Great Falls daily tribune., 1920-04-05

Of before. Do you know what the fam
lily will do? They will say that they
are glad we had such good time, but
while the say it, they will be watching
for the print Of the nails. and except
they see il our hands the print of the
nails, they will not believe.
And the world is right. The proof of
our sincerity is to be found in our will
ingness to be crucified with Christ. The
test of discipleship is cross If any
man will be my disciple, let him deny
himself and take up his cross and fol
low me- When we come to the last
scene, where the nations are assembled
before the throne of God. God will not
ask about our creed or our emotions, or
if our names are on the church roll, or
If we are Protestants or Catholics, but
God will ask every man to open his
hands, and those that have the print
of the nails and that have borne his
cross, will be placed on the right, and
those without the print on the left.
Then shall he say unto those on the
right: I was hungry and We gave me
meat; l was thirsty and ye gave me
drink: l was sick and in prison and ye
visited me; l was a stranger and ye
took me in" The print Of the nails; the
with the hungry and the sick and the i'm
prisoned-Come. ye blessed Of my
Father. On the left, a great company,
and the ground of their rejection, Il
was hungry and you selfishly kept your
dinner to yourself and saw me starve;
l was thirsty and you had water enough
and to spare and you would not give me
any to drink; l was sick, and in your
selfish love of ease you never took any
notice; and was in prison and you sat
in your home and did not care; was
stranger at your door. and you let me
pass by homeless and supperless, my
head filled with the dews of the night
DEPART. For except I see in your
hands the print of the nails, except
see in your face the marks of compass
sion and sympathy, except I see in your
eyes the tenderness of sacrificai love.
l will not believe in your protestations
of discipleship."
Why does not the world believe in
the church? 1t processes to believe in
Jesus Christ; it accepts his teaching as
the height of morality. Among all men
irrespective of creed, dogma or lack of
both, the Name of Jesus stands above
every name. But too often they scorn
the church. WHY? May it not be be-
cause it looks at the hands Of the church
and sees there no print Of the nails?
When the church of Jesus Christ is
willing to practice its own Gospel, and
to 60 down even unto death and come
out on the resurrection side with the
marks OF the cross upon it, then the
sneers of the world will be stopped and
men will be convinced Of the usefulness
of the church.
This is what convinced Thomas. It
convinced the other disciples. II con.
v'nced the world of that day even
against its own will It was the CON
tinual offering of himself upon the altar
of the worlds need that won their
hearts: His ministry Of compassion and
suffering moved their hearts and CEN
tered their faith in him 1t wasn't what
ne preached; it was what he suffered
to express his faith in him. When John
sent from his prison saying: Art thou
he that should come or look we for an
other:" His answer was: go and tell
John what you have seen, how the
blind see, the lepers are cleansed and
the poor have the gospel preached to
Them Emphasis was laid on the min
istry Of beneficence. The mark of the
worlds Messiah was the mark by which
Thomas had always known him and
would recognize him-the print of the
nails
BY this you. may test every Messiah.
There is story Of an old philosopher
who worked out complete gospel for
the salvation Of the world and having
perfected his scheme. he brought it to
an old hermit and submitted it to him
for his judgment The sanity hermit
read through the new gospel that was
to do such wonders. and said. 1T is
very gcod:' "Now," said the philosopher.
how am l to persuade the world to ac-
do that" said the hermit. What is
BE CRtrCfFIED." And the world new
er heasd anymore. either of the phil
osopher or Of his gospel.
We hear much in these days Of COM
parative religions. and we are told that
manv things which Jesus said were ut
tered long before He was born Do
yon want to know which is trne? Take
this sentence. HE bore our sins in his
own body on the tree" Take another,
He was wounded for our transgres-
sions: He was bruised for our iniquities.
and with his stripes we are healed"
Search the religions Of the universe and
see if you can find any such statements
concerning the founder. 1t is By his
cross that Jesus reigns-not by his
teaching. not even by his example,: not
by anything. but Oy his sacrificial death
in which He bore the print of the nails
This is his resurrection gospel;
gospel of sacrifice. a gospel of the
cross. This is the burden that he lays
upon us as his disciples. 1t was his
first condition and his last bit of instruc-
ton. IF any man will be my disciple.
let him deny himself and take up his
cross and follow me- And in one Of
the last scenes He said. "As my father
hath sent me, even 80 send you" He
gave them power to work miracles. and
power of compassion. the power to suf-
fer, the power to take up the worlds
sorrows, and to be minister Of healing
and savior among men.
The Apostle Paul saw the Lord ~
one born out of due time The Lord
told Annanias to go to Paul and show
him what? Not how many cities he
should preach in; not how many churches
he should establish: not how many
epistles he should write-but Il will
show him how great tAlngs he shall
suffer for my sake" And st. Paul Ut
the last Of his career could say. II hear
about in my body the marks Of the Lord
Jesus =
Have we any Of these marks about
u? It is oot, can We ps~dt'f and con-