The Man of the Mountain

THE story is told of a colored maid who was employed by a renowned sculptor. In a corner of his studio stood a huge block of granite that was a constant source of aggravation to his maid. After many months it suddenly disappeared, much to her satisfaction. Several months later the sculptor invited her to witness the unveiling of a statue of Abraham Lincoln, which subsequently proved to be one of his master pieces. When told that it had been made from the block of granite she exclaimed: "How did Massa know that President Lincoln was in that block of stone?"

The famous sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, discovered Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Theodore Roosevelt concealed in Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. There for more than ten years with hammer and chisel he carved these timeless likenesses that have lured millions of tourists to witness the awe-inspiring sight.

The Great Stone Face

During my early ministry it fell to my happy lot to serve as pastor of ten churches in three New England States. As we moved from Michigan to New England we anticipated getting a view of the Great Stone Face in the New Hampshire hills, which had fascinated us from our childhood. The Man of the Mountain was not carved by the foremost sculptor Michelangelo or by any other human hands, but by the divine Architect. Daniel Webster saw in this unique phenomenon more than was apparent to the average beholder. What the Man of the Mountain signified to him found expression in this utterance:

Men hang out their signs indicative of Their respective trades; Shoemakers hang out a gigantic shoe; Jewelers a monster watch; And a dentist hangs out a gold tooth; But up in the mountains of New Hampshire, God Almighty has hung out a sign to show That there He makes men.

His words are truly significant. Many rugged pioneers have sprung from the New England hills and valleys: Great statesmen such as Daniel Webster, great poets such as Whittier and Longfellow, great preachers such as Phillips Brooks and Moody, great leaders in the Advent Movement such as Ellen and James White and Uriah Smith.

Waiting for the Man of the Mountain

To Nathaniel Hawthorne in "The Great Stone Face," the Man of the Mountain had an even deeper significance. According to his familiar narrative Ernest, the central figure of his story, was fascinated by the Man of the Mountain. He never wearied of gazing at this awesome spectacle. His wonderment increased when he learned that the Great Stone Face represented a majestic personage who would one day appear in the valley in all his radiant beauty and dazzling splendor.

Ernest eagerly awaited his arrival. One day it was announced that a super-being by the name of Gathergold was about to move to the valley. His wealth was so fabulous that it would require one hundred years to count his gold. Before his arrival he dispatched hundreds of men to prepare the way for his coming. They erected a snow-white mansion that would glisten in the sun. When it was completed, the en tire populace lined the streets to cheer this illustrious figure that would bring lasting renown to the valley. None was more eager to catch a glimpse of him than Ernest. But amid the plaudits something transpired that convinced Ernest that he was not the man that for centuries had been depicted by the Great Stone Face. "By the roadside there chanced to be an old beggar-woman and two little beggar-children, stragglers from some far-off region, who, as the carriage rolled onward, held out their hands and lifted up their doleful voices, most piteously beseeching charity. A yellow claw the very same that had clawed together so much wealth poked itself out from the coach-window, and dropped some copper coins on the ground." This miserly act disillusioned Ernest and he concluded that Scattercopper was a more appropriate and descriptive name for this personage than Gathergold.

Noting his disappointment, the benign lips of the Great Stone Face seemed to say: "He will come! Fear not, Ernest; the man will come!" Later there appeared another figure, a mighty warrior; next a brilliant statesman who entertained the fond hope that someday he would be President. Finally there appeared a gifted poet who sought the people's favor and renown. But as Ernest carefully scrutinized each one they fell far short of his ideal and he was not able to detect in any of them his hero, the Man of the Mountain.

When all hope seemed to have vanished, something startling took place. As once again he looked at the Great Stone Face, "the face of Ernest assumed a grandeur of expression so imbued with benevolence that the poet, by an irresistible impulse, threw his arms aloft, and shouted 'Behold! Be hold! Ernest is himself the likeness of the Great Stone Face!' Then all the people looked, and saw that what the deep-sighted poet said was true. The prophecy was fulfilled."

We can discern in this experience a spiritual analogy. The Bible informs us that someday a great, good, just, mighty, and righteous Personage will appear. All the prophets allude to His coming:

Isaiah will tell you [that He is], "Immanuel." . . . Daniel will tell you, He is the Messiah. . . . John the Baptist will tell you, He is "the Lamb of God." The great Jehovah has proclaimed from His throne. This is Jesus, the Messiah, the Prince of Life, the Redeemer of the world. And the prince ... of darkness ac knowledges Him, saying, "I know Thee who Thou art, the Holy One of God."---The Desire of Ages, pp. 578, 579.

