behold this dreamer cometh." Their 
 designation of Joseph was calculated to hold him 
 up to ridicule. 
 
 It is ever the way of the world. When we dis- 
 cover one of our associates taking exception to 
 our moral discrepancies, and reminding us of our 
 moral responsibilities, we christen him with some 
 absurd name. He becomes the butt of our jests, 
 and we sharpen our wits at his expense. We de- 
 ride and pity him as we see him setting out on 
 
 146 
 
A Moral Crisis 147 
 
 his lonely way. Let a man live ever so little 
 above the average, or act ever so little out of 
 the ordinary, and he is labelled a dreamer or re- 
 garded as a madman. But a true man, no matter 
 how much he is exposed to rancour and abuse, 
 will survive the epithets of shame and transform 
 the stigma into a badge of distinction. 
 
 The brethren of our Lord, instead of giving 
 heed to His message, sought to lay hold of Him 
 saying, "He is beside Himself." The scribes said, 
 "He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the 
 devils casteth He out devils." The Pharisees 
 sought to cover Him with ignomy by circulating 
 the report, "He is the friend of publicans and 
 sinners." "He receiveth sinners and eateth with 
 them," is the distinctive glory of our blessed 
 Lord. On more occasions than one, St. Paul was 
 declared to be mad. To this charge he replied 
 in those memorable words, "For whether we be 
 beside ourselves it is to God, or whether we be 
 sober it is for your cause. For the love of Christ 
 constraineth us." The name which we bear as be- 
 lievers and which we associate with the highest 
 dignity and glory was first given as a nickname 
 by heathens. "The disciples were first called 
 Christians at Antioch." 
 
 Although Joseph's brethren spoke disparag- 
 ingly, they designated him truly, "Behold this 
 dreamer cometh." "Behold this dreamer I" He 
 is well worth looking at. The name with which 
 he was labelled may suggest an aimless, shiftless 
 
148 Soul Crises 
 
 youth, unpractical and unprogressive, but such a 
 conception is an injustice to Joseph. He was a 
 combination of grace and power. He was cheer- 
 ful and alert. He had a buoyancy of spirit and 
 a tenacity of purpose which were crowned with an 
 indestructible purity. He believed he had a part 
 to play and resolved to fulfil his destiny. There- 
 fore I ask you to, "Behold this dreamer," As 
 we try to analyze his character we find him to be 
 intensely spiritual. We readily think of a 
 "master of dreams" having intercourse with the 
 unseen. The dreamer believes that "the things 
 which are seen are temporal, but the things which 
 are not seen are eternal." 
 
 At a glance we notice the contrast between 
 Joseph and his brethren. He aspired to heights 
 of which they never dreamed. He was spiritual, 
 they were carnal. They believed in God in a 
 general way, but they had no place in their creed 
 for the miraculous. Their religious privileges 
 descended as a kind of heirloom, and the order 
 was as fixed as fate. According to their notions, 
 God worked along the lines of natural selection, 
 and briefly stated, it meant that the eldest son 
 would succeed his father as patriarch. In the 
 divine economy the first-born always has been 
 honoured, but the first-born have not always ap- 
 preciated the honour. Esau-like they have de- 
 spised their birthright and from the natural heir 
 God often had to turn to seek a man aft«r His 
 own heart. Whenever God has interfered with 
 
A Moral Crisis 149 
 
 natural selection His interference has been amply 
 vindicated. 
 
 Natural selection is very pronounced in human 
 nature. Isaac was determined to bless Esau de- 
 spite the fact that God had said, "The elder shall 
 serve the younger." When Samuel came to 
 anoint the future king of Israel, Jesse naturally 
 introduced the first-born; and so sure was he that 
 this time-honoured custom would be respected 
 that he neglected to send word to the ruddy lad 
 who was out in the field tending the sheep. There 
 is a natural selection and there is a spiritual selec- 
 tion. The eldest son naturally succeeds his 
 father, irrespective of his moral standing, but 
 when God chooses a man to do a great work. He 
 does not consult the family register. He consults 
 the human heart. God's choice of Joseph in- 
 stead of Reuben has never been challenged. 
 Whatever monopolies flourish in the world there 
 is no monopoly of virtue. It matters not whether 
 we are the first-born or the second-born; whether 
 we are in the so-called patriarchal line, or the so- 
 called apostolic succession, we are all blessed with 
 a capacity for God. 
 
 The difference between Joseph and his breth- 
 ren Is not to be explained by his genius and their 
 deficiency, but in their deliberate choice. Joseph 
 turned to God as the flower turns to the sun, his 
 brethren turned to secular interests as the miser 
 to his gold. What is occupying our attention? 
 
 It Is Imperative for us to realise the tremendous 
 
150 Soul Crises 
 
 issues that will be decided by our youthful deci- 
 sion. One thing is certain, you cannot reject and 
 have. Therefore, beware of making the fatal 
 mistake of throwing overboard the three graces, 
 i.e., faith, and hope, and love. 
 
 Joseph lived in close communion with God. 
 God's will was the law of his life. He knew 
 right from wrong and he adhered steadily to the 
 right without deviation to the right hand or the 
 left. The charm of his transparent life has been 
 an inspiration to every successive lover of purity, 
 and home, and God. 
 
 Another outstanding feature in Joseph's char- 
 acter was his patience. We can appreciate 
 what kind of life he would have among his 
 brethren after he, in his innocence, had told them 
 his dreams. We can hear their rude laughter at 
 his expense, as they jeer and taunt him about his 
 dreams. We can see how their banter turns to 
 hate until they deliberately contemplate murder. 
 We cannot imagine Joseph's ever being made 
 much of by his rude and envious brothers, but this 
 we can gather from his history, he was patient. 
 Patience is a virtue which is not cultivated in a 
 night. It is of slow growth and only blooms in 
 the atmosphere of genial submission to the will 
 of God. When his brethren plagued and abused 
 him, Joseph did not let his temper run away with 
 him and disgrace himself to the delight of his tor- 
 mentors. No ! He felt sorry for them because 
 they had no more sense. He knew they did not 
 
A Moral Crisis 151 
 
 believe In his dreams, but he believed in them, and 
 was prepared to wait. He believed in himself; 
 he believed in God, and he believed in the future. 
 
 He was blessed with a cheerful disposition. 
 He had a great many disagreeable experiences, 
 but he had the happy art of seeing God in his 
 afflictions, and although he suffered a great deal, 
 he never murmured. He was a most agreeable 
 companion whether in foreign service or in an 
 Egyptian dungeon. "The Lord was with Jo- 
 seph." This observation was made of him when 
 he was in prison. 
 
 The trouble with too many of us is that our 
 religion does not admit of an occasional rainy 
 day, or of a storm; we insist on having a cloud- 
 less sky. When the clouds gather and the light- 
 nings flash we begin to think that all is lost. In- 
 stead of fretting, let us be submissive and patient, 
 believing that our Father is with us whether we 
 happen to be thrown into the prison of sorrow or 
 adversity. Let us dare to believe, not merely 
 that some things, but that "all things work to- 
 gether for good to them that love God." 
 
 Another important feature in the character of 
 Joseph was his industry. He was a serious stu- 
 dent. He knew the history of his people, he saw 
 God had a purpose in their history, and the more 
 he meditated the more he became convinced that 
 God had a purpose in his life, and he determined 
 by faithful application to be ready for all His 
 perfect will. Thus, instead of being an indolent 
 
152 Soul Crises 
 
 star-gazer, he was enterprising and aggressive. 
 He could prepare for future usefulness only by 
 the most assiduous application. He performed 
 the most menial task with as much thoroughness 
 as he exhibited later in his Egyptian administra- 
 tion. When his father sent him to Shechem to 
 see how his brothers and the flocks fared he went 
 to the place. They were nowhere to be seen, and 
 had he been of a careless, indolent disposition, he 
 would have returned home with this intelligence, 
 much to the annoyance of his father. But such a 
 thought, as that of returning before he had dis- 
 charged his duty faithfully, never crossed his 
 mind. After satisfying himself that his brethren 
 had left Shechem, he wandered about in the hope 
 of finding them, until he met a man who casually 
 had overheard them say, "Let us go to Dothan." 
 So to Dothan he directed his steps little thinking 
 how fraught with destiny his humble errand was. 
 As he drew near, his brethren said one to an- 
 other, "Behold, this dreamer cometh." 
 
 Behold the Advent of the Dreamer! It is an 
 epoch-making event when the dreamer appears 
 above the horizon. The world can never be 
 the same again after the dreamer has come. 
 Time would fail to tell of a tithe of the immortal 
 dreamers that have lived to bless the world. We 
 will have to be content with noting a few at 
 random. James Watt dreamed of the possibil- 
 ity of utilizing steam-power and his dream is 
 the abiding miracle of the commercial world. 
 
A Moral Crisis 153 
 
 George Stephenson dreamed of the possibility 
 of travelling by a faster method than was pos- 
 sible with a coach and four. Fulton, the in- 
 ventor of the steamship, dreamed of the possibil- 
 ity of international commerce and on his death- 
 bed he said, "Bury me beside the waters of the 
 Ohio; that I may hear in times to come the paddle 
 wheels of the ships as they pass, bearing their 
 commerce from land to land." Can the world 
 ever be the same again after the advent of such 
 dreamers as Robert Burns? Sir Walter Scott? 
 Tennyson? Wordsworth? Longfellow? Thack- 
 eray? Dickens? or Shakespeare? 
 
 "The poem hangs on the berry bush. 
 Till comes the poet's eye. 
 And the whole street is a masquerade, 
 When Shakespeare passes by." 
 
 Sir Humphry Davy dreamed of safety lamps 
 for the toiling millions in the mines. Lord Lister 
 dreamed of painless surgery, and Pierpont Lang- 
 ley dreamed of the conquest of the air. 
 
 These dreams have come true, but the most 
 daring dream of all was dreamed by a young man 
 in Galilee. He dreamed of a new world, wherein 
 would dwell righteousness, and what is more, His 
 dream is coming true. To-day, millions of the 
 best blood of every land are prepared to die 
 rather than deny His name. What are you 
 dreaming about? Are you dreaming of great 
 
154 Soul Crises 
 
 things for yourself? Dream them not. Are you 
 dreaming of what you can do for your fellows? 
 Are you dreaming of the Christian conquest of 
 the world? Then dream on! Believe in your 
 dreams I Act on your dreams! They are com- 
 ing true, ''for the grace of God that bringeth sal- 
 vation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, 
 denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should 
 live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present 
 world, looking for that blessed hope, and the 
 glorious appearing of the great God and our 
 Saviour Jesus Christ: who gave Himself for us, 
 that He might redeem us from all Iniquity, and 
 purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous 
 of good works." 
 
 Behold the Reception of the Dreamer! Joseph's 
 reception by his brethren is one of the many crises 
 every man of worth must be prepared to meet. 
 The story of what they deliberately contemplated 
 and what they eventually did is one of the most 
 heartrending In literature, and the pity Is, it is 
 not confined to literature, it is enacted In everyday 
 life. You say you are not appreciated, your good 
 is evil spoken of, reflection cast on your purest 
 motives, your Ideals laughed to scorn ! You are 
 not alone. A similar experience to yours has been 
 the lot of every noble soul that has trod the 
 highway of God. Think it not strange if you are 
 persistently misunderstood and misrepresented. 
 Make sure that your dreams merit the approval 
 of God and of time. Be content to live as a hero 
 
A Moral Crisis 155 
 
 and die as a martyr in a worthy cause. The 
 eternal decree has gone forth: "No cross, no 
 crown." The path of duty may lead you to the 
 pit; to servitude, and the dungeon, but beyond 
 these lies a blissful immortality. Galileo, the 
 astronomer, who made one of the greatest dis- 
 coveries ever made by man, was condemned to 
 banishment, and his books burned. Socrates was 
 poisoned for no worse sin than that of living in 
 advance of his age. The Lord Christ was be- 
 trayed and crucified. Many more of whom the 
 world was not worthy have shared a similar fate, 
 and still the work of rejection and crucifixion goes 
 on. If you are going to wait until you are fully 
 appreciated you will accomplish nothing and die 
 "unwept, unhonoured and unsung." 
 
 Behold the Conduct of the Dreamer! Joseph's 
 conduct will bear the most searching examination. 
 His behaviour in his first and unexpected trial 
 was prophetic of one of the greatest moral con- 
 quests ever achieved by man. With what un- 
 erring precision one thing leads to and depends 
 upon another in the moral world. To this youth 
 of seventeen years, life had assumed a great seri- 
 ousness, hence he was never taken at a disad- 
 vantage. Had Joseph been unable to govern his 
 temper at seventeen he would have been unable 
 to govern his passions in the great crisis of his 
 life. But instead of displaying hatred and pour- 
 ing forth a volume of abuse upon his brethren 
 for their outrageous treatment of him, he im- 
 
156 Soul Crises 
 
 plored them with cries and tears to consider the 
 nature of their deed, but all to no avail I "They 
 sat down to eat and drink but were not grieved 
 for the affliction of Joseph." The cold-blooded 
 act of his brethren in bargaining with the Midi- 
 anites and selling Joseph into Egyptian slavery is 
 only equalled by the deed of one, whose "name 
 is a byword to the human race," and who sold 
 his Master for thirty pieces of silver. 
 
 But although Joseph's body became the prop- 
 erty of a slave-owner, his soul was free. He 
 recognized that he was still the captain of his 
 soul, and instead of giving way to fits of de- 
 pression he saw that he was being dehberately 
 taken along a hard road. He believed that his 
 God was the God of Egypt as well as the God 
 of his fathers, that His control was absolute, that 
 His all-seeing eye was upon him, and he took 
 courage. He made the best of his adverse cir- 
 cumstances and when he became the property of 
 the captain of Pharaoh's guard he acquitted him- 
 self with such credit, his character was so noble 
 and his conduct so admirable, that Potipher saw 
 that the Lord was with him, and "made him over- 
 seer over his house, and all that he had he put 
 into his hand." 
 
 It was while engaged as an overseer that 
 Joseph was called upon to face the most fearful 
 temptation of his life. Potipher's wife, capti- 
 vated by the charm of his personality, became his 
 temptress. From day to day she spake to Joseph 
 
A Moral Crisis 157 
 
 tempting him and had it not been for his habits 
 of industry and piety, his practice of the presence 
 of God in his daily life, he would have gone down 
 into defeat and oblivion. But his faith saved him. 
 His faith gave him a high sense of honour and a 
 worthy fear of God. He was true to himself, 
 and even though it meant being branded with 
 shame, and cast into prison, he could not be un- 
 true to himself, he could not be untrue to his 
 master, and, moreover, he could not be untrue 
 to his God. "How can I do this great wicked- 
 ness, and sin against God?" If Joseph's behaviour 
 was commendable in his first trial, his behaviour 
 in the great moral crisis of his life was admir- 
 able. His faith had given him great convictions 
 and his convictions determined his conduct. Need- 
 less to remark his conduct on that momentous oc- 
 casion decided his destiny. By circumstantial evi- 
 dence he was condemned to imprisonment; but 
 his innocence was attested by God, by his own 
 conscience, and by time. He might have cleared 
 himself of this criminal charge, but a word from 
 him would dishonour his master, so he preferred 
 to suffer in silence, and leave himself and his fu- 
 ture in God's hands. 
 
 His conduct in prison won the approval of all 
 within its walls, but his treatment of his brethren, 
 his bestowal of generous measures of mercy, in- 
 stead of seeking revenge is beyond all praise. 
 
 Therefore, Behold the Conquests of this 
 Dreamer! They are many and we can indicate 
 
158 Soul Crises 
 
 only a few. Behold the conquests of this 
 dreamer In the commercial realm. He knows 
 every grade of wheat and he appreciates the 
 value of the flocks. Had it not been for this 
 dreamer who acted with such discretion during 
 the seven years of plenty, man would have starved 
 and the flocks perished during the seven years of 
 famine. We need dreamers In the commercial 
 realm to-day, men who by their ability will prove 
 their fitness to be commercial leaders and who by 
 their uncompromising Integrity will redeem mod- 
 ern business life from all suspicion, and conduct 
 It along such lines that every honest business man 
 will be proud of his calling. 
 
 Behold the conquests of this dreamer In the 
 moral realm. At last Joseph's dreams come true. 
 He has been raised to the high eminence of Prime 
 Minister of Egypt. He has saved the situation 
 for that great empire; and one day a procession 
 of ten men appears. They have come to buy corn. 
 Joseph recognizes them; tries them, reveals him- 
 self to them, forgives them, and Invites them to 
 come and dwell in the land of Goshen. 
 
 The meeting of Joseph and his brethren, after 
 twenty years. Is full of pathos. These rough men 
 have learned many things In the meantime, and 
 gladly prostrate themselves before their brother. 
 His generous treatment of them reminds us of 
 One who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; 
 and who, on a hill called Calvary prayed for His 
 murderers, "Father forgive them for they know 
 
A Moral Crisis 159 
 
 not what they do." 
 
 Behold the conquests of this dreamer in the 
 spiritual realm. Although exalted by Pharaoh 
 and crowned with every symbol of authority, he 
 recognized it was the Lord. To his brethren he 
 confessed, it was the Lord. And while his 
 achievements were great and enduring, the most 
 enduring monument of all is himself. He stands 
 before us as a worthy type of our Lord and 
 Saviour Jesus Christ. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 A DOMESTIC CRISIS 
 
 At even my ivife died: and I did in the morning as I was 
 commanded. — Ezek. XXIV, i8. 
 
 THESE words are startling in their signifi- 
 cance. They bring us face to face with one 
 of the most harrowing experiences of domestic 
 life. We see a man in the midst of a great sor- 
 row. The hand of the Lord has been heavy upon 
 him. His wife has been taken away by a sudden 
 stroke. In graphic language he narrates his ex- 
 perience. ''In the evening my wife died." It 
 is always evening when a good woman dies. We 
 have a custom of drawing the curtains when death 
 visits our homes. I do not know what led to the 
 introduction of this custom unless it was that 
 the chamber of death might appear to be more 
 in harmony with the soul of the bereaved. There 
 he stands in the gathering gloom : a man who has 
 been bereft of "the delight of his eyes." Impul- 
 sively we sympathize with him. Nothing crushes 
 a man's spirit so entirely as a great domestic 
 tragedy. This man has lost his wife. Death has 
 entered the inner sanctuary of life and robbed him 
 
 1 60 
 
A Domestic Crisis i6i 
 
 of his most valuable domestic asset. The bond 
 which bound "this man and this woman" together, 
 at the altar, has been severed. Half stunned with 
 grief, and, let us hope, through the salvation of 
 blinding tears, he looks upon the mortal remains 
 of her who, to him, was dearer than life. He is 
 alone, and the power of the night chills his spirit. 
 We have no words but those of kindly considera- 
 tion and pity for the man who is crushed and 
 broken by such a desolating experience. 
 
 But as we gaze upon this sorrowful scene we 
 are impressed by something unusual. This man 
 has triumphed over his sorrow; or at least he 
 bears himself so bravely, in his domestic crisis, 
 that we wish to become more fully acquainted 
 with him. "In the evening my wife died: and 
 in the morning I did as I was commanded." Who 
 was this remarkable man? Ezekiel, the prophet. 
 As a prophet, Ezekiel has not yet come to his 
 own. The majority of Bible students have not 
 cultivated his acquaintance. His method of pro- 
 phetic utterance is somewhat exacting, so instead 
 of facing his wonderful array of images, com- 
 parisons, allegories, parables, personifications and 
 descriptions, we have regarded him with some- 
 thing akin to indifference. It has been argued 
 that in Ezekiel there are many things hard to 
 understand. Perhaps so, but whatever may be 
 said in favour of such an argument, there is one 
 thing we can understand. It is the great sorrow 
 which came upon him like a bolt from the blue. 
 
1 62 Soul Crises 
 
 "In the evening my wife died: and in the morning 
 I did as I was commanded." 
 
 Ezekiel lived during the decline and fall of 
 Israel as a nation. The clouds of doom were 
 moving across the horizon when he was born. 
 His father's name was Buzi. Of his youth and 
 education we know nothing beyond what is im- 
 plied in his prophecies, that he was naturally en- 
 dowed with great intellectual strength, and had 
 received more than an ordinary education. 
 Presumably he belonged to the upper ranks of 
 the priesthood, who formed part of the aristoc- 
 racy of Jerusalem. His intimate knowledge of 
 the details of the temple service gives one the 
 impression that he must have been an officiating 
 priest in the national sanctuary. He was con- 
 temporary with Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, 
 and with Daniel, the beloved. He is known to 
 us as a prophet of the Exile. He, with many 
 others of the cream of Jewish society, was car- 
 ried away from his native land in the second de- 
 portation adopted by Nebuchadnezzar. 
 
 The colony in which Ezekiel settled was in the 
 northern part of Mesopotamia, on the banks of 
 the Chebar. The Chebar, if not the name of an 
 arm of the Euphrates itself, was probably one 
 of the numerous irrigating canals which inter- 
 sected the great alluvial plain of the Euphrates 
 and Tigris. In this settlement the prophet had 
 his own house where the people were free to visit 
 him. It was on the banks of the Chebar that 
 
A Domestic Crisis 163 
 
 God's message came to Ezekiel calling him to the 
 ministry of a prophet. The call came to him in 
 the fifth year of Jehoiachin's captivity. With the 
 simplicity of a child and the earnestness of a man, 
 he did what he was bidden.^ His readiness to 
 comply with the divine will at any cost is seen in 
 the words of our text, "In the evening my wife 
 died: and in the morning I did as I was com- 
 manded." 
 
 Ezekiel stands before us as a man who loved, 
 as a man who suffered, and as a man who served. 
 He was a man who loved. What was the object 
 of his love? One thing is very evident, he loved 
 his nation. Ezekiel was a patriot of the worthiest 
 kind. His acceptance of the prophetic office 
 proves that he loved his nation. He had his na- 
 tion's highest interests at heart. He had a great 
 regard for civic righteousness. He loved the 
 society into which he had been thrown by de- 
 portation. His fellow-exiles felt that in him they 
 had a friend. His regard for them is seen in his 
 having an open door for all and sundry. But 
 while he had a great regard for his nation and a 
 general love for his friends in Chebar, he had a 
 particular love for one woman. The object of 
 Ezekiel's love was his wife. This fact gives real- 
 ity to the sorrow he relates. If little is known 
 about Ezekiel's personal history, still less is known 
 regarding his wife. However, we are informed 
 that she died suddenly. We do not know her 
 
 ^ The Expositors' Bible. 
 
164 Soul Crises 
 
 name and nothing is recorded of her family his- 
 tory. But this we do know: she was greatly be- 
 loved by her husband. She Is spoken of as "the 
 delight of his eyes." From this we reasonably 
 may Infer that she was a good woman. Like 
 draws to like. Considering the character of the 
 prophet, only a good woman would be able to 
 gain his affections and command his respect. The 
 maidens of Israel were young women of sterling 
 piety. Consequently the mothers In Israel have 
 Impressed the world. The one reference which 
 has come down to us respecting Ezeklel's wife en- 
 ables us to see that he was very happy In his mar- 
 riage. His home life was all that could be 
 desired. He loved! 
 
