Signs of the Times

[From the Living Church, Milwaukee, Wisconsin]

Now the work and toil of the days find their transfiguration in the vision of a perfect life! They are lifted from the task of a slave to the adventure of freedom, as we have in our hearts the knowledge of work's meaning, namely, an endeavor to make the world happy and perfect. And so the Christian's hope for the future life sends its glorious rays upon the daily way which he treads with his Master. And so the way of the Christ was really not the via dolorosa, the sad way, although it led to the cross; but it was a glorious way, with victory at the end, and the glory of God's throne shining upon the cross, Jesus Christ knew; and if we follow him, we also shall know; and it is well for us to remember that the Christian alone has the right to say, "I know," for spiritual truths are the unchanging truths.


[From an article by William T. Ellis, in the Los Angeles Times, California]

Concerning truth, the poet says, "The eternal years of God are hers." The fresh emphasis upon social justice and righteousness in the present generation is a peculiar illustration of the poet's words. For nowadays the ancient Hebrew prophets are coming into their own. The new ideas of human rights; the modern revolt against political corruption and industrial oppression; the world-wide protest against special privilege; the universal yearning for a reign of righteousness and peace among men—what are these but clear echoes of the trumpet tones of old Israel's prophets? The modern note in ethics and in literature and in statecraft is most clearly sounded by the Hebrew seers who spoke, usually to heedless ears, more than twenty-five hundred years ago. It has taken centuries ... for their vindication; but now they are becoming known for what they were. Our present-day school of prophets are, whether they know it or not, disciples of the rugged old Jews whose voices of protest and pleading were lifted in the little lands of Judea and Israel, long before the beginning of the Christian era.

One of the wonders of the Bible is that it is forever the most up-to-date literature in print. Every newest human need finds its remedy in these old pages. The eternal contemporaneousness of the Book is nowhere better shown than in the timeliness of the teachings of the Old Testament prophets. Their own day could scarcely comprehend the significance of their sayings so clearly as we. Freed, as they are, from all extravagance and eccentricity, the message of the prophets fit our own day, in their summons to justice, to righteousness, to peace, to brotherliness, to God. It is impossible to pick half a dozen of our modern social reformers whose teachings are so directly and practicably applicable to present conditions as are those of a dozen Old Testament prophets. One reason for this is clear. The political prescriptions and social solutions of the Hebrew seers were all related to the sure central standard, God Himself. They based their words upon the nature and law of Jehovah. To them, He was the first great necessity. They were but His mouthpieces. In their eyes, all other duties were comprehended within the duty of getting right with God. The reward they held forth was His favor; the punishment, His wrath. And no social or political philosophy to-day will ever get anywhere that does not postulate God as the norm of life. Folk commonly think of a prophet as a man who foretells the future. This is a grave error. Hebrew prophets were foretellers, but they were also forthtellers. The name "prophet" meant, in the Hebrew language, "one who announces," a spokesman. Any man or woman who can interpret the times in their highest significance is a prophet. But we must clearly distinguish between faultfinders and prophets. The true prophet of God always has a constructive message. ... The first and last credential and qualification of a prophet is the clear conviction that God has spoken to him. So equipped, he no longer fears the face of man. These God-aware men have never been the heroes of time. Their inner urge, their sense of divine compulsion, their consciousness of fellowship with heaven's King, their perception of the sinfulness of sin, have been to them more than any diploma from a human school of the prophets. No possible amount of scientific theological training can be a substitute for the conviction that one has heard the Voice, "Thus saith the Lord."


[From the Californian Christian Advocate, San Francisco, California]

If Jesus had performed no miracles at all, would his life have been noteworthy and striking? We believe it would have been altogether wonderful in several respects. In the first place, Jesus was preeminently sympathetic. He could enter into the sorrows and joys, the hopes and anxieties of men and women, boys and girls, and lift them up to new heights of hope and courage. In the second place, Jesus almost invariably looked upon every person as wanting to be good. Here he offers a striking example ... to us in our evangelistic task. Jesus ... saw in most people, underneath the unpromising exterior, a longing to be good and to be on right terms with God; and he built on that foundation. In the third place, Jesus gave the world a new and earnest interpretation of the fatherhood of God for each individual. He was utterly dependent on God, but it was on a God of surpassing love, a God within reach, a God eager to help. In the fourth place, Jesus infected others with his own confidence and hope and trust, so that at his command they dared to undertake and do things they never dared believe they could accomplish. His healing touch was on sick minds and spirits as well as on bodies.


