the joys of long ago and comparing them with present emotions. They
steadfast faith, may tend to lessen joy. If our children do not serve God with the ardour we wish, or souls for whom we pray do not at once get saved, or the work of God which is dear to our hearts languishes, the Devil may tempt us to doubt or repine, and so our joy is quenched. What steps can be taken to prevent or arrest the failure of joy? I. Aged people should still stir up the gift of God that is in them as we stir up a fire that is burning low. Frequent seasons of prayer, singing and humming through old songs, with an active exercise of faith, will help to keep the joy-bells ringing. I am a rather poor sleeper, and only recently in the small hours of the night, before the birds were singing, I found myself wide awake, and to bless my own soul and control and guide my thoughts without disturbing others, I softly, in almost a whisper, sang, 'I need Thee, Oh, I need Thee,' and my heart was strangely warmed and blessed as I sang. 2. Again, old people are not wise to spend too much time considering the joys of long ago and comparing them with present emotions. They should live in anticipation of joys yet to come rather than dwell on joys that are past. God's storehouse is not exhausted. For those who love and follow Jesus, 'the best is yet to be.' Paul said that he forgot the things behind and, looking forward, he pressed like an eager racer toward the things that are before. Those who keep looking backward instead of forward are likely to stumble and miss the joys that spring up round about them. It is not well to be comparing the present with the past, but we should each moment seek to exercise full and glad faith in our Lord for the present and the future. He has a portion of joy for us now. But the ineffable glory and blessing and joy are yet to come, when we see Him face to face and hear Him say, 'Well done, come!' We must keep our eyes on Jesus, looking to Him, the Author and the Finisher of our faith. We must look away from the seen things to unseen, eternal things; to the purpose and covenant of God in Christ, steadfast and sure; to His promises, great and precious, shining like stars for ever and assuring us of God's interest in us. We should carefully count up our present mercies and blessings and give thanks for them. It may be better with us than we think. John
Fletcher said that he at one time became so eager for what he had not yet received, that he failed to rejoice and enjoy the things God had already given him. That is an almost certain way to lose what we have. It is well, it is indeed a duty, to stretch out for the things before, but we must not forget to give God thanks and enjoy the things He now gives us. In feeble health we may not be able at all times to realize all we have to be glad about. There may be deep and at times prolonged depression of spirit arising from physical causes. 'The body and soul are near neighbours,' said the Founder, 'and they greatly influence each other.' Elijah was physically exhausted when he got under that juniper tree and wanted to die, but God let him sleep, awaked him, and gave him a simple meal of bread and water, let him sleep again, and again waked and fed him and let him live in the open, in sunshine and fresh air, and so revived him, gave him a man's work to do, and took him to Heaven in a chariot of fire. All God's resources were not exhausted because Elijah was depressed and exhausted. The best was yet to be with Elijah! Simple food, fresh air and sunshine, labour and rest are still important for old people, if they wish to keep a happy experience. Finally, old people should still go to the house of God and mingle with God's people. It was in the temple that aged Simeon and Anna the prophetess found the little Lord Jesus. And the Psalmist sang, if not from his own experience, then from observation of others and in assured faith 'Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing: to show that the Lord is upright' (Psalm 92:13-15) Hallelujah!
When darkness seems to veil His face, I rest on His unchanging grace; I dare not trust the sweetest frame But wholly lean on Jesus' name.
