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diff --git a/10395-0.txt b/10395-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6647122 --- /dev/null +++ b/10395-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1214 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10395 *** + +JOY AND POWER + + +Three messages with One meaning + +by + +Henry van Dyke + + + + +1903 + + + + +Dedicated to my friend John Huston Finley +President of the College of the City of New York + + + + +THE PREFACE + + +The three messages which are brought together in this book were given +not far apart in time, though at some distance from one another in +space. The one called Joy and Power was delivered in Los Angeles, +California, at the opening of the Presbyterian General Assembly, May 21, +1903. The one called The Battle of Life was delivered on Baccalaureate +Sunday at Princeton University, June 7. The one called The Good Old Way +was delivered on Baccalaureate Sunday at Harvard University, June 14. At +the time, I was thinking chiefly of the different qualities and needs of +the people to whom I had to speak. This will account for some things in +the form of each message. But now that they are put together I can see +that all three of them say about the same thing. They point in the same +direction, urge the same course of action, and appeal to the same +motive. It is nothing new,--the meaning of this threefold message,--but +it is the best that I have learned in life. And I believe it is +true,--so true that we need often to have it brought to remembrance. + +Henry van Dyke + +Avalon, July 5, 1903 + + + + +CONTENTS + + +i. Joy and Power + +ii. The Battle of Life + +iii. The Good Old Way + + + + +JOY AND POWER + + <i>St. John viii. 17: If ye know these things, happy are + ye if ye do them.</i> + +I ask you to think for a little while about the religion of Christ in +its relation to happiness. + +This is only one point in the circle of truth at the centre of which +Jesus stands. But it is an important point because it marks one of the +lines of power which radiate from Him. To look at it clearly and +steadily is not to disregard other truths. The mariner takes the whole +heavens of astronomy for granted while he shapes his course by a single +star. + +In the wish for happiness all men are strangely alike. In their +explanations of it and in their ways of seeking it they are singularly +different. Shall we think of this wish as right, or wrong; as a true +star, or a will-o'-the-wisp? If it is right to wish to be happy, what +are the conditions on which the fulfilment of this wish depends? These +are the two questions with which I would come to Christ, seeking +instruction and guidance. + +I. The desire of happiness, beyond all doubt, is a natural desire. It +is the law of life itself that every being seeks and strives toward the +perfection of its kind, the realization of its own specific ideal in +form and function, and a true harmony with its environment. Every drop +of sap in the tree flows toward foliage and fruit. Every drop of blood +in the bird beats toward flight and song. In a conscious being this +movement toward perfection must take a conscious form. This conscious +form is happiness,--the satisfaction of the vital impulse,--the rhythm +of the inward life,--the melody of a heart that has found its keynote. +To say that all men long for this is simply to confess that all men are +human, and that their thoughts and feelings are an essential part of +their life. Virtue means a completed manhood. The joyful welfare of the +soul belongs to the fulness of that ideal. Holiness is wholeness. In +striving to realize the true aim of our being, we find the wish for +happiness implanted in the very heart of our effort. + +Now what does Christ say in regard to this natural human wish? Does He +say that it is an illusion? Does He condemn and deny it? Would He have +accepted Goethe's definition: "religion is renunciation"? + +Surely such a notion is far from the spirit of Jesus. There is nothing +of the hardness of Stoicism, the coldness of Buddhism, in Christ's +gospel. It is humane, sympathetic, consoling. Unrest and weariness, the +fever of passion and the chill of despair, soul-solitude and +heart-trouble, are the very things that He comes to cure. He begins His +great discourse with a series of beatitudes. "Blessed" is the word. +"Happy" is the meaning. Nine times He rings the changes on that word, +like a silver bell sounding from His fair temple on the mountain-side, +calling all who long for happiness to come to Him and find rest for +their souls. + +Christ never asks us to give up merely for the sake of giving up, but +always in order to win something better. He comes not to destroy, but to +fulfil,--to fill full,--to replenish life with true, inward, lasting +riches. His gospel is a message of satisfaction, of attainment, of +felicity. Its voice is not a sigh, but a song. Its final word is a +benediction, a good-saying. "These things have I spoken unto you, that +my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full." + +If we accept His teaching we must believe that men are not wrong in +wishing for happiness, but wrong in their way of seeking it. Earthly +happiness,--pleasure that belongs to the senses and perishes with +them,--earthly happiness is a dream and a delusion. But happiness on +earth,--spiritual joy and peace, blossoming here, fruiting +hereafter,--immortal happiness, is the keynote of life in Christ. + +And if we come to Him, He tells us four great secrets in regard to it. + +i. It is inward, and, not outward; and so it does not depend on what we +have, but on what we are. + +ii. It cannot be found by direct seeking, but by setting our faces +toward the things from which it flows; and so we must climb the mount +if we would see the vision, we must tune the instrument if we would hear +the music. + +iii. It is not solitary, but social; and so we can never have it without +sharing it with others. + +iv. It is the result of God's will for us, and not of our will for +ourselves; and so we can only find it by giving our lives up, in +submission and obedience, to the control of God. + + For this is peace,--to lose the lonely note + Of self in love's celestial ordered strain: + And this is joy,--to find one's self again + In Him whose harmonies forever float + Through all the spheres of song, below, above,-- + For God is music, even as God is love. + +This is the divine doctrine of happiness as Christ taught it by His life +and with His lips. If we want to put it into a single phrase, I know not +where we shall find a more perfect utterance than in the words which +have been taught us in childhood,--words so strong, so noble, so +cheerful, that they summon the heart of manhood like marching-music: +"Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." + +Let us accept without reserve this teaching of our Divine Lord and +Master in regard to the possibility and the duty of happiness. It is an +essential element of His gospel. The atmosphere of the New Testament is +not gloom, but gladness; not despondency, but hope. The man who is not +glad to be a Christian is not the right kind of a Christian. + +The first thing that commended the Church of Jesus to the weary and +disheartened world in the early years of her triumph, was her power to +make her children happy,--happy in the midst of afflictions, happy in +the release from the burden of guilt, happy in the sense of Divine +Fatherhood and human brotherhood, happy in Christ's victory over sin and +death, happy in the assurance of an endless life. At midnight in the +prison, Paul and Silas sang praises, and the prisoners heard them. The +lateral force of joy,--that was the power of the Church. + + "'Poor world,' she cried, 'so deep accurst, + Thou runn'st from pole to pole + To seek a draught to slake thy thirst,-- + Go seek it in thy soul.' + + * * * * * + + Tears washed the trouble from her face! + She changed into a child! + 'Mid weeds and wrecks she stood,--a place + Of ruin,--but she smiled!" + +Much has the Church lost of that pristine and powerful joy. The furnace +of civilization has withered and hardened her. She has become anxious +and troubled about many things. She has sought earthly honours, earthly +powers. Richer she is than ever before, and probably better