 This Is an experience so common that we are 
 apt to regard It with Indifference. But although 
 such a frequent occurrence, It comes like the dawn- 
 ing of a new day to every Individual lover. He 
 becomes a veritable Columbus; he discovers a new 
 world, a world which makes the discovery of a 
 continent a prosaic affair. All the world loves a 
 lover! Jacob has an abiding place In our affec- 
 tions because he loved. He hesitated not to serve 
 fourteen years to gain the object of his affections. 
 Jonathan never wore the crown of Israel, but 
 his love for David has given him a crown that 
 fadeth not away. Robert Burns achieved immor- 
 tality because he loved. He loved nature and 
 he loved men. His lament for Highland Mary 
 never fails to strike a responsive chord: 
 
A Domestic Crisis 165 
 
 "Ye'll break my heart, ye warbling bird, 
 That warbles on the flowVy thorn, 
 Ye mind me o' departed joys, 
 Departed never to return." 
 
 That Thomas Carlyle was a lover of litera- 
 ture none will deny, but he appears in no more 
 favourable light than when we see him wending 
 his way so frequently to visit his deceased wife's 
 grave. 
 
 What Is the object of our love? Is it national, 
 social, or individual? Are we fired by great pa- 
 triotic sentiments? Have we a consuming ambi- 
 tion to affect great moral and social reforms? Or 
 is it your desire to be used of God? To lead men 
 to Christ one by one? Whether we wish to be 
 recognized as patriots, as social reformers or 
 evangelists there is one essential preHminary. Be- 
 fore our love can be a social force it must be 
 kindled by our regard for a particular individual. 
 Next to the love he bore to his Creator and Re- 
 deemer, Ezekiel could not have bestowed his af- 
 fections on a more worthy object. 
 
 "Without faith it is impossible to please God." 
 Without love It is impossible to achieve anything 
 of worth. Bring me a boy who is in love with 
 his school work, who is busy with his books when 
 he might be at play, and I will show you a coming 
 scholar or a future statesman. Bring me the boy 
 who studies his Bible and his geography together 
 and I will show you a future Livingstone. Every 
 
1 66 Soul Crises 
 
 man of worth Is deeply in love. He must needs 
 love the work in which he is engaged if he would 
 command success. A man cannot preach a good 
 sermon without being in love. The greater his 
 love for his Lord, the greater his love for the 
 Lord's people, the better will he preach. The 
 greatest saints have been the greatest lovers. And 
 one thing is very patent in the New Testament. It 
 is this : You cannot have salvation unless you fall 
 in love. To Peter the Apostle, Jesus said not, 
 "Canst thou preach?" not, "Canst thou organize," 
 but, "Lovest thou Me?" Love is the fundamental 
 requirement. John was a great lover. He also 
 leaned on Jesus' bosom. Therefore he saw most 
 clearly into the divine heart. Judas ceased to love, 
 and after perpetrating the most diabolical deed on 
 record he went "to his own place" — a place where 
 there is no love. 
 
 Before passing from this part of our subject 
 observe the source of Ezekiel's love. When we 
 see a mighty river rushing on to the ocean, we 
 know it has a source. When we see an all-con- 
 trolling current in a man's nature, we rightly con- 
 sider that it has a source. It needs no student of 
 philosophy to discern two kinds of love. One is 
 selfish, the other is unselfish. There is a "love 
 of the world," and there is the "love of God." 
 One Is an animal passion; the other is a Christian 
 grace. Behind Ezekiel's love for the gentle crea- 
 ture who was "the delight of his eyes," behind his 
 love for Zion, behind his love for his fellow exiles, 
 
A Domestic Crisis 167 
 
 there was the love of God. His love emanated 
 from God. It was the mighty and merciful Je- 
 hovah who gave Ezekiel such a strong, clean, 
 wholesome regard for his people, and such a 
 tender regard for his wife. 
 
 We joyfully confess that we love God, but have 
 we ever grasped the significance of its source? 
 Our love has its source in the great and gracious 
 heart of the Eternal. "For God so loved the 
 world that He gave His only begotten son that 
 whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but 
 have everlasting life." There is one hymn, among 
 others, which has simply captivated us. It pro- 
 claims a thrilling fact, and so we delight to sing, 
 
 "Jesus, lover of my soul, 
 Let me to Thy bosom fly." 
 
 "We love Him because He first loved us, and 
 gave Himself for us." 
 
 Ezekiel was a man who loved. He was also 
 a man who suffered. "In the evening my wife 
 died: and in the morning I did as I was com- 
 manded." Consider the nature of his sufferings. 
 We are not in a position to say by what disease 
 Ezekiel's wife was carried away. Doubtless it 
 would entail great physical suffering. There are 
 a great many of this kind of sufferers. It must 
 by trying always to be ailing, to be confined to 
 one's room for weeks, and possibly years, by 
 physical sufferings. Those of us who enjoy good 
 
1 68 Soul Crises 
 
 health should at least be grateful and furthermore 
 we should take reasonable care of it, for it is one 
 of those priceless boons we value most when be- 
 yond recall. 
 
 But exacting as physical suffering is there is 
 another kind which is even worse. It is mental 
 suffering. This was the nature of Ezekiel's suf- 
 ferings. To appreciate the gravity of his ex- 
 perience one needs to have been in a similar posi- 
 tion. If you have watched over your loved ones 
 as they faded from health to weakness, if you 
 have seen them becoming a little more frail until 
 one never to be forgotten night when the end came 
 — if you have had an experience of this nature — 
 you will be able to sympathize with Ezekiel as he 
 passes through his great domestic crisis. As the 
 dimensions of his sorrow break in upon us, we 
 begin to compute the measure of his suspense, his 
 anxiety, his inward struggle to become reconciled 
 to his fate. The appalling nature of suspense, 
 the fearful uncertainty, the struggle of hope with 
 despair, must be experienced to be known. 
 
 As we contemplate Ezekiel's mental agony, we 
 see that his suffering was intensified by the sud- 
 denness of the stroke. "In the morning I spake 
 unto the people, and at even my wife died." The 
 sorrow of bereavement is invariably great, but it 
 is simply overwhelming when it finds us unpre- 
 pared for its approach. The blow is somewhat 
 relieved of its severity when we are looking for 
 it. There is a better chance of our becoming 
 
A Domestic Crisis 169 
 
 reconciled to It than when we are taken unawares. 
 Ezekiel's suffering is by no means an unusual ex- 
 perience. As we consider the loss he sustained, 
 we are the better able to view our own. How 
 many domestic relations have been disturbed, and 
 severed in the present crisis! Our brave brothers 
 and sons, so recently departed, had one thing in 
 common, they loved. They loved the great 
 and glorious nation of which we form a part, and 
 how dearly they loved their homes! They have 
 gone ! — gone ! not because they loved us the less, 
 but because they loved honour more. They re- 
 sponded to the call of their King and Country. 
 They have gone to fight, to suffer, and if need be 
 to die for Truth, and Home, and God. To go to 
 the front is no child's play. The call has been 
 for men, and only the most physically fit have 
 been privileged to go. All honour to the men 
 who have gone ! They cheerfully gave up the 
 companionship of those they loved dearer than 
 life, at the call of Duty, and their sacrifice is 
 great. But if I understand this fearful situation 
 aright, the greatest valour is not confined to the 
 trenches. The most strenuous demands have been 
 made upon those who are left behind, who gaze 
 upon a vacant chair, who anxiously wait and 
 fervently pray. All honour to the noble mothers 
 and wives and sweethearts who have given their 
 dear ones freely at a time like this ! Our suffer- 
 ing is too apparent to admit of our enlarging upon 
 It. But this can be said, our own domestic sor- 
 
lyo Soul Crises 
 
 rows help us to sympathize with the prophet who 
 was suddenly bereft of *'the delight of his eyes." 
 
 He suffered I How much God only knows! 
 But observe his refuge in the midst of his suffer- 
 ing! Some men in the anguish of desolation have 
 rebelled. When they have lost their loved ones 
 they have lost their God. Far be it from us to 
 criticize. It is an event devoutly to be deplored 
 when a man loses faith, but this was not the case 
 with the prophet. Even In his grief he held on 
 to his God. He saw the hand of God in his af- 
 fliction and that saved the situation. If we can 
 realize in the present crisis that God is still on 
 His throne, if we view our sorrow in the light 
 of His gracious designs, our aflHiction will be 
 sanctified to us. And when He has tried us we 
 too, like Job, shall come forth as gold. God told 
 Ezekiel that he would take away "the delight of 
 his eyes" at a stroke. Such an intimation might 
 have prostrated the strongest of men, but when 
 the prophet was informed of the significance of 
 this stroke, he humbly acquiesced. 
 
 This life is not all. And the great question 
 after all is this: Whom are we living for? What 
 are we desirous of accomplishing? This is not 
 our abiding place. We seek "a city which hath 
 foundations, whose builder and maker is God." 
 It is an enviable thing to have an honoured part 
 in building the Empire of Righteousness. We 
 grieve when our loved ones depart, but we sorrow 
 not as those without hope. If by faith we can 
 
A Domestic Crisis 171 
 
 become reconciled to our lot, we eventually shall 
 see that "all things work together for good to 
 them that love God." There is another life which 
 many of our loved ones have gone to re-enforce. 
 "The Lord is our refuge and strength, a very 
 present help in time of trouble." 
 
 "In the evening my wife died: and in the morn- 
 ing I did as I was commanded." Ezekiel was 
 a man who served. God teaches men by the 
 means at His disposal. Some worthy souls are 
 alert enough to hear the still small voice, but the 
 majority of us are so preoccupied that we can 
 be brought to attention only by the roar of 
 cannon. It was a critical time in Jewish history. 
 God wanted to give His people an idea of the 
 dire calamities which were soon to overtake them. 
 So he said to Ezekiel, "Son of man, behold, I 
 take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with 
 a stroke," and thou shalt omit the usual signs of 
 mourning. This will impress the people. They 
 will ask the significance of thy strange behaviour 
 and thou shalt inform them of the consequences 
 of their sin. "Ye shall not mourn nor weep; but 
 ye shall pine away for your iniquities, and mourn 
 one toward another." So this Is recorded, "In 
 the evening my wife died: and in the morning I 
 did as I was commanded." 
 
 You can see him on that never to be forgotten 
 night as he paces to and fro. He is passing 
 through his Gethsemane. You can imagine his 
 condition, but do you see him next morning? He 
 
172 Soul Crises 
 
 has had no sleep. He wants no breakfast. His 
 eyes are red with weeping. His heart is heavy, 
 his gait uncertain, but thank God he went forth. 
 *'In the morning I did as I was commanded." He 
 served the same God after that eventful night, 
 but with a new vision. No man can pass through 
 such an experience and ever be the same again. 
 Lo ! the prophet has a new message. He prophe- 
 sies the rise of '*a new Israel out of the ruins of 
 the old." ^ He merged his grief in public duty. 
 If men disregarded his words they were impressed 
 by his conduct. He stood for a sign and so does 
 every man who names the name of Christ. It 
 is our privilege to make men feel the power of 
 the world to come. What is to be the outcome 
 of the present crisis? If we have been favoured 
 by a new vision, we will see a new world wherein 
 righteousness shall dwell; we will see that there 
 is another King who is coming to His own. 
 
 Ezekiel's labours were well rewarded. The 
 people had been carried into exile because of 
 idolatry and its attendant evils. When they re- 
 turned they were cleansed from idolatry, and this 
 was largely due to Ezekiel's labours. He lived 
 to see a decided improvement in the character of 
 the people among whom he laboured and perhaps 
 the greatest impression was made upon them by 
 his courageous example in the great domestic 
 crisis of his life. "In the evening my wife died: 
 and in the morning I did as I was commanded." 
 
 ' Fairweather, The Exile to the Advent. 
 
A Domestic Crisis 173 
 
 His service was immediate and it was attended by 
 gratifying results. "In the morning I did as I 
 was commanded." He was prompt. He began 
 well. May we realize how urgent the command 
 is! The King's business requires haste. With 
 this heroic example before us let us make our do- 
 mestic sorrows an incentive to renewed zeal, and 
 a more Christlike devotion in His service. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 A SPIRITUAL CRISIS 
 
 And He said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do 
 thou any thing unto him: for now I knoiv that thou fear est God, 
 seeing thou hast not ^withheld thy son, thine only son from Me. — 
 Gen. XXII, 12. 
 
 A STORY is told in political circles of two 
 men who were nominated by their respective 
 friends to represent a certain constituency. The 
 gentleman who advocated the claims of the first 
 nominee spoke at some length upon his splendid 
 qualifications. He made a very favourable im- 
 pression when he reiterated the fact that the 
 gentleman, whom he had the honour of nominat- 
 ing as a suitable candidate to represent the con- 
 stituency, was a "self-made" man. 
 
 The next speaker made a very short but ef- 
 fective speech. He said, "The gentleman to 
 whom we have just listened tried to make an 
 essential qualification out of the fact that his 
 nominee is a 'self-made' man. Evidently he is a 
 'self-made' man, but the candidate whom it is my 
 privilege to nominate was made by God, and there 
 is just as much difference between the two men 
 as there is between the two makers." 
 
 174 
 
A Spiritual Crisis 175 
 
 In the political arena men make startling state- 
 ments, and once in a while they speak truer than 
 they know. There are two distinct types of char- 
 acter in the world. The one is self-made, the 
 other is God-made, and the difference between 
 them is simply the difference between the two 
 makers. There are a great many attractive traits 
 in the character of the self-made man. He is 
 diligent, enterprising, and aggressive, but so is 
 the devil. What determines the real status of 
 one whom we designate a self-made man is not his 
 wealth but his spirit. By what motives has he 
 been actuated? What has been the dominating 
 thought in his career? By a self-made man we 
 generally mean one who in spite of obstacles, in 
 spite of poverty and a limited education, by sheer 
 pluck and perseverance has made his way in the 
 world. A self-made man may in the truest sense 
 of that term be a God-made man. He may be 
 a son of God and a big brother to his fellows. 
 But that a man makes his own way in the world 
 and does the best for himself, it does not neces- 
 sarily follow that he will do the most for his fel- 
 lows. Everything depends on where a man's af- 
 fections are placed. 
 
 We read of a self-made man in the New Testa- 
 ment. He was a wealthy farmer. So heavy were 
 his crops one season that he was at a loss what 
 to do with them. "And he thought within himself, 
 saying, . . . This will I do : I will pull down my 
 barns and build greater; and there will I bestow 
 
176 Soul Crises 
 
 all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my 
 soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many 
 years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry." 
 That's the kind of man self makes ! Self first, 
 capital "I" In the middle, and self last. "But God 
 said unto him, Thou fool ! this night thy soul shall 
 be required of thee : then whose shall those things 
 be, which thou hast provided? So Is he that 
 layeth up treasure for himself, and Is not rich 
 toward God." 
 
 Where self rules principles are enslaved. Take 
 two men similar In mental caliber, with precisely 
 the same advantages. The self-made man suc- 
 ceeds by leaps and bounds. The God-made man 
 does not become renowned for his material pros- 
 perity. Why? Because he disdains to be un- 
 scrupulous ! He prefers poverty with honour 
 rather than riches with contempt. 
 
 We have heard a great deal In recent years 
 about a certain self-made man who has been dis- 
 tinguished by the name of "superman." He is 
 the product of social evolution. His chief at- 
 tribute is the exercise of ruthless power, and as 
 far as I can learn from his methods and motives 
 he has been mis-named. When he says, "War is 
 not merely a necessary element In the life of na- 
 tions, but an Indispensable factor of kultur," he 
 Is qualifying for honours in the cabinet of his 
 Satanic majesty. In its ultimate issue, the self- 
 made man is a Napoleon, the embodiment of 
 selfishness, a Kaiser, the embodiment of vanity. 
 
A Spiritual Crisis 177 
 
 a Judas, the embodiment of treachery, or a mili- 
 tary despot who is the embodiment of all three. 
 
 To obtain the highest type of manhood, self 
 must be subordinated to a higher power. The 
 self-made man is distinguished by a philosophy of 
 blood and iron, by what he has accumulated, by 
 the things he has gathered around him. The God- 
 made man is distinguished by his sacrifices, by 
 what he has suffered, by what he has given to the 
 world. 
 
 Therefore I ask you to behold a man among 
 men I A man, boasting many distinctions and 
 sublime achievements, but his greatest distinction 
 lies in the fact that he was made according to 
 the divine pattern. In Abraham we have a con- 
 crete illustration of how God makes His men. 
 In order to appreciate the divine method of edu- 
 cation it will be necessary for us to refer to some 
 of the outstanding events in his career. His 
 career is worthy of study because it is so rep- 
 resentative of that type of character which is as 
 opposite as the poles to that of the self-made man. 
 Our text introduces us to the supreme sacrifice of 
 his life. This great spiritual crisis was the final 
 examination in his moral and spiritual education. 
 "And He said, lay not thine hand upon the lad, 
 neither do thou anything unto him: for now I 
 know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not 
 withheld thy son, thine only son from Me." These 
 significant words, "Now I know," give the key to 
 Abraham's eventful life. They carry us back to 
 
178 Soul Crises 
 
 the beginning of his pilgrimage. 
 
 His wonderful career began in obedience to 
 
 A DIVINE CALL 
 
 "The Lord said unto Abram, 'Get thee out 
 of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from 
 thy father's house, unto a land that I will show 
 thee.' " This call came to Abram in Haran 
 and his immediate response to it showed him to be 
 the kind of material out of which God's men are 
 made. It was a drastic measure, to ask a man to 
 leave his home, his friends, and his gods, but only 
 drastic measures will justify the attempt to make a 
 new man. Some men with the best of intentions 
 begin a reform in Haran. They paint their house, 
 they clean up all refuse, and give their home an 
 attractive appearance. They begin to lecture their 
 frivolous friends and even whitewash their 
 heathen gods, but to every would-be Abram, 
 God comes and says, "Get thee out!" 
 
 It requires no small moral effort for a man, 
 in obedience to an unseen God, to leave all that 
 Abram was requested to leave, but he did it 
 and history shows that he made no mistake. 
 Doubtless Abram had a great regard for his home 
 and friends, although he was positively dis- 
 gusted with idolatry, and when God called he 
 "obeyed; and went out, not knowing whither he 
 went." It was an act of simple faith. The only 
 true and living God had called him, He knew 
 
A Spiritual Crisis 179 
 
 where He wanted Abram to go, and would show 
 him the way. 
 
 The same God is calling to-day. Have you 
 heard His call? Surely you are not so unreason- 
 able as to imagine that you never have heard a 
 call ! A deaf man may stand among the trees 
 where the birds are making melody and never 
 hear a note, but it is altogether unreasonable to 
 talk of never hearing a call when so many voices, 
 so urgent and insistent, are endeavouring to at- 
 tract our attention. 
 
 The God-made man is not the only man who 
 hears a call. No man is more responsive to a 
 call than a self-made man. But whereas the self- 
 made man hears the call of ambition, of wealth, 
 and pleasure or fame, the God-made man hears 
 a divine call ; he is always responsive to the divine 
 voice. Nor is the God-made man the only man 
 who leaves his country in obedience to a call. 
 Thousands of self-made men have heard the call 
 of wealth, under their own vine and fig tree. 
 They have gone far beyond the comforts of civil- 
 ization, they have faced hardships and solitude 
 with a cheerfulness that was contagious, but with 
 all their commendable features they were seeking 
 great things for themselves. Thousands have 
 crossed the ocean to make their homes on this 
 great continent. The majority can easily boast a 
 more delightful voyage than was experienced by 
 the Pilgrim Fathers on board the Mayflower^ but 
 few can boast of coming to our shores in re- 
 
i8o Sout Crises 
 
 sponse to a diviner call. The many calls we hear 
 may be resolved into calls to please self, or to 
 please God. Self calls and God calls. Each 
 promises to make our hearty response pre-emi- 
 nently worth while, and there is just as much dif- 
 ference between the respective promises and re- 
 wards as there is between the two promise makers. 
 Two men go to Africa, each in response to a call. 
 One hears an insistent call to the diamond mines 
 of Kimberley; the other hears an urgent call to 
 go and preach to the heathen, to civilize and 
 evangelize Africa's dark and benighted sons. 
 Both work hard. One eventually becomes a mil- 
 lionaire, the other a Livingstone. 
 
 The career of every God-made man begins, 
 like that of Abram, with a divine call, and, like 
 Abram, he becomes the recipient of 
 
 A DIVINE PROMISE 
 
 The divine promise to Abram was verified by 
 his changed name. God appeared to him and 
 said, "I am the Almighty God: walk before me, 
 and be thou perfect. And I will . . . multiply 
 thee exceedingly, . . . and thou shalt be a father 
 of many nations. Neither shall thy name any 
 more be called Abram, but thy name shall be 
 Abraham; for a father of many nations have I 
 made thee." The son of promise was born, the 
 son In whom the hopes of Abraham were centred. 
 Do you know what the advent of a child means 
 
A Spiritual Crisis l8i 
 
 to his devoted parents? A man has a truer con- 
 ception of the Fatherhood of God when he looks 
 into the eyes of a child of his own. And if the 
 advent of a child is so significant, what shall we 
 say of a son of promise? Gaze upon these old 
 people as they renew their youth in the presence 
 of this child of promise. 
 
 Ah, no ! the self-made men do not shine here. 
 To prattle to a little child is so much waste of 
 time. Time is money, and where self rules every- 
 thing becomes as hard and unresponsive as gold. 
 If we were as interested in our children as we 
 are in our livestock, or our seed grain, there would 
 be an improvement in our educational methods 
 and standards of efficiency. When children could 
 be sold for so much hard cash, even slave-owners 
 could be generous and humane. When ! oh when 
 will we learn the priceless value of the souls com- 
 mitted to our care? 
 
 We can see joy and gladness on the faces of 
 his aged parents as Isaac blooms into the beauty 
 of youth and vigour. How much depends upon 
 him ! How essential that he be instructed in 
 righteousness, that he become a partaker of his 
 father's faith. By this time Abraham was con- 
 sidered a wealthy man. He had been successful 
 in the great world of affairs, and what was more, 
 his heart's desire had been granted. The divine 
 promise was personified in his son. 
 
 We now begin to see how high the God-made 
 man towers above the men self makes. Self 
 
1 82 Sottl Crises 
 
 makes promises, but what are they in comparison 
 to the promises of God? Self promises ease, 
 pleasure, a comfortable old age, but "Godliness 
 is profitable unto all things, having the promise 
 of the life that now is, and of that which is to 
 come." 
 
