The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923, May 01, 1922, Page 8, Image 8
cicwhliit -iTPjw - r r'rwrjrijfw;" V x The Commoner "8 VOL. 22, NO. 5 i thought, in language, in illustration, in poetic beauty and in fervent eloquence it challenges comparison. Viowed purely from a literary standpoint, and entirely apart from the inspired truth that it contains and the wonderful vision which it records, it is a marvel of excellence. And yet, thero are those who, unable to ap preciate its sublimity, laboriously search through it with microscopic scrutiny to find some phrase upon which to hang an indictment of Its verac ity. They are like one who, ignoring the beauty and tho fragranco of the flowers in a garden, would oxhaust his enthusiasm on a weed. Fortunately, tho great majority of Bible read ers onjoy tho good, tho true, and tho beauti ful, and to them Isaiah is a continuing delight. ISAIAH'S ALL ENCOMPASSING VISION Isaiah differs from tho other prophets whose words are recorded in holy writ. He was not called from the plow as Elisha was, neither was ho a herdsman like Amos, nor yet did he burst forth from obscurity liko Elijah. Wo know tho name of this prophet's father, but nothing more, Tho Bible commentators, reasoning from the quality of his speech and from his familiarity with the court think that he must have had in his youth all the advantages that his generation afforded. Like tho othor prophets, ho fitted into his time; and yet, unlike the most of them, his vision took in all tho future. He had tho prophet's primary virtue; ho believed in God. Tho God whom Isaiah worshipped united in him self all the qualities that a supreme being could possess, and possessed them to a supreme de gree. The Jehovah of Isaiah was infinite in power, infinite in intelligence, and infinite in love. Ho could plan all that His heart desired and carry out the plan. Isaiah was loyal to his race; ho was a child of Abraham and had on his heart the destiny of Israel. Bolieving in the justice of God, he was distressed by the sins that must bring retribu-v tion; his was tho love that sought to guard his people against tho consequences of sin by plead ing" against transgressions. Trusting in God and in God's power to deliver, he warned against al liances that would link his race with those who, by their conduct, invited tho wrath of God. ISAIAH FORETELLS THE SAVIOUR While Isaiah did not ignore tho age in which he lived, his eyes were on the days to come when a "chosen people" would see a Messiah one of the seed of Abraham who would save His peo ple from their sins and lead them into the land of which the "promised land1' that they knew was but a promise. Listening heavenward, he heard the song that startled the shepherds at Bethlehem and, peer ing through the darkness of seven centuries, he saw light that shone from Calvary. Prophecy has been described as "history writ ton in advance." Isaiah recorded centuries be forehand, and in minute detail as well as in ma jestic outline, tho sufferings of the Saviour, the sayings of the Saviour's time. The salvation that Ho bought with His blood and the vicarious character of the atonement are fully set forth and the completeness of His sacrifice is accur ately described. The lesson begins with tho call that came to Isaiah in a vision. In the presence of the seraphims he was ovorwolmed with a conscious ness of his sinfulness, an attitude essential to tho beginning of a great enterprise by a servant of God. "HERE AM I; SEND ME" Isaiah's eyes were opened to his own sins and to the sinfulness of those about him. As lone as he was indifferent to his own acts, he was satisfied with his companionship; when his eyes boheld his own shortcomings he became aware of the shortcomings of his associates. Isaiah's conversion was as sudden as Paul's, and as complete. When by repentance he had qualified himself to answer the call, the call came. The manner of its coming has given to reli gionists a very striking phrase, "a living coal from off the altar." One of the seraphim "hav ing a live coal in his hand, which -ho had taken with tho tongs from off the altar," flew to Isaiah and touched his mouth with it, saying as he did so, "Lo, this hath touohed thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged." First, repentance; then forgiveness and' then the call. Isaiah heard the call of the Lord "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us7" Isaiah, no longer abashed by the consciousness of sins unforgiven, was ready to bring forth works meet for repentance "Here am I- send r " ?. ?aJ?X sa.w'j. J& '"'- '--; . imf Knt forth In the Word of God. has such pow er to transform weakness Into strength? CHRISTIANITY "LOOKS UP" I asked a Japanese boy who was old enough to understand both religions to give me his idea of the difference between Buddhism anil Chris tianity. He promptly replied, "Buddh'sm looks down, Clnistianity looks up." It is a very prac tical dist'netion and one of tremendous, import ance. Buddhism is purely a religion of works, and one can understand how it could supplant Hinduism, which is woven about the doctrine known as the transmigration of the soul. The spirit that wanders aimlessly through myriad ex istences sometimes in an animal and sometimes in a human being wearies of the monotony of endless change. Buddhism furnished to the Hindu a ray of hope the promise that conscious existonco can be brought to an end. Budda taught that after the spirit has committed un numbered sins it can turn about and do good with tho assurance that when, in an indefinite number of future existences, it has done enough good to outweigh the sins committed it can escape from the tortures of life by being ab sorbed into tho spirit of the universe. Isaiah enjoyed a religion that required no wandering through a labyrinth of lives in order to reach a haven of rest. It only required a moment of repentance and another moment for forgiveness, and then the light of a new life burst upon him, with the glory of 'God's service within his reach. The past was blotted out; the future was bright with hope. Isaiah answered, "Here am I; send me." Here we have a child-like faith and just such a vol unteering for a task as every parent under stands. The methods of the mind may be la borious, but the methods of the heart are simple. The mind calculates with care; the heart "trusts and obeys." A PRACTICAL LESSON The lesson for today is a very practical one. A religious life begins in the humility that comes with consciousness of sin "God4 be mer ciful to me a sinner." Forgiveness follows, and with it the dawn of a new day "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, thev shall be as wool." Then the heart, open to divine suggestion, hears the call to service and answers, "Here am I; send me." From that time on life is an ascent, but strength is promised with every new difficulty and joy is assured as duties, revealed from day to day, are performed. May we all, old and young, have the spirit of consecration embodied in the song: Tni"1!11 S, Wuere you want me t0 so dear Lord; 1. 