"He that is not against us is for us"
(Mark 9:40).
When we think of the tolerance of God with all of us, His patience, His longsuffering with our slowness of heart, His wide, rich mercy, His free gospel of grace, how miserable are the petty barriers and limits which we set up, how sinful is our arrogance with which we unchurch and excommunicate all who do not see eye to eye with us, and follow not us!
It is the mark of spiritual insight to be able to recognise goodness everywhere, and assert kinship with it, to feel in sympathy with it, to accept it, and thank God for it, to claim fellowship with every good man, to share in every good work, however unauthorised by man, if only it have the stamp of God's approval. Also, it is the highest triumph of grace in us to be willing even to be set aside, to see others do the work our own hands long to do, to be willing to be superseded, to rejoice in every victory of the Cross through others, to stand aside and praise God for every evidence of His power and mercy to the world through other channels than our own, to tear away all pride and prejudice and receive as brethren all who love the Lord Jesus in sincerity, to comfort ourselves with the inspiring thought that He has so many instruments beyond our narrow circle, to find peace and joy in believing that he who is not against us is for us.
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Hugh Black was a Scottish-American theologian and author.
Black was born on March 26, 1868 in Rothesay, Scotland. He received a Master of Arts degree from Glasgow University in 1887, and studied divinity at Free Church College in Glasgow from 1887 until 1891. Black was ordained in 1891 and became associate pastor at St. George's Free Presbyterian Church in Edinburgh in 1896, where he worked with Alexander Whyte.
Black emigrated to the United States in 1906 to accept the position of chair of Practical Theology at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He received honorary Doctor of Divinity degrees from Yale University in 1908 and from Princeton University and Glasgow University in 1911, and later accepted a position of pastor of the First Congregational Church in Montclair, New Jersey. Black retired from Union Theological Seminary in 1938.
Black also authored numerous books and sermons.