And therefore, with what of gentleness, with what of tenderness, with
what of patient entreaty as well as strength and confidence, the word
that speaks of a strength manifested in weakness, and a God made
visible in Christ, should be spoken, it needs not here to enlarge
upon--only take that one last thought that I suggested, that this
message comes to all those for whom God has appeared, and for whom the
deliverance has been wrought. We each have the right, and we each have
the charge, to go to every man and say, 'Behold your God!' and the
hearts of men will leap up to meet the message. For, though overlaid by
sin, perverted often into its own opposite by fear, misinterpreted and
misunderstood by the very men that bear it, there yet lies deep in
every heart the aching thirst for the living God, and we have the word
that alone can meet that thirst. All around us men are saying--'In all
the fields of science and of nature, in human history and in the spirit
of men, I find no God,' and are falling back into that dreary negation,
'Behold, we know not anything!' And some of them, orphaned in their
agony, are crying, though it be often in contemptuous tones that almost
sound as if they meant the opposite, 'Oh, that I knew where I might
find Him!' We have a word that can meet that. For cultivated Europe it
has come to this--Christ or nothing; either He has shown us the Father,
or there is no knowledge of Him possible. We do not need to dread the
alternative; we can face it, and overcome it. And in far-off lands men
are groping in twilight uncertainty, worshipping, with a nameless
horror at their hearts, gods capricious, gods cruel, gods
terrible--tamely believing in gods far-off and mysterious, cowering
before gods careless and heartless, degrading their manhood by
imitating gods foul and bestial, and yet all the while dimly feeling,
'Surely, surely there is somewhere a good and a fair Being, that has an
eye to see my sorrows, and a heart to pity them; an ear to hear my
prayer, and a hand to stretch out.' We have a word that can meet that.
Let that word ring out, brother, as far as your influence can reach.
Set the trumpet to thy mouth, and say, 'Behold your God!' and be sure
that from the uttermost parts of the earth we shall hear the choral
songs of many voices answering, 'Lo! this is our God, we have waited
for Him, and He will save us! This is our God; we will be glad and
rejoice in His salvation!'
'HAVE YE NOT? HAST THOU NOT?'
'Have ye not known, have ye not heard? hath it not been told yon from
the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the
earth?... Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard?'--ISAIAH xl. 21 and
28.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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