organized, +and perhaps more intelligent, more learned,--but not more happy. The one +note that is most often missing in Christian life, in Christian service, +is the note of spontaneous joy. + +Christians are not as much calmer, steadier, stronger, and more cheerful +than other people as they ought to be. Some Christians are among the +most depressing and worryful people in the world,--the most difficult to +live with. And some, indeed, have adopted a theory of spiritual ethics +which puts a special value upon unhappiness. The dark, morbid spirit +which mistrusts every joyful feeling, and depreciates every cheerful +virtue, and looks askance upon every happy life as if there must be +something wrong about it, is a departure from the beauty of Christ's +teaching to follow the dark-browed philosophy of the Orient. + +The religion of Jesus tells us that cheerful piety is the best piety. +There is something finer than to do right against inclination; and that +is to have an inclination to do right. There is something nobler than +reluctant obedience; and that is joyful obedience. The rank of virtue is +not measured by its disagreeableness, but by its sweetness to the heart +that loves it. The real test of character is joy. For what you rejoice +in, that you love. And what you love, that you are like. + +I confess frankly that I have no admiration for the phrase +"disinterested benevolence," to describe the main-spring of Christian +morals. I do not find it in the New Testament: neither the words, nor +the thing. Interested benevolence is what I find there. To do good to +others is to make life interesting and find peace for our own souls. To +glorify God is to enjoy Him. That was the spirit of the first +Christians. Was not St. Paul a happier man than Herod? Did not St. Peter +have more joy of his life than Nero? It is said of the first disciples +that they "did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart." +Not till that pristine gladness of life returns will the Church regain +her early charm for the souls of men. Every great revival of Christian +power--like those which came in the times of St. Francis of Assisi and +of John Wesley--has been marked and heralded by a revival of Christian +joy. + +If we want the Church to be mighty in power to win men, to be a source +of light in the darkness, a fountain of life in the wilderness, we must +remember and renew, in the spirit of Christ, the relation of religion to +human happiness. + +II. What, then, are the conditions upon which true happiness depends? +Christ tells us in the text: If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye +do them. + +This is the blessing with a double if. "If ye know,"--this is the +knowledge which Christ gives to faith. "If ye do,"--this is the +obedience which faith gives to Christ. Knowing and Doing,--these are the +twin pillars, Jachin and Boaz, on which the house of happiness is built. +The harmony of faith and life,--this is the secret of inward joy and +power. + +You remember when these words were spoken. Christ had knelt to wash the +disciples' feet. Peter, in penitence and self-reproach, had hesitated to +permit this lowly service of Divine love. But Christ answered by +revealing the meaning of His act as a symbol of the cleansing of the +soul from sin. He reminded the disciples of what they knew by +faith,--that He was their Saviour and their Lord. By deed and by word He +called up before them the great spiritual truths which had given new +meaning to their life. He summoned them to live according to their +knowledge, to act upon the truth which they believed. + +I am sure that His words sweep out beyond that quiet upper room, beyond +that beautiful incident, to embrace the whole spiritual life. I am sure +that He is revealing to us the secret of happy living which lies at the +very heart of His gospel, when He says: If ye know these things, happy +are ye if ye do them. + +i. "If ye know,"--there is, then, a certain kind of knowledge without +which we can not be happy. There are questions arising in human nature +which demand an answer. If it is denied we can not help being +disappointed, restless, and sad. This is the price we have to pay for +being conscious, rational creatures. If we were mere plants or animals +we might go on living through our appointed years in complete +indifference to the origin and meaning of our existence. But within us, +as human beings, there is something that cries out and rebels against +such a blind life. Man is born to ask what things mean. He is possessed +with the idea that there is a significance in the world beyond that +which meets his senses. + +John Fiske has brought out this fact very clearly in his last book, +Through Nature to God. He shows that "in the morning twilight of +existence the Human Soul vaguely reached forth toward something akin to +itself, not in the realm of fleeting phenomena, but in the Eternal +Presence beyond." He argues by the analogy of evolution, which always +presupposes a real relation between the life and the environment to +which it adjusts itself, that this forth-reaching and unfolding of the +soul implies the everlasting reality of religion. + +The argument is good. But the point which concerns us now is simply +this. The forth-reaching, questioning soul can never be satisfied if it +touches only a dead wall in the darkness, if its seeking meets with the +reply, "You do not know, and you never can know, and you must not try +to know." This is agnosticism. It is only another way of spelling +unhappiness. + +"Since Christianity is not true," wrote Ernest Renan, "nothing interests +me, or appears worthy my attention." That is the logical result of +losing the knowledge of spiritual things,--a life without real interest, +without deep worth,--a life with a broken spring. + +But suppose Renan is mistaken. Suppose Christianity is true. Then the +first thing that makes it precious, is that it answers our questions, +and tells us the things that we must know in order to be happy. + +Christianity is a revealing religion, a teaching religion, a religion +which conveys to the inquiring spirit certain great and positive +solutions of the problems of life. It is not silent, nor ambiguous, nor +incomprehensible in its utterance. It replies to our questions with a +knowledge which, though limited, is definite and sufficient. It tells us +that this "order of nature, which constitutes the world's experience, +is only one portion of the total universe." That the ruler of both +worlds, seen and unseen, is God, a Spirit, and the Father of our +spirits. That He is not distant from us nor indifferent to us, but that +He has given His eternal Son Jesus Christ to be our Saviour. That His +Spirit is ever present with us to help us in our conflicts with evil, in +our efforts toward goodness. That He is making all things work together +for good to those that love Him. That through the sacrifice of Christ +every one who will may obtain the forgiveness of sins and everlasting +peace. That through the resurrection of Christ all who love Him and +their fellow-men shall obtain the victory over death and live forever. + +Now these are doctrines. And it is just because Christianity contains +such doctrines that it satisfies the need of man. + +"The first and the most essential condition of true happiness," writes +Professor Carl Hilty, the eminent Swiss jurist, "is a firm faith in the +moral order of the world. What is the happy life? It is a life of +conscious harmony with this Divine order of the world, a sense, that is +to say, of God's companionship. And wherein is the profoundest +unhappiness? It is in the sense of remoteness from God, issuing into +incurable restlessness of heart, and finally into incapacity to make +one's life fruitful or effective." + +What shall we say, then, of the proposal to adapt Christianity to the +needs of the world to-day by eliminating or ignoring its characteristic +doctrines? You might as well propose to fit a ship for service by taking +out its compass and its charts and cutting off its rudder. Make +Christianity silent in regard to these great questions of spiritual +existence, and you destroy its power to satisfy the heart. + +What would the life of Christ mean if these deep truths on which He +rested and from which He drew His strength, were uncertain or illusory? +It would be the most pathetic, mournful, heartbreaking of all phantoms. + +What consoling, cheering power would be left in the words of Jesus if +His doctrine were blotted out and His precept left to stand alone? Try +the experiment, if it may be done without irreverence: read His familiar +discourses in the shadow of agnosticism. + +'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is a hopeless poverty. +Blessed are the pure in heart, for they know not whether they shall see +God. