h treasury of sacred song, _Hymns from the Land of Luther_,
is included the translation of a noble hymn by Simon Dach, _O wie selig
seid ihr doch, ihr Frommen_, "O how happy are ye, saints forgiven." That
hymn beautifully illustrates this verse. It is written responsively all
through. One stanza, sung upward, is the utterance from below of the
pilgrim Church, longing for her rest. The next, sung from above, is the
answer of the Blessed, telling of their love and sympathy, taught them
by their own similar sufferings, of their bright foreview of the
celestial crown reserved for their still toiling brethren. So the two
choirs answer each other, turn by turn, till at last both join in a
glorious concert of blended song, a closing strain of faith and praise.
Let us listen often for those answers from above.

But the holy Writer has more to say yet about the motives to faith. He
points the weary saints upward, even beyond the "cloud," to a Form
radiant and supreme. They are to run, conscious of the witnesses, but
yet more intently "looking off ([Greek: aphorontes]) unto JESUS, the
supreme Leader ([Greek: archegon]) and Perfecter of faith"; that is to
say, the Lord of the whole host of the believing, and Himself the
consummate Worker in the field of faith, who, for a joy promised _but
not seen_, "endured the Cross," when its immediate aspect was an
inexpressible outrage and disgrace; reaching the throne of all
existence, as Son of Man, in spite of every possible appearance to the
contrary (ver. 2). Yes, and not only was that final victory thus won by
Him, but He arrived at it by a path full of the conflicts which threaten
faith. He "endured the contradiction of sinners against Himself" (ver.
3). Year by year, day by day, from the Pharisee, from the worldling,
from the leaders of religion, from the inconstant crowd, He had
"contradiction" to endure--sometimes even from "the men of His own
household." He was challenged to prove His claims; He was insulted over
His assertion of them, or over His silence about them. In every way, at
every turn, they spoke against Him to His face, as He slowly advanced,
through a life of love and suffering, to the Agony and the Crucifixion.

Let us not think that all this put no strain, even in the King Messiah,
upon faith. It may seem scarcely reverent (I know devout and thoughtful
Christians who have felt it to be so) to speak of our blessed Lord as
exercising faith, as being the supreme Believer