Chapter 15; ANSWERING ATHEISM A wide knowledge of history tends to sanity, to sobriety, and correctness of judgement of men and events, if we have seen God in history. We need such knowledge to give us perspective, to steady us, to save us from sharp judgements, to insure us against cock-sureness on one hand and despair on the other. Without this wide, long view, we are like a tiny boat on a tempestuous sea, tossed like a ship on the waves, but with it we are more like a great ship that rides serenely over the billows. To the casual observer the experience of the race seems tidal, always flowing and ebbing like the tides of the sea; or forever moving in a circle, getting nowhere, evermore coming back from whence it started, like the rivers rising out of and returning to the sea. The One far-off divine event, To which the whole creation moves, and the slow but sure workings of Providence and the unfailing purpose and process of the Divine government are hidden from him. When I was a child on the wide, bare, unprotected prairies of the Middle West, black clouds and fierce thunderstorms filled me with anxious fears and vague terror, but as I grew to manhood I saw them as a part of a vast and ordered whole, and they lost their power to create panic in me. Once, when sick and prostrated in health, I was thrown into a state of mental and spiritual anxiety, amounting almost to torture, by the nation-wide excitement over a great prize-fight. I felt our American civilization was only veneered barbarism, and for a time it seemed to me that we were reverting to, and were to be swallowed up by, brutal, sensuous paganism; then, on my knees praying, I remembered the days when a thousand gladiators fought each other to the death in the Coliseum, or battled and struggled with and were devoured by wild beasts to make a Roman holiday, while the mobs of the city by the hundred thousand, headed by the Emperor, Senators, philosophers, noble ladies, and all the elite gloated over the cruel, bloody scene. Then in deep reverence and gratitude and glad trust I gave God thanks, as I saw how far He had led us on and was still leading, from those ghastly pleasures, those merciless days. When I was a child the Civil War was raging; soldiers marched and
counter-marched through our peaceful little valley and village; armies stormed and thundered across the land; proud cities were besieged and starved and fell before conquering hosts; fathers, brothers, sons were perishing in bloody combat, in foetid swamps and prison camps; homes were vanishing; funeral bells were ever tolling, tolling; mothers, sisters, wives, and orphans were ever weeping, weeping; the foundations of the social order seemed to be crumbling, and men turned their thoughts to the apocalyptic portions of Scripture and tried to interpret the times by their symbolisms, and turned their eyes to the clouds in expectation of the Saviour's bodily appearing, longing for Him to come and work out the Salvation which man himself, abasing his pride and yielding to the lordship of Jesus, under the leadership of the sanctifying Spirit, must work out for himself and his, or perish. It was years before the light of history enabled me to escape this bald interpretation of apocalyptic symbols and walk in quietness and peace and close attention to daily duty, while a world quaked and trembled in unparalleled hurricanes of war, assured that 'the heavens do rule,' and 'a Watcher and a Holy One ' in the heavens was interested in our perplexity and sore travail, and would guide us through the storm and tempest, purified and chastened, to a haven of peace. History is repeating itself in spirit among us, and a society, a very militant society, for the propagation of Atheism has recently received letters of incorporation from the legislators of New York, and also an anti-Bible Society has been incorporated. And for its first year's budget it is asking for $83,000, and offering life membership for $1,000. Its avowed object 'is to discredit the Bible,' to 'make known its human origin, evolutionary formation, and its discreditable history; expose its immoral and barbaric contents; and lay bare its antiscientific, anti-liberal, and irrational teachings.' Such is its program. It proposes to show that 'the Bible is the work of man.' 'The falsification by deliberate mistranslation is the sole basis of orthodoxy.' 'The inhuman character of the Bible - God shall be offered in evidence against the Book.' 'The Bible patriarchs shall be shown to be a set of unmatched moral monsters.' 'The spirit of injustice and intolerance dominate the Bible.' 'The Sermon on the Mount consists mainly of romantic sentimentalism unrelated to reality.' The Bible is
inimical to civilization. It must and shall be discredited.' 'The American anti-Bible Society has no religious tests for membership, except disbelief in the Bible as divinely inspired.' Help us free America from Bible-bondage.' These are some tid-bits from its bulletin or manifesto. The Society for the Propagation of Atheism has already enlisted many young people and students, and societies of 'damned souls,' as they dub themselves, are flourishing in many of our schools and colleges. It is all a part of a nationwide, world-wide movement, awash of wide, sweeping waves of Atheism gushing forth from the heart of the Russian Revolution, something that The Army and all lovers of our Lord and of the Bible will have to face and possibly come into close and desperate grips with in the near future. If these gentlemen were better acquainted with history, they might not be so cocksure of discrediting the Bible and banishing God from His throne. If we are acquainted with history we shall not be uncertain