IL
The Deliverer.
The discovery of man's deep need was accompanied by another discovery, the revelation of a Deliverance. The hopes of man are as ancient as his despondency. At the gates of Eden was given the promise that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head. We interpret that promise, and rightly enough, in the light of its fulfilment. But when it was given it might have seemed vague, and capable of many interpretations ; nothing was certain except that man's deliverance would in some way be wrought out through humanity itself. Around this promise all the faith and hope of the earliest ages gathered, and from this point gradually narrows and becomes definite as it proceeds to unfold its true interpretation, until at length, when Isaiah and Zechariah had spoken, the whole life and sufferings of Jesus Christ had been written by anticipation.
IF For myself, I am a social optimist, simply because I am a Christian ; because I am not willing to take up the cry which the pessimist and the social cynic desire to put into my mouth. The sky is not black, but bright with the Christmas star which
1 D. J. Llewellyn.
224 THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE
announces the advent of a King, of a Euler of men — Christ Jesus — not reigning merely supreme in far-off splendour in the glory of the heavenly palaces, but King in England to-day, by His Spirit inspiring, illuminating, transfiguring life, the great Companion, full of love and sympathy for all the sorrows and sufferings of the poor, full of care and concern also for the wider good of the commonweal — the Eeformer, the Emancipator of the captive and of the oppressed, the Champion of social right and the Inspirer of social duty. And I am a social optimist also because I am an Englishman ; because I believe in what Burke once called " the inbred integrity and piety of the English people " ; because it is bred into my very bone, as I expect it is bred into yours, that somehow with Englishmen things cannot go permanently wrong, but are bound to worry through in the end.^
1[ It is an old commonplace of divinity, which we are strangely forgetting, that despair is the only utter perdition ;■ because despair binds a man in the prison of his own evil nature, and fastens the chain of the evil spirit upon him; because all hope points upwards to God, and is the response of our spirit to His Spirit. Therefore I say it again, we ought to stir up hope in every human being. Hope for present help from God to overcome the sin that most easily besets him ; hope that he shall be able to say to the mountain which now stands in his way, "Kemove, and be cast into the sea"; hope for the future that the glory of God, the Deliverer, shall be fully revealed ; and that he, being included in the " all flesh " of which the prophet writes, bearing that nature in and for which Christ died, shall be able to see it and rejoice in it. 2
1. What is the " straight " line to heaven ? Far, far away is the eternal, electing love of God. The visible starting-place is a sense of sin, and a sincere desire for pardon and peace with God. Next is a feeling of forgiveness through the mercy of God by the blood and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. This leads on to peace. And then peace runs into love. And love goes on into a new and holy hfe, — a life dedicate, a life loving, a life of usefulness, a life for heaven. This line of life grows broader and broader as it goes on. And it also grows humbler and humbler, till it is all Christ, and no self. And so it brings the traveller to heaven. And not to stay there, but to go on, in the same line, straighter still, perfectly " straight," for ever and ever I
J C. W. Stubbs, Bishop of Truro.
* F, D. Maurice, Sermons i^reachcd in Lincoln's Inn Chapel, i. p. 164,
ISAIAH 225
Thus the " straight " line is — repentance, pardon, peace, love, holiness, usefulness, humility, heaven. Each runs into the other ; and they make one line.
IF " The rough places smooth ! " Did it ever happen to you to know some very rough man, ilHterate, coarse, hard, who became a Christian ? You saw, you could not help seeing, the wonderful change ! How soft, how gentle, how refined that hard man became. The whole being of that man was " smooth." The " rough places " were made " plain." You may be perfectly conscious that there is much in yourself which is very " rough " ; much that grates and irritates ; much that is most unlike your Master, and often very grievous to yourself. " Rough " ways of speaking ; " rough ' judgments; "rough" looks; "rough" actions. You regret them afterwards. But the "roughness" is still there. It breaks out again. What shall you do ? Think of the gentle Jesus ! Often have before your eyes His calm, holy, peaceful look. Cling to Him. Unite yourself to Him. Ask Him to do it, and it will be done. He will make an Advent into your heart. And the more He comes, the more certain is the result. He will bring quietness. He will make your "rough" places "smooth." Or, it may be thus : Perhaps there are many " roughnesses " now in your path ; jars in daily life ; " rough " persons with whom you have to do ; " rough " circumstances ; " roughening " troubles ; vexatious annoy- ances. The whole discipline of life is " rough " to you ! It is astonishing how Christ can, and will, turn those " rough " edges, if you will ask Him ! If He but throw in His calming presence, and pass over it all His smoothing hand, the " rough " places will soon be " smooth " I The waters will soon settle down when He speaks " Peace " ! Believe it. It is in the covenant. " The rough places shall be made smooth." ^