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, for ye +have no promise of a heavenly reward. + +'Enter into thy closet and when thou hast shut the door, keep silence, +for thou canst not tell whether there is One to hear thy voice in +secret. Take no thought for the morrow, for thou knowest not whether +there is a Father who careth for thee. + +'God is unknown, and they that worship Him must worship Him in ignorance +and doubt. No man hath ascended up into heaven, neither hath any man +come down from heaven, for the Son of Man hath never been in heaven. +That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the +spirit is a dream. Man shall not live by bread alone, neither shall he +listen for any word from the mouth of God. I proceeded forth and came +from darkness, I came of myself, I know not who sent me. My sheep hear +my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, but I can not give unto +them eternal life, for they shall perish and death shall pluck them out +of my hand. Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe not in God, ye +need not believe in me. Keep my commandments, and I will not pray for +you, and ye shall abide without a Comforter. In the world ye shall have +tribulation, but be of good cheer, for ye know not whether there is a +world to come. I came forth from darkness into the world, and again I +leave the world and return to darkness. Peace I leave with you. If ye +loved me ye would rejoice because I said, I go into darkness, and where +I am there shall ye be also.' + +Is it conceivable that any suffering, sorrowing human soul should be +comforted and strengthened by such a message as this? Could it possibly +be called a gospel, glad tidings of great joy to all people? + +And yet what has been omitted here from the words of Christ? Nothing but +what men call doctrines: the personality of God, the divinity of Christ, +the Atonement, the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, the +sovereignty of the Heavenly Father, the truth of the divine revelation, +the reality of the heavenly world, the assurance of immortal life. But +it is just from these doctrines that the teaching of Jesus draws its +peculiar power to comfort and inspire. They are the rays of light which +disperse the gloom of uncertainty. They are the tones of celestial music +which fill the heart of man with good cheer. + +Let us never imagine that we can strengthen Christianity by leaving out +the great doctrines which have given it life and power. Faith is not a +mere matter of feeling. It is the acceptance of truth, positive, +unchanging, revealed truth, in regard to God and the world, Christ and +the soul, duty and immortality. The first appeal to faith lies in the +clearness and vividness, the simplicity and joy, with which this truth +is presented. + +There has not been too much preaching of doctrine in this age. There has +been too little. And what there has been, has been too dull and cold and +formal, too vague and misty, too wavering and uncertain. + +What the world wants and waits for to-day is a strong, true, vital +preaching of doctrine. The Church must realize anew the precious value +of the truths which Christ has given her. She must not conceal them or +cast them away; she must bring them out into the light, press them home +upon the minds and hearts of men. She must simplify her statement of +them, so that men can understand what they mean. She must not be content +with repeating them in the language of past centuries. She must +translate them into the language of to-day. First century texts will +never wear out because they are inspired. But seventeenth century +sermons grow obsolete because they are not inspired. Texts from the Word +of God, preaching in the words of living men,--that is what we need. + +We must think about the doctrines of Christianity more earnestly and +profoundly. We must renew our Christian evidences, as an army fits +itself with new weapons. The old-fashioned form of the "argument from +design in nature" has gone out with the old-fashioned books of science +which it used. But there is a new and more wonderful proof of God's +presence in the world,--the argument from moral ends in evolution. Every +real advance of science makes the intelligent order of the universe more +sublimely clear. Every century of human experience confirms the Divine +claims and adds to the Divine triumphs of Jesus Christ. Social progress +has followed to a hair's breadth the lines of His gospel; and He lays +His hand to-day with heavenly wisdom on the social wants that still +trouble us, "the social lies that warp us from the living truth." +Christ's view of life and the world is as full of sweet reasonableness +now as it was in the first century. Every moral step that man has taken +upward has brought a wider, clearer vision of his need of such a +religion as that which Christ teaches. + +Let not the Church falter and blush for her doctrines. Let her not turn +and go down the hill of knowledge to defend her position in the valley +of ignorance. Let her go up the hill, welcoming every wider outlook, +rejoicing in every new discovery, gathering fresh evidences of the +truths which man must believe concerning God and new motives to the +duties which God requires of man. + +But in doing this we must put the emphasis of our preaching to-day where +it belongs, where Christ puts it, on the doctrines that are most +important to human life and happiness. We can afford to let the fine +metaphysical distinctions of theology rest for a while, and throw all +our force on the central, fundamental truths which give steadiness and +courage and cheer to the heart of man. I will not admit that it makes no +difference to a man of this age whether or not he believes in the +personal God and the Divine Christ. If he really believes, it makes all +the difference between spiritual strength and spiritual weakness, +between optimism and pessimism. I will not admit that it makes no +difference to a learned scholar or a simple labourer to-day whether he +accepts or ignores the doctrine of the atonement, the doctrine of +personal immortality. If he knows that Christ died for him, that there +is a future beyond the grave, it makes all the difference between +despair and hope, between misery and consolation, between the helpless +frailty of a being that is puffed out like a candle, and the joyful +power of an endless life. + +My brethren, we must work and pray for a true revival of Christian +doctrine in our age. We must deepen our own hold upon the truths which +Christ has taught us. We must preach them more simply, more +confidently, more reasonably, more earnestly. We must draw from them the +happiness and the help, the comfort and the inspiration, that they have +to give to the souls of men. But most of all, we must keep them in close +and living touch with the problems of daily duty and experience. For no +doctrine, however high, however true, can make men happy until it is +translated into life. + +ii. Here is the second if, on which the power of religion to confer +happiness depends: If ye know, happy are ye if ye do these things. + +Between the knowing and the doing there is a deep gulf. Into that abyss +the happiness of many a man slips, and is lost. There is no peace, no +real and lasting felicity for a human life until the gulf is closed, and +the continent of conduct meets the continent of creed, edge to edge, lip +to lip, firmly joined forever. + +It is not a blessing to know the things that Christ teaches, and then go +on living as if they were false or doubtful. It is a trouble, a torment, +a secret misery. To know that God is our Father, and yet to withhold +our love and service from Him; to know that Christ died for us, and yet +to deny Him and refuse to follow Him; to know that there is an immortal +life, and yet to waste