Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1902-05-29
VISION OF HIS FACE.
Sunday Discourse by DR.. Chapman, The
Noted PastOr-Evangelist.
The Christian World Has Ever Been Living In
the Hope Of This Promise.

| been written "A. u. % TO ", ana tnuS lof
1900 years the Christian world has been liv-
| ing in the hope and inspiration OF this text
| of Scripture. The glad cry of the faithful
| everywhere has been:
"As for me, | will behold Thy face in
| righteousness. | shall be. satisfied when L
| awake with Thy likeness. Psalm xvii: Is.
| | wish we might see Him now. We have
| had hints of His beauty, and little glimpscs
| of His glory, but oh, to behold Hin! We
| world for what they have shown us of their
vision of His grandeur. Christ Before
| Plate was a picture SO real that little
| girl, when she looked upon it wanted to be
| lifted up that she might unite His hands.
| Hotfmans Christ in the Garden" is such
| a masterpiece that one can not look upon
| it without having his emotions stirred to
the very depths Paintings have certainly
| done their work. They have stirred the
| imaginations of the people. They have
strongly impressed the beauty OF His char
| acter upon hearts everywhere. They have
| fixed the thoughts Of men upon Him.
| They have drawn the Christian nearer to
| Him, and they have done much to stimu
late fellowship with Him always. Some,
| indeed, have been won to Christ by SIMPLY
| looking upon them. Count Iinzcndorf,
| founder of the Moravian settlement, said
that the deepest impression that was ever
| made on his life came to him when looking
upon a picture of the suiEcrings Of Christ
| He saw these words underneath
81 did all this for thee; what hast thou
done for Me-"
And yet valuable as they are, they arc
| not TO be relied upon because they are not
| ancient enough. The early Christians
| shranll from any material presentation of
| human Christ, and thus it is that art as
| We have it to-day, has passed through GER
| tain definite stages.
In the earliest age Christ was presented
| by the use OF symbols. The representation
| of the fish was to draw attention to Him
| who made men fishers OF other men. The
| drawing OF vine was to draw the attcn
| ton to Him who said, Il am the vine"
| The picture Of the cross was supposed to
fastcn the thoughts oi the people upon
| Him who was its willing victim
The second stage OF art was the use OF
| Old Testament types. In the picture OF
Moses striking the rock, one could see a
| representation of Christ, who said: "it
| amy man thirst, let him come unto Me and
drink" I'm the sacrifice of Abraham both
| the love OF God in the gift OF His Son. and
| the love of the Son in the git of Himself
| shone forth In the three children in the
| fiery furnace there IS perfect representa-.
ton of the Son of God seen IN the form oI
the fourth, which was like unto the Son
of God himself
In the third stage of art New Testament
illusions were used and a shepherd he.
came picture of Christ, who WAS THE
Good Shepherd" the Great Shephcrd'
and the ''Chict Shepherd
In the eighth century men began to
paint His likeness as they conceived 1t, hut
it is easy to understand that these repre-.
sentptions could not be reliable because
every trace OF His physical appearance was
lost Not syllable in the Gospels or the
Epistlcs tells us how lie looked when He
walked upon the earth Why Is this?
Surely tie disciples had not forgotten Ills
appearance. II may he for several rca.
sons First, because the first ages oi the
church were distinctly spiritual, and thCy
would shrink from anything that wound
make CHRIST even seem to he material.
Second. they never thought OF Him after
His departure as the afflicted one or the
suffering one, but they saw Him at the
right hand oi God in the glory, aud as they
had no power to present a picture Of HIM
there, 50 they had no inclination to pre-
sent Him in His humiliation. Third. be.
cause they stlI!tclt oprcsencC with them,
They had no need 10 put His face upon
canvas. | would a thousand times rather
have the picture | carry about with me OF
Christ, which no artist has ever painted,
or ever can pant, which | could not de.
scribe to you in words, even ii had the
oo,.iLi,. W., 1hH n,,,,, d;1oi,,io, ,,,st ha,,o
SoIt w H., Eorrtb i ,,o, we ,L,t hr,,',.,
when they saw Him after the Resurrection
He was 50 different from what He was be-
fore that they could not paint the first
picture, and they would rot Try to paint
the second.
T. nnu w ~" ,ao" it,;N,i "oou W.. ii,i,
lto "T"' To-, .n "' w. h.o ~ ,' I
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noYt ,ercne III, Zoo o'U w;tbo"t snn+ " NV
wrinkle or anv such thing, His nose and
mouth faultcss. His beard abundant and
hazel color like His hair. His eyes promi.
nent and blue. In denuncation. terrible;
in admoaition, calm and loving. lie was
never seen to laugh, but often to weep.
His hands beautiful to look upon. In
speech, grave, reserved; modest. Indeed,
ne was 'a''fr 'f h an inc sons or men.
al innS ,J u Pee u any . in'e'tI,lns
",s so ah ooV y p, rs Sh'u VA, mere
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