 As Isaac developed into manhood, and began 
 to assume responsibility, Abraham felt relieved. 
 Now he could enjoy a well-earned rest, and pass 
 the remainder of his life in peace and comfort. 
 When lo ! a storm broke out of a clear sky. All 
 his plans and purposes seemed to be demolished 
 suddenly, as by a cyclone. Like every God-made 
 man Abraham was subjected to 
 
 A DIVINE TEST 
 
 "And it came to pass after these things that 
 God did tempt Abraham, and said. Take now thy 
 son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and 
 get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him 
 there for a burnt offering upon one of the moun- 
 tains which I will tell thee of." If it was a drastic 
 measure to ask Abraham to leave everything and 
 get out of his country, it was a mere suggestion 
 of what was to follow. This latter injunction 
 was the most drastic of all. To ask a man, vener- 
 able with age, by one fearful stroke to slay his 
 son, to put the knife to his hopes, was a terrible 
 demand to make. 
 
 Why did God tempt Abraham? Various re- 
 
A Spiritual Crisis 183 
 
 plies might be given. One is that this is not an 
 isolated experience. How many parents have as 
 generously given up their sons in the present 
 crisis ! How many wives have as courageously 
 given up their husbands I How proudly and 
 cheerfully our brothers and sons marched away, 
 and some of them will not come back. We turn 
 to the casualty list and read of a young man 
 "killed in action." We put down the paper with 
 a sigh of relief, saying, Only one in that list to- 
 night. Yes ! Only one ! There would in all 
 probability be many more. But supposing that 
 "one" had been your son or mine? The sad news 
 of that "one" breaks a mother's heart, and leaves 
 another vacant chair. How many prayers were 
 offered for that "one" ! How many fond hopes 
 were centred in him ! Alas ! How many parents 
 and widows are now passing through a great 
 spiritual crisis, as a result of their loss! Abra- 
 ham, in being asked to take his son, does not have 
 to walk to Mount Moriah alone. 
 
 But why did God tempt Abraham? Another 
 answer is that nothing reveals character so clearly 
 as a crisis. This Great War has revealed both 
 men and nations in their true light. In a very 
 striking manner it has parted the sheep on the 
 right hand, and the goats on the left. King Albert 
 of Belgium by his resolute stand for righteousness 
 has covered himself with glory. His Christlike 
 example will be an inspiration to future genera- 
 tions. King Ferdinand of Bulgaria showed his 
 
184 Soul Crises 
 
 true colours when he intimated that he must be 
 on the winning side. 
 
 The great gulf separating the self-made men 
 from the God-made men is seen in the attitude 
 adopted in the present crisis. When the urgent 
 call was made for men, not merely to uphold the 
 traditions of the Empire, but to defend the liber- 
 ties of the race, thousands of loyal citizens said 
 to themselves, "This is a great crisis. What can 
 I put into it?" What the God-made men and 
 women have put into this struggle, is seen in the 
 generous response of those who have offered 
 themselves for service, in the Christ-like efforts of 
 the Red Cross Society, in the Patriotic Fund, in 
 the various relief funds, and in the sympathy and 
 prayers that daily ascend to God that He will 
 overrule all for righteousness, and the advance- 
 ment of His kingdom. 
 
 But there were others who said, "This is a great 
 opportunity for enrichment. What can I get out 
 of it?" And while their brothers' blood is being 
 shed for freedom, home, and God, they are ex- 
 ploiting their king and country. 
 
 Why did God tempt Abraham? He did not 
 tempt him with the idea of causing him to sin. 
 He never does that. Rather, it was the final 
 examination in his moral and spiritual education, 
 and God believed that Abraham was ready for 
 such an examination. It is always an honour to 
 be asked to take this examination. For "whom 
 the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth 
 
A Spiritual Crisis 185 
 
 every son whom He receiveth." "God did tempt 
 Abraham.'' The word translated ''tempt" in the 
 A. V. means to prove or to test. God did prove 
 Abraham, or subjected him to a divine test. In 
 one of the old versions, which is distinguished by 
 its elegant Greek, there is an interesting para- 
 phrase upon this passage. It reads: "God glori- 
 fied Abraham." What a delightful explanation 
 of this divine test, and how true in the light of 
 Abraham's subsequent immortality! 
 
 We look upon such a divine test with fear and 
 trembling. But what makes the precious gold 
 of Christian character? Is it ease? comfort? 
 or sacrifice? Who are those who have impressed 
 you most? Those who have suffered. What does 
 a true man desire more than an opportunity to 
 prove his loyalty, to prove his spurs, to show 
 himself equal to the demands made upon him. So 
 in setting these final examination papers before 
 His servant, "God glorified Abraham." The pro- 
 cess of glorification is not an easy one. "Now no 
 chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, 
 but grievous, nevertheless afterward it yieldeth 
 the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them 
 which are exercised thereby." 
 
 When Abraham was subjected to this divine 
 test he was in a similar position to all who are 
 confronted with a spiritual crisis. He did not 
 know what was going to happen. He had no 
 assurance that his son was going to be given back 
 to him. All he knew was that God had said, 
 
1 86 Soul Crises 
 
 "Take now thy son," and in obedience to the 
 divine command, he directed his steps 'to Mount 
 Moriah. 
 
 But were there no questionings in Abraham's 
 heart? Put yourself in his place. Mark you, he 
 did not think it was wrong to offer his son as a 
 burnt-offering, for such horrible practices obtained 
 in his time. But he must have thought it strange 
 for he lived far above his time. He had a 
 father's heart, he had a living faith, and that three 
 eventful days' journey would rend his spirit. He 
 could not fathom why God wanted to punish him 
 in this manner, but he knew that God knew him 
 better than he knew himself, and he went on. 
 Imagine his feelings when the unsuspecting Isaac 
 said, "Behold the fire and the wood, but where is 
 the lamb?" That innocent question would be like 
 plunging a dagger in his heart, "Where is the 
 lamb?" Abraham spake better than he knew 
 when he replied, "God will provide Himself a 
 lamb." At that moment God was giving Abraham 
 a taste of His own experience, a knowledge of 
 the mystery "of the Lamb slain from the founda- 
 tion of the world." 
 
 We do not always know why we have to pass 
 through great spiritual crises, but somehow we 
 feel that they bring us to the heart of things. 
 They open avenues of which we were ignorant, 
 like our Master we learn obedience by the things 
 which we suffer. With the assistance of Isaac, 
 Abraham soon had the altar and the wood in 
 
A Spiritual Crisis 187 
 
 readiness for the sacrifice but a more difficult task 
 awaited him. How was an old man to bind a 
 young man of twenty-five years? By force? Had 
 it come to a struggle the young man could easily 
 have held his own, and if he did not want to fight, 
 he could have taken to his heels. There is only 
 one answer. Isaac must have been told of the 
 divine command and become a voluntary victim. 
 What faith is displayed by the father! What 
 Christlike courage by the son! Isaac is securely 
 bound. The keen blade flashes in the sun. The 
 father lifts his hand to strike, and suddenly a 
 voice from heaven cried, "Abraham, Abraham; 
 lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou 
 anything unto him : for now I know that thou 
 fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy 
 son, thine only son from Me." 
 
 Abraham has passed his final examination with 
 honours and is given 
 
 A DIVINE ATTESTATION 
 
 that he was a God-made man. On Mount Moriah 
 we begin to breathe in a new atmosphere. We 
 have left self-made men far below. They may 
 have great material possessions, but when it comes 
 to the moral and spiritual requirements of the 
 Law, they are weighed in the balances and found 
 wanting. This divine attestation certified to all 
 and sundry that Abraham had graduated from 
 the school in which God-made men are educated. 
 
1 88 Soul Crises 
 
 "Now I know that thou fearest God." Abra- 
 ham's faith was attested by the hall-mark of 
 God. Upon such a demonstration of faith God 
 was pleased to set His seal. "Now I know that 
 thou fearest God." Was there ever a grander 
 testimony borne to mortal than that? 
 
 The sacrifice that God requires is the sacrifice 
 of self. By his sacrifice of self, Abraham antici- 
 pated New Testament teaching. "I beseech you 
 therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that 
 ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, ac- 
 ceptable unto God, which is your reasonable ser- 
 vice." By our resignation to the divine will, a 
 spiritual crisis may be transformed into a climax. 
 
 "Now I know that thou fearest God." This 
 divine attestation carried with it certain high dis- 
 tinctions. "By myself have I sworn, saith the 
 Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and 
 hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, that in 
 blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I 
 will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, 
 and as the sand which is upon the sea-shore, and 
 in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be 
 blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice." 
 Without seeking it, Abraham was given a place 
 in the sun, he is the father of the faithful, and en- 
 joyed the unique distinction of being called "the 
 friend of God." 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 THE ADVENT OF A CONQUEROR 
 
 And Jesus returned in the poiver of the Spirit into Galilee: 
 and there ivent out a fame of Him through all the region round 
 about. — Luke IV, 14. 
 
 WITH these significant words St. Luke an- 
 nounces the advent of our Lord from the 
 wilderness. "The wilderness !" What a volume 
 of suggestion is contained in the word "wilder- 
 ness." It throws a flood of light upon the text. 
 It gives the key to the situation. It introduces us 
 to the scene of an awful combat. It suggests a 
 titanic struggle. Contemplating the word, one 
 naturally thinks of the prophetic promise. "The 
 wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for 
 them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as 
 the rose." 
 
 Our fathers had such a magnificent conception 
 of heaven that they sometimes designated this 
 beautiful world as "a waste howling wilderness." 
 
 To-day it needs neither saint nor prophet to pro- 
 claim that many parts of this great world have 
 in a very literal fashion been transformed into 
 "a waste howling wilderness." Belgium, once so 
 fruitful and so fair, is now a wilderness. North- 
 
 189 
 
190 Soul Crises 
 
 ern France Is a wilderness, Poland is a wilderness, 
 and alas! these are not all. If we could rest as- 
 sured that this word in all its bleak and tragic 
 suggestiveness applied only to those parts of the 
 world already named, our sorrow although great 
 would be modified by the hope that the wilderness 
 would eventually rejoice again and blossom as 
 the rose, but it penetrates other regions. This 
 word "wilderness" has defied all geographical 
 boundaries and made its presence felt in every na- 
 tion under heaven. How many parents and rela- 
 tives have been driven out into the wilderness, 
 if not into Gethsemane itself, because of this 
 terrible war? Only God knows! Tasting the 
 bitterness of death and passing through a Jordan 
 of sorrow, they have been led up into the wilder- 
 ness alone. 
 
 There is no place on earth that may not be 
 transformed into a wilderness. It may cast a 
 blight over the most luxuriant garden of life. 
 Your fondest dreams may fail of fulfilment and 
 your brightest hopes may be dashed to the ground, 
 but as life is more than a dream, and one hope 
 may be succeeded by another, you need not de- 
 spair. The wilderness is a place of danger. Un- 
 seen foes lurk all around, here the arch-enemy has 
 his stronghold. 
 
 Methinks I hear some Inexperienced youth sug- 
 gesting he will never venture across the border 
 Into the wilderness. That may be a wise resolu- 
 tion for a stripling because the wilderness Is a 
 
The Advent of a Conqueror 19*1 
 
 place of stern issues. It has its terrors for the 
 weak and the timid, but all the great and the 
 good have braved its dangers and emerged from 
 its experiences equipped for life's work. Why 
 was there such an urgent and insistent demand for 
 Lord Kitchener at the beginning of the war? Be- 
 cause he had been through the wilderness. The 
 wilderness is a testing place. It has its perils and 
 it has its possibilities. 
 
 While I would not for a moment minimize its 
 perils, I wish to speak of the power of the wilder- 
 ness. "And Jesus returned in the power of the 
 Spirit into Galilee : and there went out a fame of 
 Him through all the region round about." Power 
 and fame are two outstanding words in our text 
 and these prizes we would Hke to obtain, but if 
 we are honest we will acknowledge that power 
 and fame have a vital connection with the wilder- 
 ness. If we would be men of power and make 
 a bid for fame, we must pass through the wilder- 
 ness. 
 
 Do I hear some would-be warrior asking 
 "Where is the wilderness for I wish to enter it 
 now?" You may find it just where you are. It 
 is the place where the tried man has been, and 
 men tried and true are the demand of the hour. 
 The wilderness is the place from which we natur- 
 ally shrink. It is the uninviting place. It is the 
 place where we are tempted to shirk, to be, and 
 to do less than our best. 
 
 What is our wilderness? It may be and prob- 
 
192 Soul Crises 
 
 ably is the place of duty. Duty I the word is 
 so cold and unromantic, it is so arduous and irk- 
 some that we would rather not face it. Two 
 choices confront us. Either we must do our duty 
 or die in the wilderness. 
 
 The school or the college may be a wilderness. 
 To be shut in with a number of disagreeable sub- 
 jects, with no possibility of escape, but by the 
 mastery of them, is a wilderness indeed. I can 
 sympathize with young people who find them- 
 selves in this wilderness. Have I not literally 
 sweat in reviewing the host of subjects to be 
 mastered before a man is supposed to be fitted for 
 his life's work? But that sweat is as oil on our 
 mental machinery. It makes it work. Young 
 people ! others before you have felt the difficulties 
 of the situation in school and college, as you are 
 doing. They looked these difficult problems in 
 the face and determined to solve them, and they 
 did. Where there's a will, there's a way. The 
 subjects you have to study now may appear to be 
 difficult, but before you proceed much farther 
 along the road of experience you will find that 
 the most difficult subject you have to deal with is 
 yourself. 
 
 Another very unusual place to find a wilderness 
 is in the Christian home. The home has been de- 
 scribed as a well-watered garden, and a well- 
 watered garden is a prophecy of an abundance of 
 flowers and fruit. The Christian home is re- 
 garded by the wise as the garden of the Lord. 
 
The Advent of a Conqueror 193 
 
 In that garden are to be found some of the most 
 fragrant flowers as well as the most delicious fruit. 
 Yet some young people who are in those gardens 
 are not content. They dislike discipline, they 
 resent chastisement, they fret and fume at this 
 law and that restraint until for them, at least, the 
 garden of life is transformed into a wilderness. 
 
 Let me illustrate what I mean. There was once 
 a young man who lived in a most refined home. 
 His father was wealthy, and also very considerate, 
 but this young man was not content. He made 
 things as disagreeable as possible, both for him- 
 self and others, until one day he decided to leave 
 home. He was too much curbed and under too 
 much restraint at home, so he determined to go 
 out to see the world and withal to enjoy life. He 
 went away and being a young man of means, he 
 soon made friends. We will not follow him into 
 the questionable places he frequented, or tarry 
 to detail his wanderings, suffice to say, he was re- 
 duced in circumstances and began to be in want. 
 Without means, without friends, and far from 
 home, what could he do? He applied for sev- 
 eral respectable positions, but was rejected be- 
 cause he could not produce satisfactory references. 
 Finally, in sheer desperation, he joined himself to 
 a citizen of that country who sent him to the fields 
 to feed swine. In that reduced plight his better 
 nature awoke. And when he came to himself, he 
 said, "How many hired servants of my father's 
 have bread enough, and to spare, and I perish 
 
194 ^oul Crises 
 
 with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, 
 and will say unto him, 'Father, I have sinned 
 against Heaven, and before thee, and am no more 
 worthy to be called thy son.' " When he went 
 away from home he was "beside himself." But 
 when he got rid of his insanity he remembered 
 what he had left, and resolved without further 
 delay to return. 
 
 Young people who do not appreciate the un- 
 speakable privileges of a Christian home are "be- 
 side themselves." I charge you, one and all, to 
 honour your parents and do your part to keep 
 the flowers blooming in the garden of your home 
 life. 
 
 Again, the wilderness may penetrate our places 
 of business. The minister engaged in the King's 
 business sometimes gets discouraged. The scene 
 of his labours may be difficult in the extreme, the 
 response may be small, and the good man is 
 tempted to believe he is in the wrong place. I 
 have heard a young minister bemoan the fact of 
 a small congregation in a small place. "With a 
 mere handful of people in a school-house and 
 some of them asleep one can't put forth his best 
 effort. Anything will do so long as you talk for 
 half an hour." Alas! that fatal "anything will 
 do." It spells disaster. Will "anything do"? 
 No! When we address our fellows as ambas- 
 sadors of Christ, anything will not do. Faithful 
 preaching in every school-house will make its in- 
 fluence felt throughout Christendom. Faithful 
 
The Advent of a Conqueror 195 
 
 preaching in a small congregation makes it easier 
 for the man in the city pulpit. Besides, the wil- 
 derness, with its difficulties and discouragements, 
 is the place where great preachers are made. 
 Jesus preached to some very small congregations 
 and so did St. Paul, therefore let us preach as 
 faithfully and fervently to three as we would 
 preach to three thousand and even a wilderness 
 will inspire us with its possibilities. 
 
 Your wilderness may be the store in which you 
 are conducting your business. Unfortunately it 
 was built in the wrong street. It has the disad- 
 vantage of a poor location. You could do fifty 
 per cent, more business if you were not handi- 
 capped by being on a back street. Situated as 
 you are it is not worth while putting forth your 
 energies to redeem the situation. "Not worth 
 while!" These are not the words of a strong 
 man. "Not worth while!" Have you honestly 
 tried to make it worth while? Any average 
 tradesman can run a business which has all the 
 advantages of a good name and a suitable loca- 
 tion. It requires the sustained efforts of a strong 
 man to develop a thriving business under adverse 
 conditions. If you have goods the public need, 
 you have a right to make the effort. Utilize your 
 genius. You may have powers of which you never 
 yet have dreamed. It may require the aid of a 
 hard place to bring out the best in you. There Is 
 a kind of omnipotence In patient and persistent 
 effort. Therefore, rise In your might! Apply 
 
196 Soul Crises 
 
 yourself with a will and soon the wilderness of 
 your business-life will bloom and blossom as the 
 rose. 
 
 Your wilderness may be your farm. It may 
 be so rough and stony that you are tempted to 
 relax your efforts and be content with the second 
 best. What has been said of other callings ap- 
 plies equally to you. Faithful and persistent 
 labour will work wonders. Regard the difficulties 
 of the situation as a challenge to your manhood, 
 and rejoice to be a labourer together with God 
 amid the great forces of nature. 
 
 Is your wilderness a place of disappointment? 
 Bereavement? Obscurity or adversity? Jesus 
 has been there and, what is more, He has re- 
 turned. 
 
 Why did He return? Because He fought His 
 way through and came out with flying colours. 
 "And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit 
 into Galilee: and there went out a fame of Him 
 through all the region round about." "Jesus re- 
 turned!" 
 
 A great many who go up into the wilderness 
 never come back. What an alarming proportion 
 of the Israelites fell in the wilderness! They 
 failed to reach the land of promise because of 
 unbelief. Unbelief and disobedience decided their 
 destiny. Their example is a warning to us. 
 There is a wilderness we must all pass through if 
 we would wear the unfading crown of manhood 
 or womanhood. By faith and prayer we may 
 
The Advent of a Conqueror 197 
 
 not only pass through the wilderness, but learn 
 at all times and in every place to trust and obey, 
 to do God's will in God's way. The way out of 
 the wilderness may mean the way of the Cross. 
 Some saints are chosen to serve, and some to suf- 
 fer. One remark made by the Lord to Ananias, 
 respecting Saul, of Tarsus, is very significant, 'T 
 will show him how great things he must suffer 
 for My name's sake." The reproach of Christ 
 may entail suffering, but let us rejoice that we 
 are counted worthy to suffer for His name's sake. 
 And above all let us continue, "Looking onto 
 Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who 
 for the joy that was set before Him endured the 
 cross, despising the shame, and is set down at 
 the right hand of the throne of God." 
 
 "Jesus returned" from the wilderness and it is 
 instructive to note how He returned. He did not 
 come forth weak and emaciated. He "returned 
 in the power of the Spirit." The glory of a 
 divinely developed manhood was upon Him. He 
 came forth full of spiritual power, ready for all 
 the exacting and exhausting demands that were 
 henceforth to be made upon Him. How majestic 
 is the tread of the man who comes forth from 
 "that great and terrible wilderness," "in the 
 power of the Spirit!" The smile of divine ap- 
 proval sat upon the brow of the Saviour. This 
 cannot be said of all who emerge from the strug- 
 gle. Some come forth bearing the scars of the 
 conflict and others creep out exhausted, looking 
 
198 Soul Crises 
 
 very much worse for the encounter. They failed 
 to appreciate the purpose and possibilities of the 
 wilderness. The wilderness is the place where 
 decisive decisions are made, where we recognize 
 "whose we are" and decide "whom we will 
 serve." We regard the wilderness as a place 
 from which we should escape as soon as possible. 
 If we are in the wilderness we will make a fear- 
 ful mistake if we leave it without the divine 
 anointing. If we, like our Master, return "in 
 the power of the Spirit," our fellows will be con- 
 strained to admit that the wilderness experience 
 has been worth while. 
 
 If it is instructive to learn how "Jesus returned," 
 it is equally instructive to learn where He came 
 to. "And Jesus returned in the power of the 
 Spirit into GaHlee." Having graduated from the 
 wilderness with honours, we would naturally ex- 
 pect to hear of Him labouring in Judea, the royal 
 province, and having His headquarters in Jeru- 
 salem. Such, however, was not the case. He re- 
 turned, not to Judea, but into Galilee, — Galilee, 
 the ordinary work-a-day-province. Into Galilee 
 with its opportunities and its needs Jesus came 
 again to preach the Kingdom of God. After gain- 
 ing a unique victory and receiving a fresh influx 
 of divine power, He did not despise Galilee, He 
 did not feel that He would be wasting His time 
 and talents on Galileans, but threw Himself heart 
 and soul into the work of ministering to the 
 needs of the common people. As we return vie- 
 
The Advent of a Conqueror 199 
 
 torlous from our moral and spiritual crises, we 
 too are anxious for Christian work. With the 
 joy of battle in our breasts, we yearn for con- 
 quest, but we would like to choose our Galilee. 
 In our present position we feel too cramped for 
 glorious achievement. If we could choose our 
 Galilee, we probably would choose the front and 
 there in the limelight do deeds of daring and win 
 the applause of an admiring world. Men are 
 needed at the front. All honour to the men who 
 have responded to the call. Men are also needed 
 behind the scenes. It may be your lot and mine 
 to work where there is nothing to thrill or nerve 
 to action, where there is no applause and little 
 or no appreciation. But after all it is behind the 
 scenes where men are made. Every man who goes 
 to the front is an expert. Behind the scenes he 
 was drilled to act with the precision of a piece of 
 machinery. Behind the scenes, in our humble 
 Galilee, let us give of our best, and eventually 
 recognition and appreciation will come. "And 
 Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into 
 Galilee: and there went out a fame of Him 
 through all the region round about." Even in 
 Galilee Jesus became famous. Some have 
 achieved fame in Europe, others by the discovery 
 of the Poles. It may not be our privilege to ride 
 on seas of glory, but let us make an honest at- 
 tempt to merit fame at home. We need not be 
 concerned about the fame, but we should be very 
 much concerned about the power. Only men of 
 
200 Soul Crises 
 
 spiritual power can share in the Master's work 
 of extending and establishing the Kingdom of 
 God. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 A NATIONAL CRISIS 
 
 But I ^vill teach you the good and the right njnay: Only fear 
 the Lord, and serve Him in truth ivith all your heart; for con- 
 sider hoiv great things He hath done for you. — I Sam. XII, 
 23, 24. 
 
 f~\ UR text is found among the concluding 
 ^^ words of one of the most significant 
 speeches ever delivered before a national as- 
 sembly. This great speech was delivered by one 
 of the noblest of the noble men whose names 
 adorn the annals of Jewish history. He was at 
 once a prophet, a priest, and a judge. Dedicated 
 to the service of God before he was born, his life 
 had been one long dual act of divine worship and 
 devotion to duty. Samuel was a living embodi- 
 ment of righteousness, and as such he commanded 
 respect. Added to his integrity and his unique 
 position in the nation, were years of experience 
 of the stern reahties of life, and when this ven- 
 erable man with his marred visage and his hoary 
 locks stands up and motions for silence, the flower 
 and the strength of Israel do well to give good 
 heed. 
 