and lose our souls in the pursuit of sensual +pleasure and such small portion of the world as we may hope to +gain,--surely that is the deepest of all unhappiness. + +But the right kind of knowing carries in its heart the doing of the +truth. And the right kind of doing leads to a fuller and happier +knowing. "If any man will do God's will," declares Christ, "he shall +know of the doctrine." + +Let a man take the truth of the Divine Fatherhood and begin to conform +his life to its meaning. Let him give up his anxious worryings, his +murmurings, his complainings, and trust himself completely to his +Father's care. Let him do his work from day to day as well as he can and +leave the results to God. Let him come to his Father every day and +confess his faults and ask for help and guidance. Let him try to obey +and please God for love's sake. Let him take refuge from the trials and +confusions and misunderstandings of the world, from the wrath of men and +the strife of tongues, in the secret of his Father's presence. Surely if +he learns the truth thus, by doing it, he will find happiness. + +Or take the truth of immortality. Let a man live now in the light of the +knowledge that he is to live forever. How it will deepen and strengthen +the meaning of his existence, lift him above petty cares and ambitions, +and make the things that are worth while precious to his heart! Let him +really set his affections on the spiritual side of life, let him endure +afflictions patiently because he knows that they are but for a moment, +let him think more of the soul than of the body, let him do good to his +fellow-men in order to make them sharers of his immortal hope, let him +purify his love and friendship that they may be fit for the heavenly +life. Surely the man who does these things will be happy. It will be +with him as with Lazarus, in Robert Browning's poem, "The Epistle of +Karshish." Others will look at him with wonder and say: + + "Whence has the man the balm that brightens all? + This grown man eyes the world now like a child." + +Yes, my brethren, this is the sure result of following out the doctrines +of Christ in action, of living the truths that He teaches,--a simple +life, a childlike life, a happy life. And this also the Church needs +to-day, as well as a true revival of doctrine. + +A revival of simplicity, a revival of sincerity, a revival of work: this +will restore unto us the joy of salvation. And with the joy of salvation +will come a renewal and expansion of power. + +The inconsistency of Christians is the stronghold of unbelief. The lack +of vital joy in the Church is the chief cause of indifference in the +world. The feeble energy, the faltering and reluctant spirit, the +weariness in well-doing with which too many believers impoverish and +sadden their own hearts, make other men question the reality and value +of religion and turn away from it in cool neglect. + +What, then, is the duty of the Church? What must she do to win the +confidence of the world? What is the best way for her to "prove her +doctrine all divine"? + +First, she must increase her labours in the love of men: second, she +must practice the simple life, deepening her trust in God. + +Suppose that a fresh flood of energy, brave, cheerful, joyous energy, +should be poured into all the forms of Christian work. Suppose that +Foreign Missions and Home Missions should no longer have to plead and +beg for support, but that plenty of money should come flowing in to send +out every missionary that wants to go, and that plenty of the strongest +and best young men should dedicate their lives to the ministry of +Christ, and that every household where His gospel is believed should +find its highest honour and its greatest joy in helping to extend His +kingdom. + +And then suppose that the Christian life, in its daily manifestation, +should come to be marked and known by simplicity and happiness. Suppose +that the followers of Jesus should really escape from bondage to the +evil spirits of avarice and luxury which infect and torment so much of +our complicated, tangled, artificial, modern life. Suppose that instead +of increasing their wants and their desires, instead of loading +themselves down on life's journey with so many bags and parcels and +boxes of superfluous luggage and bric-a-brac that they are forced to sit +down by the roadside and gasp for breath, instead of wearing themselves +out in the dusty ways of ostentation and vain show or embittering their +hearts because they can not succeed in getting into the weary race of +wealth and fashion,--suppose instead of all this, they should turn to +quiet ways, lowly pleasures, pure and simple joys, "plain living and +high thinking." Suppose they should truly find and show their happiness +in the knowledge that God loves them and Christ died for them and heaven +is sure, and so set their hearts free to rejoice in life's common +mercies, the light of the sun, the blue of the sky, the splendour of the +sea, the peace of the everlasting hills, the song of birds, the +sweetness of flowers, the wholesome savour of good food, the delights of +action and motion, the refreshment of sleep, the charm of music, the +blessings of human love and friendship,--rejoice in all these without +fear or misgiving, because they come from God and because Christ has +sanctified them all by His presence and touch. + +Suppose, I say, that such a revival of the joy of living in Christ and +working for Christ should silently sweep over the Church in the +Twentieth Century. What would happen? Great would be the peace of her +children. Greater still would be their power. + +This is the message which I have to bring to you, my brethren, in this +General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. You may wonder that it is +not more distinctive, more ecclesiastical, more specially adapted to the +peculiarities of our own denomination. You may think that it is a +message which could just as well be brought to any other Church on any +other occasion. With all my heart I hope that is true. The things that I +care for most in our Church are not those which divide us from other +Christians but those which unite us to them. The things that I love most +in Christianity are those which give it power to save and satisfy, to +console and cheer, to inspire and bless human hearts and lives. The +thing that I desire most for Presbyterianism is that it should prove its +mission and extend its influence in the world by making men happy in the +knowing and the doing of the things which Christ teaches. + +The Church that the Twentieth Century will hear most gladly and honour +most sincerely will have two marks. It will be the Church that teaches +most clearly and strongly the truths that Jesus taught. It will be the +Church that finds most happiness in living the simple life and doing +good in the world. + + + + +THE BATTLE OF LIFE + + <i>Romans vii. 21: Overcome evil with good.</i> + +The Battle of Life is an ancient phrase consecrated by use in +Commencement Orations without number. Two modern expressions have taken +their place beside it in our own day: the Strenuous Life, and the Simple +Life. + +Each of these phrases has its own significance and value. It is when +they are overemphasized and driven to extremes that they lose their +truth and become catch-words of folly. The simple life which blandly +ignores all care and conflict, soon becomes flabby and invertebrate, +sentimental and gelatinous. The strenuous life which does everything +with set jaws and clenched fists and fierce effort, soon becomes +strained and violent, a prolonged nervous spasm. + +Somewhere between these two extremes must lie the golden mean: a life +that has strength and simplicity, courage and calm, power and peace. But +how can we find this golden line and live along it? Some truth there +must be in the old phrase which speaks of life as a battle. No conflict, +no character. Without strife, a weak life. But what is the real meaning +of the battle? What is the vital issue at stake? What are the things +worth fighting for? In what spirit, with what weapons, are we to take +our part in the warfare? + +There is an answer to these questions in the text: <i>Overcome evil with +good.