The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1902-07-04


golau, the African, aIl can say together.
Fade. fade each earthly JOY Jesus is
mine" And yet. there are phrases of
Scripture which seem TO give us hints not
10 be passed by silently.
T. HIS FACE SET TO JERUSALEM
Luke tx: 5l-"And it came to pass when
the time was come when lie should be re
ceived up, lie steadiastly set His face 10
90 90 Jerusalem"
He loved the city Of Jerusalem. but al
the time lie went toward t. IL was % city
Of shadows and every step lie took was
into the deepening shadoT Of Cavarvs
cross ! need not describe His going. lie
was like a conqueror In the very way He
trod the streets of the city. and walked
the highway of the land He loved, lie
was filled with courage, and when lie be-
held the city He wept over II. Take this
as a picture and there is nothing finer ~
art Take 10 as a sentiment, and there q
nothing deeper In human pathos. Take II
as a revelation Of God, and no one need be
afraid of Him. Philosophy may speculate
about Him and try to reconcile His two
natures theologians may attempt 90 de-
fine Him as being infinite eternal and un
changeable, but the common man grows
confused and an that he can say is that
the One to whom he has given his soul
is the Son of God, who was divine enough
to 20 to Jerusalem in the very face OF
death. and human enough to be blinded
with His tears as He looked upon the city.
He knew all about the suffering of Jerusa-
lem from all eternity and yet He went on.
| When He ate the Passover and spoke of
! the one who should betray Him, He lnev
what was coming and still He went on.
/ When PLATE Knocked Him He knew it was
but the forshadowing OF the suiferngs Of
the cross, but still He went on When He
endured the pain of the scourging He knew
/ that this was but the beginning of agony
\ with which the pain of the cross was not
| to be compared because it was so great,
and yet He went on. The world has never
| seen such a conqueror as the Son OF God,
| who died that we might live"
II. HIS FACE IN THE DUST.
Matt. XVI: 36-39-"Then cometb Jesus
/ with them unto place called Gethsemane,
and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here,
| while 90 and pray yonder. And He took
with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebe-
/ dee, and began to be sorrowful and very
! heavy. Then saith He unto them, NY soul
, is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death /;
tarry We here and watch with Me. And
He went a little farther, and fell on His
face and prayed. saying: Oh, NY Father,
if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me;
nevertheless, not as l will, but as Thou
] wilt"
! In the thirtieth verse we read that when
they had sang an hymn they went out.
How simple, and yet how profound the
meaning
There never had been such a going-out
before; there never has been such a going
out since. From the supper He made His
way with the faithful few to Gethsemane,
where the agony was so great that Gethse-
name has stood for suffering ever since.
ooh, My Father, if it be possible, let
this cup pass from Me" / wonder why
the cry? Some one has said it was be-
cause He was about to be branded as a
sinner, treated as a sinner, put to death as
a sinner, and it was His horror of sin that
wrung the cry from His soul. Yet we have
trifed with it, and sin has always been
the same, is to-day, and shall be till the
end of time.
Dr. Gregg tells of a story in Fox's Book
of Martyrs, where a Christian was to 0ie q
most horrible death-being placed in a
sack filled almost with venom0us reptiles
As he looked at it he said
81 can stand this for Jesus sake"
Yet when they put him in the sack and
he felt the first touch of the reptiles upon
his face he gave a shrek of agony that
could not be described.
1t is said that no one has ever really
known what prayer is until he has learned
of the Spirit to put into practice this one
offered in Gethsemane. 1t is not the kline
that is offered to the congregation, or tha
is said at the bedside before we close oui
eyes in sleep; it is the kind that j
crushed out Of us. 1t is the cry OF the
Syrophenoecian woman, My daughter i
previously vexed Of the devil" 1t is thu
cry of Jesus in Gethsemane, MY Father
let this cup pass from Me"
You say, ''What! His Father and al
His suffering"
Yes, His Father, still, and yours, also
In the midst of an agony that may hav'
almost broken your heart, you might hav,
cried: my Fatner" When there was no
a hope in your life you might have whis
pered, "My Father" And if the cry hat
come from the heart you would have got
ten as quick response:
''Be still, and know that am God"
III. HIS FACE SPIT UPON.
But there is still another picture OF Hi
face in the New Testament MATTHEW
: XVI: 62-68-"And the high priest arose
and said unto Him, Answerest Thou moth
ing? What is it which these witnes
against Thee? But Jesus held His peace
And the high priest answered and sal,
unto Him, | adjure Thee, by the livin
God that Thou tell US whether Thou b
the Christ, the Son of God Jesus salt
unto him, Thou has said; nevertheless
say unto you, hereafter shall We see tn
Son of Man sitting on the right hand o
power, and coming in the clouds Of heaven
Then the high priest rent his clothes, say
: ing, He hath spoken blasphemy; what fur
Their need have we of witnesses? behold
now We have heard His blasphemy. VIVA
think ye? They answered and said, He
: guilty Of death Then they did spit in Hi
face and butfeted Him, and others smot
Him with the palms of their hands, say
ing, Prophesy unto us, Thou Christ, VIII
, IS he that smote Thee"
Have you noticed how quiet He was j
, all the mockings and the scourgings? ]
must have been because of the Gethseman
: experience. There are scenes in our live
E that make talk sacrilege. When yo
: came back from following your child t