The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1893-02-01
RELIGIOUS MISCELLANY.
Chrisi's Fearlessness.

A few years ago that masterpiece of art
"Christ Before PLATE, was brought to
this country and placed on exhibition in
New York city. The canvas is crowded
with faces, but the artist has succeeded
in 80 painting tho face and attitude of
the Saviour that the eye instinctively
returns to Christ after it has taken u
hurried glance at the Others Without
this the painting would have been
failure. The face of the Saviour is the
center of interest.
As one looked on that face and those
eyes the thought came with almost ire
sistible power, 1.-THE fearless Christ"
The angry pharisee, the crafty scribe,
the perplexed judge and the boisterous
crowd which confront him in the judg-
ment hall do not disturb his spirit. He
stands among them unmoved, as the
rock in the midst of the stormy sea- He
has come to this hour with a fixed pur-
pose and fearlessly meets it,
And this attitude of mind is charac-
teristic of the Saviour. Wherever we
meet him he creates this impression.
He never consults with the multitude
as to his duty. He never regards his
popularity at stake. He has his eye
fixed on right and duty. He clearly
sees the one and fearlessly performs the
other.
Customs of long standing and of strict
observance by the community have no
influence on his conduct. He enters the
homes of publicans and sinners-two in
tensely obnoxious classes in the com
munity-and eats with them. He enters
into familiar and sympathetic converse
ton with a Samaritan woman-some-
thing which even shocked the disciples.
He spoke Of the temple and its worship
so as to appai the priesthood. He dis
regarded many of the traditions which
the bulk of the people carefully and re-
ligiously observed. If Christ had been
time server--a supposition which is
almost blasphemoushe surely would
not thus have crossed the feelings of the
people.
Sometimes this fearlessness reaches
climaxes. AT one time the Saviour fell
in with a number of scribes and phari-
sees who were planning his overthrow,
and on that occasion he delivered
lengthy address. He touches on their
boast of ancestry. Many of the Jews
regarded their Abrahamic birth as u
cload for then sins. One of their noted
rablis--undouot edly lrogressive-had
come to the conclusion that God could
not possibly finally condemn one who
was a lineal descendant of Abraham.
1t was against this popular but mon
strous claim that Christ hurled these
awful words; Eye are Of your father
the devil, AMI the lusts of your father
We will do He was Il murderer from
the beginnin;, and abode not in the
truth, becaus there is no truth in him.
When he speaketh liz, he speaketh of
his own, for lie is a liac and the father
of it,"
Some of Clrist's followers have had
this fearlessnt SIS in a conspicuous degree.
Paul manifested it when he fought with
beasts at Ephesus. Luther had it when
he sSood before the Diet Mt Worms and
! said: Il neither can nor dare retract
anything, for my conscience is captive
to Gods Word, and it is neither safe
nor right to go against conscience. Here
buhb my HldtlNl. Gan Alp ~ OLitl MIsts
So help me God, Amen" William
Carey had it when, single handed, he
endeavored to rouse the English people
to the duty of preaching the Gospel to
the heather pations. Whitefeld had it
when he preached Christ at Moortields.
This sublime fearlessness is what the
church of today needs, Before it many
of the institutions of vice and infquity
which are now fourishing in our midst
would fall down with crash, which
would mean that they would never rise
again. The truth as it is in Christ
would burn with new brilliancy. Pull
pits would be sources of power instead
of platitudes. The church would rise as
a whole to the sublime fearlessness of a
world conquest for Christ. Christian
Intelligeucer.