</i> The man who knows this text by heart, knows the secret of a life +that is both strenuous and simple. For here we find the three things +that we need most: a call to the real battle of life; a plan for the +right campaign; and a promise of final victory. + +I. Every man, like the knight in the old legend, is born on a field of +battle. But the warfare is not carnal, it is spiritual. Not the east +against the west, the north against the south, the "Haves" against the +"Have-nots"; but the evil against the good,--that is the real conflict +of life. + +The attempt to deny or ignore this conflict has been the stock in trade +of every false doctrine that has befogged and bewildered the world since +the days of Eden. The fairy tale that the old serpent told to Eve is a +poetic symbol of the lie fundamental,--the theory that sin does not mean +death, because it has no real existence and makes no real difference. +This ancient falsehood has an infinite wardrobe of disguises. + +You will find it pranked out in philosophic garb in the doctrines of +those who teach that all things are linked together by necessity of +nature or Divine will, and that nothing could ever have happened +otherwise than just as it has come to pass. Such a theory of the +universe blots out all difference between good and evil except in name. +It leaves the fence-posts standing, but it takes away the rails, and +throws everything into one field of the inevitable. + +You will find the same falsehood in a more crude form in the popular +teachings of what men call "the spirit of the age," the secular spirit. +According to these doctrines the problem of civilization is merely a +problem of ways and means. If society were better organized, if wealth +were more equally distributed, if laws were changed, or perhaps +abolished, all would be well. If everybody had a full dinner-pail, +nobody need care about an empty heart. Human misery the secular spirit +recognizes, but it absolutely ignores the fact that nine-tenths of human +misery comes from human sin. + +You will find the same falsehood disguised in sentimental costume in the +very modern comedy of Christian Science, which dresses the denial of +evil in pastoral garb of white frock and pink ribbons, like an innocent +shepherdess among her lambs. "Evil is nothing," says this wonderful +Science. "It does not really exist. It is an illusion of mortal mind. +Shut your eyes and it will vanish." + +Yes, but open your eyes again and you will see it in the same place, in +the same form, doing the same work. A most persistent nothing, a most +powerful nothing! Not the shadow cast by the good, but the cloud that +hides the sun and casts the shadow. Not the "silence implying sound," +but the discord breaking the harmony. Evil is as real as the fire that +burns you, as the flood that drowns you. Evil is as real as the typhoid +germ that you can put under a microscope and see it squirm and grow. +Evil is negative,--yes, but it is a real negative,--as real as darkness, +as real as death. + +There are two things in every human heart which bear witness to the +existence and reality of evil: first, our judgments of regret, and +second, our judgments of condemnation. + +How often we say to ourselves, "Would that this had not come to pass!" +How often we feel in regard to our own actions, "Would that I had done +differently!" This is the judgment of regret; and it is a silent witness +of the heart to the conviction that some things are not inevitable. It +is the confession that a battle has been lost which might have been won. +It is the acknowledgment that things which are, but are not right, need +not have been, if we and our fellow-men had seen more clearly and +followed more faithfully the guiding star of the good. + +And then, out of the judgment of regret, springs the deeper judgment of +condemnation. If the failure in duty was not inevitable, then it was +base. The false word, the unjust deed, the foul action, seen as a +surrender to evil, appears hateful and guilty. It deserves the +indignation and the shame which attach to all treason. And the spirit +which lies behind all these forms of disloyalty to the good,--the spirit +which issues in selfishness and sensuality, cruelty and lust, +intemperance and covetousness,--this animating spirit of evil which +works against the Divine will and mars the peace and order of the +universe is the great Adversary against whom we must fight for our own +lives and the life of the world. + +All around us lies his dark, secret kingdom, tempting, threatening, +assaulting the soul. To ignore it, is to walk blindfold among snares +and pitfalls. Try if you will to shut it out, by wrapping your heart in +dreams of beauty and joy, living in the fair regions of art or +philosophy, reading only the books which speak of evil as if it did not +exist or were only another form of goodness. Soon you will be shaken out +of the dream into the reality. You will come into contact with evil so +close, so loathsome that you can not deny it. You will see that it has +its soldiers, its servants, its emissaries, as ardent and enthusiastic +in its cause as if they were serving the noblest of masters. It inspires +literature and supports newspapers; now intelligent and cultured, +drawing the arts into its service; now coarse and vulgar, with pictures +that shock the taste as much as they debase the conscience. It wins +adherents and turns them into advocates. It organizes the dealers in +drunkenness and debauchery into powerful societies for mutual +protection. It creates lobbies and controls legislatures. It corrupts +the government of great cities and rots out the social life of small +towns. Even when its outward manifestations are repressed and its +grosser forms resisted, it steals its way into men's hearts, eating out +the roots of human trust and brotherhood and kindness, and filling the +air with gossip and spite, envy, malice and all uncharitableness. + +I am glad that since we have to live in a world where evil exists, we +have a religion which does not bandage our eyes. The first thing that we +need to have religion do for us is to teach us to face the facts. No man +can come into touch with the Divine personality of Jesus Christ, no man +can listen to His teaching, without feeling that the distinction between +good and evil to Him is vital and everlasting. The choice between them +is to Him the great choice. The conflict between them is to Him the +great conflict. Evil is the one thing that God has never willed. Good is +the one thing that He wills forever. Evil is first and last a rebellion +against His will. He is altogether on the side of good. Much that is, +is contrary to His will. There is a mighty strife going on, a battle +with eternal issues, but not an eternal battle. The evil that is against +Him shall be cast out and shall perish. The good that overcomes the evil +shall live forever. And those who yield their lives to God and receive +His righteousness in Christ are made partakers of everlasting life. + +This is the teaching of Jesus: and I thank God for the honesty and +virility of His religion which makes us face the facts and calls us to +take a man's part in the real battle of life. + +II. But what is the plan of campaign which Christianity sets before us? +In what spirit and with what weapons are we to enter the great conflict +against the evil that is in the world? + +The natural feeling of the heart in the presence of evil is wrath, and +the natural weapon of wrath is force. To punish crime, to avenge wrong, +to put down wickedness with a strong hand,--that is the first impulse of +every one who has the instincts of manhood. + +And as this is natural, so it is, also, within a certain sphere +needful, and to a certain extent useful. Armies and navies exist, at +least in theory, to prevent injustice among nations. Laws are made to +punish wrong-doers. Courts, police-forces, and prisons are maintained to +suppress evil with power. + +But while we recognize this method of dealing with evil as useful to a +certain extent and necessary within a certain sphere, we must remember +that it has its strict limitations. + +First, it belongs to the state and not to the individual. When the +private man assumes to punish evil with force he sanctions lynch-law, +which is a terror to the innocent as well as to the guilty. Then we have +the blood-feud and the vendetta, mob-rule and anarchy. + +Second, the