[Dr. George H. Morrison, in the British Weekly, London, England]

It will be generally agreed that David was one of the great men of the race. In his trust and courage and leadership and genius he stands among the heroes of humanity. Now David had had a strange and chequered life. He had been hunted like a partridge on the hills. He had suffered disloyalty at home, and sorrowed in the death of Absalom. But now, as he looked back upon it all, what stood out in transcendent clearness was the unfailing gentleness of God. Not the infliction of any heavenly punishment, though sometimes punishment had been severe. Not the divine apportioning of sorrow, though he had drunk of very bitter sorrow. What shone out like a star in heaven, irradiating the darkness of his night, was the amazing gentleness of God. David could say with a full heart, "Thy gentleness hath made me great." With a like sincerity can we not say it also? When we survey our course and recollect our mercies and recall the divine handling of our childishness, the confession of David is our own. We feel the wonder of the gentleness of God when we remember it is conjoined with power. When infinite power lies at the back of it, gentleness is always very moving. There is a gentleness which springs from weakness. Cowardice lies hidden at its roots. It comes from the disinclination to offend, and from the desire to stand well with everybody. But the marvel of the gentleness of God is that it is not the signature of an interior weakness, but rests upon the bosom of Omnipotence. In a woman we all look for gentleness; it is one of the lustrous diadems of womanhood. In a mailed warrior we scarce expect it; it is not the denizen of tented fields. And the Lord is a mighty man of war, subduing, irresistible, almighty, and yet He comes to Israel as the dew. The elder spoke to John of "the Lion of the tribe of Juda." But when John looked to see the lion, "lo, in the midst of the throne" there was a lamb. Power was tenderness—the lion was the lamb—Omnipotence would not break the bruised reed. It is the wonder of the gentleness of God.

Again, the gentleness of God is strangely moving when we remember it is conjoined with purity. There is a kind of gentleness, common among men, which springs from an easy, tolerant good nature. To be gentle with sin is quite an easy matter, if sin be but a light thing in our eyes. It is easy to pardon a child who tells a lie, if lying be, in our regard, but venial. And when we are tempted to think of God like that, as if heaven were rich in tolerant good nature, then is the season to survey the cross. Whatever else we learn at Calvary, we learn there God's estimate of sin. In that dark hour of agony the judgment of heaven upon sin is promulgated. And when that steeps into our being, so that we measure things by the measurements of Calvary, we are awed by the gentleness of God.


[From the Masonic Home Journal, Louisville, Kentucky]

Far more than any other season of the year, not even excepting the very first day of the very first month, does Easter seem the time for beginning again, for building our world anew; for discovering untried and interesting ways of performing duties which, through continued repetition "in the same old way," have degenerated to tasks, irksome because perfunctory; for instilling new and real joy into pleasures that have palled for the same reason, by giving others their chance to share them; for awakening the oldtime hopes and true ambitions, and burnishing them with the alchemy of faith until they shine upon our pathway like the star of other days, leading us on, ever on, in ways of peace and gladness. "Behold, I make all things new"! is a message of wide significance. Let us lay it to heart, each and every one among us, and see that our lives give evidence of its acceptance.

Again, it seems to me that Easter should be the time for the renewing and strengthening of friendships, of cementing family ties which perhaps—as sometimes does come about, you know—have been worn to the point of breaking; for learning the large lesson of forbearance so thoroughly that we shall never again forget it; for putting into actual and loyal practice the Golden Rule—more and more as we grow in understanding of its wonderful import—seeking to see the good in and for all people and circumstances, thinking of others as we would wish them to think of us, and not only refraining from unkindness in all life's ways, but being kind.


[A. Grant Evans, as quoted in the Morning Press, Santa Barbara, California]

The apostles were not only eyewitnesses of the resurrection of Jesus; they were living witnesses, challenging the world to witness the things their risen Lord was doing through them. If Christians to-day were ready to make that challenge, Easter would become a convincing testimony to the world.


[Dr. Woods, Bishop of Winchester, as quoted in the Times, London, England]

Religion is a big thing, and we must have big ways of looking at it.

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April 7, 1928
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