Orange County observer., 1903-07-09
passing beauty, but there are others who
listen as at divine oracles and hear the very
voice of God

How are we to account for this difference
OF estimate as to spiritual value and vera
clous integrity of the Scripturesz It is
due, as before, to difference Of relation
| WIN 0od In some cases men hold them
selves In readiness to hear, as Samuel did
IN the early watches of the morning. when
N answer to the heavenly voice he said.
Speak, Lord, for Thy servant neareth.0
In other eases they stand in a critical or
skeptlcal attitude, as Theodore Parker did
any such person as God" There is moth
ing in the world that can SO destroy the
receptlvlty of the soul as this pride Of
wGrlaly % wisdom; No man can hear heav-
enly message who is not instantly willing
to admit that God is wiser than he.
Inc Iact that a man is literally educated
IN certain directions does not argue that
ne Is competent to receive divine COM
munlcatlon. In the middle Of the seven
| !eenth century there were two men living
IN England whose names are eouallv his
torlc and lllustrious for broad culture. One
| or these was Sir Isaac Newton and the
other John Milton. Now it is a singular
TACT that Sir Isaac Newton could not ap-
preclate PARADISE Lost" and equally sin
in The Principal, Obviously this was not
to the discredit Of either Paradise LOST
| or Ihe Prlnclpla, nor was it a reflection
upon the learning of either man. 1t sim
ply indicates that IN order to apprehend
truth IL IN an any quarter, man must be sym
had no mind for mathematics, nor Newton
Tor poetry, So the wisest Of men, as The
world holds wisdom, may come to the
Scriptures and find nothing there; as the
soldiers OF Titus, at the taking of Jerusa-
lem threw open the ark of the covenant
and found it empty. It is a proverb that
none are SO blind as those who will not
| see; wherefore man who would hear God
| speaking through the Scriptures must di-
vest himself of prejudice and be willing to-
hear Him.
And at this point, again, we discover why
Christ Is so often rejected as the incar-
nate word There are multitudes who
regard Him as chiefest among ten thousand
and altogether lovely, but there are many
others who see in Him nothing but "a root
comehness that they should receive Him.
| why this wide difference of view? It is
Que to the same difference in receptivitv.
There are some who profoundly feel the
need OF Christ; the sense of sin lies heav-
iiy upon them, and they would fain be de-
livered from it. They wait, like aged Sim
con IN the temple, for the coming of the
mighty One, and, beholding Him. thev in
stantly receive Him as the God-sent Word,
saying, Now lettest Thou Thy servant de-
salvatlon!" They welcome the message be-
cause they were waiting for it. Others,
like Nathaniel, cry, "Can any good thing
come out of Nazareth?'' And prejudice
must be overcome before they can receive
linn. thus 1T is written, HE came unto
Ills own, and His own received Him not !;
put to as many as received Him to them
gave He power to become the sons of God ,,
= Prejudice is grounded in pride of worldly
wisdom, and this is the great obstacle be-
tween the soul and Christ as the "word''
or message from God
4 Tins it has ooroo +o .nor. +Lo4 ..x.. - =.
have been distinguished for their attain
ments, in certain provinces of knowledge
have been wholly blind on the godward
side. One cannot forget how Charles Dar-
win, after spending his life in experiment.
ing along the lines of physical science, died
lamenting that his spiritual nature had
been starved. In his childhood he had
been deeply religious, as he said, but he
had dwelt SO long amid an environment of
purely, material things that God and inn
mortality had become empty dreams to
wasting away for want of nourishment.
ALI through his life he had fostered the
natural man, or, as Paul calls it. psuchi-
KOS, the psychical man. He could reason
indefinitely in the realm of material things,
but the supernatural was wholly ruled out.
count, also, for the fact that the Holy
!ihost IS nothing to many men. And there
| IS more skeptlcism at this point. believe.
than anywhere else in these days. We are
living under the dispensation of the Holy
Ghost. He is now the, executive of Gods
Kingdom on earth, and those who are in
the kingdom have to do officially with Him.
| Yet there are many who characterize the
third person of the godhead by neuter
pronoun and regard Him merely as an affiu-
ence or effiuence. bearing no vital or per-
sonal relation to them.
There is obviously great difference Of
opinion here. Is the Holy Spirit the per-
| sonal director of our life and service. or is
He not He at all, but merely ''it?" Ii
He sustains the former relation to us, it
! IS because our souls are in harmony with
lusted to receive communications from
HIM; In this case we stand as Elijah did
| on Horeb, his face wrapped in his mantle.
| while he hardened to "the still small
Voice" And living thus we follow His
guidance, as did Abraham on his journey
1 ings of the Great River. ever needing the
direction of the Voice. pitching his tent Or
moving on as the Spirit bade him. Other
wise we are like the multitudes at Pente-
| cost, who, despite the manifestations of di-
vine power in the sound of the rushing
mighty wind and the miracle of tongues.
looked on in doubt and bewilderment, say
ing: "These men are full OF new wine"
In recent book on religious experience
the manifestations of pagan frenzy are co..
| lated with the feelings and convictions OF
Christian believers. and all alike are sub
jected to analysis by the so-called s'scien-
tiic method" Thus judged, there is Moth
ing in regeneration, nothing in sanctifca-
ton, nothing but infatuation in the up
lifting and transporting influence of the
Spirit of God.
In view of such considerations is it not
apparent that the soul is blind and deaf to
heavenly visions and revelations, unless it
is attuned to them? And what solemn sig
nifcance there is in the words of Jesus:
sHe that hath ears to hear let him hear"
There are. indeed. $50 many voices and
none of them without signifcation," but
the peonle standing by say: 'It thunder
eth" O for the hearing ear and the un-
derstanding heart! What avals it to call
a commission of blind men to pass iudg-
mert on the art of Titan or Raphael?
] What avails it to bid jury of deaf men
sit in judgment on the oratorio OF the
Creation" Thus when the philosophers
Of Athens heard Paul preaching on Mars
Hill ''some mocked and others said We
will hear thee again concerning this mat
ter" The gospel is "foolishness to the
| Greek, and to the Jews stumbling block,
but to them that are saved it is the Wis
l 1,x,1 d. IL VII Do,