as to the final issue, but neither will we sit down in a fool's paradise and think we can drive back the waves of mocking, irresponsible, desperate unbelief by witty retort, by smart rejoinder, or by learned and masterly debate. How shall we reply to their denial of the Divine elements of the Bible? How shall we prove it to be God-inspired? Is it a subject of proof or of faith? How can I be sure of it for myself, and how can I prove it to others? Paul says, 'All Scripture is given by inspiration of God,' but that is an assertion, not a proof. It still has to be proved, if it can be. I had studied the various arguments for the inspiration of the Bible by theologians, and since I had from my infancy up accepted the Bible as God's Book, they confirmed my unquestioning faith. But there came a time when I needed more than learned arguments to prove it to me. And not until God Himself came to my help was I wholly, invincibly convinced. That which finally established my faith in the divinity of the Bible was opened eyes, an inner illumination of my own soul, which enabled me to behold wondrous things all through its sacred pages. 'Open my eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of Your law,' prayed the Psalmist. The Book is largely sealed to men with unanointed eyes and
self-satisfied, or world-satisfied, hearts, and from men who turn from the paths of rectitude and 'stumble at the word, being disobedient.' The pastor of the church of Laodicea became lukewarm as a result of getting rich and increasing in goods until he felt he had need of nothing; but knew not that he was 'wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.' 'I counsel you,' said Jesus, 'to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that you may be rich; and white raiment, that you may be clothed, and that the shame of your nakedness do not appear; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see (Revelation 3:5-18). The Book was sealed to him, and the revelations of the Lord were hidden from him, because of the self-imposed blindness or dimness of his spiritual eyes. The final blessing that Jesus gave His disciples just before He ascended from them was the blessing of this inner illumination of opened eyes. 'Then He opened their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures' (Luke 24:45). The sun does not need learned astronomical treatises to prove its existence, nor a candle of man's making to enable it to be seen. All it needs is that men should have eyes to see. It is its own evidence. So the Bible carries in itself its evidences of inspiration. 'I know the Bible is inspired,' said a great soul-winner, 'because it inspires me.' What the sun is in the world of material things, that the Bible is in the world of spiritual things. It is a lamp to the feet, a light to the path of men whose spiritual eyes are open, and who will resolutely follow where it leads. Let us notice some of the assertions of the Book and find if they can be proved, not by argument but by life, by experience, for the Bible is but a venerable and curious bit of ancient literature to be read for pleasure or to gratify curiosity, if it does not answer to the deep needs of life, the hunger of the soul, the fears, the hopes, the aspirations, the questionings of the spirit in man. 'Man shall not live by bread alone,' said Jesus, 'but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.' Does the Bible feed the soul of man? All the saints and soldiers of Jesus of all the ages have been nourished and have lived on the Word of God. 'I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food,' said Job. 'How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yea, sweeter
than honey to my mouth,' wrote the Psalmist. 'More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.' Your words were found, and I ate them,' said Jeremiah. 'And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart.' Does the Bible help men to live finer, cleaner, saintly lives? It certainly does. The man who receives the word of God into his heart will stop sinning. 'I have hid Your word in my heart, that I might not sin against You,' wrote the Psalmist. How shall a young man cleanse his way? by guarding it according to Your word.' 'Sin shall not have dominion over you: for you are not under the law, but under grace.' Does the Bible offer hope to the sinner? The man who has wasted his life, scorned the voice of conscience, turned his back on light and goodness and God? It is the only Book in the world that does. It, and it alone, tells of a redeeming God, a Saviour from sin, a loving Heavenly Father who waits to welcome sinners. 'God commends His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.' 'This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.' 'If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.' Ten thousand times ten thousand sinners saved by faith in the Saviour revealed in the Bible will testify to the truth of those words. Does the Bible offer succour to tempted men and women? Does it comprehend our need? It does as no other book in the world does. It reveals an elder Brother who enters into the fellowship of our temptations. 'For in that He Himself has suffered being tempted, He is able to succour those who are tempted ' (Hebrews 2:18). 'For we have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin ' (Hebrews 4:15.) 'God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above that you are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it' (1 Corinthians 12:13). Does the Bible have any word for the toilers and burdened people of earth, the perplexed, the careworn? It does, sweet words of comprehension and assurance such as can nowhere else be found: