Voices Raised Against Our Faith – Sunday, August 4, 1940
As comes the close of day with merciful sleep to those who are weary, and by toil have earned quiet repose, so comes the end of the journey of life to those whom the years have worn with well doing and who look toward another place of abode, not with doubts or fears or troubled hearts, but with that peace and assurance which the Father of us all has given to all His children who will be partakers of it.
And they it is who can say at the hour of parting: “Come blest repose: Come lead me homewards, Mine eyelids gently close.
No man who cries repentance unto his own generation can hope to find popularity or wide acceptance. The history of times past is conclusive on this subject. He who tells his neighbor that he is doing that which he should not do, will find resentment, even though it be true and even though his neighbor knows that it is true. None of us like to be questioned because of our actions, and if we are engaged in practices that do not conform with our best knowledge, we do not choose to be reminded of it. Nevertheless, there are those in all ages whom the Lord, God, has called to cry repentance unto His children, whether they like it or not. It is quite possible that there are many who wonder what we have to repent of, and for them we select only
two or three items from an interminable list: Some have need to repent of living beyond their income, and some have need to repent of inducing other men to live beyond their income; some have need to repent of incurring obligations for themselves and for others which they cannot reasonably hope to pay off now or in the future; some have need to repent of denying the power and the personality of God; some have need to repent of riding on the merry-go-round of a perennial pleasured quest without facing the real issues of life or contributing to the solving of its problems for themselves or for others; some have need to repent of spending all their days with small talk and trivial actions and superficial thoughts. And so the list goes endlessly on. If, perchance, you know anyone who would like to know what it is that men have need to repent of, tell him to make a list of all of the vices and the failings and the shortcomings of his neighbors and his friends, and then tell him to look squarely at himself in one of his moments of candid honesty and see how many he shares with them. No, the man who cries repentance unto his own generation cannot hope for popularity — but sometimes there are things more fundamental than popularity to be considered.
August 4, 1940
Broadcast Number 0,572