11 be what you want me to be; I'll say what wantTS'do0"8' Lrd; rU'd0 what you HOW PEACE WILL COME TO THE WORLD By WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN BIBLE TEXT LESSON FOR MAY 7 (Isaiah ii: 2-4; xi: 1-9) And it shall come'to pass in tho nt rinc i . the mountain of the Lord's houkn 1 i i ys' P'r llshed in the top of the mountains an aihSn CStab" 528? if0"6 tJl h,Us; and atfonndsS1a1i,b,ie0- lets ".rfenounTainoftheS T house of tho God of Jacob; and ho win t2u tho of his ways, and we will walk in i,Yi U foach Us out of Zion shall ffo forth thelnw np?iths: for of the Lord from Jerusalem. the word And ho shall judge amonir fhr nntu , . rebuko many people: and thovh?s,i an.d 8ha swords into plowshare?, and thMr1Lbcat the,r pruninghooks: nation In a?" not lift 8prs lnto against nation, neither shall they "earnwa? And the spirit of the Lord shYiirL0 hIs roota' the spirit of wisdom and Sndorstincieni Hpon hlm. of counsel and might, the sDlrft o?dr& ithie spIrlt of tho fear of the Lord; P of lcnowledge and And shall make him of quick urwin,.0-i. tho fear of tho Lord: and o sUi r,nfStn,(llne ! the sight of his eyes neither ienUU(1S0 after hearing of his ears: "tIl"r leprovo after the But with righteousness shall hr , ,, An .JBhteousncss shall be the girdle f i,i . , And the cow and the bear shall tnn.i. .-. ones shall lie down together; and tho Tin!!" eat straw like the ox. v tnc llon shall And the Bucking child shall play on tho yi the asp, and the weaned child shall pm ; hi e J on the cockatrice's den. pul nls hand They shall not hurt nor destroy in nil ,. L . mountain: for the earth shall be full of IL .My edge of the Lord, as the waters cove? the set Do you long for world peace? Do you nnv for it, strivo fo,r it? Would you know how JK love and justice is to come? Then turn to Isaiah. He was preeminently th? prophet of peace, and in the two extracts from his great jook which we shall consider today ho brings his Wonderful gift of imagery to bear upon 'this subject of supreme importance to the world. These extracts are from the Second and Eleventh Ghapters. I shall take the liberty of transposing the quotation and refer to the sec ond quotation iirst. Isaiah speaks of the coming of the Messiah He is to be of the seed of Abraham and a de scendant of Jesse and David. "And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of tho fear of the Lord." The word "spirit" is hero used four times and to this spirit is linked "the fear of the Lord." We often hear the critics of the Bible finding jfault with the word "fear." We are told that it is a narrow religion that teaches fear; that love should be a sufficient inducement to righte ousness. Strange that the worshippers of nature should overlook the fact that fear is written upon every page of nature's book. "THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM" Fire is essential to human life, and yet we fear fire. We are afraid to thrust a hand into the fire or to. allow lire to escape from man's control. The air is necessary to life, and yet we fear tho air when the wind raises to a certain velocity. The air in the form of a cyclone or hurricane is as destructive as fire unconfined. And. so with water. It is the daily need of every living thing-, and yet it may take our lives when it comOs in the form of a flood or we go into it beyond our depth. Why not bring an' indictment against nature for exciting fear? .Why should the very things that sustain life and giv us the physical pleas ures that we know become so deadly when their wrath is aroused? . The God of nature is to be feared as well as loved "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Only the foolish find fault with fear as a restraining agency. The fear of God holds us in check until we reach a paint where our "delight is in the law of the Lord." Isaiah has the Messiah delighting "in the fear of the Lord." Obedience comes before the knowledge: the child learns to obey before it knows the reason why. Is not the difference be tween man and the Heavenly Father as great as the difference between the parent and the child? "A LITTLE CHILD SHALL LEAD THEM" The coming Messiah was not to be dependent upon the avenues of information upon which ordinary mortals have to rely. A human judge learns by sight and by ear, but the Messiah could not be dependent upon seeming things. "He shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears." He would have an insight into the truth, even the spirit of wisdom, and of understanding and of knowledge. He would judge the poor with righteousness and "reprove with equity for the meek of the earth' Throughout history the righteous judge has been described as the one who does justice to the poor. It was one of tho proofs that Christ gave of His Messiahship -"the poor have the gospel preached to them." The prophet's description of the completeness of the peace that was to come leaves nothing to be imagined. Even the animals are to be purged of the savagery that dominates their world. The wolf shall djell with "the lamb and the leopard shall lie down with the kid:" the calf and the young lion and the fatling shall be companions; "and a little child shall lead them. one of the wonderful sentences that Isalaii coined for the world. Probably no one save Christ has ever so ex alted the child, although throughout the ages child leadership has been an outstanding fact. A child's tiny-hands, before they can lift a featherweight, bring two hearts nearer together, and its presence sobers the thoughtless ami makes them-begin to plan for .life a real thing. 4 4 , ,. '-. , ..? ?shMJx&ikhi&Z6'-"