' E. H. Divall, A Believer's Songs, 94.
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it is an "arm made bare" — an omnipotent arm, bared for a mighty task. God's love finds its supreme expression in His grace as manifest on Calvary. It is His power to save. Here is the solution of the problem, " How can God be just and yet the justifier of the ungodly ? " and of that other, " How shall a man be just with God ? "
^ To measure the heart of the Infinite, we must get the dimensions of the cross. We call it the "accursed tree." Eather, it is the tree of life ; its roots deep as hell, its crown in heaven, its branches, laden with the fruits of life, reaching out to the uttermost parts of the earth. On the cross the only-begotten Son of God tasted death for every man. From the cross He offers redemption to the uttermost, not to respectable sinners only, but to thieves, harlots, and reprobates. By the cross He saves utterly ; nailing our indictment there, blotting out our sin, sinking it into the depths of an unfathomable sea, washing us, though stained as scarlet and crimson, until we are whiter than snow. This is the measure : God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Sou to suffer and die for it. That " so " is spelled with two letters, but it is vast enough to girdle the sin-stricken world and bind it back to God.^
II.
Our Attitude to the Deeps of God.
1. Reverence. — It goes without saying that, while faith in its essence must ever be the same, the particular standpoint of our fathers is not that of their children. They dwelt upon the depravity of human nature, the horror of sin, the holiness of God, the helplessness of the soul, the sovereignty of the Divine Mercy, and the unsearchable purpose of the Divine Will, themes full of awe and majesty. Therefore they humbled themselves before God and cast their souls upon His pity. They sought anxiously for a ground of pardon, and searched themselves for signs of the Divine calling. They dared not boast of His favour, but they walked humbly before Him and hoped for His salvation. Theirs was an inward, intense, and lowly religion. We are inclined to dwell on the possibilities of human nature, the wide hope of the Incarnation, the revelation of the Divine Fatherhood, the compass 1 D. J. Burrell, The Wondrous Crosn, 162,
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of God's love, the full assurance of faith, the joy of the present life, and the glory of the life to come. Our religion is, therefore, more outspoken, unfettered, high-spirited. About the saint of the former day it was written, " he feared God " ; but of our good man you read in his biography that he was a " bright " or a "happy" Christian.
It is futile to recall days which are gone, or to reproduce their moods ; for the time spirit bloweth where it listeth, and, rightly used, it is the spirit of God. We have cause to be thankful, because we have learned not to despair of our race, to think of our fellow-men as brethren, and to remember that a man has more to do in this world than save his own soul. Our religion is less morbid, gloomy, introspective, and selfish ; but there are times when, looking out through the palms upon this expanse of blue, one wearies for the strong salt air of the Atlantic and the grandeur of the hills when the sun shines through the mist. One is haunted with the conviction that if in our day we have gained joy and charity, we have lost in devoutness and humility, and that we have almost bidden good-bye to reverence.
^ Eeverence is the eyelash that lets us endure the sun, which lost, we must make up our minds to darkness for the rest of our lives, and give up for ever all thoughts of the vigour and health and pure richness of life which sunlight only gives.^
2. Thankfulness. — To one who sees the spiritual order of the world and recognizes the sublime chances of spiritual fortune which it offers, there is no need of special causes of gratitude ; such an one thanks God daily that he lives. Times and seasons for special thanksgiving are wise and necessary ; for men need to be reminded of what they have received, and they need to have provision made for the special expression of their gratitude ; but the grateful man does not depend on days and festivals for his thought of God's goodness and care for him ; these thoughts are always with him, and the song of thanksgiving is always in his heart. For all sweet and pleasant passages in the great story of life men may well thank God ; for leisure and ease and health and friends may God make us truly and humbly grateful; but our chief song of thanksgiving must be always for our kinship
^ Phillips Brooks, 52.
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with Him, with all that such divinity of greatness brings of peril, hardship, toil, and sacrifice.
^ An old man in Nottinghamshire came to me one Sabbath as we were going into church, and said : " Do you think, Sir, you could bring in that prayer about giving thanks this morning ? I am eighty years old to-day, and I should like to thank God for all the mercies He has been pleased to send." He had one small room in a poor cottage ; his income was three shillings a week ; he had no relatives and few friends; he was often ailing and always infirm, needing two sticks to lean on, and yet he was not only content, but happy. He was a Christian in spirit and in truth, and the last words he spoke to me, just before his death, were these : " I am not dying in darkness, I am dying in the light of life." 1