 This was a great occasion. It was a great oc- 
 201 
 
202 Soul Crises 
 
 casion for the king. There he stands, a young 
 man of prepossessing appearance, and magnificent 
 proportions, powerful in body and supple in limb, 
 head and shoulders above his fellows, honesty 
 upon his visage and a god-like purpose kindling in 
 his soul. There stands Saul, the son of Kish, he 
 is the Lord's anointed. This is a great day for 
 him, for he has just been crowned king of Israel. 
 This was a great occasion for the people. They 
 had come from Dan to Beersheba, and had just 
 witnessed the coronation ceremony. They stood 
 on the threshold of a new era. Henceforth they 
 were to be known as a monarchy, they were to 
 have a king to rule over them. This august oc- 
 casion had been preceded by the crushing defeat 
 of the Ammonites at Jabesh-gilead, and those war- 
 riors were full of the joy of conquest. They saw 
 visions and dreamed dreams of future supremacy. 
 To a man, they were vibrating with feelings of af- 
 fection and tokens of loyalty to their king. This 
 was a great occasion for the prophet. He was 
 master of ceremonies. He was the officiating high 
 priest, to him had fallen the honour of crowning 
 the first king of Israel. He was the most con- 
 spicuous figure on that momentous occasion, his 
 every act had been followed by wondering eyes, 
 but the fact of notoriety did not make it a great 
 occasion to him. He was impressed, not with the 
 grandeur, but with the solemnity of the occasion. 
 There is such a thing as progress downwards, 
 and where the nation saw a climax he saw a crisis. 
 
A National Crisis 203 
 
 and as he rose to speak the scene was dramatic 
 in the extreme. The young king and his jubilant 
 subjects were about to hear something they would 
 remember long after the venerable prophet was 
 dead and buried. As he is assisted to the plat- 
 form from which he is to deliver his inaugural ad- 
 dress, he is greeted with a tremendous ovation. 
 He is the grand old man of the nation, for up- 
 wards of forty years he has interpreted to them 
 the divine will, and as he begins his speech, the 
 people give him the reception he so richly de- 
 serves. That Samuel was a powerful and con- 
 vincing speaker is attested by the fragments of 
 his great speech which have come down to us. 
 He had no use for flattery, although he knew how 
 to touch and play upon a popular chord. 
 
 He began his immortal utterance with a re- 
 minder of his having acceded to their request — a 
 request which had not been for anything base or 
 trivial, but a request fraught with far-reaching 
 issues, they had requested a king. Imagine the 
 enthusiasm when reference was made to His 
 Majesty. Listen to the cheers as, with a wave 
 of his hand, the prophet cried, "Behold your 
 king! the king who is henceforth to walk before 
 you." There was a subdued hush when the proph- 
 et referred to his age. "I am old and gray- 
 headed." I have walked before you from my 
 childhood unto this day. My life has been lived 
 in the open. I have moved in and out among 
 you. You are acquainted with my manner of life 
 
:204 Soul Crises 
 
 and now, ^'Behold, here I am: witness against me 
 before the Lord, and before his anointed, whose 
 ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or 
 of whose hand have I received any bribe to 
 blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it 
 you." The effect produced by this public chal- 
 lenge was tremendous. To a man, the people 
 cried, "Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed 
 us, neither hast thou taken aught of any man's 
 hand." It was a daring challenge, and a remark- 
 able vindication. I do not for a moment imagine 
 that Samuel was seeking self-aggrandizement by 
 such a spectacular vindication of his official purity. 
 It was rather a means to an end. He had some- 
 thing to say of supreme significance, and he 
 wanted to enjoy the confidence of his hearers and 
 also to make them feel that he had their highest 
 interests at heart. It was an impressive moment 
 when the prophet called upon God and the king 
 to witness between him and his hearers. Then he 
 pronounced the awe-inspiring name of Jehovah, 
 and requested that there be no more demonstra- 
 tion. He wanted them to be quiet, and listen to 
 the burden of his speech. 
 
 "Now therefore stand still that I may reason 
 with you before the Lord." Ever since the day 
 on which you sent a deputation demanding a king, 
 your request has given me food for thought. On 
 that occasion the supposed advantages enjoyed 
 by the Philistines and the Hittites, by Syria, Am- 
 mon, Moab, and Edom were cited to me. Your 
 
A National Crisis 205 
 
 contention was that these respective peoples have 
 kings to go before them Into battle, while you 
 are seriously handicapped because you have no 
 king. To-day, I wish to emphasize the funda- 
 mental fact In our history. It is this, Israel has 
 always had a King, you have been clamouring 
 for a change of government, and your dissatisfac- 
 tion warrants the assertion that you have failed 
 to realize our unique national Ideal. Had you 
 been faithful to God, ours would have been the 
 strongest and most beneficent form of government 
 on the face of the earth. Your plea to me, as 
 expressed by your delegation, was that you wanted 
 to be like other nations, whereas our distinctive 
 glory has been to be unlike them in election. In 
 character, and In destiny. 
 
 Let this thought sink deep Into your hearts, 
 Israel has always had a King. Who Is our King? 
 "It is the Lord." Where is the king among the 
 surrounding nations, upon whom you have turned 
 your distorted vision, who can compare in power 
 and in glory with our King? Our King is great 
 In conquest and achievement, great in character 
 and resources. Contemplating His character and 
 achievements our great lawgiver cried, "Who is 
 like unto thee, O Lord, glorious In holiness, fear- 
 ful in praises, doing wonders." You revere the 
 memory of our great national heroes, and you 
 kindle the fires of patriotism In the breasts of 
 your children by reciting the exploits of Moses 
 and Aaron, and telling of the remarkable progress 
 
2o6 Soul Crises 
 
 made by our forefathers, from the land of bond- 
 age into the goodly heritage which is now our 
 home. I commend you for your zeal, but who 
 made Moses and Aaron a possibiHty? "It is the 
 Lord that advanced Moses and Aaron, and that 
 brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. 
 This is an important piece of our history which 
 you have overlooked. The Lord Is the funda- 
 mental fact of our national life. Think you, 
 Moses of his own free will and accord would 
 ever have bid defiance to Pharaoh, and cham- 
 pioned our cause in Egypt? No, never! The 
 Lord appeared to him in the bush of flame and 
 called him to undertake this herculean task. 
 That Moses was reluctant and pleaded inability 
 Is a matter of history, but he went because of the 
 assurance he received that the Lord was with him. 
 That the Lord was with Moses and Aaron was 
 demonstrated to the satisfaction of our enslaved 
 ancestors, and moreover to the satisfaction of 
 Pharaoh. It was the Lord who caused our 
 fathers to triumph over the greatest empire In 
 the world. Pharaoh would compare favourably 
 with any of the kings you cited to me, nay, he 
 would overshadow them all put together, and yet, 
 what was he to withstand the Lord our King? 
 
 You reminded me of the victories of the kings 
 around us, but what are they in comparison to 
 the victories gained over Sihon and Og? Our 
 fathers begged leave to pass through the Amorite 
 land. Sihon refused, and prepared to give battle. 
 
A National Crisis 207 
 
 Every man In the nation fit to bear arms fought 
 in the Amorite army against Israel. A desperate 
 struggle ensued, and the most callous among you 
 cannot deny that it was no mere human force that 
 enabled our fathers, unused as they were to war- 
 fare, to subdue so formidable a king and con- 
 queror as Sihon. Og, the king of Bashan, and his 
 people were the remnants of the giants, in height 
 they were like cedars, and in strength like oaks, 
 but they were routed by our ancestors who went 
 against them in the name of the Lord. Every 
 great engagement in our history supports the 
 basal fact of our national life, that the Lord is 
 our King. Time would fail to tell of all the 
 righteous acts of the Lord, of the glorious con- 
 quests which He wrought by the hand of Moses 
 and of Joshua. Where is there a king to be com- 
 pared to our King? That the Lord is our King 
 ' is supported by two series of facts which are so 
 evident that he who runs may read. The first 
 series demonstrates that whenever we as a people 
 have forsaken the Lord we have come to grief, 
 and the second likewise proves that whenever we 
 as a nation have repented of our sins and cried 
 unto the Lord, we have been delivered. When 
 our fathers sinned, the Lord gave them into the 
 hand of Sisera, but when in penitence and faith 
 they sought the Lord "the stars in their courses 
 fought against Sisera." Again and yet again, they 
 went and served other gods; and the Lord brought 
 upon them the hosts of the Moabites, the Midian- 
 
20 8 Soul Crises 
 
 Ites, and the Philistines, and when they repented 
 of their evil and turned again, the Lord raised up 
 Barak and Deborah, Gideon and Jephthah, Sam- 
 son and Samuel and ye dwelled safe. These are 
 a few of the mighty acts of the Lord our King. 
 Other kings doubtless can boast of conquests, but 
 can they boast of conquests such as these? 
 
 And now what have you done? In the light 
 of the great fundamental fact of our history 
 where do you stand? You have sinned. You 
 have proved yourselves unworthy of the glorious 
 traditions of our race. You have despised your 
 birthright by requesting a king when the Lord 
 your God was your King. Behold the heavens; 
 not a cloud in sight. To impress upon you the 
 awfulness of your sin, I will call upon the Lord 
 and He will send thunder and rain. The prophet 
 prayed. Instantly the lightning flashed and the 
 thunder rolled. The panic stricken people be- 
 sought the prophet to pray for them. At the be- 
 ginning of this inaugural address they felt secure 
 in the presence of their king, but now they see 
 what power both he and his troops combined can 
 summon to check the fury of the storm. They are 
 helpless before this demonstration of divine 
 power. "And all the people greatly feared the 
 Lord and Samuel." 
 
 The prophet had proved what he set out to 
 prove, the awful nearness of God to man, and 
 of man to God. He had shown them the place 
 
A National Crisis 209 
 
 God must occupy in the human breast. The peo- 
 ple in their foolhardiness evidently had thought 
 that loyalty and obedience to their king would be 
 the sum total of their moral requirements, but the 
 prophet charges them to remember that having a 
 king in no sense and in no degree exempts them 
 from their moral and spiritual obligations to God. 
 The people now rightly felt that they had rejected 
 God and also the prophet, and they wanted to 
 know what Samuel's future attitude would be. 
 
 His reply was worthy of his character and of 
 his God. ''Moreover as for me, God forbid that 
 I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray 
 for you, but I will teach you the good and the 
 right way, only fear the Lord and serve Him in 
 truth with all your heart, for consider how great 
 things He hath done for you." 
 
 For its immediate effect on a national assembly 
 this speech has few equals. But a more serious 
 question remains. What effect is it going to have 
 upon us? When delivered this address had only 
 a local, or at least a national significance, but the 
 principle it enforces is eternal, and capable of 
 universal application. We have not listened to 
 it to good purpose unless we have felt the force of 
 the fundamental fact of all national, social, and 
 individual life, namely, the fact of God. We 
 have failed to grasp its abiding significance unless 
 we are convinced that, as God wrought out the 
 destiny of His ancient people. He is working out 
 
2IO Soul Crises 
 
 the destiny of His people to-day. And we will 
 not profit by this instructive speech unless we ap- 
 ply its principles and its warnings to our own na- 
 tion, yea, to our own lives. 
 
 In these strenuous times thinkers are seeking 
 to determine what is the best form of government. 
 You may wonder what form of government I 
 favor, whether I favor a limited monarchy or a 
 democratic form of government. Brethren! 1 
 have spoken altogether in vain unless I have con- 
 vinced you that for one I believe the world is 
 God-ruled. We have been told repeatedly that 
 the critics are endeavoring to eliminate the super- 
 natural from the Bible. They cannot do it, even 
 though they should try. What is more, no man, 
 whether he be sceptic, critic, or diplomat, can 
 eliminate the supernatural from national, social, 
 and individual life. Depend upon it, whoever is 
 winning or losing, God in Christ is marching on. 
 Jesus Christ our Saviour is the King of Kings 
 and Lord of Lords. The place and power of 
 Christ as the King of men may be disputed by 
 the lovers of mammon and the despisers of jus- 
 tice, but it is an indisputable fact nevertheless and 
 unless the worshippers of mammon and the op- 
 pressors of mankind desist and repent, they are 
 doomed. If God spake in the terrible accents of 
 thunder at the behest of Samuel think you He is 
 mute to-day? God is speaking to us all from 
 Europe because we have disregarded His author- 
 ity. He is bidding us note the consequences of 
 
A National Crisis 211 
 
 sin. And this we cannot deny, the world has put 
 God behind the back too long. May God have 
 mercy upon us ! In deep contrition let us ac- 
 knowledge His righteous rule. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 THE MAN WE MOST URGENTLY NEED 
 
 Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the 
 Lord in ceasing to pray for you. — I Sam. Xil, 23. 
 
 THESE are the words of a man after God's 
 own heart. He expressed himself thus in a 
 crisis. Nothing reveals the moral stature of a 
 man so clearly as his attitude in a critical moment. 
 A crisis had been reached in the history of the 
 children of Israel. They were a distinguished 
 people, the children of the covenant, God's own 
 elect. Centuries before, God had entered into 
 covenant relationship with Abraham, their father. 
 Later, He had ratified the covenant by the giving 
 of the Law. He had fed them with bread from 
 heaven and given them a liberal supply of water 
 in the desert. He had led them by a way that 
 they knew not, and brought them to a land of 
 plenty. He had routed their enemies, and blessed 
 them with peace and prosperity. As a people 
 they had enjoyed a unique experience. God had 
 spoken to them as He had spoken to none other. 
 He had lived among them and showed His glory, 
 His power and compassion as He had shown it 
 to none beside, but after all His exertions on 
 
The Man JVe Most Urgently Need 213 
 
 their behalf, they miserably failed Him, they 
 cast Him behind the back. They Ignored His 
 authority; for In preference to a heavenly King, 
 they requested an earthly one. 
 
 Thus, as I already have Intimated, a crisis had 
 been reached. With God as their King, the chil- 
 dren of Israel had risen from a single family to 
 be a first-rate nation. With God as their King, 
 they had impressed other peoples with their 
 power; and nations both far and near felt It to be 
 a matter of policy to be on good terms with a 
 people who had never lost In a righteous engage- 
 ment. Time after time, God had raised up men 
 to lead His armies on to victory and one of these 
 sons of God was Samuel. He was the judge in 
 Israel when the Israelites made their request for 
 an earthly king. As God's representative he might 
 have reasoned thus: This people by such a re- 
 quest have intimated that they prefer an earthly 
 monarch to a heavenly King, and consequently 
 my services as the ambassador of the Most High 
 are dispensed with. 
 
 It would have been quite natural to retaliate and 
 say If you are tired of God as your King you 
 may accept my resignation as your prophet. Sam- 
 uel did not take this course but chose a more ex- 
 cellent way. True to his vocation, he told them 
 of the consequences of their decision. He told 
 them how grievously they had sinned, how they 
 had wounded the heart of God, but instead of 
 forgetting himself and his peculiar relationship 
 
214 ^o^^ Crises 
 
 to God, as they had done, he said, "Moreover as 
 for me, God forbid that I should sin against the 
 Lord in ceasing to pray for you." 
 
 Samuel was an exceptionally attractive charac- 
 ter. Only a good man could give expression to 
 such words as we have chosen for our text. His 
 early life and work is full of inspiration and en- 
 couragement to every pious youth. His strenu- 
 ous labours on behalf of his country, together with 
 his stainless career, is a concrete example of the 
 purity and power of a life lived in uncompromis- 
 ing integrity. He was dedicated to the service 
 of God before he was born. He served the Lord 
 from childhood to old age, and at the close of his 
 public career he challenged the people to witness 
 against him before the Lord, "Whose ox have I 
 taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I 
 defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose 
 hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes 
 therewith? and I will restore it you. And they 
 said thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, 
 neither hast thou taken ought of any man's hand." 
 Samuel's object in this challenge was not so much 
 to vindicate himself as to show that he was disin- 
 terested. He was not impelled by any selfish mo- 
 tive. He had no axe to grind. He was now an 
 old man, and he knew that unless he enjoyed the 
 confidence of his hearers his advice would be re- 
 ceived with suspicion. After assuring the people 
 that he had no ambitious intentions in this grave 
 matter, he proved to the satisfaction of one and 
 
The Man We Most Urgently Need 215 
 
 all that they had sinned grievously in desiring an 
 earthly monarch when the Lord was their King. 
 He asked for a sign from heaven. Immediately 
 there was a great thunderstorm. The people were 
 terrified and said to Samuel, 'Tray for thy serv- 
 ants unto the Lord thy God, that we die not: for 
 we have added unto all our sins this evil to ask 
 us a king. And Samuel said unto the people, 
 Fearnot: . . . For the Lord will not forsake His 
 people for His great name's sake: because it hath 
 pleased the Lord to make you a people unto Him- 
 self. Moreover as for me, God forbid that I 
 should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray 
 for you." 
 
 In this emphatic utterance of the prophet, we 
 can hardly fail to recognize two outstanding fea- 
 tures regarding prayer, i.e., the place he gave 
 it, and the light in which he viewed it. Consider 
 the Place he gave it. He was a renowned prophet. 
 For many years during his early ministry he as- 
 sisted in the Temple, and it is recorded of him 
 that "he judged Israel all the days of his life." 
 Was there ever a better judge in the land than 
 Samuel who gave intercessory prayer first place? 
 Is it not remarkable that this man who had dis- 
 tinguished himself as a priest, as a prophet, and 
 as a judge should esteem intercessory prayer as 
 the highest vocation available to man? 
 
 There are certain individuals who take cheap 
 and shallow views of life who seek to inform us 
 that it is foolish to pray as prayer is absolutely 
 
2i6 Soul Crises 
 
 in vain. I sincerely hope we can refute such argu- 
 ments by our own experience. Supported by the 
 long experience of Samuel and the best men in 
 every age we reply, "More things are wrought 
 by prayer than the world dreams of," and if ever 
 there was a clear call for the people of God to 
 pray, that call comes to us to-day. It is to be 
 feared that prayer does not retain the place in 
 our individual lives it occupied in the lives of 
 our fathers. They took time to meditate upon 
 God and to pray. As a result, there were giants 
 in the land in those days. They were moral and 
 spiritual giants and their deep piety found fre- 
 quent expression in earnest, believing, prevailing 
 prayer. The commendable tenacity with which 
 they besieged the throne of Grace and clung to 
 the mighty promises of God resulted in showers 
 of blessing. "God forbid that I should sin against 
 the Lord in ceasing to pray for you." 
 
 You will pardon my purposely going a little 
 way behind the text and saying. That we need to 
 intercede with God on our own behalf. Let us 
 acknowledge, once for all, we cannot live the life 
 of faith without prayer. We need the abundant 
 mercy of God to pardon and cleanse us from all 
 unrighteousness. We need the energizing power 
 of God to enable us to overcome every weakness 
 and to equip us for service. We need divine 
 guidance and divine companionship. We have 
 been informed by a Christian poet that "prayer is 
 the Christian's vital breath — that prayer is his 
 
The Man We Most Urgently Need 217 
 
 native air." If that be so we must live in the 
 atmosphere of prayer. 
 
 Do" we know anything about prayer as an at- 
 mosphere? The atmosphere of prayer is a 
 healthy atmosphere. No feeble-bodied, weak- 
 kneed, dim-eyed Christian can live in the atmos- 
 phere of prayer. They all become ''strong in the 
 Lord and in the power of his might." The atmos- 
 phere of prayer is a clear atmosphere. It en- 
 ables us to penetrate the darkness of political 
 strife and international gloom and discern the 
 immovable pillars of the great white throne. How 
 the vision is intensified when we learn "always to 
 pray and not to faint" ! The spiritual giants of 
 former days saw God not only on a cloudless day, 
 but in the darkness and in the storm. "He maketh 
 the clouds his chariot and walketh on the wings 
 of the wind." The atmosphere of prayer is a 
 bracing atmosphere. It stimulates and invigor- 
 ates until men begin to realize what God means 
 when He says, "One shall chase a thousand and 
 two shall put ten thousand to flight." Come ! 
 oh you spiritual cripples I Ye lame and halt and 
 blind! and learn to pray. 
 
 Again, we need to intercede with God on be- 
 half of our homes. Samuel came from a praying 
 home. He had a praying mother. He was a 
 child of prayer. His mother taught him to pray. 
 He had prayed all his life, until it became the 
 master conviction of his soul that intercession was 
 the mightiest lever at his command. How happy 
 
2i8 Soul Crises 
 
 the parents who have an altar In their own homes ! 
 How blest the child, who like Samuel is taught 
 the efficacy of prayer in his own home ! Those 
 of us who are parents have grave responsibilities. 
 We need guidance in the discharge of our impor- 
 tant duties. The only way we can transform our 
 responsibility into a divinely appointed privilege 
 is by the gift of intercession. To train children 
 aright is not an easy matter, but it becomes a 
 sacred trust when we learn to pray without ceas- 
 ing for our homes. I plead with you, one and all, 
 to establish the time-honoured custom of family 
 worship. Build again those family altars which 
 have been broken down. Young people ! as mem- 
 bers of the home, I ask you to assist in this most 
 urgent task. Only as you pray at stated periods 
 in the privacy of your own room, can you live 
 lives of uncompromising integrity and fill the at- 
 mosphere you breathe with the fragrance of an 
 unsullied life. Pray alone ! by all means, but do 
 not let that suffice. Take an active part in fam- 
 ily worship. Your hearty co-operation will stim- 
 ulate and encourage your parents, and make you 
 a greater power for good. Our parents pleaded 
 with God on our behalf long before we came to 
 realize the power of prayer, therefore we are 
 unspeakably indebted to them, and we are in duty 
 bound to pray for those of whom the world is 
 not worthy. The power of prayer has been il- 
 lustrated in every great religious awakening, and 
 it has invariably emanated from the home. 
 