suppression of evil by force is only a temporary relief, a +protection for the moment. It does not touch the root of the matter. You +send the murderer out of the world by a regulated flash of lightning. +But you do not send murder out of the world. To do that you must reach +and change the heart of Cain. You put the thief in prison, but when he +comes out he will be ready to steal again, unless you can purify his +conscience and control his will. You assault and overthrow some system +of misgovernment, and "turn the rascals out." But unless you have +something better to substitute, all you have done is to make room for a +new set of rascals,--a new swarm of mosquitoes with fresh appetites and +larger capacities. + +Third, the method of fighting evil with force on its own ground often +has a bad effect on those who follow it. Wrestle with a chimney-sweep +and you will need a bath. Throw back the mud that is thrown at you, and +you will have dirty hands. Answer Shimei when he curses you and you will +echo his profanity. Many a man has entered a crusade against +intemperance and proved himself as intemperate in his language as other +men are in their potations. Many a man has attacked a bad cause with +righteous indignation and ended in a personal squabble with most +unrighteous anger. + +No, my brother-men, the best way to fight against evil is not to meet it +on its own ground with its own weapons. There is a nobler method of +warfare, a divine plan of campaign given to us in the religion of +Christ. Overcome evil with good. This is the secret of the battle of +life. + +Evil is potent not so much because it has command of money and the "big +battalions," but because it has control of the hearts of men. It spreads +because human hearts are lying fallow and ready to welcome the seeds of +all kinds of weeds. It persists because too much of what we call virtue +is negative, and selfish, and frost-bound,--cold storage virtue,--the +poor piety which terminates in a trembling anxiety to save our own +souls. + +The way to counteract and conquer evil in the world is to give our own +hearts to the dominion of good, and work the works of God while it is +day. The strongest of all obstacles to the advance of evil is a clean +and generous man, doing his duty from day to day, and winning others, by +his cheerful fidelity, to serve the same Master. Diseases are not the +only things that are contagious. Courage is contagious. Kindness is +contagious. Manly integrity is contagious. All the positive virtues, +with red blood in their veins, are contagious. The heaviest blow that +you can strike at the kingdom of evil is just to follow the advice which +the dying Sir Walter Scott gave to his son-in-law, Lockhart: "Be a good +man." And if you want to know how, there is but one perfect and supreme +example,--the life of Him who not only did no evil but went about doing +good. + +Now take that thought of fighting evil with good and apply it to our +world and to ourselves. + +Here are monstrous evils and vices in society. Let intemperance be the +type of them all, because so many of the others are its children. +Drunkenness ruins more homes and wrecks more lives than war. How shall +we oppose it? I do not say that we shall not pass resolutions and make +laws against it. But I do say that we can never really conquer the evil +in this way. I hold with Phillips Brooks that "all prohibitory measures +are negative. That they have their uses no one can doubt. That they have +their limits is just as clear." + +The stronghold of intemperance lies in the vacancy and despair of men's +minds. The way to attack it is to make the sober life beautiful and +happy and full of interest. Teach your boys how to work, how to read, +how to play, you fathers, before you send them to college, if you want +to guard them against the temptations of strong drink and the many +shames and sorrows that go with it. Make the life of your community +cheerful and pleasant and interesting, you reformers, provide men with +recreation which will not harm them, if you want to take away the power +of the gilded saloon and the grimy boozing-ken. Parks and play-grounds, +libraries and music-rooms, clean homes and cheerful churches,--these +are the efficient foes of intemperance. And the same thing is true of +gambling and lubricity and all the other vices which drag men down by +the lower side of their nature because the higher side has nothing to +cling to, nothing to sustain it and hold it up. + +What are you going to do, my brother-men, for this higher side of human +life? What contribution are you going to make of your strength, your +time, your influence, your money, your self, to make a cleaner, fuller, +happier, larger, nobler life possible for some of your fellow-men? I do +not ask how you are going to do it. You may do it in business, in the +law, in medicine, in the ministry, in teaching, in literature. But this +is the question: What are you going to give personally to make the human +life of the place where you do your work, purer, stronger, brighter, +better, and more worth living? That will be your best part in the +warfare against vice and crime. + +The positive method is the only efficient way to combat intellectual +error and spiritual evil. False doctrines are never argued out of the +world. They are pushed back by the incoming of the truth as the darkness +is pushed back by the dawn. Phillips Brooks was right. It is not worth +while to cross the street to break a man's idol. It is worth while to +cross the ocean to tell him about God. The skilful fencer who attacks +your doubts and drives you from corner to corner of unbelief and leaves +you at last in doubt whether you doubt or not, does you a certain +service. He gives you exercise, takes the conceit out of you. But the +man who lays hold of the real faith that is hidden underneath your +doubt,--the silent longing for God and goodness, the secret attraction +that draws your heart toward Jesus Christ as the only one who has the +words of everlasting life,--the man who takes hold of this buried faith +and quickens it and makes you dare to try to live by it,--ah, that is +the man who helps you indeed. My brothers, if any of you are going to be +preachers remember this. What we men need is not so much an answer to +our doubts, as more nourishment for our faith. + +The positive method is the only way of victory in our struggle with the +evil that dwells in our own nature and besets our own hearts. The reason +why many men fail, is because they thrust the vice out and then forget +to lay hold on the virtue. They evict the unclean spirit and leave a +vacant house. To cease to do evil is important, but to learn to do good +is far more important. Reformation never saved a man. Transformation is +the only way. And to be transformed, a man must welcome the Spirit of +Good, the Holy Spirit, into his heart, and work with Him every day, +doing the will of God. + +There are two ways of fighting fever. One is to dose the sick people +with quinine and keep the fever down. The other is to drain the marshes, +and purify the water, and cleanse the houses, and drive the fever out. +Try negative, repressive religion, and you may live, but you will be an +invalid. Try positive, vital religion, and you will be well. + +There is an absorption of good that guards the soul against the +infection of evil. There is a life of fellowship with Christ that can +pass through the furnace of the world without the smell of fire on its +garments,--a life that is full of interest as His was, being ever about +His Father's business; a life that is free and generous and blessed, as +His was, being spent in doing good, and refreshed by the sense of God's +presence and approval. + +Last summer, I saw two streams emptying into the sea. One was a +sluggish, niggardly rivulet, in a wide, fat, muddy bed; and every day +the tide came in and drowned out that poor little stream, and filled it +with bitter brine. The other was a vigorous, joyful, brimming +mountain-river, fed from unfailing springs among the hills; and all the +time it swept the salt water back before it and kept itself pure and +sweet; and when the tide came in, it only made the fresh water rise +higher and gather new strength by the delay; and ever the living stream +poured forth into the ocean its tribute of living water,--the symbol of +that influence which keeps the ocean of life from turning into a Dead +Sea of wickedness. + +My brother-men, will you take that living stream as a type of your life +in the world? The question for you is not what you are going to get out +of the world, but what you are going to give to the world. The only way +to meet and overcome the inflowing tide of evil is to roll against it +the outflowing river of good. + +My prayer for you is that you may receive from Christ not only the +watchword of this nobler life, but also the power to fulfil it. + + + + +THE GOOD OLD WAY + + <i>Jeremiah vi. 16. Stand ye in the ways and see; and ask + for the old paths, where is the good way; and walk + therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.