CHAPTER III CALLED TO WILLINGNESS "Oh, may thy soldiers, faithful, true, and bold, And win with them the victor's crown of gold, Alleluia!" We have been facing the question whether the doctrine of Divine election would overthrow the doctrine of the freedom of the will. I have been arguing that quite the opposite is true, and that the former doctrine, far from overthrowing the latter, really establishes it. A belief in the sovereign power of God establishes one's belief in the freedom of the will. It is He who calls men to that high responsibility of a free will. Through the last chapter I was trying to develop this thought while putting the chief emphasis on the word "free." Through the present chapter I should like to continue the development of the thought, putting the chief emphasis now on the word "will." God calls men to will. A scriptural starting-point for our meditation may be found in the third verse of the 110th Psalm, "Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power." The Psalm pictures a king in the dew of his youth going forth to war. In the clash of battle he first breaks through the enemies' line, turning them to flight, and then drives them all before him. When faint with pursuing, he stoops to drink of the brook by the wayside, and then, refreshed by the draught, he presses on to the complete destruction of his enemies. The completeness of the victory is strongly emphasized by the psalm. This victorious king, according to the psalm, shall be also priest of the true God, and a twofold reason is given for his success: first, the favor of God, and, second, the willingness of his people. They are all volunteers in that army; also, they are all a sort of priests, like their leader. They are clad in the beauty of holiness-that is, in priestly garments, like some earlier band of crusaders, their very garments proving the sacredness of their cause. But, moreover, they were all volunteers, not conscripts, driven like slaves into the battle, but "Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power." In the Hebrew the phrase is an unusual one. Literally rendered, it would read, "Thy people shall be willingnesses." The word seems to mean that every soldier should be a free-will offering. And this fact is given as the reason of the captain's victorious power. With such an army, and such a captain, victory was sure. This 110th Psalm is quoted repeatedly in the New Testament as a prophecy of Christ. He is this victorious young King who was to be also a priest after the order of Melchizedek; and His army, through whose willing co-operation the glorious victory must come, is the army to which you and I profess to belong, the Church of Jesus Christ. The text shows that the source of power for this victory must be in God; the day of victory is the day of His power. But the manifestation of that power is in the willingness of His people. Unless they were properly exerting their wills, the day of God's power had not come. Unless they volunteer, He has no army. "In the day of Thy power, Thy people shall be willing." In our popular speech, this word "willing," like many other words, has suffered sad degeneracy. We often give it the weakest sense possible, as if "willing" meant no more than "not unwilling." "Are you willing that I should walk across your lawn?" "Yes," you say, "I have no objection." But, of course, that does not mean that you strongly desire your neighbor to walk across your lawn. Probably you would a little rather that he stay on his own side of the fence. But you mean that it is not a matter of very great consequence; you do not care enough about it to risk a quarrel with him; you do not propose to bring a suit for tres pass against him; and so, when he asks, "Are you willing," you answer somewhat grudgingly, "Yes, I am willing." 66 In other words, we treat the word as if it were one of the very weakest words that a man could speak; but, really, it ought to be one of the very strongest. Willing," using your will, the most Godlike faculty ever given by the Creator to His creature. Why, when a true man says, "I am willing that things should be thus and so," if he means by the word what the word means in our text, you may rest assured that something is going to happen. Willing "-the word ought to mean the strongest kind of active determination of the will. 66 "Are you willing to win a victory?" What a strange question that would be for any captain to address to his soldiers, taking the word as we now generally speak it! What army ever had any objections to winning victories? Of course they are willing. Now and then an army, like those Ironsides of Cromwell's, has really willed to win the victory; the whole vital energy of every soldier in the host transformed into that one determination of will; and it was a day of power always-always. The armies of Japan have repeated the phenomenon lately. Suppose you should ask the well-disposed citi zens of any great city-suppose you had asked the well-disposed citizens of New York or of Philadelphia, at any time within the last fifty years— whether they were willing that their city should have a thoroughly honest, decent, economical administration of government, what one of them would hesitate to answer, "Yes"; or they might rather stare in silent amazement at so senseless a question. "Willing!" They are more than willing to be well-governed. But no; often they were so much less than willing to be well-governed. It is true, they had no objection to better government, but they were not willing it. The strength of their will was all used up and exhausted in a thousand other directions; they had none left for municipal politics. On several happy occasions within the last fifty years the good people of New York—and just now the good people of Philadelphia-have been willing that their city should enjoy a better government. And so the better government has come; of course it has come. When the people will, it is a day of power. Are we, members of the different Christian churches, willing that there should be more power in the religion of this community this coming season? Are we willing that God's people here should become more consistent in life, more constant in prayer, more faithful in service? Are we |