The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1903-11-20

said.
a Each on Of the messages to the churches
l'la ,Bes with a promise. They con.
= sfsFF and warnings and command
A sktt the close stands The promise
ffe .ant hill IN sunshine, seen
season, y storm, 10 lure on ever the
70 the better things Of God
Mrs. The messages lay down the
,sN without compromise, but they
Bpenul the assurance that
try. ling crass Of duty sealed
Z upon the shining tahelands,
Mrsh our God Himself is moon and
ArhOlis here a twofold aspect Of life
I 80 eek. cry morally earnest man is ac-
with. lie knows that it's condi-
= Mrt stern, that there is vigor in IT,
7Jut ne knows also that the vigor is blended
with tenderness, that all its struggle is
permeated by promise. We might indeed
say that moral c"r 4s.ness and hOpeiW
ness go togther. ed Loyalty under tie
bower OF duty, an Won win hear the bird
OF hope sing. Unfalthfulness TO the moral
ideal breeds pessimism of the worst kind;
hdelty while ii does not encourage cheap
and hghtsome optimism, does inscribe IN
the heart of the blacklist duty the shining
aword of the coming time God has so made
Eus that EMBODIED in the bosom of loyalty
Elies the assurance of triumph for the good
W Now, 1t Is this loyalty to the good this
fidelity to the moral ideal, this perseverng
attitude, which l take to be indicated in
the word overcoming" or "cOnquering."
Every promise is made to him who over
eometh" or who 'conquers." Not, mark
you to him who has overcome or who has
conquered in any full or final sense. These
promises are not of gifts to be bestowed
at the end OF the course but of experiences
to be realized in going on, so long az YOU
go on in the right way. Now, is it fact
for 1t is no use preaching theories away
from the facts of life-that the promises
made to those Asian churches in the name
OF Christ. sent to them by John as direct
nom Christ, are to be regarded as promises
made to us by God? For myself / can
not regard them so, except so far as
they contain truths attested by the exper-
fence of men, Indeed, the messages given
to the churches of Asia are not entirely
from Christ as He was, not from Christ as
we understand Him to-day but from
Christ as John understood Him. When
we read the promises Of the moral life we
4 read not only the facts of our moral expe-
81 rlence, but also certain Interpretation
given by more than one bias. such as the
personal bias or the national bias. The fu-
are we depict may be in essence guaran-
4Aed by the universal laws of the moral
LIE, but the depletion may bear personal
or national coors, which must fade; per-
sOnal and national elements which must
be eliminated. John was a Christian, but
he was also a Jew. Like every man. he
had a temperament both the nationality
and the personality would affect his vision
of the future. Our Christ never takes abb
solute and full possession Of us, our very
best understanding of Him has some mix
ture of ourselves in it, which is not in Him.
"IO him that overcOmeth. and keepeth
Y wi I frfr ho
tions, and he shall rule them with rod Of
iron, as the vessels of a potter shall be
broken to shIveus, even as I received Of
My Father" Here are words attributed
to Jesus which none of us would like to
think Of Him as speaking. We could not
lind in Jesus any promise Of authority
over nations to rule them with a rod Of
irony as the vessels of a potter are broken
to stAgers; nor do we think Of Him as
claim liz to have received such from His
Fath4. That is not our way of thinking
of Christ to-day Then how did John
come to hear Christ say that? Because
John had been reared in the atmosphere
and fed upon the sentiments of Psalm ii.
His Jewish teachers hau taught him to re-
gard Psalm ii as Messianic. And what was
the Messiah to do? The Lord said to Him,
"Ask oS Me and I will give thee the ma
tions fofr thine inheritance and the utter
most phrts of the earth for thy posses
sion Hhou shalt break them with a rod
of iron; thou shalt dash them to pieces
like potters vessel Some Jews some
times believed that that was one of the
things the Messiah would do. When a
Jew came to believe that Jesus was the
Messiah you would think that he would
at least throw off that old notion. Jesus
had said "Come unto Me all We that labor
and are heavy laden" etc II am meek OF
heart, iowly." BLESSED are the meek "
II. -
Ss and teaching Of Jesus was the
l3lste Of the Psalm ii conception oil
NNAYet the Jew who believed that
e# the Messiah carried over with
bd deal of the old national con
and attributed il to Jesus. That
lat John does here. 1t was not Jesus
leaking, but his own nationalism that
was reDresep ting Jesus. This is not very
surprising when you remember that Chris
tians even vet take the Psalm il to refer
to Jesus Nothing could be more unlike
Jesus Of Nazareth than the description o.
the Messiah an Psalm ii. 1t is high time K
protest as Cheyne does, against the habi
of "6nding Christ" in passages unrelated
80 Christ and His religion" Il fear,
rvs Canon Cneyne, that our unmiti
bon of the Psalter as it stand
ract that spirit of love which i
I'll Christianity" The fear is too
a3ted. What did the great st
Ely long ago regarding the war
tnee usades upou the Mohammedans
These are his words: "They are minister
of God to inAict His vengeance. For then
to give or receive death is not a sin, but
most glorious deed; the Son Of God de
3 lights to receive the hood Of His enemies
s He is glorifed in the death Of the pagans.
ne is most astounding that Jesus eoul,
have besk Conceived as the incarnation o
Gods n eming purpose and love and We
las Onef no could delight in the blood 0
His en- ddes. The Messianic Interpretation
Of many psalms undoubtedly tends to M
dermine the value of the revelation Of Co