Free trader-journal. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1916-1920, 1919-01-06
EXTER|0RS Of MEN
A VENEER; Christ
SEES THE INSIDE
REV. CHESSMAN IN ADDRESSING
BAPTIST BROTHERHOOD SAYS
MANY LEADERS FOR GOOD ARE
AMONG THEM UNDISCOVERED

he himself knew what was in man.
He said In part:
Jesus Christ had divine Xray
vision. He penetrated behind all
walls OF reserve and outward appear
ances to the inside of man. lie
was the greatest expert i'll character
diagnosis, the greatest discOycrer Of
dormant powers for good, the great
est developer OF latent virtues the
world has ever seen.
He saw beneath the rough exterior
OF a Galilean fisherman a faultnllea
man. to an uudcyeloped rOck-llhl
character, a potential preacher ana
man Of fiery eloquence and mere
soul qualities He called this fisher
ma ! TO dicipleship and drew out tucs5
pO .entialties with the result thai
Peter became a great apostolic lead
er He saw in Leyi-MatheW the hated
tax collector capabiitiy for high dc.
votion to truth. LeyiMatthew be
came "A pillar in the early church ana
wrote a gospel. He saw beneath tn.
veneer OF a Samaritan woman who
had had five husbands and the man
she was living with was not her hue
band. He saw a nugget of gold in
this tinted woman and drew it out
This woman became Il missOnar,
and led whole city 70 Christ
Christ VALIDATED men properly II.
was not fooled by eXteriors He was
never deceived by sham. He hlmsel
knew what was in man And h.
would teach his diciples to be fisher
OF men He would impart the hicl
art OF getting to the inside of man
That is a difficult thing to do. Me-
erect barriers Thcv construct gait
Of reserve The critical the faul,
fnding, the coldly intellectual, IL
egotistical and the selfish can't &c
inside The sign is up 40 Trcspass
ing Here. Neither can the gushu
sickly sentimental get past
ITO get to the inside Of a mgn
down 10 whore he is in naked realit
we must ring true. we must be ger,
inc in sympathy comradeship and a.
probation Of his personality No pa
ronage or condescension goes. y,
superficial Interest is Of avail Thor
. are Peters and Pauls and Icv-Alat
thews tn be won in Ottawa, diamond.
In the rough waiting ouly the toucf
OF the Christ to make them glisten i,
soul beauty Our job Is to get insid,
and lead them to the Master.
4 have had the surprise of my lii
the last few weeks. have been wit
group Of men who We're thawed on
OF reserve who expressed their in
most hearts concerning religion
left these brotherhood meetings w
big upift 1t did me more goo,
than listening to great cyangclists,
said to myself, Harness that ma,
power to the church and they coul
put Christianity on the map in OF
tawa'
Il have learned from this contac
with the inside OF n repres entativt
group of men that they are not actiy,
In religion because Of self-dcprecis
ton. A man says Tn not gool
enough to be in the church and d
Christian work And | say, Who is
Moses told God he wasn't good enough
Paul the great apostle cried, e
wretched man that I am God know
none Of us are god enough Where
Is the preacher good enough? We ar;
all fault-filcd and imperfect But j
is not hypocritical to make religion
profession and work for God becaus
we are not perfect lust so we arr
real. honest. earnest and striving Wit
hot desires to be right and do RICH
and to help others God owns ant
uses such a man. The church is no
for exalted paragons Of goodness hu
for mistake filed men and women
trying daily 10 be better That IS the
real inside Of a real Christian The
Christian life is life of becoming by
the power and presence Of the Hol,
Spirit in mans life.
III you ring true inside Christ want
you The only person he castigate.
Will oAOl NlilIS telllE Ntit5' 10 liit ~ ~
critic A hypocrite is a man who con
sciously camounages a corrupt hear.
with religious veneer. A stumbling
misunderstanding fault-filled Christian
is not a hypocrite if he is trying to be
better man with Christ's help. The
church is the place for imperfect PEG
pie for mutual training and inspira
ton in the art OF Christian living
Christ is friend to any man VINO
honestly cries with the poor publican
God be merciful to me a sinner.
Congregational Church.
At the Congregational church the
pastor, Rev. Carl Stackman. spoke
Yesterday morning on the theme, "The
Growing Life" The text was from
the third chapter of First Corinthians
The church at Corinth was in an
important and strategic situation be
cause of the converging at that city
of many of the trade routes to the
east. A mixed population had settled
there including enough Jews to have
established their own synagogue
There Paul came on one of his jour