The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1914-01-01

- Jesus asked the
question, what
Think ye OF Christi There must be
some reconciliation between this claim
OF reason and the text
In the nrst place we must have In
mind the person receiving the appeal
h. is unrighteous. lie may be con-
tratted with the wicked man referred
to IN the same verse. but the matter
OF his unrighteousness, or unresen
eraieness Is the thing now TO be held
in mind. Then we must consider the
sphsre OF thought The man Is not
asked to forsake all his thinking. for
In SOM things his thoughts are cor
rect. indeed. more correct than those
OF the righteous man. Those things
belong 10 the unregenerate state and
he thinks rightly on them. Ministers
sometimes preach 20 their congregAr
tions on subjects that are not spirit
ual. and many that are In the pews
know far more about the subject than
the preacher. and often smile at his
ignorance The unrighteous man
thinks quite properly on finance. com
merce and politics. but when II comes
to spiritual things he IL out OF his
realm. Here the person who may b
OF very limited intellectual attain
ments may be his instructor The AZ
rican or Korean may know far more
OF spiritual things. because born again.
than the educated European. Thus
We find that the appeal Ia TO the un-
righteous person. and the sphere of
thought Is the spiritual Here Ii
where the unrighteous man IL asked
not to think And why'
The words OF the lord. My thoughts
are not your thoughts" imply that
there is some unfavorabie comparison
between the thoughts OF the lord and
those OF unregenerate man. Gods
thoughts are certainly always right
IL this be true. mans thoughts are
certainly wrong When man stands
naked before God this fact will BE-
demonstrated to the confusion OF mul-
titudes
We may also say the unrightsous
man should forsake his thoughts be-
touoV hty ha'o bteh W bC
usually wrong. That man has some
quite correct thoughts In the spiritual
sphere may be conceded. or RESPONSE
bility would be lessened. but the Law
OF his thinking 10 wrong. Habitually
his thoughts are wrong A compari-
son of mans thoughts and those OF
the lord as given In the Bible clearly
Aa~Aaatr.ta.
on earth he said TO the Pharisees that
they thought In their prayers they
should be heard for their much speak
ing. that is. q prayer 20 minutes
long was twice as good as one ten
minutes long. The Bible declares that
men thought God TO be as one OF
themselves Simon Msgus thought
that the gift Of the holy spirit could
be had for money. and the apostle pro
nounced a fearful curse on him. lie
has successors In these days. Naaman
furnishes US an illustration OF how
men think as to the conditions OF re-
demption. lie thought that the
prophet Elisha would come out and
call on his God and pass his hand
over the place OF the ieprosy-but
nothing OF the kind lie was simply
instructed by the prophet. who did not
seem overwhelmed with the great
Syrian's magnificence. to dip seven
times In the Jordan. and his flesh
should be as that OF a little child.
How squarely are mans thoughts on
redemption opposed to Gods simple
requirement to repent and believe!
Again. as long as man In unregen-
crate he has q prip ciple In him that
vitiates all right thinking on spiritual
subjects Here II may be said sin
lieth at the door. The stream cannot
be pure II the fountain is foul One
OF the tests OF a mans regenerate
state is his changed thinking on spirit
ual subjects. lie sees thinks differ
entity. new world has been opened
to him.
Another reason for forsaking his
thoughts is that he 10 wasting time In
doing that which has already been
done. even conceding that he thinks
rightly. One may ask In wonder. am
! not to think this religious problem
out for myselfy No. II has already
been thought out. and the record 10 In
the Bible. Some one may say this In
Inmates ready-made thinking. and
ready made things are to be suspect
ed. We do not suspect q suit Of
clothes ready to be put on II pur-
chased at q reputable store. nor q
piece OF furniture. nor prepared foods.
This 10 an age OF ready. made thinss.
and n we have the guaranty that the
maker 10 reliable We may be content
God has thought all these things out
No man could have done n