Quiet Talks on the Crowned Christ of Revelation | Page 6

no counter currents to guard and
fight against?
It would seem like a strange sort of a kingdom if the present is even a
gradual coming in of the Kingdom. We would seem to be having a new,
strange sort of a Christ if the present is a sample of His sort of reigning.
For it may well be thoughtfully doubted if ever there was such a
condition of feverish unrest in all parts of the world as to-day.
It is most difficult to put your finger on a single spot of the world-map
that is not being torn and uptorn by unrest in one shape or another.
Either actual war, or constant studious preparation for war, actually
never ceases. And it is difficult to say which is the worse of the two.
The actual war reveals more terribly to our eyes and ears the awful cost
in treasure and in precious human blood spilled without stint. The
never-ceasing preparation for war seems actually to cost more. In the
immense treasure involved, and in blood too, given out, not on an
occasional battlefield, but in the continual battle of daily life to meet
the terrible drain of taxation, it costs immensely more. There is less of
the tragic for the news headings, but not a whit less, rather much more,
in the slow suffering, the pinched lives, and the awful temptations to
barter character for bread.

Then there is the continual seething unrest in the industrial world; the
protests sometimes so strange and startling against social and political
conditions; the feverish greed for gold, and land, and position; the
intense pace of all our modern life; the abandonment of home and
home ideals; the terrific attack against our young womanhood. The
political pot which gathers into itself all these things, never quits
boiling or boiling over, in some part of the world, now here, now there.
And it seems like the greatest achievement of diplomacy when here and
there it can be kept from boiling clean over, or at least made to boil
over less.
It would seem indeed like a queer sort of kingdom if this is a sample.
Some of us would have less heart in repeating one petition of the old
daily prayer. And Christ would seem to have quite changed His spirit
and character if this is a result of His coming.
The Greatness of Patience.
And the great simple truth is this, the truth that in the strange mix-up of
life we easily lose sight of is this: Christ has not yet taken possession of
all of His domain; a part of it still remains to be possessed. "We see not
yet all things subjected to Him."[23] We are living in the "not-yet"
interval between the crowning and the actual reigning. We are living on
the "not-yet" possessed part of His domain.
And the question that comes hot and quick from our lips, even though
with an attempt at subdued reverence, is this: "Why does He not take
possession, and untangle the snarl, and right the wrongs, and bring in
the true rational order of things?" And all the long waiting, the soreness
of hearts over the part that touches one's own life most closely, the
shortness of breath in the tensity of the struggle, underscore that word
"why?"
And the answer to the impatient question reveals all afresh the
greatness of the love of our Christ. His greatness is shown most in His
patience. But patience is one of the things we men on this old earth
don't know. It's one of the unknown quantities to us. It can be known
only by knowing God. For patience is love at its best. Patience is God

at His best. His is the patience that sees all, and feels all with the tender
heart that broke once under the load, and yet waits, steadily waits, and
then waits just a bit longer.
In this He runs the risk of being misunderstood. Men in their stupidity
constantly mistake strong patience for weakness or indifference or lack
of a gripping purpose. And God is misunderstood in this, even by His
trusting children. But, even so, the object to be gained is so great, and
so near Christ's heart that He waits, strongly waits with a patience
beyond our comprehension; waits just a bit longer, always just a bit
longer.
There are two parts to the answer. Jesus the Christ is giving man the
fullest opportunity. He never interferes with man's right of free choice.
Man is free to do as he chooses. Every possible means is used to
influence him to choose right, but the choice itself is always left to the
man. The present is man's opportunity. The initiative of action on the
earth is altogether in man's hand.