Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1910-09-02

expended so much care, they beat the
servants and send them back to their
Lord empty. and not only once or twice.
Finally, the Lord sends His son,
saying surely they will reverence Him.
But they, misguided by their own sin,
thought that by destroying Him, the heir,
the vineyard would be theirs. IT was no
more theirs after than before; they for
got that the Lord would insist on reck-
oning, and that He would have fruit I'M
der all circumstances. At this point
Jesus puts the question to them, what
should the Lord do to these wicked hus-
bandmen? He makes them condemn
themselves, for they reply. He will miser-
ably destroy these miserable men. They
rued the day they said it; in moment
they saw He had proven too smart for
them; nor were they any less angry
when He drove home His attack, and
again from their own words showed them
that God would reject them for their
fruitlessness and give His vineyard to
those who would render unto Him that
would have.
which He had right to expect and
They had never seen their own picture
in the scripture He quoted to them. In
Gods building. they wanted and expected
to have the chief place. But the stone
which the builders respected was des-
tined to become the head of the corner;
1t is one of Gods marvellous ways OF
doing. 1t is not mans way. His words
were so plain they could not be misun-
derstood They had had their chance;
they had failed; God would try some one
else; He must have fruit.
Have you had your chance? How have
you improved it? Is God getting from
all the care He has bestowed upon you
an adequate return of fruit? Shall you
be a castaway?
BROKEN OR POWDERED.
Jesus continued His attack upon these
who would criticise Him for teaching,
who set themselves up as the guardians
of the people, but who had shown them
selves utterly unfit because of disobe-
dience and fruitlessness. He warned
them that whosoetver shall fall on the
stone which had been designed for the
head of the corner shall be broken in
pieces; but on whomsoever it shall fall,
it shall grind him to powder. A man may
stumble over a large stone and be more
or less seriously injured; but If the large
stone falls on him, there is not much
hope for him. Here Jesus is giving these
men another chance. How patient and
long-suffering Jesus is, waiting to be
gracious, not willing that any should per-
ish, but longing that all shall come into
possession of eternal life. They had
stumbled over Him; they had fallen; He
longs to see them rise and be healed by
Him. But IF they still refuse there is
nothing left but utter destruction. When
God has exhausted every resource of
His grace to make men love Him and
they persistently refuse, there is nothing
He can do but allow the result of sin to
be accomplished and that is death.
Men have often refused to have any
thing to do with Christ. They think
they can choose their own way. But they
can no more eliminate Christ from their
lives than sunlight or air. He has been
chosen by God to be the head of the
or not. my brother. you must recognize
your relationship to Jesus Christ. Be
cause He humbled Himself and became
obedient to death. God hath highly ex
allied Him and given Him a name that
Is above every name, that at the name of
Jesus every knee should bow, of things
in heaven, and in earth, and under the
earth and that every tongue should con-
fess Him Lord to the glory of God, the
Father. Whether you will or not. the
day is coming when you must acknowl-
edge Him Lord; the important question
for you now is. are you going to do so
now while you have the chance to choose
or will you wait until you must, from
the depths OF hell's abyss. You can't
get away from Christ You may stumble
over this stone as the Jews did and be
broken. There is still the chance to
rise and be healed. If you wait and per-
sistently refuse to accept Him, the stone
will fall on you and grind you to pow
der; you will be utterly destroyed. OF all
the things in the world the most terrible
1 know of is 1.-The wrath of the Lamb"
Ordinarily we think of a lamb as so gen.
tie and tender. So Jesus is. tender, com
passionate, loving, patient. We can
hardly think of Him otherwise.
But when He has been persistently re-
fused when all his love has been spurn-
ed, when His sacrifice for us has been
rejected. the time for His just wrath
has come. No human hatred is so great
as that which comes from love spurn-
ed Beware of the rejected stone, the
wrath of the Lamb!
Beloved, think how lavish has been
Gods love upon you, His vineyard. What
more could He have done than He has
not done? Are you rendering to Him
the fruit He expects? God grant that
you may not, like the Pharisees, be re-
tected for disobedience, for fruitlessness.
May you make Jesus the chief corner
stone in tn ebuilding you are erecting
lest rejecting Him, you be utterly de-
stroyed.