The Discipline of War

through Sel

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m. i

ho gave Himself

r each of those aspects upon which we have touched. Will, body, soul, spirit, obedience, suf

ood, a vast vicarious sacrifice. Yet borne with gratitude, readiness, ay, even with joy because of the dignity, the love, the delights it brings with it. One of the surest signs of the decadence of a nation is when

ho endeavour, so far as infinite verities can be expressed in finite language, to give a reason for the hope that is in them. Such books as Liddon's Bampton Lectures, Dale on the Atonement, or Illingworth on Personality, will be found most valuable by thos

ellectual grip of truth then the influence of the Christian upon others becomes a great missionary factor. The beauty of the Gospel story lies in its

an "instead of us" is a very grave question. The words will bear that interpretation, no doubt, but we mu

d has led many thoughtful minds to give it up in disgust or despair. Probably in a wise commingling of the two lines of thought we shall arrive most nearly at the truth. We all agree that our Blessed Lo

Sacrifice and Propitiation for the sins of the world, the moral perfections of God find their highest exp

ividual, have been crucified with Him; just as you, the individual, have been buried with Him, and raised with Him in your Baptism (Rom. vi., 4). How completely this takes the sting out of the reproach brought against Christianity, on the ground of the immorality of the Crucifixion! It is no longer the Innocent one suffering instead of the guilty, but it is the sinless One taking upon Himself human nature, with all its guilt and consequent punishment, and "in His own body on the tree," offering that human n

ill of Christ that formed the essence of the sacrifice. If we may presume to attempt a mere earthly illustration of so tremendous a matter, let us take the case of a General whose son meets with a terrible death while leading a forlorn hope

I lay My life down of Myself, no man taketh it from Me." Herein is the discipline of sacrifi

sides that we need say no more now on that point, but for further

s a living witness of th

triking pamphlet entitled "The Ma

ing stroke of statesmanship-far-sighted, perhaps, but of frightful courage-the King of the Belgians ventured in resisting at all. Of that st

, humanly speaking, nothing could have averted th

, yet temporarily dismembered little nation. We must look after the refugees. There are those who say, "T

xercise of the highest duty known to man, "Bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfil the law of Christ." Try to picture to yourself, quietly yet resolutely, what it would mean to you to-morrow morning, to find suddenly that you had to leave your house, not in a motor-car for a railway train; no! but to turn out at once, without time to put together any

you find a glorious privilege, a priceless o

. This, it seems to me, gives her a claim on something beyond pity or even gratitude-

e disappointed at the apparently small results. None, we trust, are wholly satisfied with themselves, for that would point to a condition far worse than despair. The

ts at discipline look very poor indeed. Yet He remembers our frame, He knows whereof we are made; He can and will accept the feeble

the taking a very serious view of the responsibility of life. The discipline of the spirit means, a close approach to God by every channel of worship. The discipline of obedience means, that we put self in the background, so that we may exalt the per

hrist crucified, see there the culmination of all possibility of the offering up of self for others. No eleme

nt, if only by the discipline of self-sacrifice you can l

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tations during the