Evening star., 1914-12-26

as an authoritative teacher for He
spake as never man spake before, and
the common people heard Him gladly.
even when He Set up Himself as the
stanaard or authority. saying. Verify.
verify, say unto you"
The life of Jesus was marked by a
persistence of purpose and strength
of will that defied all circumstances
and conditions. Moved by the convic-
ton that He was to carry out the
Fathers will. He set aside every
tempta ton to compromise and save His
life. The Master devoted all His pow
ers to carry out the plans of God as
outlined in the Scripture and revealed
to Him in the hours of communion,
when He Withdrew from His followers
to spend the nights alone with God In
prayer.
The steel-like determination of the
Christ was united with a graciousness
for humanity. whom He sought to
unite in one great federation king
class, space or time. He died Il Sa-
vior for the race that He might come
to rule them as their spiritual king.
The love of the Master shines out In
the lessons of the quarter against the
dark background of the sins of men
In our studies We have seen the hy-
pocrisy of the pharisees. the envy OF
the priests. the treachery of Judas. the
desertion of the disciples. the denial OF
Peter. the cowardice OF PLATE and the
ca llousness of the soldiers. Amid this
outburst of sin that crucified the King.
and the shortcomings of the disciples
who failed to stand by the Savior OF
the world in the hour of his trial, We
have seen the wonderful love of the
Lord revealed in our recent studies.
Christ defended the woman who an
ointed Him at bethany. He instituted
the Lords snpper as perpetual me
mo~iaI of Hia sacrifices, so that the
memory of their failure and of His
love fc- them would keen them from
hAi~ OH tar0 hAs
when alone with God IN rraver In His
communion with the Father the Master
nrsved that Peters faith shows not
fail him. sought fo.giyeness for % HIS
the gospel to be preached first to them
at Jerusalem, over which city He wept.
He promised paradise to the believing
thief on the adjoining cross He sought
thet He nieht do. not His own VIII,
hut that Of His Father in heaven, Fl
naIly, because II was the will Of God.
Jesus died to save men: Such wonder
full love constrained the disciples. 70
committed His program and endowed
them with power in His legacy to the
race.
Legacy.
Jesus left His teachings inscribed
upon human hearts. There is not a
single word recorded that He ever
wrote He gave His message into the
keeping Of men, who had been touched
by the renewing grace Of regeneration
and whose minds He had enlightened
concerning the teachings Of the Scrip
lures to carry to every creature.
This program that called for personal
evangelism as the method of saving
the world and building up His king
dom Jesus intrusted to men who had
responded to His call to become His
disciples. They were not great as the
world counts greatness. but Jesus
promised them power through His per,
sonal presence and the outpouring of
the Holy Spirit to carry out His pro
gram.
We have not time to consider the
history that the records of the evan
gelists have made. for the space al
lowed for our review fs not sufficient
to consider the history of the Christ
that they recorded. No explanation OF
the life OF Jesus Of Nazareth will be
satisfactory that fails to consider the
religious experience that was born
through contact with the Master dur
ing His lifetime. Their experience.
while not identical with the modern
Christian life. yet they, like we, wit
messed the forgiveness of sins through
their personal faith in Him. They as
well as ourselves have received the
spiritual strength that is working for
peace. purity and permanent prosperity
among men. All who have tasted Of
the power OF his lie nave Deen CON-
strained by His love to accept Him as
their personal Savior and coming King.
They see and know that Jesus was
what Peter claimed. the Christ. the
with the gospel Of the love of God.
filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.
is the hope Of the world at this very
hour. Let US Join them in praising our
Lords life, labor and legacy for the
salvation Of the world.