The Man We Most Urgently Need 219 
 
 Again, we need to intercede with God on be- 
 half of the church. Our Master and Lord has 
 left us a most inspiring example regarding prayer 
 for the church, "the church of God which He 
 purchased with His own blood." The words of 
 Jesus have gripped the imagination of the world, 
 but the prayers of Jesus must ever make the most 
 eloquent appeal to the would-be intercessor. It 
 was a no less distinguished person than our Lord 
 who said, "Men ought always to pray and not to 
 faint." His own example was the most telling il- 
 lustration of what He taught. Every great event 
 in His public ministry was preceded by prayer. 
 Often after working hard all day. He would re- 
 tire into a mountain apart and spend the night in 
 prayer. You say, "What an exhausting business !" 
 No! We have a mistaken idea that intercession 
 is exacting and exhausting. Jesus, by word and 
 deed, proved it to be divinely refreshing. What 
 was the meaning of His reply to the enquiry of 
 His disciples, "I have meat to eat ye know not 
 of?" The earthly career of our Lord was short. 
 To His followers He said, "It is expedient for you 
 that I go away." But before His departure He 
 lifted his eyes to heaven and made intercession on 
 behalf of all believers. "I pray for them: I pray 
 not for the world, but for those whom Thou hast 
 given Me; for they are Thine — Neither for these 
 only do I pray, but for them also that believe on 
 Me through their word; that they may all be one; 
 even as Thou Father art in Me, and I in Thee, 
 
220 Soul Crises 
 
 that they also may be one in Us : that the world 
 may believe that Thou didst send Me." Al- 
 though our Lord has passed into the heavens, the 
 work of intercession is still one of the offices He 
 fills by divine appointment. 
 
 If you need any further incentive to pray for 
 the church, take a glance at St. Paul and all the 
 great saints who have wrought righteousness in 
 the earth. St. Paul always appears to advantage, 
 but he is never more irresistible than when on his 
 knees. "For this cause I bow my knees unto the 
 Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the 
 whole family in heaven and earth is named, that 
 He would grant you, according to the riches of 
 His glory, to be strengthened with might by His 
 Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell 
 in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and 
 grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with 
 all saints what is the breath, and length, and depth, 
 and height; and to know the love of Christ, which 
 passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with 
 all the fulness of God." 
 
 The work of Martin Luther only can be ac- 
 counted for by the fact that he prayed. He 
 prayed! and became the monk that shook the 
 world I Listen to John Knox as he prays, "Give 
 me Scotland or I die." John Wesley was also a 
 man of faith and prayer. 
 
 While we rejoice to-day in the gift of great 
 preachers, the need of the hour is for interces- 
 sors, for men who will stand between the porch 
 
The Man We Most Urgently Need 22i 
 
 and the altar and cry, "O Lord, how long? Wilt 
 Thou not revive us again?" Further, we need 
 to intercede with God on behalf of our country. 
 The prophets of Israel were intensely patriotic 
 and Samuel was no exception to the rule. Al- 
 though deeply wounded in spirit, because his peo- 
 ple had sinned so grievously, he continued to pray 
 for the nation. A nation needs the prayers of its 
 intercessors at all times, but never more urgently 
 than in the hour of its sin and shame. When we 
 meditate upon our country and its conquests, the 
 prevailing tendency is to sing, "My country, 'tis 
 of thee," but when we remember our country 
 with its moral and spiritual needs, we are con- 
 strained to pray. 
 
 The national anthem and all our great national 
 hymns always appeal to us and why? Because 
 they are prayers by which we approach and sup- 
 plicate the great white throne. Christian patriot- 
 ism finds its most appropriate expression in prayer. 
 At a time like this, when war is raging, when 
 thrones are tottering, when thousands of our 
 noblest young men have responded to the call of 
 their king and country, when thousands already 
 have made the supreme sacrifice, and laid down 
 their lives. It Is the bounden duty of every loyal 
 Christian to pray that God will arise and let His 
 enemies be scattered. You are doubtless praying 
 that we as a nation may be delivered from our 
 foes without, but mighty as are our foes without, 
 they are not so much to be feared as our foes 
 
2 22 Soul Crises 
 
 within. 
 
 Admiral Beatty gave us food for reflection 
 when he said, "England will conquer when she 
 gets down on her knees." What a testimony to 
 the place and power of prayer. Oh you inter- 
 cessors! Pray on! "More things are brought by 
 prayer than the world dreams of!" Therefore 
 pray! Pray that those moral and social evils 
 which thrive upon the life blood of our brothers 
 and sisters may soon be overthrown. Pray that 
 we as a people may impress the world, not so 
 much with our military efficiency, as with our 
 love of fair-play, our sense of justice, and our de- 
 sire for righteousness and peace with honour. In- 
 tercessors on behalf of their beloved land never 
 had a more urgent call than they have to-day. 
 
 Finally we need to intercede with God on behalf 
 of the world. The Christian program is all-em- 
 bracing. Jesus said, "Go ye into all the world and 
 preach the gospel to every creature." When we 
 besiege the throne of Grace the world is our par- 
 ish! Our motto is, "Christ for the world; the 
 world for Christ." Many weapons have been in- 
 vented to insure the conquest of the world. What 
 weapon will begin to compare with intercessory 
 prayer? "The weapons of our warfare are not 
 carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling 
 down of strongholds, casting down imaginations 
 and every high thing that exalteth itself against 
 the knowledge of God, and bringing into captiv- 
 ity every thought to the obedience of Christ." 
 
The Man fVe Most Urgently Need 223 
 
 "Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should 
 sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you." 
 In taking a parting glance at our text, notice 
 the Light in which the prophet viewed intercessory 
 prayer. To cease praying for his people would 
 be a sin against the Lord. It is imperative for us 
 to pray! Our Lord both by example and precept 
 has commanded us to pray. "Men ought always 
 to pray and not to faint." It is our duty to pray. 
 Therefore as we recognize the needs of our homes, 
 of the church, and the world, let us say in the lan- 
 guage of Samuel, "Moreover as for me, God for- 
 bid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing 
 to pray for you." 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 AN EFFECTIVE WEAPON 
 
 He arose, and smote the Philistines until his hand ivas iveary, 
 and his hand clave unto the sivord. — II Sam. XXIII, lo. 
 
 THE hero of our text is Eleazar, one of 
 David's three mighty men. In graphic 
 terms we are told how he achieved fame. The 
 Philistines had come up against the Israelites, 
 who, instead of charging and routing their ene- 
 mies, in the name of Jehovah, beat a hasty and 
 disorderly retreat. It was an embarrassing sit- 
 uation. To see the men of Israel running pur- 
 sued by Philistines was humiliating in the ex- 
 treme. But, in "the armies of the living God," 
 the soldiers are not all cowards, and it is a minor 
 detail to Him to save by many or by few. El- 
 eazer, coming upon the scene at this critical junc- 
 ture, turned the battle at the gate. He saw at a 
 glance the true state of affairs, and without wait- 
 ing to ask the reason his fellow-soldiers had fled 
 in confusion, with never so much as a thought of 
 following their inglorious example, "he arose, and 
 smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, 
 and his hand clave unto the sword." In our text 
 we see a great warrior with a most effective 
 
 224 
 
An Effective Weapon 225 
 
 weapon, and the irresistible conclusion to which 
 we are carried is, that he knew how to use it. 
 There was no question about the result of the en- 
 counter. The PhiHstines were utterly routed. 
 "And the Lord wrought a great victory that day, 
 and the people returned after him only to spoil." 
 We have our battles to fight, and our conduct in 
 many an unexpected crisis will decide the fortunes 
 of the day. 
 
 The Philistines of wrong are still defying "the 
 armies of the Hving God." With such blasphem- 
 ers, there can be no compromise. Fighting men, 
 resourceful and courageous, are in urgent demand. 
 Never in the history of the world were there 
 greater opportunities for conquest and achieve- 
 ment than await the "mighty men" of to-day. Our 
 weapons in this holy war "are not carnal, but 
 mighty through God to the pulling down of strong- 
 holds." For both offensive and defensive pur- 
 poses we are splendidly equipped. Into our hands 
 has been put "the sword of the Spirit, which is the 
 word of God." As we review our ranks it is a 
 great relief to find that we have been well sup- 
 plied with swords. 
 
 But as we prepare for the fray, as we note the 
 unskilful wielding of their weapons on the part 
 of so many of our men, we are soon convinced 
 that the supreme need of every soldier is a tighter 
 grip of "the sword of the Spirit." To every mem- 
 ber of the Christian Staff, it is an alarming ex- 
 perience to discover that so many of our soldiers 
 
226 Soul Crises 
 
 have not learned to handle the sword effectively. 
 It is nothing short of a tragedy to see men exam- 
 ining the handle, when they should be wielding the 
 sword. How hopeless the situation appears when 
 so many of the rank and file are speculating as to 
 whether the sword will bear the strain likely to 
 be put upon it I And others, with a patronizing 
 air, informing us that while some notable victories 
 have been won by the aid of this weapon in the 
 past, it is now old-fashioned, out of date, and con- 
 sequently must be hung among the relics and 
 marked obsolete. 
 
 While we are debating the merits of the sword, 
 the Philistines of iniquity are laughing us to scorn. 
 But thank God the distressing situation is still 
 saved by the unexpected appearance of an El- 
 eazar, who rushes single-handed into combat to 
 the discomfiture of his enemies and the amaze- 
 ment of his fellows. Eleazar's blade was keen be- 
 cause he knew how to use it. Although faced by 
 fearful odds, "he arose, and smote the Philistines 
 until his hand was weary, and his hand clave unto 
 the sword." What a fighter! A mighty man, 
 with a poor weapon, will make inroads where a 
 half-hearted soldier, with the best sword obtain- 
 able will turn and flee. Eleazar had faith in God, 
 faith in himself, and unbounded confidence in his 
 sword. When we who are chosen to be soldiers 
 rise up and smite the Philistines, we shall be fully 
 convinced that "the word of God is quick, and 
 powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, 
 
An Effective Weapon 227 
 
 piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and 
 spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a dis- 
 cerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." 
 "The word of God!" Who can estimate the di- 
 mensions of its authority? It has been treasured 
 as the most valuable asset of national and indi- 
 vidual life. Kings and people have cried with 
 equal enthusiasm, "Thy word is a lamp unto my 
 feet, and a light unto my path." Prophets and 
 peasants have proved its power to quicken, to 
 cheer, and to sustain. It has stood the most se- 
 vere tests in the rude shocks of life, and to-day, 
 as the result of a personal knowledge of its vital- 
 ity, millions are prepared to bind it to their 
 hearts. 
 
 But, although the Bible has been cherished by 
 its friends, its authority has been challenged and 
 ridiculed by its foes. Early in its history Lucian 
 declared Christianity to be "the latest folly in the 
 world's madhouse." In the eighteenth century 
 Voltaire allowed himself to describe the Bible as 
 "a tissue of fables fit only for cobblers and tail- 
 ors." Quite recently a college professor ques- 
 tioned the wisdom of placing the Bible in the 
 hands of our children. Thus from a variety of 
 sources we are informed that the sword should 
 take its place among the relics of the past. 
 
 In replying to the question. Is the sword of the 
 Spirit obsolete? I am going to give you the testi- 
 mony of some of the ablest scholars, the most 
 ardent critics, and some of the most influential 
 
22 8 Soul Crises 
 
 leaders of our race. My decision to bring these 
 men before you to speak for themselves arises 
 from the fact that so few take pains to examine 
 the Bible for themselves, that so many are con- 
 tent to be influenced by second-hand and third- 
 rate opinions about the Bible, which are retailed 
 in bar-rooms and at street corners, and I wish to 
 prove to your satisfaction that any man, who, in 
 these days, speaks disparagingly of the Bible is 
 either wicked or insane. We hear a great deal 
 about higher criticism. And from that school of 
 higher criticism which is composed of the fore- 
 most biblical scholars, as well as the most ardent 
 behevers, we have absolutely nothing to fear. In 
 fact we are greatly indebted to our brave Chris- 
 tian scholars who have undertaken their strenu- 
 ous labours, not because they doubt or question, 
 but because they believe that we have received "an 
 authentic revelation of the One True God." ^ 
 
 But there is another school of higher criticism 
 very different from the one I have named. The 
 late Dr. Watson in his book, God's Message to 
 the Human Soul, states the case admirably in re- 
 gard to this latter school. He says, "The Church 
 is the guardian of the Bible, the critic is only its 
 editor, his province is the letter, he may not med- 
 dle with the spirit of the book. There is a danger 
 that a swollen and omniscient criticism should 
 break bounds and become the dictator to faith. 
 
 ^ Principal Sir George Adam Smith, D.D., LL.D. Modern 
 Criticism and the Preaching of the Old Testament. 
 
An Effective Weapon 229 
 
 The temptation of all specialism is insubordination 
 to knowledge as a whole, the weakness of all spe- 
 cialism is complacent ignorance of other depart- 
 ments. When one critic of our day reduces the 
 teaching of Jesus to a few sayings, and another, 
 full of new wine, denies any epistles to St. Paul, 
 one learns the limits of specialized scholarship and 
 the folly of giving a blank check to critics of irre- 
 sponsible judgment. One waits for the critic 
 who shall boldly say, as some have been hinting, 
 that Jesus was only a lay figure on which a beau- 
 tiful tradition has been draped, and that He never 
 lived any more than He rose from the dead. We 
 shall then have the supreme irony of a scholar sit- 
 ting within his study, and proving to his own sat- 
 isfaction from a microscopic examination of 
 manuscripts that there never has been any Christ, 
 while outside his airless study, if he had only 
 ears to hear the tramp of innumerable feet, he 
 would know that the risen and triumphant Christ 
 had for twenty centuries been marching along the 
 high road of history in the living Church which is 
 His Body and His instrument, His evidence and 
 His manifestation." 
 
 In spite of all that has been written or said 
 against the Bible, it has survived every attack and 
 is gaining an ever expanding influence upon every 
 succeeding generation. In spite of obstacles the 
 Bible has been translated into more languages and 
 dialects than any other book in the world, while 
 sales of copies of the Bible are far in excess of any 
 
230 Soul Crises 
 
 other book year by year. In listening to represen- 
 tative witnesses regarding the place and power of 
 the Holy Scriptures, the testimony is invariably 
 the same. If we turn to literature Theodore 
 Parker, so brilliant and so penetrating, says: 
 "This collection of books has taken such a hold 
 upon the world as has no other. The literature of 
 Greece, which goes up like incense from that land 
 of temples and heroic deeds, has not half the in- 
 fluence of this book. It goes equally to the cot- 
 tage of the plain man and the palace of the king. 
 It is woven into the literature of the scholar and 
 colours the talk of the street." ^ 
 
 The masters in the realm of literature acknowl- 
 edge their indebtedness to the Bible. No student 
 of literature can study Shakespeare without real- 
 izing the influence the Bible had upon him in his 
 work. While Bacon, Macaulay, and Ruskin are 
 loud in their praise of its inspiration and beauty 
 of diction. Shall we sheathe this sword which has 
 conquered and graced Literature? 
 
 If we turn from literature to the great moral 
 forces that make for righteousness, where will we 
 find anything that begins to compare with the 
 Bible? The Bible has changed the face of the 
 whole civilized world. To the Bible we are in- 
 debted for the rise of what we term modern civili- 
 zation. Every great epoch in modern civilization 
 Is traceable to the Bible. An open Bible was re- 
 
 * Dr. Gunsaulus in his memorable reply to Ingersoll. Bible vs. 
 Infidelity. \ 
 
An Effective Weapon 231 
 
 sponsible for the Reformation and the rise of 
 Puritanism. These two epochs give the key to 
 all that is vital and enduring in our national life. 
 To the Bible we are indebted for the abohtion of 
 slavery, for the elevation of women, for the erec- 
 tion of asylums of mercy in every civilized land. 
 As a statesman Moses is still exerting a tremen- 
 dous influence upon the world. We are indebted 
 to him for an exposition of law. The Bible mes- 
 sage to nations was never more applicable than 
 it is to-day. "Righteousness exalteth a nation, but 
 sin is a reproach to any people." True to this 
 principle, nations have risen to eminence; false to 
 this principle, nations have dropped out of sight. 
 By steady adherence to this principle our own na- 
 tion has attained an unparalleled greatness. So 
 long as we recognize that we are the stewards of 
 God we shall prosper but if we, as a nation, for- 
 get or Ignore our obligations, we shall perish. 
 Every patriot needs to give good heed to the 
 words of Daniel Webster, "If we abide by the 
 principles taught in the Bible, our country will 
 go on prospering and to prosper, but if we and our 
 our posterity neglect its instructions and authority, 
 no man can tell how sudden catastrophe may over- 
 whelm us and bury all our glory in profound ob- 
 scurity." ^ 
 
 Shall we sheathe this sword which has cham- 
 pioned and continues to champion the cause of 
 righteousness, and which Is the exponent of free- 
 
 * Dr. Gunsaulus. Bible vs. Infidelity. 
 
232 Soul Crises 
 
 dom? In certain quarters it Is popular to wax elo- 
 quent about the brilliant achievements of Rome 
 before she was Influenced by Bible teaching. In 
 her day, Rome was a great world-power. We 
 cheerfully acknowledge her exploits and give her 
 full credit for the part she played In civIHzatlon, 
 but the history of Rome Is a telling Illustration of 
 the fact that, "Righteousness exalteth a nation but 
 sin Is a reproach to any people." To ascertain her 
 true condition we must listen to one of her own 
 sons. Lucian^ writes: "If any one loves wealth 
 and Is dazed by gold, if any one measures happi- 
 ness by purple and power, if any one brought up 
 among flatterers and slaves has never had a con- 
 ception of liberty, frankness, and truth; if any one 
 has wholly surrendered himself to pleasure, full 
 tables, carousals, lewdness, sorcery, and deceit, let 
 him to go to Rome." With all her boasted pomp 
 /and power Rome wore the shackles of moral 
 slavery. Where, I ask, will you find such oppres- 
 sive slavery as among those who are the slaves 
 of sin? 
 
 Wherever the Bible message has been pro- 
 claimed In its purity and power, slaves have been 
 liberated, class distinctions have been obhterated, 
 and men have been delivered from every form of 
 moral bondage, until now the world Is coming to 
 recognize the Christian fact that where men avail 
 themselves of that freedom which Is freedom in- 
 deed "there Is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision 
 
 ' Dr. Gunsaulus. Bible vs. Infidelity. 
 
An Elective Weapon 233 
 
 nor unclrcumclsion, Barbarian, Scythian, bond 
 nor free: but Christ Is all, and in all." 
 
 It was the diligent study of the sacred page 
 which led to the emancipation of Martin Luther, 
 which brought him forth as the champion of re- 
 ligious liberty, and enabled him to rescue western 
 Christendom from ecclesiastical tyranny. It was 
 his knowledge of man's inheritance in Christ 
 Jesus imparted by "the Word" that constrained 
 John Knox to pray, *'Give me Scotland, or I die." 
 It was the same mighty sword that put fire in the 
 blood of Garibaldi as he was seeking to effect the 
 deliverance of his native land. As men rallied 
 to his standard, some of them asked what they 
 might expect as a reward of their labours. In 
 effect he said, "I promise you hardships, suffering, 
 and it may be death, but by God's grace I promise 
 you a free Italy." They rallied to his standard 
 to a man, and you know the result. 
 
 Shall we sheathe this sword which has played 
 such an important part in the physical, the moral, 
 and the spiritual emancipation of the race? Shall 
 we sheathe this sword which has been the safe- 
 guard of science? With regard to science the 
 Bible has suffered in the house of Its friends. A 
 great deal has been said with the avowed inten- 
 tion of proving that science and the Bible do not 
 agree; In fact, that they are in dire conflict. The 
 reverse is the truth. The whole question has been 
 grossly misrepresented, and aggravated by a mis- 
 understanding of the claims of science and of 
 
234 ^oul Crises 
 
 the function of the Bible. The Bible was never 
 intended to be the textbook of science. But in- 
 stead of entering upon the controversy about the 
 Bible and geology, it will be more profitable to 
 hear what two eminent scientific scholars have to 
 say about the Bible. Francis Bacon, the great 
 interpreter of nature, says, "There never was 
 found in any age of the world either religion or 
 law that did so highly exalt the public good as the 
 Bible." The testimony of Professor James 
 Dwight Dana,^ who died in 1895, and who was 
 recognized by the scientific world as one of the 
 highest authorities on geology without regard to 
 nationality, is of particular interest. He says, 
 "The grand old book of God still stands and this 
 old earth; the more its leaves are turned and pon- 
 dered, the more will it sustain and illustrate the 
 sacred word." 
 
 I repeat, Shall we sheathe this sword which is 
 the herald of a Christian civilization, which is the 
 champion of freedom, the companion of science, 
 and the handbook of religion? After all, it is as a 
 book of religion that the Bible stands or falls. It 
 is pre-eminently the book that reveals God. In 
 its pages we hear God speak. It has led men by 
 a new and living way into the Presence Chamber 
 of the Eternal. The Bible is the textbook of 
 reconciliation. It shows how heaven and earth 
 blend, how righteousness and peace dwell to- 
 gether, it reveals "a new world wherein dwelleth 
 
 * Dr. Gunsaulus. Bible vs. Infidelity. 
 
An Effective Weapon 235 
 
 righteousess." Unless we have heard God speak- 
 ing to us in this book, we have missed its chief aim. 
 Have we embraced its teaching? Have we claimed 
 its "exceeding great and precious promises?" As 
 we ponder the sacred page are we conscious of an 
 attractive power? Every student of Holy Scrip- 
 ture who is at all acquainted with the needs of his 
 own nature is attracted to "a hill called Calvary." 
 
 Let us learn to read the Bible like the illustrious 
 John Seldon.^ He says : "I have surveyed most of 
 the learning that is among the sons of men, yet at 
 this moment I can recall nothing in them on which 
 to rest my soul, save one from the sacred scrip- 
 tures, which rises much on my mind. It is this: 
 'The grace of God, which bringeth salvation, hath 
 appeared unto all men, teaching us that denying 
 ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live so- 
 berly, righteously, and godly, in this present 
 world; looking for that blessed hope, and the 
 glorious appearing of the great God and our 
 Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave Himself for us, 
 that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and 
 purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of 
 good works.' " 
 
 Shall we sheathe this sword? Ten thousand 
 times, No ! We need it in every righteous engage- 
 ment. Without it, in the great battle against the 
 world, the flesh, and the devil, we would be van- 
 quished. In the Bible we see one who is the 
 brightness of the Father's glory and the express 
 
 ^ Dr. Gunsaulus. Bible vs. Infidelity. 
 
236 Soul Crises 
 
 Image of His Person. He stands forth as our 
 Saviour and Friend. He tells us that God is our 
 Father and that Heaven is our home. Have you 
 any misgivings about this book? Are you afraid 
 to place it in the hands of your children? Have 
 any of you found your children to be the worse 
 for reading its pages which glow with the very 
 life and love of God? Ah, no! Many of our 
 children had been happier and holier, had they 
 read it more. When you get home, gather your 
 children together, open "the Word," and read; 
 then kneel together, and call on the name of the 
 God of Bethel, the God of Elijah! "the God and 
 Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," and your ex- 
 perience will be similar to the apostle who said: 
 "Whether in the body or out of the body, I can- 
 not tell." 
 
 With an unrelaxable grip of "the sword of the 
 Spirit" let us rise up and smite the Philistines until 
 our hands are weary, and when we fall exhausted 
 our hands will cleave unto the sword. 
 
