The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-01-18
Divine Yearning For Human Fellowship

Divine YearninE For Human Fellowship
Behold I stand at the door and knock
Rev. Ill, 20.
This thought was borne in with over.
towering emphasis while standing before
Holman Hunts famous painting, Tbs
Light of the World" in Keble College,
Oxford. The boldness, the seeming pre-.
sumption, Of the5conception is startling,
but the more it, is pondered the clearer
does it become that it expresses the very
heart of religion. 49,.
If the Bible and religious experience
mean anything they spell cut the truth
that God yearns to enter into human life.
The very idea of the Bible is that it is a
revelation from God. Being a revelation
He must have taken the initiative. That
can only mean that He desired to commu.
nicate with man. And since the message
ia one of hope and cheer it can only mean
a desire for human fellowship. We com.
monty think of two deeps in reiiglon-the
of God for man. Deep calleth unto
deep" But in the final analysis the di.
vine warming is the deeper and is the
source of the other, just as the sea is the
source of the rivers that flow toward 1T:
1--WE love Him because He first loved u.s."
And no real explanation of religion can be
| found which omits this deepest of all relig.
ious facts.
Our difficulty in ap~propriating this truth
is due to pagan misconceptions OF God
which still survive in Christian. thought.
Why should it be strange, after all, that
The loving Father should seek to have tel
lowship with His children? Fellowship
does not necessarily mean the equal ex'
change of being with being. The mother
has sweet, satisfying fellowship with the
l.la 49, III 4ha rooponco ~ ran O1ul IN
the wealth of her love, tenderness and care
is a smile or a tear or q babes .caress. But
you say she looks forward to the time
when, having developed, heart and mind
shall answer to heart and mind. But are
we not children-knowing only in part and
loving only in part-yet children on tne
way to manhood and womanhood? TT
doth not yet appear what we shall be, but
we shall be like Him."
Many have realized this truth in the past
and the world has been enriched beyond
measure. The explanation Of the nobility;
of the upreaeh: of human life is That GOD
is in it. Paul says, Christ in; You; the
hope of glory" It is this divine element
We might enlarge the roll call of the elev.
enth chapter of Hebrews even down to the
present time, and the refrain would, be
still the same. By faith, by falkland that
means at last that these men who have
"subdued kingdoms" were conscious that
God wrought in and through them. It'll
this inflow of the divine which has made
for purity and righteousness, for peace and
good will. 1t has inspired the prophets
visions and the poets dreams; it has sup
piled the strength and nerved the courage
which have dared and died for truth. lake
it out of the race consciousness and You
.--.ez-.-oll,y o,,,oa~,o - EllrNInafa II
from our educational, benevolent, political
and social plans and you quench the buoy.
ant, spirit Of altruism and hopeful helpful
ness.
A happy sign Of the times is a return to
the conception of religion as an experience.
We have had in turn a religion which con-
sisted in the affirmation of a creed, IN the
performance of ceremonies; in devotion to
q book and in submission to a church. We
are coming again to the conception OF q
religion which knows God, and which
works that knowledge out into terms OF
purity, kindness, sweetness and light. we
are beginning to realize that Jesus stLl
stands at the door and is knocking.
The only condition He lays down Tor en-
trance is that we. shall open the door. He
asks only receptiveness, hospitality, will.
ingness that He should enter. He does not
say, Purify your heart and will come
in" but Let Me come in and I will purify
your heart" The sunshine banishes the
darkness and life masters death IN the
soul that bids Him enter. How different
is this from our ordinary. conceptions!
Much of our prayer is based upon the as.
sumption that God must be propitiated
and His reluctance must be overcome: We
hear much of wrestling, but it is with our
own selves, not with Him. The unwilling
ness does not lie on Gods part, but on
ours. Prayer has an objective value, but
it also has a subjective value, and 1t
avails, rot in that it overcomes a divine
reluctance, but in that it brings US into an
attitude of receptivity.
The marvel of wireless telegraphy. has
taught US that the sending and receiving
instruments must be. in tune. otherwise
messages might beat upon the unrespon'
sive receiver and it would be deaf to them;
There must be unison between the soul
and God, otherwise messages cannot pass.
And one of the ends of prayer and medlta'
ton is that the soul may be attuned to re.
ceiye the messages Of love, life and light
that fash from the heart of God. Jesus
knocks at the door. Shall we let Him in!
R. P. johnson, Minister Fifth Avenue
Baptist Church, New York City, m New
York Herald.
What to Read.