Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1917-08-23

i 4
- of this incident
In another way,
Il the S hut door
suggests b e e f.
forts men make to keep Christ out of
their lives, and the fact that though
the door was shut Christ stood in
their midst reminds us of the futility
of their efforts.
Vast numbers of people persistently
and steadily resist the supreme claim
that Christ undeniably makes upon
them. Yet Christ stands in their midst
and demands from them a right intel
lectual judgment. His old question to
the PhariSees is the question he puts
to them: what think We of Christ?
Whose son is he?" Now, no thinking
man can get away from these persist
ent questions; try as he mary, they ever
recur, and fnsistently do they clamor
for an answer. Christ is a fact and
not a fabrication, and as such demands
an explanation. Dismiss him today and
he is here tomorrow; turn him down
now, and he confronts you In the next
moment. There is no door thick enough
nor bolt heavy enough to shut Christ
out of the reason. Even now, as you
read these words it Is Christ who is
asking you, "Who say We that I amp"
And what pray, is your answer? Have
you passed your final and absolute in
tellectual Judgment upon Christ? Do
you say mol" Then I answer, you
must, for Christ stands in the midst of
your reason, even though you have
shut against him that door, and con-
dennis you to the task of explaining
him.
Resisting the Love Of God.
Men also shut the door of their affec-
lions against Christ. But even so, he
stands in the midst and asks the heart
question: Lowest thou mel" What a
blessed thing it is to be able to re-
spond, "Yea Lord, thou knowest that I
love thee" But alas! that is not the
answer of those who have barred the
door of their affections against Christ.
His great love for them finds no re-
Spouse in their hearts. Yet, the ap-
peal of Christ's love is there just the
same, and if men are honest they Will
acknowledge 1t, for all human hearts
are sensitive to love, and within is an
unsatisf1ed love and longing that can
never be satisfied without Christ And
In the midst and in the Old Testament
word says: "Son. give me thine heart ~
Men shut as well against Christ, the
door of their will. 1--WE will not have
this man to reign over u.s. is the cry
they raise; as If he were some auto
cratic deSpot who desired their sub
servfency that he might crush them
under his iron heel. Not so, the King
of Kings and Lord of Lords longs
to have men subject to him that he
may have the joy of setting them free.
Giving Up to Receive.
Men are so fearful of the restraints
of the Christian life and for some rea-
son seem to feel that a will yielded to
the master means life of servitude.
To be sure, there is no true Christian
liberty without restraint; to be freed
from sin is to be restrained from prac-
ticing it. Christian liberty is not Ii
cense; 1T is freedom from the domina-
ton of the powers of evil without and
within and when one enjoys it, he is
set free for a richer, fuller life, wider
usefulness, a greater joy Such is the
idea in the word of Christ when he
says: 81 am come that they might
have life and have it more abundant
ly." Men do not really live, in the es-
timation of God, until they have that
life which Christ came to give. Why
then do they not have it if Christ came
to give it? Simply because they shut
against him the door of the will. "Ye
will not" he said to men of old, "come
unto me that We may have life" And
that is his word to men today
Becomes an Open Door.
While Christ asks you to permit him
TO pass over the threshold of your will
into your heart that there he may
abide, he also says that he will, if you
do this. be to you an open door, a way
of entrance into salvation and a way
of egress into service. 81 am the door
by me if any man enter in, he shall be
saved, and shall go in and out, and find
pasture" Open to Christ the door of
your heart and he is then to you the
open door into safety and security and
the open door to fuller Christian life.
Why longer then shut the door of
your intellect, your affection, your will
against Christ? Though You do. he
stands in the midst, the door being
shut; unrecognized by you, but there
just the same; not to condemn, but to
save; to give you
The freer step. the fuller breath,
The wide horizons grander view.
The sense of life that knows death,
The life that maIreth all thiuez uew