Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1902-06-13

portrait painted. he made the artist
represent him with his head resting
upon his hand. The emperor did thi:
so that his forefnger might cover up q
deep scar which was slashed into hi:
right cheek by the sword OF an enemy
But when the Bible paints for u:
Christ's face IL does not cover Up one
Of the divine scars. To the Christian
the most beautiful parts OF the divine
face should be the places which reveal
10 us how Christ suffered and died that
we might live.
The SCARED face of Christ is an Il
lumined face. Have you ever seen 4
sad ccuntenance light up with a smile'
Have you ever heard little child burs
forth into laugh In the midst of Ill
or crying-laugh when a tear is vel
glistening upon the wet cheek? Wei
Christs face, though In one sense sad
face, a SCARED face, is yet an illumined
| face. 1t has joy in the eye. Joy on the
| lip, joy in the cheek. joy everywhere
when one OF his loved ones has beer
saved by the sacrifice OF his blood
There is more joy i'm that divine face
over one sinner that repenteth than
over ninety and nine just persons that
need no repentance.
IIfumined by Love.
II Christ's had not been an illumined
face the little children would not have
| loved to run to him. Children are at
| tracted by a smile. They are afraid OF
tears. Yet everywhere. as Jesus smil
Ing face appears, we can hear the chill
dren calling TO one another: Come
comet Here is Jesusl Come, comew II
Jesus face was not an illumined face, he
could never have spoken such trium
plant words as those which he spoke to
him sick Of the palsy, "Son, be of good
cheer; thy sins are forgiven thee" He
could never have spoken such words Of
commentator as those he spoke In
reference to the centurion, "Verily,
say unto you, have not found so great
| faith. no, not in Israel" And, o my
brother, If our sins are making the Say.
tours face such a sad face and if our
repentance will make Christ's face
such an illumiped face. should we not
be willing to brighten up our Saviour's
face since 1t has suffered so much?
But the sweetest thought to me of all
Is that Christ's is face that wants to
be loved Some portraits have an in
describable something about then
which proves that those faces crave
affection. If the closed lips could
speak. they would say: ~ live for 9th
ers in order that others might live fol
me. 1 love in order that can be loved
4 s,.
made happy. And, being happy, they
can pour out their gratitude upon me-
L only awoke to the fact few year.
ago that Christ's face was face that
wanted to be loved. used to think
that must love Christ because Chris
could and would save me If | asked
him. But now 1 have learned 10 low
him because he loves me and wants mt
to love him. He loves me with Low,
that passeth oil understanding. Blu
that love is incomplete unless l re
spond TO it and love as l am loved
MIR. Moody told q pathetic story how
n short time after his fathers dealt
/ his elder brother ran away from home
| Then he described how his mother
used TO be continually watching FOL
the return of the prodigal, how sh,
would send the children every da,
| down to the postoflice to find out 4
there were q letter from her absen
boy. They would hear her praying a
night for the return of her son, that h,
might give her his love. Well, todal
Christs face is a face craving affec
to-.
Are you ready 10 satisfy the craving
for affection which are pictured upoI
| Christ's face7 Are you willing to hav
| your face stamped upon Christs heart
IL you would, you cannot have you
face there alone. There are MANI
faces imprinted upon his heart, and we
all these faces blend into one. Thcs
faces, which nre stamped upon III,
tender, living. forgiving heart o
! Christ. make composite picture
When you graduated from college. TN
| photographer made n composite pic
ture or your class. He took all the diff
ferent photographs OF the mcmber
and passed them rapidly before th
cameras eye. Then the various photo
graphs were combined in single pic
ture, and that was called the class For
trait. So upon Christ's heart there 4
n composite picture. That composite
portrait is made up OF your Christian
mothers and fathers faces, you
| Christian wifes and child's faces; 1
is made from the faces of the Chris
tan men and women who have diet
In the past and OF those who are Twin;
today. Will you have your face in th.
composite picture, which is inefTace
ably stamped upon the great heart Of
Christ?
Divine Love Not blind.
But. sad to relate. after ali Christ
has suffered and done for us, his face
may be a condemning face. The dl
vine love may be great enough to sur
pass all human understanding, yet the
divine love is not blind. The spirit Of
God will not always strive with man
In Ezekiel we read, ''My face will |
turn also from them" oh. the awful
moment when Christ's face, on account
Of our unrepented sins. shall become q
condemning face! This is one charac
teristic Of Christ which all unrepentant
sinners and some ministers preaching
In the sacred pulpits are trying not tC
see. But If Jesus is not to have a con
demning face for the unrepentant sin
ner how can you account for the para
BILE OF the shepherd separating the
sheep from the goats? There is going
to come day when Christ shall gath
or before the judgment seat of God all
the nations of the earth. Crash. crash
crashi will go every tombstone. The
mausoleums shall rock and heave as
the Philippian Jail trembled during the
night of Paups and Silas' incarceration
Every gate and slab door will fly open
The tall cemetery shafts shall tumble
as did the walls OF Jericho at the blast
OF the rams horn. The bodies of the
sailors sleeping by the coral reefs, the
emigrants who died when crossing the
prairie. the arctic explorers buried I'm.
der the snow and ice, the missionaries
who died upon the Kongo-they shall
all come up. The dead which slept I'M
der the dome of a Tai Mahai and the
poor unknown patient who died in the