HE LIFTED ME

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21994, 1 July 1933, Page 19

HE LIFTED ME

Written for tbe Otago Daily Times By the Rev, D. Gardner Miller.

T have made the observation more than once that the older 1 get the simpler my faith becomes. A simple faith is not an easy faith. 1 have never found faith to be easy, but 1 have always, without exception, found the results justify my faith. So it is that when 1 ask myself what my Christian faith means to me X find that my experience always leads me to a very personal answer. More than that, my answer generally takes the form, not of a doctrinal statement, but of a verse, or a line may be, of a hymn. And I confess it without shame that the hymns I like best are those which the high-browe, and tbe mid-brows, and the low-brows would consider doggerel. I love Sankey’s hymns. I know the theology of some of them makes me turn intellectual somersaults backwards, but, despite that, these old-fashioned evangelical hymns so express the personal relationship between myself and Christ that I can never forget them. I love the jaunty swing of the old hymns and choruses, not only in Sankey’s, but also in the Crusader Hymn Book and others of like nature. To one of these hymns, a hymn with a haunting refrain, and to three words in that hymn, my mind returns, and my lips repeat them when I examine my faith. And the words are: “He Lifted Me.” Here is the first verse: — In loving kindness Jesus came, My soul In mercy to reclaim; And from the depths o{ sin and ghamo Through grace He lifted me. And here is the chorus: From sinking sand He lifted me, With tender hand He lifted me Prom shades of night to plains of light, O, praise His Name, He lifted me. I cannot sing: no choirmaster of any church I’ve had has ever made the faintest suggestion that I help with the anthem; but I know this, that when I sing this hymn in the solitude of my study the good Lord takes no notice of my croaking, but is glad, I believe, to bear my confession of faith. x

I should find it rather difficult to explain why X believe in, and'accept, certain doctrinal statements, but it is never difficult—indeed, it is a joy—to state why I love and serve Jesus Christ. And therein lies the difference between theology and personal religion: I have only to think of what these three words, “ He lifted me,” mean for me, for my heart to glow and my tongue to become eager. And what do they mean for me? They mean pardon and peace and power. These were the gifts, still being constantly renewed which He gave me, when I committed myself to Him in the days of my youth. Such theology as I have—many good people say I have none—has been painfully acquired and is in constant need of repair, but my faith has always been very simple. Sometimes my faith in the ways of God has suffered a partial eclipse, but my faith in a personal Redeemer has never been clouded. An old professor of mine, to whose clarity I ow'e much, once stated to bis New' Testament class that his creed consisted of the following words:—“l believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.” I never forgot what he said. Looking back now over a stretch of years, I can see how they influenced me in all my thinking and helped to shape the course of my life. The words became the groundwork of my ministry, and, though what I have built on them may be shaky yet, the increase of years and responsibility have proved again and again that the foundation is immovable. I can’t help believing in Jesus Christ. You see, “ He lifted me,” and made my life radiant. I never tire of telling people—and I am in contact, through voice and pen, with nearly eighty thousand people every week—that an immediate difference is realised/ when any man or woman, young or old, takes Him at His word. He called me long before I heard, Before my sinful heart was stirred ; But when X took Him at His word, Forgiven, He lifted me. There’s a new note in the preaching of to-day. Many ministers have had a fresh vision, and consequently their people are hearing the never-old story in new accents. There is very‘strong evidence of a return to the evangelistic preaching without which no church can live. The other night I listened to a group of young people taking part in a chain-prayer. My heart melted. They were, to put it bluntly, “ all out for Jesus Christ,” That takes courage, especially in these days when forces outside the Church are battering her without stopping, and forces within the Church, at almost bursting point, are shaking the old standards. What’s happening! ’ Just this, that religion is again becoming a personal matter and not a labelled packet of beliefs. We are on the eve of a convulsive.change in economics and international relationships, just because, and only because, men arc beginning to take the religion of Jesus Christ seriously. Young men and women, by the thousand throughout the world, are no longer hesitant about the Christian religion. And the Christian religion to them is the fearless following of Christ in every circumstance of life. The old personal note is being sounded again—the note that makes the New Testament the most enthralling book in the world. This kind of faith isn’t easy—it demands the full consent of all your faculties—but it is simple, because it refuses to carry unnecessary theological lumber. “He lifted me.” You can read your life story in these words. “He lifted me.” The world will be redeemed, not by theories, but by consecrated men and women who, in every walk of life and service, point to Him as Saviour and Friend. Let’s have the chorus once again:—

From sinking: sand He lifted me, With tender hand He lifted me; From shades of night to plains of light, O praise Hla name. He lifted me.