</i> + +This advice was given to people who were in peril and perplexity. The +kingdom of Judah was threatened with destruction, which could be averted +only by wise and prompt action. But the trouble was to decide in which +direction that action should be taken. The nation was divided into loud +parties, and these parties into noisy wings. Every man had a theory of +his own, or a variation of some other man's theory. + +Some favoured an alliance with the East; some preferred the friendship +of the West; others, a course of diplomatic dalliance; a few stood out +for honest independence. Some said that what the country needed was an +increase of wealth; some held that a splendid and luxurious court like +that of Pharaoh or Nebuchadnezzar would bring prosperity; others +maintained that the troubles of the land could be healed only by a +return to "simpler manners, purer laws." Among the nobility and their +followers all kinds of novelties in the worship of idols were in fashion +and new gods were imported every season. The philosophers cultivated a +discreet indifference to all religious questions. The prophets taught +that the only salvation for the nation lay in the putting away of +idolatry and the revival of faith in the living and true God. + +Judah was like a man standing at the cross-roads, on a stormy night, +with all the guide-posts blown down. Meantime the Babylonian foe was +closing in around Jerusalem, and it was necessary to do something, or +die. + +The liberty of choice was an embarrassment. The minds of men alternated +between that rash haste which is ready to follow any leader who makes +noise enough, and that skeptical spirit which doubts whether any line of +action can be right because so many lines are open. Into this atmosphere +of fever and fog came the word of the prophet. Let us consider what it +means. + +Stand ye in the ways and see: that means deliberation. When you are at a +junction it is no time to shut your eyes and run at full speed. Where +there are so many ways some of them are likely to be wrong. A +turning-point is the place for prudence and forethought. + +Ask for the old paths, what is the good way: that means guidance. No man +is forced to face the problems of life alone. Other men have tried the +different ways. Peace, prosperity, victory have been won by the nation +in former times. Inquire of the past how these blessings were secured. +Look for the path which has already led to safety and happiness. Let +history teach you which among all these crossing ways is the best to +follow. + +And walk therein: that means action. When you have deliberated, when you +have seen the guiding light upon the way of security and peace, then go +ahead. Prudence is worthless unless you put it into practice. When in +doubt do nothing; but as long as you do nothing you will be in doubt. +Never man or nation was saved by inaction. The only way out of danger is +the way into work. Gird up your loins, trembling Judah, and push along +your chosen path, steadily, bravely, strenuously, until you come to your +promised rest. + +Now I am sure this was good counsel that the prophet gave to his people +in the days of perplexity. It would have been well for them if they had +followed it I am sure it is also good counsel for us, a word of God to +steady us and stimulate us amid life's confusions. Let me make it a +personal message to you. + +Stand in the ways: Ask for the good way: Walk therein:--Deliberation, +Guidance, Action,--Will you take these words with you, and try to make +them a vital influence in your life? + +I. First, I ask you to stand in the ways and see. I do not mean to say +that you have not already been doing this to a certain extent. The great +world is crossed by human footsteps which make paths leading in all +directions. Men travel through on different ways; and I suppose some of +you have noticed the fact, and thought a little about it. + +There is the way of sensuality. Those who walk in it take appetite as +their guide. Their main object in life is to gratify their physical +desires. Some of them are delicate, and some of them are coarse. That is +a matter of temperament. But all of them are hungry. That is a matter of +principle. Whether they grub in the mire for their food like swine, or +browse daintily upon the tree-tops like the giraffe, the question of +life for those who follow this way is the same. "How much can we hold? +How can we obtain the most pleasure for these five senses of ours before +they wear out?" And the watchword of their journey is, "Let us eat and +drink and be merry, for we do not expect to die to-morrow." + +There is the way of avarice. Those who follow it make haste to be rich. +The almighty dollar rolls before them along the road, and they chase it. +Some of them plod patiently along the highway of toil. Others are +always leaping fences and trying to find short cuts to wealth. But they +are alike in this: whatever they do by way of avocation, the real +vocation of their life is to make money. If they fail, they are hard and +bitter; if they succeed they are hard and proud. But they all bow down +to the golden calf, and their motto is, "Lay up for yourselves treasures +upon earth." + +There is the way of social ambition. Those who walk in it have their +eyes fixed on various prizes, such as titles of honour, public office, +large acquaintance with prosperous people, the reputation of leading the +fashion. But the real satisfaction that they get out of it all is simply +the feeling of notoriety, the sense of belonging to a circle to which +ordinary people are not admitted and to whose doings the world, just for +this reason, pays envious attention. This way is less like a road than +like a ladder. Most of the people who are on it are "climbers." + +There are other ways, less clearly marked, more difficult to +trace,--the way of moral indifference, the way of intellectual pride, +the way of hypocrisy, the way of indecision. This last is not a single +road; it is a net-work of sheep-tracks, crossing and recrossing the +great highways, leading in every direction, and ending nowhere. The men +who wander in these aimless paths go up and down through the world, +changing their purposes, following one another blindly, forever +travelling but never arriving at the goal of their journey. + +Through all this tangle there runs another way,--the path of faith and +duty. Those who walk in it believe that life has a meaning, the +fulfilment of God's will, and a goal, the attainment of perfect harmony +with Him. They try to make the best of themselves in soul and body by +training and discipline. They endeavour to put their talents to the +noblest use in the service of their fellow-men, and to unfold their +faculties to the highest joy and power in the life of the Spirit. They +seek an education to fit them for work, and they do their work well +because it is a part of their education. They respect their consciences, +and cherish their ideals. They put forth an honest effort to be good and +to do good and to make the world better. They often stumble. They +sometimes fall. But, take their life from end to end, it is a faithful +attempt to walk in "the way of righteousness, which is the way of +peace." + +Such are some of the ways that lead through the world. And they are all +open to us. We can travel by the road that pleases us. Heredity gives us +our outfit. Environment supplies our company. But when we come to the +cross-roads, the question is, "Boy, which way will you ride?" + +Deliberation is necessary, unless we wish to