Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1910-05-13


years ministry; His popularity had been
ever increasing; vast multitudes had fol-
lowed Him, not only from Galilee, but
| from Judea and the regions around the
north and east He had just completed
| His second missionary tour through Gal
lice upon which He had entered into
many cites, towns and villages, preach
! ing the gospel of the kingdom, teaching
and healing all manner of sickness
amongst the people. His words and His
works were with authority; He was the
most popular Man in Palestine.
| lbis very popularity had aroused the
antagonism of the Scribes and Pharisees
! 1t was so great that they sent men from
Jerusalem to watch Him and If possible
( to counteract the effect of His teachlns.
| They feared for their institutions; they
considered Him a dangerous man. 1t was
necessary for them to resort to such
means i'm order to keep intact their lnstl-
tutions and to retain their power. IheS
had had some influence in Capernauih
during His absence which He noticed up
on His return. This DETECTION had grown
| to the extent that even Jesus friends
hao become convinced that lie was era
Zy There is strong probability that his
mother and His brethren shared to some
| extent IN LnlS OplHtOiS "iiiSh
for the answer that He gave to the peo-
pie that same day when told that His
mother and His brethren waited OUTSIDE
| to see Him.
He had somewhat checked the tide OF
! opposition upon His return to Caperhauhi
| by casting out the devil from the man
vino was blind and dumb, so that ne
| both saw and heard. The people VINO hdo
| been willing to think Him crazy now
asked the question in such way as 10 snow
that they felt that there was a strong
probability of it's being true, if He was
not the Son of God. They felt that lhls
must be the Messiah.
THE GREAT SAVIOUR.
| The Pharisees and Scribes, however
| did not propose to allow the popular uoe
| to turn in His favor again II they coulu
prevent it. They had to admit that mar
| Vicious power had been eXerted, out thelr
answer was, This is easy TO eXplalh'
He hath Beelzebub, by the power OF inc %
| prince of devils He casteth out deVlls:
/ Now they were afraid to express TINS
oninion onenly to Him, but only to the
neonle. But He knew their thoughts ana
showed them how utterly silly this state
! uent was. how utterly untenable such
| nosition He showed that Kingdom III
vided against itself could not possibly
! et.nd. or even a city or family. II satan
| ,berefore cast out satan he was dlVldeu
1 against himself, and this was ABSURD.
| Now. the Pharisees claimed 10 cast 0II
de,,i,s too. SO Jesus asked them If lie
| by Beezlebub cast out devils now VI ~
whom did their sons cast them out lhey
| were not prepared to admit that thel.
sons cast them out by Satan, and Jesus
drives them to the only conclusion thde
| thev could come to, that he hau eAei-
cised this power through the indWeillns
of God. Satan was strong man anu III
order to loose from his power those Wholn
| he had bound, the deliVerer must ploNS
| Himself stronger than Satan. Cleany not
one less powerful than the spirit ~ 80
could he such a one; but since the plihu
and dumb man had been healed, the nee
| essarv conclusion must be that 1t was
| through the spirit of God that Satan had
| been overthrown and the unfortunate
man delivered
| All here is the sweet story OF the gos-
pei again! Would that | might speak IL
| in such a way as to teach every SIN
bound heart that whatever be your SIM
vour Savior is greater than satan! He
| is not only able, but willing, to deliver
YOU from the power which now blnds
| YOU and from which you cannot escape
over which you have no control All he
| asks is that YOU trust Him, and let Him
| exercise His power which is stronger
than the strong mans in your pehali
There is only one sin from whlch ne
cannot deliver you, and that is the SIN OF
denying that the power which He has is
| of God.
| Many have been troubled about the I'M
| pardonable sin, but there Is no need Tor
| worry; the only objectionable sin IS IN
! attributing to satan what God does by
His spirit and in denying the power OF
| the Holy Spirit of God. 1t is very easy
to see why this is an unpardonable slh'
why every other sin can be forgiven save
| this: for no man can call Jesus Lord
| save by the spirit, and no man can be
saved eXcept as he acknowledges Jesus
as his Lord and Savior Therefore, IT
we deny the only person by whom we can
confess Him Lord, where can there be
any hope for forgiveness?
THE GREAT CRISIS.
The time had come in the life of Jesus
when the people who were following Him
had to make a decision. The very fact
that these miracles had been wrought in
| their presence and that He had driven
! them TO the unanswerabie position that
they could only have been wrought by the
| spirit of God made 1t true that the king
! dom of God had come upon them by sur
prise. They were i'm the midst of its
power as manifested by its King. They
| must choose necessarily the one or the
other. They must side with Jesus or with
I the Pharisees. They could not be on the
| fence any longer; there was no middle
| ground and so Jesus expressed it in these
very significant words, HE that is not
with Me is against Me, and he that gath
eFeth not with me scattereth abroad
He made the issue sharp and distinct;
there was no compromise nor parieying
with Him.
That crisis is just as great today.
| Things have been accomplished which
can be accounted for in no other way
/ than through the presence of Gods
| kingdom having come into our midst
We must accept them as from Him and
| therefore acknowledge Him as our
Lord; or else we must reject them and
| thereby reject him. 1t seems to me
| that there never was a time when it
was as necessary to make a bold issue
and a sharp distinction as today. Too
many are content to nominally follow
| Jesus, as the multitudes were doing;
but Jesus cared nothing for the great
crowds which followed Him unless they
gave to Him their loyalty and their
| love. Do you thing thta it is acceptable
| to Him today for large numbers to ac-
| knowledged Him as Lord and then go
| and find their pleasures through sources
| of supply, and search for life in the
world which is His enemy? Do you
not believe that He makes the issue
4 rac5f c1,a fD1sa nd 1,,N