The Penn's Grove record., 1904-09-16

ohiou HSou VI III OHllSIldn anu NlIoolOu-
airy Alliance, the Rev. A. B. Simpson. His
subject was "The Manifestation of the
King" and his text was: Tell We the
daughter of Zion, Behold thy King cometh
unto thee meek, and, sitting upon an ass,
and a colt, the foal of an ass.-Mattaew
2l:5.
The time had now come when the Lord
Jesus was to be publicly manifested as the
son of David and the King of Israel. Hith-
erto He had refused the demands of the
multitude, who, after His Galilean mira
cles, had tried ''to take Him by force and
make Him a king" but now as the end
draws near it is proper that He should lit
orally fulfil the announcements of ancient
prophecy, and for a brief moment, at least,
appear as the heir to David's throne and
the answer to all the Messianic hopes of
Israel.
l. The Recognition of the King. 1t was
strange that the first to recognize Him as
Israels King should be two blind beggars.
: That which the rulers of Israel, with all
their wisdom, failed to comprehend, was
discovered by poor old Bartimeus and his
blind companion. Calling Him by His Mes
sianic name, they cried, as the procession
pressed by, "Jesus, Thou Son of David,
have mercy on u.s." When Jesus heard
that name He instantly ordered the pro-
cession to halt, and, calling them to Him,
granted theie petition like a king, bidding
them receive their sight and follow Him
in the way.
SO still it is ever true, "Thou hast hid
these things from the wise and prudent and
revealed them unto babes" The wisdom
of the world and even the culture of theo-
logical science have blinded men to the
vision Of God, and it is the lowly and often
i~lliterate to whom the Holy Ghost reveals
and the blessed hopes of the coming once
more of our glorious King.
How did these blind men know that
Jesus was the Son of David? With their
inner senses they felt after Him until they
found Him. 1t is SO still that the hungry
heart finds the Saviour. Reaching out in
our darkness and sense of need, cropping
for One who we feel can meet and satisfy
our need, we press our way toward the
light even as the blind man, who, while he
cannot discern the objects before him, can
see vaguely at least the glare of the light
and press closer to it. Even SO we can
press toward God, and He will meet the
seeking soul and reveal Himself in the Wis
lou of light and love even as He did to
them.
Seeker for Christ, follow the light you
have and He will give more as you follow
on, and you, too, will hear Him say, RE
ceive thy sight, thy faith hath made thee
whole"
II. The Manifestation of the King. An
E SlCib pIOpHcCy Hdu lOISIOIu lIc COlulllS VI
the King of meekness, truth and love, and
His %triumphal entry into Jerusalem was a
striking fulfllment. Zechariah especially
had literally described the scenes por-
trayed in this chapter. "Rejoice greatly.
0 daughter of Zion, shout, o daughter of
Jerusalems behold thy King cometh' unto
thee. He is just and having salvation, low-
ly and riding upon an ass and upon a colt
the foal of an ass" (Zechariah 90.
For the first time in His earthly minis
try, our Lord permits Himself to be borne
by the beast of burden, which had always
been recognized as the bearer of kings.
Riding upon a little colt never ridden be-
fore, draped with the garments of His dis
ciples as they walked beside, and accom-
up from the city at this, the Passover time,
when the population of Jerusalem was
multiplied tenfold, He slowly descended
from Bethany toward the city. At every
step the enthusiasm of the crowd grew
higher. Cutting down branches from the
palm trees they strewed them in the way,
and even their garments they flung in hom-
age at His feet, while their voices rose to a
mighty shout as they cried in the language
of an old prophetic Psalm, "Hosannah to
the Son of David, Hosannah in the high
est"
But His own demeanor was in strange
contrast to all these scenes of tumultuous
excitement. Truly, He came as the King
of meekness, lowliness and love. This be-
came still more apparent when the city
suddenly burst upon their view, and the
sight of it drew from Him an outburst of
sorrow and compassion, and amid all that
pageant of popular reclamation He gave
way to bitter tears and lamentations over
the certain doom which He saw impending
upon the scenes that lay spread before Him
in all their glorious beauty. But the pro-
anccInn cura1N4 On aud IN n Iff1n xpl11o Hn
entered the city and the Temple.
His triumphal entry into Jerusalem was
the for%eshadowing of that glorious time
when lie shall come again as lsraePs long
expected Messiah and take His place upon
the throne of David, never again to leave
it.
1t is also typical of His entrance upon
the throne of the individual heart when
we receive Him as our Lord and King.
The little foal on whom no man had sat
before Is the exquisite type of the heart
that gives Him its exclusive affection. He
m to reign, not as tyrant, but as a
King of gentleness and love in all the at
~tractive attributes so finely set forth in
the ancient picture that we are consider
ing. He does not come to repress, but to
satisfy. He does not dominate us as a des-
pot, but He meets all the needs and long
ings of our being, and so blends with our
nature and our will that we become His
willing subjects and the very partners of
His kingdom and His throne. Have we
thus received Him and known Him as our
King?
III. The King of Zion and the Lord of
the Temple. Immediately upon entering
the city He passed through the gates of
the Temple, and repeated the miracle of
its cleansing which had formed the first
chapter of His early Judean ministry. The
difference between this miracle and the
former is that then He called it His Faith
er's house; now My house" He was now
Lord of the Temple and the true theocra-
tic Head of the kingdom. A little later
the phrase was changed again. As He left
that Temple after His solemn warnings
and judgments pronounced against the
false rulers and leaders Of Israel, He de-
clared "Your house." Mine no longer,
your house is left unto you desolate and
We shall not see Me again until he shall say
blessed is He that cometh in the name OF
the Lord"
The cleansing of the Temple was occa-
stoned by the abuse which was made of its
courts by a class Of money brokers and
cheap traders, who took advantage of the
peoples desire for silver change in order to
pay the half shekel offering which was re-
quired of every one entering the Temple,
and out Of this there grew up a regular
business and a large class of men who, at
eNorbitant rates OF usury, supplied the sill
yer exchange to the worshipers as they
crowded into the courts without having
provided themselves with the requisite
coin.
Another class of tradesmen in like man
ner filled up another part Of the court with
their filthy stalls for the supply of doves
and other animals for the sin offerings and
burnt offerings Of the daily sacrifices.
These also were sold at exorbitaAt prices
for the convenience of the w~orshipers, but
really for the gain of the dealers.
As our Lord looked upon this unseemly
spectacle in the house Of God, His indig-
nation was aroused, and, taking a whip of
small cords, He drove them out, overturn-
ing the tables, ordering the dove cotes i'm
mediately removed, and driving them be-
fore Him under such a spell of fear that
they forgot everything but the means of
escape from His holy wrath. This act was
a final assumption on His part of the high
est authority, not only in, but even above
the Temple and its worship.
The same high place He still CLAIMS in
the Church of God and the individual
heart. The abuse of the Temple courts of
old have, alas, been more than paralleled
in the history of Christendom. 1t was the
sale of induloences in the time of Luther