 There are two things It is Imperative for us 
 to learn. They are: that we have a most ef- 
 fective weapon with which to fight the battles of 
 the Lord, and that, almost everything depends 
 upon our swordsmanship. Even after the battle, 
 Eleazar's "hand clave unto the sword." How 
 suggestive and how true ! Have we not seen ven- 
 erable soldiers of Jesus Christ who were stricken 
 in years and who talked of retiring from the 
 fray? They could not do It! They went down 
 
An Effective Weapon 237 
 
 the hill fighting! Their hands clave unto the 
 sword! "Yea, though I walk through the valley 
 of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for 
 Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they 
 comfort me." Brethren, fight on! This is a 
 good fight! This is God's fight and let us help 
 Him to win "a great victory." Of us may it be 
 said, "He fought a good fight," and when he fell 
 "his hand clave unto the sword !" 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 CHRISTIAN COURAGE 
 
 He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem. — Luke IX, 51. 
 
 THE majority of us are better acquainted 
 with such aspects of our Lord's character 
 as His meekness, tenderness, and compassion than 
 we are with His courage. But we only need to be 
 told to look for it to see how remarkably cour- 
 ageous He was. Jesus was the bravest of the 
 brave! We search the gospels in vain for any- 
 thing approaching cowardice, either In His public 
 or private life. He is the only perfect example 
 of the finest type of courage the world ever has 
 seen. 
 
 Our text reveals His attitude in the near pros- 
 pect of death. ''And it came to pass, when the 
 days were well-nigh come that He should be re- 
 ceived up, He steadfastly set His face to go to 
 Jerusalem." Mark the force of these words. He 
 was not carried bound, He did not go reluctantly, 
 ''He steadfastly set His face." For several 
 months He had been Hving in the shadow of the 
 Cross. He was under no delusion regarding the 
 future. He was well aware of what was before 
 Him, yet He never hesitated. No! not for a 
 
 238 
 
Christian Courage 239 
 
 moment, but imagine the conflict within I Think 
 of His immaculate soul, so sensitive because so 
 pure. 
 
 People who possess refined natures are infinitely 
 more susceptible to suffering than the coarse- 
 grained and the vulgar. They experience pains 
 that the sensual and the sordid know nothing of. 
 This was the case with our Lord. None was ever 
 so holy and undefiled as He. Hence the bitter 
 struggle to overcome difficulty, disappointment, 
 and the repugnance of death. We are apt to im- 
 agine that Christ, being the Son of God, would 
 not shrink from death as we do. He was the Son 
 of God, He was also the Son of Man, and He is 
 "the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever." 
 But we miss the significance of His life and suf- 
 ferings on our behalf, if we fail to see that He 
 experienced to the full the agony of human woe. 
 That cup was held to His lips. He drank it, and 
 drained it to its bitterest dregs. "He steadfastly 
 set His face to go to Jerusalem." 
 
 Think of His years ! He was a young man. 
 Red blood was coursing freely through His veins. 
 Life was as dear to Him as It is to any normal 
 youth. The aged may repine and long to depart, 
 but not so the young, especially those who are on 
 the verge of a great career. The cry of youth 
 is not for death, but life, for opportunity, for ex- 
 pression, for expansion. Our natural inclination Is 
 not to droop, decay and die. We do not wish 
 for death, but life! 
 
240 Soul Crises 
 
 U ) 
 
 Tis life whereof our nerves are scant 
 'Tis life and fuller that we want." 
 
 As we think of His years, we are in a better 
 position to understand why He was troubled when 
 a Greek deputation came and addressing Philip 
 said, "Sir, we would see Jesus." When told of 
 their earnest request He was profoundly moved 
 and said, "The hour is come, that the Son of 
 Man should be glorified." The petition of these 
 pious Greeks gave Him the vision of a great op- 
 portunity. The full significance of their request 
 burst in upon Him like a flood of light. But the 
 question was, how would He answer them ! Their 
 invitation was prompted by the highest motives, 
 and therefore worthy of kindly consideration. 
 But what did it mean ? Yes ! What did it mean ? 
 As the tragedy of the situation gripped Him, He 
 was troubled: He became visibly agitated, and 
 can we wonder when we hear His significant re- 
 ply, "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground 
 and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth 
 forth much fruit." He was the seed corn! The 
 hour was approaching when He must die. It 
 needs no vivid imagination to enter into the pathos 
 of that occasion. Would the Lord Christ not 
 have enjoyed the unspeakable privilege given to 
 St. Paul, of carrying the good news of the King- 
 dom over sea and land; news which would be 
 welcomed and embraced and a nation born in a 
 day? 
 
Christian Courage i^i 
 
 But before Paul could preach as he did, there 
 was a vital preliminary. There was a death to 
 die ! Christ had volunteered to die to save the 
 world and would He draw back? No I Not 
 even this attractive proposition could allure Him 
 from the path which was directing Him to ''a hill 
 called Calvary." Our Lord had all the ambition, 
 all the high ideals, and all the enthusiasm of 
 young manhood. He would have rejoiced as a 
 strong man to be favoured with the exhilarating 
 opportunity Hfe presents, but He did not come 
 into the world for a good time. "He pleased not 
 Himself," and "when the days were well-nigh 
 come that He should be received up, He stead- 
 fastly set His face to go to Jerusalem." 
 
 Think of His experiences! They were so di- 
 versified as to confirm the impression that "the 
 prince of this world" had marshalled his forces 
 at every strategic point to hinder our Lord's prog- 
 ress, to defeat the divine purpose, or by any means 
 to allure Him from the path He had deliberately 
 chosen. We are apt to imagine, after his crush- 
 ing defeat in the wilderness, that the devil would 
 leave Christ severely alone. He did leave Him, 
 but only for a season. And we must remember 
 that from the time when Satan tempting Him 
 said, "All these things will I give Thee, if Thou 
 wilt fall down and worship me," until the day 
 when James and John asked permission to call 
 down fire from heaven, our Lord was persistently 
 presented with the thought of leaving "the way of 
 
242 Soul Crises 
 
 the Cross," and yielding to the desires of the thou- 
 sands who longed to proclaim Him King. Con- 
 sider what it meant for Christ to adhere so strictly 
 to His resolve "to go to Jerusalem," to Geth- 
 semane, to Calvary when the people were wanting 
 to set Him on the throne of David! There was 
 something to be said in favour of the popular de- 
 mand. Did not the Jews need a king? Was not 
 the Lord Christ a Jew? Was it not a standing 
 disgrace for God's chosen people to be under a 
 heathen power? Was not the time ripe for an- 
 other- Maccabeus to strike in the name of God? 
 Ah, yes! The advocates of striking a popular 
 but effective blow believed the opportune moment 
 had arrived. What was more, Christ had been 
 assured of the wholehearted support of the prince 
 of this world if He would only yield to the popu- 
 lar demand. 
 
 This temptation still stands athwart the path- 
 way of every ambassador of Christ. What things 
 we could accomplish if we were in a different po- 
 sition! What reforms would be wrought if we 
 could only enjoy popularity ! But to live unknown, 
 to walk the hard, unromantic highway seems not 
 to be worth while. Young man! Jesus trod that 
 way. He had all the power and glory of the 
 world offered Him If He would consent to be 
 popular, but He refused point-blank and "stead- 
 fastly set His face to go to Jerusalem." Doubt- 
 less we would have questioned His wisdom and 
 prophesied His oblivion, but regardless of the 
 
Christian Courage 243 
 
 consequences He went on. He had the courage 
 to be unpopular! He dared to be singular! 
 *'He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.'' 
 Our Lord did not despise popularity any more 
 than He sought it. The popularity He enjoyed 
 was well-deserved. He was not a time server, 
 but a genuine lover of men. "He spake as one 
 having authority and not as the scribes." He 
 had a message from God and expressed Himself 
 so clearly and with such conviction that officers 
 sent to arrest Him were arrested by His elo- 
 quence, and returned to their masters saying, 
 "Never man spake like this man." The begin- 
 ning of His Galilean ministry was full of promise. 
 The news that the long expected Messiah had 
 come was carried from lip to lip until the whole 
 country rang with His name. He performed 
 many wonderful miracles and the people flocked 
 to see and hear Him. It seemed as though the 
 Galileans had with one consent become Christians. 
 But their Messianic hopes were grossly materialis- 
 tic. It soon became evident that they were ob- 
 sessed with the idea of a great political conquest. 
 Believing the time ripe for revolt, they sought to 
 force the issue by making Christ king. He de- 
 liberately refused to yield to their demand. He 
 told them plainly that He was not a political agi- 
 tator any more than He was a "Bread-king." 
 This brought about a crisis, and those Galileans 
 who had been His most ardent admirers received 
 a sudden chill and forsook Him forthwith. They 
 
244 Soul Crises 
 
 were grievously disappointed in Him and became 
 incensed against Him. This was a cruel turn in 
 the tide of events. His labours in Galilee with a 
 few noble exceptions had been in vain. Nazareth ! 
 so full of tender memories. Nazareth ! where He 
 had spent so many peaceful years treated Him 
 shamefully. Chorazin, Bethsaida and Caper- 
 naum, on the shores of the silver lake, whose 
 every field He had traversed, performing works 
 of mercy, "and preaching the gospel of the King- 
 dom," they turned away from Him. 
 
 During the latter part of His ministry He had 
 to encounter opposition from almost every con- 
 ceivable quarter. Six months before He suffered 
 He left Galilee and ''steadfastly set His face to 
 go to Jerusalem." When we consider all the 
 agony of rejection behind and the fatal hour be- 
 fore who will hesitate to say that that journey is 
 unique in the annals of our race? "He steadfastly 
 set His face to go to Jerusalem." On the way He 
 was often absorbed in the thought of the stern 
 reality ahead. At times the tension was so great 
 that He quickened his gait and went on ahead of 
 His disciples. "They were amazed, and as they 
 followed, they were afraid." At other times, He 
 went more deliberately. We see Him blessing 
 little children. We also see Him among His 
 friends at Bethany, but Jerusalem was His goal. 
 
 "He steadfastly set His face to go to Jeru- 
 salem," and when the hour struck on God's clock 
 He was there. We hear His significant prayer: 
 
Christian Courage 245 
 
 "Father, the hour is come." "The hour!" How 
 stupendous were the issues of that critical hour! 
 We get a faint idea of what that hour meant to 
 Him as we see Him in Gethsemane, as we behold 
 His agony and hear Him cry, "O My Father, if 
 it be possible, let this cup pass from Me: never- 
 theless not as I will, but as Thou wilt." We hear 
 footsteps, and at the head of a multitude armed 
 with swords and staves, we see Judas. We see 
 Jesus come forth, the supreme crisis past, a con- 
 queror, and with regal mien He goes to give His 
 life a ransom for many. 
 
 Men wax eloquent about deeds of daring, but 
 where will you find a more sublime exhibition of 
 Christian fortitude than is exhibited in the cour- 
 age of the Christ? We glorify the heroes of war, 
 and many courageous deeds have been performed 
 in battle. But when we calmly consider all the 
 facts we shall give the first place to the heroes of 
 peace. Thousands of the heroes of peace have 
 gone into the present struggle not because they 
 love peace the less, but because they love honour 
 more. It is Jesus who creates the latter type of 
 hero and heroine. Scores of them move in and out 
 among us. We do not recognize them, conse- 
 quently we fail to appreciate their dignity and 
 worth. But the crowning day is coming, then we 
 shall marvel at our present inability to recognize 
 those of whom the world is not worthy. Jesus 
 Christ is the noblest example of moral courage the 
 world has ever seen, and the most courageous 
 
246 Soul Crises 
 
 thing any man, woman, or child can do is to fol- 
 low in His train. To renounce every idol, and to 
 follow Jesus all the way, we need courage ! To be 
 Christian in principle and Christlike in practice 
 we need courage ! To live the Christian life as 
 Christ lived it, we certainly need courage. 
 
 What is courage? Whatever it may be, it is 
 not starting on some one less than ourselves. 
 Yet we only need to scan the pages of history 
 to see how many have become heroic on this 
 principle. One of the glaring evils of history is 
 that of lauding men who have been positive ene- 
 mies of the human race. But the time has come 
 when these so-called heroes should receive the 
 execration they so richly deserve. To start on 
 one less than yourself is not the act of a hero but 
 of a coward. We have a ghastly illustration of 
 this principle in the German invasion of Belgium. 
 Germany may plead "military necessity," but a 
 "military necessity" that deliberately tears up 
 treaties and wantonly exposes a peace-abiding 
 country to the barbarism to which Belgium has 
 been subjected is a long way out of date. It is a 
 crime and furthermore, it is doomed! By such 
 an outrage Germany has stamped herself with a 
 disgrace that time will never erase. The truly 
 courageous man never plays the part of a bully, 
 rather, he defends the weak, and when under 
 provocation does not fly to nature's first aid of 
 settling every dispute with his fists. 
 
 Again, courage does not necessarily mean to be 
 
Christian Courage 247, 
 
 void of fear. Take two soldiers who have been 
 to the front, and question them about their ex- 
 ploits. One laughs and says, "he didn't care," 
 and as you consider his burly physical proportions 
 and his iron will it really looks as though noth- 
 ing could frighten him. He contends that he 
 does not know what fear is. Such a man may 
 have performed a thrilling deed, but his heroism 
 is far from being of the highest order. Another 
 soldier who startled the world by his achievement 
 is very reticent; he does not want to talk about 
 it. He admits it is like a nightmare to him, and 
 to his bosom companion he confesses that he 
 was afraid. He was so frightened that his nerves 
 threatened to get the better of him, but he knew 
 how much depended on his venture, and with a 
 prayer to God for strength to do his duty, he went 
 on ! The first soldier's courage is not be despised, 
 but the second soldier's courage is moral courage, 
 and for such courage we should all devoutly pray. 
 The primary lesson God would have us learn is 
 to be courageous. Christian courage is moral 
 courage with a Christian aim and motive. It is 
 not ours by nature. Christian courage is im- 
 parted by Christ. When the Jewish authorities 
 "saw the boldness of Peter and John they took 
 knowledge of them, that they had been with 
 Jesus." 
 
 Christian courage is the courage of endurance. 
 In the courageous example of our Lord, we dis- 
 cern these features among others — faith, obedi- 
 
248 Soul Crises 
 
 ence, patience and perseverance. If we would be 
 partakers of the courage of the Christ we must 
 enter His school, as would-be heroes, we must 
 learn of Him. As heroic Christians, let us "stead- 
 fastly set" our faces to "adorn the doctrine of 
 God our Saviour in all things." We need cour- 
 age to enable us to triumph over difficulty, des- 
 pondency and discouragement. These are real 
 foes that we have to face every day. By difficulty 
 I mean anything of an arduous or an embar- 
 rassing nature. If we have purposed in our 
 hearts to live lives of uncompromising integrity, 
 we will discover that we are on a rough up-hill 
 road, and we will find ourselves in a great many 
 embarrassing situations. It requires moral 
 courage to say "no" to what is wrong and "yes" 
 to Christ. It is hard to be truly Christian in con- 
 versation and conduct, but if we endure hardness 
 as good soldiers of Jesus Christ, we will become 
 more Christlike, and what distinction is compar- 
 able to that! It is of the very nature of difficulty 
 to inspire courage, besides giving us the oppor- 
 tunity of doing exploits. 
 
 Again, we require courage to conquer despond- 
 ency. In the common, every-day routine of life, 
 our trials and sufferings may so exhaust us that 
 we are tempted to lose hope. We become de- 
 pressed and Hve in the anticipation of an over- 
 whelming calamity. Sometimes, with the best 
 of intentions, we find it hard to rise to the oc- 
 casion; we get somewhat unnerved. But what- 
 
Christian Courage 249 
 
 ever we do let us not be always looking for 
 trouble. A great many of the evils we dread are 
 more imaginary than real. When in Yorkshire, 
 England, I heard a rather amusing story of a 
 preacher whom I knew personally. It was in 
 my first pastoral charge and I can hear him yet 
 as he frequently and fervently prayed: "God 
 bless the lad!" "God bless the lad!" How 
 omnipotent the preacher feels when such peti- 
 tions are presented on his behalf! Well, this 
 dear old saint who has since gone Home was ap- 
 pointed to preach one Sunday evening at a coun- 
 try charge. In the gathering gloom he journeyed 
 through the fields to complete his engagement. 
 When he got so far through a certain field, he 
 was alarmed to see a wild bull moving in his 
 direction. He turned, took his heels, and ran. 
 It is an awful experience to be chased by a wild 
 bull, and in our imagination we can see the 
 preacher making his exit over the fence as grace- 
 fully as the occasion would permit. But the 
 preacher was not overtaken. It is really wonder- 
 ful what speed preachers can get on, sometimes. 
 Perspiring freely he hurried home and related 
 his experience to some friends. Next morning 
 a party set out to locate the bull and acquaint the 
 owner of his nature. They found the field with- 
 out any difficulty, but they could not find the bull. 
 What they did see was a lonely calf which seemed 
 very desirous of a little company. In the dark- 
 ness things look frightfully big. It is more than 
 
250 Soul Crises 
 
 likely that the preacher had a wild bull in his 
 imagination, and he saw one. Are not some of 
 us living too far in the shade? That may ac- 
 count for our seeing so many things working 
 against us. 
 
 Let us have courage to step out into the sunny 
 paths or faith, and hope and love, and in at least 
 nine cases out of ten we shall find that the wild 
 bull is only a frolicsome calf. Set your face 
 steadfastly to meet in a courageous spirit all the 
 risks to which you may be exposed. 
 
 Finally we need courage to drive away dis- 
 couragement. When I wanted to know what dis- 
 couragement meant, I looked in the dictionary 
 and learned that it meant, "to repress or pre- 
 vent." Oh! what power discouragement exerts 
 to hold us back! A young man says, "nobody 
 takes pains to understand me." Perhaps there 
 is very little to understand In him. He does not 
 think of this and gets discouraged. Young man! 
 Whether people take pains to understand you or 
 not, make an honest attempt to understand your- 
 self and master yourself. And such an ac- 
 complishment will set you higher in the moral 
 realm than Alexander the Great who conquered 
 the world, but was ignominlously defeated by 
 himself. It is more than likely that you will re- 
 quire all your moral courage to defend your 
 honour, to guard your morals, to retain your 
 purity, and to forge your way through to a 
 worthy place in the van of progress. 
 
Christian Courage 251 
 
 Shall we take another glance at our text? "He 
 steadfastly set His face." Have you seen that 
 face? You have heard others talk about it, but 
 if you have not seen it for yourself gaze upon 
 it now, and you will behold the brightness of the 
 Father's glory and the express image of His per- 
 son. Gaze upon that face and you will lose your 
 sins, your vanity, your timidity. And as you 
 continue to gaze, your face will become Christ- 
 like, your character will become God-like. You 
 will develop that calm, purposeful resolution you 
 see written upon His features, and you will stead- 
 fastly set your face to do His will. Shall we not, 
 even now, resolve, by loyalty to Christ, to create 
 a healthier moral atmosphere, to do what in our 
 power lies to make it easier for our weak brother 
 to do right than to do wrong? Our principles 
 will be tested, and our courage will be challenged, 
 but let our attitude be similar to the best blood of 
 Scotland, as they stood around their King at 
 Flodden : 
 
 "One by one they fell around him, 
 As the archers laid them low; 
 Grimly dying, still unconquered, 
 With their faces to the foe." 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 A GREAT SPECIALIST 
 
 One thing have I desired of the Lord, that nvill I seek after ; 
 that I may divell in the house of the Lord all the days of my 
 life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in His 
 Temple.— Fs. XXVII, 4. 
 
 THESE words express the hightest ambition 
 of the sons of God. They are the expression 
 of a man who has proved the worth of a life of 
 faith. He is not an amateur, rather he is a 
 worthy veteran. He has experienced the rude 
 shocks of life. Recently he has been in the dark. 
 It may be the darkness of sin or sorrow from 
 which he is emerging, for he confesses, "The 
 Lord is my light and my salvation." He has been 
 opposed or persecuted for he throws down the 
 challenge, "Whom shall I fear?" In the atti- 
 tude of a warrior ready for the fray he cries, 
 "The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom 
 shall I be afraid?" His faith has been a refuge 
 in time of trouble; a shield against the wicked, 
 and a joy in peace and prosperity. He knows 
 where to go when in trouble, he knows how to 
 fight and prevail, and what is more he gives us 
 the benefit of his experience. "For in the time 
 
 252 
 
A Great Specialist 253 
 
 of trouble, He shall hide me in His pavilion: in 
 the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me: 
 He shall set me upon a rock. And now shall mine 
 head be lifted up above mine enemies round about 
 me: therefore will I offer In His tabernacle sacri- 
 fices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises 
 unto the Lord." 
 
 How refreshing to meet a man whose religion 
 Is not merely a creed, or an orthodoxy, but a life ! 
 Not a sickly, half-starved life, but healthy, ani- 
 mated, and joyous. 
 
 But who was this man? The critics have dis- 
 covered that David did not write all the Psalms. 
 We need not be dismayed. We have the Psalms, 
 and if David did not compose them all it goes 
 to prove that instead of one, there was a whole 
 host of sweet singers In Israel. David may have 
 been an unusually good singer. He was above 
 the average in ability and in piety, and possibly 
 his whole-hearted devotion has been the prime 
 factor In perpetuating his fame. Any man who 
 serves God with all the enthusiasm of his being 
 has the great probabilities in his favour of being 
 a better workman whatever trade he ply. Thank 
 God for the unnamed Psalmists in Israel! Thank 
 God for the unrecorded heroes and heroines of 
 Christ, men and women of whom the world is 
 not worthy, who at this moment are edifying the 
 world by the sweet melody of their lives ! 
 
