The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1902-05-30
DIR. CHAPMAN'S SERMON
A SUNDAY DISCOURSE BY TIE NoTsc
pASToR.EVkNcellSr.
subject; A vision Of His Fsce-The Chris
tian World Has Ever Been Living IN
the Hope OF This Promise-we shall
See Jesus IN ETERNITY

4
mon Is one prepared for publication by the
Rev. DR.. J Wilbur Chapman, Americas best
known evangelist, who Is now preaching
20 overtowing congregations IN this city.
Ii is Qgtltled "A Vision of His Face aud
Is founded on the text, Rev. xxi; 4, And
they snail see His face"
The Apocalypse, or Revelation, as IT Is
more frequently called, Is supposed 20 have
been written \. ID. 95 20 81, and thus for
lSOO years the Christian world has been lv-
lng 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
awake with Thy likeness. palm xvii: Is.
wish we might see Him now. We have
had hints OF HIS beauty, and little ghmpses
OF His glory but oh, 10 behold HIM! We
are greatly indebted to the artists of the
world for what they have shown us of their
vision of Ills grandeur. Christ Before
Plate" was a picture so real that a little
girl, when she looked upon II wanted 20 be
lifted up that she might unite HIS hands.
Hoffman's Christ IN the Garden is such
a masterpiece that one can not look upon
II without having his emotions stirred 20
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 10
Him, and they have done much 10 stimu-
late fellowship with Him always. Some,
indeed. have been won 10 Christ by simply
looking upon them. Count ZnZendorf,
founder OF the Moravian settlement, said
that the deepest impression that was ever
made on his llfe came to him when looking
upon a picture of the sufferings of Christ.
He saw these words underneath:
Il did all this for thee; what hast thou
done for Me-
And yet, valuable as they are, they are
not TO be relied upon because they are not
ancient enough. The early Christians
shrank from any material presentation OF
a human Christ, and thus II 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 20 draw attention 20 Him
who made men fishers of other men, The
drawing of a vine was TO draw the atten.
tion 20 Him who said, Il am the vine.
The picture of the cross was supposed "a
fasten the thoughts OF 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
any man thirst, let him come unto Me and
drink In the sacrifice of Abraham both
the love OF God in the gift OF His Son, and
the love OF the Son IN the gitt OF Himself
shone forth. In the three children in the
fiery furnace there Is a perfect representa-.
ton of the Son of God seen in the form OF
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 be
came a picture of Christ who was "the
Good Shepherd" the Great Shepherd
and the Chief Shepherd"
In the eighth century men began "a
paint His likeness as they conceived It, but
IL is easy TO understand that these repre-
sentations could not be reliable because
every trace of His physical appearance was
lost Not syllable in the Gospels or the
Epistles tells US how He looked when He
walked upon the earth. Why Is this!
Surely the disciples had not forgotten His
appearance. IL may be for several rea
sons: First, because the first ages of the
church were distinctly spiritual, and they
would shrink from anything that would
| make Christ even seem to be material
Second they never thought of Him after
| His departure as the afflicted one or the
suffering one, but they saw Him at tho
right hand of God in the glory, and as they
had no power 20 present "A picture OF Hin
there. so they had no inclination to pre-
sent Him in His humiliation. Third, be
cause they still felt His presence with them
They had no need 10 put His face upon
canvas / would a thousand times rather
have the picture | carry about with me oi
Christ. which no artist has ever painted
or ever can paint, which | could not de
scribe % you IN words, even II | had the
tongue Of an angel. IL Is far beyond any
earthly art The early disciples must have
felt this. Fourth, it may be that because
when they saw Him after the Resurrection
He was 50 different from what He was be
fore that they could not pant the hrs'
picture, and they would not try to paint
the second.
And vet we do know much about Him
II would not have been difficult 10 tel how
Stephen looked. We have but 60 read
Acts vii: So, 6O-"But he being full of the
! Holy Ghost, looked up steadiastly into
heaven, and saw the glory OF God and
| Jesus standing on the right hand OF God
And he kneeled down, and cried
with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sir
20 their charge And when he had said
| this he fell asleep" so u IS with Jesus
Himself. We nave had some hints OF Hi'
beauty in the legends OF old The story
/ Of St SafrOnica. OF the handkerchief used
20 wipe His face as He went 20 Calvary
upon which the impression OF HIS face was
| left and which was 30 be seen as II uu
/ folded in the presence OF Mary, His moth
er This is ROmish, and has no foundation
in fact The story OF one publius Lentulus
who was said 10 be President Of the peo
pie Of Jerusalem, 20 the Roman Senate
runs thus:
There came one among us, tall IN stat
ure beautiful IN appearance, His han
wavv and crisp and falling down over Hi'
shoulders. HIS brow, broad. smooth and
most serene His face without spot oi
wrinkle or any such thing. His nose and
mouth fauitless HIS beard abundant anf
hazel color like His hair He eyes promi
nent and blue. In denunca'lon, terrible
in admoaiton, calm and loving. He was
never seen % laugh, but often 20 weep
His hands beautiful 20 look upon. In
speech. grave. reserved. modest Indeed
lie was fairer than al the SONS Of men"
All this il beautiful and interesting
a. legend, but It is said that there
was no such Office AZ President Of the peo
pie of Jerusalem 10 the Roman Senate, and
that Pub,Is I.entIius never lived.
Why an this absence Of Christ IN mar
bic and Christ upon the canvas WHY u d
that the pen has never described Him sD
that we might reproduce HIS iacet j. Ger
tainiv must an be Of God One reason MAJ
be i'm order that we might know that III
belongs 20 the wide world. and 20 no race
Of men IN particular. II He were knowr
90 be white. the black man might feel tha
He was not m symapthy with him II III
were encwn % be black the white mar
would certainly feel a barrier between
them But AZ IL is. He is Jesus. The !. .zh
/ Of the world and the Caucasian. the Mon
I go'ian. the African, All can say together
Fade fade each earthly JOY Jesus D.
mine" And vet. there are phrases n
Scripture which seem 90 give ~ hints no
% to rassri hv sIlenf.v