2-2 WEAK CHRISTIANS CHRIST'S MANHOOD 33 38 For there is one God, one mediator also between God and men, Himself man, Christ Jesus. I Tim. 2: 5. So man as is most just Shall satisfy for man, be judged and die And dying rise, and rising with Him raise -John Milton. O H how precious it is to think of the manhood of Christ! He was the only person ever born into the world who had his choice as to how he should come, and he chose to come as a babe and in poverty. He trod the lower walks of life, and poverty was dignified; he became a babe, and babyhood was glorified. He lived as a boy, and boyhood was forever honored. All the conditions of life into which he entered he exalted and sanctified. On the cross he gave a young man's life for the world's sin. On the throne to-day he sits with the dew of immortal youth and the glory of eternal manhood. Once he suffered; now he forever will sympathize. The whole race is ennobled by the thought that humanity with divinity sits at the right hand of the Majesty or high. Unto Thee will I sing praises, O Thou Holy One of Israel: my lips shall shout for joy when I sing praises unto Thee; and my soul which Thou hast redeemed. Amen. Ps. 71:22, 23. These things have I spoken unto you in dark sayings; the hour cometh when I shall no longer speak unto you in dark sayings; but shall tell you plainly of the Father. John 16: 25. Science moves, but slowly, slowly, creeping on from point to point. Yet I doubt not through the ages one increasing purpose runs, And the thoughts of men are widened with the process of the -Alfred, Lord Tennyson. WE suns. But only when on form or word obscure The one ineffable face, love, wonder and adore. -John Greenleaf Whittier. E are, indeed, the "heir of all the ages," but the ages yet to come shall have a nobler heritage of truth for our heirs. Our fathers saw truth from afar and rejoiced; we touch the hem of her garments and find virtue in the touch. But our sons shall be admitted into her presence and commune with her forever. Some of Christ's words seem obscure to us, but it is because they have an ever-expanding meaning for all time. Christ packed away so much thought in his words that no one generation can get it all out. It is this fact that gives them their freshness, their charm, and their power. Their flower and their aroma are constantly revealing themselves. The sayings of Christ open to us worlds of thought and feeling into which we may enter, but which are too full to be emptied of all their treasures by human hearts and minds. Blessed be the name of God forever and ever: for wisdom and might are His. He giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that have understanding; He revealeth the deep and secret things, He knoweth what is in the darkness and the light dwelleth with him. Amen. Dan. 2:20-22. 2-4 ENLARGING TRUTH-LOVE OF WORLD 35 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in Him. I John 2: 15. O Saviour when prosperity Makes this world hard to leave, O grant us grace that to Thy call And cheerfully forsaking all May follow only Thee. -Rev. John Samuel Bewley Monsell. HE man who makes the pleasures and honors of this world the chief aim of his life; the man who makes anything short of the great God the object of his desire, affection, and reverence, has missed life's chief duty and earth's highest glory. The man who lives for himself is out of tune with the great and glorious beings in both worlds who bow in adoring reverence in the presence of the eternal God. The man who forgets God and lives only for himself is an instrument untuned, and so he makes discord in the midst of a glorious, harmonious, angelic, and divine orchestra. As the heliotrope, as its name so beautifully implies, turns to follow the sun, so a man of noblest type follows Jesus Christ as the ideal man and the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who lived to do the will of God and to save lost man. Only as we catch His spirit and imitate His example, can we possess His character and share in His glory. Let all those that seek Thee rejoice and be glad in Thee; let such as love Thy salvation say continually, Jehovah be magnified. Ps. 40: 16. Deliver my soul, O Jehovah, from men of the world whose portion is in this life. Amen. Ps. 17:13. And every man that striveth in the games exerciseth self control in all things. Now they do it to receive a cor ruptible crown: but we an incorruptible. I Cor. 9:25. Chain up the unruly legion of thy heart: Leash thine own and be Cæsar within thyself. -Thomas Browne. It is easy enough to conquer the world, Would God I could vanish half as soon For the world when you face it soon gives in, But who ever yet could measure the strength Of his own bad wayward heart? -Louisa May Alcott. HE man who cannot control himself, cannot control his fellow men. Temperance as used in scripture means self-control over the entire life. The man who loses his temper has lost power over men because he cannot exercise control over himself. Many a warmhearted, earnest, loving Christian has done more to convince an opponent than the most learned, but harsh defender of Christianity could do. True meekness is the climax of manliness. Often in classic Greek words indicative of humility were allied to meanness. Christianity introduced new thought into the languages of the world. Virtue to the ancient Roman world meant simply bravery; to us it means moral and spiritual qualities. The modesty which religion inculcates is always an element of power. Self-control means mastery over self and sin. Jehovah, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty, neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too wonderful for me. Surely I have stilled and quieted my soul. Amen. Ps. 131: 1, 2. 2-6 SELF-CONTROL-FINDING LIFE 37 He that findeth his life shall lose it; and he that loseth his life for My sake shall find it. Matt. 10:39. The kingdoms of the world are thine If thou hast faith thyself to lose, But they who seek the Me and Mine The universal good refuse. -Rev. Thomas Cogswell Upham. O the superficial this text is contradictory; to the careful thinker it is harmonious and sublime. It is the formulation of a universal and eternal law. The man who loves himself dies; the man who loves God supremely and his fellow men rightly, lives truly here and will live forever. Christ spoke with a seeming obscurity for he could not speak otherwise. The idea is-He that is bound up in himself, in saving his earthly life, shall lose his spiritual life; but he who in his devotion to Christ is willing to imperil, to destroy, to crucify his lower life shall save his higher life. The truth here taught goes to the very center of our being, and strikes at our inmost self. Christ's words are thus directed against every form of selfishness. To lose our life means to lose our sinful self, and to lose our sinful self means to find Christ and eternal life. I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou didst hide these things from the wise and understanding, and didst reveal them unto babes, yea, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in Thy sight. Amen. Matt. 11:25, 26. |