344
THE WATCHMAN
PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY THE
SOUTHERN PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION
NASHVILLE. TENNESSEE
Price, $1.00 per Year Single Copy, 5 Cents
G. I. BUTLER
S. N. HASKELL | Associate
L. A. SMITH } Editors }
E. J. BURNHAM Editors
ENTERED AT THE POST OFFICE AT NASHVILLE, TENN.
AS SECOND CLASS MATTER, APRIL 12, 1906.
Nashville, Tennessee, May 28, 1907.
STIRRING UP OUR NESTS
S an eagle stirreth up her nest, flutter-
eth over her young, spreadeth abroad
her wings, taketh them, beareth them
on her wings; so the Lord alone did
lead him, and there was no strange god with
Deut. 32:11, 12.
Moses, in his closing words to the chil-
dren of Israel just before he was taken from
them by death, thus describes God's dealings
with his chosen people. The same principle
applies to his dealings with all his people
down to the close of this world’s history.
A Forcible Figure
The figure which he uses is a most interest-
ing, forcible, and beautiful one. It would be
very hard to find in nature one more striking.
The most powerful of birds, whose eye can
pierce immense distances, building their nests
in lofty trees or among the cragged rocks of
a fearful precipice where no enemy can reach
them, and there raising their young,— this is
the bird that is taken as a symbol. Here the
food is brought for the young from the time
they leave the egg until they are about grown,
and finally become large enough to fly.
him.”
The mother has to stir up the nest to get
the young birds to venture from it. They
have thrived and grown up, and greatly en-
joyed the plentiful supply that their parents
have brought to them. They have had a life
of ease and comfort; because of the parental
instinct of love in the heart of the mother,
they have not been left to suffer hunger.
They would much prefer to have their early
life continue, and still receive the kind, ten-
der, watchcare of their parents. The distance
below looks fearfully dangerous. They have
never learned the art of flying, nor the ca-
pacities that the God of nature has bestowed
upon them. In the nature of things they can-
not know these until they exercise their un-
known powers.
The parent birds, however, well understand
all these matters. How shall they communi-
cate this knowledge to their young? There
is no other way but to really force them out
where they will have to use these powers.
A Trying Experience
How hard and how cruel it must seem to
these eagles when the mother, who has so
kindly cared for them all through their early
THE WATCHMAN
lives, hovering over them to keep them warm,
tenderly protecting them from the storm and
the elements, supplying their every want, tears
to pieces the protecting nest, and shoves them
off from the awful precipice into the deep
abyss below. How unkind and dreadful it
must seem to them. How little can they com-
prehend such movements. But there they go
off into space. What terror must come into
their hearts.
But with this trying experience, new and un-
known powers are brought into play. Those
wings at their sides involuntarily and almost
unconsciously begin to flap and flutter to keep
them from falling through space. But it is
a convulsive movement; they hardly know how
to comprehend it themselves. They are ter-
rified beyond all description.
All at once the mother flies beneath them,
sustaining them on her strong pinions, and
O how glad they are. But even that short
experience is to them a revelation. New ideas
of life come into their being, a new sensation
fills their whole nature. They begin to real-
ize new capabilities. Their eagle natures take
delight in these new experiences. They al-
most long to try it once more. They do so,
and they soon realize that they have strong
and wonderful powers. They can sustain
themselves in mid-air, and sail away in happy
consciousness of ability to mount up to the
greatest heights. When the real privileges
and powers of the mighty eagles are theirs,
they see the wisdom of their parents in forc-
ing them into danger which seemed so great.
They appreciate now the mother’s love in a
far greater sense.
The Illustration as Applied to Israel
This is a feeble description of the illus-
tration which Moses, the wise man of God,
gives us of the care of the Creator for his
people on their journey to the promised land.
What wonderful revelations were given in
that remarkable exode from heathen Egypt
to the blessed Canaan of promise. What mo-
mentous changes were accomplished in that
race of slaves.
These changes, however, were not accom-
plished in a moment, or in a day, or in a year.
Indeed, one whole generation passed away, and
their children, trained up in those forty years
in the wilderness, presented the noblest feat-
ures of any whole people in all their history.
They became valiant and obedient, devoted
servants of the Most High. ‘That period of
their history under Joshua, their Ged-given
leader, through whom they were led to victory,
is the noblest in their national history as a
whole. Their enemies could never stand be-
fore them. And God wrought wonderfully
through them, and made his great name known
to the ends of the earth and through all ages.
The Principle in Christian Experience
The same principle brought to view in this
wonderful illustration of the eagle’s treatment
of their young, applies to the experiences of
God's people in all time. God often deals with
us individually according to this principle.
Alas, how many times, we as children of
God who because of his. mercy for us have
in a measure begun a new life, fail to realize
the great possibilities he has in store for us
if we would venture out on his promises, and
would become fully consecrated to him.
Multitudes of professed Christians, yea, the
vast majority of those who have professed
Christ's name and claim to have entered his
service, never accomplish what they might
perform if their whole powers were brought
into exercise. Indeed, many who profess the
name of Christ will miserably perish at the
last, simply because they take such poor con-
ceptions of the Christian life. Multitudes of
the children of Christian parents profess relig-
ion largely because their parents did, and they
have but little sense of what it means to be a
true Christian. So of others who are brought
into the faith by the efforts of God's faithful
servants. They take low conceptions of tie
religious life.
These persons have low ideals because of
the selfishness of their natures and the temp-
tations of the wicked one. They are content
to lead lives on a low plain, living for the
world and its pleasures, while professing to
serve God, thus living a false life, far beneath
their profession.  Multitudes of professed
Christians are doing this very thing. Prob-
ably many do not realize it, because they do
not really try to do so. Like Ephraim of
old, they are joined to their idols. To all
such the Lord says, “Let him alone.” They
go along satisfied with a mere profession, de-
ceived as to their own condition, resting in
a false hope, showing in their lives very few,
if any, of the fruits of God's Spirit, in reality
being mere worldlings.
0, the agony of these half-hearted professors
when they finally awake and find themselves
lost. The harvest with them will then be
past, and the summer ended, and they will not
be saved. Such as these, and their final end,
are plainly described by Christ, “ Not every
one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall en-
ter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that
doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord,
have we not prophesied in thy name? and in
thy name have cast out devils? and in thy
name done many wonderful works? And
then will I profess unto them, I never knew
you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
Matt. 7:21-23.  Multitudes will be disap-
pointed in that day.
There are others who really wish to do what
is right, but have settled down into a feeling
of security, and seem to be doing little for
the cause of God when they might do vastly
more if they were aroused and awake. How
shall God go to work and help and save such?
There is only one way that they can be aroused
and awakened. And so the Lord tries the
eagle method. He stirs up the nest. He per-
mits some great calamity of one kind or an-
other to come upon them, and show them the
nature of this poor world in which we live.
Perhaps some child or dear one is taken
away, or perhaps we are afflicted in our per-
son by sickness, or some great loss of property
comes through fire or other calamity. We are
terribly shaken up. We find life almost un-
endurable. We wonder why it is so. Wg
begin at last to look about us, and discern