CONFESSION, PRAYER AND PRAISE well up from our hearts as we once more
close a volume of our little magazine. [So wrote A.E.K. in the November, 1941 issue of
U.R.] For nearly a third of a century we have been seeking to sound out the word of
His grace and we are forced to confess that we are full of failure, to pray for promised
grace and to praise God for the fullness of His love as displayed in His dealings with us.
Despite our short-comings we have been graced with ever increasing light and fresh
unfoldings of His love. Notwithstanding our weakness, we have been granted strength
sufficient to carry on and accomplish tasks which we once deemed far beyond our capacity.
How can we help praying for a continuance of His favor, and praising Him for the grace
which has sustained us and which encourages us to continue in His service?
What confessions we are forced to make! How far short we
have come of the high hopes that held us more than thirty years ago! Not that we expected
great things, or vast crowds or spectacular success. These, we knew, were not to be
encountered at the end of this eon, if we are faithful to God and His Word. But we did
look forward to some things which would be pleasing to God. We hoped that, among our
friends, dissensions would cease, now that we no longer based fellowship on doctrine. And,
indeed, we have had sweet fellowship with many who were not one with us in all of our
interpretations, although, in some cases, the fellowship was necessarily limited because
of a great divergence in teaching. Yet the essential unity was maintained in mutual
forbearance and love. We are thankful that, in many instances, this continues to be the
case. In fact, we do not demand of a single one of our friends that they believe as we do
in order to keep in fellowship with us.
But we did not realize the effect of doctrine on conduct.
We cannot expect those who deny grace to act graciously, when even those who revel in it
fail to measure up to its high demands. Practical unity is dependent on the tie of peace,
and this, in turn, depends on loving tolerance, on patience, meekness and humility
(+Eph.4:1-3). These are the rare virtues of which there is such a lack. Indeed, I feel
sure that, if we exhibited them in any marked measure we would be misunderstood and
despised as lacking in self-respect. It is pride which creates discord and disunity. Most
of us have so much of it that, if we were not restrained by a deep conviction that our
crucifixion in Christ shows what we are in ourselves, and our exaltation by God what His
grace has made us, we would assert ourselves and make unity an impossibility. Without
grace no vital unity is possible. Where this is lacking it soon disappears.
The whole spirit of the times is against unity. Everywhere
freedom, independence, self-determination, are held up as the greatest of goals for
humanity. There is a revolt against authority. Children no longer need to be subject to
parents, nor wives to their husbands, nor slaves to their masters, nor the younger to the
elder, nor the citizen to the authorities, nor the saints to one another, nor the ecclesia
to Christ. One would suppose that, at the consummation, all are to become all in
themselves, self-centered, self-sufficient, independent, free, instead of being utterly
subject to God (+1 Cor.15:27-28). That such a spirit leads to discord and strife is
evident all about us. But it should not lead us astray. We should not strive to be
independent of one another. Rather, we should seek to stem this tide by practicing the
opposite. Let us not insist on our rights but rather forego them when this will serve the
saints. It may be humiliating, but that is just what we should covet. Let us remember that
our Lord was vested with all authority, yet He chose the path of bitterest humiliation and
shame.
Where there has been division and discord, let us freely
confess it, even if we imagine that we have had no hand in it. Let us remember Daniel. We
would say that he, of all Israel, was innocent of the national transgressions. But he
thought otherwise, hence he was personally humbled by them. He knew himself as vitally one
with his people. We are far more closely joined to one another, so it ill becomes us to
point at others. No matter who is to blame, we must share the shame. Notwithstanding all
the divisions into which the church has been rent, the believers in them are vitally and
essentially one. The acts of each member of the body affect all and involve all. No one
could claim to be as free of the offenses of the church as Daniel was of the sins of
Israel. Nowhere have I seen such flagrant sectarianism as among a sect that was violently
opposed to it. Let us not, then, be proud of our own unsectarianism, lest it should prove
to be the opposite, but ashamed of the divisions in the body to which we belong, that we
may be in the path of peace and unity.
Another danger we feared has led to much humiliating
heartache. We had been among those who claimed to know more about the Scriptures than any
others. Their claim was not without foundation, for they had many a precious truth unknown
to the mass of Christendom. But, alas, as I once heard it expressed, they had a little
light, but less love. Knowledge puffs up, yet love edifies (+1 Cor.8:1). We knew that our
work would consist largely in the search for, and dissemination of knowledge. Hence we
have tried to connect it with love as much as possible, as an antidote to the tendency of
knowledge to inflate us with self-esteem. But I fear that we have by no means fully
escaped the insidious effects of knowledge. I, at least, am inclined to deal heartlessly
with those who seem to come short, especially if they claim a superior knowledge, instead
of bearing with them, and accepting their insults, and enjoying their jibes.
Another doctrine which has a powerful influence on
fellowship is the recognition of God. Indeed, it marks one of the greatest rifts between
the sects of Christendom. So long as the creature clings to the prerogatives of the
Creator there cannot be that genuine humility which is a prerequisite for peace and unity.
So long as He is not given His true place as the One Who is operating all we are sure to
take some of this glory to ourselves. So long as He is not envisioned as the great Object
of all we will fail to take our place and give Him His due. Practically, unity depends on
the humility which can come only from a heartfelt acknowledgment that all is out of and
through and for Him, in short, that He is the Deity, the Source, the Course, and the
Consummation of all, and we are nothing apart from what He makes us.
One thing we greatly feared when we first began to make
known the great truth of universal reconciliation was that it might degenerate into
"universalism", or salvation by character. We are thankful that, for many years,
no tendency of this kind materialized. But now this is plainly evident among a very few,
and we are praying that God will intervene, in His own way, to guard this marvelous truth,
which he has committed to us. No attacks from without, and they have been many and bitter,
can so surely subvert the truth as an effort from within to relieve God of a vital part of
the work of salvation and lay it on the shoulders of men.
Many other evils could be included in our confession, but
we desire to speak only of a few which we hope will be of benefit to our friends, and lead
to prayer and praise. It will be seen that our plaint is that we have failed, in measure,
in the line with God's intention. The nominal church and the world are rapidly approaching
the time when a man will set himself up as God, and demand the worship of mankind. The
burden of our testimony is the very reverse of this. And once more we wish to graciously
warn the saints against everything that exalts or dignifies man or gives him the glory
that is reserved for God alone. Do not allow yourself to be carried away by the current of
the times. Give God His proper place in your heart, and humble yourself in His presence.
That is the path to peace and unity.
PRAYER AND PRAISE
Confession alone would not only humble us
in the dust, but would lead to discouragement and depression. In view of God's grace there
is no cause for this, for abasement is only a precursor of exaltation. Moreover it leads
to real, genuine prayer and praise. Our petition wells up spontaneously out of a humbled
heart, aware not only of its own shortcoming and insufficiency, but of the sufficiency and
love of God. We are driven away from our impotence into the arms of His omnipotence. We
appeal to God for deliverance from the world, the flesh, and the adversary, and all that
is connected with them, and implore for power to fulfill His will. Each breath of the man
of God should be accompanied by a subconscious repetition of those words of our Lord: Not
MY will but Thine. And each pulse beat should be a note of praise. For our failure is the
best foil for His perfections. It makes us thankful for all that we receive from His
hands, and for all that He is to us. We praise Him in anticipation of the future and for
the preparation of the present. May ever increasing praise ascend from the hearts of all
who read our little magazine!