The hundreds of prophecies of the Bible blend together perfectly and unmistakably into the divine mosaic that is reflected in only one Person, Christ Jesus. However, before He would appear we are reminded that many impostors would arise.

Martin Niemoeller's Devotion

A number of years ago it was my privilege to hear Martin Niemoeller speak. During the height of Hitler's career he dared to defy Hitler and his claim to world supremacy. He scoffed at Hitler's claim that the church was an empty shell and could be destroyed with a swift kick. He ridiculed the claim that Mein Kampf would replace the Bible. When Hitler demanded of his subjects that they acknowledge him as the supreme authority in life and morals, Niemoeller declared: "God is my Fuehrer!" It was upon this statement that the fighting parson was to build his future career. With the psalmist he declared:

Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Psalm 2:1-4.

Because of his insolence and insubordination he was cast into a concentration camp where he spent the next eight years. During his internment he memorized 300 hymns. His first sermon after his release from the Dachau camp was taken from Isaiah 54:10: "For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee." Niemoeller lived to see his convictions vindicated. Basil Miller, one of his biographers, said:

In God's glorious providence, the pastor saw from a concentration camp window, the swastika, the symbol of hate and destruction, torn down by victorious American hands. He saw Mussolini hanged by his heels from the iron railing of a service station, and witnessed Von Ribbentrop's suicide by poisoning. ---Martin Niemoeller, Hero of the Concentration Camp.

Contrasting Hitler with Christ, Niemoeller made this significant statement:

Was Hitler really the man of power? He who lacked the strength to do away with a handful of Christians or was He the man of power who uttered these words: "All power is given me in heaven and on earth." Was Hitler really the man of courage, he who trembled for his life whenever a leaf rustled, or was He the man of courage who once said: "No man taketh my life from Me but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it up again." Was Hitler really the man of salvation, the long looked for Saviour whom the crowds hailed Heil Hitler, he who made people die for him, thousands upon thousands in prison and in camps of murder? Or was He the man of salvation who sacrificed His own life for others, who said: "For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." Who said, "I am the good Shepherd, the good Shepherd giveth His life for His sheep."

Tribute to Christ

The Lord's servant adds this beautiful tribute to the goodness and greatness of Christ:

In the Teacher sent from God, heaven gave to men its best and greatest. He who had stood in the councils of the Most High, who had dwelt in the innermost sanctuary of the Eternal, was the One chosen to reveal in person to humanity the knowledge of God.

Through Christ had been communicated every ray of divine light that had ever reached our fallen world. ... Of Him. all the excellences manifest in the earth's greatest and noblest souls were reflections. The purity and beneficence of Joseph, the faith and meekness and long-suffering of Moses, the steadfastness of Elisha, the noble integrity and firmness of Daniel, the ardor and self-sacrifice of Paul, the mental and spiritual power manifest in all these men, and in all others who had ever dwelt on the earth, were but gleams from the shining of His glory. In Him was found the perfect ideal. Education, p. 73.

When He comes whose right it is to reign and establish His throne and His kingdom, all those who by beholding Him have been transformed into His divine likeness will share in this glorious and eternal inheritance. In The Desire of Ages, page 827, we read: "Christ is sitting for His portrait in every disciple." In another familiar quotation we read:

Christ is waiting with longing desire for the manifestation of Himself in His church. When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim then! as His own. Christ's Object Lessons, p. 69.

One hymn writer has expressed the longing and prayer of every Christian in these words:

O, to be like Thee, blessed Redeemer, This is my constant longing and prayer; Gladly I'll forfeit all of earth's treasures, Jesus Thy perfect likeness to wear.

O, to be like Thee, lowly in spirit, Holy and harmless, patient and brave; Meekly enduring cruel reproaches, Willing to suffer, others to save.

O, to be like Thee, O, to be like Thee, Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art, Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness, Stamp Thine own image deep oh my heart. --O. CHISHOLM

Until that glorious day when the Hope of all ages will appear, may we heed this timely counsel:

Do not then throw away your confidence, for it carries a great reward. You need endurance, if you are to do God's will and win what he has promised. For "soon, very soon . . . , he who is to come will come; he will not delay." Hebrews 10:35, 36, N.E.B.*