 Perhaps In three or four thousand years from 
 now, the higher critics of that future age will be 
 
254 ^oul Crises 
 
 criticising the psalms of to-day. Probably they 
 will start out with the impression that Tennyson 
 and Wordsworth and Longfellow wrote them 
 all. Then they will discover many which are 
 anonymous, and some wiseacre will publish a 
 learned treatise announcing that "Tennyson and 
 Wordsworth and Longfellow never lived." To 
 prevent this blunder, let us put it on record that 
 we are proud of our Christian poets, and, al- 
 though we are not all Tennysons and Longfel- 
 lows, we all sing the same songs. I am not sure 
 whether all the critics are agreed as to who com- 
 posed this Psalm, but if I rightly read the spirit 
 of it, it is of Davidic origin. The language of 
 our text, in which the Psalmist gives utterance 
 to his earnest request, is so suggestive of that 
 tenacity of purpose and so full of that whole- 
 hearted abandonment, which is such an essential 
 factor in the soul of every seeker after God, that 
 I attribute it to the man after God's own heart. 
 "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will 
 I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of 
 the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the 
 beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in His 
 Temple." 
 Notice 
 
 I THE SIMPLICITY OF HIS REQUEST 
 
 "One thing have I asked of the Lord." The 
 Psalmist saw the advantage of having an over- 
 
A Great Specialist 255 
 
 ruling purpose In life, and he made his request 
 for "one thing." Such a simple request Is easily 
 understood, and is more likely to be granted than 
 when we hesitate In making our choice. The dif- 
 ficulty with most of us is that we have such a 
 variety of aims and desires we are at a loss 
 which to put In the first place. Many of our 
 aims are transient, some trivial, and others fairly 
 Important. Our plea Is that we are men of affairs 
 and we cannot confine ourselves so as always to 
 be thinking about religion. But the choice of 
 this "one thing" Is not limitation, it is true self- 
 expression. The Psalmist had his affairs to at- 
 tend to, but In all, through all, and above all, he 
 had a master passion; he wanted "one thing." 
 Doubtless this one thing included many lesser 
 wishes, but his life, instead of being a series of 
 contradictions, was a harmonious whole. Like 
 tributaries finding an outlet in the river, and the 
 river in the ocean, everything contributed to the 
 supreme purpose of his being. We may have a 
 diversity of aims, but it is our prerogative to 
 see that all contribute to the all-controlling pur- 
 pose of life. The Psalmist wanted one thing, 
 and he knew what he wanted. In making our 
 selection of the good things of life too many of 
 us are like children, before Christmas, writing to 
 Santa Claus, stating, "I want, I want," until there 
 is no end of wants. We want too many things, 
 but when a man knows what he needs, and says 
 deliberately, "I want one thing," we are prepared 
 
256 Sotd Crises 
 
 to listen. If that one thing is worthy of his man- 
 hood, God is prepared to listen, and what Is more, 
 God enters Into partnership with that man, and 
 the enduring nature of his achievements will even- 
 tually convince his fellows that he is backed by 
 the power of omnipotence. If we desire to 
 enter into such a partnership, we must be pre- 
 pared to live the simple life. What a contrast is 
 presented between the Psalmist and us ! His life 
 was simple, ours is complex. His wants were 
 few, ours seem to be legion. 
 
 Mark you ! Simplicity Is not necessarily super- 
 ficiality. A great many of us are superficial 
 enough, when we consider how content we are 
 to merely skim the surface of life, and to live 
 almost entire strangers to those habits of life 
 which helped our fathers to become seers, and 
 our mothers to become saints. Our fathers were 
 men of sturdy quahtles. They were men of 
 mental and moral caliber, and we are not sur- 
 prised because they lived the simple life. They 
 were frugal in their habits. They took time to 
 meditate upon the meaning of life, and talked fre- 
 quently and Intelligently of the deep things of 
 God. How entertaining and instructive it was 
 to us, as we listened to the saints of a genera- 
 tion ago, while they conversed of those "things 
 the angels desire to look Into." These are among 
 the most precious memories of former days, days 
 never to be forgotten when our parents read the 
 sacred page, and kneeling, talked with heaven's 
 
A Great Specialist 257 
 
 eternal King. Alas for us! so many of us are 
 living such superficial lives that we are afraid to 
 speak of the religion we profess. i\.m I wrong 
 in surmising an alarming lack of private prayer 
 and meditation, that simple but certain nourisher 
 of sainthood? Life has become so complex and 
 boisterous now-a-days that we seem to be total 
 strangers to the deep experiences of life. We 
 rush forward headlong, and it looks as though 
 ev^erything must be sacrificed to speed. The 
 luxury of one generation becomes the necessity 
 of the next, and where will it end? Civilization 
 first gives freedom and then enslaves. In the 
 rush of modern civilization we cannot have all, 
 so let us be content with what we need. Certain 
 things we do require, others we may be better 
 without. Amid the roar of the traflic, let us 
 pause and ask ourselves what is really worth 
 while, and like the Psalmist we shall resolve our 
 desires from the complex to the simple and make 
 our request for "one thing." Secondly notice, 
 
 II THE SINCERITY OF HIS REQUEST 
 
 "One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will 
 I seek after." This qualifying clause reveals the 
 sincerity of the Psalmist. He has asked not 
 merely for "one thing," but he has set his heart 
 on it, and determines to do what he can to get 
 it. His attitude is suggestive of determination, 
 endurance, and achievement. God honours the 
 
258 Soul Crises 
 
 faith of the earnest man. As we sometimes say, 
 "God helps those who help themselves." It is 
 only when we have given proof of our sincerity 
 that God will do for us, "above all we ask or 
 think." The Psalmist has his daily routine to 
 go through, but every task is made subservient 
 to this, "I will attend religiously to every detail 
 of my work, but amid all that is trivial and 
 menial, this 'one thing' I live for." If a man 
 really wants anything worth while, he will dare 
 to risk the loss of other things to specialize upon 
 that. The Psalmist determines to become a spe- 
 cialist. It has been the same in every age. To- 
 day we have specialists in every department of 
 life, and any man who has risen to eminence has 
 been a specialist along certain lines. What we 
 need above all else to-day, in every department 
 of life, is only too apparent; we need specialists 
 in sainthood. The one thing worth living for is 
 Christ-likeness, "to live so that Christ will ap- 
 prove our life." Enoch was a specialist. We 
 are not in a position to say precisely what his oc- 
 cupation In life was, but we do know that, "he 
 walked with God, and he was not for God took 
 him." Samuel was a specialist. He specialized 
 upon prayer. Was there ever a better judge in 
 the land? How high his rugged personality 
 towers above the ordinary when he cries, "God 
 forbid that I should sin against the Lord In ceas- 
 ing to pray for you." The disciples were spe- 
 cialists. Peter as their spokesman said, "Lo ! we 
 
A Great Specialist 259 
 
 have left all and followed Thee." St. Paul was 
 a specialist, and how like the Psalmist in his atti- 
 tude ! "This one thing I do, forgetting those 
 things which are behind, and reaching forth unto 
 those things which are before, I press toward 
 the mark for the prize of the high calling of God 
 in Christ Jesus." The Puritans were specialists. 
 They specialized, not upon accumulation, but 
 upon the fear of God. To the Puritans, God was 
 over all blessed forever, they feared Him and 
 they feared none beside. 
 
 If we as young men are to lead the forlorn 
 hope we must specialize, not necessarily in 
 swordsmanship, but in sainthood. "If the 
 trumpet shall give an uncertain sound who shall 
 prepare himself for battle?" We demand ster- 
 ling integrity in our leaders. We have a noble 
 army of leaders to-day, but the ranks are thinning. 
 There are many gaps to be filled. Up, young 
 men ! and claim your inheritance. We have 
 Puritan blood in our veins, and we cannot suffer 
 the ideals our fathers lived, and suffered, and 
 died to realize to be ruthlessly destroyed. We 
 are doubtless proud of our branch of the Chris- 
 tian Church, and if Presbyterianism has stood 
 for anything at all, it has been the exponent of 
 unswerving righteousness. Young men ! special- 
 izing in sainthood is not the sickly, sentimental 
 business some of you imagine it is. It is some- 
 thing that demands application. You cannot 
 treat it lightly for It is your very life. If you 
 
26o Soul Crises 
 
 want to become a Christian hero, bend your 
 energies, and say with the sweet singer of Israel, 
 "that will I seek after." Seek that pearl of great 
 price though it mean weariness and pain, though 
 it mean bloodshed and tears, seek and you shall 
 find. Finally and briefly notice: 
 
 III THE SUBSTANCE OF THE PSALMIST's REQUEST 
 
 "One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will 
 I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the 
 Lord all the days of my Hfe, to behold the beauty 
 of the Lord, and to inquire in His Temple." 
 This is what the Psalmist wants. It is a worthy 
 request and he dares to announce it. This proves 
 that he was a man after God's own heart. How 
 few dare to lay bare the uppermost and inmost 
 longings of their hearts! The inmost desires of 
 some of us might be no credit either to us, or to 
 our Christian training. Are we longing for that 
 which is unlawful or unseemly? Beware! You 
 cannot take fire into your bosom and not be 
 burned. Let your inmost longing be worthy of 
 your self-respect, worthy of your parents, worthy 
 of your country, and worthy of your God. The 
 substance of the Psalmist's request is that he 
 wants to dwell, to behold, and to inquire. This 
 threefold request being granted would give any 
 man the summum bonum, the supreme good of 
 life. Man craves a home, and here is one man 
 who wants to live with God. "That I may dwell 
 
A Great Specialist 261 
 
 In the house of the Lord all the days of my life." 
 What does he mean? We must not take him 
 too literally. Isaiah may help us. He says, "and 
 it shall come to pass in the last days, that the 
 mountain of the Lord's house shall be established 
 in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted 
 above the hills; and all nations shall flow 
 unto it." What is the meaning of this figurative 
 language? Simply a statement of the sublime 
 fact that wherever there is a child of God, there 
 he may erect an altar, and even though the 
 ground be hard and covered with stones he may 
 like Jacob realize, that "this is none other than 
 the house of God and this the gate of heaven." 
 The house of God is where the worshipper bows 
 in spirit and communes with God. The whole 
 world is the house of God to the devout soul. 
 Men who have sought to localize and monopolize 
 God have entertained wrong views of Him. Our 
 Lord's reply to the Samaritan woman was pro- 
 foundly significant, "The hour cometh, and now 
 is, when the true worshippers shall worship the 
 Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father 
 seeketh such to worship Him." The Psalmist 
 had a longing for God amounting to an ardent 
 passion. He wanted to be like God, and he right- 
 ly thought that the surest way to become like God 
 was to live with Him, in the same house. 
 
 Further, He wanted to see "the beauty of the 
 Lord." How grateful we should be for the 
 faculty of vision! A great man has made the 
 
262 Soul Crises 
 
 interesting statement that eighty per cent, of our 
 knowledge comes to us through the medium of 
 our eyes. One thing is very evident, we see what 
 we are looking for. The Psalmist wanted to 
 penetrate to the heart of things, he wanted to 
 concentrate his gaze upon the glory of the She- 
 kinah. What a conception he had of God! — "to 
 gaze upon the pleasantness of Jehovah." But 
 magnificent as his conception was, we are even 
 more highly favoured. "The Word was made 
 flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His 
 glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the 
 Father, full of grace and truth. 
 
 What think ye of Christ? Men have com- 
 plained that there was no beauty in Him that we 
 should desire Him. His visage was marred. Yet 
 some have looked until they declared Him to be 
 "the fairest among ten thousand, and the alto- 
 gether lovely." In Him we see truth in its beauty, 
 love in its purity, and holiness in its winsome- 
 ness. Have you, like John, "beheld His glory?" 
 
 Finally, the Psalmist says he wants "to in- 
 quire." Man is a big interrogation mark. God 
 has set eternity in our hearts and we are born 
 inquirers. We all ask questions, but the pity is 
 that so many of us are inquiring about the 
 transient or the base. "Wherewithal shall I be 
 clothed?" or fed? Shall I pull down my barns 
 and build greater? Child of time, build for 
 eternity. "He that dwelleth In the secret place 
 of the Most High shall abide under the shadow 
 
A Great Specialist 262 
 
 of the Almighty." "Inquire in His Temple!" 
 In the olden days people went to inquire of the 
 Lord about everything. It was an inquiry of a 
 domestic nature that led Saul to his kingdom. 
 Hannah inquired of the Lord. Samuel was born, 
 and who will say that she inquired in vain? This 
 Is true worship, that we consult God in every- 
 thing. Such worship edifies. By frequent com- 
 munion we receive fresh stimulus and encourage- 
 ment. Such worship enlightens. Do we need 
 pardon? "Ask and ye shall receive." Do we 
 need guidance? "He that followeth Me shall 
 not walk In darkness, but shall have the light 
 of life." Such worship equips for the daily task. 
 So let us determine to glorify God and enjoy 
 Him forever. Amen. 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 A NATIONAL TRINITY 
 
 And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray Thee open his eyes, 
 that he may see. — II Kings VI, 17. 
 
 IN our text we have a trinity who unite in 
 providing one of the most fascinating chap- 
 ters In Jewish history. Fortunate indeed is the 
 nation boasting such a trinity and where each of 
 its three persons are had in becoming reverence 
 and esteem. The nation void of this trinity or 
 lacking any one of these three may well start at 
 the sight of the handwriting upon the walls of its 
 most enduring institutions, for its days are num- 
 bered and its overthrow in sight. 
 
 The first person in this trinity is The Lord. 
 "And Elisha prayed, and said. Lord, I pray 
 Thee." The most casual observer could not fail 
 to recognize that there was a God in Israel. This 
 was the most conspicuous fact in the history of 
 that remarkable people. This thought gripped 
 every Jew and gave him such poise and power 
 as made him both the envy and the admiration 
 of mankind. Other nations boasted a pantheon, 
 a whole procession of gods, but the Jew was not 
 264 
 
A National Trinity 265 
 
 envious. Had he not proved what the modern 
 world with all its scientific research and its evolu- 
 tionary theories has never disproved that "all 
 the gods of the nations are idols: but the Lord 
 made the heavens." This fundamental tenet of 
 the Jewish faith was imparted to each succeed- 
 ing generation. Every Jewish child was told and 
 retold of God, His Being, Power, and Choice, 
 until the idea gripped him and thrilled him; he 
 was one of an elect nation, "chosen of God and 
 precious." God was their King, their Provider, 
 and Defender. When they marched against 
 their enemies it was In the firm assurance that 
 God led them on. If it was a righteous battle 
 their enemies were routed. If it was an un- 
 righteous battle they were defeated and chas- 
 tened. Thus nothing could stand before the 
 dauntless courage of those who charged amid the 
 strains of the warrior psalm: 
 
 "God is our refuge and our strength, 
 In straits a present aid; 
 Therefore although the earth remove, 
 We will not be afraid." 
 
 There was a God in Israel. Is there a God 
 in Britain? The history of the British Empire 
 has been quite as remarkable as that of Israel. 
 When our history as a people is complete, it will 
 read like a romance. To the serious students of 
 history our own is coming to be recognized as a 
 
266 Soul Crises 
 
 romance of faith. Every historic event in the 
 United Kingdom has left a record so plain that 
 he who runs may read that there is a God in 
 Britain. Early in the Christian era, the gospel 
 was preached in the mother country. The seed 
 was sown in good ground and is bringing forth 
 a harvest that will continue to be reaped until the 
 angel shall set one foot on sea and the other on 
 land, and proclaim that time shall be no more. 
 Rising from a mere handful of God-fearing citi- 
 zens, the British Nation has grown to be an em- 
 pire upon which the sun never sets. Innumer- 
 able factors have contributed to this result, 
 factors which we gratefully acknowledge, but the 
 supreme factor that has made this brilliant 
 achievement possible is God. Our late beloved 
 Queen Victoria expressed our imperial senti- 
 ments most aptly when, lifting a copy of the 
 Scriptures, she said "this is the secret of Eng- 
 land's greatness." In the steadfast adherence of 
 the British Empire to the cause of righteousness, 
 and in her role as a herald of the Evangel, we 
 have conclusive evidence that there has been a 
 God in Britain, but can that assertion be made 
 without fear of contradiction in the living 
 present? 
 
 Is there a God in Canada to-day? Israel 
 fulfilled her mission, and Britain is in the zenith 
 of her glory, while in Canada we are laying the 
 foundations of an empire within an empire. 
 When we consider the area, the natural and min- 
 
A National Trinity 267 
 
 eral resources of the Dominion, together with the 
 rapidity with which thousands are seeking homes 
 in our beloved land, we rightly anticipate a tre- 
 mendous future. It is the overwhelming convic- 
 tion of all who have the highest interests of the 
 Dominion at heart that if ever a country needed 
 the presence and superintendence of a God, we 
 need a God in Canada to-day. Yes! There is 
 a God in Canada. This is God's country, and 
 thousands of the best blood of our land have 
 sworn, "As for me and my house we will serve 
 the Lord." There is a God in Canada, and He 
 is going to win the day. There are those who 
 would like to contradict this assertion, and many 
 evils thrive in defiance. Because of these we 
 mourn, but we do not despair. Their days are 
 numbered! Even now, the ranks are filling, and 
 the prayer ascending, "Let God arise, and let His 
 enemies be scattered." I warn you who are in- 
 clined to sneer "there is no God in Canada," to 
 change your attitude from that of cynicism and 
 indifference to one of joyful recognition and ap- 
 preciation. God will vindicate His honour and 
 lay bare His mighty arm. Slowly but surely He 
 is eliminating the bad and establishing the good. 
 But you ask, "How do these statements harmon- 
 ise with the present war?" We deplore the 
 necessity of war, but where honour and righteous- 
 ness are involved we do not hesitate. Great 
 Britain is at war because of a choice between two 
 evils, the evil of going to war, and the greater 
 
^68 Soul Crises 
 
 evil of peace with dishonour. The Psalmist said, 
 "I have seen the wicked in great power, and 
 spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he 
 passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought 
 him, but he could not be found." Listen to the 
 words of Jeremiah. His words were never more 
 significant than they are to-day. "Thus saith 
 the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wis- 
 dom, neither let the mighty man glory in his 
 might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: 
 but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he 
 understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the 
 Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, 
 and righteousness, in the earth: for in these 
 things I delight, saith the Lord." 
 
 The second person in this trinity is The Proph- 
 et. "And Elisha prayed and said, O Lord I 
 pray Thee." Next to the Lord, the most conspicu- 
 ous part in Israel was played by the prophet. 
 It was necessary for God to communicate His 
 wishes to the sons of men, and the prophet was 
 the spokesman of God. The prophets of Israel 
 were both human and divine. They kept their 
 eyes upon the great white throne, and this in- 
 tensified their interest in the national weal. To 
 prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah who had to 
 prophesy of their country's downfall their task 
 was a heartbreak, and how eagerly they turn 
 from national disaster to the glory of the latter 
 days! All the prophets of Israel were great 
 personalities, and although ranging from the 
 
A National Trinity 269 
 
 lofty grandeur of Moses to the uncompromising 
 fidelity of Samuel, from the rugged spendour of 
 Elijah to the meek simplicity of Elisha, they were 
 equally attractive. For such a prophetic suc- 
 cession we most humbly and devoutly pray. 
 
 The prophet is one who hears, who sees, and 
 who speaks. He has learned the fine art of listen- 
 ing. God speaks, frequently and eloquently, but 
 the majority do not heed. They are so pre- 
 occupied that they do not hear. As in the days 
 of our Lord, when God speaks, there are those 
 who testify that it thundered, while others come 
 much nearer the truth by declaring that "an 
 angel spake." The prophet is not disturbed by 
 the earthquake and the fire for behind them he 
 can distinguish the "still small voice." What we 
 need to cultivate more and more in these days of 
 rush and bustle is the art of listening. How 
 easy it is to interpret the message of God when 
 we have learned how to hear. 
 
 The prophet is one who sees! He penetrates 
 the unseen. Before all, and in all, and over all, 
 he sees God, and he sees the national policy to- 
 gether with individual motives in the light of the 
 great white throne. 
 
 The prophet speaks! He does not speak at 
 random but under divine guidance. How often 
 in history when every other voice has been 
 silenced the prophet has spoken in clear, ringing 
 tones, and not only saved the situation, but trans- 
 formed national misgiving into a great mission- 
 
270 Soul Crises 
 
 ary opportunity. When Naaman, the Syrian, 
 presented himself before the king of Israel and 
 requested to be cleansed of his leprosy, the king 
 "rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and 
 make alive, that this man doth send unto me to 
 recover a man of his leprosy? Wherefore con- 
 sider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a 
 quarrel against me." And when Elisha the man 
 of God heard that the king of Israel had rent 
 his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, "Where- 
 fore hast thou rent thy clothes? Let him come 
 now to me, and he shall know that there is a 
 prophet in Israel." 
 
 The message of the prophet in the old dis- 
 pensation was national in its bearing, while the 
 message of the modern prophet has no regard 
 for international boundaries, but is of uni- 
 versal significance. The modern prophet is a 
 Christian imperialist and in the name of the 
 Father of the spirits of all flesh, he speaks to 
 every nation under heaven. While we esteem 
 our army and navy highly in love for their works' 
 sake, let us recognize the preeminence of the 
 prophet as a guardian of our shores. 
 
 The third person in this trinity is The Young 
 Man. "And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I 
 pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And 
 the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and 
 he saw." The young man is an indispensable ele- 
 ment in this trinity. Her young men are a na- 
 tion's most valuable assets. As a nation the Jews 
 
A National Trinity l^ji 
 
 had a high regard for their young men. David 
 and Jonathan, Daniel and Nehemiah, are illus- 
 trious examples of that religious patriotism which 
 had been instilled into their youthful minds, which 
 was their motive-power, and which gave them 
 a permanent place in the hall of fame. Great 
 Britain is under an enormous obligation to her 
 young men. Lord Clive was a reckless boy when 
 he sailed for India. There one bitter experience 
 succeeded another until disappointed and de- 
 jected he spent his remaining money in purchas- 
 ing a revolver with which to take his life. Twice 
 he held the weapon to his temple and pulled the 
 trigger and twice it failed to discharge. It 
 clicked, but would not go off. Throwing the 
 weapon down upon the table and himself into a 
 chair, he did some hard thinking. Presently a 
 friend entered the room. Clive said, "Take that, 
 and fire through the window!" He did so! 
 There was a loud report, and Clive, springing 
 to his feet cried, "I think I am reserved for some- 
 thing great!" And so it proved. He conquered 
 India, and placed in the British Crown one of 
 its most precious gems. 
 
 A number of years ago the members of the 
 War Office in London were debating the 
 prospects of a certain venture. They sent for 
 their oldest general and asked him his opinion. 
 He said it was simply impossible. Then they 
 sent for the next in order and so on until they 
 reached the youngest general they had. And they 
 
272 Soul Crises 
 
 said, "Wolfe, can you win Canada for Great 
 Britain?" 
 
 Wolfe replied, 'Til do it or die." He did it, 
 and he died, but he did it nevertheless. Won by 
 a young man, Canada is a young man's country. 
 Throughout the Dominion young men are attain- 
 ing to the most responsible positions, and grac- 
 ing them both by efficiency and success. This is 
 preeminently the young man's day, and every 
 young man should prepare assiduously for the 
 position in life he may be called upon without 
 previous warning to fill. 
 
 The whole civilized world is gazing intently 
 upon the present crisis in Europe. Every man 
 of genuine worth feels that this is a young man's 
 fight. Young men have been entrusted with the 
 most responsible positions in the government, in 
 the army, in the navy, and they are acquitting 
 themselves in a manner that leaves nothing to 
 be desired. And what of the men in the 
 trenches? We see the brave young men of Eng- 
 land, Ireland, and Scotland, we see the swarthy 
 sons of India, the sturdy sons of Africa, the gal- 
 lant sons of Australasia, and our noble Canadian 
 young men who have added another illustrious 
 chapter to our youthful history. The call is for 
 young men of mental and moral caliber in every 
 department of life to rise in their might and usher 
 in the order that is to be. Young man, "who 
 knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom, 
 for such a time as this?" 
 