play a fool's part. No +amount of energy will take the place of thought. A strenuous life, with +its eyes shut, is a kind of wild insanity. A drifting life, with its +eyes open, is a kind of mild idiocy. + +The real question is, "How will you live? After what rule and pattern? +Along what way? Toward what end?" + +Will you let chance answer that question for you? Will you let yourself +be led blindfold by the first guide that offers, or run stupidly after +the crowd without asking whither they are going? You would not act so in +regard to the shortest earthly journey. You would not rush into the +railway station and jump aboard of the first train you saw, without +looking at the sign-boards. Surely if there is anything in regard to +which we need to exercise deliberation, it is the choice of the way that +we are to take through the world. You have thought a good deal about +what business, what profession you are to follow. Think more deeply, I +beg you, about how you are to follow it and what you are to follow it +for. Stand in the ways, and see. + +II. Second, I earnestly advise you to ask for the old paths, where is +the good way. + +I do not regard this as a mere counsel of conservatism, an unqualified +commendation of antiquity. True, it implies that the good way will not +be a new discovery, a track that you and I strike out for ourselves. +Among the paths of conduct, that which is entirely original is likely to +be false, and that which is true is likely to have some footprints on +it. When a man comes to us with a scheme of life which he has made all +by himself, we may safely say to him, as the old composer said to the +young musician who brought him a symphony of the future, "It is both new +and beautiful; but that which is new is not beautiful, and that which is +beautiful is not new." + +But this is by no means the same as saying that everything ancient is +therefore beautiful and true, or that all the old ways are good. The +very point of the text is that we must discriminate among +antiquities,--a thing as necessary in old chairs and old books as in old +ways. + +Evil is almost, if not quite, as ancient as good. Folly and wisdom, +among men at least, are twins, and we can not distinguish between them +by the grey hairs. Adam's way was old enough; and so was the way of +Cain, and of Noah's vile son, and of Lot's lewd daughters, and of +Balaam, and of Jezebel, and of Manasseh. Judas Iscariot was as old as +St. John. Ananias and Sapphira were of the same age with St. Peter and +St. Paul. + +What we are to ask for is not simply the old way, but that one among the +old ways which has been tested and tried and proved to be the good way. +The Spirit of Wisdom tells us that we are not to work this way out by +logarithms, or evolve it from our own inner consciousness, but to learn +what it is by looking at the lives of other men and marking the lessons +which they teach us. Experience has been compared to the stern-light of +a ship which shines only on the road that has been traversed. But the +stern-light of a ship that sails before you is a head-light to you. + +You do not need to try everything for yourself in order to understand +what it means. The writer of Ecclesiastes tells us that he gave his +heart to know madness and folly; and that it was all vanity and vexation +of spirit. It will be a wise economy for us to accept his lesson without +paying his tuition-fee over again. + +It is perfectly safe for a man to take it as a fact that fire burns, +without putting his hand into the flame. He does not need to try +perilous experiments with his own soul in order to make sure that lust +defiles, that avarice hardens, that frivolity empties, that selfishness +cankers the heart. He may understand the end of the way of sensuality by +looking at any old pleasure-seeker, + + "Gray, and gap-toothed, and lean as death," + +mumbling the dainties that he can no longer enjoy, and glowering with +bleared eyes at the indulgences which now mock him even while they tempt +him. The goal of the path of covetousness may be discerned in the face +of any old money-worshipper; keeping guard over his piles of wealth, +like a surly watch-dog; or, if perchance he has failed, haunting the +places where fortune has deceived him, like an unquiet ghost. + +Inquire and learn; consider and discern. There need be no doubt about +the direction of life's various ways. + +Which are the nations that have been most peaceful and noble and truly +prosperous? Those that have followed pride and luxury and idolatry? Or +those that have cherished sobriety and justice, and acknowledged the +Divine law of righteousness? + +Which are the families that have been most serene and pure and truly +fortunate? Those in which there has been no discipline, no restraint, no +common faith, no mutual love? Or those in which sincere religion has +swayed life to its stern and gracious laws, those in which parents and +children have walked together to the House of God, and knelt together at +His altar, and rejoiced together in His service? + +I tell you, my brother-men, it has become too much the fashion in these +latter days to sneer and jeer at the old-fashioned ways of the +old-fashioned American household. Something too much of iron there may +have been in the Puritan's temper; something too little of sunlight may +have come in through the narrow windows of his house. But that house had +foundations, and the virile virtues lived in it. There were plenty of +red corpuscles in his blood, and his heart beat in time with the eternal +laws of right, even though its pulsations sometimes seemed a little slow +and heavy. It would be well for us if we could get back into the old +way, which proved itself to be the good way, and maintain, as our +fathers did, the sanctity of the family, the sacredness of the +marriage-vow, the solemnity of the mutual duties binding parents and +children together. From the households that followed this way have come +men that could rule themselves as well as their fellows, women that +could be trusted as well as loved. Read the history of such families, +and you will understand the truth of the poet's words:-- + + "Self-reverence, self-knowledge, self-control,-- + These three alone lead life to sovereign power." + +Look around you in the world and see what way it is that has brought +your fellow-men to peace and quietness of heart, to security and honour +of life. Is it the way of unbridled self-indulgence, of unscrupulous +greed, of aimless indolence? Or is it the way of self-denial, of +cheerful industry, of fair dealing, of faithful service? If true honour +lies in the respect and grateful love of one's fellow-men, if true +success lies in a contented heart and a peaceful conscience, then the +men who have reached the highest goal of life are those who have +followed most closely the way to which Jesus Christ points us and in +which He goes before us. + +III. Walk therein and ye shall find rest for your souls. Right action +brings rest. + +Rest! Rest! How that word rings like a sweet bell through the turmoil +of our age. We are rushing to and fro, destroying rest in our search for +it. We drive our automobiles from one place to another, at furious +speed, not knowing what we shall do when we get there. We make haste to +acquire new possessions, not knowing how we shall use them when they are +ours. We are in a fever of new discoveries and theories, not knowing how +to apply them when they are made. We feed ourselves upon novel +speculations until our heads swim with the vertigo of universal +knowledge which changes into the paresis of universal doubt. + +But in the hours of silence, the Spirit of Wisdom whispers a secret to +our hearts. Rest depends upon conduct. The result of your life depends +upon your choosing the good way and walking in it. + +And to you I say, my brother-men, choose Christ, for He is the Way. All +the strength and sweetness of the best possible human life are embodied +in Him. All the truth that is needed to inspire and guide man to noble +action and fine character is revealed in Him. He is the one Master +altogether worthy to be served and followed. Take His yoke upon you and +learn of Him, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Joy & Power, by Henry van Dyke + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10395 *** |