A National Trinity 273 
 
 "And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray 
 Thee open his eyes that he may see." The glory 
 of this trinity is seen to better advantage when 
 we consider the time it was united for action. 
 It was a time of national peril. The feud be- 
 tween Israel and Syria was one of long standing. 
 There had been frequent skirmishes made by the 
 Syrians which were extremely annoying. But 
 during the reign of the present monarch, Ben- 
 hadad II, these had developed into an organized 
 campaign. It was Benhadad's ambition to effect 
 the complete subjection of Samaria. He confided 
 his plan of campaign to his officers who main- 
 tained the utmost secrecy and repeatedly they 
 tried to surprise and capture the king of Israel, 
 but without success. Their plans were frustrated 
 in a way that was hard to account for. The key 
 to the situation was held by the prophet "And 
 the man of God sent to the king of Israel, say- 
 ing, 'Beware that thou pass not such a place: for 
 thither the Syrians are come down.' And the 
 king of Israel sent to the place which the man of 
 God told him and warned him of, and saved him- 
 self there, not once nor twice." His designs were 
 thwarted so completely that Benhadad suspected 
 treachery, and in an agony of bewilderment, he 
 cried, " 'Will ye not show me which of us is for 
 the king of Israel?' And one of his servants 
 said, 'None, my lord, O King: but Elisha, the 
 prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of 
 Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bed- 
 
274 ^oul Crises 
 
 chamber." The mystery explained the rest was 
 quite easy. Capture and despatch the prophet 
 and then the conquest of Israel would only be a 
 question of time. So without delay, Benhadad 
 sent horses and chariots and a great host to 
 Dothan, and they came by night and compassed 
 the city about. And when the servant of the man 
 of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, 
 an host compassed the city both with horses and 
 chariots. And his servant said unto him, "Alas, 
 my master! how shall we do?" The young man 
 was at his wit's end. They had been caught like 
 rats in a trap. And with a cry of dismay, he 
 rushed into the presence of the prophet. They 
 were in a terrible plight. From a human stand- 
 point their capture had been effected. Escape 
 was impossible. The young man saw that re- 
 liance upon human resources was out of the ques- 
 tion, and a very instructive feature of this story 
 is that the young man runs instinctively to the 
 prophet. 
 
 This is precisely what we want our young men 
 to do. We want to cultivate your acquaintance. 
 You need us and we need you. There are those 
 who endeavour to divorce you from the Chris- 
 tian church, by speaking disparagingly of the 
 church and its ministry, but exercise a care, lest 
 for bread you receive a stone. It is easy to criti- 
 cise, it is easy to pull down, but not so easy to 
 build up. The Christian ministry, the modern 
 school of the prophets, does not claim to be a 
 
A National Trinity 275 
 
 perfect Institution, and no one Is readier to 
 acknowledge this than those who have entered 
 this holy calling. But as a class, and especially 
 where they have exercised the function of the 
 prophet, they have invariably championed the 
 cause of righteousness, and challenged the Go- 
 llaths of oppression to combat in the open field. 
 Depend upon it, the prophet is a man, he is a 
 man of God, and as such he Is your friend. He 
 has eyes to see, a heart to feel, and is always 
 willing to lend a helping hand. Those men who 
 have lost faith In God and In all existing institu- 
 tions, and who are red hot for revolution, may 
 Impress you with their vehemence, but they are 
 false prophets. What can they offer as a substi- 
 tute? They have no God! no Christ! They 
 have no spiritual perspective. They are of the 
 earth earthy, and no matter how plausible their 
 arguments, they are officers of Benhadad. Given 
 a free hand they would eliminate worship and 
 strike In their frenzy at the pillars of the great 
 white throne. If they have a panacea let them 
 go out into the highways and byways, where the 
 church goes, and from thence rally their 
 standards and not deplete the armies of the liv- 
 ing God. 
 
 In the hour of peril there was only one place 
 to go, and with dismay written upon his features, 
 the young man burst into the chamber of the 
 prophet and cried, "Alas, my master! how shall 
 we do?" The prophet's reassuring "Fear not" 
 
276 Sotd Crises 
 
 perplexed him until he prayed that remarkable 
 prayer, "Lord, I pray Thee, open his eyes, that 
 he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of 
 the young man; and he saw." A new world burst 
 upon his vision! "The mountain was full of 
 horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha." 
 
 The tables were turned. Their enemies were 
 hopelessly outnumbered. Young men! Do you 
 know anything of that world and its forces which 
 enabled the prophet to be calm in the hour of 
 panic? Do you know anything of that magnifi- 
 cent world to which St. Paul refers, when he 
 prays, "that Christ may dwell in your hearts by 
 faith, that ye being rooted and grounded in love, 
 may be able — may be able — to comprehend with 
 all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and 
 depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, 
 which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled 
 with all the fulness of God?" The Lord! The 
 Prophet! and The Young Man! What achieve- 
 ments have been wrought by these three, and 
 what signal triumphs yet await them ! 
 
 There is something more commendable than 
 what was accomplished by Clive. It is to lead 
 those millions of people in India, who are ready 
 for the gospel message, to adorn the doctrine of 
 God our Saviour. There is something with issues 
 infinitely more tremendous than what was ac- 
 complished by Wolfe, it is to win Canada for 
 Christ. There is something even greater than 
 
A National Trinity 277 
 
 the overthrow of military despotism, it is the 
 recognition of, and unswerving loyalty to Christ 
 the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Will you 
 subscribe to this trinity now? Amen. 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 
 A CHALLENGE TO CIVILIZATION 
 Gird ye on every man his sivord. — I Sam. XXV, 13. 
 
 Tn\AVID was a fugitive but not of justice, he 
 ^^ was in exile through no crime of his own. 
 He was discovered in a national crisis. Under 
 God he had become the champion of his native 
 land. Because of his signal achievements and 
 modest demeanour, he became the object of royal 
 jealousy. Jealousy engendered hatred, and hate 
 deliberately contemplated murder. Saul de- 
 termined to kill David who wisely sought refuge 
 in flight. He kept moving from place to place, 
 for Saul with a zeal worthy of a better cause was 
 hot in pursuit. The fugitive was not overtaken, 
 but by his indiscretion, the king endangered his 
 own life. On more than one occasion David had 
 Saul at his mercy, but he refused to strike, he 
 refrained from lifting his hand against the Lord's 
 anointed. 
 
 David by his conduct in his banishment proved 
 himself a gentleman. That he was a gentleman 
 of a very high order is attested by the fact that 
 while the men who rallied to his standard, — 
 
 278 
 
A Challenge to Civilization 279 
 
 **every one that was In distress, and every one 
 that was In debt, and every one that was discon- 
 tented," — while these men were naturally of a 
 lawless type, he restrained them from all such 
 depredations as make such bands a menace to 
 any law-abiding community. Even though in 
 jeopardy and hunted as an arch-traitor, he never 
 hesitated to wield his sword in his country's cause. 
 Wherever he sought refuge, the people, instead 
 of complaining because of any misdemeanour, 
 were loud in their praise of David and his men. 
 Amid the rocks and caves of Carmel, they en- 
 joyed a brief respite and endeared themselves to 
 the shepherds of Nabal, a wealthy farmer living 
 in Maon. In this mountainous region, the 
 shepherds were exposed to the raids of bandits 
 who lived by plunder. While David and his men 
 were there, the shepherds enjoyed security. The 
 appreciation of the shepherds was ably expressed. 
 "The men were very good unto us, and we were 
 not hurt, neither missed we anything, as long as 
 we were conversant with them, when we were in 
 the fields : They were a wall unto us both by 
 night and day, all the while we were with them 
 keeping the sheep." 
 
 When Nabal was shearing his sheep David, 
 who had to battle with hardship and poverty, sent 
 greetings, and requested a favour in considera- 
 tion for his services. It was a very modest re- 
 quest, simply a request for something to eat. 
 "And Nabal answered David's servants, and 
 
2 8o Soul Crises 
 
 said, 'Who is this David? and who is the son of 
 Jesse? there be many servants now-a-days that 
 break away every man from his master. Shall I 
 take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that 
 I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto 
 men, whom I know not whence they be?' " 
 
 David's young men returned and related 
 Nabal's insolent reply. "And David said unto 
 his men. Gird ye on every man his sword." Such 
 base insolence merited immediate action, and men 
 of the calibre of David were not to be trifled with. 
 Not content with declining to meet David's 
 wishes, Nabal added insult to injury. His reply 
 was a challenge which did not have long to wait 
 for acceptance. "And David said unto his men, 
 Gird ye on every man his sword." There are 
 situations in which we are placed by the tragedy 
 of circumstances, by an unexpected turn of events, 
 which call forth the injunction "Gird ye on every 
 man his sword." 
 
 On the second day of August, 19 14, the whole 
 civilized world stood aghast when Germany de- 
 liberately tore up her treaty which guaranteed 
 the neutrality of Belgium and prepared to pass 
 through that little unoffending country in a swift 
 move on to Paris. Her strategists decided that 
 this was the shortest and quickest route. Taking 
 this path they would soon strike an effective blow. 
 It is now over two and a half years since they set 
 out for Paris and despite their haste, the Ger- 
 mans are not there yet. The shortest route 
 
A Challenge to Civilization 281 
 
 sometimes proves to be the longest road. What 
 was the attitude of King Albert when he heard 
 of this proposed outrage? He sent an appeal 
 to England calculated to move hearts of stone, 
 and without waiting for a reply he turned reso- 
 lutely to his soldiers and said, "Gird ye on every 
 man his sword." The part played by the daunt- 
 less sons of Belgium during the first few weeks 
 of the war will stand as one of the most illustri- 
 ous deeds in the annals of men. When Great 
 Britain who was bound by the same solemn in- 
 ternational treaty as Germany heard of this viola- 
 tion, and remembered her own moral obligations, 
 what did she do? Did she, like Germany, tear 
 up the treaty and refer to it as a scrap of paper? 
 No ! We are a peace-loving people, we had 
 much to lose and little to gain by going to war, 
 and besides we were unprepared for war. But 
 our illustrious monarch never hesitated. Turn- 
 ing to his men he said, "Gird ye on every man 
 his sword." Convinced of the righteousness of 
 the cause for which they were to fight, the re- 
 sponse to the Country's call is without a parallel 
 in history. The contemptible 300,000 rapidly 
 rose to an army of 5,000,000 men. 
 
 As a nation we never have regretted the steps 
 we have taken. In the memorable words of Mr. 
 Asquith, "We are fighting to fulfil a solemn inter- 
 national obligation and to vindicate the principle 
 that small nationalities are not to be crushed, in 
 defiance to international good faith, by the arbi- 
 
2 82 Soul Crises 
 
 trary will of a strong and overmastering power. 
 1 do not believe any nation ever entered into a 
 great controversy — and this is one of the great- 
 est history will ever know — with a clearer con- 
 science and stronger conviction that it is fighting, 
 not for aggression, not for the maintenance of 
 its own selfish interest, but that it is fighting in de- 
 fence of principles, the maintenance of which is 
 vital to the civilization of the world." The many 
 changes which have taken place, the vital ques- 
 tions which have had to be answered have been 
 startling in their significance. 
 
 After two years of the strain imposed by this 
 unique situation, Mr. Asquith resigned as Pre- 
 mier, and Mr. Lloyd George took hold of the 
 reins of Government. We admire both Mr. 
 Asquith and his work, but in Mr. Lloyd George 
 we recognize "one of the biggest men God ever 
 made." He is a God-fearing man and he fears 
 none beside. He has deep convictions regarding 
 right And wrong, and what is more, he has the 
 courage of his convictions. He enjoys the confi- 
 dence of soldier and civilian alike. When we 
 consider his political career, when we remember 
 his strenuous efforts on behalf of righteousness 
 and peace, we may reasonably conclude it was no 
 mere chance that placed him at the helm of the 
 ship of state in such a treacherous sea. Mr. 
 Lloyd George has resolutely opposed war. We 
 respect his stand during the war in South Africa, 
 but it did not take this master statesman long to 
 
A Challenge to Civilization 283 
 
 see that the present struggle was no common fight. 
 After seeing every available means for avert- 
 mg bloodshed rudely rejected, he set to work. 
 What we owe to the indefatigable efforts of this 
 one man would be difficult to estimate. 
 
 One of the first duties he had to perform as 
 prime minister was to consider a peace offer made 
 in Germany. According to that peace offer, Ger- 
 many was to be acknowledged a victor and 
 further she refused to state her terms of peace. 
 It has since resolved itself more into a trap than 
 a genuine offer of peace. What was Mr. 
 George's reply? This modern David, in con- 
 junction with our brave allies, said, "Gird ye on 
 every man his sword." More recently events 
 have moved apace. 
 
 We have just lived through one of the most 
 eventful weeks (January 28 to February 3, 19 17) 
 this continent has ever known. At the beginning 
 of the week we were considering President Wil- 
 son's program for world peace. It was a coura- 
 geous utterance, a fascinating dream. Many of 
 us expressed our views regarding it. Some said, 
 it was not in the realm of practicability, while 
 others hoped to see it adopted. When, lo ! at 
 the end of the week the American Republic is on 
 the verge of war. The Germans practically have 
 delivered an ultimatum to all neutrals and the 
 outlook is very grave. The sudden crisis with 
 which the United States is confronted opens up 
 the whole question of the war and Germany's 
 
284 Soul Crises 
 
 recent move virtually becomes a challenge to 
 civilization. President Wilson should have our 
 sympathy and prayers in this crisis. It would be 
 a serious thing to plunge a nation of a hundred 
 million people into war, especially a nation com- 
 posed of so many nationalities, but there is some- 
 thing even more serious, and that is for a nation 
 to lose its soul. 
 
 "Once to every man and nation comes the mo- 
 ment to decide. 
 
 In the strife of Truth with Falsehood, for the 
 good or evil side; 
 
 Some great cause, God's new Messiah, offering 
 each the bloom or blight. 
 
 Parts the goats upon the left hand, and tha 
 sheep upon the right, 
 
 And the choice goes on forever twixt that dark- 
 ness and that light." ^ 
 
 It is highly desirable that a great nation like 
 the United States of America should command 
 and retain the respect of the civilized world. If 
 President Wilson meets this challenge by turning 
 to his people and saying, "Gird ye on every man 
 his sword," no one will be able to charge him 
 with rashness. He has been so patient and per- 
 sistent in his pacific course that we considered war 
 a stranger to these coasts, when, lo I the unex- 
 pected happens, and war is at our very doors. If 
 
 ^ James Russell Lowell. 
 
A Challenge to Civilization 285 
 
 this world war Is not a fight between Christ and 
 Apollyon, I don't know what is. It is a mo- 
 mentous struggle, it is filling the whole horizon, 
 but considering it in the light of the great moral 
 law, it is only one phase of a war that is as old 
 as time. As one startling situation is succeeded 
 by another, we cannot adopt the attitude of inter- 
 ested spectators. If we would win the unfading 
 crown of manhood and womanhood, we must get 
 into the struggle and determine that everything 
 relative to despotism will be challenged and given 
 no quarter whether it reveals itself in church or 
 state. We are all in this fight, and the sooner 
 we realize the tremendous issues depending upon 
 our waging a good warfare, the better. Some 
 people maintain, we never should fight. As we 
 review the horrors of war, we pray earnestly for 
 peace. I hate war and all that leads to it, but 
 with all reverence I reply that we must always 
 fight. Everything depends on what we are fight- 
 ing for, what we are fighting with, and the spirit 
 in which we are doing our fighting. 
 
 The question no doubt will be asked, "Will the 
 United States be justified in going to war?" Was 
 David justified when he said to his men, "Gird 
 ye on every man his sword?" To answer this 
 question Intelligently we must consider 
 
 THE CHARACTER OF NABAL 
 
 He was a great man. *'And the man was 
 very great." Greatness Is a relative term. 
 
2 86 Soul Crises 
 
 There is a greatness which is synonymous with 
 goodness, and there is a greatness which is 
 synonymous with social prestige. Nabal was 
 great but not in the sight of the Lord. 
 Germany was beginning to impress the world by 
 the greatness of her scientific achievements, and 
 she has made certain contributions to our modern 
 knowledge which entitle her to the designation 
 "great." Nabal was great in his possessions. 
 He had 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats. His 
 possessions gave him his place in society as a 
 man of wealth. Before the war, Germany had 
 great possessions and an increasing asset in her 
 universal trade. Commercially she was very 
 great. If Nabal was great in his wealth, he was 
 even greater in his opportunity. The responsibil- 
 ity of a rich man is grave. His social position 
 gives him a great opportunity for righteousness; 
 and what an opportunity Germany had for good 
 by virtue of her position, few can estimate. 
 
 If Nabal was "very great" in his opportunity 
 he was still greater in his traditions. He was a 
 descendant of Caleb. The traditions of both na- 
 tions and men are a heritage and by no means 
 to be despised, especially if they are honourable. 
 As we look at Caleb, that sturdy warrior, so 
 inflexible in his adhesion to the utter right at the 
 end of the Canaan campaign choosing the hill 
 country for his inheritance that he might con- 
 tinue to prove his steel and retain the joy of con- 
 quest — as we gaze upon such an ideal veteran. 
 
A Challenge to Civilization 287 
 
 we anticipate great things for his descendants. 
 That hill country was sacred ground. Every foot 
 of it had been won by the sword of the Lord and 
 of Caleb. Nabal was "very great" in his tradi- 
 tions. 
 
 What shall we say of the traditions of Ger- 
 many? What country can boast of more promis- 
 ing traditions? We turn with sparkling eyes to 
 the land of Luther. And considering his match- 
 less power In his day and generation, we would 
 expect Germany to be a land of prophets. But 
 of Germany as of another nation it can be stated 
 mournfully that she knew not the time of her 
 visitation. 
 
 Finally Nabal was greatest In his folly. Nabal 
 was his name and folly was his nature. How- 
 ever Germany regards her undue haste in plung- 
 ing the world Into war I know not, but this I do 
 know, history will regard it as an act of mad- 
 ness without a parallel. Nabal's folly Is seen in 
 his reply to David's young men. As we examine 
 his reply we discern that Nabal was great In his 
 haughtiness. "Who Is this David?" It was not 
 altogether what he said but how he said it. 
 Haughtiness Is a sin from which we must all pray 
 to be delivered. Great men and great nations 
 sometimes take too much for granted and conse- 
 quently over-reach themselves. They seem to 
 think they can bully persecuted Davids at 
 pleasure, but history bids them beware. 
 
 Nabal's reply betrayed his Ignorance. "Who 
 
288 Soul Crises 
 
 is this David? He did not appear to know that 
 had it not been for David, in the most critical 
 hour of their national life, the armies of Israel 
 would have been routed and the Philistines would 
 have been the owners of his sheep. "Who is 
 this David?" How base his ingratitude! His 
 flocks had been so well protected in the hill coun- 
 try that he was greatly indebted to David and 
 his men, and the least he could reasonably expect 
 to do was to make a few inquiries regarding the 
 circumstances of those well-disposed individuals 
 who had been to his shepherds "a wall by night 
 and day." 
 
 Finally, Nabal's reply proved that he was 
 great in his scorn. "Who is this David?" You 
 do not know? Then you soon will, for he is even 
 now preparing a most impressive introduction. 
 "And David said unto his men, 'Gird ye on every 
 man his sword.' " Whether a nation is justified 
 in going to war with another nation depends on 
 one or two things. Who are they negotiating 
 with, and what are they likely to fight for? If 
 you are dealing with men who have no regard 
 for veracity, no sense of honour, and who de- 
 liberately plan to inspire horror by striving per- 
 sistently to destroy every principle of righteous- 
 ness, the sooner you gird on your swords the 
 better. 
 
 But if the latest German threat is a challenge 
 to civilization, more than the United States are 
 affected. Every civilized nation as well as every 
 
A Challenge to Civilization 289 
 
 civilized individual is affected. What is going 
 to be our attitude? We are watching other neu- 
 tral nations with interest, but while awaiting their 
 decision, let us not forget to record our own. The 
 attitude of our brave soldiers leaves nothing to 
 be desired. They have gone and many of them 
 have made the supreme sacrifice, but what of 
 ours? This challenge is a clear call to the Chris- 
 tian Church. To every soldier of Jesus Christ 
 the command is given by David's greater son, 
 "Gird ye on every man his sword." The sacred 
 cause of Freedom, the very foundation of the 
 great white throne is threatened, and it was the 
 contemplation of evils such as are symbolized in 
 Prussian despotism that led Jesus to say, ^'Think 
 not that I am come to send peace on earth: I 
 came not to send peace, but a sword." When 
 freedom and honour and righteousness are at 
 stake it is the Prince of Peace who says, "he that 
 hath no sword, let him sell his garment and buy 
 one." 
 
 In its final analysis, a nation is the unit writ 
 large. As citizens we are in a measure re- 
 sponsible for our national ideals. Into the fair 
 garden of Germany, so ably cultivated by Luther, 
 an enemy came and sowed tares while the Church 
 was asleep. For forty years that pernicious seed 
 has been taking root and now behold the harvest. 
 Civilization has been challenged. Every Chris- 
 tian must have felt the force of this affront. In 
 this great Armageddon we adopt a neutral atti- 
 
290 Soul Crises 
 
 tude at our peril. Whether our lot be cast in 
 the home, the church or the state let us gird on 
 every man his sword. Have we no worthy tradi- 
 tions? Was the struggle at Runnymede a mere 
 stageplay? By all that is holy I charge you to 
 get into this fight. If we altogether hold our 
 peace when all that our fathers held sacred and 
 fought and died for is threatened with extinc- 
 tion — if we altogether hold our peace in this 
 appalling time — it is enough to make our fathers 
 turn in their graves. 
 
 O you Christian Canadians to the gap ! 
 
 "As Christ died to make men holy 
 As Christ died to make men free" 
 
 let us recognize that even in this great and ter- 
 rible war God is marching on. In His name let 
 us take immediate issue with everything that 
 "loveth and maketh a lie." An effective weapon 
 has been put into our hands: "the sword of the 
 spirit which is the word of God." 
 
 As parents let us inculcate into the minds of 
 our children the sacredness of truth, the su- 
 premacy of conscience, the glory of freedom, and 
 the grandeur of righteousness. As patriotic citi- 
 zens, let us gird on every man his sword in deal- 
 ing with the great question of education. Ideas 
 rule the world. It is a suicidal policy to imagine 
 that any kind of education will do for the rising 
 generation. 
 
A Challenge to Civilization 291 
 
 If we had all wielded the sword of the spirit 
 without intermission, no nation however great 
 would have dared to challenge civilization as Ger- 
 many has done. It is not merely out of date, it 
 is perilous to wink at evil or to ignore un- 
 righteousness. All that makes for oppression 
 and despotism, all that makes for selfishness and 
 injustice should meet with prompt action by every 
 lover of God and hater of iniquity. By the love 
 of God, our Father, by the sacrifice of Jesus 
 Christ, our Saviour, by the sufferings of our mod- 
 ern heroes, I beseech you to realize that we are 
 not engaged in a sham fight, that we are not to 
 speculate regarding this challenge; but for the 
 sake of the past to achieve victory in the present 
 and insure security in the future, we are urged 
 to obey the injunction, "Gird ye on every man 
 his sword." 
 
Princeton Theotooical Seminary Libranes 
 
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